Rather than focus on what she couldn’t have, Sid would enjoy what she could with the Scot before he left. “You can tell me how it goes with Bram, too. If you come back with two black eyes, I just might laugh.”
“Laughing at a male’s wounds isn’t kind.”
She tilted her head. “Well, you’re the one who has confidence in spades, so you shouldn’t be worried.”
He stood a little taller. “I’m not worried.”
“Good, then I look forward to the video.”
Shaking his head, Gregor clicked the door shut behind him.
Silence stretched and Sid quickly drank a cup of water before laying back down. Despite her exhaustion, she stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. For the first time in her life, she hated the quiet.
The next few days were going to be the longest of her thirty-eight years on the planet. Each day might entice her more to kiss Gregor and deal with the consequences later.
No. If it were only herself, she might be tempted. However, the frenzy would mean a child and Sid wasn’t about to be the cause of someone’s pain and tragedy again. Her parents gave their lives to try to heal Sid. No one else would suffer because of her.
The sooner Sid recovered, the sooner she could show Gregor his attempts to help her were useless. She’d briefly fallen for his confidence and determination, but Sid’s pessimism was back in full force.
Once she could send him back to Lochguard, she could quietly accept her fate of going insane and slowly die alone.
~~~
Gregor finally tracked down Bram’s whereabouts at his cottage. Yet as he knocked, it was the human female, Evie, who answered the door. After giving him a quick once-over, she smiled. “You’ll do nicely.”
“Er, what for?”
She waved a hand. “Never mind. But I’m glad you’re here. I need you to check over my stubborn mate before he tries to sneak out the back door.”
“Ah, but you see, I have Ginny stationed out back.”
Ginny was Stonefire’s oldest, toughest nurse.
Evie laughed. “Good. She and Sid are usually the only ones who can handle him. Let’s see how you do.”
Evie walked and Gregor followed. Judging by what little he knew of Evie and her connections to the DDA, she might be an ally when it came to Cassidy. Gregor couldn’t be the only dragon-shifter who suspected the DDA conducted research and kept the results confidential.
His dragon spoke up. We don’t need an ally. She would’ve let us kiss her earlier.
She might have, but I caught myself. It’s not going to happen, dragon.
His inner beast huffed. Just because Bridget died in childbirth doesn’t mean it’ll happen again. Cassidy is a much stronger female. After all, she survived more than twenty years without a dragon.
Being mentally strong isn’t the same as physically strong. Besides, she’s too thin. Any child of ours would kill her.
Evie stopping in front of a door caught his attention. “Bram will resist, but”—she opened the door and stared at her mate across the room—“if he ever wants to share my bed again, he’s going to sit through your exam.”
Bram sat at his desk. Across from him was Stonefire’s head Protector, Kai Sutherland, who had visited Lochguard a few times in the past.
Bram sighed. “I’ve told you, love. I’m fine. It was just a muscle spasm.”
Evie crossed her arms over her chest. “Any pain in your left arm could be something vastly more serious, Bram, especially when combined with chest pain.” Her voice softened. “Think of Murray and Eleanor.”
Gregor half-expected Evie to produce a giant photograph of her children to complete the guilt trip, but she didn’t.
Kai spoke up. “You’d better listen, Bram. Evie is as stubborn as Jane, and I could easily imagine her tying you up and locking you away until she deemed you healthy.”
Gregor couldn’t help but add, “If it’s tying up you want to do, it all sounds a bit kinky. Should I leave and come back later?”