Chapter 5
I grabbedmy stuff from outside Jasper’s door while he started on the pancakes. Elodie had left a note on top of my duffel bag that said:
Don’t forget to have fun! ;)
It was impossible to hide my smile as I dragged the bag inside.
“I could’ve grabbed that for you,” Jasper said from the kitchen.
“It’s just a bag.”
I started to open it—but he crossed the room and caught my hand before I unzipped it.
His nostrils flared. “It reeks of Elodie and August.”
“They did carry it here.”
I started unzipping it, but he stopped me again. “I can’t have their scents in here, Miranda.”
“I need to check in with the people I work for.”
“Just wait for me to find something to clean everything in here with.”
I sighed, but nodded.
He dragged the bag back outside and shut the door. Then, he returned to his pancakes.
I wandered around the small living space while he cooked. It was comfortable, and it wasn’t tiny, but I wasn’t looking forward to being trapped inside it.
I almost never worked from home. The apartment I shared with Vi was decent, but I needed to work somewhere I didn’t sleep. I’d tried turning Elodie’s room into an office after she moved out, but I hated offices.
The public library had a chair that they may as well have put my name on.
My university’s library, too. Though I’d graduated a year or so earlier, I had yet to be asked for an ID on my way in or out.
“Does Mate Mountain have its own library?” I called out, as I ran a hand over the soft comforter on the bed we’d shared.
“No.”
Hmm.
I pulled one of the pillows off the bed and lifted it to my nose, inhaling deeply.
Damn, Jasper smelled good.
“How long does your bite change my sense of smell for?”
“A few months, assuming I don’t bite you again.”
“Should I assume that?” I checked.
There was a beat of silence before he answered. “Probably not.”
I nodded, though he couldn’t see me.
It had felt insanely good when he bit me, so I really wasn’t opposed to a repeat. And considering his typical beastliness, I was pretty sure his dragon would want his teeth in me again.
“Did it hurt?” he asked, a few moments later. I was still in the bedroom, with him in the kitchen, so he had to raise his voice. “When I bit you?”
Was he seriously asking me that?
He had seen me orgasm, hadn’t he?
Was he actually telling the truth about being sane while his animalistic side had the helm?
“Definitely didn’t hurt, no.”
If he responded to that, I didn’t hear it.
After a few more minutes, I wandered back into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
While the space was plenty big enough to live there, I doubted I’d be able to get anything done. Work-wise, at least. I had to be comfortable to focus on my art, and I hadn’t found anywhere that seemed like a decent option.
“I usually work in the library,” I told Jasper, who was still flipping pancakes. “Do you have anything similar? I don’t think I can focus in here. If we have to, we could go spend heat in Scale Ridge, maybe?”
I didn’t want to sound bitchy by suggesting that his living space wasn’t big enough, but my brain was fickle. Creating art for money could be a mental struggle sometimes.
“Scale Ridge won’t work for me. I don’t have a home established there, and if I’m uncomfortable, my instincts will be harder to fight.” Jasper faced away from me as he spoke. “We have a few meeting rooms. There aren’t any books there, but there are a bunch of chairs. Some tables. We have a dining room, too.”
He hesitated for a moment.
I waited.
“I won’t be able to handle having you in most of those areas,” he finally said. “They smell too strongly of other males.”
My forehead creased as I frowned.
He wasn’t exactly throwing out other options.
“I’m comfortable here,” he finally said. “Our best chance at fighting heat is to stay where I’m comfortable.”
“You’re barely sane,” I countered. “If we’re fighting it, I’m the one who’s going to have to do the majority of that. My comfort should matter too.”
“Of course your comfort matters.” He nearly growled the words.
“Then come up with an alternative, because I can’t spend the next month of my life trapped in this little apartment while I’m in pain.”
Jaspers fist clenched around the spatula he held at his side.
I watched him warily as he took a deep breath in, then another.
If he was about to get all beastly again, I’d be fighting the urge to throw something at him.
Something hard.
And big.
…not like that.
That wasn’t a sex joke.
Urgh.
Something like a chair.
Yeah, a chair.
I’d throw a chair at him.
Okay, I wouldn’t. But I’d want to.
“Give me time to think about it,” he finally gritted out.
“Alright.” I ran a hand through my hair, tugging it out of my face. I needed to wash the hairspray out from the day before. Needed to clean my face, too.
I hadn’t even taken my makeup off in the tub the night before. Yikes. I probably looked like a zombie.
Getting up again, I made my way to the bathroom.
Sure enough, I looked terrible. My makeup was a smeared mess, and my hair looked like it had been through a tornado.
Jasper must have been lying when he said I was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
If he was lying about that, and about how sane he was when he got all beastly, what else was he lying about?
Uncertainty made my stomach tight while I scrubbed my face and tied my hair up in a messy bun. It wasn’t my best look, but it was comfortable, and better than the zombie thing.
Considering I was already sweaty and sore from heat, and getting worse by the minute, there wasn’t a point in trying to look nice anyway.
I grabbed my phone and pulled up Elodie’s contact when I emerged again.
Me
How insane is insane when it applies to a dragon dude in heat?
Elodie
…
I don’t know
It’s not really insanity
More like the guy turns into a bit of an animal for a while. Which is less weird than it sounds
Sort of
It’s hard to explain
I studied her messages, not sure what to think.
Maybe he wasn’t lying about being sane?
I was lost.
Elodie
Why?
Me
It’s a long story
She sent a gif of a little kid waiting impatiently.
I sighed, but replied.
Me
I’m not sure if Jasper’s lying about how sane he is
Elodie
Why would he need to lie about it?
Me
I don’t know. He said he was sane enough to remember everything we did, but then he asked if it hurt when he bit me, when it clearly didn’t hurt. If he was sane, he should’ve noticed how much it didn’t hurt
Elodie
Ah
Yeah, the guys aren’t experienced with sex
Not at all
I stared down at the screen for a long moment before replying.
Me
What do you mean?
Elodie
Did you guys do anything sexual before he bit you?
Me
No
Elodie
But you probably climaxed when he bit you, right? The first bite’s reallyyyy good. They’re all good, but that first one is the best. He’s never seen a woman orgasm before, so he probably didn’t realize what happened
Especially since the bite would feel good for him too
I stared down at her messages again.
A minute passed, then another.
Me
What do you mean, he’s never seen a woman orgasm before?
Elodie
Dragons don’t hook up with humans or other supernaturals
They don’t do anything to risk triggering heat
Their independence is literally everything to them
Me
So he’s a virgin?
Elodie
Mmhm
Me
So he wasn’t lying about being insane. He just honestly didn’t realize biting was so good for me
Elodie
Yep
Dragons do know that biting is pleasurable for both parties, but I think it’s one of those things you have to experience to get the full picture of
August tried to explain to me how it feels to him once, but it was a lot different for him, too. More about the possession and whatnot. Dragons are super possessive
Me
I’m realizing that
He wants me to spend all month trapped in this little apartment here
Elodie
Yikes
Have you asked about flying yet? Flying with him could chill him out a bit
Me
No
I hope to never fly with him again after last night
Elodie
Better resist heat, then
Dragons live for the sky
Me
FML
Elodie
I still remember you saying you wanted me to set you up with a dragon guy
Consider it done ;P
Me
Don’t remind me
I should never have flirted with him
Elodie
It’s too late for regrets
Might as well embrace the present
Have some fun before the pain gets too bad
Me
Bye
Elodie
Hahaha text me if you have more questions, you know I’m here for you
Me
I know
You talked to Vi?
Elodie
Yeah
Me
Thank you!
What can I tell her about heat?
Elodie
Only the stuff August told you guys
Me
You know I can’t lie to her
Elodie
It’s not entirely untrue
Heat is basically a potential mate bond
Jasper put a plate down in front of me, and my head jerked upward.
My eyes met his.
He looked… beastly.
Not entirely, but borderline.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
“Fine.” He gritted the word out.
Definitely not lost to his instincts yet.
“Don’t lie to me.” The words slipped out before I could rethink them.
I cut into my pancakes, which were already bathing in the butter and syrup he’d covered them with. They had chocolate chips in them that time—yum.
He sat down across from me with his own plate and worked his jaw a few times.
I took a bite of my food, hoping it would ease my pain or lower my temperature. It didn’t, but it did taste good.
Maybe he’d tell me the truth, and maybe he wouldn’t. I really had no control over it.
“Who are you texting?” He finally ground out. “Are you dating someone? Is it another guy?”
I blinked at him once.
Then again.
And a third time.
Finally, I said, “If I was dating someone, I wouldn’t have gone to the wedding alone. Third-wheeling with Vi and Eli is miserable.”
A tense moment passed between us, and I realized I hadn’t answered his question.
“I’m texting Elodie.”
My phone buzzed with a message from her, and I turned the screen toward him so he could see that I’d told the truth.
Jasper’s face twisted in a snarl, and I turned the screen back to me so I could read the message.
Elodie
Telling her the truth is against dragon laws. They’re all about keeping their secrets. They could put you in prison for it, and that place is a shitshow. You’d die fast
“They’d have to rip you from my cold, dead arms to get you anywhere near my prison,” Jasper said, his voice rough and animalistic.
He was going to lose control of his instincts and get all beastly again.
Fabulous.
I took a bite of my pancake and put my phone down. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
The question caught him so off-guard that his anger vanished.
He stared at me for a long time, as if the question was so insane that he didn’t even know how to respond to it.
But I wanted to hear what Elodie had told me from him. To see what he said and learn what was really true.
“I’ve never had a girlfriend,” he finally said, cutting into his own food. “Dragons don’t… date. Or sleep around. Heat can ignite any time, even with someone you’ve seen a thousand times before. Any interactions with humans would put us at risk, so we don’t interact unless there’s no other choice.”
“So you’ve never had sex before?”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
My gaze followed the motion.
“No. And as far as I’m concerned, you haven’t either.”
I rolled my eyes.
His bare foot brushed mine under the table, and my entire body relaxed at the sudden relief of heat’s symptoms. “You aren’t surprised by my answer.”
“I’ve been texting Elodie for a while. She told me. I just wanted to hear it from you too.”
His forehead creased. “You didn’t believe her?”
“I don’t know what to believe in this situation, Jas.” The shortened version of his name slipped out. I didn’t try to stop it, either. “All I know is that I’m trapped in a little apartment inside a mountain, with a guy who may or may not be sane, who happens to turn into a scaly monster from time to time.”
His jaw clenched.
I braced myself for his anger.
A moment passed before he finally let out a slow breath. “I have a solution for the space problem. There’s a large living area a few floors above us. It belongs to the head of the thunder, which is me. It has a large balcony. Multiple spare rooms, too. We could make one of them a library.”
I frowned. “You have a large living space and don’t use it?”
“It belonged to my parents. They were the last to live in it.”
I didn’t know a whole lot about his parents, but I did know that they’d died when his younger sister was born, somewhere around thirty years earlier. Jasper and his brothers had all raised Brynn in Scale Ridge.
“If it will bring back difficult memories or emotions for you, I don’t want to stay there,” I said.
“No, it…” he shook his head, struggling to get the words out. “My mother would’ve wanted us to live there. She loved it tremendously. If she was here, she would tell you to redecorate and make it yours. It can be hard to be the only woman in the mountain. That was her sanctuary—it should be yours too.”
“Just for the month,” I said, reminding him that we weren’t permanent.
He jerked his head in a nod.
It wasn’t entirely convincing, but I knew I was the one who’d have to fight heat for the most part anyway.
“We’ll walk around it after we eat, and you can decide what you want to do with it. I’ll send my dragons into Scale Ridge for whatever you want.”
“Alright. Thank you.” I took another bite.
His foot remained against mine as we ate in silence. Though it was still a little awkward, I actually kind of enjoyed it.
After we were done eating,Jasper changed. Then, he tucked me against his chest and led me back through the hallway.
Now that I could see in the dark, I could actually make out the lines and curves of the halls. They were nice and wide, though there were absolutely no decorations of any kind. It made the whole place feel dark and gloomy.
We climbed a few sets of stairs before we made it to the living area he’d mentioned.
“This is the top of Mate Mountain,” he said, as he opened an unlocked door and gestured me inside.
I stepped into the room and looked around.
Unlike the rest of the hallways and the single room I’d seen, the space had life. There were rugs and decorations. A few fake plants, too. And the walls had landscape paintings on them. None of it was my style, and everything was old-fashioned, but it was infinitely better than anything else I’d seen in the mountain.
I looked back at Jasper, and found him looking at everything with a distant expression.
The space had to be full of memories for him, if he’d grown up there.
“We really don’t have to stay here if it’s going to be difficult for you,” I said.
His gaze lowered to mine. “It’s not difficult. The memories it brings back are good. It’s just… strange. Redecorating would help. If you don’t want to handle it, I’ll send Brynn a few pictures and have her figure it out.”
Brynn was the one who had decorated August and Elodie’s house, which was gorgeous.
And he was offering…
“If you give me her number, I can send her a few pictures and we can do it together.”
Jasper nodded. “She’d like that.”
“Perfect.”
We walked around, and I took pictures of all of the rooms. Because Brynn wasn’t a dragon, she wasn’t allowed in Mate Mountain any more than any other human. She’d actually become a demon when she mated with one, which really barred her from the dragons’ sanctuary.
“Why did you guys name this place Mate Mountain to begin with?” I asked, as we walked around. The space was the size of a large house, at least three thousand square feet, maybe four. There was a lot to see, and it was all spacious and cozy.
It was almost too much space.
But too much was better than not enough, considering I was going to be trapped there for an entire month.
“We didn’t. Its actual name is Main Mountain. The living space is inside the top half, and the prison is in the bottom half. When humans heard about it and started saying we lived in Mate Mountain, we didn’t correct them, and started using the name ourselves. It sounds separate from the prison, which is ideal. We don’t want word spreading that we live on top of our convicts.”
“When you put it like that, it’s a little creepy.”
“The first of the prisoners are about a mile beneath us, and the entire mountain is woven through with ancient dragon magic. It’s a maze down there. Even if they managed to escape, they wouldn’t be able to find their way out. Anyone without a dragon’s magic would find themselves suddenly lost if they were to try to leave.”
My eyes widened. “So I could get trapped in there?”
“No, Miranda. You have my magic in your veins. You could always find your way out.” He tapped the same part of his thigh where he’d bitten me on mine, and my face flushed at the reminder.
Considering I hadn’t been able to sleep because I’d been so lost in sexual fantasies, it didn’t take much encouragement to get me going again.
“Even if you couldn’t, I’ll never be so far from you that you could get lost,” he said, then crossed the living room as we made it back in.
I followed him to the only door we hadn’t stepped through. It was set against the same wall that was covered in open-air windows, so I was fairly confident I knew what it was.
Sure enough, I stepped out onto a balcony.
It was a massive balcony, though. Wide, and long, with nothing above it but air.
“This is one of the only living spaces in the mountain that has its own landing pad. There are about eight of them, all of which are empty right now,” Jasper said, his eyes on me while mine moved over the scenery.
It was breathtaking.
Mate Mountain towered over all of the others around it, so I could see the mountain range beyond us clearly. The only thing blocking my view was the occasional cloud.
“How often do you go flying?” I asked him.
“Every chance I get.” There was something in his voice that I couldn’t quite define.
Not reverence.
Not passion.
Something… more.
And if we sealed the bond, I would be taking that away from him.
“We need to put some chairs out here,” I said, changing the subject before I apologized again. He hadn’t seemed to appreciate my apology. “This would be a perfect place to work.”
Jasper nodded once.
And with that, we turned around and made our way back to his apartment.