Dragon's Second Chance Romance - Riley Storm Page 0,11

with a snort. “What I mean is, you’re a dragon. Why did you look so…lame?”

Chapter Seven

Pietro

“Lame?” he yelped, caught completely flat-footed by the comment. “I—wait a minute. You know what I am?”

It took a moment for the word Claire had used to sink into his brain, given that it was busy trying to fight off the shock of being labeled ‘lame’. Pietro had been called a lot of things in his life. Some good, some bad, but never before had he been called lame.

Claire shrugged. “Yeah.”

He frowned. “How did you know?”

“Lilly,” she said, naming her best friend. “When she and Trent got together, I was there. He helped us. I knew that he was a dragon.”

Pietro nodded. He’d already figured that out. “So Lilly ended up telling you?”

“Yeah. She’s uh, what was that word she used, the weird one, to describe what they were…” Claire trailed off, her eyes losing focus as she fought to remember.

“Mated,” Pietro suggested.

“Yeah, mated. They’re mated, and so she went up Mount Atrox with him, and—”

“I remember her being at the meeting,” Pietro said, thinking back upon a meeting of some of the movers and shakers of Clan Atrox a week or so ago. “That would explain why she was looking at me the way she was.”

“You’re not mad at her, are you?” Claire asked. “She recognized you from the bar, and so she told me. I didn’t tell anyone else.”

“No, I’m not mad,” Pietro said.

“Okay, good. But why did you try to hide it from me?”

“I didn’t know how you would react,” he said bluntly. “Not everyone is a fan of the idea of dragons, and you’d already shot me down once, though I could do without being reminded of that constantly, and so I didn’t want to scare you off.”

Claire’s face softened. “I suppose This whole, um, I hate to use the term ‘coming out’, but reveal? Exposure? I’m not sure of the word, but it can’t be easy for you guys.”

“Most people are cool. You get the crazies at either end,” he muttered. “The haters and the worshipers. Those are the worst. I’d rather deal with crazed fans wanting pictures every day than have to listen to someone preach about how we’ve been sent by Satan, or that we’re gods in our own way. Neither of which is true, by the way, in case you were wondering.”

Claire laughed softly, a sound that seemed to surprise her.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with that, Pietro. That doesn’t seem fair. But I’m not on either end of that spectrum. Just somewhere in the middle. I think it’s really cool, but I’m definitely not obsessed. Sorry,” she said, sticking out her tongue.

His heart fluttered briefly, but then he sobered. “That’s a relief.”

Pietro looked around, realizing that they were still out on the streets. In the dark. Where vampires lurked.

“Umm, thanks for that, by the way,” Claire said, picking up on his mood change. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s no big deal,” Pietro said, his eyes delving into every pile of shadows, looking for things that shouldn’t be there.

He wanted to get a move on, to hurry Claire back home, so that he could be confident she was safe and secure behind a threshold. Vampires had a very hard time crossing those, and the stronger they were, the harder it got. A family house would be impossible for them to bully their way into without being invited. He assumed her place would be like that at least. If not, well, he didn’t need sleep.

Out here, however, in the open, she was exposed. Vulnerable. There was only so much Pietro could do to protect her.

“Shall we get you the rest of the way home?” he asked.

Claire fell in step beside him as they walked, looking straight ahead. Pietro craned his neck around constantly, towering over her protectively, letting his eyes pierce the gloom, searching for hidden threats.

Nothing was getting to her without going through him first, he vowed.

“Yeah. I guess. I wouldn’t want you to have to intervene again,” she said. “I really am grateful for that. Sorry I didn’t say that right away.”

“You can stop apologizing for things now,” he said gently. “You have nothing to say sorry about. Guessing by what Pete was saying, it’s not the first time you’ve come across him today.”

“Second, actually. First time he…well, it doesn’t matter what he wanted. Then I supposed he had me followed. Wasn’t happy that I was talking to any male, even if it was