Chapter 15
Rook
She was almost unrecognizable, standing there in the heart of my library, her hair loose around her face and her eyes wide in wonder, one hand outstretched in longing. I almost regretted interrupting her as her expression shuttered, and her hand dropped quickly to her side.
“Rook! I didn’t—I haven’t… I didn’t touch any of them, I swear.”
I could hear her heart fluttering like a trapped bird.
Normally the sound and scent of fear excited my dragon, but like me, he was caught up in regret that we had disturbed her.
I hesitated, searching inwardly. He—we—didn’t like anyone coming in here, my instincts driving me to be protective over the books I’d spent a lifetime gathering.
Humans were clumsy, destructive creatures—shifters even more so, and books were easily damaged.
It was before the time my dragon had been communicating so freely with me when Alina had first set foot in here, but I’d felt his rage flood every pore of my body, and it had taken me days to calm down.
Alina was traumatized for weeks. We will learn from our mistakes.
I blinked in surprise.
“I’m sorry, I should just leave. I didn’t mean to—I’ll go.”
Had she been talking this whole time? Knowing her, probably. I held up one hand as she went to hurry past me, and she froze. I took a moment to search her face, looking for any trace of the wonder I’d caught in it that split second before she’d seen me.
“You weren’t joking before, about reading?”
She shook her head.
“And you like to read?”
She nodded, and I battled against a sigh. I think I preferred it when she wouldn’t shut up.
Perhaps you shouldn’t have told her to be silent so frequently, my dragon snipped.
Perhaps you could try being silent, I sent back. To Kaylee, I said gruffly, “You may choose one to borrow.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up, some of that unbridled joy I’d glimpsed before returning to them. It made her all the more stunning. I shut the thought down quickly. I wasn’t going there.
“Yes. One, and only one. When you are done, you will return it—in immaculate condition.” I held her eye to underscore my point, because I had no intention of allowing any of my books to be damaged.
“I will, I promise.”
“Do that, and you will be permitted to borrow another. So long as it doesn’t interfere with your duties.”
“It won’t, I swear. I’ll stay on top of everything.”
Her excitement was written in every soft angle of her face, in the brightness of her eyes and the irrepressible curve of her lips. She was all but bouncing on the spot, and abruptly I wished I could watch her reading, to see the expressions play out across her face as she followed the plot of…
My brow furrowed.
“What kind of books do you like to read?”
Her cheeks flushed and she ducked her head. Her scent swirled around, taking on an intriguing tint. Well, now I had to know.
“Kaylee?” I caught her chin with one crooked finger, and tilted her head up so I could see her face clearly. The embarrassment there called to the monster in me, and it wanted to play. My voice hardened. It wasn’t the only thing. “Tell me.”
“Romances,” she murmured, her eyes caught in my snare.
Amusement rattled in my chest, and like a predator sensing weakness, I pressed harder.
“Romances?” I arched a brow.
She nodded. “Romances,” she whispered.
“What kind of romances?”
“I— Ones with… You know.”
“With…” I wanted to hear her say it. I needed to hear her say it.
“With…certain scenes.”
I closed the gap between us, and my voice slipped out as a low rumble.
“You like to read about people fucking.”
She squeaked, her eyes widening, and then her chin tried to dip in a nod, but my finger beneath it wouldn’t let her.
“Yes,” she whispered. And then she shook her head, breaking contact with my hand. “I mean, no. It’s not just— There’s more to it than… But yes, they…” She swallowed and her lips turned down at the corners. “Yes.”
She glanced down, but not before I saw some dark memory or other clouding her eyes. Something in me tightened.
“Look at me, Dhoca.”
I waited patiently until she did.
“Never let anyone make you ashamed of what you enjoy reading.”
“I…what?”
“No-one has the right to judge you. This world is ugly, brutal, and fucking cruel. Take your pleasure wherever you can find it, and don’t let anyone demean you for it.”
“O…kay?”
I thought for a moment, my brow furrowing as I hunted through my mental catalog. “Try the left wall, third or fourth rack from the back. You might find a couple of them there.”
We don’t have enough, my dragon griped, his agitation curling through my stomach.
We have enough to loan out a single copy. Stop being such a dragon.
No, I meant we don’t have enough to please her.
I blinked, processing his words. You’re not worried about lending out our books, you’re worried about not being able to lend out enough?
Yes. Obviously.
I must have been hit by an asteroid while we were flying back here, because nothing about that seemed obvious to me. At all.
Bemused, I watched as the shifter scanned the rows of books, canting her head adorably as she read the titles on the spines, and reached out to delicately touch some of them.
Throughout it all, my dragon practically purred with satisfaction.
He was in a remarkably good mood. Maybe it was that deer we’d eaten on the way back from the summit.
Or maybe it was seeing the scorch marks in the pack’s clearing as we passed overhead.
That’s your obsession, not mine.
It’s not an obsession. Just…proving our dominance. In case Uther’s scouts come looking.
Yes, that’s exactly what it felt like.
Sarcastic beast.
Seems like you have an obsession of your own.
She intrigues me, he answered.
Intrigues, my ass.
It’s not my cock that’s at half-mast just watching her read a book spine.
I glanced down. Well, fuck.
Involuntary, I gritted out mentally. Like he didn’t know. It was probably just his obsession spilling over into me. Wouldn’t be the first time, and there was certainly nothing I found appealing about the Tribute. Weak women weren’t my type.
I watched Kaylee for a moment longer, then, shaking my head, turned and slipped out of the library. I had better things to do with my day than let some slip of a shifter girl cast a siren’s spell over my dragon.