Well, using your manners might go a long way to achieving that goal, Zoey chided before adding,and in my world, it’s usually polite to ask, not tell.
Hunter could not only feel the rage rising inside his dragon, but he could see and hear it in the increased fierceness of the forks of lightning hitting the surface of the churning sea and the howling of the strong wind that was whipping up the sand in swirls and almost knocking Zoey off her feet.
Hunter could not allow any harm to come to Zoey.
Stop this,he instructed his dragon.Immediately.
The wind and lightning instantly stopped. The sea no longer churned. The sand no longer whipped painfully about their faces. The sky cleared, leaving only wispy clouds. Now there was only a gentle crash of the waves against the shore to be heard.
Hunter shifted back to his human form before taking Zoey into his arms. “I’m sorry,” he groaned. “So sorry. That should not have happened.”
Zoey put her arms about his waist, her head resting against his chest. “Why did it?”
He drew in a ragged breath. “My dragon is impatient and did not like the uncertainty you voiced about our mating.” Which was true, even if it wasn’t the entire reason for the shift into dragon and the raging outburst of emotion. “As you say, he needs to learn some manners,” he teased.
Zoey liftedher head to look at Hunter, not reassured by his words in the slightest. She sensed there was more he wasn’t telling her, and that whatever that something was, it was important. To both of them.
The rigid set of Hunter’s jaw told her he wasn’t going to share that with her. Not yet, at least. If they became mates, she was going to have to insist there were no secrets between them.
Was she seriously thinking of accepting Hunter as a dragon-shifter mate?
The fact that it was even a possibility was still incredulous to her.
And yet…
There was no denying that, despite everything Hunter had told her, all he had done to prove what he said, she still felt safe with him. Protected in a way she could never remember feeling in the years since her parents died. She knew instinctively that Hunter would guard her with his life. That he and his dragon would protect her with their life.
She also couldn’t deny her physical response to Hunter. A reaction that was more heated, more urgent, and seemed to increase every minute she was with him, than she had ever experienced before. Nor did she believe she would ever feel that urgency again except in Hunter’s arms. The depth of their connection felt unique to them.
Despite all that, Zoey hadn’t forgotten Hunter’s reason for coming to Cornwall in the first place. If he was correct about Edgar’s intentions, then they needed to stop him from harming anyone else.
She pulled back slightly. “We need to go back to Tregarthen House.”
Hunter looked taken aback. “Why?”
“So that we can get a proper look at the notebook Edgar is coveting. To see if it really is Sister Agnes’s journal.” The thought that Edgar might somehow be involved in Ben’s death caused an aversion inside Zoey to ever again call him by the familiar title of uncle.
Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “When did this mission become a ‘we’ situation rather than an ‘I’ one?”
Zoey grinned at him. “The moment you told me I’m your mate and showed me your dragon to prove who and what you are.”
Hunter’s nostrils flared, and for a moment, Zoey thought he might even breathe smoke through them.
Her thoughts immediately turned to wondering if he could do that. How cool would that?—
Concentrate on the situation at hand, her conscience rebuked.
After all, there would be plenty of time when this was all over for her to learn exactly what her warrior dragon mate was capable of.
Even thinking of Hunter that way caused a quiver of anticipation to thrill down Zoey’s spine.
“Do not fear, Zoey, we will protect you with our lives in both our forms,” Hunter reassured, obviously having misunderstood the reason for that trembling.
A blush warmed Zoey’s cheeks. Not because she wanted anything to happen to Hunter or his dragon, ever, but becausethe thought of being so wanted and protected filled her with joy and happiness.
“Then, for now, I think you should protect me by coming back to Tregarthen House with me,” she encouraged huskily.
Hunter tilted his head in a questioning gesture very reminiscent of his dragon. “What reason will we give for me having accompanied you back to Wallis’s house after you supposedly drove me to the nearest garage earlier?”
