Her presence was probably nothing more than a nuisance. She waited for him to inform her that he had to kill her or at least wipe her memory with some sort of magic. The things she’d seen should have been impossible. Men did not turn into dragons. It was the stuff of fairy tales, not reality. If no one else in the world knew about them, then they’d done their best to keep it a secret this long.
Now that Kennedy knew, she figured her life was at risk. Not while she was with Wyatt, though. The sense of safety she found with him stretched into this moment, too. He would not hurt her just because she happened to see a few dragons. She wanted to think he would protect her from the others, but she knew nothing about their world.
Wyatt jerked his chin toward a wooden box nailed to a tree. At first, Kennedy thought it was a bird house. Then, she realized there were no holes in it for birds, only hinges and a small handle. Wyatt pulled himself from her grasp and stumbled toward the box. Inside, folded neatly, was a stack of clothing.
“Wow, that’s next level preparedness,” Kennedy said.
Wyatt chuckled, slowly putting on the sweat pants he claimed from the tiny closet, bending as if each movement caused a wave of pain. Kennedy reached out for him but didn’t touch him. She wasn’t sure if it would hurt his pride. She wasn’t sure of anything at that moment.
“These are all around town. People like us…we don’t magically come back with clothing. Half the time, we’re in such a hurry that we destroy whatever we had on to begin with. The little caches of clothes come in handy.”
Kennedy raised a brow. “Do the lady…whatever-you-are have boxes, too?”
Wyatt scowled. He was standing straighter, she noticed. He rolled his shoulders back, silent. Kennedy could tell there was a response to her question by the way he studied her. If anything, she thought he was debating how much to tell her.
She raised her hands. “At this point, you already have to kill me. What’s a few more secrets?”
Devastation crumpled Wyatt’s face. It was so sudden and overwhelming that Kennedy’s heart broke for him. She felt it like a physical crack in her chest, a part of her crumbling just because of an expression.
“What do you mean?” Wyatt’s voice softened. He stepped toward her, but not close enough to touch.
“I figured out your big secret. Considering that the world doesn’t know about you or the others, whoever they were, I’m guessing you have to go to great lengths to keep your secrets.” She licked her lips. Her heart, what was left of it, hammered now that fear was creeping over her. “There’s no way you can let me get away with what I know…right?”
Wyatt laughed. It was a hearty sound that reminded her of cozy nights with bowls of rich stew and an open fire. The sensation caught her so quickly, dragged her into an imaginary place, and held onto her, that she forgot where she was.
“No one is going to kill you.”
Kennedy gasped for air, returning to the pine-scented forest and the man before her. He looked at her with honest eyes. They were soft around the corners, brows sloped in gentle concern. She didn’t flinch when his fingers grazed her cheek.
But, Wyatt did hiss. He cringed in pain. Kennedy reached out for him as he swayed.
“Seems like you don’t heal as fast as you told me. Let’s get you somewhere you can sit down.” Kennedy rummaged through her purse for her phone, checked the time, and came up with an idea.
She wasn’t sure how much Wyatt would like it, but her only other idea was to take him back to her hotel room and that felt way too personal.
***
She was sweet, he thought. He leaned in the dark corner of the restaurant, breathing shallowly while his ribs pulled themselves back together again. The host had not been pleased when she arrived with a companion, but before Wyatt could serve him with a cold look that would have him rushing to get their table ready, Kennedy sidled up to him. She leaned close and whispered. The din of the restaurant drowned out whatever she said to the host.
Whatever she said made the man break out in a nervous sweat. He ran away. When he returned, he was all smiles and pleasantries. She’d grinned, beaming with pride.
“I may not be a dragon that owns a bank, but I have my own powers,” Kennedy whispered after the host seated them.
Wyatt leaned forward, interested. Was the woman a witch? It would explain his fascination with her. She could have enchanted him. Once she learned of his connection to Aurum Bank, she could have slipped something from her tongue to his that bound him to her.
But Kennedy leaned close and whispered, “I run a food blog. I told him I’d leave a horrible review if he couldn’t seat you with me.”
His relief was so great that he laughed. The sound boomed through the restaurant and had other diners twisting in their seats to stare at them. Kennedy was not a witch, but a normal human woman. Yet, somehow, she still managed to enchant him. Her little half smile was just for him, as if they shared a secret. He guessed they did now.
Kennedy had taken all of this in stride. She’d seen dragons battle in the air. From the scream he’d heard while the wind rushed in his ears, she’d seen Jasper rip into his wings. When his eyes closed, even for a second, he could feel the echo of the blinding pain. Wyatt swallowed it down. A sweat broke out on his forehead.
It’d been a nasty move.
Kennedy touched his hand. His eyes snapped open to find her watching him, lips slightly parted in question. He pulled away, leaning back in his seat to put space between them.
She didn’t belong in his world. Not here while Grove was a mess. The new king of the mountain couldn’t maintain his humanity for any extended period of time. The beast inside him had a mind of its own and a goal no one could figure out. Aside from that, the lesser dragons on the mountain were acting up without a proper king to keep them in place.
As much as he would have liked to get to know Kennedy, he couldn’t ask her to stay in Grove. It was a danger to her. He refused to let her get hurt.
Pain rippled down his back again. His skin was starting to knit together. He hoped that meant the muscle beneath had repaired itself. When he’d touched her earlier, the muscle had screamed in protest. Perhaps, it had been a sign to keep his hands to himself.
Kennedy diverted her attention to the menu on the table when it became obvious that Wyatt would say nothing. He saw the tension that bound her shoulders but had nothing to offer that would unbind them.
“I’m going to order the tasting menu,” she declared, as if Wyatt knew what that meant.
He glanced down at the menu and was promptly confused. It was nearly empty. He was used to menus loaded with options, like the diner. He wanted ten flavors of chicken wings, two beer choices—light or regular—and fourteen kinds of burgers. Instead, he was greeted with three salads, all of which sounded awful to him.
“This isn’t your kind of place,” Kennedy said, watching him. Her lips pursed. “How about you let me order for you? I promise I can make you love this.”
He wasn’t used to this kind of attention. His ex would have shaken her head and left him to lick his own wounds. She’d assumed that because of the size of him that he could deal with all of his problems on his own. She hadn’t even known about the beast in him. Yet, Kennedy had seen the bronze monster he could become and still bent to help him.
Even now, she lifted responsibility from his hands in a way he’d never experienced before. Wyatt was pleasantly confused. This was new territory, to have someone who was genuinely concerned for him. Someone who would care for him.
“But, in exchange, you need to tell me everything you know. I want to hear it all. What it’s like to be…one of you, who the others were, why you were fighting. Everything.”
He leaned back in his seat, trying to put space between them. This wasn’t her world. If he let it pull her in, she would get hurt. “I can’t tell you anything.”
Kennedy pouted. It nearly broke him, the sight of her pursed lips and wide ey
es, but he held fast.
“Since you don’t think you can trust me,” Kennedy began, “I will tell you everything about myself. And, if you want food, then you’re going to have to sit through it all.”
Despite himself, he smiled. Kennedy launched into a story about her early childhood, regaling him with memories of flying off her swing-set and the rock that was still embedded in her knee. After that, she moved on to middle school memories, of how she broke her wrist and the school nurse thought nothing of it, leaving her with wrist problems.
Wyatt wanted to reach out and rub his thumb over the bone on her wrist, wishing he could ease the pain for her. Still, all this while, she smiled and laughed at herself. Each story of pain was a lesson in life. It was a tale only she could unfold. He was happy to sit and listen, to get to know her life through the snapshots of pain and struggle laced with humor.
Once more, he found himself comparing the moment to his previous relationship. He was starting to see all the ways they’d been unhappy. The signs had been there, but his desire to settle down had blinded him to them. For once, he could breathe easy. The pain over Nicole’s rejection no longer stung.
“And that’s how I lost my job as an art gallery coordinator and took up food blogging.”
Wyatt’s brows arched incredulously. “You dropped a bowl of Bolognese on a five-thousand-dollar painting?”
She shrugged innocently, that little smile on her lips drawing him forward.
Wyatt was starting to question what he really wanted. He thought he knew, but his head was becoming a jumble of thoughts. The past slammed into the present in a burst of epiphanies that rocked his view of the world.
“I, ah…” He looked around and saw the bathroom door. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
Her smile vanished, lips tightening. He needed a moment alone, to separate his thoughts and get them in order again. Even if it hurt Kennedy, he couldn’t spend another moment in her enchantment. Not until he figured out why he was so drawn to her.
Chapter Six
Kennedy watched Wyatt leave. He practically launched himself away from the table in an effort to get away from her. She probably shouldn’t have said so much about her past. It most likely frightened him away. Revealing that she was only ever seconds away from some sort of accident could have set off alarms for him.
He was probably running for the exit.
Someone slid into the seat across from her, and her heart leapt. It crashed when she realized the person across from her wasn’t Wyatt. It was the man from the diner. He ran a hand through his short hair, tawny like a newborn fawn.
“I thought I owed you an apology,” he began.
Kennedy looked around for Wyatt, but he was nowhere to be seen. She could feel the pulse in her neck racing wildly. Nothing had happened yet, and they were in a public place. Even if this guy had creeped her out before, he could do nothing to her. Not here in the middle of the restaurant.
But they weren’t in the middle. Because of Wyatt’s wounds, she’d asked for a spot more closed off. She’d wanted privacy for him. Now, it left her vulnerable in the presence of this stranger.
He reached across the table and took her hand before she could snatch it back. “You should give me a chance to make it up to you. I could show you why we are meant to be mated.”
Mated? The stranger was using words that Kennedy was sure she didn’t understand. Sure, she knew what the word meant, but she was sure there was a context she didn’t know. When he cocked his head and the light caught his eyes, she saw the flash of red that gleamed across them.
Her stomach churned. Was he like Wyatt? It would explain why he was so fast. He’d appeared so quickly. Kennedy was starting to question her desire to know everything about Wyatt’s world. She’d wanted to get to know Wyatt, but if this was what the others were like, then she doubted her place here.
Wyatt made her feel safe. This stranger who held her hand captive set off all kinds of alarms. Her instincts told her to flee, but she was trapped.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” she tried, keeping her voice pleasant despite her fear.
She scanned the room for Wyatt again. The stranger grabbed her chin and pulled her attention back to him.
“Don’t think about that guy. This is about you and me.” He held her, no indication that he would let go any time soon.
She swallowed.
“I’m a very lonely man. A woman like you could keep me company. I’d shower you with gifts, with pretty clothes and sparkling jewels.” He punctuated his offer with a half-grin. “A queen deserves to look like one.”
“Ah, thanks but no thanks.” Kennedy tried to pull her hand from his, but he held on tight. “Please leave me alone. I just want to eat my lunch.”
Kennedy was ashamed of the panic that filled her voice, but she couldn’t escape it any more than she could escape the stranger. She hated the way he spoke to her, as if he wasn’t scaring her at all. Could he not see what he was doing?
A shadow loomed over the table. A comforting scent reached her, like pine and earth and fabric softener. A large hand descended on the back of the stranger’s neck. Wyatt ripped him from the chair and shoved him away from the table. The stranger looked between them as if he might stay and fight.
“If you ever lay a hand on her again, I will personally relieve you of your manhood.” Wyatt’s voice was a low growl that slithered quietly in the darkness. There was no denying the vehemence he poured into it, the promise it held. “And if you touch any woman the way you touched her, I will bring the king of the mountain upon your head and he will rip off your wings.”
“You can’t deny me the chance at a mate. We all deserve one,” the stranger hissed.
Kennedy gripped the sides of the table. No one looked in their direction. Not a soul glanced at them. Not even the host or a server treaded in their corner of the restaurant. They all knew what was happening, she realized. The town of Grove knew what lived among them and dared not interfere in their arguments.
“This woman is off limits,” Wyatt announced, pointing to Kennedy. “Do you hear me? I’m part of the king’s court. Would you defy my word?”
The stranger seemed to think, probably wondering if she was worth the risk. Kennedy quickly looked away, as if breaking his gaze meant she would disappear altogether. She didn’t want to be there, not while the stranger still lingered.
Finally, the man turned and fled. He pushed through the swinging kitchen door and disappeared to wherever he’d come from. Kennedy dreaded seeing him again. Each time the door moved, she thought he would reappear.
Wyatt took up his now empty seat, back straight and eyes on the rest of the restaurant in challenge. Her panic was slowly replaced by a sense of safety.
By the time Kennedy’s first plates started to arrive, her desire to do her job had faded. Where she normally would have felt excitement for the dramatically staged plates, she now only felt dread. It curled in her stomach and made her feel heavy. She took out her camera, but didn’t take off the lens cap.
Across from her, Wyatt clenched his fist on the table. He was seething. She worried that his anger was partly her fault. She hadn’t been able to get away from the stranger, but Wyatt didn’t know that. In a weird way, it felt like she’d cheated on him. Not only was there no relationship between her and Wyatt, but she’d done nothing wrong.
If anything, she’d been a victim. She wasn’t one to play pain and fear like cards in a game, but she wanted him to know that she hadn’t asked for that man’s attention.
“I—” she began.
Wyatt pressed his eyes closed. His fist whitened, clenching even harder. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Alright, then why are you still so angry with me?”
His eyes snapped open. They were the color of molten metal, so hot she feared she would ignite under his gaze. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I’m not mad at you.”
“It certainly feels like it.�
�� She gestured to where the stranger had run off. “He’s gone, but I’m still here. I’m the one dealing with your anger.”
Slowly, he let his breath out through his nose. She thought she caught a plume of smoke rising from his parted lips. Could he…could he breathe fire?
Then, he jerked his chin toward her plates. “Why aren’t you taking pictures of it? You did that with your breakfast at the diner. Isn’t that part of your job?”
“Hm, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I feel like the big dragon guy at my table is mad at me because another dragon guy tried to hit on me. Like a creep, I might add.” Her stomach was in knots.
All Kennedy wanted was Wyatt to understand that she’d been afraid. Right now, she needed comfort. She needed him to tell her again that it wasn’t her fault.
Yet, Wyatt looked away and said nothing. Minutes ticked by as her plate grew cold. She should have eaten the first course a while ago, while it was fresh, but there was no rescuing it now. She doubted she would have enjoyed it much anyway, not while she was still on edge.
“People like me,” Wyatt began, “we have a beast inside us. Most of the time, it’s just a set of instincts that drive us and make us act like animals. There are times when emotions run high and the beast becomes stronger. It becomes more…substantial.”
“I don’t get why you’re telling me this.” She laid her hands flat on the table.
The molten metal of his eyes had not yet faded. Kennedy could have written it off as a trick of the light, but she’d seen too much that day to deny anything. She knew what she was looking at was the beast Wyatt spoke of. It became more apparent when she noticed how his teeth had sharpened.
She should have been afraid. Clearly, she was sharing the table with a monster. Yet, he was not as much of a monster as the other guy had been. Around Wyatt, she was comfortable. He wasn’t going to hurt her. The sharp teeth actually excited her. Memories of his teeth dragging over the skin of her neck bubbled to the surface.
Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5 Page 17
