Page 73 of Her Silent Knight

“I’m pretty sure it isn’t.”

“So am I. Anyway. Bathe and then walk naked into the room to get dressed.”

“That’s perverted.”

“Between mates, nothing is perverted.”

“Where did you get these tips from?”

“I’ve done them. They’ll work.”

“No thanks.”

“Okay, dragon. What do you plan on doing? Sitting around, drinking moonshine until you pass out.”

Kaede took another sip of his shine. It would take a lot of this to get him drunk. Double that to make him pass out.

“Don’t even consider it. If you go home drunk, that will only piss Sin off.”

“Sin this, Sin that. What about me?” Even as he said that, guilt consumed him. “Forget I said that. I no longer matter. My mate is the only...”

“A lie. You matter. You just started this shit off wrong. Your first encounter was a kidnap attempt. Dude, getting pass that is going to take some time. She’s only seen one side of you. Show her who you really are. Let her get to know Kaede Oshiro. Then she’ll come around. Until then, you’re just the bastard who tried to turn her over to TD. Remember earlier, when I told you she said it wasn’t her concern whether you were dead or not?”

“How can I forget that?”

“You didn’t let me finish. After I gave her my helmet, she glanced back at the burning house. I asked her what was wrong. She asked me if dragons could survive inhaling smoke like fire witches could.”

She’d been concerned about him.

“I told her, of course, they could. Then she asked if dragons could win in a fight against a group of shredders. I assured her you would be okay. I didn’t know you were mates then. But I knew something was up from the way she was behaving.”

“She was worried about me?”

“Yes.”

“Then why is she acting like...”

“You keep forgetting you tried to turn her over to TD.”

Kaede sighed. “Yeah. I keep forgetting that important fact. I told myself I wouldn’t rush this. But every time I see her...”

“You want to poke her?”

“Never say that again.”

“Hey, every time I see my mate, I want to poke her. Until she tells me if I come near her, she’ll freeze it off. Then I remember that she hates me and wants me dead.”

“It seems you know exactly how I feel.”

“Bingo. At least you didn’t almost kill your mate like I almost killed mine. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever win her over. But, I’m hers. So, I gotta keep trying.”

“If you’re hers, why do you flirt with so many women? Like my mate, for instance?”

“I only flirt. I never touch.”

“Yeah, right. You usually reek of perfume.”

“Because women like to hug me. I hug back. That’s it. I haven’t slept with another woman since the day I realized.... My mate was my mate.”