Page 56 of Guardian's Dilemma

“He’s my uncle.”

I raised an eyebrow.Hewas the one who said we were mates and all that. And he was the one keeping secrets.

He resisted for a few seconds, and I thought he’d ignore the question. Then he spoke in a rush. “Lord Somerville is my elder. He’s my uncle and I’m Glimmer Somerville.”

I only realised then that I had never asked for his surname. The name didn’t mean much to me but I got the impression that it should. I was sure there was a nagging memory at the back of my mind and wished I’d thought to ask him this earlier, so I could tell Douglas. He might remember what theridirehad heard of the Somervilles.

“You’ve heard the name?”

“I can’t remember where.”

“We’re a very old family. Our bloodline is pure.”

That was all I needed: a purist dragon who reckoned he was my fated mate.

“Wait,” I said. “How do you think I’m your mate, then?”

He blinked at me. “I have told you: your scent and your… appearance.”

“You mean you think I’m hot?”

“Evidently. At this stage, we can take that as a fact.”

I said nothing about how beautiful he was. That would only complicate things. Instead, I tried to retreat back to my original line of questioning.

“If your family is meant to be all pure-blooded dragons, then why are you matched to me?”

His smile was deliciously evil and I ignored the excited squirming that it caused in my stomach.

“Because Fate matched us together, not my uncle. We are fated to be together because we complement each other perfectly, Kingsley. Not because your family tree looks impressive.”

I realised then thathisfamily tree must be impressive. For dragons, anyway.

“I take it that your pure-blooded family won’t like you mating a human instead of a dragon?”

He snorted. “My uncle wouldn’t even allow his clan to mate other dragons unless they’re as respectable as Somervilles.”

My expression must have given me away because Glimmer laughed at me. “I told you that my cousin mated acuraidh, didn’t I?”

I nodded.

“Well, he was disowned for it. Because having acuraidhin the Somerville family is beyond the pale. It’s an insult to our good name. You talk of dragons as though we’re all alike, Kingsley, but we’re not. In fact, I think I have a better chance of getting my uncle to acceptyouinto our clan than Morgan had of getting him to accept acuraidh.”

I had no idea how I felt about that.

My first instinct was to tell him to go to hell because there was no way I’d even consider joining a dragon clan. But that was because I’d been taught that dragons were evil. I’d never surrounded myself with evil if I could help it.

Shame it had turned out that my own coven were the despicable ones.

So maybe I needed to find out more about these dragons before I decided whether I liked them or not.

Setting my shoulders, I said, “I’ll stay here until you get back. If you’re gone more than a few days, I’ll go down to the village to get fresh supplies. If you’re gone for more than a week, I reserve the right to leave without warning. I haven’t decided yet where I’ll go.”

It was going to take a lot of thought to work that out. I wasn’t even sure where I could go that would be safe fromridire. That was what made us such good hunters; we had eyes everywhere. It was just that, normally, we were looking for dragons and not each other.

I’d probably be safe.

Glimmer said, “I’ll see you soon,” and leaned in. I gave a start and made it incredibly awkward as he placed a quick peck on my cheek before hurrying away.

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