Page 77 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
“There were several points you would’ve been happy if I’d sent it,” he pointed out.
That was fair. I couldn’t argue that.
“Things haven’t been the easiest between us,” he said softly. “But you’re strong, intelligent, beautiful beyond compare. No, I don’t want you to go. But this isn’t about me, Emma. This is about you.”
“You’re right,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “I need some time to think about this. Alone.”
His face hid the pain, a perfectly neutral expression of understanding.
But we were closer than that. I could feel it bleed through, try as he might to shield me from it.
“Of course,” he said softly. “You should be safe here now. They already got what they wanted.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I added with a wince. “I tried to stop them.”
He waved it off. “It’s not as big a deal as you think.”
“Okay.” I backed away slightly. “Thank you for the space. I … I have a lot to think about. A lot.”
Rhyse walked to the edge of the bluffs. “For whatever it’s worth, Emma. Iamsorry. You deserved better than this.”
Then he was gone, disappearing over the edge. I didn’t run to watch, to see him shift and hit the water in his dragon form, disappearing under.
I stayed where I was for a very long time. Trying to decide what I should do with my new knowledge and what it meant for my future. Was that a future with Rhyse in it?
Or without?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Emma
Iwas waiting at the door, arms crossed when Rhyse came through it less than thirty minutes later.
“This is not what I had in mind when I said I needed some time.”
Rhyse, who had been looking around the rest of the open rear of the house and not at me, now dropped his gaze onto me.
“I’m aware,” he said just a little too sharply for my liking. “Whatever you may think of me, Emma, I am not an idiot.”
I tried to roll with the rebuke and not let it get to me. He was right, after all. I just didn’t like his tone.
“Then why are you here?”
“For starters, it’s my house.”
I wondered about the agitation in him. He was doing a good job of not letting it show, but it lurked under the surface, tickling my mind. Something had happened out there.
After he’d gone over the side of the bluffs, our bond had swiftly faded as he’d put distance between us. It was obvious he’d wanted to be far away. Now, it seemed he was recanting his words and unwilling to give me some time to adjust to—
“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked as he grabbed a duffel bag from a nearby closet and started to put things in it.
Mythings. I didn’t have much, but thanks to Killian’s efforts, everything was scattered everywhere. Now, Rhyse was searching through it all for the few pieces of clothing I owned, along with a seashell I’d picked up during one of the walks along the beach. He added some nonperishable food as well before stuffing in some towels and a book I’d been reading from his little library.
“Are you seriously kicking me out?” I snapped. “After all you and your people have done to me, that’s it? ‘Get out and thanks for all the fish’?”
Rhyse blinked. “Fish?”
“Never mind. Listen, can we just talk about this for a moment?” I asked, trying to get in his way, to slow him down. “I don’t think I deserve to be kicked to the streets.”
