Page 25 of Whispers of the Dragon
“I had to,” he said, unashamed. “Kenshi would have grabbed you before you fell and, together, you would have fallen twice as fast, and I wouldn’t have been able to save you in time.”
Eira blinked at his honest answer and decided to rephrase her statement, “You ate him.”
“Would you have preferred I breathed fire and possibly burned you alive with him in the process?”
Dumbfounded, she blinked at him again. His brain had clearly considered all the options that hers couldn’t have thought in a million years.
“You can do that?”
“Yes.” Another honest answer. “So, is thatI ate himwhich frightens you or the fact that I can turn into a drago—”
“Both!” Eira shrieked, feeling as if a panic attack could strike her at any moment, but she was …calm? And even more strangely and possibly worrisome—happy?
Ryu had come back for her, and as much as her brain still continued to urge her to run for her life, she kept her footing in place as he stepped closer to her. But why was that?
You’re his fated mate.
Some of Kenji’s last few words echoed in her mind, causing her to ask, “Why did he say I am your fated mate?”
Ryu closed the distance between them until he stood only a few inches away. “Because you are.”
“And what is a fated mate?” she dared to ask as he held her gaze so fiercely.
“You were made for me, Eira, and I’ve been—”
Suddenly, Ryu fell to his knees in pain.
“Ryu, what’s wrong?” she asked, falling to the ground with him and looking him over to check for anything visible to cause his pain, but she wouldn’t find it …
It was the invisible string that tied him to his home beginning to sever that caused the excruciating feeling taking over his body. Instinctively, he knew it must mean that only one precious blossom remained.
As he looked at Eira, a tear slipped down his cheek. His dragon form might have touched her, but his human form hadn’t, and only then would the sacred tree stop dying. He was closer than ever to her in this form, but he still didn’t dare toreach out to touch her, knowing exactly what it was going to cost him, his father, and the people of his village. But that was the cost to gain something as precious as the woman before him. Ryu had made a promise to hissoulmate, and he planned to keep them ineachandeverylife.
14
Kissed by Fire
It was everything he could do to continue, knowing the petal would fall at any moment now. He was simply too late.
He wanted to finish what he had begun to say before the pain had struck him. Eira still needed to hear what he had to say.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for you, darling.”
“Oh,” she breathed but was clearly more concerned with his wellbeing. “Ryu, why are you crying?”
“I-I—” He didn’t know how to tell her, nor did he think he would ever tell her; he didn't want her to feel responsible for his failures. It was him who had not left his home sooner, at his father’s fears. Ryu was his own man, and it was him alone who needed to take sole responsibility for his failures. He could have slipped out of the village and left at any moment. Instead, fear of leaving his home, his village, had kept him from venturing to find his fated mate. If only he had left sooner. What hurt the most was,she was just right here …
“Ryu?” she continued softly when he didn't answer. “What’s wrong?”
Another tear fell while he thought of what to say to her. It was a simple act, one that made him almost dismiss the kindaction, as it was something a person would simply do when they saw someone sad, but the second her light fingertip touched his tear, the true bond formed between them, her wet fingertip now touching his smooth cheek.
If he thought what he had felt for Eira before was strong … it had greatly paled in comparison to now.
Every feeling crashed around her at once when her skin met his. It was like everything tied her to the man in front of her, and in a single breath, she knew all at once that she couldn’t breathe a single second without him.
Fated mate.
If she didn’t understand what that meant before, it was now as clear as the ocean crashing into the cliff.
