Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Three days later, as Cam waited outside the covered space used for clan gatherings and celebrations, he scanned the people heading his way for a certain dark-haired female.
One who’d been avoiding him since the day he’d shown her his dragon.
Oh, she’d messaged him a few times. But she was always gone when he woke up and in her bedroom by the time he got home.
He’d tried to cook her dinner, but she’d messaged him that she was working and didn’t want to be disturbed.
No matter how he’d tried to see her, Emily had managed to escape him.
His dragon spoke up. She promised to come tonight, though, so stop sulking.
I’m not sulking.
Aye, you are. But if you don’t stop, then you’ll lose your chance to woo her a little this evening.
Ignoring his dragon, he kept searching the crowd. Of course, of all people, Roman Baillie headed straight for him. He stopped in front of Cam and arched an eyebrow. “Looking for someone in particular?”
He grunted. “Can’t you irritate someone else tonight?”
“Me? Irritate someone? Never. Although I’m a wee bit jealous of who you’ll get to dance with tonight.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t even think of stealing her.”
Roman winked. “Of course not. Although she’s free to dance with anyone, and I plan to ask.”
Roman’s twin, Ross, and Ross’s human mate, Natalie, came up to them. Ross placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and shoved. “Come on, Roman. Leave Cam alone. This is his first clan dance gathering with Emily, and he just wants to show her a good time.”
“I just want to dance with her. Not even Natalie dances solely with you, Ross.”
Natalie sighed. “Don’t use me in your back-and-forth arguments, Roman Baillie. Besides, Ross and I have been mated for over a year, and he eventually shared me with others.”
Ross hugged his mate against his side. “Only because it makes you happy, not because I like it.”
As Ross and Natalie smiled at each other, with love shining in their eyes, jealousy stabbed Cam’s heart.
His dragon spoke up. We can have that with Emily.
Even though you still don’t know if she’s our true mate?
Does it matter?
No.
Even if he was still getting to know the human, he’d never felt such a pull toward another female as he did to Emily. Add in how she would never sell out his kind but rather had sacrificed so much to help them, and he couldn’t imagine wanting, let alone trusting, another as much.
Then he finally spotted Emily walking with Kaya MacKay. After murmuring his goodbyes, Cam went to meet her.
When the human’s eyes finally met his, he swore he saw happiness and wanting flash there.
However, it was gone as soon as he blinked, replaced with a guarded but pleasant look.
Bloody hell, did she think he’d hurt her?
His dragon spoke up. Maybe someone hurt her in the past. You should ask.
Maybe, when the time is right. For now, I just want her to smile, laugh, and have a good time.
He nodded at Emily and Kaya. “You made it.”
Kaya glanced at Emily. “Aye, but I had to drag her out of the surgery.”
“I had a mini-breakthrough today.”
Or she just wanted to avoid him.
Cam pushed that aside, determined to have fun tonight. Well, and maybe figure out why she was keeping her distance from him. He’d gone through everything he’d said and done that day with the students, and didn’t think he’d offended her.
Offering a hand to Emily, he said, “Come. Let’s enter together, and I’ll tell you what our weekly gatherings are like.”
Kaya waved. “I’ll find you again later, Emily.”
She was gone before either of them could say a word.
Emily finally placed her hand in his, and some of his built-up irritation faded. Holding tight, he tugged, and they walked. “What was your mini-breakthrough today?”
“Are you sure you want to hear me go on about it?”
He met her gaze. “Of course. If I don’t understand something, I’ll ask you to explain. But your work is important to you, which makes it important to me.”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she whispered, “You don’t have to go overboard.”
“I’m genuinely interested, lass.”
After searching his eyes, she looked straight ahead as she said, “It has to do with proportions. A dragon doctor on Stonefire and I devised a base serum that only needs minor adjustments with new ingredients. And so I have to make minute changes and then see if they react with poisoned dragon-shifter’s blood under a microscope. ”
“So you had a positive result today?”
“Yes. It didn’t completely counteract the poison, but it nearly did, meaning a dragon-shifter would barely feel the effects and could carry on as normal.
It’s still not enough, though. I want a truly protective serum, and if I can’t get it from the samples we collected on land, then I might have to go diving with Dr. Keith to get the marine plants I need to run some more tests. ”
“You dive?”
“I learned whilst earning my PhD. I briefly went to the Caribbean—Jamaica and Barbados, mostly—to see how their native plants and shellfish interacted with dragon-shifter blood. Some of the plants and animals were deep in the ocean, at least deeper than regular snorkeling could reach, and so I became certified. It’s like a whole new world down there, and I fell in love.
I haven’t done it much in recent years, so it’ll be nice to dive again. ”
“Have you ever dived alongside a dragon-shifter in their dragon form?”
She shook her head. “No. Dr. Keith wants to be in his human form since it’s easier to collect samples that way.”
“Then I can help monitor you in my dragon form when you go. Just let me know when.”
Her gaze shot to his as she stopped walking. “You want to dive with me?”
“Aye, to both protect you and to help in any way I can.”
For a few beats, she said nothing. Then she finally murmured, “Only if you really want to. You don’t have to.”
Since they were just outside the entrance to the covered area, he tugged her off to the side, behind the wee building with a kitchen used for event prep.
No one was around, thankfully, and he kept her hand in his as he asked, “Why do you keep thinking that I don’t want to help you?”
She also kept her voice low, so no one else would hear. She gestured between them. “This is a ruse, Cam. You know that.”
He slowly lifted his hand and traced her cheek. As she sucked in a breath, he debated how much to share.
Because he wanted her. If it wouldn’t maybe set off a mate-claim frenzy, he’d kiss her.
But even kissing her cheek or neck or behind her ear might scare her.
So he asked, “Is that the only reason? Or did another male hurt you?”
Over the past three days, Emily had successfully stayed away from Cam to focus on her research. Sometimes she smiled at his text messages and itched to throw her plan out the window to go see him.
But the closer she got to her latest serum being effective, the more she truly became lost in her work.
She’d tried her best to brush off Kaya and not attend the weekly gathering. But the dragonwoman’s point about it being the first one since Emily’s arrival had eventually won her over. After all, if Emily didn’t go, the clan might see it as a snub or take offense, and she didn’t want that.
During the walk over to the gathering with Kaya, Emily managed to pack away any dreams or foolish hopes regarding Seahaven’s head Protector. By the time she met him, she had her emotions under control.
Too bad it didn’t last long.
By the time he’d tugged her behind a building and asked if the ruse was the only reason she was avoiding him, her heart thudded and it took everything she had not to lean into his touch.
You barely know him. There’s no way someone would fall for you in a matter of days when you couldn’t win someone over the course of years.
Cam’s voice snapped her back to the present again. “Tell me if someone hurt you, Emily. If you do, then I’ll share why I distrusted you so much at first, too.”
She frowned as she met his gaze. “So I was right about first impressions. I thought you didn’t like me, but clearly, you’ve changed your mind, not that I know why.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Don’t you?
Being yourself changed my mind, lass. You’re clever and dedicated and kind, not to mention bonnie.
You also stand up for yourself, which I appreciate, and challenge me in ways I didn’t know I needed challenging.
In other words, this is more than a ruse to me, Emily.
Or, at least, I want it to be. So won’t you let me in a wee bit? Please?”
As she searched his flashing dragon eyes, her heart thudded. Had she heard him correctly? “You fancy me?”
He smiled. “Aye, lass. But I think we both need to clear the air or we’ll never have a chance to see where things go.”
She should feel relieved there was an out. If she didn’t answer him, Cam would give up.
But did she really want that? Sure, there was a lot she still didn’t know about him. However, as he gazed at her with heat, she felt wanted. Truly wanted.
Maybe for the first time in her life.
Could she trust her feelings, though? They’d only ever given her trouble and heartbreak in the past.
As Cam caressed her cheek, she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. His hand was warm and large and slightly rough. And yet, she wasn’t afraid. She lifted her hand and placed it over his, and she heard him suck in a breath.
He whispered, “What do you want, Emily? Tell me. If you wish to keep pretending until you leave, I will. But if you give me a wee chance, and want to give this a real go, then say the word and I’ll do my best to win you over.”
She opened her eyes and asked, “Why, though? Why me?”
After cupping her other cheek with his free hand, he caressed her skin with his thumbs as he said, “As I’ve said, you’re brilliant and beautiful and have a huge heart.
You were willing to sacrifice so much to help others.
” He leaned a little closer, until his breath danced across her lips as he added, “Tell me why you’re so afraid to try with me. ”