Page 30 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
I was too broken. What evenwaslove?
“We’re clear,” Callum whispered. “But we shouldn’t stay. He could be anywhere nearby.”
“What was that?” I asked, finally finding my voice.
“What was what?”
I pointed at him, then to myself, and back again. “That.”
“It was a kiss.”
I longed to smack him but settled instead for a hard glare. “I knowthat, wise-ass. I’ve been kissed before. I meant,whydid you do that?”
Callum shrugged. “I needed you to be quiet until Cleye moved on.”
“Cleye. Your ex-brother-in-law. Who you refused to just talk to. Instead, you had to run and hide from him. Then you kissed me because apparentlythatwas preferential to just dealing with him.”
A smile spread across his face, turning it from solemn to boyishly charming. I did my best to shove down the flutter in my stomach.
“Surprisingly, yes, it was,” he admitted.
I gaped. “Surprisingly? You thought I would be a bad kisser?”
He shook his head. “I just figured I would get slapped for it. I didn’t expect you to respond.”
“I didnotrespond,” I said. “I was frozen in shock. Those are two separate things.”
Callum’s smile grew broader. “You kissed me back. I know it. You know it. Keep denying it if you want, but you had just as much fun as I did. Now, grab on.”
I shook my head, backing away. “I think I’m done being near you for the future. I’m not grabbing onto anything.”
“Not how I intended for that to come across. What I meant was, let me put a hand around your waist so I can fly us out of here and back to the palace. It’s the easiest and fastest.”
The frown couldn’t be stopped.
“What?” Callum asked. “I’m not fully shifting for you to climb on my back. Not here. Come on. It’s perfectly fine.”
“Just go down there and see what he wants,” I said.
“See what he wants?” The big dragon shook his head, hair tossing around. “Madison, it’s not like this is something new. I’ve spent two years ‘seeing what he wants,’ and every time, it’s the same thing. It turns to angry ranting and blaming me for the death of his sister. Every. Time.”
“I see.”
I must not have sounded convinced.
“Do you?” he pressed, taking a step closer. “Because I’ve spent every day these past two years blaming myself as well. Living with the guilt. What I don’t need is someone else yelling at me for it as well. I’m perfectly capable of doing so myself.”
He tried to come across as sarcastic, but it failed. I saw through him. Saw the hurt he tried to hide from the world. A pain that had been eating him from the inside. It had to be incredibly tough, putting on the face every time, a face that said he was “okay” and not hurting.
Dragons weren’t supposed to mourn death, I’d learned. They weren’t supposed to hold on to the memories of those who had passed. So, every day, Callum had to lie to the people around them. Lie to himself.
He was holding it all back, and that knowledge made me want to help him even more. To be there when he discovered who had murdered this woman. To help him find justice for her and, hopefully, some peace once it was all done.
“Let’s go to the palace,” I said softly, stepping up to him. “I trust you.”
“You … okay,” he said, sounding quite confused.
As his arm snaked around my waist, I wrapped my arms around his chest, holding on tight as we leaped into the sky, higher this time than before. The only thing between me and death was his arm.
