Page 10 of Darkhan

Her gaze dropped to the space between them, space she knew he’d given her for her own peace of mind. Space some irrational part of her suddenly detested.

Harmony removed one hand from her glass to wipe at her face before she’d even realized more tears had rolled free. “I’m not free,” she whispered, unable to lift her gaze. “That’s why I had to run. That’s why … that’s why I can’t get a job. That’s why I had to sneak my way through college—which is not easy, let me tell you.” She choked on a bitter laugh. “I was never allowed to date, I only have like one friend and we’re not super close because my parents don’t approve of her.” She finally dragged her gaze back up to his patient, scowling face. “I don’t know what their arrangement with Ricky was, not specifically, but theywon’t approve of you, either. Because you weren’t their choice.” Her mouth opened to say more, but when she heard the next words forming in her brain, her throat constricted again.

Her parents wouldn’t approve of Zeno, first and foremost, because hevaluedher.

Zeno reached out again, brushing his fingers over her cheek before cupping the side of her face in his larger palm. Though his fingers were faintly calloused and his hand was strong, his touch remained gentle and warm. And the fire in his eyes … she couldn’t define it, but it didn’t scare her. Not at all.

“You are strong, Harmony,” Zeno said, his voice almost rough despite the low tone of it. “I have many words I might like to say to your parents, but the most important thing is that you hear me now. It does not matter what they demand or expect. You are your own woman. Your choices are your own. Whether you choose to take a job and be solely dependent upon yourself, to stay with your parents and endure their rules, or even to embrace a life with me—the right to make those choices is yours, and yours alone.” He stroked his thumb across her cheek. “Do you understand?”

The life she had known so far, that had led to her being handed over like a prize to a disgusting excuse of a man, or the dream she had been nurturing for the past few years. Or … a different dream, so unlikely she’d never really dared to imagine it at all. The impossible ideal of a life of warmth and happiness, with affection and comfort, and possibly even respect.

Harmony trembled as she set her glass back on the table. It seemed too unlikely to seriously consider. She reached up and covered the back of Zeno’s hand with her own, her eyes seeking his. “I want to know more,” she whispered brazenly, “more about you, and of what could be.”

What he offered seemed crazy, but it would be stupid to throw away such a chance without at least looking into it, right?

Chapter Five

The sun was setting by the time they rolled up to the curb in front of the single-story home Harmony had grown up in. She’d managed to forget her nerves for a precious little while, up in Zeno’s magnificent penthouse, but the familiar sight of her childhood home brought the twisting, nauseating feelings rushing back. She had been so desperate to get away when she’d fled, she hadn’t truly considered the consequences, let alone if fleeing was a viable option.

Her parents were going to be furious.

Zeno’s hand settled on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from the sight through the window. “We can still leave. You don’t need to face this today if you’re not ready.”

Harmony attempted a smile. They’d talked for close to two hours, about all sorts of things, and even though she knew it was crazy, she felt as though she knew him much better. Enough, for certain, that she knew he understood her anxiety and reservations for more reasons than because he could smell them. In whatever ways those feelings were smellable. And in turn, she understood his offer was genuine—they had only come there at all because she had insisted, and they would leave if or when she changed her mind.

That knowledge gave her strength. It made her smile easier. “This will just get harder the longer I put it off.”

Zeno’s hand slid to the nape of her neck, his touch warm enough to raise her body temperature. “I won’t leave you to face this alone, Little Dove.”

The warmth at her neck coursed through her chest. She opened her mouth to thank him, and all at once she realized the other looming danger. It went beyond what her parents would do to her for punishment, or even the threat of her next encounter with Patrick Eades. If this went remotely wrong, shemight never see Zeno again. The idea of that was unacceptable, in a way Harmony couldn’t explain. Even to herself.

She moved on impulse, not wanting to lose something she’d never truly had. Not wanting to regret the time she’d wasted. She twisted and half crawled across the bench seat of the sedan, pressing herself against him as her hands found his jaw a moment before her lips connected with his. The scrape of his trimmed beard beneath her fingers was like a tangible echo to the low rumble of his responding growl before his arms banded around her and Zeno took control.

His tongue slid past her lips as he tangled a hand in her hair, his other hand gripping the back of her dress. He leaned into her, kissing her deeply, with a hunger that made her entire body burn and clench simultaneously. It was unlike anything Harmony had imagined, let alone experienced. He held her so tightly that both their bodies moved with each heaving breath before the kiss even broke.

When it did, and his grip on her hair loosened, Harmony found herself straddling his thigh and panting in his face. She might have been embarrassed about all of that, if it weren’t for the barely contained need shining back at her from his eyes and the way his own chest rose with deep, unsteady breaths.

Zeno smoothed his hand over the back of her dress in a slow, deliberate motion, never taking his eyes from hers. “Be very careful about when you decide to kiss me like that again, Harmony. I can’t promise I’ll remember my restraint.”

She shouldn’t have smiled, and she certainly shouldn’t have laughed, but it was too surreal. “Should I apologize?”

“No. Never.” He moved the hand from her hair entirely and cupped her cheek, thumb brushing her lips.

He didn’t add more, and she felt irrationally flustered by that.

Instead, after she could breathe a little easier, Harmonysaid, “I guess we should get this done.” She had used the plural on purpose, but it felt wrong. This wasn’t his fight. It didn’t have to be his problem.

Zeno exhaled and carefully scooped her off his lap, setting her into a seated position at his side. “Then let’s begin.” He turned his attention forward as he dropped one hand to the door panel and projected his voice. “This could take some time. Go get yourself something to eat, and return.”

Harmony laid her fingertips on Zeno’s arm even as the driver voiced his understanding, and when Zeno met her gaze again, she spoke her new concern in a whisper. “Will he be all right?”

Zeno smiled, but this smile was not the warm and encouraging expression he’d offered her before. “Of course. This is my car, and Roland is my driver. In this neighborhood, my scent should be enough to drive off nearly any threat.” He held her stare a beat longer, as if to make sure she heard the meaning behind his words.

She did. She recognized she was bringing a freaking dragon to a neighborhood run by misfit shifters who didn’t truly have a central alpha, though several of them claimed the dynamic. She understood that the dragon at her side was already riled up, more than any of the other shifters would be, and more than likely his mere presence would stave off the threat of them. Because at their core they were creatures of instinct.

So she put her fears aside—those fears, at least—and this time climbed to her own two feet when Zeno opened her door seconds later. Her cute new boots went surprisingly well with the dress she still wore, and since Zeno had apparently tossed in a pack of socks with her shoe order, she’d opted to wear them.

If she was going to upset her parents, she might as well go all-out with it.

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