Love Bites Extra Hard (Mated to the King #5)

Chapter 22

twenty-two

AVERY

The next few days passed by in a blur.

Sylvester was buried in an unmarked grave in the forest, with more than two hundred dragons watching silently.

Many of them thanked me for what I’d done afterward. Clementine asked me not to tell anyone what role she’d played, so I took the credit for it, though I really didn’t want to.

I spent the next morning in the underwater caves with Clem and Talon. The castle was crazy with everyone taking time off work to celebrate and grieve in their own ways.

We were all feeling more laid-back than usual, and ended up calling it quits halfway through the day. Talon and I spent the rest of it and the next few days lounging around, watching movies, and relaxing.

For the first time in my life, I had nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing.

And that was bliss.

A few weeks later, I came back from a meeting with one of Talon’s least-favorite departments. I didn’t mind the woman in charge of it, so I’d taken that one over.

I slipped into our apartment, expecting him to be there. He’d asked me to meet him, so I was a little curious about what he was up to. Usually, we met at the office.

I found Talon leaning against the wall near the door, with a glass of fae wine in each of his hands.

My lips curved upward, and I accepted the one he handed over as he kissed me lightly.

“How is Deanna?” he asked.

“As chatty as ever.” I kissed him again, and he pulled my body against his lightly, deepening the kiss until I ended it. “What’s the occasion?”

“I have a present for you.”

“What kind of present?”

“You’ll see.” He put a hand on my lower back and led me into our bedroom. I stopped in the doorway, my eyebrows lifting at what was obviously the gift.

The blanket that usually occupied our bed was gone, traded out for one with scales somehow sewn into the fabric. They ran over the entire surface of it, making the quilt look like living flames.

I smiled. “It’s beautiful. I thought you were doing something with them, but I never would’ve imagined this.”

The majority of the scales had vanished after he cleaned them in the bathtub, and he’d been dodging my questions about where they’d gone.

“A dragon’s mate always wants to sleep with their scales.” He lowered his lips to my throat, kissing the mark he’d left there before moving his lips to the bite he’d given me that first night.

“I thought I was crazy.”

He chuckled. “Crazy about me, maybe.”

I pushed him away playfully, and he stepped around me to kiss me again. “I love you, Avery.”

“I love you too, Tal.”

He tilted my head back with the hand that wasn’t holding his glass of wine, and kissed me again.

Deeper.

Talon was nothing like I’d expected when I sat on the roof that day.

Love was nothing like I’d expected, either.

But I wouldn’t have traded either for the world.