Jorden: The McCade Dragon –Erotic Paranormal Romance Read Online Free Page A

I don’t know that they’ll hurt us, but they’ll try. They did when I got here with the ring. Mostly it was my mother; she wasn’t a nice person, but there are others, the dragon told us. There was a lot going on that had nothing to do with the ring really, just a lot of greedy people making it harder on everyone.”
    Gavin nodded and picked up the horseradish that she’d been able to identify. When he said nothing more, she handed him two more little leaves. One she was sure was peppermint, the other something like it but sweeter.
    “This is peppermint, but this is chocolate mint. I guess people can put them in ice cubes and then in tea. I don’t think I’d care for that.” Emma nodded then took him to the area she was working in. “You’ve got most of them. Lambs ear is an old herb used during wars to soften the bandages on the soldiers. You should plant some marigolds around your garden to keep the pests out.”
    “I will. How do you know so much about herbs?” Gavin said nothing but did sit down in the dirt and start pulling weeds. Emma watched what he was leaving compared to pulling, and decided that she needed more help than a book. Sitting next to him, she noticed that his shoes were new, as was the rest of his clothing. Jorden had been shopping, apparently.
    “I’m smart. Like off the charts smart. Mom had me in this special school, but I had to leave there after the money from my dad’s estate stopped coming in. I know she tried to make the payments, but it was just too much.” Emma said nothing. “I don’t tell her anymore how bored I am in school. She cried at night, and that hurt me all the way to my core.”
    “I know that to be considered genius you have to score at least a one forty. You said off the charts. What is your score, Gavin?” He pulled several more things out of the ground. Emma had a feeling he was trying to figure out if she’d believe him or not and changed the subject. “When I first moved into this house, Kenton had no table and chairs and only a mattress on the floor. While I was thrilled to have a lovely home like this, I fell in love with the kitchen. You see, I love to cook and he lets me.”
    “I doubt that anyone lets you do anything, Mrs. McCade. You seem like you just go ahead and do what you want.” She wasn’t sure if he was being rude or not; it was still hard for her to tell sometimes when someone complimented her. “My mom is like that. She’s really mouthy at times, Grannie says…said. But I love her, so I don’t get in her way when she gets like she can.”
    “She take on someone that you were having trouble with?” He nodded and stared at the tree line. “I’m betting that she was all over them about it, too. And she didn’t like the way it made her feel afterwards either.”
    “No, she didn’t. Mom is a wonderful person, but she gets all intense when she’s upset. She told me later that she wished that she’d been calmer, dealt with the teacher better, but all I could think about was how protective she was and how proud I was of her for standing up to the guy.” Emma asked him what the teacher had done. “When I was tested for how smart I was, he was the proctor. There were several of us in the room taking the test, but I didn’t screw off like they did. I took the test, and then when I was done, I got up and laid it next to him. He’d fallen asleep, you see, and he felt that someone, namely me, should have awakened him at some point. I didn’t think that was my responsibility; and besides, when I do things like that, I get labeled as a nerd. Thanks but no thanks, I guess.”
    “I see. And since you’d done so well, he figured that you’d cheated. And even if he didn’t think that, it was a way to get back at you. He sounds like a shit.” He nodded. “The other kids, did they score as well? I’m betting not.”
    “No. Not as well. Good, but not as well. I scored a perfect. No one else came close to that.” When he continued to