Tena StetlerAuthor of Paranormal Romance/Suspense & Cozy Mysteries With Magic Spark!

“I used to enjoy sitting beneath the trees at my home in Lake Placid,” she mentioned, steering the conversation away from intimacy. “Then I went off to college and never got around to sitting under one again.”

He lit a fire and sat beside her. “It is peaceful, yes?”

“It really is,” she murmured. “Funny, maybe a small part of me was trying to bring that sense of peace to the rest of the world.”

“By the sounds of it, you did.”

“Here and there.” Not when it mattered most, though.

“I would like to it see someday,” he said softly. “Your life…what you accomplished.”

“You mean, look through my mind’s eye.” She tensed at the thought. It was one thing catching her thoughts, but to let him all the way in would mean him seeing first-hand the atrocities she had caused. “Maybe eventually.”

“When you are ready,” he agreed. “Though it might happen against your will as it has for some of our kin.”

“I know.” She met his eyes. “I guess I just want to put it off for as long as possible.” She shook her head, realizing it was for more reasons than one. “Not just for me but for you.”

“You are afraid of the way I will look at you. That it will damage the way my dragon looks at yours, the connection they are so desperate for.” He shook his head. “But it will not, Ava. It cannot.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do, though. As I said before, my dragon can only lend yours comfort and protect it,” he said softly. “Letting me and my dragon in will not push us away but pull us closer. It will allow us to soak up some of your pain…to help you find self-forgiveness.”

“How can you know that when you’ve never had a mate?”

“Because I have had a mate.” He brushed the back of his knuckles along her jaw. “You.” He searched her eyes. “Surely, you feel the growing connection. The intense bond.”

“You know I do,” she whispered because she couldn’t quite find her voice. “Only our growing connection isn’t giving me a sense of confidence. Instead, I feel like I’m drawing closer to unbearable pain.” While she meant to keep it to herself, her inner dragon prompted her tongue along. “I keep getting this nagging feeling I’m going to lose you now that I’ve found you.”

“You cannot let that stand in your way,” he said gently. “Instead, you have to trust it, allow the connection. In that, you will find peace.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I already feel it.” His fingers trailed down the side of her neck, causing a fresh spike of heat. “While yes, there is great risk, there is also certainty that this is eternal. That the connection we made on Múspellsheimr is ours for all time.” He tilted her chin until their eyes were aligned. “Our dragons will always find their way back to each other, Ava. So even if you lose me in this life, there will be another. I will return to you.”

He certainly had a way with words, didn’t he? But they were true words said from his heart. She could see it in his eyes. Sense it in his soul. More than that, she could feel it in his tender touch.