In a Dragon’s Dream by Riley Storm Page 0,41

I’ll know it,” he rumbled.

Completely unhelpful.

“Okay…” she pulled the laptop screen down and stood up, forcing Rakell to move back a step as well. “Let me take a break, scroll through them some more and pull up a few more options that you can also veto. How does that sound?”

Rakell pursed his lips. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Yes,” she said, unable to keep her laughter in. “I am. You aren’t being at all helpful in this search for the house.”

He shrugged. “I’ve never lived anywhere but the mountain.”

An idea came to her. “Then I need to see where it is you’ve lived,” she said quietly. “That will give me ideas on what sorts of features you would want in your house as well. How does that sound?”

“Sounds smart to me,” Rakell nodded. “I trust you.”

He said it so casually, but there was an implied weight to the words, now that he’d revealed to her the secret of dragons.

That’s the only thing he’s holding back. The dragons…

And now she knew it all. Rakell was hiding nothing else from her. If she wanted an answer, she had to but ask.

Where do you see this going between us?

But she didn’t have the courage to ask that question. Not yet. Maybe she never would.

Because I’m afraid of the answer.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rakell

“This is going to be so awkward,” Laura moaned. “Why didn’t I think of this ahead of time?”

Rakell, one hand on the leather-clad steering wheel, the other resting on the center console—merely inches from Laura—glanced over. “What are you talking about? I thought you wanted this?”

“I do,” she agreed. “Trust me, I really do. I want to see what it’s like up there. I want to see a dragon so very badly. Ever since I found out, I’ve been imagining what it’s like.”

He bit his lip, nearly caving and asking her how she’d found out, but managed to save himself in time. Not once had Laura come close to letting slip how she’d found out. Not even mentioning whether she was ‘told’, or if she’d seen something personally. Nothing. She was a locked vault it seemed.

It was this last secret that was preventing him from truly believing what his dragon was trying to tell him. About who she was to him. He could feel the pull, the innate longing, but until she was completely and totally open with him about it, he could never completely give himself over.

He had no secrets anymore, but that wasn’t a two-way street yet.

“Well, you’re about to find out,” he said, flashing her a smile. “We’re almost there.”

“I know,” she groaned. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“You’ve gone and made me officially confused,” he said. “How are you…why afraid? What is it?”

“Not of you,” Laura said dismissively. “Of her.”

“Huh? Who?”

“Kristin!”

Now suddenly Rakell understood. That evening, as she’d been packing to head to the mountain, Laura had gotten a phone call from Blede’s mate Kristin. She’d wanted Laura to cancel the sale, to keep the shop in her own name.

But it had been too late. The project Laura had spent all morning on was finalizing that sale, and she’d already sent everything through. It was a done deal. Kristin no longer had a shop.

Rakell had tried to console Laura, to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, that she had only done what she was told to, but it hadn’t worked. She was almost miserable. Only the thought of seeing his dragon—he hoped it was his dragon, not just any old dragon that held her fascination—was keeping her from being utterly morose.

“She said she understood,” he said, reaching out with his hand and laying it on top of hers in what he hoped was reassurance.

Holding his breath, he waited to see if she pulled away. When she didn’t, he continued, doing his best not to freak out, and to keep his hand relaxed.

She’ll feel it if you go all stiff and weird. Just let it be natural, don’t try to fake it. Easy. Relax.

“Blede will get the shop back for her anyway,” he added. “A way will be found.”

“I guess…” Laura said.

They crested a peak in the mountain road, and suddenly ahead of them the splendor of the Clan Teres compound was visible. The vast complex of rooms was set high into the mountain. The cliff fell away before it in a sheer drop a thousand feet or more. It hung on the precipice, perched as if ready to fall at any moment.

“Oh wow,” Laura gasped.

Most of the features of it were