Page 66 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

“That’s why I freaked out earlier,” he murmurs, an embarrassed smile on his face, “When I saw you in the forest with the Eclipse dragon. I just—I thought I was going to have to watchanotherwoman I loved die in front of my face when I couldn’t do anything about it.”

He averts his gaze again.

“I’m sorry for freaking out.”

“Yeah,” I murmur, “I get it—that must have been… I couldn’t even imagine, Rufus. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right,” he replies, “It happened years ago, it’s just… I thought I should tell you why it got under my skin so bad.”

“No, of course,” I reply, running my hand up and down his arm, “Thanks for telling me. I had no idea.”

Rufus opens his eyes fully and turns toward me, taking my hands in his.

“I know that your independence meanseverythingto you,” he says, “But it meant everything to Celeste too. She wasalso the strongest fighter I’ve ever seen outside of the Candara team, and she still died… And… I couldn’t stop it either.”

He blinks hard. His hand reaches up and wipes his eyes with his thumb and forefinger quickly before he looks at me intensely again.

“That’s what scares me,” he says, “If you got yourself in the fray, I don’t trust myself to save you. I couldn’t do it before when Celeste needed me, so… what if you needed me and I couldn’t save you?”

He puts a hand on my face. I lean my face into his hand.

“I couldn’t do it, Sarah,” he murmurs, “If that happened again… I couldn’t handle it. I can’t lose another woman I love.”

I look in those endless green eyes. There’s so much I’ve never seen before in them before tonight. I nod.

“Okay,” I mutter, “I understand. I’ll try to rein in the hero complex and keep myself a little safer for you.”

Rufus sighs, closing his eyes and smiling lightly.

“Thank you,” he replies.

He leans forward, and his warm lips touch mine.

I love you.

I deepen the kiss a little. He shuffles a little closer to me and—

He jerks back from me with an“Ah!”

I snap back. What’s happening?

“Oh, my god!” he snaps, “Get out of here, you little bastard!”

“Huh?” I ask

Soft fur starts cuddling up on my lap. I look down to see the little black mask of Roscoe looking up at me as he clambers up onto my thighs. I start laughing. Rufus has walked almost to the other end of the porch, away from us.

“Oh, hey there!” I coo, “Are you looking for Kaius, you little chubster? I haven’t got any popcorn for you!”

“Don’t touch him, Sarah!” Rufus yelps, “He’s probably got rabies!”

“He’s fine. He’s vaccinated,” I assure him, “He’s just here looking for his dragon dad or whatever Kaius is now.”

I scoop Roscoe up with a light heave, holding him like a baby.

“Oh, he’s heavy now! What the hell is that guy feeding you, Ros?”

“Sarah!” Rufus protests.

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