Page 83 of Dragon Tempted

Dear God, more than anything in the world. “No.”

She furled her wings, and he almost told her to stop. “I thought I might find you here.”

“Why?” he asked, looking back out over the valley.

“Because this spot brings me peace, which is why I shared it with you.”

He glanced over at her. “I seem to remember you yelling at me in this exact spot. Telling me that I didn’t have to be alone, and then you said you weren’t going anywhere.”

She smirked. “Maybe.”

“That seems to be a pattern with you.”

She tilted her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hell. He hadn’t thought that through. “Well. Ryan told me how he first met you and you informed him he was your new best friend.”

Her eyes widened. “And how exactly did you get on that subject?”

He shrugged. “Just came up.” It just came up? He was a mess. It wasn’t like he could claim to be a witty conversationalist after centuries of being a recluse.

Sienna stared at him for a moment, and he waited for the inquisition to begin. Instead she turned to the valley and took a deep breath.

“Are you okay?” he asked, cursing himself when she tensed.

“I’m fine,” said every female in the history of the world to mean the opposite.

“The meeting with Mia was intense. Do you believe her about taking down the Templars?”

She hesitated for a moment. “She seemed pretty sincere to me. And I hope it’s true since she could be a powerful ally.”

“Possibly. But you need to be careful. She doesn’t seem stable.” He knew better than anyone what obsession felt like.

She shook her head. “I know. I’ve heard it from Marcus, Adam, Eric, and Ryan. I don’t need another overprotective male mansplaining to me.”

His temper flared. “Sienna, you’re young and think you’re invincible. Trust me, you don’t know what it’s like to feel like everything is lost.”

Red circles dotted her cheeks as she spun to face him. “Don’t be a condescending ass. Yes. I may not have lived a long time in your eyes, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t suffered. I lost my mother when I was twelve, my father hated the sight of me because I reminded him of her. He died when I was fifteen. Adam and Marcus raised me after Eric was banned from the clan.” Her hand sliced through the air. “And then I thought we had lost Adam too!”

Damn. He’d blown it again.

“I know what loss is. I know what being alone feels like.” She poked a finger into his chest. “I would argue that I have lived more than you have.”

He had trouble sucking air into his lungs. She knew what his life had been like. It was listed in minute detail on the boards in her damn office. “How can you say that?”

The gold in her livid brown eyes sparked. “You may have lived for centuries, but how much of that time have you shut yourself away from everyone and everything?” She poked his chest again. “I would take twenty-seven years of truly living over hundreds of years of hiding any day.”

He prided himself at having built impenetrable walls around himself, but her words were like glass shards piercing his skin. Yes, they were hurtful because they were true, but also because they came from her. He looked over her shoulder so that he didn’t have to see the disappointment in her face.

“John?” Sienna’s voice had lost its fire.

He didn’t have a response. And he sure in the hell wasn’t going to defend himself. He was the last person who should be telling her how to live her life. He was a shell of a man living a shell of an existence.

“John?” she whispered.

Her soft tone had him looking down and shoring himself for the pity he expected to see. Instead her eyes were filled with…concern?

She placed both of her hands on his chest, and the warmth seeped through his shirt. “I’m sor—”