Free Ever Mine (Dragon Lore) by Eden Ashe

shirt. “It’s my family’s fault you’re in this mess. I told you I would help, and I can’t if you don’t open your mouth and tell me what the hell is going on.”
    For a moment, Nathan was sure the air between them started to sizzle, but then she let out a frustrated sound, dropped down on the bed, and pulled her knees up to her chest. “Is it hard being a human?”
    He shook his head at the bizarre question, having no idea how to answer it. “Okay.” He crouched on the floor in front of the bed, bringing them closer to eye level. “Why are you asking?”
    Another tear leaked out when she closed her eyes. “I might not be able to go home.”
    “What?” He snapped. “Why wouldn’t you be able to go home?”
    She shook her head. “That’s not important—” Her voice cut off when she glanced at his face. She dropped her gaze down to her bare toes. “In the Elder Council’s eyes, I’m now tainted.”
    His tension headache went from dull to roaring. “How will they know? It’s not like I marked you or branded you, damn it.”
    Her pert nose wrinkled as she sniffled and wiped at her cheeks. “Linx said they knew, and had already decided my fate. One of the Elders is a Seer.”
    Nathan was positive she was trying to drive him mental on purpose. Hadn’t she told him hours ago Linx had been missing for a decade? He scratched at his chest and sat on the bed next to her. “Let’s start over before I get any more confused. What happened in your dream?”
    Her teeth worried at her bottom lip as she peeked up at him. She sighed and shifted in closer to his side. Leaning into him, she relayed her dream. By the time she was done explaining everything, he’d lifted her into his lap and had wrapped both his arms around her as she sobbed quietly against his chest. Fury like nothing he’d ever known pulsed through him, and while he knew it wasn’t safe for her to be this close until he got his temper under control, he couldn’t let her go. It scared the shit out of him, but somewhere through the haze of rage was the crystal clear thought that she needed him.
    He wasn’t going to let her down.
    “Say something,” she finally demanded, tilting her face up to look at him.
    He gave in to the need and smoothed his hand down her hair, kissing her temple and gently setting her on the bed. “Trust me,” he said, his voice tight, “you don’t want to hear what I have to say.”
    “I’m not asking you for anything, and I told you, this isn’t your fight. I can handle myself.”
    He stopped halfway to the bathroom and spun around to snarl at her. “Really?” he asked. “How the hell are you going to take care of this? You have no idea how to be fucking human, and there is no way in the goddamn world will I let you go home to be used as a broodmare for some scummy asshole.”
    “I can learn how to be a human,” she said softly. She unfolded herself from the bed and carefully got to her feet. “It can’t be hard, right?”
    He snorted, because he had no other answer for her. “I’m in my thirties, Katen, and I’m still trying to figure out what it means to be human.”
    Her brow screwed up in her adorable way that told him she had no idea what the hell he was talking about.
    “No,” he muttered as he pointed at her. “Stop it, right now. It’s not happening.”
    Confusion flickered over her face. “What? What isn’t happening?”
    “I don’t know, I just…goddamn it, I need a drink.”
    Without another word, he turned and walked out of the bedroom, aware that if he didn’t, he’d find a way to convince her to stay with him forever.
    * * * *
    She was still in the bedroom an hour later, and though he knew she was safe, Nathan was beginning to worry. He knew his mood swings, along with everything she’d been through in the last day, had to be overwhelming her, and while he felt like the biggest ass on the planet, for the life of him, he didn’t know how to fix any of it.
    Part of him was aware