I nodded.
“Your Uncle Joseph had you,” I said, testing the waters a bit.
Her eyebrows rose. “Really?”
I nodded again.
“What…” she moaned. “Oh, no.”
I leaned forward.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re related to Blythe’s dragon rider, aren’t you?” she moaned.
I blinked. “I’m nothing like my brother.”
She snorted, then thought better of it when she raised her hand up to her head.
A phantom pain started to trickle through my own head, but I pushed it away.
I was good at ignoring pain.
I almost had to be to have Keifer as my brother.
Keifer was always bigger and stronger.
So I retaliated by being able to take more.
More punches.
More magic thrown my way.
More emotional trauma.
Although my other brother, Farrow, who was also a dragon rider, didn’t have anything on Keifer.
And I guess, technically, I should be thanking my older brother.
He made me into who I was today.
Although, I would much rather be parking my ass in front of a computer screen or a book, I could hold my own against the King of Dragons.
Which meant I had a pretty solid shot at standing up against almost anybody.
“I knew it!” she crowed.
This time, I didn’t feel any of her pain.
This time, I felt excitement through our bond.
A bond which she didn’t even realize was there.
I’d clamped down on my end of the bond, so the only thing she’d feel from me, if it came to it, was extreme pain.
And hopefully she’d not ever feel that from my end.
Because, if I was in extreme pain, that meant she was fucked right along with me.
“So, what else do you know?” I asked with deceptive calm.
In reality, my heart was speeding up.
I was excited that she was awake.
“I know I need to pee,” she said.
I raised a brow at her.
“You have a catheter in,” I informed her.
She lifted up the covers, spread her legs, and said, “By God, I do.”
I snorted.
“If you’re ready to get up, I’ll help you do that. I can remove the catheter for you…but I want to say that you can accomplish that feat yourself, Ms. Nurse,” I teased.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“How do you know so much about me?” she challenged. “Are you a nurse…or a doctor?”
I shook my head.
“I’ve been at your side for weeks now. My sister and Blythe took turns taking care of you. I’ve just been…observing,” I told her.
I wasn’t sure she was ready to hear anything more, yet.
I’d give her a few days to get used to it…and me…before I broached the topic of our mating and what that meant for the rest of our lives.
She started to shuck her blankets, albeit feebly, and I stood to help her disentangle herself from the covers.
“Go ahead and give me the syringe,” she ordered once I had her sitting up beside the bed.
I went to the far wall and found the syringe she’d need inside a shelf like contraption that held all the medical supplies before I walked back to her.
I handed the syringe to her and helped her stand.
When I bent down and picked up the bag that was holding her urine, she blushed scarlet.
“Give me that,” she hissed, holding out her hand.
She made a feeble attempt to reach for it, but started to fall.
I caught her before her knees could buckle, and picked her up like one would a child, carrying her into the bathroom and setting her down directly on the toilet.
“You’ve been in bed for over two months. I suggest you not try to do too much before you know what you’re capable of,” I recommended.
She narrowed her eyes, and I smiled as I left the bathroom, closing the door softly behind me.Chapter 3I will wake up early tomorrow, workout, eat a healthy breakfast, and look presentable.
-Brooklyn, sleeping on a throne of lies
Brooklyn
I felt like a newborn foal trying to find her legs as I fumbled with the huge t-shirt that was covering my body.
I didn’t know what to think.
My head was a huge mess of emotions as well.
And that all centered around the dark stranger with the beautiful brown black hair, sparkling green eyes and a sexy mouth.
He sounded like he spoke in an octave that wasn’t even registered yet.
It was so low that tingles slid down my spine whenever he spoke.
And, my God, like the man needed any help making him sexy.
With the looks, the body and the voice, he was the complete package of alpha male perfection.
And, on top of it all, he was a dragon rider; that left me feeling almost giddy.
I made quick work with the catheter, having taken them out so many times that I could do them in my sleep…or my weakness, in this case.
Of course, I’d never done it on myself before, but there was always a first time for everything.
I made slow, painful work of shuffling to the shower that was in the corner of the room, not even caring about the fact that there weren’t any towels or a shower curtain.