Sassy Ever After: Dragon Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Selena Kitt Read Free Book Online

in the chair. He thought he’d never seen anyone look so defeated.
    “I care about him,” she said finally, crossing her arms and looking out the wall of glass at the slowly sinking sun.
    “You care too much.” He wanted to gather her up, to comfort her, to kiss that sad, downturned mouth. Kai swallowed the urge. “You care about your horses and you care about kids like Evan—and his mom. You care about Stuart. You care so much about everyone else—but Jules… who cares for you?”
    She blinked at him, speechless, drawing her lower lip in for a moment, her brow creased in thought.
    “Your parents aren’t coming back to care for you,” he said softly, seeing the hurt in her eyes. “And I know what that’s like, too. Believe me.”
    Her gaze dropped to the table but not before he saw how wet her eyes were.
    “Have you ever flown on a plane?” he asked.
    That startled a laugh out of her. “Of course I have. I’m not that sheltered.”
    Sebastian was coming in with their main course—pork tenderloin, asparagus and roasted red potatoes—and Kai waited for him to go before continuing. Jules pushed her food around her plate, far less animated than she’d been when she came in. He was sorry for that—but he couldn’t help her if she didn’t first acknowledge that she actually needed help.
    “You know how, on an airplane, they tell you to put your oxygen mask on first?” He cut his piece of pork—the knife went through it like butter—watching her nod. “Like, if you have a child or someone elderly who needs help—they tell you to put your mask on before theirs. Right?”
    “Yeahhh.” Jules drew the word out, looking askance at him, like she knew where he was going. And of course, she had to know. It was obvious. She just didn’t like it or want to admit it, he thought.
    “Why do you think that is?”
    She chewed thoughtfully, taking a sip of wine before answering. “I’m not an idiot.”
    “Right.” He gave her a nod and a small smile. “That’s what everyone thinks, every time the flight attendant gives that spiel. Of course, we know—we’re not idiots. But when the plane is going down, when everyone is panicked and the child on your lap grabs onto you for help… then what? Do we remember to put our masks on first? Or do we instinctively reach out to help the helpless?”
    “Okay.” She sighed, stabbing a potato. “I get your point.”
    “Self-sacrifice can be noble,” he told her. “The mother who gives her life for her child. The husband for his wife…”
    “Go on,” Jules urged when Kai grew quiet.
    He cleared his throat. “You have to pick your battles. If you keep giving and giving, well… eventually you’ll run out of oxygen.”
    “I suppose you’re right.” The look on her face was pained.
    “I have a feeling you don’t say that very often.” He chuckled when she stuck her tongue out at him and tried not to think of the things he wanted to see her do with it.
    “I’m not telling you this from some lofty height,” he assured her. “I learned this the hard way. I’m only saying this because I don’t want you to have to learn that lesson as hard as I did.”
    “Well… then thank you.” She was still scowling, but he’d gotten through to her. Then she looked up at him, lost and confused and quite frightened underneath that tough exterior. He knew she wouldn’t have allowed it, but he ached to hold her. “But Kai… I think it may be too late. I’m already out of air… or, to stop with all the metaphors… out of money.”
    “I can help with that.”
    She looked doubtful, but she didn’t refuse him. That was a great leap forward, as far as he was concerned, and he let it go until after dessert—lemon-ginger cheesecake. Jules exclaimed over it and thanked Sebastian a thousand times.
    “I’m not used to all this luxury,” she admitted, sitting back in her chair with a happy sigh. “I usually open a can of soup or microwave a Lean Cuisine after working