Page 34 of Sacrificed to the Dragon

His dragon huffed but went quiet again.

By the time Melanie came into the room with Bram, he had mostly managed to get both himself and his dragon under control. His clan leader kept his distance, but Tristan could see the concern in his eyes for his hurting clan members. “What do you want me to do, Tristan?”

He looked down at Ara and back to his clan leader. “Talk to her and see if you can get her out of her head. Despite what we thought, her dragon-half is still there. I saw her eyes flash to slits twice.”

Surprise flashed in Bram’s eyes before he studied Arabella with his piercing blue gaze. Tristan hoped his friend was coming up with a plan. If anyone could help his sister, it was Stonefire’s leader.

Finally, Bram nodded. “Right. I’ll try. But if I can get her away from you, I think it’s best for you and Melanie to leave while I work my clan leader magic on her.”

Bram was hiding it well as he always did, but Tristan could sense the dragonman’s unease and sadness concerning Arabella. He decided to ease the tension in the room. “And by magic, I hope you don’t mean your dick.”

Bram smiled. “Not that my cock isn’t like magic on a stick, but no, Tristan, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to me. After all, I remember Ara as a wee thing. She’s like a sister to me.”

Tristan smiled and nodded. “Right. Sit on the other side of her and take a hold of her shoulders. She’s probably too far gone to run, but I’m not taking any chances.”

He waited to see if Arabella would protest, but she must’ve retreated back into her memories because she didn’t so much as move.

Bram sat down. As he squeezed Ara’s shoulder, he said, “Arabella, it’s me, Bram. It’s time to release Tristan, love, and let me and my dragon help you.”

Ara tightened her grip around Tristan and said, “No. I don’t want your help.”

Bram’s expression turned determined, into what Tristan called his “I’m not taking your shit” face.

His leader moved his grip to the back of Ara’s neck and squeezed. “Arabella MacLeod, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you as your clan leader to let go of Tristan and look at me.”

At first, he wondered if Ara was too far gone to recognize the order and dominance in Bram’s voice, but she slowly moved her arms, sat up, and looked at Bram, who gave her a nod of approval.

Since Bram still gripped Arabella’s neck, Tristan stood up and said to his leader, “Phone me later and let me know what happens.”

Bram never took his gaze from Arabella as he said, “I’ve got this, Tristan. Go.”

Trusting his friend to take care of Ara, he turned to face Melanie. She was unusually quiet, and neither he nor his beast liked it. They liked her moving and lively. He needed to get her out of here.

He placed a hand on her elbow and ignored the heat that flared at the softness of her skin against his. “Let’s go.”

Melanie nodded, and he guided them out of Arabella’s cottage and toward his own. It was time to take Melanie home, not to Samira’s place, but to his. Neither half of him wanted to let her out of his sight. He only hoped he could control his dragon once they were out in the open. Without Arabella’s pain, his dragon would think of nothing but fucking Melanie. The human female wouldn’t understand the reason for the need, and for some reason, her opinion of him was starting to matter.

Rather than think too much on that, he guided her out the door and into the fresh air.

* * *

When they wereat a safe distance from Arabella’s house, Melanie’s curiosity couldn’t take the silence any longer and she blurted out, “What can Bram do to help your sister that you can’t do yourself? You mentioned something about dominance, but I don’t fully understand what that means.”

“So you didn’t find anything in your research over the years about social structures within the dragon clans?”

She looked at him askance. “So you were paying attention to me on the first day. I wasn’t quite sure you were, given your level of assholery.”

From out of nowhere, Tristan chuckled. It was low and brief, but she loved how his short laugh made the corners of his eyes crinkle and lessen the harshness of his face. It made him even more handsome than when he was all alpha grumpy. Not that he wasn’t attractive when he went all caveman—or was it dragon?—in the bedroom, but this was different. This was a side of Tristan she wasn’t used to seeing.

This was a man she could see herself falling for.

His face relaxed with a faint smile and he said, “I like you this way better than when you’re reserved and quiet.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Good, because it seems with you, I can never be reserved, let alone quiet.”

His gaze turned heated. “Yes. Even through the dragon-haze, I remember how loud you liked to cry out in pleasure when I made you come.”

Warmth shot through her body at the memory of Tristan’s heat on top of her. She should feel bad about it considering Arabella was currently battling her own personal hell, but her hormones didn’t have a conscience.

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