Page 24 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
His attention was much more focused now. He leaned over, the last sandwich forgotten as he stared at me with those impossibly green eyes, the ones I never wanted to look away from. For several long seconds, they stared deep into my soul, breaking down barriers I didn’t even know I’d erected.
Then, to my shock, he laughed. His head fell back, the shaggy mane of hair bouncing with the hearty belly laugh.
“Excuse me?” I snapped, angry at my feelings being dismissed so easily. “I think it’s perfectly reasonable to—”
I stopped. Rhyse was still laughing, but he had raised both hands and was waving them at me to stop.
“What?” I bit the single word off as sharply as I could.
“S-sorry,” he said, gathering himself with a mighty shake of his entire upper body. “I’m not laughing at the way you feel about your current ‘put-together-ness,’ Emma.”
“Then what’s so funny?”
“That you think you’re doing a bad job.” He smiled. “Most people would have absolutely lost it. The things you’ve been exposed to today would have driven them to the brink and over. You’ve managed to stop well short of that edge, and yet you’re berating yourself for not doing even better.”
I frowned.
“I’m serious. We’re linked now. Connected.” He tapped the side of his head. “Yet not once have you even come close to screaming about ‘the voices in your head.’ You’ve learned what it is and why and begun to accept it. To use it, even, by reading me. Now, that’s not to say you’re loving it, but you’re doing well.”
Staying quiet, I took in all he was saying, thinking about it from his angle. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps Iwasbeing a bit harsh on myself.
“I didn’t have much choice,” I said. “It was either this or die. So, until I can safely take it off, I’ll choose life, thank you.”
Something unsettling crossed his face, and I caught a whiff of it through our connection, but a distant rumble of thunder twisted both of our attentions away.
“Can I ask you something?”
He grunted an acknowledgment.
“Why?”
“Why what? There are many things it could be.”
“Why did you do this?”
He was quiet. I let him think.
“You were dying. There was no other way to save you.”
“And that’s it?” I pushed.
“Yes.”
He wasn’t telling me everything. Again, he was holding something back.
Frustrated, I got up and walked to the edge of the bluffs, staying no more than two feet from the very lip. Far below, waves crashed against the rock, spraying their misty saltwater high into the air before falling back down to do it all over again. An endless dance.
What did I do now?
That was the question I couldn’t move past. Rhyse seemed nice. He seemed caring.
So, why was I getting the biggest feeling of déjà vu every time I considered staying with him for the time being? An unconscious warning of sorts.
Damn you, brain. Give me back my memories! What is it you aren’t telling me?
Did Rhyse and I have a past? Was this not the first time we’d met, and I just couldn’t recall? There had been no clues to indicate that, but there was obviouslysomethingunsettling about the current situation.
But he saved my life, and that wasn’t an insignificant factor.
