Surrendering to the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 5)

“You don’t want to know.”

Teagan barked out a laugh. “I know how that goes.” Her face turned serious once more. “Now, let’s try this again. What’s your true purpose in wanting to help us?”

Refusing to think how Teagan’s dragon might be thinking of him naked, Aaron answered, “There are two reasons. The first is Stonefire is always looking for new alliances.”

“And the second?” Teagan asked.

“We’d do anything to deny the hunter bastards a win. Even if it means driving a bloody car across the island when flying would be more efficient.”

Teagan shared a glance with her brother before looking back to Aaron. “Then you and your team will be working with Killian for the next few days.”

“And what about you?”

“As much as I know you love my company, I have a few other important matters to attend to.” Teagan stood. “I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

The Irish female turned and walked out of the room. Despite every reason he shouldn’t, Aaron couldn’t help but stare at her arse as she swayed her hips. He liked her confidence.

His dragon chuckled. Just wait.

Trying to figure out what to say to that, Killian cleared his throat. “That is my sister you’re staring at, Caruso. Keep at it, and I’ll toss you into one of the holding cells.”

He met Killan’s gaze. “No need to go to such extremes. Let’s get to business. The sooner we prevent the hunters from attacking, the sooner you’ll be rid of us.”

As Killian shared what he knew of any intruders in the area, Aaron’s mind wandered to the female clan leader. The female had secrets; he was sure of it. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to figure them out or run the hell away before his dragon had other ideas.

When his beast sat smugly in silence, Aaron focused on his hatred of the dragon hunters. He would focus all of his energy on the enemy. The sooner he was back on Stonefire, the better.

Chapter Eighteen

Five days later, Rafe was curled up next to Nikki’s warm dragonhide when he heard a rustle outside the tent. Keeping still, he cracked his eyes to see who was there. While no one else had attacked in the days since Nikki was injured, he wasn’t taking any chances.

But as the early dawn outlined Dr. Sid’s tall form, Rafe relaxed, opened his ey

es, and sat up. Nikki rustled beside him.

Sid flipped on the single light bulb hanging from the center of the tent and moved to Nikki’s injured wing. “As impatient as you’ve been, I figured I would check on you before my other patients. Otherwise, Rafe here would pester me with calls and text messages until I did.”

He frowned. “I haven’t pestered you. You said to report any concerns. So I did.”

Shaking her head, Sid carefully removed the bandage on Nikki’s wound. “Are you sure you’re human and not part dragon-shifter?”

“Why do people keep asking me that?” he muttered. Nikki met his gaze and amusement danced in her eyes. He gave a playful shove. “Until you are completely healed, you can’t say anything. That was our agreement.”

She gave a toothy grin.

He gently patted Nikki’s hide. As much as he loved her dragon form, he missed talking with her. Sure, he’d kept her up-to-date with what little information had come in about Ireland from Aaron, but he wanted more than a listening ear; he wanted Nikki’s input, suggestions, analysis, and even her teasing. Hell, he even missed her arguments.

However, being restricted to her dragon form had to be much harder for Nikki. After all, she’d been stuck here while a Stonefire contingent had met with Killian O’Shea. He only hoped Dr. Sid gave Nikki the all clear to shift after the current examination. Aaron was due back later in the afternoon, and Rafe wanted her to be a part of the debriefing session.

Sid peered closer at Nikki’s wing. A few seconds passed, and Rafe couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Well?”

The doctor merely raised her brows. “That tone isn’t going to make me work any faster, Rafe Hartley.”

He growled, but Nikki wrapped her tail around his middle to keep him in place.

Carefully packing her medical bag up, Sid didn’t speak again until she was finished. “While I can’t clear you for duty yet, I think your wing has healed enough to shift back. I’ll give you a half-hour of privacy whilst I check on another patient. Then I’ll be back to do an examination of your human form and to ensure everything is fine with your pregnancy.” Sid looked to Rafe. “You need to remove her splint before she shifts.”

He shared a glance with Nikki and then nodded. “I will.”