The Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lore) by Eden Ashe

mate was hurt again.
    Because of him.
    Sinking to his knees beside the bed, he took in every inch of her. Her pale gold hair was a riot of soft waves against his pillow, a burst of sunshine against the ugly gray of his sheets.
    Warmth to melt the ice that had formed around his heart and soul.
    Damn it. Everything about her was perfect. Even now with his heart at war with his brain, he knew why the world was obsessed with her. She represented something good and beautiful in a world growing ever darker. It was in the way her green eyes sparkled on the screen, the way her smile seemed to radiate from her very core that enveloped everyone and charmed them all.
    He forced his emotions off as he got to his feet. He was acting like a goddamn fledgling. It wasn’t solving anything. He wasn’t a lovesick idiot. Not since her hired gun tried to dispose of him.
    After a quick check to make sure her breathing was even, he stalked down to the kitchen. One corner of his lip lifted in a snarl. “This better be good.”
    Luca finished typing something on the computer before he jerked his head toward a stool. “You might want to sit. You’re not going to like any of this.”
    Daniel remained standing. He crossed his arms over his chest, impatient. “I’m waiting.”
    Luca rolled his eyes, but he turned the laptop around to face Daniel. After a moment’s hesitation, he hit play.
    At first, Daniel wasn’t sure what he was watching, but as the scene played out, pieces to the puzzle started to fill in.
    The footage started with the media arriving at Shelby’s house only minutes after Daniel’s stabbing. There was confusion, even sympathy for Shelby in the reports. By the next day, the sympathy had given way to curiosity along with reports of Shelby questioned, then held in response to Daniel’s stabbing and subsequent disappearance. The brutal death of the unknown assailant in her bedroom didn’t help her case, either.
    The police department finally decided to charge her with accessory to murder. The media sensation it caused took its obvious toll on her. She lost weight by the day, the vibrancy in her eyes fading. Within the first three months after his disappearance, it was clear everyone thought she was guilty. Even those who didn’t have an opinion were quick to point out her place in the American film industry was rapidly becoming non-existent. Her brilliant star was tarnished.
    Through it all, she kept her head up. She handled everything, the media circus, the trial, the acquittal, all of it with a quiet dignity and strength that floored him. To anyone who didn’t know her, which was all of the viewing public, she appeared ice cold. Unfeeling.
    Daniel cursed quietly. He knew her. He knew that stubborn tilt of her chin. It was her defense mechanism when she was hurt or angry.
    If she had set him up, then whomever she’d trusted set her up as well. If she hadn’t set him up, he was officially the biggest bastard in the world.
     
    * * * *
     
    Shelby woke with a headache of epic proportions, along with the nagging feeling something had happened…
    Something had scared the living hell out of her.
    Too groggy to put the pieces together, she sat up slowly, surprised to find herself sprawled in the middle of Daniel’s massive bed. Which could explain her reluctance to get up to find out what was going on. The man simply smelled like heaven, the scent enveloping her with comforter and pillows.
    Geez, she was a sap. If he’d let her, she’d fling herself into his arms and demand he make the bad things go away.
    Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, her whole body went still as she saw Daniel sprawled in what had to be the most uncomfortable chair a man of his mountainous size could find. His long, muscular legs were stretched out in front of him, booted feet crossed at the ankle with one elbow braced against the dresser next to him, his head resting precariously on his fist. His huge, yummy chest was completely bare. Even