Page 126 of Dragon Her Heels

And sometimes, I hid from the truth that had been laid out in front of me if only I cared to see it.

I raised a hand and covered my mouth, wondering how I’d handle the impending consequences of my choice to refuse to see what had been right in front of me. “Well, shit.”

He raised a brow. “Is there a problem?”

“I was not prepared to deal with sleeping with my boss today.” I stared at him, unable to stop my eyes from widening. “I don’t have to stop sleeping with my boss, do I?”

He burst into laughter. “No, but I will admit, I was really becoming concerned you hadn’t called me out yet. I was certain there was no way you could possibly be that clueless. Lucifer kept telling me you are, in fact, that clueless. But you were happy being clueless, so I left it alone. I figured you would talk to me when you were ready.”

“I was waiting for you to talk to me. But then I realized if I wanted the talk, I really needed to start the conversation, especially since I’ve been sitting on the whole lifespan issue. Or, in actuality, I’ve been steadfast in my determination to ignore the problem.”

“It’s not a problem.”

I considered him, scowling over his general amusement. “Can I still punt my boss’s tiny, scaled ass across the lake?”

“If I’m showing up as a dragon, and I am of size sufficient for you to punt, I see no need to rob you of your joy. However, I’m going to insist you take good care of me at night. I am quite pleased with my evening activities and accommodations. However, I’m going to insist you come into the castle and see what I’ve done with the place, as the castle is your home as much as this is, and you get a say in the renovations. The others have been helping. Unfortunately, this does mean we’re going to have to go help them with their castles. I’m the only one with an actual castle right now.”

I sucked in a breath. “Are their nodes really in as bad as shape as yours was?”

“They’re worse off,” he admitted.

I heaved a sigh. “Fine. I’m charging one excellent horse of good breeding from a line different from any I already own. Thoroughbred. They can help me work on my project to breed healthier horses.”

“That’s cheap.”

I snorted. “They can give me a single treasure from their hoard in addition to the horse.”

“That’s better, but that’s still cheap.”

“I know what Lucifer is trying to do, and because I want to see that for him, I would do the work for free, Yuless. My ask is a good thoroughbred of healthy breeding. Lucifer can help them locate such horses. I can’t help all horses, but I can help this breed, which I love.”

“Yes, you do. So, you don’t mind who and what I am?”

“If I minded, I wouldn’t be requesting we move to the clothing off portion of this discussion sooner than later. Do you mind who and what I am?”

“Mind? I do not mind. In fact, I love you for it.”

“Then we’re on equal footing. I’ve had enough serious talk for now. I need time to think about it, and I don’t want to spend that time right now. Get naked and distract me.”

With a low chuckle, he went to work escaping the confines of his clothes. “As you wish.”

* * *

The trip to New York went without incident, although it turned into a parade of three trucks and trailers, and one was Lucifer’s ridiculous rig, which Malcolm drove with Kanika in the cab. Isaac drove Yuless’s truck with my smaller trailer, and he had Ashley and their two dragons with him.

Thirty-nine dragons followed by air, and some of them had opted for their large forms, drawing attention everywhere we went. To make certain everything stayed safe at home, I suffered from a devil and demon infestation, which three angels monitored to make certain I came back to an intact property.

In good news for me, I’d be staying at one of Lucifer’s nearby properties in my trailer with Yuless while everyone else went to a hotel.

As I had trust issues, we would be hauling Elegance in Moonlight and his two emotional support ponies to the track in the morning, where he’d undergo all his vet checks while I dealt with angelic verification yet again.

Alligator Bait stayed at home, where she enjoyed pampering from the various hellish and angelic entities in charge of making certain she was in the peak of her health for her races.

According to the current standings, I needed to place top three in two qualifiers to make it to the Triple Crown. If I could pull off two wins, I’d stack the remaining field in my favor. I would be competing against the better jockeys, including Alex Dryden. Like me, he required very little to qualify on points earned on his colt, a stallion prospect I admired for a tenacity almost equal to Alligator Bait’s. Unfortunately for me, the pair was too closely related for me to pursue him as a stud.

They shared two of four grandparents, and I refused to add to the breed’s genetic woes.

Lucifer’s ranch would keep my baby safe enough, and I didn’t trust his previous owner to stay on the straight and narrow. The bastard had earned his expulsion, but men like him tended to blame the revealer of the sins rather than themselves.