Page 22 of Burn for the Dragon
Hawke rolled off the bed and found his pants. He pulled them on with trembling hands, not bothering to fasten them. Balling his fists to stop the damn shaking, his chin fell to his chest.
What the hell did he just do?
He should just walk the fuck out and never look back.
But he couldn’t do that. No matter who or what Everly was, she hadn’t tricked him on purpose. Her emotions for him were pure. He knew it with every fiber in his being. Because he could feel them, volleying back and forth, now amplified by a bazillion, thanks to her blood in his system. What just happened was no one’s fault but his own.
A streetlight came on outside, adding more illumination and breaking him out of his reverie. Something glinted in the corner by the door. Hawke peered closer. It was a thin, gold chain draped into the design of another bohemian-like tapestry covering her wall. He looked around her room. Really looked this time. Gold hung everywhere. On the walls. From the door handles. Draped around the mirror above her dresser. Between that and the bright colors, he felt like he was inside a sultan’s jewelry box.
How had he missed it?
Because he’d been too caught up in his physical reaction to her and not thinking, that’s fucking why.
“Hawke?” She touched his arm again, and his body reacted despite all the reasons why it shouldn’t. Why it can’t. Not again.
He stepped out of her reach and covered his face with his hands. “Stupid. Stupid! I’m a fucking idiot!” And he was. The signs had all been there. The lack of fear any normal human would have when confronted with a vampire. The way he couldn’t read her thoughts or influence her mind. Her penchant for gold and bright colors…
He’d once known someone else whose room was nearly identical to this one. But it had been a long time since he’d seen her, and he’d almost forgotten—Kohl’s mother.
Kohl’s dragon-born mother.
Kohl’s mother who would’ve been executed for breaking the laws and mating with a vampire, if she hadn’t brought with her something the Master had desperately wanted—Kohl. The dragon/vampire crossbreed miraculously born from the union of sin. He was the only reason she’d been allowed to live.
But Everly was deaf. Supernatural creatures did not have disabilities as a rule. It was physically impossible.
Everly pulled his hands away from his face. Her expression was panicked. “Hawke, please talk to me. I don’t know what’s happening here.” She watched his mouth, eagerly waiting for words of reassurance he couldn’t bring himself to say.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The question was asked through gritted teeth. Because she didn’t know, you idiot.
“What?” She frowned, shaking her head slightly. “Please speak clearly. I didn’t understand. What?”
Hawke took a deep breath and unclenched his jaw. He asked her again, though he already knew the answer. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“What you are.”
The words weren’t so much spoken as growled in her direction. But she must’ve gotten the meaning clear enough, for tears filled her eyes. She took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. She was wearing his shirt.
A rush of possessiveness filled him. So strong, he could barely comprehend her next words.
“What? Is this some kind of male vampire bullshit because I’m not a virgin or something? I’m not a fucking whore.” Her chin rose and she somehow managed to look down her nose at him from her shorter height. “And even if I was, you have no right to judge me for it. Not when guys have been fucking anything with two legs for…forever and get nothing but a pat on the back and told what a stud they are.”
“What?” It was Hawke’s turn to be confused. “No. No. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Some of the steel slid from her backbone. “Then what?”
As he studied her face, one tear slid down her cheek, followed quickly by another. She ignored them, didn’t acknowledge what she was feeling in any way. Her entire focus was on Hawke, waiting for him to make it better.
She didn’t know. He understood this to be true all the way down to his bones. Impossible, you would think. And yet there it was.
It didn’t change what he now needed to do. But he could give her as much of an explanation as he could. She deserved that much. He already knew the answer, but still felt the need to ask, “Everly, do you know why Parasupe has your brother?”
A blast of renewed sorrow hit him so hard it took his breath away. Finally, she swiped at her eyes and looked straight at him. “No. I have no idea. I’d only just found him myself when he up and disappeared.”
“Was he lost?”
The sarcasm was lost on her. “Sort of.” She sighed and walked around him to sit on the bed.
