Page 15 of Dragon His Heels
Well, hell. While he stroked her hair, he lowered his face and breathed in the scent of the strands. Peaches. His dragon was doing fucking flips, but all Gabe wanted to do was hold her.
Okay, maybe not all, but this was definitely not the time. And, besides, no matter how good she smelled, he didnotwant to mate with her.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” The term of endearment slid off his tongue, as natural as walking or swimming or flying. “But at least Ruby’s safe now. We’ll make sure she never experiences anything half that bad for the rest of her damn life. Okay?”
She nodded and sniffled, and when she tried to twist out of his grip, he let her go so she could walk over to the wet bar and grab a cocktail napkin to mop her face.
“Sorry. I’m not usually so emotional. But seeing that… And I haven’t really dealt with it until now. I’ve been too busy trying to make sure Ruby is adjusting to her new life.”
“And taking care of my sorry ass.” Crap. Now he felt like a heel for expecting her to do something as inconsequential as make sure his image wasn’t too tarnished. And who really cared, anyway? He was the reeve; the colony had to deal with his indiscretions, whether they approved or not. They didn’t have a choice. A dragon colony was a dictatorship, if one wanted to get technical about it. Sure, he let the Elders basically make and enforce the rules, but he had final say. About everything.
Maybe he should have Talia manage something more important than his stupid personal life. Especially since, if he let her have her way, he wouldn’t have one for the foreseeable future.
“If I didn’t want do to it, trust me, I wouldn’t.” She was right. Apparently he didn’t have final say over everything after all.
“Let’s go fly.” Holy cripes, did those words come out of his mouth? He did not want a flying partner. He did not—
“That’s a good idea. I always feel better, more free when I’m in the air, spreading my wings.”
Great. Exactly what he wanted her to say.
Not.
