Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“But she’s fine.”
Mommy shakes her head. “I can’t take a chance. Why did you let this happen, Dragon?”
“I didn’t.” I start to cry. “She pulled off the button, Mommy. She put it in her mouth and swallowed before I even knew what was happening.”
We rush to the emergency room anyway. Griffin giggles the whole way. She seems fine.
We get there, and my mom is so distraught that they let us right in.
The doctor comes in. “Your baby ate a button?”
“Yes, my son had a loose button on his shirt. I’m so sorry. I should have sewn it back on.”
The doctor holds Griffin, looks in her mouth and nose. “Ma’am, she looks fine. Let me take a look down her throat. We could do an X-ray, but I think she’ll pass it. You just need to check her stools.”
Mommy’s face is white. “Are you sure?”
“Ma’am, she’s clearly not in any distress.” The doctor smiles. “You probably didn’t even need to come in.”
“But she’s just a baby. Only two.”
“So she’s still in diapers?”
“Yes.”
“Then all you need to do is check her bowel movements. If the button doesn’t pass in the next two days, see your pediatrician.”
“I’d feel better if we did an X-ray.”
“It’s contraindicated, ma’am. There’s no reason to put you or your daughter through that.”
Mommy cocks her head. “It’s just taking a picture. You’re not putting her through anything.”
“There’s no reason to do an X-ray and expose your daughter to that kind of radiation when it’s not necessary.” The doctor sets Griffin down on the exam table. “I looked down her throat. The button has clearly passed down to her stomach. She would be in obvious distress otherwise.”
Mommy stomps her foot on the floor. “I am her mother, and I want the X-ray.”
The doctor sighs. “I can’t guarantee that your insurance will cover it, ma’am, because it’s contraindicated.”
“I don’t care. I want the X-ray.” Then she looks down at me. “This is all your fault, Dragon. All your fault.”
I was six.
I forgot about that until now.
My parents were loving other than that time.
My mother apologized to me later, after we got the X-rays, which showed the plastic button had descended all the way down Griffin’s esophagus and was beginning its journey into her stomach.
A day later, my mother found it in her diaper.
But that was the beginning of the end.
Even though my parents continued to be loving, I see it now.
That was the beginning of it being all my fault.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Diana
“Did you hear me?”
Dragon looks lost in thought. He’s looking at me but not looking at me. It’s like he’s looking right through me and seeing something else.
“Do I have to repeat myself? If you want to leave, do it on your own. I’m not throwing you out of here.”
Then his eyes go wide, and I see the fire within them.
They’re laced with sadness but also with something that seems overpowering to him.
And it’s overpowering to me as well.
A storm is raging inside Dragon Locke, and I’ve only begun to comprehend it. I should step away. I should be the one to kick him out. I may not be equipped to handle the tornado that’s cycling inside him.
But my God… Something in him calls to me.
Emotion is coiled in my belly, threatening to spring forth into something I may not be ready for.
That doesn’t matter. Because it’s here.
It’s here, and I can’t tamp it down any longer.
Feelings, such strong feelings.
They have me anchored in place—unable to stop what’s inevitably going to happen.
It’s happened before, and already I know this time will be that much more passionate, that much more primal.
I reach toward him, brush the shirt off his broad muscled shoulders.
My gaze automatically drops to his pierced nipples, the massive dragon tattoo covering nearly his whole chest. The colors as they swirl together like fire and ice.
That’s what Dragon is, after all. He’s fire and he’s ice.
He’s capable of so much more than even he knows. He’s a hard and passionate lover, yet he holds back.
My God… What if he didn’t?
Will he truly tie me up the way he says he wants to? Will he spank my ass until it’s red and hurting?
I want to know.
I want to see Dragon unleashed.
Dragon on fire.
Not the Dragon who holds himself in ice, who is afraid to let his true self out.
He thinks he’s sin. He thinks he’s evil.
But I don’t believe it. I believe this man is good inside. I believe he did give that prostitute money, and for his good deed, he was punished.
“Why?” I ask softly.
Dragon blinks a few times, and the glaze in his eyes dissipates. “What do you mean? Why haven’t I left?”
I shake my head. “Why did you give that young woman money? If you had just gone away, if you hadn’t been moved by her pleas—which were probably lies, by the way—you could have avoided getting arrested.”