Free Smoke and Fire: Part 1 by Donna Grant

would’ve already figured out what Con would want to do.
    With Ryder’s visit would come an argument in favor of Kinsey.
    Con didn’t intentionally set out to piss off his Kings, but they were each so caught up in what they were feeling at the moment that they didn’t think ahead.
    That’s what he was for, and his decisions were rarely accepted eagerly. In most cases, there was a debate. It was imperative that the Kings stay banded together. They had been split once before, and it nearly destroyed them.
    On that day, long ago, Con had put his pride away and thought of their race. It won him back all the Kings but one—Ulrik. The weight of the entire dragon world rested on Con’s shoulders.
    There were times he strained under the burden. No one would ever know of those times. It would be used against him. It wasn’t because he was afraid to show weakness. That he had revealed plenty of times.
    No, this was about his strength to rule the Kings and keep everyone together. Every time a mortal joined the ranks, Con’s job grew more difficult. At the rate the Kings were finding mates, they were going to have to take turns eating supper because not everyone would fit at the table.
    A knock on his door broke into his thoughts. Con closed the file on his desk and set the bone-handled magnifying glass atop it. “Enter,” he bade.
    The door opened and Ryder with his blond hair and hazel eyes stepped into the office. He gave a nod to Con and closed the door behind him. “I’d like a word.”
    “I’ve been expecting you.”
    Ryder gave him a sly look. “So you think you know what I’ll say?”
    “I doona profess to know what you’re thinking. Why no’ just tell me. But first, who is with Kinsey?”
    “Dmitri,” Ryder answered.
    Con laced his fingers over his stomach and jutted his chin to one of the leather chairs before his desk. “Sit down. Then tell me what it is you came to say.”
    “You’re no’ happy that she’s here.”
    Con shrugged in response. “Of course no’. Someone sent her because of your involvement with her. And no’ just because the two of you were lovers three years ago. This is because you shifted in Glasgow and she saw you.”
    “I know. I’m no’ exactly thrilled with that,” Ryder stated crossly.
    “Someone was watching her, because they had a suspicion you would return. That means whoever saw the two of you together before you left knew it was something deep between both of you.”
    Ryder held his gaze. “You want to know if I’m in love with her?”
    “I know you are.” Con inhaled deeply. “You didna volunteer to go to Glasgow. I sent you there. Had I sent someone else, would you’ve asked to go instead?”
    There was a long pause before Ryder said, “No.”
    “Why? You love her.”
    “I feared that I would see her. Then I feared that I might no’. I was terrified I’d find her dead body with Dark all around her.”
    Con studied Ryder as he spoke. He should’ve realized Ryder’s affections were given to someone. Ryder was one of the few Kings who didn’t actively go looking for a woman to warm their beds.
    Ryder talked a big game, but he never carried through with any of the women.
    “But you went, and you saved her,” Con said. “Tell me why you left her.”
    Ryder’s hazel eyes went hard. “No’ for the reasons you think.”
    “You doona know what I’m thinking. I’d rather you just tell me.”
    “I left because I’d fallen in love, but as far as I knew, the spell you cast was still in place. I worried what you might do to her.”
    Con was appalled. Did his men think so little of him? “Because you fell in love? I vowed to protect the humans, Ryder. I sent our dragons away for them. Did you really think I’d harm her?”
    “I wasna exactly thinking clearly.”
    So he came home. Con inwardly groaned, because that was around the time Cassie arrived, and Con had worked hard to put the spell back in place so Hal wouldn’t love her. No wonder Ryder