The trick would be proving to Rhydian she could handle herself, which meant maybe softening him up a little first with a tasty dinner. She doubted there was much difference between human or dragon-shifter men when it came to their stomachs. She'd just have to make the best damn dinner anyone had ever seen. Then when Rhydian was stuffed to the gills and ready to waddle out the door, she could pounce and propose her plan.
Chapter Seven
Rhydian knocked on Delaney's door and did his best to contain his curiosity. The female had invited him to dinner and had hinted at how she had a new event idea for his clan. Since a text message didn't contain a lot of words, it'd been vague. And only because he'd been busy with Gwen earlier had he not pressed for more details.
His beast spoke up. I like it. We rarely get surprises. Yet another reason she'd be a good mate.
Not this again.
You said you were open to it. So stop trying to dismiss the topic every time I bring it up.
The door opened, revealing a flushed Delaney wearing an apron.
With bits of her long, dark hair framing her face and the pink on her cheeks matching the sparkle in her eyes, it took his breath away.
Would she ever stop being so bloody beautiful?
His dragon snorted but thankfully remained otherwise silent. Delaney waved him inside. "Come in. Dinner's nearly done."
Rian came racing toward him. And as soon as Rhydian stepped inside the living room, the boy hugged him as he said, "Oh, Rhydian. You're going to like what we did! Me and Auntie Laney did our very best, and even put our heart into the food. Right, Auntie Laney? It was heart?"
She smiled. "Yes, heart and soul."
Her gaze met his and time froze, his heartbeat echoing in his ears.
It would be easy to lean over, tuck her hair behind her ear, and kiss her hello.
And given the heat in her gaze and how her pink cheeks were flushed nearly red, he had a feeling she wouldn't push him away, either.
Then Delaney stepped backward and motioned toward the kitchen and dining area. "I need to check the food or it'll burn. Come. You can join us in the kitchen and set the table."
Rian released Rhydian and clapped his hands. "Yay! Then I don't have to do it. Now I can help you taste everything, Auntie."
Delaney laughed, the sounds like chimes being rung by the wind. "For tonight, yes. But you're going to help with setting the table other nights. It's a very important job, one I hope you'll take seriously next time."
The boy dashed into the kitchen before Delaney could add any stipulations. Rhydian trailed after the human female, doing his best to not watch her hips sway.
Of course the ties of the apron made it almost impossible to do that. It was as if they swished back and forth over her arse to tease him.
His dragon grunted. She could be ours. Remember that.
They reached the kitchen and he watched as Delaney stirred something on the cooker. Whatever it was, it smelled fabulous.
Delaney said over her shoulder, "I made Irish stew. I hope you like it."
"I don't think I've ever had it, but I'm not that picky. I usually just snatch something up from the clan's eatery."
She raised her brows. "So you only eat the dragon equivalent of fast food?"
Rhydian growled. "No way. We like real food, not stuff tinkered around with in a lab."
"So does that mean you've never had a proper fish and chips from a shop?"
"We're not exactly near the sea if you couldn't tell," he stated.
Delaney rolled her eyes. "Okay, Mr. Obvious. That didn't answer my question, so I just need to be clearer in the future. Something tells me you constantly pick things apart."
Rhydian spotted the bowls on the counter, moved to them, and picked them up. "It's almost a requirement for a clan leader. When you listen to a dispute between two farmers, or even between two parents over something one of their kids did over the other, you need every advantage you can think of to come up with a fair solution."
Rian sat at the table in the nook and tapped the surface. "Hurry up, Rhydian. I want some stew. My mum always made it, and it was my favorite. I really, really want some again."
While he'd known Delaney was related to Rian, the boy's comment reminded him of how Delaney could bring a little of Rian's mother to life, even with her gone.
His dragon spoke up. Yet another reason she should stay with us.
Can't you let it rest for now?
His dragon faked sleeping. At least, for the time being. Who knew how long it'd last.
As Rhydian put one bowl and then another on the table, it struck him how domestic this all was. He'd lived alone for most of his life. Even when Rian had arrived, it'd still been just him and the boy mostly adapting to his bachelor lifestyle of meals from the eatery and finding ways to function without much thought.
However, as Delaney started humming a tune as she turned off the cooker and cut some bread, he wondered how much better life would be if she were his mate.
Not that he'd expect her to do everything. Of course not. But Rhydian would need some help in the cooking department, and he could definitely use some liveliness in his life. Most of the time he didn't think much about living in North Wales inside a mountain or how gray and cold it all could be.
Delaney, on the other hand, could make him forget all about the cold.
His dragon's pretend nap ended and he chimed in. Go over to her. You don't even have to touch her, but I want to feel her heat and take in her scent. I know you want the same.
He placed the last bowl and as if of their own volition, his legs carried him right behind Delaney. He murmured, "Can I help you with anything?"
~~~
Delaney could feel Rhydian's heat behind her.
Even without touching, every inch of her skin was on fire in a good way. If she leaned back, then she could absorb some of his heat and chase away the slight chill that cave-living conditions seemed to cause her.
But if she did that and Rhydian wrapped his arms around her middle, she'd lean back and let him do whatever he wanted with her.
Part of her wanted exactly that. However, the part that constantly thought of Rian pushed it aside. The boy was mere feet away and waiting for his dinner.
A dinner that her own sister had made for him many times over, so much so that it'd become his favorite.
Thinking of her late sister and her nephew banished her awareness with an icy suddenness. Delaney stepped to the side and gestured toward the bread. "You can finish cutting that whilst I get the stew on the table."
She could've sworn Rhydian's finger brushed the top of her arm. However, he was cutting bread with gusto before she could even blink.
If Rhydian was interested in her—and she was fairly certain he was—that could be problematic for her boxing match idea. From everything she'd read about dragon-shifters, they were overly protective of their mates, family, and even clan.
Delaney may not be any of those things—yet, a small voice said inside her head—but if Rhydian was as aware of her as she was of him, it could be enough to cloud his rational mind.
Wanting to get both of the men in the room eating and on their way to food comas, Delaney carried the stew pot to the table and set it on the trivet. Rian danced in his seat. "Next time, you need to teach me more about cooking. I want to make stew every day. Stew, stew, stew. Yes, that would be brilliant."
She smiled as she dished it out to Rian's bowl. "If you eat something every day, you'll grow tired of it. Besides, this doesn't have as much veg as a growing boy needs."
"But I'm not a boy, I'm a dragon-shifter. And dragons need heaps and heaps of meat. Right, Rhydian?"
Rhydian chuckled, and Delaney's gaze instantly went to his face. When he smiled, it was as if ten years melted away. Rhydian replied, "Our dragon halves would love nothing more than to have meat all the time, but our human bodies need more. If you want to grow big and strong like Wren or any of the other Protectors, then you most definitely nee
d to eat a lot of vegetables, too."
Rian sighed dramatically. "But I don't want to eat them. Most of them taste like dirt."
Delaney was tempted to jump in, but she held back. Something about how Rhydian handled the boy fascinated her.
Rhydian put the breadbasket on the table. "That just means you need to try a new recipe. Lily has some Japanese recipes for spinach and pumpkin that most definitely don't taste like dirt. Maybe she can make that for you."
Rian wrinkled his nose. "Pumpkin? No one eats pumpkin. They're only good for carving faces, like I saw on TV."
"Remember what I said your first week here, about what you need to do with food?" Rhydian asked.
Rian slumped a fraction in his chair. "Try everything at least once. And if I don't hate it, try it again."
"Right. You never know what you truly like until you try things."
Delaney finally decided to jump in. "He's right, Rian. I never would've been a boxer if my dad hadn't made me try a bunch of different sports to find the one I liked."
Rhydian looked at her. "So that's how you become one, then."
She bobbed her head as she slid into her chair. "Originally, I had wanted to try ballet. But I hated it from the tenth second of my first practice. My dad then had me try all sorts of things, not limiting it to merely ballet or netball, like a lot of other girls. It took years, but by the time I was a teenager, I tried one last thing—boxing—and fell in love with it. If I'd stopped or given up, I never would've found something I loved, something that helped shape who I am today."
As Rhydian stared at her, his pupils flashed to slits and back. What she wouldn't give to hear his dragon's thoughts.
However, before she could ask or say anything else, Rian said, "Well, I want to try this stew. Just to make sure I like it."
She smiled and met the boy's eyes. "Go ahead and eat."
Rian didn't wait for any more encouragement. And as he continued to nearly inhale the contents of his bowl, she surmised he liked it.
Rhydian's sexy voice filled her ears. "This is good, Delaney. I have nothing to compare it to, but I doubt there's any Irish stew better than this one."
His compliment warmed her insides as she watched him overenthusiastically eat his dinner. Between him and Rian, the stew would be gone in a flash.
She should follow suit, enjoy her meal, and move the conversation to something easy. But the longer she kept her idea secret, the heavier it felt in her stomach.
When Rhydian was midchew, she blurted, "The idea I had was to host a boxing match. Me against another female with some degree of training, like one of the Protectors."
To his credit, Rhydian calmly swallowed his food and didn't start choking. His gaze assessed hers. Maybe some would look away at the intensity, but she only matched it.
She needed to prove herself in some way to the clan. And this was all she really could do.
And so she waited to see how the dragon clan leader reacted.
~~~
Rhydian's first instinct was to say no bloody way. No matter how skilled or strong Delaney may be, dragon-shifters were stronger. Flying, in particular, toned their bodies in ways humans could rarely match.
And yet, hearing how she'd gone through so many activities to find the one thing she loved—boxing—made him resist his first urge.
If someone had tried to tell him he could no longer fly, would he do it?
His beast huffed. Of course not, unless it would kill us. And even then, we'd have to think about it.
Careful to keep his tone even, he said, "Most of our female Protectors aren't trained in boxing. In fact, there's only one who has tried it even a little. So your idea probably won't work."
"Then what will? From everything I've heard from Rian, Eira, and even the DDA, most dragon-shifter clans tend to view humans as physically weak and not good for anything but having babies. Strength is held to such a high standard with your kind, and I need to prove I'm not a delicate flower. And I'd rather do it in one go instead of over the course of years and years, having to prove myself to every individual here. I had to do that at the school today, and I didn't like the distrust they showered on me with Rian there. I'm sure he gets similar treatment as there aren’t many half-human children here, right? But if I can prove I’m strong all around—both mentally and physically—then it might make things easier for him in the long run, too."
Rhydian hadn't heard any reports about other students mistreating Rian. But he'd been so busy healing the clan after rescuing the children three months ago, it was entirely possible it was happening and Rian had kept it to himself.
Fuck. Had he really overlooked that point so easily? The more he grew to know Delaney, the more he realized how sharing Rian’s upbringing would be best for the boy.
Speaking of the lad, Rhydian glanced at Rian to see if he was listening in. However, the boy was happily eating his stew and sharing it with his stuffed rabbit. As long as they kept their voices from being too loud, they should be able to have a quick conversation.
Although he didn't want a quick one, but still, with a child, that would have to be enough until after Rian went to sleep later.
Rhydian leaned over a fraction toward Delaney, trying his best to ignore how her scent grew stronger and made his dragon hum. "I don't know if there's a quick, fix-all solution, Delaney. Humans haven't lived on Snowridge for decades."
His dragon growled. Of course there's a fairly easy solution. If she were our mate, most people would leave her alone.
I'm not going to propose that to her.
Delaney's voice prevented his dragon from speaking. "What did your dragon say? If what I learned earlier today, about how intricate your dragon halves are when it comes to living life—at least according to Lily—then he should have a say in this conversation, too."
His inner beast raised his head and smugness filled his eyes. Rhydian ignored him. "That may not be the best idea."
Delaney searched his gaze a second before leaning even closer and whispering, "We're going to pause this conversation until Rian is asleep. Then we're going to finish it."
At the firmness in her tone, Rhydian blinked. He'd never met a human with such steel and spine before.
And he rather liked it. No, more than like—he loved it.
He nodded and then Delaney turned toward Rian, chatting about something he didn't quite follow.
His dragon said, I can't wait for later. You'd better tell her my idea.
You're crazy.
No, I'm not. It's the most logical and rational solution. And before you say how we can't go into a frenzy anytime soon because of the upcoming operation with Stonefire, that's fine. I can somehow find a way to wait, as long as it's not indefinitely.
Rhydian sensed he would lose this battle, so he tried one last thing. What about Gwen? She was excited for Delaney to stay with her.
She still can, until the mating ceremony. Merely putting the word out that Delaney is our mate-to-be will be a good first step in securing her place here.
It was far too soon for any of his dragon's plans, and yet, his beast had a point. And as Wren had said earlier, Rhydian was the one in charge now. There would be no uncles or clan leader driving out his female and teaching Rhydian a lesson.
He knew it would bring some troubles, too, but they were issues he should've been working on anyway.
Maybe Delaney was the kick in the arse he'd needed to tackle some of the most difficult tasks he'd ever do as clan leader.
Cleaning out the bad members of his clan wouldn't be easy. Carys and the others had started the process with their background checks, but Rhydian's duty of telling the people they needed to move to one of the farms or to another clan would be much harder.
And yet, as he watched Delaney make a funny face and Rian laugh, he smiled. This could be his family. Yes, it would take a lot of hard choices and hard work, but to come home every day to laughter and maybe one day love could make it all worth it.
Maybe, just
maybe, after nearly twenty years he could finally be happy again.
And in that moment, he didn't need his beast urging or persuading him to suggest it to Delaney later. Rhydian had made his decision and he hoped with everything he had that Delaney would agree to it, too.
~~~
Delaney took one last glance at Rian's sleeping form and gently closed the door.
Her nephew was finally asleep, which meant it was time to pick up her conversation with Rhydian from earlier.
The fact the dragonman had been unusually silent during the rest of the meal—she assumed it'd been unusual, although maybe it was his normal way of being, she had no idea—made her worry a little. He'd turned down her boxing idea. But she suspected his inner dragon had come up with another.
It was time to find out what it was.
Taking a deep breath, she walked down the corridor to the living room.
Rhydian leaned against the mantle of the fireplace. The orange-red glow of the flames danced across his face, making his three scars more prominent.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask more about them, but that would only delay the important conversation they needed to have.
So she blurted, "Rian's asleep."
He remained leaning but turned his head to meet her gaze. The pupils flashed, looking almost magical in the firelight. "Then we need to have a serious chat, one without any interruptions this time."
She nodded and debated if she should sit or stand. There was no real reason for her to be nervous, yet she hadn't spent much time alone with Rhydian to date.
It wasn't fear making her hesitate, either. Just remembering his heat at her back made her shiver and itch to rush over to him, lower his head, and kiss him.
Transforming Snowridge (Stonefire Dragons Universe Book 2) Page 6
