Chapter 13 #2
I scrub a hand over my face. ‘That’s true, but what if they can take someone with them?
Doc P brought us to a pocket realm through an ordinary door, not through teleportation.
Assuming a fae set that up for him to activate when needed, realm travel might work differently than the ancient texts say. ’
There aren’t any modern books on realm travel, and the fae are incredibly secretive about how it works, so I’m not sure how to go about confirming what’s possible.
Perhaps Doc P would be willing to tell me who set up his pocket realm for him and when, and whether he knows anything about realm travel in general.
I’ll email him after we’ve cleared up from dinner.
‘Even if that’s the case, doesn’t that bring us back to the same problem?’ Bryn signs. ‘There’s no evidence as to which of our theories is the correct one.’
I nod reluctantly. ‘And without evidence, we’re still stuck.’
I hate everything about this case. Missing shifters who could be dead, or alive but out of reach.
Suspected arms trafficking that we can’t find any hard evidence of, not even hints on the dark web.
And a global business that’s shutting down UK operations, at least visibly, effectively crushing my hope that this will have a successful outcome.
The only good thing about the last couple of months has been meeting the gorgeous dragon in front of me, and I’m grateful for him every day.
He pulls me closer, encouraging me to rest my head on his shoulder as he hugs me. When we part, his eyes are full of concern. ‘I wish I could do more to help you.’
‘You’ve already done so much.’ Far more than we ever expected when we initially approached him with a contract to help us in a consultant role.
Truthfully, the best thing he can do at this point is to stay safe. I know Far Out Freight haven’t actually targeted him yet, but they still could. They’ve made no further attempts to kidnap me, and he was caught in the same explosion as I was.
My tiger and I are in complete agreement; we’ll never let anyone take him from us. We’ll keep him safe from Lance, and foreign dragons, and anyone else who dares to think they can harm him. He’s ours to love and protect.
In fact, this seems like a good time to tell him what I’ve been getting put in place for him.
‘Just to make you aware, I’ve asked Wren to put together an amendment to your employment contract to stipulate that you can’t be used to transport anything unless it’s as a driver of a vehicle you hold a licence for.
I know they haven’t made you fly cargo this week, but it’ll guarantee they can’t send you out again with a sodding shipping container attached, vulnerable to attack.
And if the warehouse does close down and you’re reassigned for the rest of the programme, it’ll apply to all remaining work placements as well. ’
As worried as Wren is about Jay, she’s more than willing to do me this favour. It might prove to be unnecessary, but better safe than sorry.
He stares at me, his signs deliberately slow. ‘Without consulting me?’
Right. Maybe I should have done that. ‘It’s not finalised yet, so you can make changes to it if you want.’
He takes a step back, his jaw tight, his eyes flashing crimson. ‘You’re missing the point.’
I appreciate that it would have been better to involve him from the beginning, but surely that’s easily resolved now. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t discuss it with you first. I’m just trying to keep you safe.’
‘That’s exactly the problem!’ His hands move so rapidly that I struggle to follow what he’s saying.
‘Did it ever occur to you that as a dragon, having other people provide for me like Milo has had to, having someone worry about me like you’re doing, needing to be rescued by the task force, is incredibly degrading? ’
My tiger snarls and my body tenses, my heart rate spiking.
‘That’s how people show they care, you giant hypocrite!
You know how I know that? Because no one ever did those things for me when I was a child.
Nannies did what they were paid to do, my parents treated me like an object to show off at formal functions, and I certainly never had anyone who’d look after me when I was scared or injured.
The whole reason I joined the army was to protect others.
So excuse me for doing everything I can to safeguard my boyfriend! ’
I turn away, my chest heaving, my eyes welling up.
I probably got half those signs wrong. My tiger growls, as irritated with me for making our dragon unhappy as with Bryn for acting like wanting to protect him is wrong.
I shouldn’t have snapped like that, but I’d have given anything as a child to have someone care enough to worry about me, and although life has changed a lot since then, him getting annoyed about something I used to long for set me off.
Bryn lightly touches my elbow, encouraging me to turn around, then searches my damp eyes, his scent much calmer than before. ‘We’re boyfriends?’
Ah, fuck. I did sign that, didn’t I? Of course, it’s going to come across as something else I’ve decided without talking to him first. Am I ever going to stop messing up relationships?
I lift my hands hesitantly, hoping I can salvage this. ‘I’d like to be.’
He sighs and puts on the most ridiculous pout. ‘But I had a whole romantic date planned where I was going to ask you. The only reason I’ve been waiting is because of the investigation.’
The tightness in my chest eases and I tap his jutting lower lip. ‘Put that away. I would love a romantic date when this is over. We just don’t need to wait until then to agree to an exclusive relationship.’
The delighted smile that takes over his face brightens his eyes and gives me a ridiculous fluttering in my stomach, dispelling all my frustration from before. I can’t help smiling back as he pulls me into his arms and kisses me tenderly.
Eventually I ease back barely far enough to sign, because before we celebrate making our relationship official we need to resolve this friction between us—and I’m not talking about his hardening cock currently pressing against me.
‘I’m sorry I made you feel like I don’t see you as capable,’ I sign softly. ‘That was never my intention.’
His shoulders sag. ‘You were right to call me a hypocrite. I’m sorry. I guess I have a few issues to work through.’
Any lingering tension evaporates. ‘That’s understandable. I’m here any time you want to share about that or anything else, okay?’
He hesitates, head tilted, then takes my hand and leads me to the sofa. He doesn’t let go straight away after we sit down, instead brushing his thumb over the back of my hand.
He eventually disentangles our fingers, presses a kiss to my palm, then releases me.
‘It’s not a big deal, really. It’s just that my life now is nothing like the way it was before.
I still have a lot to be thankful for, especially meeting you, but sometimes certain things trigger all this anger and frustration I try to keep locked inside. ’
My heart aches for him. I need to be more respectful of the invisible scars he’s carrying after everything he’s been through.
‘It’s always okay to have feelings. You don’t have to keep them bottled up or minimise them.
’ He doesn’t look convinced, so I sign more emphatically.
‘I’m serious. Look, I know it’s not the same situation at all, but when we first left the armed forces we were all constantly snapping at each other.
Adjusting to civilian life wasn’t easy, and the smallest thing could set one of us off, so I get where you’re coming from.
I can handle the occasional flare of temper. I promise.’
He shakes his head. ‘You shouldn’t have to.’
‘Fuck that.’ This dragon, seriously. ‘I mean it. Be yourself with me.’
He snorts, an adorable puff of smoke escaping his nostrils. ‘I’ll at least try to calm down with how crazily overprotective I get.’
My lips twitch. ‘I don’t mind that so much. I like that I’m precious to you.’
His brow furrows slightly. ‘You are, although I hope you know that I don’t call you treasure because I see you as some sort of object to show off. I’m not like your parents.’
My heart warms at the sincerity in his eyes. ‘I know. We’re equals, Bryn, and I’ll make sure I do better at acting accordingly.’
Now that I understand where he’s coming from, I’ll be a lot more careful. Doing something on his behalf without talking to him first was out of line.
His expression softens. ‘I’d appreciate that. And in future I’ll try to see your worry as an indication of how much you care. In fact…’ His hands hover, and he searches my eyes before continuing. ‘I have a theory about why we’re behaving this way with one another.’
My stomach dips for reasons I can’t explain. ‘Oh?’
He takes a deep breath before exhaling slowly, his hand movements more cautious than usual. ‘Dragons tend to know quickly if someone is our fated mate.’
I suck in a sharp breath. My tiger perks up, attention fully locked on Bryn.
When I don’t sign anything, he continues.
‘There’s been… a bit of a disconnect between my dragon and me since we were reunited upon my release.
He doesn’t react to much; mostly just you, and flying of course.
The fact that I’m not certain would ordinarily mean I’d discount the possibility, but under the circumstances… ’
Wow. It took Ethan and Ayo a while to realise they were mates, but I naively assumed that since I’ve been actively searching for my own it would be far faster for me. Was I too quick to discount the possibility with Bryn?
My tiger chuffs, pleased that the dragon could be ours forever.
‘You think we could be fated mates?’ I ask, needing to see the words on his hands.