Chapter 20
Lucan
The fire had burned itself down to a low glow by the time everyone started drifting.
Kade and Reese left first, Kade wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he steered her toward their cabin like he’d been counting the minutes until he could have her to himself.
Atlas followed not long after, yawning wide enough to crack his jaw and giving Liz a dramatic bow that made her laugh.
Zarek stared at the dying embers and gave me a single nod when I caught his eye. It was the closest thing to an apology I was going to get, and I took it.
The path along the lake was darker now, the trees blocking most of the moonlight. I reached for Liz’s hand, and she gave it without hesitation, her fingers threading through mine.
The pressure of my dragon was a constant, low hum that had been running hot all evening. He’d nearly surged forward twice during Liz’s story. Once when she said Scott’s name, and once when her voice had gone flat in the way people did when they were describing something that had gutted them.
“You’re quiet,” Liz said. “What are you thinking about?”
“Honestly?”
“No, lie to me. I love that.”
I rubbed my thumb across her knuckles. “I’m trying really hard not to ask if you’d let me track down your ex and drop him in a lake from about ten thousand feet.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “I appreciate the offer, but Scott’s not worth the fuel.”
She was probably right. She was definitely right. My dragon disagreed.
The RV came into view through the trees, the porch light casting a warm circle on the gravel. We slowed as we reached the steps. She turned to face me, our hands still linked.
“Thank you for today.” She tilted her head up to meet my eyes. “The car, the kayaking, the dinner, the part where you didn’t let me drown.”
“You weren’t going to drown.”
“I almost flipped the kayak twice, Lucan.”
“In three feet of water. You were fine.” I grinned. “Very dramatic, though. Good form.”
She shook her head, and a smile tugged at her lips. The light caught her eyes and the fine lines around them, and I cataloged every detail. I wanted to trace her features with my fingertips.
She didn’t move toward the door, and I didn’t let go of her hand. The space between us shrank. I could smell her warm skin and a faint trace of campfire smoke clinging to her. I wanted to bury my face in her neck and inhale her scent.
I reached up and cupped the back of her neck, my thumb resting against the soft skin behind her ear. Her breath hitched.
“Can I kiss you?” My voice came out low and hushed.
Her eyes searched my face for a beat. “Yes.”
I closed the distance and pressed my lips to hers.
I kept it slow, giving her time to change her mind. She didn’t.
Her fingers curled into my shirt and pulled me closer, and the bond in my chest lit up like a flare.
I tilted her head gently with my hand, deepening the angle, and she made a soft sound against my mouth that nearly unraveled every thread of restraint I had.
I pulled back before I couldn’t. My forehead rested against hers, and her fingers were still knotted in my shirt.
“Okay?” I whispered.
She opened her eyes. They were dark and a little dazed.
“Okay.” A slow smile spread across her face. “Yeah. Okay.”
I grinned and probably looked like a goofy teenager getting his first kiss, but I didn’t care.
I stayed there for a moment longer, my hand still warm from where it had been resting against her neck. My dragon was not settling. If anything, the kiss had woken him up in a way I hadn’t felt in years.
Before Liz, my dragon mostly stayed quiet. He surfaced when I shifted, or when something threatened the quad, or when instinct demanded it. The rest of the time, he was just there, a steady hum in the background.
Now he pressed close all the time. He reacted to everything. The way Liz smelled when she stood near me. The sound of her voice when she laughed. The change in her expression when she looked at me across the fire. He wanted more. He wanted everything.
I forced myself to step back, letting my hand slide from her neck to her shoulder. If I didn’t put distance between us now, my dragon was going to make suggestions I couldn’t follow.
Liz watched me with a look that said she saw straight through every thought I was trying to bury. When her fingers finally uncurled from my shirt, she smoothed the fabric as if she hadn’t just pulled me into the best kiss I’d ever had.
I cleared my throat. “You should get some rest.”
She turned toward the steps, then paused halfway up them and glanced back. “Lucan?”
“Yeah?”
“Tonight was really good.”
My chest tightened. “Yeah. It was.”
She gave me a small smile and disappeared inside.
The walk to my cabin should have helped, but my dragon was wide awake and had no interest in calming down.
Liz’s reason for coming to Ashford was worse than I’d expected. Someone she had trusted for years had betrayed her and left a hole in her spirit. He’d created a wound deeper than physical ones, the kind that changes how you see the world.
She’d spoken of it with detachment, but I caught the flicker of pain behind her eyes, like she was still trying to convince herself she’d moved past it.
She could have completely crumbled, but instead, she’d camped alone in the woods, taken a job on the spot, and faced down a dragon without flinching. That kind of resilience didn’t come naturally; it was forged. She’d picked herself up and carried on, and it made me admire her even more.
The man who put her in that position was lucky that I had no idea where he lived.
I’d never considered myself vengeful, but seeing Liz hurt made me want to ensure its source understood exactly what he’d thrown away.
I pushed the feeling down, knowing it wasn’t my battle to fight, but that didn’t stop the growl building low in my chest.
I made it to my cabin and pushed the door open. I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my shirt, dropping onto the couch. My shirt still smelled like her, and I brought it to my nose, inhaling her scent.
We’d spent over a decade thinking we would never find mates. When we hit our thirties, we still had some hope, but by the time the first of us turned forty, we came to terms with never finding our other half.
And then Liz had shown up, and my entire world had reordered itself around her.
I rubbed a hand over my face. I wanted to go back to her trailer and make sure she was safe. But she needed space to process everything that had happened, not wake up to a dragon hovering outside her window like an obsessed stalker.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I fished it out, glancing at the screen.
Liz: I’m blaming you for every sore muscle I have tomorrow.
Me: Worth it though.
Liz: The kayaking or the kiss?
I hadn’t been sure how she’d react to the kiss after she had time to sit with it, but this was a good sign. I typed back before I could overthink it.
Me: Yes.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Liz: Smooth.
Me: I have my moments.
Liz: Don’t let it go to your head.
I laughed out loud and went to press my shirt to my face again, caught myself, and tossed it onto the chair across the room like a man with dignity.
Me: Are you borrowing Reese’s truck tomorrow? Hopefully, your car will be done in the afternoon.
Liz: Yes.
I shifted on the couch. Texting back and forth about borrowed trucks and car repairs when what I wanted was to walk through those trees, knock on her door, and taste that smile she’d given me before disappearing inside? That was its own special kind of torture.
My thumbs hovered over the keyboard. What did people even say at this point? How was someone supposed to make casual conversation when they didn’t want to scare someone off but also wanted to keep moving forward?
Me: When can I see you again?
Liz: I work until eight tomorrow…
My brain conjured up images of all the possibilities. The hoard. The sky. Her face tipped up toward the stars from the back of my dragon.
Me: How about I kiss you somewhere no man has ever kissed you?
Liz: Umm…
I reread what I’d sent. My stomach dropped.
Me: Not like that!
Me: Well, of course like that too.
My thumb hovered over the screen, heat crawling up my neck.
Me: I mean flying somewhere.
Me: Then I will kiss you however you want for as long as you want.
The silence that followed lasted long enough for me to consider throwing my phone into the lake. I sat up on the couch, ran both hands through my hair, and watched the screen with the intensity of a man tracking a hostile aircraft.
Liz: You really buried the lead there, dragon boy.
The tension in my chest cracked open, and I exhaled hard.
Liz: Yes. To the flying.
Liz: And yes to the rest of it.
My dragon roared through my chest so hard my vision flickered. I blinked it away and typed with hands that had a slight tremor.
Me: I’ll pick you up at 8:30. Wear something warm.
Liz: Bossy.
Me: You have no idea.
Liz: Goodnight, Lucan.
Me: Goodnight, Liz.
I set the phone on my chest and stared at the ceiling. My dragon settled slightly, satisfied for now.