Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
The dragon was efficient, smart, and good at handling the different personalities on the tracking team, getting them to stay on target and focused. They’d run across a variety of problems in their planning stage, but each time Dimitri quickly assessed the issue, cut through the bullshit, and came up with a solution.
Even if the dragon still had the ability to annoy the crap out of him, Dimitri was already proving to be worth the investment Samuel had made.
However, of the two dragons, Gregori was the easier to be around. He didn’t seem to have any designs or ulterior motives for chatting with Samuel.
Dimitri was an entirely different story.
After they’d acquired a new SIM card for Samuel’s phone on the first day, Dimitri had alternated between coddling Samuel and flirting with him, leaving him feeling constantly on edge. Part of him wanted to claim Dimitri was acting like his own family, believing he wasn’t capable protecting himself simply because he wasn’t a true mage, but with Dimitri it felt different…sweetly protective. It wasn’t that he believed Samuel incapable, simply that he wanted to do things for him.
Combined with the flirting, it only created an ugly longing that he didn’t want to face.
Was Dimitri just another Kevin?
Stupidly hot? Check.
Carefree and easy going? Check.
Had a thing for prickly, socially awkward nerds? Big check.
Like Kevin, Dimitri was way out of his league, and Samuel was so fucking tired of wanting things he couldn’t have. Wasn’t it bad enough he’d spent his entire life chasing after one fix or another for his problem, only to encounter endless disappointment? Did his heart really have to keep screwing him over as well?
Annoying dragon.
He couldn’t say he was overly surprised when he opened his bedroom door to find Dimitri standing on the other side, leaning against the doorjamb with a smirk.
“If you’re here to postpone our departure, then screw you. I’m leaving without you,” Samuel grouched.
Dimitri immediately straightened, holding both of his hands up in front of him. “Hey, now. I’m not here for that. We’re having a little bonfire departure party on the beach. I’m here to drag you down there.”
Samuel hesitated. He wasn’t in the mood for a big gathering, even if all the mages and dragons had been incredibly nice while he’d been staying in their home. The tracker team had been more relaxed about his presence, while everyone else seemed to stare at him like a strange bug trapped under an overturned glass. He wasn’t in the mood for more of that.
However, this would be his last chance to go down to the beach and maybe step into the ocean. Since arriving, Dimitri and the rest of the team had kept him so busy, he’d not had a chance to wander down. The best he’d been able to manage was to stare at the ocean from one of the windows.
“I don’t know.” He took a step backward and waved one limp hand at the open bags behind him. “I still need to finish repacking.”
“We won’t be out late. It’s just the tracker team and some beers on the beach.”
“Okay. Let me grab my shoes—ack!”
Dimitri grabbed Samuel’s arms and hauled him out of the room before he could get another step away. “Don’t bother. You’ll just get them full of sand. The beach has cooled off enough. You won’t burn your feet.”
Samuel barely managed to catch his door on the way out, closing it behind him as Dimitri dragged him into the hallway.
“Besides, if it’s still too hot, I’ll carry you,” the dragon offered, flashing Samuel a wicked grin over his shoulder.
“Not a chance.” Samuel shook off the hold on his arm and walked next to Dimitri through the enormous mansion and out one of the doors into the main courtyard. He had no illusions—Dimitri had released him. The dragon had proved his strength time and again over the last several days as he hefted heavy items around the compound or even playfully wrestled with his dragon brothers, but for some reason, Samuel never felt intimidated by it. Dimitri never used his superior strength or even stature to bully Samuel. He always felt protected and safe with the dragon.
Not that he was letting it go to his head. He was fairly certain that everyone here was still convinced he was a mage, and the dragons were very clear on one thing: all mages had to be protected. He was just a mage to Dimitri, not someone who was more special than the other mages he’d met.
So what if Samuel was secretly enjoying the coddling, protective cushion that surrounded him? Normally, such things would drive him insane. He’d gotten too much of it from his own family, but with his parents it had been an endless list of restrictions “for his own good” that left him feeling like he was beating his head against a brick wall. No one listened to him.