Page 21 of Dragon Tempted

He wiped his face again before answering. “I can do that. And Sienna. Anyone who doesn’t respect you or thinks you can't do this job? Screw them.”

She barked out a laugh as tears threatened. Sienna opened her arms, and he shook his head. “I’m a sweaty mess.”

“I don’t care.”

He hugged her and she took a deep breath. Mistake! She backed away. “Sweat I can handle, but you are a bit ripe.”

His head tipped back as he laughed. Hearing that set Sienna’s tilted world back on its axis.

“Go get cleaned up. We need to get to work. Operation Get-John-Baker-To-Stay has moved up to the top of my priority list.”

He picked up his gloves and bottle. “How are you going to make that happen?”

“It’ll need to be a team effort. Multiple players involved.” She couldn’t do this on her own, and if her brothers could bring in the big guns, she would take a page from their book and bring in the really big guns to convince John to stay.

Chapter 8

John opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. This wasn’t his cabin. The bedroom was almost as large as his cabin, with a desk and seating area to the one side. An open door led into a bathroom.

His foggy brain began to clear, and he remembered what happened. He was in the clan house. He moved the blanket and checked his side, wincing when he ran his fingers along the bandages. He needed to take a better look. The doctor had mentioned he should stay put for a day, but after that, he was gone.

Sitting up, he took a deep breath, which pulled on his side. But at least he wasn’t dizzy. And he really wanted to get cleaned up. He was in his boxers, which made sense since his shirt and jeans were probably a bloody mess. Hopefully they’d burned his clothes since the doctor said they would. Testing his legs, he walked slowly over to his duffel and backpack. He unzipped them both and saw that nothing appeared to be disturbed. He was surprised they hadn’t gone through his things, especially after he announced he was leaving.

He closed his backpack and grabbed his duffel, heading toward the bathroom. As he passed the window, he looked outside and saw another building to the left with the valley beyond it. Movement caught his eye. Sienna was talking to someone in some sort of courtyard. From the look of their stiff bodies, it was not a happy conversation. John released his dragon senses and watched them closely, his stomach clenching at the idea of Sienna being in any sort of confrontation. Especially after what she’d recently been through with him.

He recognized the male. He’d been the one who drove her to his cabin. Were they a couple? That would explain why he glared at John the whole time Sienna spoke to him. Not that John was competing for her. And he knew she wouldn’t like the thought of anyone competing for her like she was some prize to be won. Even though John hadn’t spent much time with her, he knew she was smart, dedicated, and cared for her family and clan. The makings of a good leader.

Unfortunately he couldn’t hear what they were saying, and opening the window might draw their attention to him. He watched closely as they continued to talk, prepared to what, exactly? Protect her? After seeing how she reacted at the cabin, he had a feeling she could protect herself, but that didn’t calm the rumble in his chest. He flinched. It was his dragon, who hadn’t made himself known for quite some time. Maybe him being attacked again woke him up.

Sienna opened her arms, and the dumbass shook his head. Was he rejecting her? But a moment later he wrapped his arms around her, and John backed away from the window and walked into the bathroom. She was okay. He wasn’t sure why his dragon was still rumbling in his chest. Time to worry about himself.

Inside the room, he found several towels folded on the vanity with a box of large waterproof bandages. He set his bag down and turned on the shower before taking care of business.

As he washed his hands, he looked in the mirror, quickly assessing things. He needed a serious shave, and his face was pale with dark circles under his eyes. A bandage covered his side. Peeling back the gauze, he found a neat set of stitches over a red, slightly swollen mark. The doctor knew what he was doing. John had plenty of ragged scars from sewing himself up in the past.

He examined the scars that dotted his chest, remembering the pity on Sienna’s face when she’d seen them. He didn’t need anyone’s pity. He shook his head and reached for the box of bandages, pulled out one of the large squares, quickly opened it, and pressed it against his side.

Stepping into the spa-like shower, he couldn’t help but moan as the warm water from several showerheads hit his body. Tension left his back and shoulders and sluiced away along with any residual blood or dirt. He stood for a few minutes letting the water massage him before finishing his shower and getting dressed. He brushed his teeth but didn’t have the energy to shave before heading back into the bedroom.

What was he supposed to do now? A knock on the closed door interrupted his thoughts. He opened it to find Tessa carrying a tray of food. A little girl with two dark braids and big blue eyes stood next to her holding a plate of cookies and looking up at him.

“We thought you might be hungry by now,” Tessa said.

When he reached for the tray, she barged into the room instead and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch. The little girl followed her.

“John, this is Lily. She wanted to meet you.”

“Hello, Lily.” He’d heard a lot about both Lily and Arabella but had never met either of them.

Lily grinned, and he could see that she was missing a tooth. “Hello. Do you like cookies?”

“I do.”

She set the plate down on the table as well.

“Lily helped Marilyn bake these for you to make you feel better.”

“Thank you,” he said, the words rusty on his lips. When was the last time he said thank you?