Page 19 of A Celtic Vow
“Do you?”she wondered telepathically.
More caught off guard than he anticipated by the sound of her voice in his mind, he glanced her way only to find her looking elsewhere. Did she know she’d spoken to him? Because she had clearly known what he was thinking.
“I do,”he replied within the mind, testing to see if she heard him.“You fear what they will think when they discover you’re half dragon because you suspect ‘twill not be something you can keep secret.”
Her startled eyes shot to him, and her pupils flared, telling him she was just as affected by hearing his voice. By how unique they sounded to each other.
“This is strange.”Yet a telling blush blossomed on her cheeks.“Not altogether bad, I guess. And more private.”
“Not bad at all.”In all honesty, he rather liked it.“As to what my people will think when and if they learn you’re half dragon, I imagine they will think the kingdom stronger. That their druidess is truly mighty.”
“I hope so.”She eyed the food laid out on wooden platters. Most especially the meats.“Because I still can’t see what’s inside me as anything other than a monster.”
“Yet, she’s not,”he replied impulsively, but he meant it. He might not have known her long, even thought her the enemy up until hours ago, but he was already protective of her dragon. Or, he suspected, his dragon was protective of her inner beast.“If she’s anything like you, how could she be evil?”
“What do you really know of me, though?”she wondered.“When even I don’t know. Not when it comes to this place and the prophecy. My connection to Siobhán.”
“I know you care for people.”He skipped everything else and put a variety of meats on her plate, including beef, roasted pork, sausage, and salted bacon.“Truly care for them, so you can't possibly be a bad person or dragon for that matter.”
“I don’t know.”She eyed the meat with unmistakable anticipation, then rounded her eyes at him and went pale.“What if my dragon likes people a little too much, if you know what I mean?”
He couldn’t help a small chuckle.“’Tis nothing you need worry about, lass. Remember, you are half human yourself.”He shook his head. “So unless your inner beast is a cannibal, which I highly doubt, human flesh will not appeal to it.”
“He’s right,”Ulrik added, right there in their minds, following their conversation with too much ease. The Viking gave Constance a reassuring look.“Full dragons might have a taste for human flesh, but never half dragons. It goes against who we are at the core.”He winked. “Quite literally.”
“Well, that’s a relief to hear.”She issued Ulrik a smile Aodh couldn’t help but think should have been directed his way.
They stopped speaking telepathically after that but enjoyed light conversation and good food with those at their table. Though tempted to walk her to her chamber when she eventually retired, she made it clear, yet again, that she’d prefer to be alone.
While he understood why, he could admit to being frustrated by it as he headed to his new chamber. Didn’t she feel the same draw to him as he did to her? This growing compulsion to be around each other as much as possible? He’d never felt anything like it, and it drove him to distraction. The thought of her so close, right here, only a few doors down, consumed his thoughts.
He tried not to envision closing the distance between them, but it was impossible. What if he knocked on her door, and she answered? If she was longing for him as much as he was her and simply waiting. Wondering. Would she let him pull her close? Touch her slender neck where he knew it was most sensitive? Taste her lips? Caress her flesh?
Suffice it to say, his thoughts led to an erection that made it impossible to sleep, so he finally gave up in the wee hours of the morn and stood at one of the windows overlooking a portion of the ruined castle. Frustratingly enough, he wished for the first time ever that he could spread his wings and fly so he could escape this terrible longing. It was like nothing he’d ever felt before. A driving, relentless need that only seemed to grow the more he thought about her. Needed her.
In fact, it became so bad he finally decided to go to her. See if she felt the same. Or at least he was about to until he spied something that made his heart freeze in his chest.
