Free Everlasting Bad Boys by Noelle Mack, Cynthia Eden Shelly Laurenston Page B

yelled, “ And you let her? ”
    “Well…she didn’t actually ask my permission.”
    Ailean snarled and went to Dragon’s Gold, his fastest mount. It wasn’t that Shalin had walked away from their conversation. It was that she’d rode away with that demon horse. It was one thing for her to feed him and groom him, but riding that big bastard was another matter altogether. If he threw her and she landed the wrong way, her human neck could snap.
    He saddled and mounted his horse quickly and took off after Shalin, using her scent to guide him. It didn’t take him long to find her. Typical dragon. She’d gone to the lake. To water. Something his kind were elementally drawn to.
    “Have you gone mad?” he demanded, dismounting before the horse had even stopped.
    She’d already dismounted and stood staring out over the lake at the next coming storm. He, too, could see the dark thunder clouds approaching, which fit his mood quite nicely.
    “He could have killed you.”
    “Well, you know us virgins. We just run off half-crazed.”
    “I can’t believe you’re still upset about that.”
    “Upset that you were discussing my intactness with your kin?”
    “It wasn’t like that, Shalin.” Well…not much like that.
    She waved him off. “At the moment, I really don’t care.”
    Ailean gently swiped a hand down her back. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine. I’ve just…” She let her hands fall at her side. “I’ve just never seen that before.”
    He followed her line of sight before returning his gaze to her face. “You’ve never seen storm clouds?”
    “Of course I’ve seen storm clouds. I’ve just never seen storm clouds.”
    “Perhaps we should get you inside, Shalin.”
    “Don’t be dull,” she said before walking away from him.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “You heard me. I don’t want to go inside. Nothing is wrong with me.”
    Ailean entertained the idea she might be right until she took off running and did a somersault—for no apparent reason.
    “In fact,” she announced, “I feel amazing . At least a hundred years younger.”
    “Shalin, you’re not old.”
    “No. I just feel like it most days.” She suddenly did a handstand and Ailean briefly closed his eyes and groaned. He couldn’t help himself once he realized she was completely naked under that dress.
    “Shalin—”
    “You know,” she flipped forward and landed on her feet, “I don’t do anything. I go where they tell me. Do what they tell me.” She put her hands on her hips and said, “I almost handed myself over to the Northland dragons because I thought it was the right thing to do. I’m tired of living for others.”
    “Then don’t.”
    “Don’t?”
    “Don’t. Gods know, I don’t.”
    “It’s easy for you. No one expects anything from you.”
    “Thank you.”
    “I mean…” Again she waved her hand like she was waving away a fly. “Why lie? I meant what I said. All they expect from you, from your kin, is to kill on command. That’s your skill. Your gift to our people. When you’re not killing, they really don’t care what you do.”
    “But you…”
    She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “From me, they expect much.”
    “Your life is your own, Shalin. That’s the true beauty of being dragon. Even our gods know not to demand much of us.”
    “It’s not the gods I care about disappointing.”
    “Your father?”
    She nodded. “I love him too much to ever want to hurt him. Failure— my failure—would hurt him.”
    “But, Shalin—your father’s not here. And, based on those clouds, he won’t be here for quite a bit. So, perhaps you can allow yourself a chance to just be. For once.” He grinned. “Who knows what you’ll discover about yourself?”
    She frowned a bit. “I guess I can do that.”
    “You guess?”
    She snorted. “I don’t know how to throw all caution to the wind like you do, Ailean.”
    “Then isn’t it time you learned?”
    “How do you—”
    “You just do it.