Page 72 of Dragon Blood
Never the prim and proper princess she was expected to be. A rebel and a sailor. A pirate for a time, sailing the high seas, stealing hearts, mending others.
An outsider by choice. Her crew was composed of women of all kinds. A mix of human and paranormals. Their common thread was their need. The Crimson Claw was a sanctuary, the crew a chosen family.
Kai had his tiger clan, and by fostering, the Longs. He’d never really fit into either, but wherever Astred went, she was the missing part of every gathering that made it whole. Perhaps that was another facet of the gemstone that she was, which drew him to her. She fit. Everywhere. No matter who was involved.
Astred was a shining light in the world.
Kai remained in the shadows, where he was comfortable. Both a watcher and a protector, as needed.
He’d be there, guarding Astred’s back against whatever was coming her way.
Work would wait. His corporate team could handle the contracts in his absence.
There was nothing and no one else that needed his attention for anything as important as this.
Master Chan finally stopped at a gilded door at the end of the guest hall.
“Thank you, Master Chan, I’ll find my way in a moment.”
“If you need anything, please use the call button,” the old man said to Astred. With a short bow to Kai, he left them alone in the dim corridor outside her room.
Aside from the strained hours traveling from the Crimson Claw to Black River and then driving from Black River to Toronto, they hadn’t been alone.
Not since those moments on the beach.
Astred’s expression when she’d found him in the bathroom slammed back into him. The raw desire and longing in her eyes that he could not give into.
Words flowed to the tip of Kai’s tongue, but he swallowed them back.
The sense that things needed to be said, after the Nexus, when there hadn’t been time and he’d been unable to pick out the right words.
Astred’s eyes met his with the same intensity, hand on the shining door handle.
She had words too, though she’d never hesitated to speak her mind before.
Now she did.
The tip of her tongue slid over her lips, uncertain. “Do you want to come in?” Her gaze flicked to the empty hall behind him.
He didn’t turn. He couldn’t deny the flicker of vulnerability in her eyes. “Yes.”
The journey into the Nexus had been harrowing for both of them, and they’d have to face another journey of some kind.
She needed him.
Those weren’t her words. They never would be, but her eyes spoke it when her breath hitched over her parted lips.
She couldn’t say it, but she could let him feel it.
The door swung open with the softest click, admitting them to a room lit with a glowing hearth. They stepped inside, and Kai closed the door behind him.
An uncorked bottle of fine wine sat on a narrow table between two high-back armchairs. Two etched wine glasses glimmered in the golden firelight.
Two.
How would Master Chan know that Astred would have a companion?
Bayn.
