Page 58 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

“I agree with Kaius,” Milo says, “Our job is to protect Julie, Lena, and now Sarah. Even if they capture the cave, even if there are more relics in there, we can try to get them back later. We can do something about that. But if something happens to someone’s fated mate… that can’t be undone.”

Rufus’s voice rings through my head again:“I can’t lose another woman I love, Sarah!”

I look over at Rufus. He’s not meeting my eye—almost pointedly so.

“So, we’re gonna hunker down here until Cyrus and Evander get back, then?” Kaius says.

“Yes,” Orion says, “Let’s not leave here until they return. We stick together.”

“So,”Kaius says, looking back at Julie as he speaks to Orion, “we have the evening to ourselves in here, then?”

Julie breaks out into giggles, flushing bright red. Orion gives the smallest sigh and replies.

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, I feel Rufus’s green eyes beaming into me. I match his gaze.

“Are you okay with staying here for the night?” he asks me.

It's a simple question, but I feel it in my soul. I just nod at him, and Rufus smiles lightly and nods back at me. I just spend a second staring at his soft smile—the way the corners of his jade eyes crinkle and how his freckles are suddenly visible.

Again, his voice in my head:“I love you.”Then, the vision flickers through my mind again.

I have to break his gaze, staring down at the floor.

God, I don’t know what to say to this man…

“So, we’re agreed?” Milo clarifies, “We’re all staying here and holding down the fort until Cyrus and Evander come back?”

“I think that’s the smartest move,” Orion says, “We’ll wait for the Alpha to come back before we make our next move about the cave.”

***

After the meeting, everyone breaks apart. Milo, Rufus, and Orion choose to stand guard on the porch—and by “stand guard”, they mean having a couple of beers and chilling. Kaius and Julie snuck off somewhere, and I think it’s in all our best interests not to follow them until they choose to come back on their own.

That leaves me and Lena on our own, which is fine by me.

“Can I talk to you?” I ask her.

Lena reads something in my expression and frowns lightly.

“Yeah, sure,” she says, “What’s up?”

We both sit on the couch, and I look around. I can see the dragons out the back, deep in their own conversation.

“Is it Rufus?” Lena asks.

“Yeah,” I murmur, “I don’t… Um…”

Why is it so hard to collect my thoughts? I can’t have pregnancy brain fog already, right?!

Lena’s staring at me hard, and my stomach drops; I lose my nerve.

“I… Rufus and I have… been getting together,” I start.

Compared to the pregnancy possibility, that’s no pressure in that conversation at all.

“We know,” Lena chuckles, “I haven’t seen you look at someone like that since we were teenagers.”

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