Page 13 of Dragon His Heels
Halfway to the fire pit, Gabe stopped and turned to face his daughter. “You took care of yourselves?”
She nodded.
“For how long?”
She looked up at the darkening sky. “Sometimes just one night. Sometimes more.”
Holy fuck.“What did you do?” Gabe’s parents had abandoned him when he was a toddler and then Gabe had been passed from household to household to household in the colony, had probably been raised by half the families he now lorded over, but at least there’d beensomeone.
“The older kids fed the babies and changed their diapers. Kids my age ate a lot of cereal.”
Holding the steaks with his left hand, he crouched in front of her so they were eye level. “Never again,” he said. “No matter what happens, I will never let you go back to that place. Do you understand me?”
She nodded. He pretended to spit on his hand and then held it out for her to shake. She giggled and slid her tiny hand into his. He gave it a squeeze and pumped twice.
“Okay, our fates are sealed now. You are officially a Zilarra dragon. I mean, you were already because you’re my daughter, but the Rojos could have claimed you, if they’d wanted to, since you were living in their colony. But not anymore. We should probably thank Talia for figuring out where you were and rescuing you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Talia said from behind him, and he whipped around fast enough to see her swipe a tear from under her eye.
He rolled his. “Quit being a sap.”
She chuckled and waved at the platter of steaks. “Are you going to cook those any time soon?”
He straightened and grabbed Ruby’s hand. “Yep.” And then he led her to the fire pit.
Using the grilling fork he’d tossed onto the cookie sheet, he speared each steak and laid them out on the grates over the gently simmering white coals left over from when he’d crisped the potato chips earlier.
It probably hadn’t been all that long since the fire pit was last used. During the summer months, the colony tended to spend a lot of evenings gathered around the flames, drinking, eating, laughing, chatting, enjoying the companionship only a dragon colony provided. Inevitably, as the night sky darkened, groups would break off, some to go fly, while couples would slip away to do what couples did in the dark.
What he’d like to do with Talia.
No, no he wouldn’t.
Yes, you would.
“Shut up.”
Ruby glanced up at him. “Your dragon again?”
He nodded and Talia arched her brows. “Told you he was a real a—jerk.” After a brief pause, he said. “Okay, let’s do this.” He handed the fork to Ruby. “I’m going to shift and blow fire on the steaks. It’ll only be for a minute. When I’m done, you gotta flip them over. And then I’ll blow fire on the other side. And then they’ll be done. Got it?”
She nodded.
“Can you do that? Can you flip them?”
She shrugged. Talia stepped up behind her. “I’m here if she needs help.”
At least his PR manager wasn’t chastising him for teaching Ruby to get so close to a fire. Which was surprising considering he’d almost fried her yesterday. But that had been an accident. Apparently, Talia realized that and was willing to give him a second chance. Hopefully he wouldn’t blow it.
He didn’t. And the steaks were perfect, charred on the outside and pink on the inside. “Exactly the way they should be,” he declared after the first bite. “Damn, these are good.”
Ruby shoved three pieces into her mouth and mumbled, “Better than hot dogs.”
Gabe laughed. Yeah, thiswasfun.
***
After dinner, Talia gave Ruby a bath and then Gabe tucked her into bed. As he flipped off the light, he considered slipping down the hall to his bedroom, to hide from any potential temptation Talia might present, except she was waiting outside the door when he tiptoed out of Ruby’s room.
