Read Dragon Fever: A Dark Kings Novella for Free Online Page B

watching and wrinkled her nose. “I guess I was hungry.”
    “Did you no’ eat dinner?”
    “I had other things going on,” she replied and finished her wine.
    “You should’ve told me.”
    Rae waved away his words. “It’s fine. Thank you for ordering the food.”
    “It’s my pleasure.”
    “Want to get out of here?”
    “And go where?” he asked, intrigued.
    She smiled and rose to her feet. “Come with me.”
    He let the bartender know they were done and to put the bill on his room, then he followed Rae into the lobby. A bellman was helping her into a long black coat. She buttoned and belted it before tucking her hands in the pockets with a smile directed at him.
    It had been a long time since Asher felt so…exuberant. And it was all because of her. She captivated him in every way possible. She was elegant and enthusiastic, sophisticated and dynamic.
    And she pulled it off effortlessly.
    With his hand on her back, they walked from the hotel onto the sidewalk. He followed her as she turned and wandered seemingly with no destination in mind.
    “Where are we going?” he asked.
    She glanced at him with a grin. “Does it matter?”
    Actually it didn’t. Gone were the sounds of the bar and hotel. Out on the streets it was quieter, softer with the night around them.
    “No,” he answered.
    They walked for a time in the shadows and shine of the streetlights without talking. Asher was really seeing the city as he hadn’t while in the car. He listened to traffic as it zoomed by, watched as people walked past them, and smelled the many delicious scents of restaurants, bakeries, and cafés.
    They stopped next to the Seine River and stared at the Eiffel Tower aglow with lights. He felt Rae’s gaze on him and turned to her.
    “You’re having a good time.”
    He was surprised that she was taken aback by that fact. “Aye. And happy about it. Thank you for this.”
    “I didn’t do anything.”
    “You got me out of the hotel. You allowed me to see, smell, hear, and feel the city as I couldna do any other way.”
    His words seemed to flummox her as she glanced away. A second later, she had her composure back in place. “Tell me of Dreagan.”
    “Dreagan,” he said, thinking of his home.
     
    * * * *
     
    Rae watched the way his eyes took a faraway look as he murmured the name of his home. The smile he wore bespoke of his love in ways words never could. She thought it would be a safe subject after seeing him enjoy their simple walk that had affected her so. How wrong she was.
    But she couldn’t look away. Whatever thoughts she had to lead him about on a merry chase of desire and lust took a backseat somehow. She wasn’t sure how or when it happened.
    If something like this had occurred in the past, she would’ve ended the night until she could set them back on course. Asher wasn’t just unexpected in every way, but he constantly astounded her. It was genuine delight she saw on his face and in his eyes as they walked. She loved the simple pleasures in life, and it appeared as if they had something else in common.
    Rachel waited with baited breath. She told herself it was a part of her undercover work.
    “Dreagan is Scotland,” Asher said. “The land draws you in a way you can no’ begin to understand. You feel the majesty and magic of the ancient land. From the tallest mountain to the lowest valley, in the leaves of the trees and in the currents of the streams, you feel an overwhelming and unshakable need to want to be a part of such a place. To want to belong.
    “It doesna confine you. Instead, it cradles you, offering its beauty and solitude for those who answer its call. It’s wild and free. It’s fierce and unbreakable. It’s home.”
    Rachel had the urge to board a plane right that moment and travel to Dreagan so she could see all that he just spoke of. In his words, his soul was laid bare.
    In those precious few moments, she saw just how much Dreagan meant to him. It was in his heart and his