The Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lore) by Eden Ashe Read Free Book Online

first. It was the way it was. The way it always had been. The way it always would be. He had no weaknesses, no emotional attachments to anyone or anything. Any vulnerability left his people open. They had been at war since damn near the dawning of time, and with Cage now at the head of the Hunters, peace was on the horizon for Daniel’s people for the first time in their long-ass lives. The last thing they needed was a chink in his armor caused by a woman with hair the color of sunshine and a stubbornness that matched his own.
    She’d led a Hunter to him once already. No way in hell was he going to give the little traitor information that would put his people at risk.
     

 
    5
     
    Shelby sucked in a huge breath when the elevator opened directly into Daniel’s apartment. She’d expected Daniel’s place to be huge. After all, the man was a giant. He was a powerhouse of epic proportions, a massively built six-foot-eight, compared to her short five-foot-two. Anything normal size wouldn’t fit him. Having pictured him in a normal apartment or house always had the same effect on her as picturing a large, wild, untamed beast in a glass cage.
    Daniel’s apartment redefined the word huge. The ceilings were at least two stories high, with windows so large it would take a full day to clean them. A studio, the only interior walls closed off what she assumed was the bathroom.
    Despite the crumbling brick, everything was clean. Immaculate. There was a place for everything and everything was in its place. Shelves that lined the exterior walls were filled with weapons. A large couch sat at an odd angle in the middle of the room, almost as if it had been put there as a second thought, then forgotten about. Which made sense. It would be hard to sprawl out or get comfortable on any couch when you were the size of a large mountain. The kitchen sat against the east wall, a long black row of cabinets and shining stainless steel appliances, with a small island doubling as a table.
    A neatly made bed was at the far side of the apartment, while in dead center of the large, open space was an old, black punching bag.
    Completely functional–if you were a psychopath, she thought, as she eyed the rows and rows of weapons. It was completely lacking in warmth, no other workout equipment or furniture. There were no rugs or pillows or even curtains or books to warm the place up or give it a sense of identity. She frowned. The entire place felt…cold. It didn’t fit him at all. Underneath his gruff, silent exterior, the man burned hot down to his core. He deserved more comfort than this.
    Damn it, she was doing it again. Somehow, from the very first moment she’d seen him, she’d had this fierce, almost uncontrollable urge in her to protect him from the world. Which was ridiculous considering the man threw off power like most people breathed. Not to mention the insane arsenal he was packing in this place. Something in his eyes pulled at her, insisting she help him.
    She shivered as she turned back around to face him. For as exhausted as she felt, he looked worse. She suddenly remembered how insistent the doctor was he stay seated and rest.
    If he hadn’t ignored her demand for answers, freaking her out more than a little, she would have felt sorry for him.
    “Just so you know, Daniel, if I don’t know what’s going on, none of this is really happening.” She raised her brow in a dead-on imitation of the look he was currently giving her. “No way am I agreeing to be married, or mated, or whatever it is you think we’re doing here. Got it?”
    “I’m a dragon.”
    She gave him a slow, measured blink before she moved in. She pointed up at him. “Fine, keep making jokes, dragon boy, but I’m not kidding. None of this is happening until I know what the hell is going on.”
    Luca choked as the muscle under Daniel’s left eye began to twitch. When she stood there, refusing to let him intimidate her, he took a step closer. Then another,