Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

Rose

After we got through dinner—where Magnus had proven the accuracy of his stated appetite by eating every bite of the three pounds of sausage I had cooked. He'd even accepted my leftovers. I would need to make another run to the food shop as soon as I returned.

Dinner aside, I had so many questions swirling in my mind about how the whole dragon thing worked. The mechanics of shifting, the intricacies of fae magic, and the differences between realms all piqued my curiosity. But despite my burning desire for answers, I could barely keep my eyes open.

The events of the two days had taken their toll, and exhaustion was creeping in fast. How long had it been since I'd last slept? It felt like ages. My lids fluttered closed, and I decided that a few minutes of rest were definitely called for before I mustered the energy to get up and tackle the dishes. I leaned back in my chair, allowing myself to relax for just a moment.

When strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me from my seat, I startled awake. "What are you doing?"

"I'm putting you to bed. You were about to fall face first in your pudding." Alarmed and a little embarrassed that he seemed to carry my not inconsiderable weight with little effort, I tried to wriggle free.

"No. I have to clean up." My protest was weak, but I chalked that up to being awake for so long. And the stress. Nearly poisoning a man to death, even by accident, turned out to be exhausting. And I was no closer to figuring out how to fix the damage.

"I'll do it. You're going to bed."

"Bossy," I mumbled. I simply didn't have it in me to argue with him again. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy, and I found myself surrendering to Magnus's insistence without further protest. The allure of sleep was too strong to resist.

He grunted. "Where's your bedroom?"

"At the end of the hall," I answered, laying my head down on his shoulder. "But that's where you'll need to sleep. I'm going to take the couch."

His body jerked when he came to a stop, his arms tightening around me. "I'm not putting you on the couch while I take the bed. I'll take the couch."

I tried to roll my head side to side to meet his gaze. "You won't fit on my sofa, and it's too precious for you to break it."

He snorted. "Your couch is precious? Why? Is it made with gold? If so, then it is the perfect place for my slumber. Earth elements are wonderful for restoring dragon magic."

His sarcasm came in strong, but I still didn't react as my eyes slid closed once again. Apparently, I couldn't even be goaded out of this fatigue.

"My grandmother left me that piece. It was made by my grandfather. It's the most valuable thing I own."

He snorted. "You sound like my uncle. His attachment to valuable things was more important to him above all else."

My eyes popped back open at the grating pain in his voice, only to see his features had hardened as he looked off into the distance. I wanted to ask questions, especially since my attachment to my grandfather's sofa was nothing like whatever he experienced with his uncle. My memories of him sometimes made me sad, but they never made me angry or bitter.

"It's not like that," I started.

"Forget it. It doesn't matter. I'm still not taking your bed. I can sleep on the floor. I'm not picky." He clamped his mouth shut and moved quickly down the hall and then pushed the door open with his foot. He'd made up his mind, and I knew well enough to pick my battles, and this wasn't one of them. At least not right now.

I only needed a couple of hours to recover. and then maybe I could have a reasonable conversation with him.

However, I found that being this near to him made it impossible to look away from his defined jawline or the scars that cut across his cheek, chin, and neck.

As much as I wanted to ask about them, I knew this wasn't the right time for that either. Maybe tomorrow on the drive. We’d have a lot of time to fill before we got to Edinburgh.

The sensation of the muscles in his arms bunching as they flexed with each step distracted me from everything else. He was probably as strong as he was big. I'd been a fool to think I could handle him. Or that I could somehow control this situation.

And yet, in this moment, with his warm arms cradling my body, I'd never felt safer in my life. It was a crazy thought, but I'd let it out and given it legs. There was no putting the image back in the cage of my weird mind now.

So why did the world suddenly feel like it had turned upside down and inside out?

I half snorted. That was a dumb question considering how obvious the answer. He was an enigma I couldn't explain.

Inside my room it was dark, except for the soft nightlight plugged into the wall.

He placed me gently on the bed and reached for my shoes.

"I can do it." I tried to wriggle away to no avail as he grabbed my leg to keep me in place.

His hand wrapped around my ankle was both tight and gentle at the same time.

"I know you can. But you're tired and need rest. You said it yourself—we have a long journey tomorrow. And since I have no clue how to drive your motor vehicle, you need a comfortable night's rest more than I do."

"I could teach you to drive. It's not hard. Although it would be a lot easier in my car."

His brows pulled together. "That's not your vehicle outside?"

"No, I borrowed that from John," I said, my mouth opening wide on a yawn.

"The rude man from the shelter?"

"Mmhmm," I responded as he covered me with a blanket and I snuggled into the pillow. "Although he's not usually rude. There must be something about you that brings out the worst in him."

A soft laugh filled the air, and I decided I liked the way that sounded. He didn't say anything else, and a few moments later I heard his steps moving in the direction of the door.

"Hey, Magnus," I called.

"Yes?"

"There's no need to sleep on the floor. There's plenty of room on the bed. We're both adults. I'm sure we can handle it."

He didn't respond right away and I was too tired to open my eyes to see why.

"You worry too much," he finally said, and it caused me to snort.

"The mind works in mysterious ways."

"That's not all that's mysterious."

I started to ask what he'd meant by that when he continued. "Stop talking and go to sleep. Daylight will be here before we know it."

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. "You really are bossy," I mumbled half under my breath.

I didn't usually go for bossy men, but there was something about this one that intrigued me. And it was more than his talk about dragons and fae. His belief in the supernatural hardly made him unique. Not out here where people lived and died by ancient history and land steeped in a dark past. Not even in the villages. You couldn't throw a stone in this part of the world without hitting someone who would happily talk about the fae folk.

But his blood told the real story. There was so much more to him than anyone I'd ever met. However, my test results were confusing and I had far more questions than answers. But they were all going to have to wait.

"It comes with the territory." I felt his weight sink into the mattress and was surprised that he was not near the door but instead kneeling over me to reach my other shoe. This close, with his body hovering inches over mine, the scent of warm cloves and musk wafted over me. But it wasn't so simple as just a scent. There was something deeper and darker lingering between us as I took a deep breath and took more of it in.

I let his essence roll through me as I tried to find the right word to describe it.

Addictive...

That was the perfect descriptor and as dangerous as it sounded.

When he dropped my foot and turned his gaze back to mine, we both stared without another word for what felt like an eternity but only could have been seconds. The idea that time stood still took on all new meaning when it came to this male.

"Stay," I whispered, wanting his body wrapped around mine right now so I could absorb some of his heat.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, remember?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head slightly. "That's not what I meant, and I think you know it."

"Aye," he breathed in a barely audible voice. "But you are toying with fire and trust me that I know a little about that."

"Stay with me," I expounded, ignoring his cryptic protest. "Here."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"The best ideas rarely are."

He snorted. "That doesn't even make sense. You sound delirious."

"Maybe I am," I said, reaching up to graze my fingertips against his scarred jaw. "But that doesn't change anything, does it?"

He jerked at my touch. "Everything changes everything."

"Now who's not making sense?" I had no business touching a man I barely knew. Especially one possibly not from this world. My breath caught in my throat at the mere thought. I was supposed to be a woman of science, not fantasy. But I'd walked between both worlds for so long, it didn't surprise me that they'd somehow crashed together.

"Go to sleep, Rose. We can talk more in the morning. When both our minds are clear."

"That's assuming they will be," I said, grasping him by the shoulders and pulling him down on top of me. "But it's kind of hard to apply logic to what is happening."

Whether I meant he was otherworldly or something else didn't seem to matter. Not when the heat of his skin pressed directly against mine.

"Logic is often overrated," he pressed his face closer until our lips were only a breath apart.

"Says the man who claims he isn't human."

"I have as many human traits as you, but fae are simply more ." His breath mingled with mine, bathing us both in a wash of impossible to deny desire.

"More?" I asked, barely keeping my mind on anything but the color of his eyes and how they'd darkened as he stared into mine.

"All living creatures were, at some point, born of fae."

As if that automatically explained everything.

"You're crazy," I whispered against his lips in a feather light touch of breath and soft skin.

"Probably." That was his last word before he took my mouth in an urgent kiss that caused heat to stir in my core and spread like wildfire to every living, breathing cell in my body. A sensation I not only gave into, but luxuriated in. Heat coursed through me until my heart threatened to beat out of my chest. Before my mind could even comprehend what had happened, frenetic energy exploded between us. I grabbed at his shirt until the buttons holding it together broke free and scattered in every direction.

“Magnus,” I breathed when he briefly broke the kiss. “Please.”

Half of me didn’t know why I needed this so bad, but the other half didn’t care. For better or worse this man—or this creature—had sparked an explosion of need in me that I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.

And I didn’t.

“We need to stop.”

My entire body jerked at his words as a frisson of cold shot through me. “What? Why?”

He pulled from my arms and stood to his full towering height next to the bed, a firm scowl stamped across his face.

“You need sleep. You said yourself we have a long journey ahead of us. Neither of us can afford to be distracted.”

I sighed audibly. An angry retort sat on the edge of my tongue that I swallowed down before it could escape. What point would there be in arguing with him? If he didn’t want this, I would never push it. I’d made that mistake before, and never again.

“Fine, I groaned, falling back against my pillow. I was too tired to deal with whatever his problem might be. Besides, I’d made enough mistakes in the last forty-eight hours to last a lifetime.

Not even the annoyed frown he aimed in my direction stirred me to move again. I relaxed into the mattress and went lax. It was his loss. Or so I tried to convince myself as he turned and skulked out of my room.

Who needed the biggest strongest most gorgeous man I’d ever met pressing his body against mine?

Not me.

I rolled away from the door and closed my eyes. I was better off without him in my bed. This way, there’d be no awkward morning after or a long drive where neither of us knew what to say to the other.

This was the best decision…

But when the heat between my legs didn’t dissipate, I half considered taking matters into my own hands. Except then he’d know, and I would have to die of embarrassment.

Although making him listen could be interesting…

But instead of moving my hand between my legs, I tucked it under my chin and let the sleep I needed more do its thing. But the last thought I remembered before passing out was the scent of cloves and burning fire that had clung to his skin. It had tingled my nose, and left me with a strange tugging sensation low in my abdomen...

And something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on.