Page 20 of Dragon Mine (Dragon Kings 2)
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
His hold tightened. “And I’ve missed you.”
Minutes passed as they simply stood there, holding each other. Finally, Eurwen leaned back to look at him. “You want answers.”
“There are a few I hope you can give me. But more than anything, I just want to talk. I want to know you—as well as I know your body,” he said with a sexy smile.
She quirked a brow at him. “Now look who’s teasing.”
His expression grew serious. “I searched the world over for you. I never stopped looking because I knew you were out there somewhere, waiting for me to find you.”
“You should be angry about what I did.”
He blew out a breath and stepped back, his hands moving down her arms to take hers. “A part of me is, but I also know that people usually have a reason for the things they do.”
“That reason could’ve been to hurt you.”
Vaughn shook his head, a lock of light brown hair falling onto his forehead. “If you had wanted to wound me, there were many ways you could’ve done it by sticking around and playing with my heart.”
“I’m not so sure I could be as polite as you if the situations were reversed.”
“I’ve had centuries to learn patience. Though, I’ll admit, it’s still one of my shortcomings.”
Eurwen couldn’t help but smile. She led him to the sofa with one hand and pulled him down beside her. “Would you like anything?”
“You,” he replied. “But I’ll wait.”
He was entirely too charming. Then again, she knew that. “I have a confession. I’ve returned to Earth a few times since our night.”
“I assumed you had.”
“I watched you handle a couple of legal matters for Dreagan. You’re a force. With one word, you can make your opponents lose their cool in the most embarrassing ways. It’s mesmerizing to watch. You’re charming but savage at the same time.”
He glanced down at their still-interlocked hands. “I wish you would’ve approached me.”
“I couldn’t. I wasn’t supposed to the first time, but I was unable to resist you. I saw you walk into the village and couldn’t take my eyes off you. I knew who you were, and I couldn’t believe you were there.”
One side of his lips lifted in a grin. “Like it was Fate?”
“Exactly.”
“Because it was.”
She tucked her legs against her as she turned to face him. “I wanted to approach you the other times I visited, too. You have no idea how much.”
“What stopped you?”
“A pact Brandr and I made. After we came to Zora, we spent decades sorting things out with the dragons. We barely got that under control before the humans began arriving.”
Vaughn’s brows snapped together. “No’ bairns?”
Eurwen paused, searching her mind. “There were a handful of adults, both men and women, and each of them had infants.”
“Curious,” he murmured. “Go on.”
She licked her lips. “We knew what had occurred on Earth with the mortals. Erith told us everything.”
“A second-hand account, I might add.”
“True. But she was on your side. She has a deep love for dragons, and especially my parents.”
Vaughn blew out a breath. “Then you know how she saved Rhi?”
“I do. The point was, Brandr and I refused to make the same mistakes that happened in your realm. We approached the humans only once and told them about the planet. Said that it was ours. We asked them to leave, but they didn’t have any idea how they had even gotten here. Brandr actually took them to another realm, but the next day, they were back. We tried that thrice more with the same outcome.”
“That tidbit is interesting,” Vaughn said.
“We had no choice but to leave them here. Still, we put up the barrier and warned them to stay inside it. We clearly marked it for them so they knew where it was. We also gave them a good-sized area so they didn’t feel constricted and want to go through the barrier. About six months later, two more infants arrived, seemingly out of nowhere.”
Vaughn’s frown was deep. “You’ve never seen anyone?”
“Never.”
“Is it on your side of the barrier?”
She shook her head. “Both Brandr and I have tried to see who it is, but we’ve never been able to. There’s no rhyme or reason for when the bairns arrive, or even how many. Somehow, the mortals always know.”
“Jeyra said they have people checking certain places several times a day, just in case. I doona think they’re warned. I think they’ve learned that it happens and to be prepared.”
Eurwen shrugged. “Makes sense.”
