“I tricked you? I got you drunk? Because suddenly I’m a human male and naturally do horrible things to females?”

Aidan used his tail to grab the bottle of Northlander ale. He held it in front of Brannie and flipped it over. Half the bottle—the remainder—poured out.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“I’ve seen you put away three bottles of Rider ale that left you almost comatose. But half a bottle of Northlander ale that we shared? You might as well be drinking water.”

“Your point?”

“You weren’t drunk. We both knew what we were doing last night. We both remember every second of it. And since we’re putting it out there—”

“Don’t you dare say it.”

“—I’m in love with you. There. Said it. Now what? Now what are you going to do, Captain?”

The fireball hit Aidan right in the face and a lesser dragon would have been knocked back for miles, but his bastard brothers used to throw fireballs at him as entertainment from the time he could crawl.

But when the flames subsided, Brannie had flown off, leaving Aidan alone by the bay.

Head bowed, he took a moment to calm down. He wasn’t about to chase after her. Capture her. Chain her up. Demand she listen.

No, no. That’s how other dragons did things. Aidan was not like other dragons. He’d always known that long before Rhiannon the White had said as much to him upon their first meeting.

But he’d be damned if he’d let Branwen the Awful just storm out of his life!

If that crazy She-dragon thought it was over, she was very, very wrong.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Bram the Merciful stood on the top step and watched as Ghleanna dropped to the ground. She pulled in her wings, shifted to human, and walked toward him. Right behind her landed Brannie, and Bram let out a breath he’d been keeping in far too long.

Mother and daughter walked toward him, but Brannie was walking faster and Bram quickly realized his lovely daughter was pissed beyond all rational thought.

“Brannie?” he said as she walked past.

She stopped, came back, kissed Bram on the cheek, and then disappeared into the castle.

Ghleanna smirked as she walked up to him and hugged him tight.

“What’s happening?”

Laughing, she said, “You don’t want to know. I’ll just say . . . stay out of your daughter’s way for a bit.”

* * *

Celyn walked into the bedroom he shared with Elina Shestakova and stopped to stare at his baby sister’s feet sticking straight up in the air on the other side of the bed. He was sure it was her feet not only because of the size but because of the scar from where Celyn once bit her during a family brawl.