Page 39 of Been There Dragon That
He glanced at the words on the mirror again. She’d said she’d gotten out of a bad relationship.Till deathwas a part of a human wedding ceremony vow. He’d been forced to watch enough TV to know that. Rylee hadn’t been married. She wasn’t wearing a ring. Unless she’d lied.
He lifted his hand from Rylee’s back, and she whirled. “Don’t leave me.” Her face was pale and tinged green. Her heart was thudding in her chest like prey being hunted. Her eyes were wide, pupils huge, her focus darting all around the bathroom.
He cupped her face and lifted it so that she met his gaze directly. “I willneverleave you.” He let his dragon surface a little more, warming the icy chill from the air.
She noticed the show of power, and her focus locked on him instead of flicking around and around, like she was waiting for something to jump out of a shadow.
“Breathe,shuarra.”
She took a deep breath. Then another. Her pulse relaxed. Her pupils softened.
“Good girl.”
Her face flushed pink at his words. “I—I panicked. I—umm—we should go.”
“I agree.” He released her face and slid his arms around her body, lifting her to his chest. “Put your legs around me.”
“I’m not a toddler, you don’t need to carry me.” She tried to push against his hold, and his dragon growled deep in his chest. Her arms stopped pushing and wrapped around his neck, instead. Then her legs tightened around his waist. “I’ve never met a man that growled when he didn’t get his way.”
Wrath gave her an obligatory grunt of acknowledgement. He held her tight against his chest with one hand on her back and the other hand cupping her ass. Then he marched her down the stairs and out of the house and back to his squad vehicle.
He placed her back into the front passenger seat. Snapped her seatbelt in place and stared at her until she met his gaze. “You good?”
She nodded slowly. Her pulse was calmer, but he could still smell the panic and fear leaking from her pores.
“I will not leave you. But you saidno fight, so don’t fight me.”
She opened her mouth to object but didn’t say anything and then nodded again.
“I will carry you when it pleases me and because you need it, whether you’re aware of that need or not doesn’t matter to me in the moment. If something happens and I do something you do not care for, we can discuss it later. But I need you to trust me and do what I tell you when I tell you.”
“You’re asking me to obey you without question.” Her voice was soft, but confident.
“I’m asking you to obey me now and question me later.”
“But you’re not explaining things already. How long do you expect me to go without answers?”
“I could ask the same of you,shuarra. Someone is hunting you. And you know who it is.” He kissed her cheek and then closed the car door on her surprised face.
The bite of the winter wind was nothing against the fire burning inside him. Couple that with the rage toward the man or men who were threatening his mate. He wasn’t going to last long without giving Rylee some explanations. But he needed the information she was withholding too.
His fangs fought to descend.
His body warred with his dragon.
His magick and fire would flare if he wasn’t purposefully holding it back every second.
Now he had an escalating band of thieves threatening his town and an unknown enemy directly threatening his mate. He needed to control his anger and rage, but the only male with enough power to help him push his beast back was their alpha, Col.
ChapterTwelve
Rylee
Wrath was worried. Angry. Frustrated. But still kind.
The drive to the grocery store in town had been a silent one. He’d carried her from the vehicle into the store, put her in a rolling chair behind the counter with Henrietta, and told her he would be right outside helping board up the windows. Assured her that he could see her and hear her no matter what.
It was a little strange the way he carried her everywhere, but at the same time, it soothed the part of her that was so terrified of everything that was happening around her. She was a strong person. She could take care of herself, but being reassured that she didn’t have to. That she wasn’t the only one watching out for her. She liked that about Wrath. A lot.
