Page 65 of To Spark a Dragon's Love
“What? No,” I stopped him right there. “I don’t need gifts or declarations of your love.”
“What then?” He looked so lost. So confused.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I just want to get to know you. The real you. I know we’re compatible… in other ways. But I want to see who you are behind the guardian shield.”
“And what if you don’t like what you find?” Exhaustion coated his words as if he was already resigned to that happening.
I resisted the urge to reach out and soothe him, keeping my tone playful instead. “I already like what I do see. I just want more.”
“I think I can give more.” He smiled.
I felt myself drawn to him, pulled by the magnetic force that kept us orbiting each other despite not knowing why. But something was blossoming. There was a glowing warmth starting to spread in my chest that felt like it was supposed to be there all along.
“You don’t have to—”
The walls started to shake.
Malachy pulled me to his chest in the doorway.
His leathery musk surrounded me, calming even as I reached for the doorknob, about to rush to my daughter.
The earthquake stopped as quickly as it started. My heart was still racing for an entirely different reason.
“No more than a two.” I pressed my hands against Malachy’s solid chest, debating on kissing him goodnight and then deciding to go for it.
I hesitated as I looked up.
His eyes were glowing with a strange white light as the shadows in the hall rushed to him, moving forward to take the shape of his wings.
“You have to go.” I took a step back.
“We’ll talk later,” Malachy said as he started toward the staircase, casting one final look of longing over his shoulder before he began to run.
∞
Come to me.That voice again.
I groaned, rolling over.
The darkness pulsed around me. Two glowing turquoise eyes. A roar of pain.You’re mine.
“Mommy, look! Kids outside.” Harper’s face filled my blurred vision as she wrenched open one of my eyelids.
“You’re dreaming. Go back to sleep.” I swatted her away.
It worked.
I buried down into the blankets, trying to ignore the strange feelings that lingered from my nightmare.
“No. Look!” Sunlight filled the room as Harper pulled back the drapes. “Those are real kids outside.” Her high-pitched voice took on a demonic quality as my little angel tried to… growl? “Can I pretty please go play with them?”
Since I obviously couldn’t say no to my kid’s psychological breakdown requests, we hurried to dress and get a few bites of fruit in her while I guzzled a cup of coffee.
I hadn’t sensed Malachy in his room and I was getting good at being able to tell where he was. Riley and Ember were a different story. Sometimes we went most of the day without seeing each other. This house was so big that you could be screaming from downstairs and no one would hear it upstairs.
Great for noisy kids, though.
But I needed to talk to another adult before I went crazy. Those weird dreams were getting more frequent. Maybe I’d take Malachy up on his promise to do more outside the bedroom. A hike sounded nice. I could use some fresh air.
