Sea Dragon (Dragon Knights Book 9) by Bianca D'Arc Page A

clean up a bit—and back, to see if he could accidentally-on purpose run into the lady. He wanted to meet her. It was like a compulsion in his blood. He didn’t really understand it, except that she intrigued him on every level.
     
    When Hrardorr took off, winging his way back toward the Lair, Livia headed her little sailboat toward home. She would dock at the pier near the marketplace where her father’s offices were. There was something she wanted to check before she went home for the night, even though she’d given herself the day off to fish.
    She’d been doing that more often since she’d made friends with Hrardorr. She enjoyed his company, and she thought he enjoyed hers as well. He came down from the Lair to fish most days, but she could only spare a day or two each week to goof off in her sailboat. The weekends were hers, though, and she spent those two days with her new dragon friend. All in all, that meant she’d been spending three or four days out of every seven with Hrardorr for the past few weeks.
    If she had her way, she’d do that for as long as possible. She really liked spending time with the dragon. He wasn’t like any other being she’d ever met. He didn’t judge her by the same standards humans applied. Her father’s business meant nothing to him. Her wealth didn’t impress him. And her social standing didn’t matter in the slightest. Which was very freeing to a woman who had spent all of her life being weighed and measured like the stacks of coins in her father’s safe.
    The day seemed a little darker now that Hrardorr had left. It always felt that way when he took off for the Lair. He made her world a little brighter when he was near her. She didn’t question why that was. He was a dragon, after all. They were magic personified, in her opinion. Of course she would miss him when he left each day they were together.
    She maneuvered her boat next to the dock and got help from a young boy just waiting to earn a copper for catching her lines. He helped her tie up and agreed to take her catch of fish up to her housekeeper for an extra coin. Livia knew the boy and had hired him to do this same thing on a few other occasions, so she knew her fish would make it to her home—and that her housekeeper would give the boy a decent meal before she let him leave.
    Livia smiled as she headed for her father’s office in the marketplace. She paused by a public fountain to rinse her hands and tidy up a bit before heading to make her final stop on the way to the office.
    Liam’s pie stand served everything from sweets to savories and had the tastiest pocket pies in town. He had a market stall close to her father’s building, and she wanted to stop by and get a snack before heading into the office.
    “That looks good.” A deep male voice came from over her shoulder as Liam placed the pocket pie—a creation of meat, onions and spices baked inside a flaky pie crust—in front of her.
    She looked back to find the owner of the voice and nearly did a double take. He was handsome. And tall. Exceedingly tall…and handsome. And did she mention handsome?
    “Liam makes the best pies in Dragonscove,” she answered, knowing she needed to say something and feeling at a bit of a loss when confronted by such a specimen of manhood.
    She slid the coin for her pie over the counter while the man behind her placed his order for the same thing she was having. He was affable and polite to Liam, which spoke well of his manners, and he moved back just enough for her to pass when she picked up her pie and headed for the little pots of sauces Liam kept farther down the counter for those who liked to add a little zest to their purchase.
    The man joined her by the sauces, a few moments later, with his own pie. He looked over the selections but didn’t move to take any of the spoons that were in the various pots.
    “What do you recommend?” he asked her, striking up conversation again.
    “The red sauce is hot. The orange