Page 10 of Dragon's Honor

Ash let everyone climb into the limo, following once everyone else was tucked safely inside and closed the door.

He was surprised to find Henrik and Olivia sitting on the side benches of the car facing each other, while Finley was sitting next to him. He’d expected the sisters to stay close. Finley’s eyes were on his profile.

“I can’t take it off,” she said quietly, trying not to draw the attention of their siblings.

Ash eyed her curiously. “Can’t take what off?”

“The bracelet. Why can you?”

“I must have a special touch.”

Her brown eyes narrowed at him. “I’m not stupid, you know. There’s something with you and this bracelet. Why didn’t you keep it?”

“It looks better on you.”

“Was the cuff yours?”

She saw the cuff? He didn’t know what to think. If she saw the cuff, then the jewelry had spun itself into the new decoration while she was watching?

He cleared his throat. The words were sitting on his lips. Which ones would win? The lie? Or the truth?

“Do you know what it is? Why it changed on me?”

“It was mine,” he said. What he wanted to say was,you are mine.

“How did it change?”

“Magic?” he suggested the truth playfully.

Finley shifted in her seat, angling toward him. Ash glanced at their siblings; they were both staring at their cell phones.

She placed her hand on his. “Why does it do that?”

He didn’t have to look down to know the stones were glowing again. He did have to look away, so he wouldn’t kiss her, claim her.

He didn’t want to lie.

“I’ve seen the videos. The ones people are saying aren’t real, they’re tampered with or altered. The ones with a man changing into a wolf or the one that looks like a dragon in the clouds. What about that woman who broke all the glass in a coffee shop? I’ve seen them and I don’t think they’re fake. I think there’s more in the world than we could imagine.”

The sultry sound of her voice filled with some much awe, so much ache for those stories to be real, made him squeeze his eyes shut. He breathed through his mouth so he couldn’t smell her perfect scent. It was hard to not pin her against the seat, to claim her lips, to taste her, siblings be damned.

Ash shifted toward her. Those videos were ruining everything. Whoever thought cameras on everyone’s phone was a brilliant idea needed to be shot. It’d helped with crimes and other things, but the damage they’d done was detestable. Women’s virtues, men’s dick pics, children preyed on by predators, and unlocking the secrets of the supernatural were all negative side effects. Not to mention the fact that people got anxiety attacks from being away from their own phones for too long.

Ash was sure he was aging in his seat as he grumbled about the fall of society because of cell phones. It wasn’t even his society.

“You believe all that nonsense?” Ash said finally.

Finley smirked. “Play it cool, that’s okay. I get it. The fact that you didn’t keep the bracelet means I’ll see you again.”

As if she knew they were close to her place, she turned back in her seat. The limo pulled over. Finley climbed over him to get to the door. It took everything he had not to pull her back into his arms and onto his lap.

She stepped onto the concrete and helped Olivia out of the door. Finley leaned back in and met his gaze directly, no fear, no challenge, just a smile. She handed him a small piece of paper and then closed the door.

Ash couldn’t put the paper away in his pocket until he was alone. He had to know exactly what she’d written.

Call me when you want it back. 786-555-4213 ~Finley

Henrik chuckled. “Brother, you are so fucked.”

---