“I know, Broch. I know. You are so much better than Phillip. I know that. I am just scared, that’s all.”
“I will keep you safe, Christin. You have nothing to be afraid of. We are going to do this together.”
Christin agreed, but she didn’t say yes. She asked for some time, though she already knew the answer. She just wasn’t ready to admit that she was willing to jump back into the deep end. Christin also needed to talk to William about it, but he was just as infatuated with Broch as she was. Broch was just a guy who was impossible not to be drawn to. Christin certainly was.
Chapter 32
Broch
Nothing was going to plan for Broch, and he was frustrated to no end because of it. Before, he had thoughts of mating and joining clans, but that wasn’t to be. Christin needed time and that hit him in the gut hard. He didn’t want to hear such things from her. How could she not know if she wanted him or not? He knew that he needed her, so why was it complicated the other way around? Broch thought for sure, after everything that they had just done together, that she would say yes right away. He had felt it, but now, he wasn’t sure, and it was really doing his head in.
Without elders to help guide him, Broch had to set up another sort of committee. He had always thought that Leonard would be the one he went to for help. That was what he was there for after all. There was a lot to be said and done, but Broch had never guessed that he wouldn’t be able to trust Leonard. He was at a loss, because now he didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of.
Instead of calling the committee to start, he decided that he was going to take it on its own for now. He was surely going to have to figure something out, but for now, Broch wanted to keep the decisions he made close at hand. Leonard was acting funny and there was no telling where that was going to lead. What could have changed him in such a way? It was like Broch didn’t even recognize him and every altercation they’d had, was uncomfortable and confusing.
Richard was in the kitchen, and he was happy to see him. He needed the advice of the old man and it felt right. Richard was easy to trust, because there were no secrets. He was an open book and Broch found that a relief, especially when everyone around him seemed to have a secret that they were desperate to forget.
“So, did you ask her?”
Broch’s smile faded quickly, and he groaned inwardly. Of course, that would be what Richard would want to talk about. The last time that they were together, he had asked about popping the question to Christin. She had not said yes, and he didn’t want to admit that she wanted to sleep on it before giving an answer. Anything short of yes was not an answer that he wanted to say out loud.
“I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“She told her mother this morning.”
Broch could feel his face getting red. Of course, she did.
“Yes, well, she hasn’t given me an answer yet, though maybe you will have it first.”
Broch didn’t know why he was mad, just that he was. He had waited so long for all of it, to love someone enough to even ask. It was not at all what it was cracked up to be. Christin needed time and now he needed assurances. He wasn’t going to get that from her father. All he was going to get was a multiplication of embarrassment.
“Christin has always been a very dutiful daughter and I think that was part of her problem. We pushed her to Phillip and well, you see how that turned out. You had to literally get her out of the ground because of him. She almost died, several times, been taken from her son. It is going to take her time to believe that not all people are bad. I don’t know how she is with you now. Eve said that it is because you are special and if that is so, Broch, which I’d like to believe, then it will all work out. You should do as she asks, just give her time.”
Broch knew that Richard was speaking truths, but it was still hard to get out of his head about it. He wanted to think that everything was going to be okay, but what if it wasn’t? What if she didn’t choose him? Broch didn’t think he could go back to a time before Christin and dragons. He wouldn’t want to. There had been a price to pay for it all, but Broch would have paid it again if he had to. Not many in his clan would want to hear that said out loud, but that was what Christin meant to him. She was a breath of fresh air. Christin was hope.
“I just wanted to ask her before she left. I know that you guys are getting antsy to get back.”
“We are but flying doesn’t take any time at all. We will be back whenever you need us, Broch. Like I said before, I owe you more than just my life. You gave me back my dignity. My daughter has to see that you are a good man. She will make the right decision.”
Broch was happy to have Richard on his side, but that didn’t make Christin feel pushed in one way or another. No one seemed to bother her. Broch was just going to have to accept that her father was right. He was going to have to give her time.
He got back to the house, and he went inside, thinking of Christin, but avoiding the kitchen because he could hear the tinkling of her laughter coming from there. Broch could give her time, but that meant not being around her. He couldn’t go half-cocked. It was all or nothing apparently.
He went to take a shower and went to bed early. He never went to bed that early, because he always had something to do. He had things to do that day, but the only thing that mattered was getting away from Christin and not pushing her. He wasn’t usually the pushy sort, but with Christin he was. She was killing him and maybe he was the one that needed some space.
Broch had almost dozed off when Christin came through the door. She had a room a few doors down from him, a bed and all of her things in it. Why was she in his room?
The answer came pretty quickly, when she started to take off her clothes. Her body was bare to him in moments and Broch could feel blood rushing to his lower extremities.
“What are you doing, Christin?”
She shrugged and pulled her panties down her thighs. “I am going to bed. Why?”
“Well, you said that you needed space, remember?”
His words were coming out of gritted teeth, something else to not be proud of. He was so damn turned on and Christin knew it. Her hips were moving a bit more to the left and right, her smile was full of danger. He couldn’t stop looking at her and the more he stared, the more conscious he was that she was only a few feet from him. Broch was in his boxers, which were thin and did nothing to help cover him up.
“I need space to think, Broch, which doesn’t mean that my body doesn’t crave you.”
