Page 29 of Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings 4)
Shaw quirked a brow and shot her a crooked grin. “You think so, aye? Then you should know that I think your hair is unbelievably sexy.”
Now that surprised her. Others had told her it was her smile, her eyes, her face, or some part of her body. No one had ever said her hair. She kept it long because she liked it. The unexpected compliment made her belly tremble with some unnamed emotion. “Thank you.”
She took his hand, and they left his room. Nia remembered the rip she’d heard when he had undressed, but she couldn’t see anything wrong with his clothing. Maybe she had only thought she’d heard it. Perhaps he had used magic to fix it. That was the most likely explanation. She had no idea how magic worked. Did he have to say something? Wave his hands? There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she couldn’t.
He kept hold of her hand as they left the pub behind and walked through the people along the street. Shaw wasn’t in a hurry anymore, but he still made sure that no one ran into her. He was never rude or angry about it. He simply used his body or his arm to shield her from others.
She had a smile on her face—a true smile. Was this what it felt like to be happy? At the very least, content. It was a new experience. She wanted to talk to someone about it, but she didn’t have anyone she could confide in. The worst part was that she wanted to tell Shaw. How silly was that? She barely knew him, but she wanted to share something private with him.
That had to be his magic.
She wanted to hate it, but she couldn’t. The more time she spent with him, the more she wondered why everyone feared the Dragon Kings so much. They hadn’t attacked any cities in…well, she couldn’t recall a time when they had. Which begged the question of where had the fear of the Kings come from?
Shaw drew her to a halt and stepped in front of her when two men came barreling out of a pub, fighting. One of the men’s fists struck Shaw’s shoulder. Instead of getting angry and throwing a punch, he drew the two men apart and simply stared at them. Both seemed to come to their senses. They glared at each other but walked away without anyone coming to harm.
“How did you do that?” she asked.
Shaw shrugged and took her hand once more.
She shook her head at him. As they walked, a tall man with dark blue eyes and chestnut blond hair snagged her attention. He didn’t look their way, but something about him reminded her of Shaw. Her stomach dropped to her feet, causing her to stumble. Had she just seen the other Dragon King?
Nia’s head snapped to Shaw, but he was staring at her. When she swung her head back to the man, he had disappeared behind some others.
“Are you all right?” Shaw asked as he steadied her.
She forced a smile. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Before long, they passed through the gate to the fifth level. Nia couldn’t help but look back over her shoulder, but she didn’t see the other man.
Shaw was quiet as they walked to the seventh level. His eyes didn’t miss anything, from the soldiers, to the homes that steadily got bigger and bigger, nor the cleanliness. When they reached her villa, he paused at the gated entrance. He gazed up at the arch of pink roses that ran along a trellis before smiling at her.
She walked through the gate first and waited for him to follow. He stopped once more and took in her home. It was made of the same red sandstone as the rest of Stonemore, but she had softened the harshness of it with the gardens.
“This suits you,” he said.
Nia’s heart swelled. The villa wasn’t hers, and she knew it was foolish to think otherwise, but she couldn’t help it.
