Amara slept in Minach’s bed that night, the Dragon shifter relegating himself to the couch in his best effort to emulate a gentleman. Of course, the distance he’d put between them was strategic and deliberate. Amara brought out the flirt in him. Not only that, but she aroused him beyond measure. But she also brought out the frustrating desire to improve himself as a man, which meant showing the Enlightened the respect that she deserved. Something about Amara prompted him to stand up straighter, to speak more softly. He wanted her to think well of him, to like him. Her opinion was more important to him than anyone else’s on earth.

It wasn’t easy to relax, knowing that she was lying in a bed so close at hand. Part of him wanted to sneak into the bedroom, strip her naked, explore her with his mouth and feel the pulse of her orgasm against his tongue. He wanted to find his way inside that exquisite woman, to finally cure himself of the desire that had been eating away at him for too long.

Much as he would have loved to take her in his arms and kiss her long and hard, he feared the consequences of doing so. For her, even more than for him. Oh, yes, his Guild would chastise him if he involved himself with such a being, but they’d eventually forgive him. He knew that they wanted his happiness above everything.

But it was also the fact that she was fragile, while he was strong. Over the months since he’d met her he felt as though he’d watched her fade, her strength disappearing a little with each day that passed. Although she didn’t speak of it, she had altered, somehow, from the strong woman he met under Glastonbury Tor to a delicate piece of crystal. Precious, beautiful, endlessly valuable. If he bonded with her, he might break her into small pieces.

Physically, if not mentally.

Perhaps that was the real reason for her own hesitancy; a fear of shattering from the inside. Perhaps she knew how delicate she was.

He lay staring up at his living room’s ceiling, aware that sleep might never come. It didn’t matter though; a restful night had never been an issue in all his life. Insomnia was his constant companion, his mind an enemy that seldom let him rest. Guilt washed through him nightly; guilt for what he’d done to Lyre, for how he treated people even now that the beast inside him had calmed a little. It had always seemed too late to properly make amends; he was a known bastard, and he would remain so until the end of his days, no doubt.

He may as well own his reputation for snark and crabbiness.

Maybe it was for the best that Amara had rejected him. The distance between them would give him an excuse to continue his quest to be the most disagreeable man in the universe. If she gave herself to him, if she caressed him, kissed him, held him, he would have no reason not to smile, not to let his icy exterior melt to nothingness. No reason to exude warmth and happiness. He would lose his whole bastard identity, and then what would be left? He’d become nothing more than a clone of his happy brother.

Actually, that sounded pretty fucking good.

“There are worse things you could be,” he mumbled to himself. “But it’ll never happen, so stop fantasizing. Think about something else, you fool.”

The Dragon of Earth, Lumen had told him, lived near Land’s End, the westernmost tip of Cornwall. Minach had no idea what to expect when they arrived, and he and Amara needed to be prepared for some difficulties. The shifter might be hostile. On the other hand, he could very well be jovial and welcoming. Dragon shifters were known to be generally unpredictable. It was only through the camaraderie of the Guild and the careful hand with which their parents had raised them that he and Lyre had become friendly with other Dragon shifters—friendly being a relative term for Minach, of course.

If he played his cards right, any Dragon shifter, friendly or otherwise, could probably be easily persuaded to join forces with him in tracking down the Relic of Earth. That was, as long as he was informed that he too would benefit from its discovery if he joined the Guild. Dragonkind was nothing if not greedy and ambitious. It was why creatures like Mardoc and Tryst were willing to ruin others’ lives for their own gain. Dragons, thought Minach, are arseholes.

Around three a.m., after he’d contemplated his strategy for dealing with the mysterious Duncan over the course of a few hours, a light came on in the hallway. The soft, alluring tamping of bare feet against the wooden floor met his ears. A moment later, Amara was standing silhouetted in the doorway, her delicate legs bare, arousing and sensual. Damned beautiful woman, showing herself to him like that.

“Can’t sleep?” Minach asked in a hoarse voice, his hands clasped behind his head to prop it up as he stared at her, his bright eyes flickering in the dark.

“Not so much,” she replied, slipping into the room. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that he’d left out for her. Her smooth, pale legs seemed to go on forever, and Minach did his best to avoid staring at them as she slipped onto an armchair and tucked one under her backside. “I have a bad feeling about this trip,” she murmured. It wasn’t the first time she’d said it, but it seemed that a new concern had unleashed itself on her mind.

“Do you think we’ll be eaten by a big scary monster called Duncan?” he teased. “You do know that I’m a Dragon too, right?”

She didn’t smile. “No. It’s something else entirely. I can’t put my finger on it, Minach—all I know is that it won’t be easy for us to get our hands on this Relic.”

“Three Relics have been found thus far. People have died, Forsaken and shifters alike. Of course it won’t be simple. Nothing worth doing is easy. Or is it that nothing easy is worth doing?”

“Yes, there’s a saying that goes something like that,” Amara replied.

“You’re not easy, for example,” said Minach, locking her in his gaze, his eyes narrowing suggestively.

“Are you saying I’m worth doing?” Her lips curved up at the corners. It seemed that his innuendo had set her a little at ease.

“I suspect that you are, yes, and if you’re going to plant yourself in front of me in that half-naked sexy pose I’ve got to tell you, you’re pushing the limits of my gentlemanliness.”

“But you are a well-behaved, respectful man of impeccable upbringing, so I know that I can trust you not to succumb to some barbaric urge to pounce on me.”

“I’m a fucking monster,” he growled as he narrowed his eyes, only half joking. The truth was that his body was on fire, lit with a smouldering desire to taste every inch of her. On one thing he and his déor agreed in this moment: a mate would be a definite asset, and a beautiful one such as Amara, all the more so. “You’re fortunate that my human side is so accustomed to denying itself pleasure,” he added. “You’re just another wonderful thing that I won’t allow myself.”

Amara clasped a hand around the ankle that was bent under her and squeezed. “I am fortunate then, I suppose, that you’re so well in control,” she said. “And unfortunate, all at once.”

It was as close as she’d ever come to saying that she wanted him. Minach was all too aware of her scent, even if she hadn’t stated it entirely clearly. Words didn’t much matter; her body told him she was as aroused as he was.

No, he thought. I really will break you, or you’ll break me, which might even be worse. I’ve already ruined one brother, I can’t ruin a beautiful woman. If I hurt you—if I caused you pain—it would kill me.

“You should try to get some sleep,” he said, peeling his eyes away from her. “Tomorrow will be a long day.”

Amara stood up and nodded. “And you should sleep too,” she said. But she didn’t leave. Instead, she slipped silently over to him and sat down on the edge of the couch. He drew his body away from hers, pressing against the back cushions to distance himself from her as much as possible. This closeness was dangerous, and he had a giant hard-on to prove it. A hard-on which he was currently concealing behind an inadequately thick throw pillow.

Without a word, Amara lay down, her back facing his chest, and pressed herself into him. Slowly, as if through some will of its own, Minach’s arm reached around and held her to his chest, taking care to keep the cushion between them in an effort to conceal his arousal. Infuriating woman was pressing her arse back into his pelvis, almost like she wanted to confirm what she already knew.

He was rock hard for her. He could have thrown her to the floor and taken her right there and then. If he were any less of a man, he might just have done it.

“Amara…” he whispered.

“Mmm?” She was already drifting off, sweet tired thing.

“Nothing. Go to sleep.”

“Mmm.”