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But right at thatTori

It washih He needed to pull the smaller man into his lap and hold him He wanted to nuzzle his face into Tori’s slender neck and breathe in his scent so he could carry a small piece of Tori around with him wherever he went

At first, he’d thought he was e had suffered But the more he interacted with Tori, theto but Tori hih—the lies, the clear verbal abuse, the poor treatth to the man that simply awed Baldewin Despite all his atteh to take care of hion to slay his ene okay on his own

But that didn’t

And yes, maybe it didn’t hurt that Tori was pretty darey eyes had snared hi about hissarcastic co to kiss away those words His dragon was also pressing for kisses, which was a little worrying since his dragon didn’t nors

There would be no hugging—and definitely no kissing—anytime soon Tori was still prickly around him

He gathered everything back into the bag instead, stowing it in the back seat, and then resu the GPS, they traveled to the hotel in silence A heavy, weighted silence

It gave Baldewin a chance to think What could he say to dispel Tori’s unease? To convince hily clear that Baldewin needed Tori to go to Burkhard Castle not just because it was the safest place for the e He wasn’t sure he could stand to be parted from him

But he didn’t know if he had the words Or even the right perspective To hie But to a e abandoned by his clan—or one who escaped his clan, Baldeasn’t sure which was the case here—perhaps that stance was not so easily assumed

Maybe it shouldn’t be hiue the point Maybe Baldewin should hand this off to soht perspective

But learning a little more about the man couldn’t hurt, surely He cleared his throat and threw out a conversational lure “I noticed the guitar What style do you prefer, classical? Rock?”

Tori threw hiuess I favor classical, though”

“Yeah? I’uitar once in Spain, which is where I learned to play it But I favor more a Chet Atkins style”