Aiding the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 7)

Teagan hoped so. She might want some sex to relieve stress, but she wasn’t about to suffer alpha male bullshit to achieve it.

It was time to see if Aaron passed the test.

And why is that important? her dragon asked.

Ignoring her beast, Teagan entered the kitchen.

~~~

Aaron shouldn’t care that Teagan had brought someone home with her. After all, it was her house and not his. Not to mention he had zero claim on her.

Still, seeing the smiling, handsome man he’d spotted earlier in Killian’s office at Teagan’s heels had made him clench his fingers into a fist.

His dragon spoke up. You should just admit that you want her as much as I do.

You want a relationship. I just want sex.

Tell yourself that. We’ll see if you feel the same way once dinner is over.

Aaron busied himself with dishing out the shepherd’s pie he’d baked. He heard Teagan and Colm sit down at the table, but he focused on his task. The rhythmic motion of dishing out food, in tandem with measured breaths, helped to ease his irritation.

Once he could paste a smile on his face, he picked up two plates and turned toward Teagan and Colm. He walked over and laid their food down. “It’s nothing fancy since I didn’t have a lot of time today.”

Teagan smiled. “It’s better than a sandwich or reheated stew for supper.”

Since he’d laid cutlery on the plates, the two took their first bites. Aaron quickly retrieved his own supper and sat down. He accidentally brushed Teagan’s thigh with his own as he settled. Electricity raced up his skin and her gaze shot to his.

She must’ve felt it, too.

What was wrong with him? She wasn’t his true mate and merely brushing a thigh shouldn’t set him on edge.

Be

sides, if he pulled her to his lap and kissed her in front of the other male, Teagan might never forgive him. The clan watched her like a hawk and she couldn’t afford gossip right now.

He held her eyes for a few seconds more before he looked to Colm. The dragonman studied Aaron but spoke up with a smile. “So, Caruso, how did you end up cooking for our fine leader?”

Teagan opened her mouth, but Aaron beat him to it. “My own clan leader told me to do whatever was necessary to help. Teagan asked, and I agreed. It also means free food for me since Teagan buys the groceries.”

“And males do love their food,” Teagan muttered.

Colm grinned. “That we do.” He asked Aaron, “So are you helping with the planning, too? I heard you were assigned to guard the judges but didn’t know if you’d be doing anything else.”

Aaron looked to Teagan for permission. She swallowed and answered, “Aaron is helping in other ways. But we should start going over what you found in the records now so that we’re not here all night.” Colm hesitated, and Teagan added, “Caruso can be trusted.”

Her words stoked his ego and his dragon said, She’s as eager as us to get this bloke out of here.

Or she could just be thinking of her clan and doing her job.

I like my reason better.

Colm’s voice prevented Aaron from replying. “Well, let’s start with the differences. Whilst most trials today focus on stamina, strength, and getting out of tough situations, the ones of old were more like quests.”

“What do you mean by ‘quests’?” Aaron asked.

Colm took a folder out of the cloth bag at his feet and opened it on the table. He took out a document, scanned it, and then read from it. “The finding of the golden dragon egg proved my most strenuous task to date. I nearly drowned finding one of the clues and singed my hair trying to heat another clue hot enough to make it glow with the final destination.”

Teagan interrupted Colm. “He or she didn’t actually find it, did they? I think the clan would know if they had the mythical necklace stored somewhere.”