He smiled wide again, then gestured to the front door. “When he returns from Seattle, I’m sure he’ll answer any questions you have.”
She frowned at the way he was hustling her out, but she had interrupted what was likely some very hot sex. He probably wanted to get back to it. “Well, thanks for listening, anyway.” She hurried toward the door.
He activated it by waving a hand. She had to open the doors manually, but Leonidas and Lucian seemed to have some magic they used instead. Even that small thing nagged at her—there was so much she didn’t know.
Leonidas leaned on the edge of the doorway as she stepped outside and turned back to say goodbye. The humor was back in his face. “Stop by anytime, Arabella. And if things don’t work out with you and Lucian, you know where to find me.” He gave her a crooked grin before sliding the door shut in her face.
What the fuck? Did Leonidas just offer to have sex with her? After she told him she might love Lucian? Her mouth hung open as she stood in front of the door, gaping at it with disbelief. But heat was rushing to her face again, so she forced herself to turn and march away.
What was she thinking? These men were hundreds of years old, they had amazing magical powers, and they were dragon royalty on top of everything. What made her think she could understand anything about them after having spent a few days and one twenty-four-hour sex marathon with Lucian? And yet… she couldn’t help feeling something for the sexy man who was also a golden dragon. Something more than just lust, although there was plenty of that.
He had saved her from a demon in an alley. Then he’d slowly gone about winning her over—first, offering to help with her practice; then working together on this faux search for a mate; and finally, through the hot healing power of his bed.
It was always you, Arabella. Always you.
He’d whispered the words, but they’d resonated straight through to her soul.
Lucian was at the end of his life, he needed a mate, and he wanted her. Even if she didn’t love him, it was something to consider. But he’d made it clear he was serious about finding a woman who could love a man like him. True Love, he’d called it. This sealing thing for making the dragonling would only work if she really, actually, truly loved him.
But you’re unsure. Those were Leonidas’s words, and they brought her march down the hallway to a standstill. That was why his brother had seemed so cool, examining her, saying nothing, revealing nothing—he was just looking out for his brother, making sure she was the kind of mate who could actually love him. Because that mattered. A lot.
But how could even she be sure of such a thing? How could anyone really know if their love was “true”? She’d certainly thought she was in love before—and all it had gotten her was nearly choked to death.
Something buzzed in her pocket, making her jump. It was just the phone Lucian had given her. She fished it out.
Back early. Meet me on top of the keep. Want to show you something.
And like that, her traitorous heart was skipping beats. She had no idea what Lucian wanted to show her, but it didn’t matter. She just wanted to be with him again. Flying around the keep, in bed, or maybe just talking for a while. And they had a lot of talking to do.
She trotted down the hall, following her GPS tracker on her phone back to Lucian’s lair. She’d left it unlocked, so she just tapped the wall panel to get in, hurried through the great room and up the stairs. It wasn’t until she was passing Lucian’s bedroom that it occurred to her she might stop to brush her hair or something. But the wind outside would just blow it around anyway. She tucked the phone in her pocket and climbed the spiral stairwell to the roof.
The sun was glorious outside, slowly setting toward Seattle in the West and turning the clouds to fire. She wrapped her arms around her, a slight chill rising in the cooling breeze. She scanned the air for Lucian’s dragon form winging its way back to her.
It took a moment, but then she saw it—just a shadowy form in the distance, but he was rocketing across the sky. She raised her arms to wave so he would see her. He was still far away, but with those super dragon senses, he had to be able to see her, if she could see him. Sure enough, he banked toward her and quickly grew closer, only…
Arabella squinted against the setting sun. His shadowy dragon form wasn’t just shaded by the sun… it was black.
Black as midnight and tar and all the dark things.
Lucian’s dragon was warm golden silk-over-steel, and this thing—this black thing coming for her—had no hint of gold across the full sweep of its dark wings.
Her heart lurched—once, twice—then she ran.