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I held my breath. Did that mean she didn’t hate me?
My beast side sighed dreamily. Dragons didn’t get a lot of cuddling. Normally, we didn’t want to either. But now… My eyes dropped to half-mast, and my heart slowed a couple of ticks. When Erin stroked the hard plates of my cheeks, then scratched my brow, I nearly hummed.
Or maybe I did hum. It was hard to tell with that angels’ chorus singing joyously in my mind.
My thoughts turned to fantasies. Erin hugging my dragon neck. Or better yet, dragon Erin winding her neck around mine. Even better, sliding her wings over mine in an intimate dragon move…
“Wow,” she mumbled again.
So, whew. I wasn’t the only one in Happyland right now.
As delighted as I was, I was sad too. Her mother was a dragon. Had she never seen one of us up close?
My wings twitched with the impulse to gently embrace her.
But a pair of bats flitted overhead, and Erin ducked. I bared my teeth, tempted to roast them. But thatdefinitelywouldn’t be a good look, so I swallowed my fire, singeing my throat. Ouch.
The commotion made Erin pull back, and just like that, our quiet moment was gone.
“I…um…” Erin started awkwardly, then motioned with one jerky hand. “I’ll put the coffee on.”
She disappeared inside, leaving me alone.
My dragon mourned at another lost opportunity. But at least Erin wasn’t furious any more.
I closed my eyes, extended my neck, and wiggled the tips of my wings. My arched claws went cold as they transformed into bare feet on chilly ground, and my ears curved into their rounder human form. With a deep breath, I opened my eyes to the narrower, brighter vision of a human.
I paused, working out the kinks in my shoulders. Then I pulled on the clothes I’d left on the porch earlier and stepped indoors.
“Thank you,” I murmured, taking a steaming mug from Erin. “And sorry. For everything.”
Erin wrapped both hands around her mug and sipped. Then she licked her lips and whispered, “No, thankyou. You could have taken off last night, but you stayed. Even with the agency coming, you stayed.”
Of course I had. There was no way I would ever leave my mate. No matter what price I had to pay.
I didn’t dare say as much, though I wondered if I should. Would I regret omitting that detail too?
When I took a sip of coffee, my inner dragon sighed. How nice it would be to start every day this way. Me, Erin, and a cup of coffee. Or, hell. Just her and me. A quiet life in a quiet place. Like this, with horses neighing and cows quietly mooing in the distance.
Then Erin spoke, reminding me how far that was from my reality.
“No sign of Harlon. Not yet anyway.” She peered out a window. “So, now what?”
I’d spent the night considering every logical scenario of Harlon’s next move — or ours. But maybelogicalwas a mistake, I realized when the phone rang.
And rang and rang.
We stared at it, then at each other.
“Not your sister?” I tensed.
Erin looked at the display, then frowned. “You’re kidding.”
When I leaned in, she turned the phone, showing me the caller ID.
For the next two rings, neither of us moved. Then Erin stabbed at the speaker button and held the phone between us.
“Harlon. What a surprise,” she said dryly.
