Her dragon growled. She doesn’t. She’s said it before.
Maybe. At least she has Ross.
Then why do you worry about things you can’t change?
Not wanting to answer, she looked back to the dragonman who knew so much about her.
Damn Grant and his knowledge. Sometimes knowing a male your whole life made things difficult. “I think about him sometimes, but I had my mum. Everyone on Lochguard knows your mother’s heart broke when your dad left. There’s a big difference between someone leaving by choice and someone being ripped from your side because of reasons beyond your control.” Grant merely grunted and Faye continued, “I think that once we go back home, you need to invite her over to a MacKenzie family dinner. Your brother, too. All three of you could do with a night of mayhem.”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure being hit by a flying bread roll would lift my mum’s spirits.”
She grinned. “Maybe not. But if I can convince her to do some throwing of her own, it just might. I’m sure Fraser would sacrifice himself to the cause.”
The corner of Grant’s mouth ticked up. “He did release some rabbits into my mother’s garden as a lad. Mum has a long memory.”
Faye laughed. “Then it’s settled. You all are coming to dinner.”
Looking at Grant, smiling faintly in the moonlight, she decided she liked him better like this, when he was honest and somewhat open. She had a feeling he hadn’t laughed enough over the course of his life. In that instant, Faye made a vow to ensure he laughed a lot more in the future.
It didn’t matter that a lot of her plans involved offering Fraser up as a sacrifice to her nefarious plots. After their childhood, her brother had a lot of payback coming his way.
They reached the edge of the fenced off area near the castle. The smile faded from Grant’s face and his expression morphed into a more serious one.
It was back to work. Maybe someday they would have a respite from trouble and pain and she could show Grant a good time.
Grant picked up his pace. “We can discuss dinner plans later. For now, we need to find the irritating human. I’m not about to let Cat’s hard work be taken lightly.”
As Grant stripped and stowed his clothes, Faye barely noticed his nakedness. All she could think about was Grant’s childhood and how he cared about Cat’s success.
There was more to Grant McFarland than what she’d thought.
Her dragon sighed. You’re not going weak in the knees for him, are you?
I’m not saying one way or the other, but why are you so dead set against him? Usually when it comes to true mates, dragons can’t keep quiet about sex and babies.
Because we’ve worked too hard to give it all up. Grant may be sexy and clever, but he’s overprotective. A bairn someday would be nice, but both of us would go crazy staying home and doing nothing else. Grant would try to force us to stay home.
Her dragon was most likely correct.
Yet as Grant turned toward her and motioned for her to undress, she knew she wanted to know more about the male fate had chosen for her. Maybe, deep down, he was more understanding about gender roles. Faye may no longer be a soldier, but her heart was still that of a warrior. All she had to do was convince Grant of that, too.
Stripping off her clothes, Faye stored them inside a locker and imagined her body morphing into her blue dragon form. She would start convincing him straight away. If Max Holbrook was anywhere near Craig Phadrig, Faye would find him.
Chapter Nine
For the first time in months, Lachlan MacKintosh was tempted to have a drink.
He’d been sober for ten years, in large part to implementing structure into every aspect of his life to prevent a relapse. Planning events had been his calling and he’d worked his arse off to secure the first official outreach program by the British DDA.
And yet, all of his planning had been foiled by one rogue archaeologist.
A soft, feminine Scottish voice filled his ear. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. Grant and Faye are some of the best Protectors in the world.”
He looked over to see the dark blue eyes of Cat MacAllister. “Have you met every Protector in the world?”
“No.”
“Then don’t say you know for certain.”