by Rinelle Grey
© 2020 by Rinelle Grey
www.rinellegrey.com
All rights reserved.
Cover design by
Table of Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
About the Author
Blurb
What Rita needs is a healthy dose of reality. She needs to quit pining over what ifs. There’s no way she can get over what Warrian did, no matter how hot he is. Not that it matters—the world certainly hasn’t stopped while she’s been away. Is what she’s gained worth what she’s missed?
Warrian knows Rita’s hiding something from him. And it’s big, so big it could rip right through whatever it is he’s trying to pretend they don’t have. When he finds out the truth, will it be better or worse than he expected?
Maybe it’s time for them to go their separate ways…
Confronting the Dragon is Part 3 in the Dragon Forged Serial.
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Chapter 1
Rita sat on the side of the bathtub and stared at the message on her phone. Fury and frustration exploded through her.
How? How had Todd managed to break this story before her?
She’d worked so hard for this. She’d put in the hours, days in fact, hanging out with Warrian, teasing the story out of him piece by piece. She’d lived with an attraction so strong it was almost unbearable sometimes. She’d earned this. Todd couldn’t possibly have worked as hard as she had.
But there was no other explanation for his smug message. “Did you see my broadcast?”
Hopefully it was nothing. Probably he’d just grabbed some shaky footage of a dragon flying past or something. It couldn’t be anything more than that.
Could it?
Rita’s heart thumped in her chest as her fingers fumbled to type a reply on the tiny phone keypad. She glanced up towards the closed bathroom door, but she was pretty sure Warrian wouldn’t barge in since she’d told him she was getting cleaned up.
The water ran in the shower, steaming up the room, but she was still fully dressed. She did need to clean up, but mostly, she needed a moment away from Warrian’s constant presence and the turmoil it created in her mind.
Even thinking about him made her stomach twist into tight knots. She’d thought maybe there was something between them. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t turn out to be like every other guy she’d dated. He certainly wouldn’t be like Todd, stealing her stories and taking her credit. But she’d been wrong.
Everything had changed after the life dragon’s accusations. Rita knew she couldn’t trust Warrian now, not after hearing he’d lied about his sister and Ultrima. She knew she should get as far away from him as possible.
Unfortunately, that knowledge didn’t change the fact that she was still desperately attracted to him. A not insignificant part of her wished he would burst through the door and insist they make wild, passionate love, as they nearly had in the middle of the dust storm.
The memory of how close they’d come sent a needy ache through her whole body. The feeling was overwhelming and left her wanting to immediately seek out Warrian to complete the experience.
She tried to ignore those intrusive thoughts. That was the Mesmer bond, not her. The fact that her whole body was itching just because he was on the wrong side of a closed door just confirmed it.
She thought she had adjusted to the desire created by the Mesmer bond. Oh, it never truly went away, but mostly it had devolved into a low level hum. Mostly. Whenever she actually thought about Warrian or let herself touch him, it flared up and achingly reminded her of what she knew she couldn’t have. And when they were more than a few feet apart, as they were now, it made its presence known.
But Rita wasn’t going to let the magical dragon bond override her common sense. She’d done that with Todd and look where it had gotten her. And that had at least been real attraction, not dragon magic.
The best option she had was to distract herself from it, and a glance down at her phone provided the perfect diversion, albeit not a pleasant one. Todd’s broadcast was everywhere, playing over and over on every national and international news site.
Her attraction to Warrian retreated to simmer in the back of her mind. Instead Rita seethed with fury as she watched Todd’s footage of the Director General of Security and a human delegation meeting with the Rian dragon clan near Wave Rock.
“We need to discuss where dragons fit into this world, and how we are going to keep peaceful relations between our two peoples.” The director general’s words, magnified by the microphone attached to his chest, rang out.
Rita bit her lip and stared blankly at the screen as two human form dragon women nodded their agreement.
How was she ever going to match this?
And how had Todd managed to get it anyway? Verrian stood behind the human dragons, his purple hide unmistakable, a golden hued dragon standing beside him. Rita couldn’t see Lisa or any of the other humans, but she was sure they weren’t far away. The dragons didn’t seem bothered by the news cameras at all. Clearly they’d known this was coming.
So much for giving her an exclusive for not breaking the news story before they were ready. Lisa hadn’t even tried to call her. There were no messages from her and no missed calls either.
They’d completely shut her out.
The only person who had even tried to contact her was Todd.
Before she could even consider the wisdom of her actions, she thumbed back to his message and typed out a reply. “Congratulations.” A bitter taste filled her mouth at acknowledging his success, but it was necessary to convince him to open up. “How’d you score that? Don’t tell me you were actually at the right place at the right time for once?”
She waited, biting her lip, watching the three dots that indicated he was typing.
“They called me. Guess you pissed them off.”
Rita didn’t even need to hear Todd’s voice to imagine the smug tone of his words. She ground her teeth. She was right. Rian clan had betrayed her. They didn’t care about the agreement they’d made with her. They’d given this story to Todd and deliberately cut her out.
They’d lied to her, just as Warrian had lied to them.
They all deserved each other.
She certainly was no longer bound by any promises she’d made to them. She owed them nothing. None of them. Not even Warrian.
Besides, the story was out there now. The existence of dragons was no longer a secret.
Her phone chirped. Todd was typing another message. No doubt her lack of a reply was making him feel even more smug.
“Where have you been anyway? That was days ago. Whatever you were chasing obviously didn’t pan out.”
What a piece of work. He was still hoping to steal her story even though he had his own. Was there no limit to his treachery?
His score stung, and even though she knew she should keep quiet, Rita couldn’t help herself. “I’m glad the dragons gave you a bone. You’re going to need the comfort when my story hits the papers, because no one is going to be listening to you anymore.”
She was boasting. She should stop before it got her into trouble. She didn’t need Todd’s approval or jealousy. Yes, Todd had scored a big story, but Rita knew that for o
nce, hers was better.
Todd’s story was good news. He’d captured a moment as it unfolded around him. But he certainly hadn’t answered any of the questions Rita knew the public would be asking. What the public would be longing for right now was in depth information on who these dragons were, what they were after, and most importantly, what they were like.
Rita’s story could provide facts Todd’s was desperately lacking. Her story would capture hearts and sell newspapers. She knew that. It would be the best story she’d ever written.
So why did she feel so flat?
She wished she could claim doing the right thing had finally panned out, but the reality was she wasn’t sure this was the right thing. None of this felt right. She was lying to Warrian, working with his enemy, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t even tell which side was the right side to be on.
She thought she’d known earlier. She’d been ready to work with Warrian to find a way to use her article to help his clan, and him. She’d been so sure that was the right answer. But that desire had been fuelled by wanting to make up for her deception, by a hope she could redeem herself in Warrian’s eyes. And then the Trima life dragon had dropped the bombshell of Warrian’s lies on her head.
Now that she knew the truth, she could easily go the other way.
She could warn people what dragons were really like, how their infighting and pride had caused a war that had lasted three hundred years and was still far from over. She could tell everyone how far these dragons were prepared to go to get their revenge.
For a moment, she felt better, like she was at least achieving something. The people deserved to know, didn’t they? This went far deeper than her and Warrian.
Her mind a million miles away, she mechanically rose, put her phone aside, and undressed before stepping into the shower. As she washed off the fine red dust, her mind raced.
She could show Warrian she didn’t care about his lies. She could turn this to her advantage. That’s what Todd would do.
But the more she thought about it, the more that thought left her with a sour taste in her mouth. That choice didn’t feel right either. If she wrote that kind of article, she would be doing it for revenge. And even if Warrian, and maybe Lisa and Verrian, deserved that, the rest of his clan didn’t. They were innocent in all this. Warrian had deceived them just as much as he’d deceived her.
If she used the dragons’ war to vent her anger over Warrian and Lisa, it would turn humanity against them. Everyone was already a little afraid of dragons and with good reason. An article like that would be the tipping point into hysteria.
It could destroy any hope of peace between humans and dragons.
Rita wasn’t sure what would happen then. Warrian seemed a little afraid of human weapons, but even so, a war would mean death and destruction, for both sides.
As much as she wanted to get back at Warrian, she wasn’t ready to cause a war. That was where they were different.
Just writing an article at all would show everyone they couldn’t push her around, but she needed to present a balanced view. Her article had to be an impartial collation of all the information she had collected. She could keep the emotion out of it.
As she soaped herself up, she realised this story was bigger than the Mungaloo Chronicle. Much bigger. She could go to any paper she wanted, and they’d jump on it, even if she was lacking the photos to back up her story. She might have to do without those, because there was no way she was going to sleep with Warrian now.
She stepped out of the shower and dried herself quickly. She just needed to buy herself some time so she could write up the story. That was going to be a challenge with Warrian watching her every move. But she’d manage it. Somehow.
Luckily, when she stepped out of the bathroom and noticed the red dust Warrian was spreading all over the couch, she had the perfect excuse. “Your turn. Wash all that dust off, then we’ll get something to eat.”
While the look Warrian gave her was almost enough to cause her to strip off again, a focus on her purpose helped Rita push past the desire that flared at his look. When she didn’t react, Warrian nodded and headed into the bathroom. He wasn’t even suspicious.
Rita stared at her laptop, waiting for the shower to start running, but instead, Warrian stuck his head back out the door. “Where is the water?”
Of course. He had no idea how a shower worked. Rita quickly showed him, trying to keep as much distance between them as she could in the small bathroom, then retreated quickly before he began undressing.
With the closed door between them, Rita pulled out her laptop. Sitting cross legged on the couch, she began to write up everything she’d learned in the last few days. The words flowed from her fingers, coming so fast her typing speed could barely keep up.
Any plans she’d had earlier about an impartial article fled, and she couldn’t help throwing her spin on things. The romantic picture she found herself painting didn’t quite fit with Warrian’s lies to his family, but she knew the public would eat it up, so she let herself go. She let herself type out everything that was in her heart, not censoring or editing her work in any way. She could do that later, once she had it all down.
She was so engrossed she didn’t even hear the shower stop, or realise Warrian was done, until he stood right in front of her.
He had only a towel around his waist, and water droplets covered most of his chest. Despite the air conditioning she’d set to freezing as soon as they’d walked in the door, as soon as Rita saw his bare chest, her body felt like it was still out in the full sun.
Damn that Mesmer bond. Didn’t it realise she didn’t want to be attracted to him right now? Did her feelings in the matter have no bearing on it at all? If dragon magic were anything like dragons themselves, probably not.
“Is everything all right?” He dropped onto the couch beside her as though everything was good between them. His leg brushed up against hers, cool from the shower, yet somehow sending licks of fire through her body, threatening to melt her resolve to remain aloof.
Through the thick fog of desire, Rita realised she needed to move. She slid away from him to the end of the couch as she slammed the laptop shut, her heart hammering in her chest.
Once there was some distance between them, her common sense, and her caution, returned. Had he seen anything?
No, his face was curious and a little suspicious, but there was no sign of the anger she was sure she’d see if he’d seen the article she was writing. If he realised she was hiding that from him…
“Yes… everything’s fine,” Rita said quickly. Too quickly, she knew, even before Warrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Something is wrong.” His words were abrupt, not even a hint of doubt crept into them. Worse, his eyes were on her laptop as though he knew it contained incriminating evidence.
As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, her phone dinged again. Could Todd not just shut up?
Chapter 2
Warrian’s body tensed as Rita stared at him, her eyes wide, clutching the larger device and phone to her chest. He’d thought they were past this. He’d hoped she was finished hiding things. But here they were again, right back where they’d started.
Why wouldn’t she open up to him? He’d supported everything she’d done up until now, even answered her million questions about dragons, and yet she was still keeping secrets. What was so bad she couldn’t tell him?
“What’s going on?” he demanded. “Who are you talking to? Is that Todd?”
He wasn’t sure why he’d asked that. Maybe because Todd was the only other human he’d seen since waking. But suddenly his mind started connecting dots he hadn’t realised were related. “Is he from the dragon lovers group you told me about? Have you told him about me?”
Rita’s face paled, but she did immediately respond with a resounding, “No!”
Warrian might have been convinced, except she didn’t volunteer any more information. Her scent held enough fear and uncertainty th
at he couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but her reaction was strong enough to indicate that whatever she was hiding, it had something to do with Todd.
That thought made him unreasonably angry. It was bad enough Rita was hiding something from him. The thought that Todd might be involved made it unbearable. Warrian’s hands clenched into fists. What he wanted, more than anything, was to pull Rita up against his chest and kiss her until all thoughts of Todd left her mind.
But he wasn’t going to do that, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn’t give into those feelings while he doubted her motives. He was stronger than that.
He had to be.
Instead he demanded, “Then what is he sending you messages about?”
Rita glanced down at the phone in her hand, but her eyes were unfocused. She wasn’t reading the message—she was trying to think of a believable lie.
Warrian was tempted to pull the phone away and look himself. She certainly wasn’t strong enough, or even quick enough, to prevent him. Then he would have some answers and could accurately ascertain if Rita’s secrets were a threat to his clan or himself.
He had hoped her dragon loving group could be trusted and that he could work with them. But the fact that Rita was hiding them from him wasn’t good. Without more information, he couldn’t take that risk.
But he didn’t want to have to pry the information out of her, he wanted her to volunteer it. He wanted to be able to trust her, even though he was fast beginning to wonder if he should. Maybe this was pointless. If she was still being evasive, perhaps her group had something more sinister in mind.
But hope kept him motionless, waiting and watching.
Rita’s eyes focused on the phone as though she’d forgotten it was there. She angled the screen away from him and pressed something on the screen a few times. Her expression darkened. She didn’t like what she’d seen. Should he be worried or relieved at that?
She looked back up and forced a smile. “Oh, nothing important…”
