Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance by Kathi S. Barton

away and asked if I’d come out and answer your questions. He’s going to be a while. One of the workers cut his hand and requires stitches.”
    “It’s so cold here. The stone is as cold as ice.” She hadn’t meant to speak to him, but now that she had, she decided that he might have more information than the doctor had. “The mountain, Pierce said, rose from the ground to create the castle for you. What did he mean by that?”
    “Just that. When I decided to have a home built here, the land and all the surrounding area around it was flat. It had also been over-farmed. There had been, at one time, sheep running here, but they too were dying, due to the lack of vegetation. So I made a bargain with the grounds.” She stared at him. It was a fanciful story, but completely untrue. She asked him what the bargain had been. “That I would forever leave a part of me behind when I swam in the waterways, keep the hearths burning, and make sure there were people, which the land needs to survive, living peacefully with her. She was ready to agree by then, and we have lived well together since. Living in harmony here between the mountain and the lake.”
    “I see.” Kendrick ran her hand over the beautiful pinkish stone that was a part of this side of the castle. “This is a different stone than on the other side. I guess one can’t expect the earth to match everything up.”
    “On the contrary, she did. The reason that the stone here is a darker hue than the other side is because the dirt well below this was clay. It blended well within the stone here, and gave some of the earth below the opportunity to feel the sun on it again. Long before I built this castle, as I said, it was a dying earth.” He moved up beside her, and she could feel the heat of his body with hers. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
    “I don’t know what to believe about you.” She moved away, one of the hardest things she’d ever done. “I talked to the doctor about my sister today. He said that she’s doing well and should be ready to leave the hospital in a few days.”
    “She’ll not come here, however. I think he told you that.” Kendrick nodded. She really didn’t want her sister here either, but there wasn’t any point in explaining that to him. “She has men trying to murder her, and I would rather her be someplace that is safe for all of us. No one will find her where we put her, and she will continue to have good care as long as she does what she’s told.”
    “She won’t. But then I’m sure you already figured that out. Noah told me that he’d had me investigated. As well as Louisa.” Danburn nodded but said nothing as he leaned against the stone. “I have this thing I can do. You won’t have known about it when you did your research. And the only reason I’m telling you now is I don’t want you to think I’ve harmed Noah.”
    “He told me that he cannot lie to you. It bothers him a great deal. Not that he would want to lie to you, but he is pressured somewhat to tell you the truth no matter how much it pains him.” Kendrick leaned down to smell a small blossom. “You never pick the things here, do you? You only make note of them, then move on. Why is that?”
    “If I were to pick it or even to damage it, the next person to come by wouldn’t be able to enjoy what I have. It’s a give and take thing for me. They give me pleasure and I give them the option of continuing. I mean, they could still die from any number of things, but this way, I’ve left it, in my opinion, better than most would have.” He told her that was lovely of her. “No, it’s just that I don’t have a lot of pleasures in my life. Smelling a flower or two and leaving it behind so that I might come back to see it again is all I have.”
    “Tell me of this thing you can do so that he can’t lie to you. Please?” She would have told him anyway, but the “please” helped her feel better about it. “You said that it was a thing you can