“Much,” he murmured as the memory faded. “Our ages didn’t matter. I found you stunning from that moment on.”
In truth, he had found her stunning since the moment her tiny dragon had approached his. More than that, he sensed something rather shocking from that memory. Something he asked about before they continued on.
Chapter Nine
“YOU LOVED ME already?” Tor asked Raven bluntly. Without a doubt, for Cian’s benefit. “You loved me from the moment you first appeared to me before being born?”
Not surprisingly, he had picked that up from the memory they just witnessed of her dressing in Viking black leather for the first time as a ghostly child.
“So it seems,” Raven granted, not about to gush over it. Certainly not about to give voice to the wondrous feeling her little self had experienced at seeing him again. At finding the dragon who had haunted her thoughts. Who had somehow been with her since the very beginning, even though she couldn’t remember precisely when or where that was. She did, however, recall that she wasn’t alone in her sentiments. “Just like you loved me.”
“I did,” he admitted freely enough.
This time when they went up a steep incline, Tor didn’t bother offering his hand but pulled her up before Cian could assist her. Even worse, he caged her in on what turned out to be a narrow path with a rock face on one side and a sharp drop into sheer darkness on the other. He tilted her chin and met her eyes before she could shimmy out of his reach.
“Which means somewhere inside me now,” his gaze roamed her face with appreciation, “Istilllove you.” His dragon eyes flared. His gaze purposefully lingered on her lips. “Isn’t that right, Cian?”
The wizard didn’t respond, but she hadn’t expected him to. Tor’s inner beast was growing more territorial by the moment, and Cian sensed as much.
“How do I know you know that, though, Cian?” she murmured, looking at the Irishman rather than Tor. She was determined to remain unaffected by his touch and proximity no matter how much he overwhelmed her senses. How much he made her legs grow weak and her skin burn. “You sense Tor every bit as much as you do me, don’t you? You’re just as connected somehow?”
“Yes.” Rather than get riled by Tor’s behavior, Cian perked a brow at the Viking and gestured ahead. “I might be wrong but is this not an especially dangerous area to linger?”
“It is,” Tor granted, not moving fast by any means. Rather, he trailed his finger down her throat, once again wreaking havoc on her ability to breathe before he urged her to go first. “I might be leading the way, but I sense your dragon is remembering, too. With you in front, I can catch you if need be.”
“Catch me?” She chuckled. “I’m a dragon. I’ll just shift.”
“I don’t think so.” He gestured that she continue moving. “Not if you sense what I do.”
She’d been so caught up in how he made her feel she’d nearly missed what lay ahead. Not just ahead but all around them. Powerful seer magic. Magic that could cripple a dragon if they weren’t careful.
“It’s another safeguard,” she realized, taking the lead before her knees gave out altogether. Not just Tor’s scent but his proximity was starting to drive her wild. Sure, he smelled great, like pine on a winter wind mixed with spicy cedar, but it was more than that. Primal and delicious and full of good times. Like a cozy scent that reminded her of a home she had forgotten.
“Do seers do that often against dragons?” Trinity asked. “And what exactly does a safeguard against us mean inside this mountain?”
“This particular safeguard means we can’t shift.” Raven didn’t bother looking down but carefully made her way because the drop was substantial. Downright deadly. “There are more here. I used to....” She swallowed back emotion at the sudden realization. “Tor and I used to go searching for these safeguards.”
