In a Dragon’s Dream by Riley Storm Page 0,50

much more casual stance and attitude.

“No. Why would I?”

Lara whistled. “Huh, you are serious aren’t you.”

“Why is that such a surprise?” Laura wanted to know, crossing her arms, wishing the shifter woman—there was too much muscle for her to be anything else, Laura had decided—would just answer.

“Oh, no reason,” Lara said thoughtfully. “I just never truly expected Rakell to find someone, to be blunt. He’s a bit of a hothead, I figured that would keep all the, um, keepers, away.”

Laura shook her head. “He’s not been like that with me at all. Though I did see an example of what you meant, but, that’s not the Rak I know.”

She was reminded of the way Rakell had marched into her work office and summarily dispatched the Cado shifter and her human partner, and how he’d gotten into a brawl with Blede immediately upon arrival back at the Teres Compound. He had a temper, but it was like it turned off wherever she was concerned.

“Rak? He lets you call him by a nickname? Wow,” Lara said with another low whistle. “But no, he wouldn’t be that way to you I suppose.”

“You know,” Laura said, relaxing a little. “Everyone seems to think that it makes total sense that he would be different around me. I can see it in their eyes, the way they look at us. We’re not really even a couple. I don’t get it. Rakell says that bringing me home is a big deal, but I had already known about the dragons before he met me. What is it? Why is this a big deal?”

Lara didn’t respond, instead reaching up to smooth back some of her wayward hair.

“That’s not really for me to explain,” she said, her voice entirely different now. It was softer, gentler. “That should come from Rakell’s mouth.”

Laura sighed.

“If he’s got the guts to do it,” Lara added, her original biting tone returning for a brief moment.

What the heck does it mean? Why won’t anyone tell me? Why won’t Rakell tell me?

Was this another secret? Something he wanted to hide from her, maybe? Up on the roof, Rakell had sworn that he would never have any more secrets from her. That he would tell her only the truth from then on out. Was he lying?

Lara must have seen some of the conflicting emotions on her face, because she took pity on the human woman.

“It’s nothing bad,” she said, almost conspiratorially. “It should just be him who explains it to you. Like I said, if he can find his balls in time.”

Laura frowned. “Why do you keep saying it like that?”

“Because I know Rakell,” she said with a laugh, pushing herself upright from the doorframe at last. “For his sake though, I think you’re alright. I hope he does. See you around.”

Then she turned and wandered out of the room, back down one of the numerous hallways that were on the interior of the building, connecting rooms and entries and exits.

Leaving Laura alone to decipher just what Rakell was avoiding telling her.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rakell

“Relax Rakell.”

He glared at Vlad. “How am I supposed to relax? Were you relaxed?”

Vlad threw back his head and laughed, the shifter’s big chest bouncing with amusement. “Hell no! Not at all. I was terrified. In hindsight though, I didn’t need to be. That’s why I’m telling you, that you need to chill, and stop freaking out. That’s only going to make it worse.”

Rakell paced back and forth. He was in another common room. Vlad and his friend Sache were there, though the latter was quiet and didn’t say much. The pair had only recently come back from a bad point in their lives, and Sache was still having a hard time adjusting to being with the clans again.

Hopefully he’ll figure it out soon. We could use his strength.

Sache wasn’t his concern however; that lay entirely with Laura.

“How do I tell her, without her freaking out? I don’t want to screw this up you guys.”

Blede groaned from where he lay on his side on the couch. “Dude, we told you a thousand times already. You just have to tell her. You can’t control what she does, or how she reacts. You know this, right? She is a free person, she can make decisions on her own. If she decides it’s not you…then it’s not you.”

“This could be my only chance,” he said quietly.

The others all assumed he meant his only chance with Laura, the only attempt he might have to tell her what she was to