Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“Thank you.”
He snapped a few photos while I posed and blushed.
“I never realized dragon berserkers could be so…human,” he said, flipping through the images on my phone. The barest hint of affection hid inside his tone. Then he shocked me further. Lightning quick, he moved behind me, stretched his arms around me and angled the camera in front of us. SNAP!
“Did you just take, like, a couple’s selfie?” I demanded.
“In case your sister wonders about my condition.” He winked.
My chest clenched. Not being enemies was going to wreck my heart, wasn’t it? The real kicker? We were doing exactly what Lorik hoped, growing closer.
I gulped, reclaimed the phone to text Adelaide the picture, which I didn’t let myself study…yet. I asked for kingdom updates, then set off with the mortal who had basically scrambled my brain.
My phone dinged. Then dinged again. And again.
A series came in one after the other, and I groaned. “I’ll be fielding messages from her all day.” I didn’t check them yet, not wanting to be distracted as we entered new territory.
Trees rose tall and thick, stretching so high their leaves grazed the clouds. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, setting crimson and pink wildflowers aglow as though the forest staged a show just for us. The caw of darting birds and the gentle hum of trickling water over rain-washed stone threaded through the hush. The air smelled of honeysuckle and smoke, sweetness touched with danger.
Every footworn path beckoned, but we kept to the shadows, avoiding everyone we came upon, skirting around them, slipping through the dark and sneaking past. At the midway point, Taron pulled a tin of cookies from his backpack.
Oooh. Cookies! I reached for one, but he twisted, ensuring my greedy fingers couldn’t snag a sugary treat.
“You play with fire, human!” I mock-growled.
“These are members-only cookies,” he warned, holding my gaze as he continued striding forward, popping one of the delicacies in his mouth.
The bout of playfulness threw me for a thousand loops. “Members of what?”
“The Taron Rules Club.” Cookie crumbs dropped from the corners of his mouth.
Snort. “I signed up for the thirty-day trial, remember?” I plucked an overflowing handful from the tin and stuffed my face, leaving him the broken remnants.
He barked out a laugh, and I marveled anew. Who even was this man? This wasn’t the spiteful warrior I’d faced on day one, or the merciless professor from our second interaction. Not the cold travel companion, or the passionate kisser. This was…Taron. The man who’d been hidden beneath the hatred.
We continued on, and I maybe started skipping.
“Tell me something good about you,” he said, as we navigated a massive maze of twisting tree roots and tangled undergrowth. “A favorite memory.”
I thought for a moment, uncertain we should travel this emotional path but unwilling to retreat. “I was nine years old, soon to turn ten, when I would set off for combat training.”
“Ten. Wow.” One of his brows winged up. “I mean, I knew the age from stories, but thinking of young Olyssa really puts the details in perspective. You were just a baby.”
“Ten is when the dragon begins to make itself known. Trust me, training is for the good of everyone.” I let the memory overtake me. “My sisters, all younger, threw a surprise going-away party. We danced and sang and ate the most atrocious snacks they had prepared themselves. My mother presented me with a paper tiara she’d helped them create.” Nostalgia clogged my throat and slid to the very pit of my stomach.
“I didn’t have siblings, but I did have an abundance of cousins, and we always had fun when we played together.” He clasped my hand and boosted me over a log, and for the first time, I was the one fighting a laugh.
“A mortal assisting the fiercest of all the dragons is kind of adorable.” My gaze met his, and we stopped, just stopped.
Time slowed to a crawl.
“But I’m not just any mortal,” he offered. He smoothed a lock of hair behind my ear, leaving my cheek tingling with warmth.
Nein. Nein, he wasn’t any mortal. He was…him. And as we continued to peer at each other, studying, I forgot to breathe.
He leaned close, as if he meant to kiss me again. Caught up in some kind of spell, I drew nearer to…
My phone dinged once more.
In unison, we jolted and darted our gazes.
Saved by the cell. I checked the screen and groaned. Twenty-eight texts from Adelaide. A combination of questions and statements about Taron, mixed with emojis and GIFs.
I sighed as I glanced over the messages. “My sister is being nosy.”
Well, well. Don’t you 2 look cozy.
Are you sleeping cuddled up in his arms?????
How many times have you kissed him?
Have you burned him yet? Maybe just blew a teeny tiny little ember on his rippled man-chest?
Is he your firebrand? He’s your firebrand, isn’t he???? I knew it the moment you returned from meeting him with sparkling eyes. I’ve missed that sparkle SO MUCH!