Page 96 of Tempting Her Dragons

“We won’t,” King whispers back.

I stare at the ceiling. “Sometimes, I feel like I am still in the closet,” I admit.

“I feel the same,” he says.

“We escaped, but the nightmare of that little boy still haunts me,” I say, shifting. We haven’t talked openly about our time there for a long time. “I have moments of feeling trapped. We have had a great life since, and I’m grateful to Mom for giving us that life. I felt like it could be taken away at any moment, as if I didn’t belong.”

“I understand,” he says gruffly. “I have had the same thoughts.”

“Meeting Saphira has been a revelation.” I drop my hand to rest over hers. “Not knowing what she was going through was torture. I was getting used to the idea of having her forever, and the thought that we wouldn’t would have broken me. The bond gave us a gift.”

“I never thought it could be as powerful as it is,” he says. “I want to be tied to her forever.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“For what?”

“For being the brother of my soul,” I say softly.

“Shit,” he mumbles. “You know I feel the same.”

“I know. I don’t think I would have gotten through our captivity if I didn’t have you.” I take a deep breath. “I was grateful to be tied to you. You gave me strength and love inour darkest times. I relied on you, perhaps too much, to get me through the days.”

“Fuck that,” he rumbles, and I look at him. “We were a team. You gave me just as much. I wanted to give up so many fucking times, but then I would look at you. I wanted to be there for you, just as you were for me. We needed each other. We are family, and nothing can change that. They may have taken our freedom, but they couldn’t break our love and loyalty.” He meets my gaze. “I love you, brother. We lived through all the shit to be here now. We were meant for her.”

“I know we are,” I agree. “We will be a family.”

“She says she is fine, but that bitch brought back all the hell she went through,” he says.

“We have to be sensitive to her needs,” I say. “She’s tough, and I know she’ll get past it.”

“The memories sneak up on you,” he says.

“Yes, they do.”

“I want to build our lives here with her,” he says.

“She is worried about Mom.”

“Why?”

“She doesn’t want her to be sad when we move.”

“Mom is thrilled we found her. She wants us to be happy,” he says. “Are you alright with living here?”

“Weirdly, yes.” The farm will always be special to me, but our place is here now.

“I want to live in this place, the only real home she’s known.”

“Then we do,” I agree. “Now we work on convincing Mom to follow.”

“I don’t think it will take much.” He clears his throat. “I love her,” he whispers.

“I know. You have softened.” I grin.

“Hey, I wasn’t that bad.” He smirks.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” I tease.

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