Samira looked between them, but Melanie didn’t elaborate. Good. The human female was siding with him about keeping their business to themselves.
His dragon had been following the exchange, afraid someone might upset his human female, and now, it urged Tristan to give their female some kind of assurance. The other male is gone for now. She isn’t in danger. We should soothe her worries. Tell her we won’t cause any trouble.
Rather than fight his inner beast, Tristan said, “I won’t start anything. Go change.”
Melanie looked unconvinced, but she finally nodded and went upstairs. When she was gone, Samira asked, “Where are you taking her?”
Tristan shook his head. “I’m not telling you.” He pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket. “Now excuse me, I need to ring Bram before Melanie comes back downstairs.”
He turned to go into the living room but found the little boy standing in his way. Tristan raised an eyebrow, but the little boy just crossed his arms over his chest and stood his ground. This little one was going to be quite the handful when his dragon finally started communicating with him in a few years’ time.
Still, Tristan had spent more than a decade teaching children and he’d found being straightforward with them was usually the best policy. “Is there something you want to say to me, little one?” The boy nodded and Tristan said, “Well, go on then.”
“Be nice to Auntie Mel and don’t make her cry.”
Tristan’s dragon growled at the thought of Melanie crying.
Rather than argue with the child, he gave him a direct stare and said, “I need to get through. If you have anything else to say, then say it.”
The boy’s confidence faltered under the gaze of his. “That’s it.”
Tristan nodded. “Right. Then let me pass.”
The little boy moved aside and Tristan went to the far end of the living room where he’d be safe from Samira’s human hearing. He didn’t want anyone to know about his asking for this afternoon and tomorrow off. If things went well with his sister, they would stay the night at her cottage. If not, then Tristan needed a few private hours with Melanie to lay out the future when it came to their child and divided responsibilities.
He already knew which outcome his dragon was rooting for, but the human-half was unsure. To be honest, both halves of him were starting to hope Melanie would be able to help his sister. To wish for anything else would be selfish and unkind.
Of course, there was also the caveat that if Melanie helped Arabella, the human might let him fuck her on a regular basis, allowing him to better control his dragon.
But that was all to come. Right now, he dialed Bram’s phone number and tried not to think about how complicated things might become if his dragon-half became fully attached. When that happened, he would be forced to start courting Melanie or risk being completely lost to his beast.
On top of that, the little boy’s accusation of him making Melanie cry didn’t sit well, and if nothing else, he would make sure she didn’t cry again because of his actions. He didn’t want to become like Neil. The idea of Melanie becoming a broken recluse like Caitriona Belmont caused his dragon to growl as well as leave a sour taste in his mouth.
No, with a little effort, he could be civil. He couldn’t promise her anything else, but he could at least prevent her from being completely miserable because of his bastard ways.
Chapter Two
With a fresh change of clothes and clean teeth, Melanie felt almost normal again. The piece of warm naan bread she’d swiped from Samira’s kitchen on her way out had simultaneously calmed her stomach and stopped it from rumbling. A good thing, too, since their destination was turning out to be quite a hike from the main Stonefire living area.
While Mel had had some time to explore the “city center” equivalent of Stonefire’s community, they were heading somewhere new, away from the nearby lake and toward one of the hills not quite tall enough to be called a mountain. The contrast of the flat land with the sharp, jagged hills and mountains was breathtaking. She could see why people liked to holiday in the human sections of the Lake District.
She and Tristan had walked mostly in awkward silence, but when a lone cottage came into view, she asked, “Is that where your sister lives?”
“Yes. Arabella likes her peace and quiet.”
Mel had a feeling there was a deeper issue keeping Arabella away from everyone else, but she merely nodded. The last thing she wanted was to start an argument with Tristan. If his sister was anything like Cait, then she wouldn’t like strangers or unannounced visits. An argument could easily upset her or make her close in on herself, which reminded her, “Did you tell her we were coming?”
“No. If it were just me, Ara would stay put. But if she knew you were coming, she’d hike around the surrounding countryside for the rest of the afternoon.”
“Because she doesn’t like visitors or because I’m human?”