Page 28 of Dragon's Flame
“Yes.” His voice was rough, like he was still regaining control, as he wiped his face with the back of one hand. “I need to hunt. I will be back,” he said, and left her.
Kenna sat inside the cave watching the firelight, holding her knees against her chest.
The dog came back, stinking like the old seaweed it’d probably rolled around in, and basked by the fire, turning itself repeatedly until all of it was warm and it was snoozing.
Whereas Kenna wasn’t particularly sure she’d ever sleep again.
In her prior life, she thought she’d be a three-espressos-by-noon girl for all time, but now she could swear right off, because she was full of adrenaline and energy, an electric buzz beneath her skin that refused to fade. Everything she thought she knewhad changed in a matter of hours—her life had been ripped away and replaced with somethingimpossible.
Not that that hadn’t happened to her before, right?
But this time felt different.
Maybe not good.
But maybe not bad, yet, either.
Even if it still scared her
She exhaled slowly, pressing her forehead against her knees.Breathe. Just breathe.
Her fingers traced over the fabric of the coat she was still wearing—hiscoat. The warmth of the fire couldn’t erase the memory of his body shaking against her, the weight of his grief pressing into her lap.
It was as real as he was. And as much as she knew she shouldn’t care, she did. Just a little.
And somehow, that scared her more than anything else.
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Tarian swam off his extra energy in the cold dark sea, letting the water pull all the heat from him, going deeper and deeper until he was dangerously exhausted, because he needed to feel something other than the gnawing ache of solitude inside him. The cold bit into his skin, numbing him to everything but the relentless push and pull of the waters, and he welcomed it, letting it strip him down to nothing but muscle, bone, and breath.
And when he emerged again, with a fish large enough for the three of them to share, he’d regained his senses.
He couldn’t keep foisting emotions on her that she didn’t want. She wasn’t scared of him anymore, but that could change, if he kept pressing.
He needed to see her for what she was—a young human woman, doing the best she could under trying circumstances.
Like being with him, even though she did not want to be.
It was time for him to give up and take her back to his brother’s. He’d wanted to avoid relying on Rax, but he didn’t know enough about the ways of this world to protect her,whereas if she were being guarded by not one buttwodragons, no one would ever be able to hurt her again.
Not like she’d already been injured the once, without him.
The sight of her scars on her soft brown skin had sent him reeling. The past was immutable. He knew that. But that knowledge didn’t make it easier to swallow.
He had to do the right thing—he knew it—when he saw her, looking small, huddled up beside the fire he’d created for her. There was a strong enough breeze outside to hide the smoke—they’d eat, rest, and then wait till the next morning to fly home, because if he tried to fly her back at night, she’d freeze for sure.
Rocky ran at out at him, barking. “I’m starving!”
“I know,” he answered, but kept looking at Kenna with concern. “Is she...all right?”
Kenna looked over at him, at the sound of her name. “Are you seriously asking the dog? Instead of me?”
“He’s a good judge of character,” Tarian said, defending himself.
“I’m not so sure about that,” she said, standing. “I mean, he hangs out with you, soooo...”
