by Rinelle Grey
All he knew was that Rylee was desperately upset, and not only did he not know how to make her feel better, he was worried his presence could be making her feel worse.
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked helplessly, even though it was the last thing he wanted and even though he knew it wasn’t even possible. Maybe though, getting angry at him would make her feel better.
Rylee looked up at him, her tear stained face looking confused. “Why would I want you to leave?” She seemed honestly bewildered. But at least it had made her stop crying.
“Your father…” Calrian waved a hand. “He seemed to think you should return to your mate…”
“He is not my mate.” Rylee’s eyes flashed. It appeared he had succeeded in making her angry, though he wasn’t sure the situation had improved any. “You think the same as him, do you? I suppose that makes sense, since you dragons mate for life. You can’t imagine any reason one might leave a mate. But let me tell you, humans are different. If someone treats us badly, we don’t hang around. We don’t have any magical bond making us love someone despite their nastiness.”
The vehemence to her words reassured him of one thing, if Rylee had any feelings for her former mate, they did not appear to be positive.
“Not at all,” he said firmly. “No dragon would ever mate with someone who treated them badly. But… why would your father think you should return to your mate if he didn’t respect you?”
Rylee’s mouth twisted, and her face grew grim. “Dad doesn’t see what Eric did as mistreating me. So long as he didn’t beat me, or lock me up, then he doesn’t think I have any right to ‘complain’ about Eric’s behaviour. And, of course, Eric was very good at being the model husband whenever anyone else was around.”
Her face was pale, but determined. “Don’t any of your dragons ever make a mistake and mate the wrong person?”
Calrian considered her question for a moment, trying not to be distracted by the fact that she still stood within his arms. He was half afraid to move for fear that she’d realise it herself and pull back.
He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. Or more accurately, he was afraid the answer would make her angrier. So instead he asked, “What did yo… Eric, do, that made you feel you’d made a mistake?” He wouldn’t call the man her mate again. She’d made it clear she didn’t regard him so.
Rylee looked away from his face then down at his chest, and her fingers ran circles over his skin, sending a shiver of desire through him. He did his best not to give in to it. To instead focus on the problems she was having.
But it wasn’t easy.
“Eric… well, he always thought he knew what was best,” she began.
Calrian nodded encouragingly. He’d known a few dragons like that in his time. Usually they were not the most popular in the clan, but most of them did seem to find mates, eventually. And finding a mate usually seemed to change them for the better.
“At first, well, I didn’t mind it. I thought it meant that he cared about me.” Rylee’s voice was quiet, but Calrian’s dragon enhanced hearing had no trouble picking it up. “That he loved me. And at first, it wasn’t so bad. He’d insist on walking me home at night or want me to order the more expensive meal if we were eating out. I thought it was sweet.”
Rylee heaved a sigh. “But after we were married, he changed. Well, maybe he just stopped hiding it. He started insisting that I only use certain soaps and shampoos, and then that I couldn’t eat certain foods. We were trying to get pregnant, so I thought it was about that, and I let it go. I thought he was just being a bit paranoid.”
Her body was tense, and she didn’t meet his eyes as she continued. “But it only grew worse the longer I did nothing. By the time I left, he was telling me what time to wake up and what time to go to sleep, dictating what I ate, what I watched on TV, everything.”
Her voice shook, and Calrian wanted to shush her, to do anything to stop the pain he could feel pouring off her soul. But somehow, he sensed that she needed to get this out, to tell someone.
To have someone believe her.
So he listened, nodding and making encouraging sounds.
Rylee kept talking, her words tumbling over themselves in their need to escape. “I kept denying that there was anything wrong, telling myself that his actions only showed concern and love for me. Even my family, Dad, my friends, they all thought Eric was great. He could charm them, see. And… well, it took me a while to realise it, but anyone he couldn’t charm, he’d forced away from me long ago.”
“It was only when I realised that he was doing the same thing to Rowan that it really sunk in what was happening. When he told Rowan that a good friend of his was manipulating him, and that he should stop speaking to him and Rowan listened, I knew I had to do something. So I left. That was two months ago.”
She broke off then, and Calrian could feel her chest heaving as she took a few breaths.
“It’s all right, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he said softly. “I believe you.”
He’d only meant to spare her the distress, but she looked up at him, her eyes grateful. “You do?”
She sounded surprised, and Calrian really wasn’t sure why. “Why would you lie about how he treated you?”
Her expression twisted. “Dad obviously thinks I would.”
Calrian couldn’t argue with her assertion, so instead he said, “Well, I don’t.”
Rylee gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you,” she said softly.
They stared at each other then, their faces only inches away, and Calrian’s breath caught in his throat. There was something about her that stirred his soul. More so than any dragon he’d ever seen. It didn’t matter that her eyes were red from crying or her skin was wan. For some reason, just looking at her stirred his heart in a way he’d never experienced before.
That was when it hit him. This wasn’t just Mesmer fuelled desire. This was something more.
Not that his desire had disappeared, the Mesmer bond ensured it was always present, but it was a dull ache, certainly not at the forefront of his mind right now. Certainly not affecting his choices and actions. Whatever he was feeling for Rylee, it was overshadowing the Mesmer bond.
It was stronger than it.
All he knew was that he wanted to hold her and protect her. To keep her safe and stop anyone who tried to tell her she was wrong from ever doing so again.
But he knew immediately that he couldn’t do that. That if he tried, he’d be no better than this… Eric. Or her father. Rylee needed to make these choices for herself. He knew she was more than capable.
She just needed someone to believe in her.
“You must do whatever you believe is right for you and Rowan,” Calrian said, certain of that at least. “Your father’s wishes in this matter are irrelevant.”
Rylee stared at him for a moment, her head tilted to one side. “Of course they are,” she said, as though the idea was a revelation. Then more strongly she said, “Of course what my father thinks about Eric is irrelevant.” She gave him a brilliant smile.
He could sense the moment she became aware that she was still in his arms. Her body went stiff for a moment, and Calrian knew he should release her.
But he held her just a few seconds longer than he should have, the Mesmer bond and his own tenuous feelings for her clouding his judgement for a brief moment.
“Thank you,” Rylee said softly. Her body relaxed in his arms, and she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. Then she stepped back.
Letting go of her wasn’t as bad as he had feared.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to kiss him again and again, and in far more intimate places than his cheek, and it certainly wasn’t that he wished to let her go.
But his heart was calm and satisfied, even if his body wasn’t, because he could sense her strength and confidence. And he knew that he’d helped her achieve that.
Chapter 10
The feeling of relief Rylee felt
was disproportionate to what had just happened. Calrian hadn’t offered any solutions to her problems, and it wasn’t like she didn’t need them anyway. Clearly staying here with her father wasn’t going to work long term. But to get away, she needed a job and the money it would bring.
Calrian didn’t have solutions to any of that. He couldn’t. He’d just listened.
And believed her.
She realised that until that moment, no one else had.
Eric had cut her off from any friends who might have been willing to take her side long ago, and even if he hadn’t, she suspected that they would only have said, ‘I told you so’. Because they had.
She just hadn’t been able to listen.
Her father had offered her this place to stay, but it had always been with the idea that she needed time to cool off, and that she’d return to Eric once she came to her senses. The conversation he’d just had with her only reinforced that.
She hadn’t realised how lonely she’d been, how much she’d felt she couldn’t trust anyone other than herself, until Calrian had offered her a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.
In the back of her mind, there had always been a tiny voice saying that maybe she was wrong. Maybe Eric hadn’t been so bad, and she’d just been over-reacting. Enough people had told her she was that she had struggled to silence the doubts.
But Calrian hadn’t wavered. He’d listened and believed her. He hadn’t questioned her experience or her decisions once. In fact, he’d said it was her choice. That she knew what was best for her. That thought was almost revolutionary, even though it shouldn’t have been.
Already she felt stronger than she had in days. Like she just might be able to do this. She might be able to stand up to her father, find a job, and create a happy, satisfying life for her and Rowan.
She knew that she’d never be able to repay him for helping her believe that.
There was one thing she could do, but though her body loudly proclaimed its willingness with a jolt of desire, her mind wasn’t so ready. What she felt for him was still a messy jumble in her head, compounded by the magic of the Mesmer bond.
Sleeping with him wasn’t her only option though. There was something else. Something they’d already decided to do.
“We should go and find your family,” she said firmly.
Calrian’s eyes widened. “Now? Are you sure? There’s no rush. It can wait until you are feeling better.”
Rylee shook her head. “No. I want to do this. I want to help you as you have helped me.”
Calrian looked confused. “What did I do?”
She stared at him for a moment, but his bewildered expression was sincere. He truly had no idea.
“You listened to me, and you believed me,” she said softly. “It has been a long time since anyone has done either of those things.”
Calrian hesitated for a moment, then he took a step closer and put a hand up to her cheek. “It was no hardship. I listened to you because I wanted to hear what you had to say, and I believed you because you have never given me any reason to doubt. I am sorry that others do not see the same thing I see.”
His words took her breath away. They were the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her.
Her willpower wavered again.
She desperately wanted to sleep with him, and this time the reason had little to do with the fact that she felt she owed him or even with the desire that flooded through her from the magical bond between them.
She wanted to sleep with him because she wanted to know what it would be like to be with someone who truly cared about her. Who saw her as she really was and didn’t want to change her in any way. Who was interested in what she thought.
That lure was far more tempting than even the pull of the Mesmer bond.
And far more dangerous.
Not because of him. She trusted him to treat her well and to never try to control her as Eric had done.
No, it was herself she didn’t trust. Though she could see how she had slipped under Eric’s control slowly, bit by bit, his manipulation had been so insidious that she’d barely even noticed it. She might blame Eric, and he certainly did deserve the lion’s share of the blame, but she couldn’t deny her own responsibility. She’d given him that control, surrendered it without even a fight or protest. And she didn’t trust herself not to do it again.
She needed to keep her distance from Calrian, at least until she had grown a little herself.
By then, of course, he’d be long gone. If they found his family today, that time could come far sooner than she was ready for.
The thought saddened her.
But for some reason, resisting him, resisting the powerful draw she felt to him, made her feel more sure of herself. More powerful. More in control.
So instead of throwing herself into his arms and kissing him like she never wanted to stop, she said, “Let’s go find your family.
*****
Rylee’s heart thudded with excitement as the black cliffs ahead of them came into view.
This was it. This was her chance to repay Calrian for all that he had given her. She just hoped they were successful.
“Warrian’s Mesmer chamber is at the south end,” Calrian told her, pointing.
Rylee veered that way. There was no road out here, no bitumen anyway, just a faint track in the dirt. Unlike the stunning Wave Rock, no one came all this way to stare at the menacing black cliffs. They didn’t draw tourists or locals. There was nothing here other than dust.
“We’ll drive past first,” Calrian said, “And I’ll see if I can spot the Trima dragon. You just keep moving and circle back around the way we came in case we have to make a run for it.”
Rylee nodded, biting her lip in concentration as she drove towards the towering cliffs. She tried to keep her focus on where she was driving, but she couldn’t help glancing towards the cliffs, searching for a dragon, bracing for lightning hurtling towards her, and trying to see where Calrian’s brother might be.
Luckily the area around was flat and bare, with nothing to run into. Still, she swerved a little closer to the cliffs than she would have liked. She didn’t need Calrian’s, “Careful,” to urge her to turn further away.
“I can see him, the Trima dragon.” Calrian’s voice was low, almost as though he was afraid the other dragon might hear him, even though they couldn’t be that close.
Rylee stared out the window again, but couldn’t see anything even resembling a dragon.
“He’s up on top of the cliff,” Calrian told her. “You won’t be able to see him, he’s well hidden, but I can sense him, so I know where to look. We’re in luck though, I think he’s asleep. Circle around, and I’ll watch to see if he moves.”
Rylee turned away from the cliffs in a large circle, coming back in again near where she’d started.
Calrian didn’t make a sound, and his face was a picture of concentration. Rylee didn’t dare say anything. She didn’t want to interrupt him. Or the other dragon to hear her. Although the car had to be far louder than her voice.
Her heart, beating at a thousand beats a minute, wasn’t quiet either. She was surprised Calrian didn’t tell her to make it beat more quietly.
But he just watched intently for a few moments before saying, “Pull up, over there.” He pointed to a spot in the shadow of the cliffs.
Rylee pulled up as indicated and was about to turn the key when Calrian said, “No, keep it running. Cutting out the sound will alert him more than it continuing. Wait here, and be ready to flee if something goes wrong.”
Rylee bit her lip and nodded. She wanted to go with Calrian, to help him, but she was also terrified to leave the car. So she waited inside, hardly daring to breathe, as Calrian gathered up the tools she’d found and stepped out into the dust. He stared up at the cliffs above intently for a few moments. Then he turned and headed into the shadows.
Chapter 11
Calrian stared at the lock protecting his brother’s Mesmer
chamber. To touch it, he would have to reach through the life magic that protected the chamber, protected his brother. But he took heart from the fact that it was still intact. That suggested that his brother was still inside.
Didn’t it?
The trouble was, as soon as he touched the barrier, there was a good chance the Trima dragon above would sense his presence. His own magic level was still low, it was true, but Calrian wasn’t sure it was low enough that he wouldn’t be recognised as a dragon, especially not after that long cuddle he’d had with Rylee just before they’d arrived.
There was only one way to find out. He reached out, feeling the magic surge through him as his fingers brushed the invisible barrier. Calrian stared up, craning his neck, even though he knew it was impossible for him to see the enemy dragon from this angle.
And he didn’t need to. The ear-splitting screech told him all he needed to know. The Trima dragon wouldn’t have given his position away to anyone but another dragon.
Calrian hesitated, his heart thudding.
He would have time. With the tools Rylee had given him, he was pretty sure he could be inside before the Trima dragon could fly down to him.
But that would leave Rylee unprotected.
And it would ultimately achieve nothing. It would not take the Trima dragon long to realise that she was human, not a dragon, and it would be back before he and Warrian could escape from the Mesmer chamber. Neither of them would be at full strength, not even half strength.
They had no hope of taking on the Trima dragon, even both of them together.
He had no choice but to leave.
Rylee was gesturing frantically for him to hurry, glancing up at the cliffs as the Trima dragon swooped down.
Calrian took one last look at his brother’s resting place. It was so hard to leave when he was so close, but continuing would only endanger them both. At least if the barrier were still intact, his brother would be safe.
He ran to the car, pulling open the door and shouting, “Go,” even as he climbed inside.
Rylee didn’t need to be told twice. The car was already moving as Calrian swung the door shut. He twisted in the seat, watching as the Trima dragon swooped down, angling past the Mesmer chamber to check that it was still shut, before following the car.
