I'm not giving up.
Alistair looked back at the dusty, barely legible book in front of him. Since few people visited the clan's archives, it was one of the quietest places on Lochguard, and therefore one of his favorites.
He'd just managed to decipher a passage about centuries-old treaties when a female voice—a Southern English female voice—filled the space. "What are you doing here? I thought you had lessons since it's a weekday."
His dragon sat up tall and spread his wings at Kiyana's voice. However, Alistair didn't give the beast time to suggest they woo the female into his lap. Not looking up from his book, he shrugged. "Every third Wednesday of the month, the students go volunteer with the elder dragon-shifters and help them with whatever they need."
Amusement tinged Kiyana's voice. "From the few pensioner-aged dragons I've seen, they're more than capable of doing things themselves."
"Maybe. Still, they have much to teach us. Not everything is found in a book."
A fact Alistair was all too aware of himself.
"Are you going to keep your back to me for the entire conversation?" the human asked.
Alistair decided to be as blunt as she was. "I thought this would be a universal sign shared between humans and dragons, one that says leave me alone."
She laughed, the deep sound washing over him, making his dragon hum and his cock go semihard.
His beast spoke up. Why resist her? You haven't been this attuned to a female since Rachel.
At the mention of his late girlfriend's name, his body cooled instantly, as if ice water had been dumped over him.
Turning, he gave his best stern look, one he'd perfected over the years with his students. "I wasn't making a joke. I'm working on an important project."
Curiosity flared in Kiyana's brown eyes, ones he was fast becoming able to read. She asked, "What are you researching?"
He shouldn't tell her. Hell, he hadn't told anyone.
His dragon murmured, And it's a lonely endeavor. Tell her. What could it hurt?
She would keep asking questions and might even want to help. So I most definitely don't want to tell her.
And then Kiyana was next to him, squinting at the page of his book. "The History of Dragon Clan Treaties: 1700 to 1860."
He closed the book. "You have good eyesight for a human."
Kiyana peered closer at the cover. "Why are you reading that? Do Lochguard and the other clans in the UK want to form treaties with dragon-shifters in other countries?"
"If we did, I wouldn't tell you."
She didn't pay his clipped tone any heed. "Is the book proprietary knowledge, forbidden to humans?"
Try as he might, Alistair couldn't lie. "No."
She nodded. "Then when you're done with it, I'd like to read it."
He frowned. "Why?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell me why you're reading it?"
"No."
"Then until you share, I have no reason to tell you my reasons, do I?"
His dragon hummed. I like her. She's not afraid of us and treats us as if we were merely another human.
You just want me to sweet talk her so that maybe she'll kiss us.