Page 51 of Red Dragon’s Heart

He did things she could see, so she’d know he cared. He brought her spaghetti and vegetables and ice cream and late-night tea. He helped her in the lab, translating Draken and trying to explain magic.

He massaged her sore muscles and bought her bath salts for hot baths, and then he attacked her naked body with every skill he possessed until she was moaning and clinging to him, exploding in orgasm after orgasm.

And he did things she couldn’t see.

He broke his radio silence with Cazbek, who was the head of security for the corporation Emon had created to sell rare minerals on earth. He asked him—well, okay, he demanded—a security team for Maddie’s brother.

Chisholm didn’t know where Maddie was or how to reach her, so he still couldn’t use Troy for leverage. But Troy was a loose end, and every time Zakerek thought about him out there with no protection, he got a very, very bad feeling.

If anything happened to Troy, Maddie would never get over it. He had to do everything he could to keep the guy safe.

So he got Cazbek to assign the security detail—round-the-clock surveillance, wherever Troy was and whatever he was doing.

He understood now why Maddie had been so drawn to the kittens, especially Grayson. She saw herself and Troy in them—the fierce big sister taking care of her weaker, vulnerable brother. If she couldn’t take care of her own brother right now, then he had to do it for her.

The other thing he did was have a conversation with Thorne Greystone. Besides being the liaison to the Shifter Council for the Wild Dragons living on earth, Thorne and his brothers were powerful dragon sorcerers.

Zakerek needed more than a potion that could—usually—stave off a monster attack. With Maddie here, he needed something stronger—something that could make sure he wouldn’t Change.

And he knew Thorne had it.

There was no way he could risk the monster going out of control, and hurting Maddie. He’d do anything to keep that from happening.

Chapter 23

As time went on, Maddie began to realize what a huge task she’d set herself—and how delusional she probably was, to think she could figure out a way to help her brother in the time she had, or that she could reverse what had happened to Zak without a better understanding of magic.

True, she was only a couple of weeks into her work. But she already could see that what she was trying to do wouldn’t take the months she’d optimistically told Zak it would.

It would take years. Troy didn’t have that kind of time. And Zak—he couldn’t stay away from his clan for years either, fighting the monster the way he had been. He had superhuman strength and determination, but she’d been in his mind; she’d seen the toll it was taking on him.

He wouldn’t survive that long.

And King Emon surely wouldn’t finance her research, sight unseen and no questions asked, for that long either. Sooner or later he’d cut off the credit card—or come here demanding results.

But what was the alternative? Turning her research over to Zak’s Council and their dragon sorcerers, who understood the magical part of it?

But how could she? They wouldn’t care about Troy. They wouldn’t help him.

They’ll help Zak, she reminded herself. Probably.

But Troy had no one except her.

Zak woke one morning at four a.m. Maddie wasn’t beside him in bed—she must be in the lab.

She’d been working harder than ever the last couple of days, hardly sleeping or eating. He hated seeing her like that, dark circles under her eyes, and starting to lose the beautiful curves she’d gained while she was in hiding.

He had to do something, but what? Troy’s time was limited; he couldn’t do anything about that.

But you could call in the troops, he reminded himself. The Al-Maddeiri clan, the Silverlake wolf pack and the Greystone brothers often worked together on shifter medical research.

They might have had some breakthroughs he didn’t know about. He was just too damn proud to ask them.

And too damn scared for Maddie. He understood now why she’d done what she’d done, but the fact remained that she’d worked with people who abducted shifters and experimented on them against their will. Just because he understood it didn’t mean the clan or the Shifter Council would.

He couldn’t take the chance she’d be arrested.

It’s only been a couple of weeks, he reminded himself. He didn’t need to make any decisions yet. But he did need to take care of Maddie. She was only human—she needed a mental break, or she’d collapse.