Free Beg Me to Slay by Unknown Page A

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    Tegan gripped Gabe’s thigh. Hard.
    He surprised her by draping his arm across her shoulders and giving her a gentle squeeze. “See you soon, birthday girl.”
    He brushed his lips against her cheek, but there was nothing chaste about the way his breath caressed her skin. When he pulled back, his eyes held hers, that same smoldering fire in his gaze, and for a moment, she would have sworn time stopped. Her entire body melted, and she wished she could make all the people around them vanish.
    He swallowed. His voice was soft, gruff. “Don’t keep your dad waiting.”
    Tegan nodded, suddenly mute and completely distracted. She stood, laid her cloth napkin over her plate, and walked to the French doors where her father waited.
    Once they were inside, he walked her to his office. “This Gabe. He seems…different. You really like this one?”
    So much more than I should. “Don’t you?”
    He sat with her on the couch across from his desk. “I’m not sure what to think. You didn’t tell us you started dating again, and you show up with this man that you introduce as your friend. You look like more than friends to me.”
    She bottled up her sigh of relief. He believed it. For now. “Well, it’s new.”
    “I’m glad you’re finally getting out after…” He glanced toward the door. “But this one doesn’t seem like the type you used to bring around.”
    “He’s not.” A defensive ember simmered in her gut. “Gabe’s much better than any of the other guys I dated. He respects me and my work.”
    “Did you tell him about the attack?”
    Tegan sighed and stared at her hands in her lap. “Yes, Dad. And he’s ready to kill the bastard if we ever seen him again.”
    Her father’s laughter surprised her.
    She raised a brow. “You find that funny?”
    “No.” He patted her leg. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
    He stood and walked behind his desk. After opening and closing the drawers in a certain succession, a concealed drawer dropped from the bottom onto the floor.
    Tegan squinted, struggling to see the contents. “What’s that?”
    He scooped it up and laid it on top of the desk. “After you were attacked, I talked to the doctors at the hospital. They couldn’t explain the wound. They tried to tell me he stabbed you and that the wound was cauterized with acid. It was the only way they could explain it. You should have been bleeding.” He stared at his desk. “But then I watched them change the dressing on the wound, and I knew.”
    Tegan scooted to the edge of the couch. “Knew what, Daddy?”
    His dark eyes met hers. “ Y ddraig goch . The red dragon. Ever since he defeated the white dragon and saved our land, his people have been hunted.”
    “I was not attacked by a dragon.” But she wasn’t ready to tell him it was a demon, either.
    He waved her contradiction away. “He would not look like a dragon in our world.”
    She frowned as he handed her a worn leather book filled with faded Welsh Gaelic scribblings. Years ago he’d taught her his language, but without anyone to practice with, she was rusty. It looked like names and dates mostly.
    “That’s our family ledger, Tegan. You weren’t the first to bear the mark.” He swallowed and cleared his throat. “Just the first to live through it.”
    “The mark?” She closed the book. “What are you talking about?”
    “You weren’t stabbed. You were bitten.” His eyes welled with tears. “I was so grateful you were spared. I’d hoped it was over. But tonight, when yer ‘friend’ showed me a Welsh dagger with ‘ Y Ddraig Goch ddyry gychwyn ’ carved into the blade…” He shook his head slowly. “He’s more than he seems, that one. Anyway, it was time. I wanted to tell you. Everything.”
    Tegan’s heart pounded. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
    “Would you have believed me?” He stared at the ledger.
    “All this time I thought I was crazy.”
    “I’m sorry.” He rubbed his wrinkled brow. “I had