Archer’s announcement about the discovery of the Berstow dragon family had distracted from my presence a little. He’d promised to keep them all informed when he spoke to the Berstows and found out more about dragon history and, perhaps, their own family history.
At the previous house, a cute guy had flirted with me. Normally, I’d have found a way to sneak off somewhere for a quickie, but I hadn’t even been tempted—he seemed young and callow next to Archer. It felt uncomfortably like looking in a mirror. It wasn’t just the power and authority and strength in Archer that were so hot. I mean, it was all of those things, but there was something more. And I wasn’t talking about his shoulders. His laughter had softened his face, and I wanted to see that more often rather than its usual harsh lines.
“Last one,” Archer said to me again as he rang the doorbell of the executive-style house with a double garage. The biggest house we’d been to so far, and I wondered how many more names I’d have to remember. Unlike the previous houses, there weren’t small children pressing their noses against the windows,eagerly watching for us. I’d taken to waving at them as we’d walked up, resulting in shrieks of delight. This house, by comparison, looked deserted.
The woman who opened the door was dressed as if she was expecting royalty to come calling. Or maybe as if shewereroyalty. Her hair was beautifully styled, soft chestnut waves falling onto the purple silk shoulders of her dress, and she wore a string of pearls that obviously hadn’t come from a pound shop. High-heeled purple shoes and a surprised expression completed the outfit.
She swiftly wiped the shock from her face, and stood taller, her rigid expression marring her beauty and making her look older than the late-thirties she’d appeared at first. She’d scarcely looked at me—her attention was on Archer.
“Archer. This is unexpected.” Her tone could have frozen hot chocolate. Her eyes eventually flicked to me, weighing and assessing. After far too long, she stood back and invited us in.
“Chris!” she called up the stairs as Archer ushered me into the living room. “Archer’s here.”
We were joined by a nondescript man in his forties with dark hair greying at the temples. His build was similar enough to Archer’s to proclaim the family relationship, but he was quite a bit smaller.
“Archer,” he said neutrally.
Neither made any attempt to shake the other’s hand. I didn’t know what was going on, but this was the most interesting visit we’d made so far, that was for sure. I itched to text Jack about it.
Archer introduced me to June and Chris Talbot, and explained to them the experiment the moot had decided on. It was clearly news to them, unlike the other family members, all of whom had gathered specifically to meet me.
“You agreed to this?” June’s voice was acidic.
I was getting the distinct impression she wasn’t Archer’s biggest fan. They hadn’t even offered us a seat.
“As it happens, no, but it was the will of the moot.”
Chris scoffed and turned away. I didn’t know how they were related to Archer, but such disrespect to the head of family was unheard of. To show it in front of a stranger, one from a different dragon family, blew my mind.
“We have a guest.” The bass throbbing in Archer’s voice went straight to my dick despite the dangerous tone. Or perhapsbecauseof the dangerous tone.
Chris stood with his back to Archer an instant longer, then turned. “Of course,” he said. “How do you do, Ollie?”
“Hi,” I said.
“Ollie, would you like to come and help me make a cup of tea for everyone?” June said. “Archer, please have a seat. Chris, take his coat. Ollie’s as well.”
I followed her into a big, modern kitchen, with sweeping granite surfaces decorated by stainless steel gadgets. June didn’t appear to need help with the tea, but she took the opportunity to ask me about my family and how I was settling in at the Court. She hoped Archer was making me welcome.
She even asked for my number, which was kind of uncomfortable. “After all, the idea is to get to know one another while you’re here.”
After we’d swapped numbers, I offered to carry the laden tea tray through to the living room. I was trying to be polite, but mostly I wanted to get back to Archer.
Chris pulled out a table from a nest of tables, and I was relieved to put the tray down so that the bone china cups and saucers finally stopped rattling.
The tension in the room was palpable, making me wonder what the conversation had been while we were in the kitchen. June handed out the cups of tea, which seemed to help thestrained atmosphere. Especially when Archer looked at the tea that had slopped into his saucer when I’d carried the tray and the lines in his brow smoothed for an instant.
I perched on the edge of my seat, sipping tea, acutely uncomfortable as Archer gave his by-now-familiar account of the Berstow family.
Chris’s eyes were hard as he said obliquely, “Getting our hands on that history might answer a few questions.”
“You know what? It might.” Archer rose to his feet and put his half-finished cup of tea to one side. “Come on, Ollie.”
Once outside the house and back in the car, I drew the first deep breath for a while. “They looked like they were dressed up to go somewhere,” I said, because I didn’t dare tell him what I thought of jerk Chris and over-friendly June.
“That’s how June is,” he said. “If I’d asked her to come to the two-day moot, she’d have brought at least five suitcases crammed with clothes.”
Which raised a question I’d been pondering while I’d met the family. I had no idea what the hierarchy was, other than Archer was head. “Are they senior members of the family?”
