Then he stalked off into the woods, leaving Talaith alone.

Good. Now I can panic in peace.

* * *

Was it really supposed to be this hard? Did his brother have to fight this hard to get his human mate to submit? Of course, Briec wasn’t Fearghus. His brother probably seduced the crazy female. Briec didn’t waste time with seduction. Why bother? Either she wanted to be with him or she didn’t.

Simple. Logical. Of course, humans didn’t strike him as the most logical of beings.

He stopped by a tree, putting his hand against the rough bark so he could lean against it. Glancing down, he willed his human c**k to behave. Unruly thing. Especially around this particular female.

He wished it was simply because she was gorgeous, even when heaving her meal on his talons. Unfortunately, it was more than that. He found her mean and funny and very smart. A potent mix for his lust.

Still, she hated him. Her exact words. For humans, apparently, that was quite important. As was love. Both of those emotions so foreign to Briec, he’d never actually used the words in a sentence.

It bothered him he should care whether this woman wanted him or not. He was Briec the Mighty. Females clamored for his attention. No one had ever dismissed him so quickly or eagerly before. And no one had ever outright rejected him. How dare a human reject him. If he thought it would bother her, he’d go back and destroy her entire village. But he knew better. She wouldn’t care. She didn’t belong there and they both knew it. Why she stayed there for so long, he would find out. He intended on finding out everything about this difficult, mean-spirited, beautiful woman.

Briec’s hand dug into the tree, tearing the bark from it as a large jackrabbit raced past him. He stared at it for several seconds then shot a ball of flame, roasting it on the spot.

It gave him small satisfaction, but it would do for now.

Chapter Three

By the time Briec got back to their camp, the female sat huddled by some wood, desperately trying to start a fire by banging two rocks together. Her entire body shook and she cursed steadily at her efforts.

“What are you doing?”

She didn’t even glance at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Banging two rocks together.”

She muttered more curses that nearly singed his ears, then growled, “I’m trying to make a fire. I’m freezing.”

He spit a small bit of flame at the kindling. It burst to life as the woman squealed and stumbled back away from the bonfire.

“What in all that is holy do you think you’re doing?”

“You would have never gotten that fire started on your own. And you are of no use to me if you get ill. You humans don’t heal very well from sickness.”

“Perhaps. But we don’t heal well from burns either, dragon.”

He grunted, unwilling to admit the truthfulness of her words. “Seems you’ve recovered well from the dragonfear.”

Now that the fire had calmed to a dull roar, she squatted next to it, warming her hands. “Prefer me quaking and crying, eh?”

“Not at all. Wouldn’t mind you a little less viper-tongued, though.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t. But I just don’t think I can manage that.” She glared directly at him, looking him right in the eye. “At least not for you.”

Good gods, he’d never known someone so ready at every turn to be so blatantly rude to him before. Apparently the dragonfear his kind relied on so much was not nearly as powerful as promised.

Deciding not to get into another fight with her, he dropped the three rabbits he’d caught. These he’d left raw, assuming she’d want to cook them herself.

She stared down at the carcasses then back up at him. “And what do you want me to do with that?”

“Whatever you humans do to your meat. Skin it and cook it, yes?”

With more angry muttering, she pulled up her painfully boring nightgown and Briec noticed for the first time she had a sheath tied to her shapely leg. A sheath that held a very sharp and well cared for blade.

As she went about skinning the animals, Briec settled against a tree opposite from her.

“Do you always go to sleep with a blade tied to your leg, m’lady?” Since he’d assumed by her dress that those peasants dragged her from her bed. Of course, why humans went to sleep wearing clothes he’d never understand. She’d have to stop that once they began bedding together. He wanted that naked body pushed up against him. He’d be damned if some ugly material lay between them…ever.

“Yes.”

“Did your husband not think that odd?”

“He didn’t know.”

Briec, a being easily bored by nearly everyone, found himself irrationally intrigued by this woman.

“How could he not know?” She didn’t answer, instead focusing all her energy on the rabbits. Only one possible way came to mind of how the man wouldn’t know about that blade. “Did he not bed with you?”

Without looking up, she murmured, “Not for many years.”

It galled Briec how ridiculously happy that little admission made him. “And how did you manage that?”

Unless the man was blind, there would be no way he couldn’t want this woman. Briec wanted her the second he saw her.

“I don’t understand your question.”

“If I remember correctly, you said something about the two of you being together for sixteen years. That’s a very long time for a husband not to—”