Literally and figuratively.
He clutched at the stone.
“Do the right thing, dragon-man. Gibs it back and apologize to your daddy. Makes it right so that he can love you and not feel all bad and gooey that he lubs you.”
The only problem with that? He didn’t know what the right thing to do was. Protect his father.
Or protect his own ass, since no one else ever had.
***
Medea felt horrible for Falcyn. All these centuries, she’d thought the worst thing in the world had been to lose her son. Watching Falcyn now, she realized that wasn’t the worst.
A living child who hated you was far more cruel.
Blaise and the others had gone back without them. Torn between her family and Falcyn, she’d decided to stay here in Camelot with him.
He needed her more.
Falcyn was alone and the misery in his eyes kept her by his side even though she knew she was needed in Kalosis. Besides, there was nothing she could do for her people without his dragonstone.
Her heart breaking for him, she pulled him against her and held him tight. The fact that he didn’t protest told her exactly how wounded he was by it all. He was weak, and she knew from Urian that it was a state this dragon wasn’t used to.
The least she could do was comfort him.
Closing her eyes, she breathed in the scent of him as she ran her hands through his hair.
Falcyn choked on his unshed tears and the swell of unfamiliar tenderness Medea awoke inside his dead heart. The dragon in him wanted to carry her away to his den and keep her there, protests be damned. Hence the legends of old about his kind. It’d been their loneliness and abject misery that had caused his species to kidnap mates and force them to their isolated lairs.
Yet he’d never done such. Never had he wanted to.
Until now.
As far back as he could recall, he’d been reclusive in a way no other dragon had. The only time he’d ever been weak had been after Hadyn’s death. Unable to cope with losing his brother, he’d allowed Igraine to seduce him for Morgen.
He’d deluded himself then. And he’d known it. He just hadn’t cared. Anything to keep from being alone with his guilt over his brother’s death.
Now he’d screwed up not only his life, but Maddor’s as well.
And Medea’s. Because of this, her people would die. Most likely her parents, too. Yet she didn’t curse him for being stupid or careless.
Rather, she stayed by his side.
The woman was so strange and made no sense whatsoever to him.
“Why are you being so kind to me?”
Medea let out a soft laugh. “No idea. I’m all kinds of stupid.”
Burying his face against her neck, he inhaled her sweet scent and shook his head. “You’re never that.”
“’Course I am. Otherwise I’d be gone already. Only an absolute idiot would be here in their enemy’s domain for no good reason.” Medea toyed with Falcyn’s belt. She really shouldn’t be with him now and she knew it. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave him and she didn’t even know why.
This felt right. She needed to be with him in his hour of need. To give him comfort when he had no one else he’d accept it from.
And she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Or her hands. It’d been too long since she’d felt like this. Since she’d wanted to be with someone.
And by the size of his obvious erection, he was definitely interested, too.
