34. You’ve Seen Ryu Eat Someone?
34
You’ve Seen Ryu Eat Someone?
E ira scanned over the water, hoping to see land coming nearer. Finally, she was able to spot her grandparents’ village in the distance.
“We’re almost home.”
Her grandmother shifted on her ample bottom to look over her shoulder, back to the island they had left. “Can you not make this tub go any faster?”
Her grandfather stopped rowing. “What did you say?”
Eira wanted to scream at her grandfather. “When you’re escaping, you don’t stop and let them catch up to you!”
“Why are we escaping again? I liked it there.”
She could only gape at him. “We’re escaping because someone was trying to kill me.”
“I’m going to miss being served breakfast in bed.” He sighed longingly. “We should go back.”
“Old man, I’ve served you breakfast in bed for the last ten years!”
“You give me porridge. I’ve gotten used to having a rolled omelet with steamed fish.”
“You want fish for breakfast? Then you can get up and go catch it in the morning!” She whacked her husband with each of her words.
Eira wanted to scream at her grandparents for arguing out in the middle of the ocean. “We need to hurry! Here, give me those—”
Her grandfather looked at her like she had lost her mind when she went for the paddles. “What’s the hurry? We don’t see any boats leaving the island. Even if they left now, they wouldn’t be able to reach us before we reached home.”
“Give them here, you old fool. I’ll do the paddling.” Leaving him no choice, she snatched them out of his hands. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re more concerned about what you’re going to have for breakfast instead of your granddaughter’s safety.”
“I stole the boat, didn’t I? You and Eira can stay home. I’ll return to the island and keep an eye out for Ryu.”
“We don’t know if he wanted her dead, too!” her grandmother screeched at him.
She barely managed to keep herself from screeching and sounding just like her. “Grandmother, please …”
Eira broke off at hearing a swishing sound that had her fearfully raising her gaze.
Ryu, in his dragon form, was hovering above the boat.
Her grandmother, still looking at her, raised her eyes to see what Eira was looking at and started screaming. Her grandfather did the same.
“Ryu, don’t—”
A loud oomph came out of her when she slid off her seat and onto the floor of the boat as the dragon lifted the boat between his claws and started flying back to the island.
Grabbing her grandmother’s skirt, Eira pulled her down to do the same. Her grandfather quickly did, too, needing no urging, his face ashen.
“Eira, now that we’re going to die, I have to admit that we thought you were all crazy when you said Ryu was a dragon.” She gulped, still in disbelief that this was happening. “But you meant he was really a dragon.”
“Obviously!” she screamed loudly at her over the sound of whooshing air.
Grandmother started to practically cry now. “Now he’s carrying us off to eat us.”
Her husband looked at his plump wife pityingly. “You know he’s going to eat you first, don’t you?”
“Ryu is not going to eat Grandmother!” she chastised them, but her grandmother only became more hysterical.
“Eira, you cannot have children. My grandchildren can’t eat me. My ancestors would never let me rest in peace. They can eat your grandfather when they get hungry.”
Eira only buried her face in her curled-up knees, praying that Ryu couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Quit yelling!” her grandfather yelled. “He’s going to drop us to shut you up!”
“He’s not going to drop his dinner.” Her grandmother snorted.
“Ryu is not going to eat either of you,” Eira repeated again.
“He doesn’t eat humans?”
She sighed not only at the situation she was in, but Eira really hated to lie to her grandmother.
“He does when he’s protecting me,” she finally admitted.
Now real tears formed in her grandmother’s eyes. “You’ve seen Ryu eat someone?”
There was a time to be truthful, and then there was a time when it was better to lie like hell. This is one of those times.
“No.”
“Then how do you know he eats people to protect you?”
“A wild guess,” she quipped, just wishing Ryu would drop them to their death at this point.
“You should be surer before making that kind of statement. Your grandfather has a weak heart,” her grandmother said, not happy.
“My heart is just fine … when I’m not flying under a dragon!”
Eira knew she had fucked up the moment Ryu shifted back into his human form the second he had dropped the boat off on the palace’s front doorstep.
Her grandmother, concerned about Eira’s safety, bravely stepped between them before he could get to her. “Eira’s not safe here. Your little friends are evil, so how do we know you aren’t, too?”
“Yeah,” Grandfather gruffly agreed with a nod when his wife hit his shoulder.
It was a simple and harshly frank answer that the dragon, still raging within from the flight, burst out, “Because I ripped Kage’s windpipe out, and then I dropped Yuri off in the middle of the ocean right before I picked you all up in the boat.”
All of them stared blankly back at him with their jaws on the ground.
It took her grandmother a few moments to put her still worried thoughts together. “How close did you drop her off next to the shore? She could swim back and want reven—”
“I was flying about a hundred feet high, and if she did survive the fall, she can’t swim.”
“Welp, that’ll do it.” Grandfather wiped his hands clean. “I’m going to get some fresh iced tea.”
With only her grandmother still standing in his way, she noticed the weak smile she gave her, letting Eira know she was shit out of luck.
“What happens between husband and wife should stay between them.”
Watching her grandmother scurry off after her husband, Eira couldn’t believe the betrayal. She guessed knowing Ryu wouldn’t hurt her was good enough for them, but Eira was still frightened by the way he was furiously staring at her.
“Bedroom—now.”
Jumping at his command, she knew better than to defy him as she hurried into the palace and up the steps. Shivers went down her spine the second she entered the confines of her room. She was afraid to turn around and face the dragon, and his next command sent up another chill.
“Eira, look at me.”
Slowly turning, she could see the reflection of his dragon in his eyes.
“Why didn’t you directly come to me?”
It was a simple question put in a rather harsh tone, yet Eira could hear the hurt in his voice underneath, and along with it was the fear of losing her behind his dragon eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she confessed, unable to keep looking into his eyes at the hurt and worry she had caused. “I heard them talking in the library about not only killing me but my grandparents. I know how important Kage and even Yuri were to you, and I was afraid it would take too long to convince you of their plan. Because I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t heard it. I knew you would just fly over and meet us at our old home, and you’d find me in a place that was safe, so then I could tell you. I just couldn’t risk my grandparents’ safety. I’m so sorry, Ryu. I hope you understand.”
A part of Ryu’s eyes gentled in understanding, but the fire still roared. “Do not ever think I would not believe you over anyone else in this life. Our bond would have told me you were telling the truth, you know.”
“Really?” Eira asked, shocked it would have been that easy. “So, you’d know if I ever lied to you?”
Ryu stalked closer now, like a dragon stalking his prey, before he nodded with a devilish smile. “Yes.”
“Oh.” Eira’s stomach fluttered at the way he looked at her as if he wanted to eat her. “That’s good to know.”
“And one more thing.” Ryu tipped her chin up to hold her eyes to his—she always looked away from the dragon roaring inside, but not this time. This time, he was determined she’d face the monster. “If I ever catch you trying to leave this island again without me, I will chain you to this bed forever.”
Nodding, she knew it might have sounded like he was only joking, but she knew her fated mate was not.
Only when he was certain she understood did he claim her mouth in a searing kiss that promised he would hold true to his words.
Hoping to be let off easy, she tried to go for the door. “Okay, well, I’m going to go make sure—”
Ryu simply shook his head, startling her to a screeching halt. “I’m not done with you, darling.”
Eira cleared her throat, slightly startled for what was to come. Ryu had promised her that his dragon wouldn’t eat her when they made love, but it was hard to believe when it seemed his scales were still fighting to come out from under the surface.
Lazily, Ryu sat down on the edge of the bed, giving her another demand in his husky voice. “Now, undress.”
With the way the dragon looked at her now, her clothes practically wanted to fall off her body on their own, so she figured …
Oh, what the hell.