Dragon's Second Chance Romance - Riley Storm Page 0,27

presence. Her heart fluttered, beating a little faster at the memory of being kissed on the topside of his truck.

It was all a little surreal.

Everything had happened so fast. It had felt like an eternity passing, but in truth, it had been less than half a minute from when the truck had been hit until Pietro was pulling her out from the gaping doorway.

They’d spent more time waiting around, dealing with the aftermath, than anything else. The police had been less than enthused to see her at the middle of something involving automobiles, but once the female deputy, Frazer, had shown up and spoken with Pietro, everything had been cleared up rather rapidly.

Leaving little for the pair to do except get her home.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.

Pietro hadn’t let her more than a few yards away from him since the attack, and Claire hadn’t fought him over it. In fact, when the medics had tried to separate them to ensure she was okay and that Pietro wasn’t hurting her, she’d all but thrown a fit until they’d let him close.

The only person I can trust not to hurt me is Pietro. He’s the one keeping me safe.

That was why she was inviting him in, Claire told herself. Because she felt safer with him around. It had nothing to do with the burning memory of the kiss they’d shared and her body’s desire to be touched that way once again.

Arousal after a life-threatening situation is only normal. Just don’t act on it, that’s all. Acknowledge it, but don’t let it control you. You’re in charge here.

Besides, Pietro had fought off two vampires and paid her quarter-million dollar bail. The absolute least she owed him was to spend some more time with him. If she just so happened to feel safer and more secure with him around, well, that was a pleasant bonus.

“Sure, thank you,” Pietro rumbled, following her inside and down the stairs, following her lead of being as quiet as possible.

It wouldn’t stop what was to come, of course. Claire knew nothing could stop that. But perhaps, if they were quiet, she could delay it. The longer she could put it off, the better.

They went down the stairs, neither talking. After all, what more was there to say after everything that had happened tonight? Claire needed time to process it all. Time, and a drink.

She went straight for her fridge, pulling out a vodka soda and tossing Pietro a beer. “Here.”

“Thanks,” he grunted, catching it with casual dexterity with one hand while he was using the other to pull his shoes off and leave them at the bottom of the stairs.

Taking a long swig, Claire looked him over as he approached.

“You look kind of rough,” she said. “Do you need medical attention or anything? You can go get it now. I don’t want you to suffer because of me now that I’m safe.”

Pietro waved her off. “No, I’m fine. Blood is blood. I’ve healed. Nothing to worry about, trust me. My body is used to more abuse than this.”

She started to laugh and then realized that he was telling the truth.

“Is life as a dragon that hard?” she asked curiously.

“We train hard,” Pietro said quietly, looking off at nothing. “For the longest time, we always thought it was pointless. A ‘just in case’ measure. For times like this. Times that didn’t exist until recently.”

Claire frowned. “This isn’t normal then?”

Pietro laughed, a biting sound. “Not at all. Until a year ago, things were dull, quiet, and calm. Just the way we liked them. Then, everything went haywire. People have been after us, trying to hurt us, divide us, capture us. Someone out there hates us. So I guess it’s a good thing we’ve been training hard this entire time.”

“Oh.” Claire wasn’t sure what else to say. “I see.”

“Sorry,” the big man said, shaking himself awake. “I didn’t mean to dump that all on you like that. Not what you need to hear right now. But you’ll be okay. We’ve come out ahead, and we’ll continue to. Exactly because we’ve been training. My point was though, I’ve been hurt worse, and my system heals quickly.”

“Okay.” Claire looked him over again, telling herself she wasn’t just eyeing his muscles. “What about the mess? Do you want to shower? Clean yourself up maybe?”

Pietro looked down at himself, hesitating. For a moment, she thought he was going to take her offer up, but in the end, he shook