Chapter 12 #2
“I…” The word no was on the tip of my tongue when the word weapon rolled through my mind and I blinked, jarred by the unexpected sound of it being spoken in my head. “They wanted to turn me into a weapon. I wasn’t going to let them use me for anything after the way they treated me.”
“What kind of weapon?” Ionus asked. “Your lava bombs are unique but there must be more to it.”
I shook my head, wanting to be done with the questions and the memories, but the voice in my head kept insisting on feeding me words. They tumbled from my lips as I gripped the mug, the tea doing very little to calm my emotions right now.
“Pretty omega,” I said. “Others would welcome me easily. I’m no one’s spy, especially not theirs.
They’d better be glad I left, if they’d forced me to go through with it the only thing they’d have received was the wrong information.
One way or another, I’d have seen every last one of them imprisoned or wiped out. ”
“Bloodthirsty mate,” Odem purred near my ear, chuckling when I came half out of my seat to hiss at him.
That smirk would be the death of me, especially when he pointed down at my hand to show me that it was claws, not fingers that gripped the table.
Smug bastard!
The point had been made and driven home. I was a dragon. An extremely dangerous one, apparently. My mate had better keep that in mind while he stood there looking so damned satisfied with himself.
“Some people deserve to lose a little blood,” I grumbled as I picked up my mug.
I didn’t expect to see Ionus chuckle, or for him to look half-impressed with me. Odem looked at me like he wanted to run his tongue over every inch of me and I swore, the next time he did, there was going to be whipped cream involved.
I bet I could dot it with cherries too and drizzle it with a bit of chocolate, turn myself into a buffet of sundae toppings for him to enjoy at his leisure.
No, fuck that, he’d better not take too long to get from the licking to the fucking.
Snap! Snap!
Blink. Blink.
Ionus snapped his fingers again and I finally tore my gaze from Odem’s to see him sitting there looking amused.
“Excuse the interruption,” Ionus said, “but if you keep looking at each other like that Odem will miss patrol, which is unacceptable.”
“Not even one, teeny, just mated exception?” Odem pressed, shooting his brother a pleading look.
“Not even half of one,” Ionus said. “Now get moving. I’ll walk your mate to your door when he’s ready to leave.”
“A-actually, I um, think I need a nap,” I pleaded, not wanting to be left there when anything could trigger a memory at this point.
I wanted my easy chair, more tea, and the blanket that smelled like sunshine.
“Can I just…” Odem began as he helped me to my feet.
“Not a chance,” Ionus said. “I know you brother. You won’t stop at helping him to the door. You’ll insist on getting him settled, which will result in me having to conduct your patrol for you. Now for the last time, get moving.”
Odem kissed me first and pulled me close. “Remember what I told you earlier. If there is ever a moment when you don’t feel safe for any reason, retreat to our horde and I’ll find you there.”
“I will,” I said before letting go. He left via the French doors in the kitchen, the heavy flap of wings rattling the panes as he flew away.
“You are more than welcome to return,” Ionus said as he walked me from his house to ours. “I’m sure you have plenty of questions for Alex.”
“No,” I said. “Why would I?”
“Excuse my assumption,” Ionus said. “With those being your first eggs, I thought you might want to talk to someone who’d already been through the experience.”
“Oh, um, no, no I, I think I um, I’m good for now,” I stammered, grateful to step inside the house and wave goodbye.
At some point I knew I’d need to bite the bullet and sit down with Alex, but when Ionus had mentioned questions, all I could think about was the ones I’d just been subjected to.
I didn’t want to know if Alex had buried memories that he struggled with because I wasn’t ready to face my own.
I was so over the whirlwind of changes. Was it too much to ask for a moment to get over one shock before being smacked with another?
I paused in the kitchen to see if, perhaps, my thoughtful mate had left a treat from me in the fridge.
Squeee!
He had!
I did a brief shimmy dance right there in the open doorway of the refrigerator when I spotted the heaping plate of pasta, and the container of alfredo sauce beside it, and immediately headed for the microwave.
I should’ve burned my tongue on the first bite.
It was so, so good that I shoveled food past my lips on my way to the living room and finished the bowl before I’d decided on the movie.
Being mated to a fire dragon sure had its perks.
Hot coffee would no longer be a challenge for me.
Ten minutes and three squirms to reposition myself, I decided the chair wasn’t where I wanted to curl up and watch movies tonight.
There wasn’t enough of that sunshine scent left on the blanket, and I might have eaten far too much to be comfortable.
A quick detour to drop my bowl off in the kitchen, then I headed down the hall, bypassing my door to get to his.
That big bed of his had smelled like sunshine the night we’d mated there, and sure enough, it smelled like sunshine as I crawled beneath the blankets.
It was easy enough to find a movie in here, but the blankets weren’t right, so I tugged them closer, tucking them around me until I had a nice, warm, sunshine scented cocoon to snuggle in.
Perfect.
I didn’t know how long a patrol would last, but I hoped he turned on the light before falling into bed, or I was gonna get smooshed.
And positively love getting woken that way.