What Fire Dragons Treasure - Cristina Rayne Page 0,24
home doesn’t have that you will need.”
This close, Amber felt just how much heat was radiating off Raphek’s body. It made her want to lean closer, to wrap her arms around him and allow his heat to embrace her like a warm blanket. Instead, she carefully pulled her hand from within his and pivoted on her heel to bend over Matty and plant a gentle kiss on his forehead, hoping her actions didn’t look totally contrived.
She hoped her hands weren’t shaking because inside, she was shaking like a freaking earthquake. Her heart was also beating as though she had just finished running a marathon.
Amber was a bigger mess than even she had thought if a bit of physical warmth made her lose her head enough to almost do something as stupid as hug the first man who had treated her like a human being deserving of respect. Dammit, the last thing she needed to do was make things more awkward between them than they already were!
She turned and forced a small smile. “So, you mentioned a meditation room…”
He nodded slowly. “Follow me.”
Amber tried not to let the fact that she couldn’t read Raphek’s expression in that moment bother her.
She was upset, her scent a strange combination of fear, longing, and anger even though the expression she wore as Raphek showed Amber the room he had given her and Matty to use for sleeping was of polite curiosity.
“Are you sure it’s okay to have a toddler anywhere near those?” she said, pointing at the hundreds of books and scrolls displayed within several rows of shelving carved into all the stone walls of the room.
“They aren’t one-of-a-kind titles or precious heirlooms passed within my family if that’s what you’re worried about,” Raphek replied. “Both of you are more than welcome to peruse them, but unless you wish to learn Draknar, I doubt either one of you will find any enjoyment from them.”
Amber chuckled and a bit of the tension she seemed to always carry noticeably relaxed from her shoulders. “Yeah, Matty doesn’t even know how to read English yet.” Her eyes roamed the entire circumference of the room and then lingered on the rug with the royal House’s crest beneath their feet, her expression thoughtful. “With all the books and this gorgeous rug, this room feels a lot homier than a room inside a mountain has any right to be. If I can get a few of those large cushions like you had in your meditation room when we go out later, then I’d say I could make Matty and me a pretty comfy bed.”
Raphek smiled, pleased that his new ward seemed a bit more comfortable with the idea of staying in his home. While he understood well the feeling of not wanting to impose, he hoped it wouldn’t be a constant weight on her mind. Her scent immitted way too much anxiety as it was. From the few terrible and rage-inducing antidotes about her past that Briana was able to coax out of her during their meal, what should have been a confusing scent made a horrible kind of sense. Amber needed an environment she would feel was a safe enough place for not only her son, but herself to finally let go of that anxiety.
He would damn sure make his home that place for her as long as she wished it. Raphek, himself, had choked on the acrid taste of anxiety day in and day out for centuries during their war with the Ishkkan and Ansi. He would not wish that mental turmoil on anyone. That a child had been experiencing such fear and anxiety for much of his short life was even more heartbreaking.
“We’ll get you a chest for your clothing as well,” Raphek said. He smiled sheepishly. “The two in here are filled to their lids with the results of centuries worth of personal pursuits. I daresay I haven’t opened that large one in the corner for at least a decade.”
Amber’s eyes widened. “Centuries…?”
He nodded. “Draknos are long-lived. Me? I’m about 4,900 years old, give or take a decade or two.”
“Wait! Wait! You’re nearly five thousand years old!”
“Elysian years, yes. We’ve determined that our days as well as years on our home world were a bit longer than their Earth equivalents.”
“That’s amazing!” Amber said, her tone dripping with awe. “I’m only twenty-three, so I can’t even imagine living to a hundred much less for several thousand years. With all the gossip going around about dragons these days, I’m