He signaled Max, and the two of them stepped into the hallway. Blake quickly filled him in on how he had found Christy and as he did, Max’s brow clouded over. “Orcs were so close?”
“Yeah.” He sagged against the wall. “If I hadn’t heard her…” The words trailed off. He could not even form them. The sheer weight of it all, that she might have died out there and he never would have known it, that he might have gotten there too late to help her…all those things made his blood run cold. He tried to shunt that aside; that the Orcs had been there at all was clearly a bigger concern, but all he could see in his mind’s eye was her being killed by them, and his blood ran frost cold and then it began to boil.
Max asked, “She held them off with rocks?”
“Yeah.” The word was barely above a whisper. “What if…what if…”
Max’s hand caught his shoulder, squeezed down hard. “It didn’t happen. She is alive and here and safe. Thanks to you.”
Blake found he could smile. “To hear her tell it, I was hardly any help at all.”
Max snickered. “I bet that’s just what she said. That woman’s crazy.”
“In the best way. Now if only she were crazy about me.” Blake peeked into the hall to see Heather talking animatedly and Christy laughing. His heart gave off another powerful thump. “But that’s never going to happen. She might not outright hate me, but she sure doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Well, she had that one night, but she had said it was NSA, something he still had not puzzled out in his head. He just knew it meant she wanted to sleep with him, that once anyway, but after that, she was pretty much done. He asked, “You want to get the others into the council room?”
Max nodded. “Yes, we should. You know, maybe if you weren’t so busy romancing her womb, she might see you for you.”
Blake grimaced. “You said that before.”
Max rolled his eyes. “You did not take my advice either. Women love to be cherished, to be…look, even she-dragons want to be loved for who they are. You went after her like she was just a baby-making machine for you. Maybe if you tried to show her that you care about her, and just her, she might change her mind about not wanting you. I mean, she does not really even know you either.”
He was right. Blake did not want to admit it, but Max was right. He had chased her because she was the woman who might be able to bear his children. Had he taken the time to get to know her and let her get to know him?
Nope.
Not at all.
He scratched a finger along his chin as he thought about that. He did care for her, and not just because he desperately needed children. Christy was everything a mate should be. But he had never told her that. He had also been so busy trying to impress her into bearing his kids that he had not let the mask he wore so often slip off, had not tried to reveal who he was behind the mask he wore so much of the time.
He let himself admit, right then and to himself, that he was in love with her. He didn’t just want her, he loved her. He took a deep breath. There was a lot to handle right now: the Orcs, and the humans who needed protection from them to name but two.
But he also had to formulate a plan. Not just one that would charm one certain stubborn human out of her pants either. One that would show her he was in love with her.
It was time for romance, dragon style.
