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It was late when we finally turned into the long drive that would bring me home. Noah slowed the Jeep before we got to the front of the house.
“Rena, look at me.”
My pride wouldn’t let me do anything but meet him eye to eye.
“No matter what you’re feeling right now or what happens in the future I want you to know how much I want you. I’ve dreamed of you,” he said, running his finger down the slope of my cheek. “And from now on you’re mine.”
“Excuse me?” I said, ire raised at his presumptuousness. “I don’t belong to anyone but myself.”
“Not anymore. And just as you belong to me, I belong to you as well. Your body burns for me just as mine burns for you. I know it goes against every part of your nature, but I want nothing more than to protect you. And to love you.”
A fierce yearning rushed through my body at the mention of love, but I tamped it down. It was a human emotion, and I couldn’t afford to let my humanness get in the way. “Why?” I asked.
“Because you need to be loved.”
I leaned forward until the gear shift pressed against my hip bone and pulled at his jacket until his face was close to mine. I nipped at his lips and kissed my way down his neck until I could draw in the scent of him. He smelled of rain and wildness.
“You need to tell me what’s going on here, Noah,” I whispered in his ear. “You seem to know all the right buttons to push. The wants and needs I’ve kept hidden my entire life are like an open book for you. If you want those things from me, you’re going to have to give me something in return.”
He pulled back and a glimmer of humor shone in his eyes. I narrowed my own in return. Dragons were good at manipulation. We were hard to resist when we asked for something. It was a trait built in to assure the growth of our hoards. Most of the time we never had to steal. Items were just given to us willingly.
“I won’t betray my people, Rena. You of all people should understand the honor in that.”
I pulled back, feeling a prick of conscience that was rare with the Drakán. He was right. I couldn’t ask him to betray his people.
“I’m sorry,” I said. The words came out with difficulty. I wasn’t sure I’d ever uttered them before.
“Give me your phone,” he said.
I handed him my iPhone without a thought and watched with curiosity as he typed something into it. He handed it back and I stared at his information programmed into my address book.
“I don’t know what’s going to face you in Belgium, Rena, but I don’t have a good feeling about it. No matter where you are. If you need me, I’ll come.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I’d probably be dead by the time you got to me.”
“I could be there faster than you think. Remember that and use the phone if you need me.” He pushed down on the accelerator and drove to the front of the house.
I wondered what grand plans the gods had in store for me. They’d given me The Destroyer and a man who wanted to love me all in the same day.
When the car stopped, I pushed the door open, ready to flee and get control over my emotions once again. But Noah put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. My body turned toward him voluntarily, almost as if I couldn’t help it.
“Rena.” It was all he had to say, and I leaned in to kiss him goodbye. It was a soft kiss, with none of the explosive passion we’d shared earlier, but it was just as potent. His fingers were hot on my skin, and I could feel my own temperature rising. The unspent desire from earlier in the evening was rushing to the surface, and the liquid fire that had filled us both with pain was beginning to streak down my body. I pulled away before things could get out of hand and the pain became unbearable.
The blue of his eyes glowed eerily and his teeth were clenched together to fight the pain. His breathing was erratic.
“Have a safe trip,” he said as he got himself under control.
I got out of the car on unsteady legs, and I didn’t look back as Noah drove away. I knew Erik was waiting for me on the porch, but I pretended he wasn’t there and opened the front door. I didn’t feel like facing the inquisition or any more judgments.
Erik followed me inside and closed the door behind us. “It must have been a hell of a date. You have sticks in your hair.”
“It wasn’t a date. It was business.” I walked up the stairs with every intention of ignoring him. I had to pack for a trip, which led me to the question, what was the correct wardrobe when you were going to meet your potential death?
“I found your Jillian. I thought you’d want to know,” Erik said, interrupting my thoughts.
It was the one thing he could have said that made me stop to pay attention. I turned around to face him, but he still stood at the bottom of the stairs.
“How did you find her?” I asked. “What clan is she?”
