Page 9 of Darkhan

Heat rushed through her and Harmony was sure her face had gone a bright shade of pink. That wasn’t nearly as scandalous as the last suggestive thing he’d said, but she wasn’t used to being spoken to that way. It was somehow both embarrassing and thrilling. She lifted her tea to her lips in a poor attempt to hide her face, took a small sip, and quietly asked, “What about the … fire?” She wasn’t aware her gaze had dropped to the coffee table until he answered her, until she realized she couldn’t see the smirk she was sure she heard in his voice.

“Dragons breathe fire, Little Dove. I promise you I have excellent control.”

Her head whipped around so fast that even the minimal movement made her dizzy. “You’re adragon?”

Zeno inclined his head. “Yes. And I’ll show you my other form when you’re a bit more comfortable with the idea.” His gaze dropped to the tablet before he reached out and lifted it from the cushion between them. “Of course, all of that is presuming you can decide on a pair of shoes. Do you have any concerns with this store other than the cost?”

Harmony tried not to gape at him, her mind ping-ponging to keep up with and process the conversation. The man was way too calm for what he’d just revealed. She had known shifters existed all her life, but never once had she heard thatdragonshifters were a real thing. Not to say she’d investigated it. Any historical records on shifter ancestry were not easily acquired, as the general existence of them was not as widely known as she had thought when she was younger.But still!She pulled in a breath, flexed her fingers around her glass, and dug up some type of response to his latest question. “Do I need another concern?”

Zeno hummed low in his throat and lowered the tablet once more. “So we have to discuss the money issue first, then.”

Her brows flew to her hairline. “What?”

Wordlessly, Zeno reached out and plucked the slippery glass from her grasp, setting it onto the coffee table in front of her. Then he scooped up her nearest hand and pulled it across the space between them, folded between his. His warm amber eyes burned out at her, the steadiness in them somehow keeping her calm even as her heart rate spiked again. When he spoke, his tone was equally patient and gentle yet somehow strong and unyielding. “Perhaps you misunderstand. I am not offering you a loan. I fully intend to buy these shoes for you as a gift. The first of many.” He gave her hand a light squeeze. “Take advantage of my wealth and let me spoil you, Little Dove. You may choose whatever you like.”

Harmony swallowed hard. The heat of his touch surrounding her hand felt almost overwhelming, yet it was nothing compared to the intensity of his stare and the weight of his words. “That’s … a lot, Zeno.” She didn’t really mean the shoes, although at the price that designer charged, the statement was still true.

His lips lifted in a small smile that made his eyes light up like the flame of a candle, warm and somehow inviting, and he adjusted his hold on her hand to raise her knuckles to his lips. Without taking his eyes from hers he pressed his lips there in a chaste, lingering kiss. The action sent a thrilling tingle down her spine that was warm and pleasant, and felt more than a little indecent with the way the sensation dropped into a coil low in her belly. That, and the look in his eyes, reminded her of the more scandalous things he’d whispered in her ear earlier.

The things she’d only read about in the books she’d borrowed from one of her classmates well over a year prior. She hadn’t realized there were men who actually talked like that.

Definitely not the time to be thinking about those kinds of things!

Zeno recaptured her hand after pulling it from his lips, squeezing again. “As I told you before, Little Dove, all I ask for right now is a chance. Give me a chance—giveusa chance—and you will understand this is simply my nature. I want to take care of you, to see you not only protected but comfortable and thriving. I hardly think a pair of good shoes is too much.”

Tears rushed her eyes without warning and Harmony found herself curling her fingers around the hand beneath her own.

Protected. Comfortable. Thriving.

Her parents had worked incredibly hard—too hard—on one of those things, in arguably all the wrong ways, up until that day. Or they’d made it seem like they had. But the others? No one had really made an issue of the others. The others were … unimportant.

“Harmony?” Concern laced Zeno’s strong voice and he leaned forward, removing one hand from hers to reach for her face and gently wipe away a tear that had trickled down her cheek.

She licked her lips and shoved down as much of her roiling emotions as she could. “I’m sorry, I … I’m not used to…” It was too humiliating to even put into words and her throat constricted. Instead, she indicated with her free hand for the tablet. “I’ll look for some shoes, if it’s okay.” Maybe he was right. Maybe one pair of nice shoes was okay. The smile he offered her before again handing over the tablet certainly said it was.

When she saw the prices attached to the shoes, she nearly gave up all over again. Add that he’d already declared his intent to pay extra for expedited processing and to pay a third party for delivery—a service the company didn’t offer—and Harmony felt ill. She opened the URL to take herself to a cheaper alternative, but the weight of Zeno’s stare over her shoulder kept her from seeing the plan through. So she thought she’d prove her ownpoint instead, and dutifully shopped for the most appealing pair of shoes she could find.

Of course, she found so many options it took her several minutes to narrow them down again, and ultimately, she added two pairs to her cart—one pair of irresistible ankle boots with a low two-inch heel that were super cute and more fashionable than she’d ever been allowed, and one more practical but still girlie sandal. He had said he wanted to spoil her, after all. Once the cart was ready, she turned the tablet to face him with the predicted price on the screen.

“There isn’t even an option on the website for the expedited thing you mentioned, so I can’t begin to guess how much extra that will add to the total,” Harmony said. “I really don’t mind looking somewhere else.” Her mother would have beat her over the head for even suggesting spending so much on shoes.

Zeno took the tablet, scrolling briefly to examine her choices. “Only the two?”

Harmony felt her eyebrows climb up her head. “Did you see that total?”

“Harmony.” He looked over at her.

She scrunched up her lips, just for a second, before nodding slowly. She wasn’t sure why he was so dead set on this when he could just as easily drive them back to her neighborhood and have her retrieve the shoes she already owned. “Two is plenty.”

He inclined his head, tapped at the screen, and proceeded to dig his phone from a pants pocket. His thumb rolled across the smaller device as he sent a message somewhere, then he set the phone down and swiped at the tablet again before repeating the same process. After which, he set both devices on the coffee table and turned to face her.

“Your shoes should be here by hours’ end. I’ll take youhome to get anything you want from your parents’ house and talk things out with them after that, and when you’re done, we can go to dinner.”

Needing something to do with her hands, Harmony reached again for her iced tea. “That … I mean—” She sighed. “Dealing with my parents could take hours.” She gulped some of her drink. “You don’t have to stick around for that.” She certainly didn’t recommend it.

Zeno’s brow furrowed. “I’m not abandoning my mate to face confrontation on her own,” he said firmly. “Let alone in such a dangerous place.” His voice hardened unexpectedly as he spoke. “If any member of that gang shows up to try and take you, I’ll make sure they regret it.”

Her breath faltered in her lungs. The truth was, she expected Ricky would come sniffing around if she was there too long. And she expected she’d be quite literally locked away the moment she re-entered that house, until her parents felt motivated to let her out. The only way she would ever taste freedom again was if Zeno were with her to make sure of it. But that seemed like far too much to ask.

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