“Yeah, well, she probably hates me,” Paula said, then looked up at him. “Does it matter?”
“Not really. When I break off my engagement with Erin, she’s going to hate me, too,” he said with a little shrug of his shoulders. “I’m sure she’s going to cut me off, and frankly, Idon’t care. I don’t need my parents’ money. I’m almost done with my degree, and I’ll make enough to support us.”
Paula became very still. “Us?” she croaked. “Is there an us?”
He rolled over on his side so he was facing her. “I hope there will be, I know we got off to a bad start, but I was worried about you. The clan doesn’t look kindly on regular humans who find out about us,” he said. “I was hoping that if I was mean enough and a big enough pain in the butt you would give up and go away.”
“I kind of lost interest after you caught me snooping. I was just staying around to help Hattie; she’s such a sweet person. I didn’t want to see her fail,” she admitted, then got quiet. “Ryan, you said the clan wouldn’t be happy if they knew that I know, but it seems like lots of people know. I mean Stephanie, Hattie…”
“They’re different. Hattie is family, and Stephanie is married to Cooper, that protects them,” he said. “I’m not sure what the clan would do if they knew, but I’m not going to tell them, and neither is Cooper.”
“What about Alex?” she asked. “He was there, he knows.”
“But then he’d have to admit that he shifted in public,” he said, shaking his head. “I think we’re safe, just don’t talk about it with anyone else.”
“They’d think I was crazy, I was beginning to think that myself,” she said, then yawned. “I feel better now, I think I can go to sleep.”
“Do you want me to leave?” Ryan asked, starting to get up.
“No, stay here with me,” she said, snuggling into his arms again. “I feel better when you’re close.”
Paula was asleep in minutes, and he lay there listening to her breathing for a long time, wondering how just a few hours could completely change his life. He’d wondered so many times what would be the last straw with his mother, what she would finally do that would be so horrible he’d be willing to break all his tiesto his family. Now he understood it wasn’t a moment, it wasn’t a single action from the woman who was supposed to love him that would finally drive him over the edge.
It was the woman in his arms, the spunky, courageous, very sexy woman sleeping next to him who finally opened his eyes and made him understand what was really important. She didn’t know it yet, but they were already connected. It happened that night in the woods. He’d felt it the first time their eyes met; he’d just been too stubborn to admit it at the time.
Years of doing everything he could to keep his mother happy had taught him to ignore his feelings, but the dragon inside of him knew better, knew that his one chance at true happiness was right in front of him. Now it was up to him to make sure that happiness didn’t slip through his fingers. He wouldn’t blow this; it was too important. He wasn’t sure what the next day would bring, but he wasn’t letting Paula go. She was his; fate had delivered her right to him, and he wasn’t going to take that for granted.
He must have slept because he woke to the sound of someone tapping softly on his bedroom door and sunshine streaming in through the window. “Ryan, wake up,” Cooper called. “Marcus is downstairs and he’s spitting fire about last night. He’s calling you a bunch of names and saying that you’re reckless. You’d better get down there and fast.”
“Who’s Marcus?” Paula asked, her eyes wide. “Are you in trouble?”
“It’s nothing to worry about. You stay put, I’ll be right back,” he said. “I’m sure it’s just some kind of a misunderstanding.”
“Maybe I should go with you, this is about me too,” Paula said, starting to get up. “I was there last night; you were just trying to save me.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “You’d better let me handle this,” he said. “Marcus can be…difficult, but he’s always listened to reason in the past.”
“Okay, if that’s what you think is best,” she said, but he could tell she wasn’t happy. “I just hate sitting around while people are talking about me.”
“Tell you what, let me get him calmed down and then you can come down and meet him,” he said, giving her another kiss. “Is that better?”
“I guess,” Paula said, perking up a little. “One more kiss might help.”
He obliged her, but this time, it wasn’t just the quick peck on the cheek. By the time he let her up, they were both panting, and the air in the room was crackling with energy. “I’ll be back,” he said. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
***Paula***
It only took about five minutes before Paula began to fret and worry. There was so much she didn’t understand, so many questions she still needed answered, but it was clear that they would have to wait. No one had to tell her that Marcus was someone powerful; just the way they all talked about him made that clear. What she didn’t know was how much power the man had over her. Thinking about him reminded her of that night and it struck her that seeing Marcus in his dragon form was what started this whole thing and if anyone was to blame it was him, not that she was going to point that out to him.
Unable to sit still, she got out of bed and began to pace around Ryan’s room, picking things up then putting them down again, telling herself that she was worrying for nothing. Ryan would protect her, he wouldn’t let anything happen toher, although it was annoying not to know what was going on downstairs and frustrating not be able to tell her side of the story.
She’d almost made up her mind to go downstairs on her own when someone tapped on the door, then Abby and Stephanie slipped inside. “We brought you some clean clothes,” Abby said, handing them over. “We figured by now you were going crazy up here alone. Sorry it took so long to get away.”
Relieved to see a friendly face, she let out a long sigh. “I was just about to go down there,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“Alex told his clan a crazy story about Ryan shifting to show off for you. He claims he tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen, and he just shifted to protect you,” Stephanie said, shaking her head. “The story doesn’t make much sense, but his people are standing behind him.”
“But that’s not what happened at all, he basically attacked me,” she said, a little breathless with anger. “He’s lying, that’s not what happened, this Marcus guy can’t possibly believe that.”
