by Rinelle Grey
Both of them looked taken aback.
“Well, we wanted to make a commitment to each other,” the woman said. “To let everyone know we were serious about this. About each other.” She looked at her husband then, a slightly sheepish look in her eyes.
“Of course you did,” Mora said smoothly. “And part of that commitment is talking through your problems and finding a solution together, not fighting about them. Laundry on the floor, toilet seats up, those aren’t real problems. They’re easily solved.” She turned to the woman. “Is your love really so weak that a few minor irritants can blow it away?”
“I… Of course not.”
Mora turned to the woman’s husband. “And do you love your wife enough to try to help fix things that are bothering her?”
“Of course I do,” he said just as vehemently. “I just forgot, that’s all. I was… um… distracted.”
The look he gave his wife then had no malice in it. It was pure lust.
She giggled and blushed a little.
“Good.” Mora nodded decisively. “Then go back to your room and make up.”
As the pair headed back into their room, holding hands and their heads close together, Finn would have been hard pressed to recognise them as the same couple who had been screaming at each other moments before.
She was good.
He looked at Mora with new respect. He’d already guessed she’d try to help, but he hadn’t expected her to be so good at it. She’d seen the root of the problem immediately and dealt with it with a skill and understanding he hadn’t expected.
His admiration for her only went up. And this time it wasn’t just the strange connection he’d felt to her. This was unrelated. He’d appreciate her response even if he wasn’t attracted to her.
The few spectators he hadn’t reached yet slipped away, and Finn wouldn’t have been surprised if several of them weren’t going back to their rooms for some making up of their own.
Mora wasn’t moving though. She was looking at him, and this time, it wasn’t suspicion on her face. Her eyes roamed up and down his body, a little calculating, a little admiring.
Finn’s heart beat a little faster.
Was there any possibility the admiration was mutual?
“Finn, wasn’t it?” she asked.
He’d been hearing his name his whole life. It was his name, after all. But the way she said it was like nothing he’d ever felt before. It was as though she had some indiscernible accent, as though the words were set to some music he couldn’t hear.
He nodded, not trusting his voice to speak.
“Thanks for that,” she said softly.
Finn shrugged, trying to hide his confusion. “It was no problem. I didn’t do much anyway, not like you.” He paused, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. “How’d you know what would get through to them?” He hesitated. “You married?”
Her eyes widened for a second, then she laughed. “Definitely not.”
Her words were certain, and they stilled some of the turmoil in his heart. That indicated that she didn’t have a dragon mate, didn’t it? If she did, she might say something like, ‘it’s complicated’, not such a definitive no. Wouldn’t she?
She continued, not waiting for a reply. “They were obviously honeymooners. It often takes a while to get used to being married and how things change. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen it. Sometimes they just need to be reminded of why they made that decision in the first place.”
Finn hesitated, torn between what he wanted to do, and what he should be doing for his job. That both were the same only added to his confusion and discomfort.
“You come here often then?” he asked casually. He already knew the answer, but he needed her to tell him so he didn’t make her suspicious later.
“I work here.”
Not quite the whole truth, but he wasn’t surprised. Saying you worked somewhere was different than saying your parents owned the resort. You didn’t say that to someone you just met.
And it wasn’t like he’d done enough to help her that she felt grateful. He’d just told a few people to move on.
No, she had no reason to feel grateful to him and little reason to continue the conversation. In fact, she was nodding to him, about to leave.
He should let this drop. He was playing the long game. He had plenty of time to get to know her and work up to more questions. He hadn’t even begun to finish exploring all the available methods of finding out what he needed to know.
Despite that, Finn felt a desperate urge to stop her from leaving, to say something that would make her stay.
And it had very little to do with the fact that what he needed to know wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you admitted to an acquaintance. He could hardly come out and ask her why she’d been at the dragon lair. And she was hardly likely to admit it to him out of the blue.
That kind of closeness could take months to build in general conversations and chance meetings. It might never reach that point.
No, he needed to be more direct, to build that intimacy much faster. And there was only one way he could think of to do that. It would be bold, but sometimes bold was the best option.
Especially when it was the thing he wanted most right now.
“I guess you know all the best places to eat then?” he asked before he could second guess himself.
She raised an eyebrow.
Yeah, that had been a little obvious.
But her mouth lifted in a slight smile. “I do, yeah.”
“Where do you recommend I eat tonight then?” Finn asked, giving her his best winning smile.
“The Fins and Ships is always my favourite.”
“Would you like to have dinner there?”
Her eyebrows raised. Too bold? It wasn’t his normal MO, but it would answer one question once and for all. If she had a dragon mate, she’d surely say no.
But her smile didn’t disappear. In fact, it widened. “Subtle,” she said with a grin.
Finn smiled back. “What can I say? I’m the king of subtlety.”
She laughed at that, and the sound triggered something in his chest. Maybe even in his heart.
This was not going well.
And yet, it was going far better than he could have hoped.
Chapter 4
Morian stared at Finn, a little disconcerted by his question. Yes, it had been obvious he’d been leading up to it, but somehow it had still caught her off guard.
Maybe because it wasn’t his question so much as her reaction that had surprised her.
Not to mention how tempted she was to say yes. So tempted she’d almost uttered the response without even thinking about it.
He wasn’t the first guest who’d asked her out. It had happened more than enough in the last few years that she always had a polite refusal ready. But right now, she didn’t feel like uttering it. That was what was throwing her.
She actually wanted to say yes.
She actually wanted a chance to see if the spark they’d felt meant something. Had he experienced it too? He looked almost as surprised by his question as she was, so perhaps he had felt it.
She could sense curiosity from him and a little hesitation, both feelings similar to her own. And for a second there, she’d sensed discomfort. Maybe because he’d been working himself up to the question? She wasn’t sure, and that was throwing her too.
She wasn’t used to not being able to read people completely and without a doubt. Maybe anything else she might have sensed was overwhelmed by the wave of interest rolling off him. That wave of emotion seemed to hit Morian’s life dragon senses and confuse them in a way they’d never been muddled before.
Just what was going on?
She stared at him a little longer than usual, completely thrown.
It must have been long enough to confuse him as well because he said casually, “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I won’t throw a fit on the lawn if you say no.” He gave a grin at that, and it took M
orian’s scrambled brain a few moments to connect his comments with the couple who’d been having a screaming argument only a few minutes ago.
When she did, she gave a laugh. “No, it’s not that. It’s…”
What was it? Why was she hesitating?
If she liked the guy, there was no harm in saying yes. Guests had never been off limits. Hayrian had even mated one apparently. But until now, Morian had always shied away from getting involved. Most of them were only here for a week, and that was hardly enough time to tell if you really liked someone or not, barely even enough time to get to know them properly.
Then again, she’d never felt anything like this before.
She felt like she already knew him, that was why she’d asked him for help as soon as she’d seen him, and why she’d had no doubt of him being able to disperse the crowd. A confidence he hadn’t let down in the least. He’d done exactly what she’d needed, without even hesitating.
Well, she had used a little coercion on him, though only the most gentle amount. And he’d clearly responded. So any confusion about her magic working on him should be put to rest.
Shouldn’t it?
Of course it should. There was no reason she could see that it wouldn’t. He was no dragon. He should have no resistance to her at all.
Finn was still staring at her, one eyebrow raised, waiting for her answer. He couldn’t possibly know the turmoil going through her mind, and if she took much longer to answer, he was going to think her strange. He’d probably withdraw his offer.
“Sure, I’d like that,” she said quickly before she could change her mind.
Well, it wasn’t like she was agreeing to mate with him. It was just dinner. If she was still freaking out later, she could always cancel.
But she knew she wouldn’t. Finn was more fascinating than anyone she’d ever met before, and she really wanted to know more about him. She wanted to see if he could possibly live up to the way she was feeling about him.
He looked as surprised by her acceptance as she felt. He nodded once, then again. “Um… which cabin are you in? I’ll come by and pick you up.”
“I’m not in a cabin. I work here, remember?”
“Where shall I pick you up then?” His words and voice were casual, but Morian’s life dragon senses broadcast a warning. A warning she almost missed. There was something else behind his question, something he wasn’t telling her.
What could it be?
When she tried to probe deeper, it was gone. She couldn’t sense anything but the same overwhelming interest she’d felt earlier.
That should have scared her. She’d never met anyone who wasn’t completely open to her life dragon magic. Even the other dragons in the Rian clan lair hadn’t been able to hide their emotions from her.
But this man could. This ordinary human could baffle her.
And that was more intriguing than anything else he’d done. What was it about him that was different?
She needed to know more.
And there was no harm in searching for it. It wasn’t like he could be a threat to her. He was just a human, and she was a dragon, a dragon with one of the most powerful dragon magics available.
At least here no one was telling her not to use it.
Her brothers would have a fit of course. If they knew she was planning on going out to dinner with a man she couldn’t read, they’d totally freak out. Her parents would too.
But it was none of their business who she went out with.
That, as much as her own interest, prompted her to say, “I’ll meet you there at seven?”
He stared at her, the same curiosity and fascination in his eyes that she felt. “Seven,” he agreed.
It felt like a promise.
Yet once Morian walked away from him, up around the corner back towards the main house, once he was out of sight, doubts began to assail her. Why on earth had she agreed to meet with him? What possible reason could there be for spending more time with him?
His lack of transparency might be a danger, not only to her, but to her brothers, maybe even to the resort.
As soon as she thought of it, Morian shook her head. How could a simple human be a danger to her and her brothers? He couldn’t harm them in any way.
Except he wasn’t just a simple human. He was a human who seemed immune to her life dragon probes. That was something she’d never encountered before, and she had to admit that it intrigued her more than frightened her.
No, she was just being silly. He wasn’t immune. Her magic was just overwhelmed by the way he felt about her. It was blocking out everything else. If there even was anything else. It was more likely that interest was all he felt for her.
No matter what else she had sensed from him, she’d sensed no malice. He’d been curious, maybe even suspicious, but there was no denying his attraction to her. He couldn’t fake that.
Was it possible that was clouding her judgement?
Maybe she should tell Damrian or Hayrian or even Rowan. She was being needlessly rebellious by keeping it from them. They might see something she was missing, something she might be blinded to. Rowan especially, for all his lack of dragon genes, was always very perceptive about human motivation.
But as soon as Morian imagined telling them about her encounter with Finn, she knew she’d have to tell them he’d asked her out. She’d have to tell them she’d said yes.
And as soon as they heard she’d agreed to go out with him despite her reservations, they’d try to stop her from going.
She didn’t want that.
And it wasn’t just that he made her heart beat a little faster.
She wanted to figure this out for herself. She wanted to solve a problem independently. She definitely didn’t want her brothers stepping in to try to protect her—again.
No, she could handle this. Finn was human. He wasn’t a threat. She’d figure out what he was up to and what he wanted, then she’d tell her brothers the whole story, not just a suspicion.
Then maybe they’d see that she didn’t need their protection anymore.
Chapter 5
Finn walked up to the Fins and Ships at about quarter to seven, deliberately giving himself time to scope out the place before he met up with Mora. Maybe a little bit of time to calm his thumping heart.
He was still a little surprised she’d agreed to meet with him. They barely knew each other, after all. Then again, maybe she was feeling the same thing he was feeling. Maybe it had stunned her as much as it had stunned him. It didn’t seem to matter that he’d known her less than twelve hours. He felt a connection between them, one he couldn’t explain.
One that was definitely going to get in the way of doing his job.
Finn should be feeling good that it would give him a chance to collect information for his investigation. But he wasn’t. Whenever he thought about the job he was supposed to be doing, he just felt guilty.
Guilty for deceiving her, and guilty for not focusing purely on the investigation.
He’d been given the responsibility of doing this investigation despite his failure at the dragon’s lair. If he messed up again, and falling for his target would definitely qualify, he wouldn’t be given another chance.
On the other hand, he couldn’t help thinking that whatever he was feeling for Mora was something special. Something he shouldn’t let pass him by.
But how could he let himself even think about getting involved when it conflicted with his work?
Finn didn’t want to think about that. Right now, the connection he felt was aligned with him doing his job. He could find out more about her while enjoying spending an evening with her. And when she was cleared, which he was sure she would be, then he could confess the truth.
If things hadn’t already cooled by then.
Somehow, he couldn’t imagine that happening. Then again, maybe she didn’t feel the same thing he was feeling. For all he knew, she wouldn’t even show up. She certainly hadn’t seemed sure when she’d said yes. Bes
t not to get his hopes up.
So he took a seat on one of the stools near the counter and surveyed the room.
He was a little surprised Mora had chosen this particular restaurant. The one he’d passed to get here, the Fireside Reef, had seemed a lot more upmarket. More in style with a resort owner’s daughter. Not that he didn’t prefer the quieter, more relaxed atmosphere here, but didn’t most women like to go somewhere fancy when they were on a date?
Maybe she didn’t think this was a date. Well, that would probably be for the best. And it would solve some of his problems.
Even if he didn’t want it to be the case.
“Hey.” Her soft voice ripped all other thoughts out of his head, and he swung around to find her behind him. She must have come in… he wasn’t sure from where. Not the front entrance, he’d been watching that.
And she was early.
Finn stared at her, completely thrown off balance. “Uh… Hi,” he managed.
Mora nodded to the woman behind the counter and said, “The usual, thanks.” She looked at Finn and raised an eyebrow.
Her taking charge had only thrown him even more. Wasn’t he the one who was supposed to be asking her what she wanted? “Uh, I’ll have the same.” He hadn’t even looked at the menu on the wall behind the counter yet. He had no idea what to order.
And he didn’t care.
Somehow, he suspected he wasn’t going to be paying very much attention to the food. When Mora took his hand and a current passed between them, he was even more sure of it.
Who needed food when he could be talking to Mora, getting the chance to know her a little better. When he could be staring into her eyes. Maybe even kissing her.
His blood heated at the thought.
Mora lead him to a table in the corner of the room, far enough out of the way that no one was going to be walking past them, and sat down on one side. Finn sat opposite her, and then stared at her like a fool.
He couldn’t think of anything at all to say. Everything he considered sounded completely lame, and anyway, he kind of felt like words were completely superfluous right now.
