The Dragon's Pursuit (Lochguard Highland Dragons 7)

"Okay," she answered quickly before leaving the room.

The second Layla was gone, the room felt colder and emptier.

Pushing aside the ridiculous notion since it wasn't as if he could drag her back and kiss her senseless, Chase laid out what he needed for the job and went to shut off the breaker.

Chapter Two

Layla was in the middle of a dream about racing her younger sister along the northern coast of Scotland when a male voice reached her. "Layla, lass, wake up."

She jumped upright, blinking to try and bring everything into focus.

Her dragon murmured, It's just Chase.

Sure enough, the male stood next to her desk, looking as sexy as ever with his slightly tousled hair, as if he'd ran his hands through it while thinking.

Get a grip, Layla. You've seen sexy males before. When she noticed his twitching lips, it fully brought her back to the present, and she barked, "What?"

"Someone doesn't wake up easily, aye?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to say she usually jumped out of bed with a smile, but she hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours and was groggy. However, a doctor needed to appear invincible and alert to give the clan confidence in her abilities. It was better he thought her slow to wake up than admit she was bone-weary.

Her dragon tilted her head a fraction inside her mind. Why? His older brother works long hours sometimes, so Chase understands. He wouldn't think us weak.

She didn't reply because Chase pointed to the side of her face, just below the corner of his mouth, and added, "You might want to wipe your chin before I show you how to use the cameras. We don't want any drool dripping onto the equipment, now, do we?"

With a grunt, Layla instantly wiped her face and then smoothed her hair. So much for appearing put-together. "Just show me how to operate them quickly so that we can both get some sleep."

His pupils flashed and held for a few beats before returning to round. Layla always wished she could hear other inner dragons. That would make her work easier, for one.

Chase leaned over and placed a hand on the desk. Even though he wasn't touching her, heat radiated from his body, and she nearly leaned into it.

His deep voice filled the room. "I need to install the last bits in here, so you can check the cameras. Unless you'd rather they transmit to your home?"

Being alone with Chase in her home would be a bad idea. The surgery gave Layla courage and a way to buffer herself from him and his addictive male scent.

And yet, Layla didn't know who she could trust in the surgery. She would need to check the footage from her home, which meant finding the strength to resist Chase.

Pushing her long black hair away from her face and over her shoulder, she met his gaze without hesitation. Ignoring how the brown irises had flecks of gold around the pupil, she answered, "My home would be better. Although it's late, so maybe we should save it for another time?"

"Why? If you're as concerned as you say, then you'd want to start recording and watching out for the thief straight away, aye? As long as you can walk me to your cottage and let me in, I can do all the work whilst you nap again." He winked. "It's one of the benefits of being so young—I have lots of energy."

Her dragon grunted. Exactly. Imagine all the energy focused on us. He might be able to even wear me out in bed.

Stop it, dragon. Layla spoke aloud, "I routinely stay awake for twenty or thirty hours straight. It's more a matter of whether you can keep up with me."

She expected him to tease her, but his gaze turned serious as he said, "You work too much, lass. You need to take better care of yourself."

With most people in the clan, she'd brush off the comment. Apart from the clan leader and possibly the heads of security, Layla had absolute authority over everyone else. She wasn't used to people telling her what to do, let alone anyone noticing how she worked too much. Usually, they were more concerned about their latest injury or problem and wanted Layla to fix it.

Chase, on the other hand, seemed to notice too much.

She gently pushed against Chase's side until he stood up straight. She followed suit and rose to her feet. "If I work less, people can die or suffer unnecessarily. So unless you can provide another fully trained doctor out of thin air, you'll leave me alone to take care of the clan."

He stood close enough that she felt his breath on her cheek as he said, "There are others who could help you more, if you asked. Besides, you talked to that Seahaven doctor at the gathering not long ago. I thought he was going to start coming here sometimes?"

Clan Seahaven was a smaller splinter dragon clan that had once been part of Lochguard. Under a different leader, they'd fled with their human mates and established their own homes. It was only recently, under Finn's leadership, that the two clans had even started talking with one another.

And aye, their doctor had promised to visit once a week to help with patients and exchange information. But how the bloody hell Chase knew all that, she didn't know. It wasn't exactly public knowledge.