My Dragon Desire

Chapter Seventeen - Reveal

☆Blake☆

I knew where Kayne had taken her but yet I couldn’t bring myself to fly over there and talk to her. To explain to her that Bailey is a liar. However, I had certainly found myself in a predicament. Bailey had done the unthinkable and how she managed to get it right, I still don’t know. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair for the thousandth time. I was beyond frustrated and I looked over at the Seniors and sighed even louder.

“The rumors that have been circling the castle is questionable,” Earl said, and I nodded. I knew exactly what he was referring too. “Your action with regards to hiring and firing staff members has made us believe that the rumors are true,” he added as he slowly paced around the room. The other Seniors were looking at me and dare I say it, but they had the look of disappointment and disgust on their faces. I had let them down and now; I had no idea to help myself.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” one of the other Seniors asked and I glanced over at him and frowned. I had already explained myself, but it would seem that they wanted me to explain the situation once again.

“Yes, I did sleep with the staff, but I didn’t sleep with Bailey. When Dawn Morgan started working here, we found each other. My dragon recognizes her as our mate. We formed a relationship and then suddenly Bailey is going around telling everyone that I slept with her and that she is pregnant!” to say that I was getting upset and angry was an understatement. I slammed my fist on the table and stood up. “This whole thing is absurd; I am not responsible for that child! I have not slept with her! And more importantly, I always use protection. You may contact the ex-employees of the castle and question them. Do what you must but I will not fall for Bailey’s tricks and marry her! No way!” I breathed out deeply as I sat back down. I didn’t bother looking around at their faces, I knew they had been taken aback with my outburst. Yet, I also knew that now they would do a full investigation. I heard them leaving one by one until it was just Earl left.

“Son, I understand that you are upset, and we will take this further, in the meantime, try to steer clear of Bailey,” Earl advised me before he too, left. I sighed and hung my head in shame. Already my past antics had come back to bite me in the behind with Dawn and now it was coming back for round two. If Dawn heard about this, she would never take me back. Never. I pulled out my mobile phone from my jacket pocket and called Kayne. I needed to vent, and he was still my best friend. My brother. I listened to it ring and when he finally answered I chuckled.

“Hey, what are you two doing out there?” I asked playfully.

“Nothing!” came Kayne’s quick response. If it had been anyone else, I would have immediately been suspicious.

“Right, anyway, do you have some time for me right now?” I asked him seriously.

“Of course,” he answered.

“Bailey is claiming that I got her pregnant and demanding that I marry her and make an honest woman out of her,” I rushed out. The silence grew and then the loud sound of Kayne’s laughter filled my ear. I pulled the device away and smiled. Only Kayne would laugh at me. “I’m serious,” I said as I brought the phone back to my ear.

“I know, its just…how do you get yourself into these kinds of situations?” he asked me teasingly. I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly into the mouthpiece.

“You make it sound like I find myself in these positions regularly,”

“You may as well be, but no, seriously, she is lying,” he said.

“Yes, you and I both know that, but the Seniors are questioning me,” I said tiredly. “Earl has no problem taking my word for it, but the others just want to see me fail and right now I look like a massive failure to them,”

“Well, what are they going to do? Force you to marry her?” he asked.

“Yes, but I have made it truly clear that she is lying. Earl promised that they would look deeper into her story. I can only hope they find something and soon,” I admitted.

“Then let us hope that they will help you get out of this sticky situation,” Kayne agreed hopefully, and I smiled. I already felt worlds better.

“How is Dawn?” I finally asked.

“She’s sleeping at the moment, but she is fine,” Kayne replied. I could hear something in the background and then a loud bang.

“What’s going on?” I asked with concern.

“I dropped the pot; I’ll take to you later!” Kayne said before hanging up. I sighed as I looked down at my phone. I missed them both. I had to wonder if maybe the best way for me to steer clear of Bailey was to join Kayne and Dawn at the cabin. I smiled as I realized that I could kill two birds with one stone, but first I had to get some order here in the castle.

☆Dawn☆

I sat up straight and nearly fell off the sofa as the loud bang woke me up. I looked around me frantically and I finally spotted Kayne busy in the kitchen. I breathed out a massive sigh of relief and untangled myself from the blanket I could only assume Kayne had placed over me. I stood up and stretched lazily as I yawned. I made my way to the kitchen and sat down by the island.

“Hey,” I greeted Kayne groggily. “How long was I out for?” I asked curiously as I wiped at my tired eyes.

“About two hours, sorry for making a noise,” he said apologetically as he continued to work.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I offered.

“Ah, yeah! I’m just about done here. Could you take the bread out of the oven and grab two bowls?”

“Sure thing,” I said with a smile. He cooks! I turned off the oven and put on the oven mitts before opening the door. A lovely aroma of cheese and garlic hit my senses and I gently pulled out the freshly baked loaf of bread. It looked and smelled delicious. I carefully placed it on the large wooden cutting board on the island and then went to get two large bowls. I had no idea what we would be eating but I had to say, it smelled wonderful. “Spoons or forks?” I asked curiously as I inched closer to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and peaked at the pots he was busy with on the stovetop. The sight of a hearty beef stew had my tummy rumbling hungrily and before he could answer, I went and got both utensils. From what I had seen there was plenty of sauce.

“Do you drink?” Kayne questioned as he turned around with a smallish pot in his hands.

“Depends on what you are offering?” I said as I watched him place the pot down on a trivet. Yellow rice and I could see the raisins.

“Red wine goes great with beef stew,” he informed me, and I nodded. He went back to the stove to collect the last pot and placed it on the other trivet. I got out two serving spoons and dished up from the rice first. Placing it carefully in the bowl so as not to mess or overfill it. In the meantime, Kayne went and got a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. I dished up from the beef stew and made sure that we had more than enough with plenty of sauce. I quickly got a bread knife and cut into the still-warm loaf. Kayne poured the wine and we both sat down to eat. I hungrily took a spoonful and hummed out as the taste hit me. “I take it, it’s good?”

“Very,” I muttered out before mouthfuls. Kayne took a slice of the bread and dunked it into the sauce. It looked so good that I reached out and took a slice for myself. We sat in comfortable silence as we ate. I had to say, the food was outstanding, and my tummy was full. I looked down at the empty bowls and smiled before taking a long sip of the red wine.

“I hope you aren’t too stuffed,” Kayne said as he stood up and started clearing the island. I wanted to help but I was too lazy.

“Depends,” I said as I finished off the glass of wine.

“Well, I made a pudding too,” he said, and I shook my head. “Later then,” he added with a chuckle. I slid off the stool and refilled our glasses before heading over to the sofa. I folded up the blanket and glanced over at the fire. Kayne must have topped up on the wood as it still roared vigorously but peacefully. I got comfortable on the sofa, but this time, I made sure to stick to my own side. I blushed as I remembered falling asleep on his shoulder. Awkward.

“What pudding did you make?” I asked him when he sat down next to me. I handed over his glass of wine, which he gratefully took and waited for him.

“A hot chocolate pudding,” he said, and I smiled. This man would be the death of me with this kind of food. “It’s my mother’s recipe. Whenever we used to come here, she’d make it for us. It tends to rain here quite a bit and it’s just simply comforting food,” he explained.

“May I ask about your family?” I questioned softly as I took a sip of the wine.

“You may,” he said as he got comfortable. “My parents died in war about ten years ago. They had traveled abroad to visit friends. They got caught up in the madness and killed,” I gasped at the terrible news and the urge to reach out and comfort him was so strong that I had to tuck my free hand between my legs to stop myself. “My sister, Violet, was twelve at the time and she took the news quite hard. I was seventeen and I was pained just knowing that I would no longer get to listen to my father’s stories, I would no longer get to eat my mother’s food and I would have to grow up and look after my sister,” he sighed as he glanced over at me before focusing on the fire once more. “My grandfather was still alive at the time and he took the news rather badly. Of course, it was to be expected but my sister and I moved in with him. He raised us as best he could but when he died, my sister lost it. She ran away and although I was also suffering, I searched everywhere for her. I gave up until two years ago when she suddenly showed up on my doorstep,”

“Oh my!”

“Yes, she was pregnant and in desperate need of help. I turned to the Seniors for help and they stepped in and took care of her. Got her a nice place to stay in a town that was friendly and didn’t judge her for being a single mom. They took care of all the medical bills and once she was settled down with her newborn baby, I went to see her. She was hesitant at first, to reveal what she had been through but eventually, she told me about joining a faction of dragons. I was hurt by the news, but I allowed her to talk. She told me how the leader had taken her in and made her his own. She was happy, she had said, but it didn’t last. When she fell pregnant, she was over the moon and had hoped that it would mean that they would marry. However, when she gave him the news, he refused to believe that the child was his and banished her from his faction. She didn’t know where to go or what to do, so she came to me. We’ve worked on our broken relationship ever since. My niece, Juliet, is a sweetheart and we try to come here every month to catch up and spend some time together,”

“That’s quite a story,” I said as I shifted uncomfortably. I still wanted to comfort him, but I did my best to push those urges away.

“Yeah, so that’s my family in a nutshell,”

“And where does Blake fit in?” I couldn’t help but ask.

☆Kayne☆

I wanted to yell when she asked me about Blake. Of course, she would. He was the love of her life or at least that is what I kept telling myself.

“I met Blake when we were both young, we became instant friends and we lived in each other’s houses. When my grandfather died, Blake gave me all the support I needed. Helped me out and gave me hope. When Violet ran away, I was so frantic with worry, but he never let me fall. Never,” I explained.

“Sounds like you are lucky to have a friend like him,” she said, and I smiled. She wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah, we are lucky to have each other,” I said firmly. I swished the wine around in the glass before gulping it all down. This next part was going to be hard. “I know that it is Blake’s father that ordered the attack on your coven. Blake told me about your story and now knowing that you are witch sent to spy on him, I was able to put two and two together,” I finally looked over at her and I could see the tears in her eyes. I hadn’t meant to upset her, but it was best, to be honest.

“I didn’t know until I found that basement of horror’s,” she whispered.

“It was you down there?! Well, of course, it was!” I said with a dry laugh. “I mean, I wouldn’t call it the basement of horror’s,”

“Well, with all the documentation on all the fights your faction has been a part of, I beg to differ,” she said sarcastically.

“Right, I understand, and tell me something Dawn, are you going to reveal your true self to Blake?” I watched her closely and I knew that my question had made her angry. “You do realize that the longer you keep lying to him and yourself, the worse it will be?”

“I know, I hadn’t been prepared to have any feelings for Blake. This is my first mission and I was, no, I am determined to see it through,” she said before she took a sip from her glass.

“So, you are prepared to lie to him some more just to finish your job?” I asked, annoyed with her. I had not been expecting her to say that.

“I don’t know,” she whispered before looking away. I wasn’t sure why, but it was at that moment that I hoped she would tell Blake. Once he knew, he would reject her, and maybe then she would look at me the way she looked at him. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and stood up.

“Ready for that pudding?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said with a smile. I nodded before going to the kitchen to dish us up some pudding. I needed to get away from her. Never in my life had I thought I would choose someone above Blake. Yet here I was, ready to give up years of friendship for a girl that didn’t even love me.