Read Dragon King: A Dark Kings Novella (1001 Dark Nights) for Free Online

him. She finished off her chicken wing and found a second.
    “What brought you to this area of Scotland?” he asked.
    Grace was beginning to feel like he was questioning her for something. The queries were worded innocently enough, but they all focused on one thing—this mountain.
    “I was here before and liked it,” she replied.
    He nodded, though his gaze didn’t leave her. “A simple enough explanation.”
    “But you don’t believe me? Is that it?”
    Arian shrugged and reached for the wine. She watched the play of his muscles as he opened the bottle and held up a glass, silently asking her if she wanted some.
    Grace gave a shake of her head. “Look, I don’t like games of any sort. Well, that’s not true. I love backgammon, but my point is that if you want to ask me something, then just ask it. Stop beating around the bush.”
    “I want to know why you’re on my mountain,” he said then took a drink of the red wine.
    She popped the last bite of cheese and bread in her mouth and chewed while she observed him. Arian was much too confident. He had been naked earlier, but somehow he managed to find a pair of jeans.
    Why hadn’t he worn them earlier? And why hadn’t it bothered her more that he was naked? She should’ve been screaming, or at the very least wondering about rape. But she had never thought that about him.
    He frightened her, yes. But it was with a feeling that he was protecting something, and as long as it remained protected, he wouldn’t unleash his anger.
    Grace finished her water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She screwed the cap back on the now empty bottle and placed it inside the basket. “I told you why I’m here. I have no more explanation than that.”
    “I’m afraid that isna enough.”
    Wasn’t enough? Enough for what? Grace frowned and looked toward the cave entrance. Dusk had fallen. She could just make out the shapes of the trees on the opposite mountain. “Where are the men from earlier?”
    “Gone.”
    She slid her gaze back to him. “Gone where?”
    “I’m no’ sure. They were no’ good men. They would’ve hurt you.”
    Grace gave a bark of laughter. “You expect me to take your word about that when you refuse to believe anything I say? Oh, that’s rich.”
    “I knew those men. They were no’ good men,” he repeated.
    “And you are?”
    He glanced away. “I didna say that. Though I am better than they are.”
    “What did those men want?”
    “Something in these mountains.”
    Grace immediately had an idea for her next book. “Really? Like what?” she asked excitedly.
    It was the uncertain look on Arian’s face that made her realize she had been a bit overzealous.
    So Grace tried again. “It gave me an idea for a book is all. Your theories for what those men were looking for could help me decide what I have in my book.”
    “I doona know what they’re looking for,” Arian said. “They’re trespassers.”
    “This is your land?”
    He lifted one shoulder as an answer.
    Grace pinned him with a look. “You expect me to answer your questions. It’s only fair that you answer mine.”
    “That’s no’ how it works, lass. You’re on my land. Uninvited, I might add.”
    “So what? I’m your prisoner?” she asked in shocked anger.
    Arian pointed outside to the rain that still fell. “I’m no’ keeping you here. The weather is.”
    “It’d be just my luck that you control the damn weather.”
    When he didn’t so much as bat an eye, Grace began to wonder if he was. Then she laughed at herself. Being back in the Highlands where the people were superstitious seemed to have rubbed off on her as well.
    She laughed. “Thanks for the food. I feel much better.”
    “Of course.”
    She was still chuckling at herself when she went back to the boulder where she had been writing. Her characters were nestled in a nice hotel in Inverness while it rained. Real life always fell into her stories, and with the constant rain, of course it was