Page 9 of Dragon Fire

“He does?”Even while she spoke silently into his mind, she was moving expertly down the stairs, ducking under and into his arms.

He opened his dark mottled cloak and wrapped her within, turning to face the rock, blending in with it as he had every other time the patrol had come past. So far, nobody had been able to see him in the dark. Seth prayed his luck would continue to hold.

“He does,”Seth answered her hasty question.“Quiet now. They’re almost upon us.”

She pressed her face into his chest, and Seth almost forgot to breathe. He had missed her so much. Het simplest touch was heaven to him, but he couldn’t let himself be distracted now.

“Why does my father have men patrolling the dock?”she asked in his mind as the men walked past.“The last of the diamonds were moved to the workshop days ago.”

“He’s a cautious man,”was all Seth could come up with.“Maybe he doesn’t want his crew to grow lax sitting in their home port.”

“Most of his crew are not from here, actually,”she said, surprising him.“He picks them up from all over, along his route. Father is a stickler, in case you haven’t noticed, and if someone doesn’t measure up, he’s put off the ship at the next port and summarily replaced. Or so I’ve heard.”

“Did you sneak out?”All the while he kept up the conversation with her, he also kept track of the movements of the patrol. They were turning at the end of the pier and would soon be heading back past them again. So far, so good.

“Of course I snuck out. I couldn’t stand to be a prisoner one second longer.”She paused, and he imagined she was inwardly fuming.“I’ll have to go back before dawn though. I don’t want him to know I can get out whenever I want to, or he’ll take the trellis down and put bars on my window.”

Seth had to stifle a chuckle as the patrol returned, walking right past them once again. It looked like they’d be in the clear in a few more moments, once the patrol passed out of sight.

“Were you going to visit Hrardorr?”

“Yes. But why are you hiding out here? Why aren’t you in there with him?”She pulled her face away from his chest and looked up at him in the darkness, her eyes gleaming in the uncertain light.

“He doesn’t know I’m here,”Seth admitted.“I just wanted to be nearby in case he needs me.”

“Oh, Seth…”She patted his chest with one hand over his heart, her smile soft and filled with wonder.“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Hrardorr won’t think so. He doesn’t like it when Imotherhim, as he calls it.”

“Well, you can’t stay out here all night. Come inside with me. We’ll tell him I asked you to meet up with me. He knows we like each other.”

Seth pulled her tight against his aroused body.“I more thanlikeyou, Livia.”

She reached up and kissed him quickly. Just a peck on the lips that made his entire body stand up and take notice.

“Good. Because I more than like you too, Seth.”

She smiled, ducking out from under the staircase, looking both ways and taking Seth by the hand. He had no choice but to follow her, straight to the boathouse door.

They entered without raising any alarms, and he closed and locked the door behind them. The interior of the boathouse was dark, but it was actually a little easier to see in here with Hrardorr sitting on the wide deck at the front of the house, and his gleaming scales reflecting off the water.

Hrardorr didn’t seem at all surprised to see Seth.

“It’s about time you came in from the cold,”was the dragon’s comment when Seth greeted him.“I wouldn’t have minded having someone to talk to the past few nights.”

“I wasn’t sure of my welcome,” Seth told the dragon quietly. “And I wasn’t sure if you wanted company or not.”

“Next time—if there is one—you should probably just ask,”came Hrardorr’s dry reply.“Now, what’s going on?”

“We have to help the gryphons,” Livia blurted out, taking Seth by surprise. Hrardorr, too, if Seth was any judge of the dragon’s expression and head movements.

Seth turned to look at her. “You’ve been under virtual house arrest for days. How do you know about the gryphons? And what in the world do you think the three of us can do about it that the rest of the Lair isn’t already doing?”

But Livia didn’t get a chance to answer. Hrardorr cut her off.

“The rest of the Lair isn’t going to do diddly.”Smoke rose from the dragon’s nostrils toward the rafters of the boathouse.

“What have you heard?” Seth asked Hrardorr.

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