Page 58 of Guardian's Dilemma

I shut it out. Stupid voice. Sympathising with stupid dragons. Well, I didn’t care about any of them. And that was final.

Chapter 21: Glimmer

I’d told myself that I would stay in the Somerville territory for a couple of days, check the boundaries, be on hand to answer questions when someone inevitably asked them… and yet my dragon was so restless inside me and I fought for control of myself the entire time I was there.

It wasn’t just that I was afraid for my mate’s safety; I was afraid he’d leave.

If he did that, I’d have to rely on being able to trace his scent to follow him and catch up with him wherever he was.

My dragon hated the idea.

Kingsley was smart and he knew a lot about dragons. Specifically, he knew our weaknesses. He’d used them to track us before, but he had also used all that knowledge and skill to hide from us. For all that dragons needed to be protected fromridire, they needed to be protected from us, too. If he went, I couldn’t guarantee I’d find him again.

I was flying back towards the cottage before I even remembered deciding to go. My dragon had decided for me.

Once inside, I called out to my mate, just to let him know that I was there, and settled on the couch with a blanket, listening to his breaths above me and breathing in his scent all around me. I wondered if I could get him to wrap the blanket around himself during the day so that I could smell him tomorrow night when I went to bed.

He surprised me by coming downstairs.

He surprised me again by sitting beside me.

He did not surprise me when he started asking questions. My mate was curious.

His scent went from curiosity to frustration and then, when he left the room, he reeked of hurt. I didn’t know what I’d done to hurt my mate, but my dragon wasnothappy with me about it. It pushed forward, almost trying to break out of my skin, as though it thought it could do a better job of wooing Kingsley than I could, if given the chance.

To be fair, with the way things had gone so far, my dragon might not be far wrong.

I heard Kingsley go upstairs, his heavy footsteps banging down on the floorboards in frustration. Why did I never manage to get things right with Kingsley?

I did not have a restful night. I barely slept, waking at every creak of the cottage around me, every time Kingsley rolled over in bed, terrified that he was leaving and I’d somehow miss him. The worry lodged inside me that, if he left, he would know enough and have enough power to cover his tracks. Once I lost him, I didn’t know how I’d ever pick up his trail again.

Well before dawn, I was up and pacing round. Thinking.

Kingsley’s entire world had just been turned upside down. Everything he thought he knew about dragons, everything he thought he knew aboutridire, even everything he thought he knew about himself. To find himself with a fated mate in the middle of such turmoil was bound to unsettle him.

So I decided to help.

Going into the kitchen, I looked at what we had stocked in the cupboard. Living separate from the rest of the clan wasn’t always great but it did mean that I had my own kitchen and – by necessity – I had learned to make my own food. I was sure I could whip up a breakfast for my mate.

It took longer than expected, but eventually I had a tray ready and I carried it upstairs. Kingsley answered as soon as I knocked, which made me think he’d been awake for a long time, and, looking at the dark smudges under his eyes, I was right.

“Breakfast is served,” I said, as sunnily as possible. I wasn’t really a sunshiny person, although I had a pretty positive attitude. I found the constant, unrelenting cheerfulness of some people draining, but I wanted to make my mate feel pampered and cared for, so I smiled and walked into the room.

“You made me breakfast?”

“Yes. I hope you like it.”

I wanted to stay and watch him eat but couldn’t think of a way to ask without it sounding creepy. I wanted to crawl into the bed beside him and pull the blankets over my head and absorb his scent into my lungs but that also sounded creepy.

So I left him to eat.

I went back for the tray while he showered and I got out some new clothes for him and, when he came downstairs, I asked him if there was anything else I could get him. He was very tense, and I wanted him to relax.

“Sit down,” I said. “I’ll bring you some tea.”

That was it. Kingsley snapped.

“I don’t want any bloody tea! Stop this!”

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