Chapter 13
When Kytrima stopped eating and stared off into space, Nate wondered if it was something he said. He’d been so caught up in worrying about his brother and the princess, that he’d almost passed right over what had happened before.
He hadn’t meant to imply that he wanted to mate with her. He didn’t.
Or at least, he didn’t think he did.
He shouldn’t.
So why was he hoping that she did?
The truth was, he was more than a little confused. Everything had happened so fast that his head was still spinning.
He couldn’t possibly be in love with a woman he’d only met twenty-four hours ago, could he? Love didn’t work like that. Or at least, not any kind of love he’d experienced before.
Then again, he’d never felt like this about anyone before in his life.
Kytrima had told him it was because she was a dragon and he was a human. Their strange magic seemed so tied to love and sex, especially with the way they needed it to regenerate, or whatever it was they did.
It would be completely believable that her being a dragon was the reason he felt this way. Even if it wasn’t a result of her magic somehow, her strange, exotic nature was exciting in and of itself.
There were plenty of reasons to think this wasn’t a real feeling.
Somehow, he wasn’t convinced.
She hadn’t sounded too convinced either. Maybe this was as confusing to her as it was to him. That thought made him feel a little better, not so out of his depth.
It helped enough for him to reach over and put his hand over hers. “Are you okay?”
He wasn’t quite game to ask whether she was thinking about mating with him or thinking about finding the princess. He wasn’t sure that he’d want to hear. Her thinking about mating with him would freak him out, even though he was already thinking about it himself.
She looked up, and her eyes met his, and Nate’s breath caught in his throat.
He had a sudden impulse to kiss her.
As soon as he thought of it, the idea consumed him.
He tried to hold himself back. Even if the feeling was overwhelming him, he wasn’t sure she felt the same. She seemed to have a single minded focus on finding the princess. Not on him at all.
And yet, she was staring back at him as transfixed as he was. Her eyes were wide, and her lips parted slightly.
Maybe to her being with a human was exciting? It seemed crazy, but how else could he explain the fact that she was swaying slightly towards him, her lips coming tantalisingly close to his?
So close that Nate found it impossible to resist. He leaned in a little closer, his eyes going to hers, watching to see if she was about to pull back.
But she didn’t. In fact, she edged closer.
Nate took that as an invitation. An invitation he in no way wanted to refuse. He let his lips touch hers, the soft groan she gave only tempting him more.
He reached up and slipped a hand through her hair, using the hold to deepen the kiss.
Kytrima didn’t pull back or object. In fact, she was rather enthusiastic in her response.
Nate wasn’t too sure how far things might have gone. He certainly wasn’t going to hold back any.
But suddenly Kytrima jerked back with a small exclamation, and Nate opened his eyes only to see Kytrima’s burger on the grass and Luna gulping it down.
“She took it right out of my hand,” Kytrima said in disbelief. “I was too distracted to notice.” She glared at him then, but it was a teasing glare marked with disbelief rather than anger.
Nate found it a little hard to believe too. He’d been so distracted by her closeness, he’d almost forgotten they were in the middle of a public park.
He gave an unwilling laugh. “It never pays to be distracted around dogs.”
“Or around dragons,” Kytrima added solemnly.
Nate wasn’t sure if it was a joke, or a warning. He laughed anyway, even though if it was a joke, it was probably on him. “I suppose we should be focusing on how we’re going to find my brother and your princess anyway.”
Kytrima nodded, then glanced down at the burger, her expression disappointed. “So much for food helping me think.”
Nate broke the rest of his burger into two and offered her one half. “Here.”
She glanced up at him, her eyes meeting his, her expression unreadable. But she thanked him and accepted the burger.
They both ate in silence for a while, and Nate racked his brain for any ideas that might help them in their quest.
Driving around the town hoping to randomly run into Brad obviously wasn’t going to help. Though the town wasn’t large, their chances of stumbling across the pair were slim, as they’d already proved.
But what else could they do?
There were only two places that he could think of that Brad might go. Back to Henry’s house, or back to the pub. Other than that, there was no one place he could suggest over another.
If only Brad had his phone, this could be solved so simply. Nate could just ring him and ask where he was.
Brad would tell his brother everything, without even considering if he should. He had no idea about Kytrima. No idea that Nate was helping the princess’s enemy.
That thought made Nate a little uneasy. When Brad had seen Kytrima, he’d run. He and his princess obviously knew that she was after her, and were trying to avoid her.
It was kind of good, in a way, that Nate couldn’t phone Brad. His twin brother wasn’t going to be impressed when he found out that the princess was bad news. He must care about her a lot to be risking everything to help her.
Nate didn’t want to be the one to tell him. He wasn’t even too sure he wanted to be the one to find him.
But his brother could be in trouble.
Kytrima had agreed not to harm Brad, but if another one of her clan found him…
Nate bit back a sigh. There was no good outcome to this.
But one thing he was sure of, finding his brother sooner rather than later would be much better.