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right now.
    All those at Dreagan were counting on him. What he wanted and needed would once more be put on hold for the good of Dreagan and his brethren, as well as their mates.
    Ryder rolled his head from side to side. It was time to get down to business.

Chapter Twenty-nine
    Kinsey opened her eyes. She blinked at the sun shining through the window and smiled as she recalled her night in Ryder’s arms.
    A night like that could change a woman’s life. Kinsey should know. He’d done it to her before. And he almost repeated it last night. The only thing that kept her safe was that she didn’t give herself completely.
    She turned her head, hoping to find him. Her smile died a little when she found Ryder gone. But this time there was an indent in the pillow. Proof that he’d been with her.
    Kinsey threw off the covers and rose from the bed. She quickly showered once she saw the time. Today she threw her hair up in a messy bun at the back of her head and didn’t use any makeup. She threw on a pair of leggings, a waffle-knit red shirt that went under her favorite flannel shirt that was a blue, white, and red plaid, and her boots.
    It wasn’t until she was walking into the kitchen that she realized the plaid shirt once belonged to Ryder. He’d left it behind.
    Kinsey turned around to change when she found four women in the kitchen doorway. She recognized Lexi and smiled.
    Lexi moved away from the women to her. “Hope we didn’t startle you,” she said in her American accent. “We saw you coming down the stairs, and the others wanted to meet you.”
    “All right.” What else was Kinsey supposed to say? That she was more comfortable with computers than people? Strangers were no problem, but people that were friends of Ryder’s? Well, that could be tricky.
    Lexi’s smile grew. “I promise we don’t bite.”
    “That we leave up to our men,” said a tall woman with short blond hair. “I’m Grace.”
    Her accent sounded American mixed with something else. French, perhaps? “Hello.”
    A woman with wavy blond hair and kind brown eyes smiled as she said, “Hi, Kinsey. I’m Iona. I hear you’re giving Ryder hell. Good for you.”
    Another Scot, though her accent was barely there, as if she’d spent a lot of time away from Scotland. Kinsey chuckled. “He can run circles around me on the computers, but don’t tell him I said that.”
    “Never,” Iona said with a wink.
    Kinsey turned to the last woman who had sandy blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and beautiful powder blue eyes. She shot Kinsey a half-smile.
    “That’s Samantha, though we call her Sammi,” Lexi explained.
    “Sammi,” Kinsey said with a nod, unsure of how to approach her.
    Sammi glanced at the others, then spoke in a thick Scots accent. “They don’t want me to ask, but I need to.”
    “Ask what?”
    “We’ve heard you’re afraid of Ryder.”
    Kinsey should’ve known something like that wouldn’t stay private. She’d hoped it would remain between her, Tristan, Con, and Dmitri.
    Though she didn’t know how many Dragon Kings were on Dreagan, she knew it had to be several. Add in the women, and it was a lot of people. Almost like a small village.
    Nothing stayed quiet or private in a village.
    Lexi touched Kinsey’s shoulder. “You don’t have to answer.”
    “No, it’s okay.” Kinsey swallowed. “Yes, I said that.”
    Sammi took a deep breath, a small frown forming. “You spent a year with him. You knew him.”
    “I didn’t, actually. He kept secrets from me.”
    “But he saved your life,” Iona added.
    Kinsey nodded, agreeing. “That he did. However, seeing a dragon drop from the sky breathing fire, only to shift right in front of me to the man I knew was terrifying.”
    “Not once in a year did he allude to being a dragon?” Lexi asked.
    Kinsey turned and grabbed a mug to fill it with coffee. It was too early in the morning to be answering such personal questions without at least two cups of caffeine in her.