Page 55 of Consorting with Dragons

He frowned at me. “Try to be here? What do you mean? Where else would you be? What do you mean by, ‘it depends?’”

“Oh, on when my grandfather is picking me up. He offered to give me a ride to Moravia as soon as he finishes his investigations on Horvath. I’m not sure when that will be. Since you’ll be busy with your training camp and Parliament, I may as well go for a nice, long visit with my parents. Grandfather said Talon will fit in the cargo area of his star cruiser, since it’s not too long a trip. That way, I can keep riding him on Moravia, and he won’t be missing me and pining for me while I’m gone.”

“But…what about me?”

“Oh, will you pine for me too?”

“No. Because you’re not going anywhere.”

“Quinn, that’s unreasonable, don’t you think? You don’t need me here.”

“Who said I didn’t?”

“I overheard you speaking to the queen on your communicator. I heard you tell her quite clearly that you’d be gone most of the time from now on, and that I would ‘settle in’ and get used to it. I’m trying to learn to do that. You said that you’ll only come home for visits, because you’ll be busy with the Goldens. I want to accommodate all that by finding my own things to do when you’re gone. I thought you’d be happy for me. You surely don’t expect me to sit around all day and twiddle my thumbs, I hope.”

“I don’t know what that means. But yes, I expect you to be here, thumbs and all. At our home, like a proper mate.”

“Oh, so I’d be convenient to come home to.”

“No, damn it. There isn’t anything convenient about you and there never has been. But I want you here anyway.”

I started to open my mouth and tell him my thoughts on that, but then he crossed over to the sofa, sat beside me and took my hand in his. “Don’t you see, I can’t breathe right when I’m worried about you. Like when you left me, and I couldn’t find you anywhere. I had pains right here the whole time I was looking for you,” he said tapping his chest and looking tragic.

If he hadn’t had that look he got when he was irritated over something I’d done or hadn’t done, as of I’d inconvenienced him, then I think it would have meant a lot more. He might have even pulled it off.

I looked up into his beautiful jade green eyes, and it was my turn to have trouble breathing. I’d do almost anything he asked of me, but that was a slippery slope. I had to stand up for myself or lose myself entirely. I had to be strong and not give in to him on everything. We needed to get this straight between us or this marriage might not work. And I desperately wanted it to.

“I didn’t mean to leave you after we argued. I was mad, I admit. But I would never just take off like that without talking to you first. Talon and I simply got lost.”

“You can’t ever leave me, Rylan.”

“I know. But this isn’t like that. This time, you’ll know where I am, and that I’m safe. I’ll be at my home on Moravia.”

“This is your home. Wherever I am is your home. And I want you to be with me. Moravia is too far away. It won’t work, don’t you see?”

I smiled at him, putting all the love I felt for him in it. He blinked at me a couple of times and said, “Your omak-ahn was right about what he told me.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Just something he said. That you’d smile at me in a certain way, or you’d do or say something that would let me know for sure that you’re the one, and that I can’t live without you. I think it happened while you were cooking me that fish on the mountain.”

“Of course, I’m the one. I could have told you that. Did you ever doubt it?”

He shook his head and smiled at me. “Maybe a little.”

“Then you were wrong. I’m the only one for you. But you said it’s not possible for me to be with you at the camp, right? That’s what you said. You won’t be here, and I can’t go with you to camp.”

“Well, I changed my mind. I want you to come with me. You and your little Golden.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes.”

“You know, Talon’s not so little anymore. He’s grown almost as tall as Sulamon.”

“Whatever.”

“Whatever what?”

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