Dragon Claimed

by Donna Grant

  “You don’t know me,” she told him. “You have no reason to help or even be concerned about my family. The people I’ve paid to look for things have given me less. I don’t think I believe it’s just something you feel you have to do.”

  Merrill ran a hand down his face as he turned on his heel. “I’ll be in the library,” he said before he walked away.

  Cináed didn’t reply until Merrill was gone, and the entire time, he kept his gaze on her. It made Gemma shift uncomfortably, but she wasn’t sure why. There was no anger, condemnation, or derision in his eyes. Maybe it was the way it felt as if he were studying her. Almost as if he were determining how much he could trust her.

  Finally, he said, “You doona know me either. I’ve thrown a tremendous amount your way, and you’ve taken it all graciously.”

  Gemma wasn’t so sure of that, but she didn’t interrupt him to dispute it.

  “I’ve given you no reason to trust me, so how could I expect you to freely accept my explanation?” He shot her a crooked smile.

  He turned and began walking. She quickly fell in step with him. It was her curiosity about what he might show her next that had her following. And oddly enough, she wasn’t shunning his presence as she normally did with anyone she had to spend more than a few moments with.

  She found herself staring at him as they made their way down the stairs, wondering what made him different. It could be the money. But she’d interacted with others who were just as rich. While his handsomeness exceeded anyone’s she’d ever met, it wasn’t that either.

  He glanced at her, his brows drawing together when he caught her looking at him. “Something wrong?”

  “I’m trying to figure you out,” she admitted.

  He laughed softly and took her through the house to a kitchen that was larger than her entire cottage. He motioned to the table, and she stopped and pulled a heavy chair out to sit.

  “Tea?” he asked.

  She nodded, unable to look away from him. He looked comfortable in the kitchen. Obviously this wasn’t the first time he had made tea for someone. And for some strange reason, that pleased her.

  “I was going to take you outside but the weather isna cooperating.”

  Gemma was surrounded by windows throughout the house, but she hadn’t looked through one of them. When she moved her gaze to the large window over the sink, she saw the sheets of rain coming down at an angle from the wind.

  All that was missing was the thunder and lightning and she would be transported back to the night her family was lost.

  “You doona like storms.”

  She jerked at how close Cináed was. She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard or seen him. Then she saw the cup of tea in front of her and she realized she had been lost in thought for some time. She spotted the milk and sugar bowl and reached for the milk, pouring a hefty amount in her cup as Cináed sat next to her.

  The silence felt like a wet blanket sucking all the air from her. She stirred her tea and gently set the spoon aside. Then she raised the cup to her lips and took a sip. The tea was exceptionally good, but then she was at Dreagan so she expected that.

  “Rain doesn’t bother me,” she admitted. Her eyes lifted to his face. “It’s the raging storms that I’d rather not be around.”

  He gave a nod. “It reminds you of that night.”

  “Yes. I end up reliving it all over each time a storm comes.”

  Cináed’s brows drew together. “There was such a storm last eve.”

  She didn’t say anything. There was no need for a response. The truth sat between them. Gemma lowered her gaze to the cup, becoming engrossed in the simple white design. No floral pattern for those at Dreagan. That struck her as humorous.

  While waiting, hoping that Cináed would say something, she drank her tea. A few seconds later, he let out a whistle. That had her lifting her eyes to him to find him grinning.

  “Wait,” he said when she parted her lips to ask what that was.

  She heard a commotion that sounded like something large was coming down the stairs. She tried to determine what the scratching sound was, then she saw the massive Great Dane running on the wood floor. A smile split over her face as the dog stopped and let Cináed pet him before he turned to Gemma.

  The moment her hands sank into the soft fur of the dog, all her worries disappeared. She was soon laughing while trying to evade the Great Dane, who was doing his best to lick her.

  “Duke has the run of the place,” Cináed said. “He’s Callie and Hal’s, but he has his favorites. While he seems to have taken a liking to V, I give him food. So he likes me a lot.”

  “That’s why he comes so quickly when you whistle,” she said.

  Cináed nodded as he laughed and patted the dog. “Exactly. I know how to win over animals.”

  And people apparently, too. But she didn’t say the words. Perhaps she should have. Cináed went out of his way to make her feel comfortable. If she wasn’t so distrusting of people she might find it sweet, but she kept looking for whatever angle he was using to get to her. And she hated that she was like that.

  Gemma refused to think of that more, though. She focused on the dog and the joy having him with her brought. Duke sat beside her, panting, while she continually petted him. Ever since Daisy and that night, the only way she had gotten through each day was with a dog beside her.

  She and Cináed shared a smile. He made it easy to relax with him, and while he wanted to know her story, he didn’t push. Not once did he ask about that night or what information she could give him to help in his search.

  All he had asked was that she be with them to give what little she felt she could. Since she didn’t want to talk about any of it, they weren’t likely to learn much of anything. Unless she told them all of it.

  Except she wasn’t sure she could.

  Her smile faded and she found herself wrapping her arms around Duke. She rested her head against his. “Dogs are so accepting. They don’t ask questions. They love unconditionally and only want to be loved in return.”

  “I know there must have been others who only befriended you to see if they could extract information,” Cináed said. “I can also see why you are so guarded. It’s warranted. You must go with your instincts. You’ll know when the time is right.”

  She straightened to look at him. “It’s been easy to put the past out of my mind, to try and forget it.”

  “The past never loosens its hold.”

  Her head cocked to the side at his words. Then she whispered, “You know what it feels like?”

  “To want to forget but be unable to do so?” He gave a nod as his face filled with sadness. “Verra much so.”

  “You keep your secret close, don’t you?”

  He gave her a melancholy smile. “Always.”

  She knew without asking that the secret was a heavy one to bear. Maybe even weightier than her own. Just as she was about to ask what it was, she realized that she couldn’t. Not only because she herself refused to share, but because secrets that substantial had to be freely told by the one who carried them.

  Gemma reached over and put her hand on Cináed’s arm. Whatever bond that was between them strengthened with the knowledge that each held such a hefty burden.

  Chapter Nine

  The moment between Cináed and Gemma was broken when Duke bounded away. It wasn’t long before Cináed heard the voices of some of the mates making their way into the manor. One look at Gemma and he could see she was ready to bolt.

  “We have a large family at Dreagan. Some are married. The commotion you hear is a few of the women returning. I can introduce you if you’d like, or we can make our escape.”

  “Escape, please,” she murmured.

  He held out his hand, and to his surprise, she took it without hesitation. Cináed then quickly maneuvered them out of the kitchen and behind a large pillar as Darcy, Rachel, and Grace turned the corner.

  Cináed looked down at Gemma to find her staring at th
e women oddly. Almost like she was trying to figure out how they could interact so easily with each other.

  As interesting as that was, he was very aware that their hands were still joined. He wasn’t sure she was conscious of it so he didn’t plan on saying anything. Besides, he liked the feel of her palm against his.

  When the women had disappeared in the kitchen, Gemma turned her head to him. “Thank you.”

  “No problem,” he replied.

  She looked down, and to his disappointment, pulled her hand from his. “Can you take me back to the library?”

  “Of course.”

  They made their way there. Cináed rolled his eyes when he saw Merrill asleep on one of the couches. Gemma ignored him and went at once to the table to look through everything again. Cináed stood to the side watching her.

  She moved things into stacks. When she finished, she shoved a rather large stack toward him, and without looking up said, “There is not a single truth in these.”

  He took the papers and tossed them on the floor. If anyone knew what was lies and what wasn’t, it was the only one alive who had been witness to it—Gemma herself.

  “These are people that I hired for myself. They then turned around and sold their story,” she explained about the next stack.

  Thankfully it was a small one, but there was no mistaking the hard tone in her voice. She had been betrayed more times than he knew. It was becoming more and more clear why the walls around her were so thick. And he was ready to help her strengthen them himself, because no one should go through the things that she had.

  Especially alone.

  “Did they find anything useful?” he asked.

  She gave a little shrug. “Nothing more than I already knew myself.”

  Cináed looked over the names. He grabbed the laptop that he’d brought down and opened it. A few minutes later his search of the first name brought up the man’s website and all his accolades for work as a private investigator. A look at the rates had Cináed seeing red.

  “He charges a fortune.”

  Gemma glanced at the computer and issued another shrug. “I thought he was worth it.”

  Cináed saved the website to do more of a deeper search later. The next few minutes he spent looking at the other three people and discovered all were top in their fields and charged exorbitant prices.

  And each of them had betrayed Gemma.

  He straightened and looked at her. “Please tell me you had them sign non-disclosure agreements.”

  “Of course. I hired a very pricy solicitor to handle that, and yet when I tried to sue them, they managed to turn it against me.”

  “Have the suits been settled?”

  She gave a shake of her head. “I’m about ready to give up.”

  “No,” Cináed stated. “Doona give them the satisfaction. I can help with that.”

  Confusion filled Gemma’s face. “Why?”

  “Because I’ve never liked when someone takes advantage of others. I can do something, and if you’ll allow me, I will see to it. Fire your solicitor.”

  She put a hand on her hip and regarded him with a look filled with puzzlement. “Are you a solicitor?”

  “Actually, I am.”

  Her eyes widened. “You have a practice?”

  “As you can imagine, there is much to handle for Dreagan. Vaughan is master of all things legal, but I was curious about the field, so I got my degree so I could help him.”

  She nodded slowly. “And you make it sound like you went down and bought a car.”

  “I didna mean to,” he said with a chuckle. “Things just come easy to me.”

  “Like?” she pressed.

  He lifted one shoulder. “Anything. I could give you a list of the many different jobs around Dreagan that others are in charge of. I’m the one who goes to each to learn how it’s done and masters it to nearly the level of the others.”

  “Then you move on to something else?” she asked in disbelief.

  Cináed inwardly winced. Perhaps he should have thought about rewording that. “Aye.”

  “And you retain everything?”

  “I do.”

  “That’s...impressive. I admit, I’m a bit jealous of your skill.”

  Relief swept through him, allowing a wide smile to pull at his lips. “I have a lot of skills. Make use of them.”

  “You really want to help with the lawsuits?”

  “Absolutely,” he stated. “Something doesna add up with your solicitor, the NDA, and these people who seemingly got away with writing these articles for, I’m guessing, quite a sum of money.”

  Her lips twisted. “It’s not about the money. It’s about them giving me their word, signing a legal—binding—document, and then going behind my back.”

  Cináed made a mental note to dig deeper into Gemma’s solicitor and the connection with those who wrote the pieces.

  “I should pay you something,” she said.

  He frowned at her. “I think you’ve lost out on enough money. Besides, I doona need it.”

  “It’s the principle of it though. You have no reason to give me such help for free.”

  “My reason is that I want to.”

  Her lips flattened as she studied him. “I’m going to agree but only if you promise that if things become more than you expect that you’ll come to me and we’ll work out an arrangement for payment.”

  “I accept.” Cináed gladly agreed because he knew that was never going to happen.

  They shook on it then, but already he was planning on the action he was going to take. No one had stood up for—or with—Gemma all these years. Someone needed to do it, and he wanted to be that person.

  He wanted her to look at him with a welcoming smile instead of a guarded one. He wanted her to greet him without wariness, without wondering what he was after.

  In short, he wanted her to trust him.

  “My mother took off the locket to entice me to get on the boat,” Gemma suddenly said.

  Cináed’s mind came to a halt as he waited to see if she would continue. Thankfully, she did.

  “I didn’t want to go. The isle was all I’d ever known. I was happy there. It was home. My home. I didn’t understand why we had to leave or why I couldn’t take all of my things.” She turned her head away to look at the empty fireplace. “I wanted to bring all of my toys, but I was only allowed to bring three items. So, I did what most children would do, I made a fuss. Da was yelling for Mum to get downstairs. She knew how much I loved the locket, so she said if I came with her that the locket would be mine, and I’d get new toys. She never took the locket off. Ever. And she was going to give it to me.”

  Gemma’s gaze slid back to him. “We went downstairs and we were at the boat when I heard my dog bark. I wasn’t going anywhere without Daisy. Da and Kyle were already on the boat, and Mum was tugging me, trying to force me on. I slipped out of her hold. She took off the locket and held it out to me. I wanted it so badly, and I knew it wouldn’t take me long to get Daisy. I thought I could get my dog and have the necklace.”

  “You went back for the dog,” Cináed said as things began to fall into place. “That’s why you were no’ on the boat.”

  She shook her head sadly. “That was the last time I saw my family.”

  “It’s also why you have such a fondness for canines. Daisy was all you had until you were found.”

  “When she died, it nearly destroyed me.”

  “I’ve been in that position before.”

  Her pale blue eyes held such despair and heartache that he wanted to pull her against him and hold her, but he didn’t dare. He had made great headway with her. To touch her now might irreparably damage that.

  The sound of laughter nearby made Gemma jump, reminding Cináed that she was used to being by herself. Perhaps bringing her here hadn’t been a good idea.

  “We can pack all this up and take it to your place if you’d rather,” he offered.

  She bit her lip. “You would be all
right with that?”

  “I’m here to help you, Gemma. We can do this anywhere.”

  “Then, yes, please. I would very much like to return home.”

  He gave her a nod. “It’ll take me just a moment to pack all of this up. Do you want to wait for me or go on ahead?”

  She hesitated. “I don’t have much in the way of food. I should probably stop at the store.”

  “Doona concern yourself on my account. Everything will be fine.”

  “I don’t believe most people when they say that, but for some reason, I do with you.”

  “Because it will be.”

  She smiled easily. “I’ll meet you at my house then.”

  “That you will.”

  Cináed walked her to her car and watched her drive off. When he returned to the library Merrill had already gathered everything and put it in a messenger bag along with one of Ryder’s laptops.

  “Thanks,” Cináed said.

  Merrill stepped in front of him. “You know I heard the exchange between you and Gemma.”

  “I assumed.”

  “She asked you, but now I am. Why are you wanting to help this mortal?”

  Cináed shrugged and shifted the bag from one hand to the other. “As I said, it’s a feeling, a drive I can no’ ignore. Something led me to Gemma.”

  “You think that there is some connection between what happened to her family and us?”

  “I doona know. It’s what I’m hoping to determine, but even you have to admit that people doona disappear as her family did.”

  Merrill’s lips twisted. “A lot can happen in the water. Between the currents and animals, there would be nothing left for anyone to find.”

  “All these years, aye, I agree with you. Three weeks after? I doona believe that. Even if the storm slammed the boat against rocks anywhere near the isle, something would’ve been found. And I keep coming back to the fact that the parents wouldna leave their daughter. Now we know for certain they didna.”

  “You’re taking her word for it?”

  “I am.”

  Merrill crossed his arms over his chest. “She was a child. How can you trust what she remembers?”

  “The same gut feeling that led me to her. Just as I know that she’s no’ told us everything. There is more. Whether it’s what happened that night or over the three weeks before she was found, there are missing parts of the story.”