What Fire Dragons Treasure - Cristina Rayne Page 0,11
as Raphek carefully lowered them to the stone floor and then lumbered over to the opposite side of the balcony with a boatload more grace than something his size should possess to presumably shift into his human form, “and this is my son, Matthew. Matty for short.”
Emma squatted down until she was eye-level with Matty, who was peering back at the brunette woman shyly. “Hi, Matty.” She pointed at his dinosaur plushie. “Who’s your friend?”
“T-rex,” Matty replied bashfully.
“He’s a cutie just like you,” Emma said with a wink.
Matty smiled back at Emma tentatively. It was clear that this woman knew how to handle young children. Was she a mother as well?
“Let’s get you two inside,” Raphek suddenly said beside her, making Amber jump.
She glanced up at him before she remembered that he was likely naked. However, this time Raphek was wearing a robe-like gold garment that tied closed at his side like a wide sash. Huh. Amber supposed it made sense for people who were constantly shifting to keep easy to throw on clothes out on their balconies. She was extremely grateful for small favors as the robe had saved her from what could have been the most awkward moment of her life given her current eye-level.
“May I?” Raphek asked as he knelt beside her and curled an arm around her back just short of touching.
Even so, Amber could feel his hotter-than-a-human’s body heat through her blouse, and immediately wished she didn’t as that same heat seemed to creep into her cheeks. As an adult, she had never been carried by anyone, and a dragon scooping her up with his claws didn’t count. Although the same person had done both, the experience was like night and day when said dragon was now a gorgeous man that was only wearing a thin robe.
“Of—of course.”
Raphek carefully scooped her up into a bridal carry, Matty and all, and followed Emma through a pair of doors into a dim room with gray, stone walls and lit by what looked like several glass orbs of bright, pulsating white light spaced strategically along the walls. He set them down on a long, couch-like piece of furniture against a west-facing wall.
Matty slipped off her lap and burrowed into her side. He watched Emma sit down on Amber’s other side with keen interest, still clutching his T-rex plushie tightly against his chest with one arm.
“I need to go report this to both the captain and to the king,” Raphek told Emma. “My portion of the border remains unguarded.”
“Go. We’ll be fine here. Sevek will be home soon, but in the meantime, I’ll make sure Amber and Matty are taken care of.”
“I’ll return the moment I’m able,” Raphek promised. He turned to Amber. “His Majesty, King Dagon, will likely wish to speak with you sometime soon, but until then, rest and heal well until we meet again.”
“We will, and thanks again for everything,” Amber replied, still feeling a bit flustered.
The moment Raphek had closed the balcony doors behind him, she turned to Emma and said, “I’m so sorry for dumping my problems into your lap without even a heads up.”
Emma waved her off as she stood. “Nonsense. I’m happy that Raphek thought to bring you to me first. Stretch your injured leg out on the couch, and I’ll go call for a healer. Then I’ll get you and your adorable son something cold to drink. Flying with dragons can give you an unbelievable case of cotton mouth. We’ll talk some more then.”
Really? Amber had just assumed that her mouth was so dry because of both shock and nerves.
“Thank you.”
While they waited for Emma to return, Matty securely still burrowed into her side and eyes staring in the direction that Emma had left them, Amber’s eyes roamed the room curiously. She tried to ignore the way her leg was starting to really throb and scream with an awful, burning pain, but mostly, she didn’t want to think about the implications of what had happened to them at the energy shield. Not yet. She was more grateful than she could ever convey for this moment to just breathe that Raphek and Emma had gifted her. She knew better than to believe that everything would now be smooth sailing just because she and Matty had made it to her “sanctuary.”
So far, except for the balcony, Emma’s home resembled what Amber had pictured the rooms deep within a medieval stone castle might look like—high ceilings with wooden rafters, stone walls, and floors of