Joy.
Contentment.
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I don’t feel afraid anymore. I feel protected and cared for and safe. And I know that right now, nothing can touch me because Lee has my back.
He stops kissing me, then, reluctantly, and takes my hand once more.
“Come on,” he whispers. “We’re almost there.”
“Where are we going?”
“My cabin,” he tells me.
“You have a cabin?” My head is still spinning from the kiss. Now there’s this extra knowledge he’s throwing at me, too. “In Storm Dawn? Do you come here to be alone?”
“Yes.”
“To meet women?” I ask, curious. Why else would you have a secret cabin off in Westrbridge Forest?
He laughs loudly. “No,” he tells me “It’s just for me. When I need a place to unwind or to think, I come here.”
We come over the top of a small hill, and I see it suddenly. The little wood cabin is nestled between some trees. There’s a little bench on the porch, but nothing else. There’s no driveway here. No one could come here to camp unless they knew the way. Roads are non-existent. There’s only this little path and it leads right to the house.
“It’s lovely,” I tell him honestly.
“I got it a few years ago,” he says as we head toward the front door. “It’s been my own private haven. Not that Fablestone isn’t wonderful, but sometimes it’s nice to have some down time.”
“When was the last time you were here?” I ask. The grass is a little overgrown and the sides of the cabin look a little worse for wear, but it’s cozy. Comfortable. It’s the type of place you could go spend an entire weekend if you just wanted to go stare at the stars. I imagine there are creeks or even lakes nearby you could go swimming in. It’s just...comfortable.
“A few months,” he frowns when he says it.
“What’s wrong?”
“The last time I was here,” he lowers his voice and pauses. I stop walking beside him. “I was calling Lucky.”
“What?” I practically screech. “What do you mean?”
“Shh,” he grabs me and pulls me behind a tree. “Something’s wrong,” he says.
“What?”
“When we first became aware of the dragon abductions, Lucky lost a baby they’d kidnapped. They went door to door trying to find it and stopped by Peggy’s house. That was before she was Cameron’s mate. They gave her a business card.”
Understanding dawns on me. “She was supposed to call them if she decided she had information for them.”
“Bingo,” he says. “But she didn’t call them. She gave the card to me, and I called Lucky.”
“From your cabin?”
“Yeah,” he says. “From my cabin.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t want them tracing my call,” he whispers, peering out from the side of the tree. He’s back almost as fast and he shakes his head.
“Is someone in your cabin, Lee?”
“Someone’s in my cabin,” he agrees. “Damn. I should have scented them from the path. Their smell is all over this place,” he looks disgusted.