“A dragon?” she whispered, her gaze connecting with his. “I-I like dragons.”
“Which is lucky for me.”
“Have I seen your dragon?”
“Of course.” He glided the tips of his fingers over her cheek. “Have you finished your tonic?”
“Yes.”
Leo took the cup from her. “Then stop worrying about dragons and everything else. Sleep.”
“But I should remember you,” she protested. Everything in this situation seemed new, but he’d admitted they hadn’t known each other for long. Sighing, she reclined and let him cover her with a cozy woolen blanket. Sleep might clear the fuzziness in her head. She’d puzzle over everything later, and once her headache faded, she’d indulge herself and explore her husband’s gorgeous, sexy body.
5 – No Ceremonial Ring
Leo checked on the woman several times during the next two hours. His dragon insisted on it, and after remembering his old nurse shaking one of his older brothers awake after a head wound, he’d done the same thing. Gwenyth’s eyes had fluttered open; she’d frowned at him as she answered his questions and tumbled back into sleep.
She believed she was his wife.
It wasn’t unknown for a dragon to take a human as a mate. Not common, but it had happened. His dragon had prompted him to agree with the woman, and once he had, he’d seen the possibilities. If he told everyone he was married and acted as if it were so, he might wriggle out of this betrothal his parents had forced on him.
Leo pondered the problems, mindspoke about them with his dragon. His parents for one, and then there was Nan, herself. “My parents will wonder why I didn’t tell them about my marriage.”
“We didn’t have a chance to speak.”
“But they’ll ask if I informed the head butler after their decree.”
“Bah! He smirked at us and left the audience chamber as quickly as your parents. When did he offer an opportunity? They told us. They ordered. We must try this scheme,”his dragon declared.“I find our wife desirable.”
“Me too,” Leo murmured.
“Then we keep her.”
“We know nothing of her origins. What if she is responsible for the tear in the barrier shielding us from the mainland?”
“What if she isn’t, and she’s an innocent?”his dragon countered.
“I should contact my friends on the other islands and ask if they’ve flown their boundaries recently.”
“Yes.”
“What if her memory returns and she remembers everything? What if she has a man?”
“Bah! What man would let his woman travel on her own without protection? I say we wait, and meantime, we court her. Every time I gaze upon her, I yearn to taste her beautiful mouth. I ache for this. Gwenyth’s conviction will persuade everyone we can no longer become betrothed to this Nan dragon. Your parents must accept our marriage.”
A shudder worked through Leo. He’d tried not to dwell on her, but the woman he’d named Gwenyth had worked her magic on him too. It was her appearance and her intoxicating scent of exotic herbs and a hint of flowers. Her immediate acceptance of him and his dragon. “What if my parents attempt to injure her, or worse, kill her so the betrothal can advance?”
“We protect our mate.”
“She is so beautiful. How could she not already belong to another?” His dragon had called her their mate, and Leo wanted this to be true.
“She wears no ceremonial ring.”
“No.” He could make her a ring, one fit for a woman such as her.
“We are agreed? Treat her as our mate and use her to escape Nan, The Strongminded?”
“Aye,” Leo said. “We can’t go to the castle. I can’t trust anyone to have my back there.”
