I watched her trace another pattern in the air, her mind clearly far away, lost in calculations and theories. Moonlight caught the golden strands of her disheveled hair, painting her skin silver. The dragonfire ring I’d given her flamed on her finger, responding to my presence.
She was brilliant, distracted, and completely indifferentto me, and somehow, impossibly, our magic harmonized as though we’d been created to complement each other.
Despite her beauty, I was not interested in her romantically. I wouldnotbecome attached. This magnetic pull I felt for her was simply novelty, dragon instinct recognizing compatible magic. It would fade once familiarity set in.
It had to.
“I’ll have your belongings sent up when they arrive tomorrow,” I said, retreating toward the sitting room. “If you need anything during the night, there’s a bell pull by the bed that will summon a servant.”
“Wonderful, thank you.” She didn’t turn around. “Raoul? Do you keep any meteorological records? Historical data about storm patterns, precipitation levels, temperature variations? Even anecdotal observations would be helpful.”
“I…yes. The royal archives contain logs dating back three centuries. They were kept for agricultural planning purposes, but most include daily weather conditions and reports.”
Now, she turned, her face lighting up with the first genuine smile I’d seen from her. It transformed her entire appearance, making her eyes sparkle in a way I found much too appealing.
“Three centuries? That’s incredible. Could I access them? The longitudinal data alone would be invaluable for—” She seemed to notice my expression for the first time. “I’m sorry, I’m being rude. You must be exhausted. I’m keeping you from sleep with my rambling.”
“You’re not rambling,” I said, though she absolutely was. “And I’m not tired.”
A lie. I was exhausted. The two-hour wait at the wedding, the stress of the ceremony, and the long flighthad drained me. But the thought of leaving her alone in my chambers, of putting distance between us, felt wrong in a way I couldn’t articulate.
“Well, I am keeping you,” she said with a pert nod. “You should rest. I’ll just…” She gestured vaguely at the view. “I’ll make some preliminary observations. Get a feel for the air patterns. I promise I’ll try not to accidentally create a thunderstorm.”
“Has that happened before?”
“Once,” she said with a rueful smile. “But it was a very small thunderstorm. More of a rain shower, really. With minimal lightning.”
Despite everything, I felt my lips twitch upward and hastily smoothed them.
“Minimal lightning,” I said.
“Barely worth mentioning.” Her smile turned impish. “Though my sister Sasha might disagree. Her favorite slippers never quite recovered.”
I should leave. Walk into the sitting room, close the door, and establish the boundaries that would keep this arrangement safely distant.
Instead, I heard myself say, “The archives are in the western wing, three levels down. I could show you tomorrow, after you’ve rested.”
“Really? That would be wonderful. I promise I’ll try to be less scattered then. Make a good impression on your people. I know I was terribly late to the wedding, and I must seem like a complete disaster?—”
“You don’t seem like a disaster.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I was two hours late to our wedding and spent most of the ceremony thinking about thermal patterns instead of paying attention to the vows.”
“Yes, but you were also completely honest about it. Youdidn’t pretend or make excuses. You simply are who you are.”
Her pause ended with a small smile. “Most people find that more irritating than charming.”
“I’m not most people.”
She studied me with those sharp eyes, and for a moment, I had the unsettling sensation that she was seeing past my carefully maintained defenses to the person I kept hidden.
Then Fletcher groaned from where he sat in the middle of the room, and the moment broke.
“Poor love,” Adele said, crossing to her companion. “He hates flying. Don’t you, Fletcher?”
The basset hound whined, though I noticed he’d recovered enough to sniff hopefully toward my sitting area, probably seeking the most comfortable sleeping spot.
“There’s a sofa by the fireplace in the sitting area,” I told him, then felt ridiculous for speaking to a dog.
