Page 60 of The Dragon Recruit
Of course, Iris had figured out the timeline of his life. He yanked the blanket from the back of the sofa and spread it over his and Iris’s lap. “There. Now you won’t get cold.”
Her gaze softened. “Thank you. Now, tell me.”
As he debated what to say, she took one of his hands and threaded her fingers through his. He stared at their clasped fingers, and in that moment, Antony knew he would one day love this dragonwoman. And he needed to do everything he could to win her and not hold back because it might be painful someday.
And so he tightened his grip around her waist and debated where to start.
Chapter Eighteen
To most people, Antony would look almost nonchalant, with the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as if he were about to smile.
However, Iris could see the tenseness of his jaw, the way his eyes became a little distant, and she knew this was hard for him.
Aye, part of her still regretted bringing it up. And yet, the coming days would probably be crazy and busy and she might not have another chance to ask.
Her dragon spoke up.You don’t have to justify asking him. You’re curious about him, just like me.
Aye, but I still feel guilty about not making him orgasm like he did with us.
Later. We both want more than a onetime thing, aye? We need to be genuine.
Still, the longer Antony remained silent, the more she started to think she should tease him or tickle him or distract him somehow. Then he tightened his hold on her waist and said, “I guess I should start by saying my parents weren’t killed because of me or my job. No, it was a car accident. And yes, at first I thought maybe it was staged. However, it wasn’t long before the drunk driver was arrested, confessed, and no amountof background checks by me or my colleagues found anything nefarious. Just an idiot, careless with other people’s lives.”
She squeezed his hand in hers. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. The culprit died, in prison, of natural causes. It can’t bring my parents back, but at least justice was served.”
“Still, it’s not easy, aye?”
“No. Although I haven’t thought about it in years, to be honest. I was more concerned about Max being happy.”
“How old was Max when your parents died?”
“He was just shy of fourteen. Not an easy age to begin with, but he ended up saving me, in a way. After Lisa’s murder, I became obsessed with getting stronger and smarter and more clever about maneuvers. And at the time of the car crash, it’d been over a year since I’d visited my family. I didn’t want to risk them getting hurt, too. Only once I was stronger could I see them. Then I didn’t have a choice because there was no one else alive to take care of my brother.
“At first, I somewhat resented Max because it meant I had a huge liability to look after. But once I saw him at our parents’ funeral, looking lost and not his usual cheerful self, I realized how bloody selfish I was being. He was still a child, his whole world had tilted, and he needed me to step up. To better protect and look after him, I stepped away from the field and analyzed intelligence instead. Little did I know, my desk work would be extremely helpful later on.
“But back to Max—I had to be both brother and parent to him. It’s when I started making jokes again, just to get him to smile. I encouraged his studies and interest in dragon-shifter history, especially archaeology. There was never a dragon-shifter version ofTime Team—that old show where they had three days to investigate an archeological site and present their findings—but Max thought that maybe one day he could do it.Much like me, he was charming when needed and could make a good host. And I never laughed at the idea because once he fixated on something, he became somewhat obsessed, even if it got him into trouble.”
Iris chuckled. “Aye, I could see him hosting a show. Whenever I had to take him to archaeological sites, Max often acted as a TV presenter, albeit a rambling one.”
Antony smiled. “He might still do it one day, after he finishes with Dragon’s Court.”
“Maybe. Although given your caution and protectiveness, how did he end up working with you?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Stubbornness runs in the family, and he built up this image of what I did and how he could save the world. The reality is a lot different, though. And since he has a softer heart than me, he couldn’t live with the tough decisions he had to make.”
She cupped his cheek, wanting to help ease the pain in his eyes. Pain she understood well herself. “Protecting people isn’t always black and white, aye? Sometimes you have to make the difficult decision of who to save and who you can’t.”
“You’ve had to make that type of decision before, too?”
She nodded. “Aye. In the early days as a Protector, before Finn was in charge, the old leader wanted to attack the wee splinter clan, Seahaven, and force the dragon-shifters back to Lochguard.”
Antony searched her eyes. “He wanted to start a war?”
“Aye. Toward the end, Dougal Munro became obsessed with online groups that pushed for dragon domination. He’d heard about Marcus King and Clan Skyhunter, and had even thought of reaching out to him, back before King changed tactics and started working with humans. Dougal thought that if Lochguard and Skyhunter banded together, they could surprise Stonefire and Snowridge and take them over. However, that kind oftalk was too extreme for many, even for those who didn’t like humans, and it’s the reason why Lochguard voted to have a new clan leader trial.” She tilted her head and studied Antony, noting how he wasn’t surprised. “But you knew all of that already, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I may, just may, have had an informant inside Lochguard, one who helped garner support for the new clan leader trial to challenge Dougal.”
