Page 17 of Whispers of the Dragon
Ryu took a vicious bite out of the apple. His tone felt poisonous when he said, “I guess I’ll be the judge of that.”
“All right, great. Time to leave,” she muttered under her breath before running out this time. She kept running, right out of her home and down the path, toward the market, needingto desperately get away from Ryu’s warmth that was starting to make her sweat.
“Slow down, darling,” Ryu said, catching up. “I didn’t think you’d be in a rush to get back home.”
Dammit.Eira slowed, knowing he was right. Taking a few calming breaths, she focused on the cool breeze blowing on her skin.
“Are you okay?” he asked in concern.
“Yes, I just got too hot.” Still feeling suffocated, she rolled her long sleeves up to her elbows in an attempt to cool down.
Ryu didn’t miss the burn scars that trailed all the way up on her left arm until they disappeared under her sleeve. Swallowing hard, his jaw flexed, now understanding. “You don’t like to get hot because of the burns.”
There was no point in confirming his assumption, because they both knew the answer.
“We can go back—”
“No,” Eira stopped him, pleading to continue on their journey. “I can’t go back to my room anytime soon.”
“So, you did have another dream,” Ryu confirmed his thoughts from yesterday. However, instead of making her turn back, he continued walking and went back to eating his apple, giving her some relief.
Having the subject changed helped to cool her almost instantly.
“I … did,” she admitted, unable to lie to him.
The silence that came over Ryu when he tossed his core to the ground frightened Eira a bit as they continued side by side. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, as she could see he was deep in thought.
Feeling like she should have lied, she made a silent promise to herself just to lie to him next time he asked. Making Ryu unhappy killed a part of her.
She desperately tried to figure out what to say to stop his mind from going a mile a minute, but she only had one thing to say when the market finally came into view.
“Any chance you’ll stay here and just let me get the root?” she hoped while pulling out a tissue from her pocket to blow her nose.
Ryu simply shook his head. “Not a chance in hell, darling.”
Dang it.That was exactly what she was afraid of as he took off.
Trying to be the one to catch up to him now, as his strides were about two times as long as they were before, she thought,Maybe I can just pretend he’s not here today. Ryu doesn’t know what he looks lik—
“Hi, Eira!”
Uh-oh.
10
Betrothed to You
She cleared her throat nervously as she walked up to the cart. “Hello, Kenji … Grandmother says hi.”
The sweetest smile crossed his lips. “Tell her I said hello back, of course.”
“I will.” She sniffled, thinking it might not be so bad after all as Ryu just stood there, watching the harmless exchange.
“Oh no, Eira. Are you not feeling well?”
“I’m fine.”
Holding out the small root for her to take, he continued, “Well, you don’t sound too well. After work, I could bring you some of my spicy soup. It really helps clear out the sinu—”
