Page 14 of Seducing the Dragon
Some of Bram’s tension eased at the lass’s voice, and he pushed the door wide open. Evie was standing behind Arabella, who was sitting and typing on the laptop before her. Without thinking, he demanded, “What’s going on here?”
Both females turned to look at him. Neither one looked surprised to see him. If anything, they looked irritated.
Evie was the first to speak up. “Doing what you asked me to do—typing up information for you.”
Bram decided to take the easier route and looked to Arabella. “Explain.”
The dragonwoman shrugged one shoulder. “I was tired of trying to decipher her typos, so I offered to type for her.”
“Yes, but why, exactly, would you do that, Arabella? Humans and kindness don’t usually go together for you.”
Evie spoke up, “Leave her alone. You sent her here, so my guess is that you trust her. I see no reason for you to be upset at her typing for me. If you’d allowed me time to fetch my glasses, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
Losing his cool in front of Arabella was not on his list of things to do, so he focused on his clan member and said, “Arabella, you can go now.”
“But we’re not done. All of this information about the Carlisle dragon hunters is fascinating.”
Oh, fuck.Arabella didn’t need inside information about the Carlisle hunters. She’d made great strides in her PTSD recovery over the last eight months, and he wouldn’t put it past her to try to attack the hunters alone. After all, they were the ones responsible for both her mother’s death and her scars.
Forcing every bit of dominance he could into his voice, Bram said, “Go home, Arabella. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Ara looked about ready to argue, but then clenched her jaw and nodded. She’d never been tempted to outright disobey him before. He blamed the human’s influence.
He waited until Arabella stood up and walked out the door before he pinned his best stare on Evie Marshall. “How in the world did you get Arabella MacLeod to not only work with you, but to almost appear to be on your side? And in just under two hours, no less?”
The human female straightened her shoulders. “I know a trick or two when it comes to working with dragon-shifters. Pretty much all of Clan Skyhunter detests humans. My first year was hell until I learned to use their other hatreds to my advantage. I did the same with Arabella. She hates the dragon hunters, and so do I. That hatred was stronger than what dislike she held for me.”
Shaking his head, Bram moved to stand next to Evie and instantly regretted it as her womanly scent filled his nose. Just one whiff made his dragon growl.Kiss her again. She cooperated. Arabella does not hate her. She is good.
He sent a mental scowl to his dragon.You are too trusting.
His inner beast hissed, but Bram ignored him and spoke to the human, “Your cleverness is going to be a pain in my arse.”
Hope lit her eyes. “So you’re letting me stay?”
The way Evie looked at him, as if he were the only one who could save her life, went straight to his heart. He still couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to kill the lass.
It was time to find that out. “Not yet.” Her hope died, and he resisted putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her as he continued, “First, I need to take a look at your information and see if it really is worth the hunters killing you over.”
Her expression returned to one of part irritation and part impatience as she gestured toward the laptop. “Be my guest.”
Just as he moved in front of the laptop, he heard the human’s stomach rumble and his dragon jumped to the forefront of his mind.Feed her.
Even Bram felt a little guilty at her hunger. “While I do this, there are some leftovers in the refrigerator you can eat. I hope you like curry.”
Raising an eyebrow, she said, “Are you sure it’s not poisoned?”
Despite himself, one corner of Bram’s lip twitched. “Aye, I’m sure. Now eat before I tie you to a chair and force feed you.”
The human looked like she was about to say something, but then shut her mouth and nodded. He motioned to the doorway off to the side. “The kitchen is in there. Come back as soon as you’ve heated your food.”
She gave a mock salute and walked toward the door. For the first time, he noticed she wasn’t wearing any shoes. Notonly that, her exaggerated hip sway had been replaced with an efficient stride.
The fake seductress had all but disappeared.
Not that he was sad about it. But rather than think too hard about why he liked the changes, he sat down in front of the computer screen and read the first sentence:
At the presend rime, the Carlide hunters numver avout forty.
