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“All that? My body, you mean?” he asked.
“Are you trying to annoy me?”
“Not really, but it seems to be quite easy,” he said with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes and patted her jacket. Then sat up when she didn’t feel the onyx circle in her pocket. Her eyes darted around the cavern floor littered with rock debris. “I must’ve dropped it.”
Kell opened his hand and the onyx circle rested on his palm. “I believe you are looking for this. It interfered with my ability to heal you, so I removed it.”
She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”
Kell placed it in her palm. “I would never take something that belongs to you or the druids. I am bound to protect you and that which is yours.”
As soon as the circle touched her skin, power flooded through her body. It differed from when she felt it the first time, but she couldn’t figure out why. As if some kind of barrier that had been broken in her soul was fixed.
She placed it back in her pocket and tried to figure out what she planned to do about the sexy dragon claiming to be her mate. Her life didn’t account for a man in it.
“I am not a man,” Kell said.
Her hand fisted in the soft down quilt. “I told you not to do that.”
“And I responded by telling you it is impossible for me not to hear your thoughts. You are broadcasting them to me, not the other way around.”
She pursed her lips, knowing it was the truth. She couldn’t forget the circumstances of that day, when she’d been so desperate for a friend, she had ripped him from his slumber. How selfish could she be? “I’m sorry.” How many times would she apologize to him? To her sister, before her time was up?
“Alana...” his voice was a plea. It wasn’t just the telepathic communication. She could feel his anguish. His need to protect her.
Her eyes roamed over his black T-shirt and ripped jeans. The shirt was pulled tight on his torso and even through the material, she could see the line of muscles. His thick thighs stretched the fabric of his pants, and she was sure that if the dragon thing didn’t work out, he could moonlight as a fitness model. She never considered herself a sexual person, but she almost died a few minutes ago. Truthfully, she had never imagined her life as a long-term event. Maybe she should consider taking him for a spin?
Kell snorted. “While I am more than willing to explore the images in your mind, that was not the purpose of creating this bed.”
“First, fantasies are supposed to be private. Second, what do you expect when you are hotter than every man in my fireman calendar.”
Kell frowned. “Of course, I’m hotter. I am a dragon.”
“Literal much? I didn’t mean it that way... forget it.”
His eyes flashed with crystalline fire. “I will not forget that you were willing to allow your death rather than reach for me. Had you not maintained our telepathic link, you would’ve died.”
She remembered that part. Part of her was sorry it had to continue. The cold existence of her life and the betrayal she was forced to maintain. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand that you had the means to reach for me. To send me your location, but you chose not to do so.”
Alana glanced at the silver mark on her hand. It was subtle and inert, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Perhaps the depth of the tunnels had protected her so far. “I don’t have time to explain. You have to go.”
“I am not leaving you, Alana.”
“You need to get away from me. Now,” she raised her voice.
“Why?” he said in an infuriatingly calm tone.
“People die around me. Trust me, you don’t want to stick too close.”
He arched an eyebrow, and it accentuated his blue eyes. “It is my duty to protect you. Is this why you have avoided your family? Your sister?”
There were a thousand things she should’ve said. “Yes.”
Kell nodded. “We assumed there was something to your evasive behavior, but your days of running are over. I will not leave your side.” He flicked his wrist and the ionic circle appeared in his hand. “I have a binding spell on your circle. Since it belongs to my mate, it is connected to me.”
