Cruel Daddy Dragon (Candara Dragon Ops #3)

Chapter 18 - Rufus

“Sarah?” I call, “Seriously, now, I need to get going to warn the others about the battle with Eclipse.”

“Yeah, okay,” she shouts back from inside the bathroom, “I’m almost done!”

She went in there soon after the sex ended, saying she needed to sort her uniform out. I suppose she is still on duty, and a police officer can’t go walking around looking like she’d just had a good, hard dicking.

I chuckle to myself.

There really was a new side to the Sheriff! I’d never have imagined Greyson Ridge’s respectable sheriff having a dirty sex session in her office—and I was the one who brought that out of her!

Aside from the post-orgasm rush, I’m grinning in an odd sort of pride. There’s something almost flattering knowing she behaves so differently around me; it must make me special in some way.

Sarah gets out of the bathroom, still fixing her hair. It’s shocking how normal she looks after what just happened—she cleans up well, I suppose.

But the most startling change is how her expression has changed back to work mode. When she looks up at me, it’s like what just happened has been forgotten already.

“I’ve been thinking about something,” Sarah says, “Before you go, I want to ask you something—seriously now.”

My stomach drops a little.

“Yeah?” I ask.

“That Eclipse dragon said that they’re planning to make this town their own,” she says, “Do you know what he meant by that?”

“I don’t know,” I reply, “But I think it’s just posturing. They’ve been talking among themselves about taking over Greyson Ridge for a while.”

“Okay,” Sarah answers, her police tone back, “But they tried to kidnap me earlier. Have they ever done that before?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I answer, “It’s just you so far. That’s why it’s important that I’ve dropped you off in Kaius and Milo’s radius in case something happens.”

“Right,” Sarah says, “So, I’m guessing they’re aiming for fated mates of the Candara team?”

“We don’t know,” I reply, “That’s something Cyrus and Evander are going off to investigate.”

Sarah nods a little.

“Okay. Just clarifying,” she says, “So, we don’t really know why they did what they did before, then?”

“We’re going to find out,” I tell her, as assuring as I can be, “I promise you. We will find out why they kidnapped you. You don’t need to worry.”

Sarah just nods at me.

“Right,” she says stonily, “And what do you think I should arm myself to protect myself with?”

“What?” I ask

“The handgun was only effective when I shot the dragon in his mouth, so dragons aren’t immune to bullets,” Sarah says, “I imagine if I’d managed to land a shot in his eyes or nose, then they would have been effective as well. But if I’ve learned anything from this afternoon, it’s that I’m going to need something with a lot more firepower.”

“What are you talking about?!” I snap, “If this afternoon should have taught you anything, it’s that you shouldn’t be getting yourself involved with this kind of thing!”

“Well,” she answers sternly, “if I’m going to continue having visions of people in danger, I might not have much of a choice but to step in. I didn’t have enough time to warn anyone each time I’ve had visions before.”

“Look,” I plead, “I’ll admit it—you saved me. You saved me by distracting the dragon but you have to know that if you didn’t have the element of surprise, you would have been killed! That handgun did nothing to him, and if I’d been too weak, or I wasn’t there, he would have killed you!”

“Exactly. That’s why I need to have something with a bit more firepower to keep myself safe,” she says, “Perhaps an assault rifle.”

“ No! ” I yell back, “The only way to keep yourself safe is to keep away from all of this! Hide somewhere!”

“I can’t,” she answers, “If I have the power to see visions of danger, then I need to use that. I can’t just hide away and do nothing if I’m going to be forced to watch people get killed. I have to save their lives, Rufus.”

I growl in frustration. I see her steel over when she hears me snarl under my breath. I rake my hands through my hair.

“You are so infuriating!” I answer back after a moment, “How do you think this is supposed to work?! I don’t think any kind of gun you could hold would protect you against a dragon, and I can’t bring you into the fights with me!”

“I wouldn’t expect you to protect me,” she answers, “And I wouldn’t even expect you to bring me into fights. What happened today—hopefully—won’t be what I always have to do.”

“Good,” I say.

“But,” s he presses, “they did kidnap me, and we don’t know why. There, I wasn’t doing anything. I wasn’t getting involved with dragons in any way. ”

Sarah steps closer, her green eyes flinty.

“ They came to me. I wasn’t doing anything except a regular police patrol.”

“I understand that—” I start, but she cuts over me.

“And we don’t know why,” she says, “Which should tell us that I need to be able to protect myself at all times. If I’m going to get attacked randomly, then I will need to be able to fight them because I’m not going to run and hide.”

“Sarah, you need to leave it to us,” I snap, “You can’t protect yourself with guns—the only thing you can do is let us keep you safe.”

I step closer to her and put my hand on her arm. She doesn’t completely lose her professional air, but she does soften a little.

“We… I can’t protect you when we’re in the middle of a fight,” I say, “But we can keep you safe if you let us. Stay with Lena and Julie, and we can protect all of you together.”

Sarah shakes her head. Then she shakes my hand off her arm.

“Sarah—”

“Am I just supposed to give up everything?” Sarah asks, “Am I just supposed to give up being a police officer? Being Greyson Ridge’s only sheriff?”

Finally, she breaks her professional air altogether and starts begging:

“You know what this means to me, Rufus! You know how hard I’ve worked to get here, how much I’ve wanted to help people around here! And now I’ve developed visions for people in danger—something that can help me help people more than ever—and you’re telling me I need to hide away?”

“It wouldn’t be forever. Just until the danger’s passed,” I plead, “Once we deal with Eclipse, you can go right back to your life as it was before.”

Sarah covers her face and groans in frustration.

“This is what I was scared of!” she snaps, “Losing everything because I dared to get together with someone!”

“Oh, please! ” I shout back, “You don’t know what it’s like to lose everything if you think this is it! Not being a police officer for a few months is not going to kill you! But Eclipse?! They will kill you, and I can’t lose another woman I love, Sarah! ”

She pauses. We both pant for a moment, and it truly hits me what I’ve just said.

“What?” she murmurs after a moment.

I’m faced with the choice. In the end, I swallow and reply:

“I love you,” I say, “I can’t lose you to Eclipse, Sarah. I just can’t.”

Sarah just stares at me for a moment. Her green eyes are wide, her rose pink lips just a little wide, like she’s thinking about answering, but she can’t find any words.

I step forward.

“This is serious,” I murmur, “This isn’t me trying to underestimate you or how amazing you are. I just know what Eclipse is capable of. Please, please let us protect you. Let me protect you.”

She still doesn’t seem to know how to respond. I put both my hands on both her shoulders. Sarah finally says something:

“I—I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I ask.

“For your loss,” she answers.

A fresh wave of pain rolls through me. I take a breath.

“I’m okay,” I lie, “It was a long time ago.”

I rub my hands up and down her arms.

“It’s you I’m worried about now, Sarah,” I say, “Let us protect you. Just for a short while.”

Sarah’s face has softened. She doesn’t look happy, but she doesn’t look indignant anymore. Sarah looks at the floor, taking a second to think. Then she looks up and nods at me.

“Okay. Fine,” she says quietly.

I lean down and kiss her forehead. Her hand reaches to my lower back and rubs up and down.

“Thank you,” I murmur, “I promise we’ll work as fast as possible so we don’t disrupt your life too much.”

“Well, you ought to get going and talk to Cyrus about what happened, then,” she answers.

I break, and she’s looking away.

“I guess you’re right,” I reply.

“I’ll join you after my shift,” Sarah says.

I can’t read her expression, and it does worry me a little bit. Has this woman never had anyone tell her they love her before?

But either way, I break from her, and start heading toward the door of the police station. I look back at her.

“Sarah.”

She looks up at me. I try to say the L word again, but the coldness in her gaze makes me think twice.

“I—stay safe.”

I quickly take my leave.