Highland Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon #6) - Genevieve Jack Page 0,62
her face. “More, Avery. I want ye to be mine in the way of ma kind. Accept the mating bond, and I will have you as my own for all eternity.”
It struck her then that his Scottish accent had given way to one that sounded more like Nathaniel’s and Gabriel’s when they spoke of their homeland. Paragonian. She was speaking to his inner self, his dragon. Xavier’s blue eyes flickered with inner fire.
She pressed her back against the wall, shock and anxiety worming their way through her torso. Hand at the center of his chest, she gave him a firm push and was surprised when he stumbled back. “Hold up, big boy. I need a second to process this. Are you trying to bond with me? As in offering me a dragon mating bond?”
“Aye.” His Scottish accent was back. He flashed that damned lopsided grin of his that was so sexy it made her knees weak. No man should hold that kind of power in his smile. He reached for her again.
“Wait…” Despite desperately wanting to give in to the pleasure he made sing in her veins, she held up a finger between them. She blinked rapidly up at him. “We’ve only known each other a few days. You live here, inside this… bubble in time and space. I don’t. And you told me last night you have no plans to leave, not even temporarily to fight alongside your siblings.”
“Once we kill Lachlan, this place will be ours again. Ye can stay here, with me. Live in the castle as Lady Campbell.” His expression held nothing but joy and surety that she would jump at the chance.
As much as her instincts prodded her to say yes, she couldn’t do it. She did not want to live in this place where time had stopped. She’d had enough trouble breaking from her own past and her history of putting her own needs aside for the sake of others. Here, she’d only lose herself more. She wanted Xavier, but she could not commit to living in the builgean.
“When I came here, it was under the assumption that I would bring you back to the outside world, Xavier. Gabriel, Nathaniel, and the others are counting on your help. Your evil mother will destroy your homeworld if given the chance.”
“Aye. I said I would come back with ye and deal with Gabriel. Once Lachlan’s dead, I can come and go as I please. I can see it bothers ye that I donna want to fight for Paragon. If it matters to ye so much, I’ll consider it.”
“But you’ll still live here.”
“Aye.”
“I won’t,” she said honestly, although it hurt her to say it. “I’ll be there, in my world, the real world. I have a life there.”
He took a step back. “I thought you said ye wanted to escape from that life. You told me ye had no idea who ye wanted to be or what ye wanted to do next. Here’s yer answer. After we’ve helped in whatever way we can, ye’ll come back here and live with me.”
He said it as if it were a foregone conclusion and reached for her again. She sidestepped out of the way.
“No.” As Avery said the word, a branching sensation tingled through her limbs as if that one tiny negative were a seed she’d planted deep within her. She could almost feel it growing, sprouting roots and branches. Spreading. Her spine straightened. She didn’t have to think as the truth came barreling out of her throat. “I will not live here. It’s not the future I want for myself. I want to wear pants and own my own home. I want to work. I’m not sure what I want to do quite yet, but I feel like it’s right on the tip of my tongue and I just have to keep living to figure it out. I want to be in control of my own life, and I can’t do that here, entombed in the past as you are. I just can’t.”
Xavier’s face fell. He turned and paced the length of the barn like a wild animal. The cow, who’d been grazing lazily until then, seemed to suddenly realize there was a predator in the room and shuffled in her stall.
“Is that what ye think?” He snapped out the question. “That I’m entombed in the past?”
“What else would you call it? Hey, I get it—you built this place to keep you and your people safe. You saved hundreds