Ever Mine (Dragon Lore) Read Free

giggling as she laid a hand on his arm. “Your sense of humor never gets old.”
    He raised a brow and peeled her hand off him. “Good to know. You’re free to go for the evening, but be in my office by eight AM. We need to talk.” He held her gaze as apprehension flashed in their depths, but he wanted her worried. She needed to know her job was on the line if she didn’t stop hitting on him.
    After she finally walked away, he turned his attention to the other employees standing around the office staring at him. He raised his wrist to look at his watch, then cleared his throat. He made eye contact with each of them, one by one, which was all it took to have them rushing back to whatever they were supposed to be doing.
    He sighed when he realized they’d missed the elevator, and punched the button again. The fairy had disappeared inside his pocket. “Stay in there. The elevator will be here in a moment.”
    “Can’t breathe in iron,” she said, her soft voice muffled through the fabric.
    Nathan let out a quiet curse. Without a word, he turned and headed toward the stairs. Her head popped up again. “Now, where are we going?” she asked.
    “The stairs.”
    * * * *
    Katenia smiled, though she was confused. All of her life, bedtime stories had warned her and the other fairies against the savage giants known as humans. Selfish and blood-thirsty, their quest for war and power and technology knew no bounds, and any respect they may had once held for the land and the earth that nourished them, was long since gone. The differences between humans and faeries had been drilled into her head for as long as she could remember. They were a violent race, crushing everything smaller than them underfoot.
    But Nathan didn’t seem cruel to her. He seemed distracted, sad even, but not cruel. Even on their descent down the stairs, he was careful not to jostle her too much. She wasn’t imagining it, either, because his large hand was cupped around his pocket, holding her close to his chest.
    He wasn’t like the males she knew, and not because of his difference in size. Fairies, even the warriors, were slight, nimble creatures. While there were males of her race nearly twice her small stature, and stubborn, obstinate beings, they didn’t carry the kind of hardness and rawness Nathan did. He should terrify her. But he didn’t. He was every bit the mythical human warrior she’d always been fascinated by, with his long black hair and vibrant blue eyes.
    When he finally finished the stairs and pushed through another door, Katenia gripped the edges of his pocket and peeked at the new surroundings. Humans were everywhere, dressed in odd fabrics that didn’t seem to let the skin breathe, while the women wore torture device-like shoes to help them appear taller. Even more confusing was, though there were large, beautiful plants decorating the airy space, not a single human noticed.
    She twisted her head to look up at him. “Are you truly a giant, then? No one is as tall as you.”
    A chuckle rumbled through his massive chest. “Not a giant, no. I’m only six-foot-four.”
    “Oh.” She wiggled her nose as she thought about it. When he pushed through another set of doors, warm, humid air enveloped her. She tilted her face up to the sun and smiled. “How tall are giants then?”
    “Probably eight—” His words disappeared as a loud blaring sound came from the street in front of them.
    The sound was unlike anything she’d ever heard. Katenia screamed and bolted out of his pocket. With her heart pounding violently, she flew for the cover of his dark, shoulder-length hair.
    Instead, her feet hit the sidewalk, and she stumbled on legs that didn’t feel like hers, throwing her face-first into Nathan’s back. Staggering from the impact, she landed on her butt, her mouth dropping open as she realized she wasn’t fairy-sized anymore.
    His face was thunderstruck. “Katenia?”
    She lifted a hand and peered at it, trying to process its