Chapter 24 #2
“Yes, but not right this minute! I want more time with you,” she moaned. “Tell me you feel the same?”
“I’ve never thought about it,” he admitted, stroking her back. “Mostly because I was too fucked in the head to care. But now that I have you? A few decades, just us, sounds good. Though I should warn you. I was one of three.”
“One of three what?” She lifted her head, her brow furrowing.
He smoothed the lines away. “The youngest of triplets.”
“Brilliant,” Ash groaned. “One dragon isn’t enough, yeah, let’s go for three.”
His laugh rumbled free, and he withdrew from her body. She hadn’t even realized the knot had eased. He settled her on the bed.
“Don’t move.”
“Move where?” she grumbled, glowering at him, still a little dizzy from the curveball he’d thrown her. “I doubt I could even walk right now—and three babies at once? Ugh.”
His warm chuckle wrapped around her as he sauntered in the direction of the bathroom, and she closed her eyes and let the thought of babies drift away to where they belonged—in the future—basking in the contentment while she waited for him to return.
The mattress dipped. He sat near her hip and stroked her thigh. “Spread.”
She opened one eye, saw the damp washcloth he held, and reached for it. “I can do that.”
“No, you just lie there.”
With a sleepy sigh, she parted her thighs, and he gently cleaned away the evidence of their lovemaking. Ash closed her eyes again, simply enjoying him—his careful, reverent touch—the quiet between them soft and full. But with each stroke, her desire hummed again.
With a muffled groan, she opened her drowsy lids. “I can’t lift a single limb,” she muttered, “and you’re still turning me into a furnace. Explain yourself.”
A ghost of a smile flickered. “Sit up. You need food.”
Ash did, shivering a little. She grabbed the crumpled throw hanging off the bed and draped it over herself as Race rolled the food trolley closer, a towel slung low around his lean hips.
Race handed her one of the plates—slices of roast beef with vegetables and a peppery sauce—and her mouth watered.
He picked up the other plate and sat on the bed. God, she was starving. She forked a bite of meat and vegetables into her mouth.
A smile started as she watched Race dig into his meal. “Look at you, using actual silverware.”
He snorted and glanced up. She grinned and took another bite, but her thoughts drifted to the things she still needed to do, including calling her parents—
Oh, hell. Her heart tripped.
“Mating is like being married, right?” she blurted.
He stilled, the fork halfway to his mouth. “Why?”
“Because I need to tell my parents something, especially why I won’t be coming back home.”
Not a muscle moved as he watched her. “Our souls are joined, what do you think?”
“Okay, okay.” She jabbed a piece of broccoli. “So, it’s more than just a piece of paper saying we’re legally bound.”
“Exactly.” He resumed eating, but his gaze stayed on her. “You don’t seem happy.”
“Oh, it’s not that. It’s just…” She bit her lip. “Race, we met about three weeks ago. My parents are going to lose their minds.”
“Because they’ll think it’s a rebound?” he asked softly.
Oh, boy. He was stuck on that thought, but he wasn’t wrong. She grimaced. “Something like that.”
“They just have to look at us, and they’ll know,” he said, quiet certainty in his voice.
“Yes, true.” A little calmer, she ate her broccoli and grimaced. “Good thing I’d already stepped back from volunteering at the animal rescue.”
His brow furrowed. “Thought you said you studied?”
“I did. Meteorology and Climate Science at UC Davis, then my master’s back in England. I worked in field research for a while—weather studies, storm modeling, that sort of thing.” She waved her fork. “Then Dad fell ill, and I needed something closer to home. So I ended up in London.”
She pulled a face, forking more food into her mouth. “Ghostwriting climate policy briefs for Paul—Mr. Future MP—so he could win votes. Until that imploded, and my powers made an appearance.”
Leaving out the part about Paul being a pain in her backside, trying to win her back, she continued, “I resigned, moved in with my parents, and helped out at the local animal rescue shelter. Then I left for the Himalayas.”
A flicker of red flashed across their bond. “I could just torch him.”
She blinked, then said softly, “Race, he’s ancient history, honestly. If I hadn’t ditched politics, I’d never have met the gorgeous bloke determined to play my knight—and you are my knight, just with sharper fangs.”
Warmth rolled through their soul bond, and he grunted, “Good save, mate.”
Grinning, she took another bite and chewed. He set his empty plate on the cart. She swallowed as her fingers worried the fork. “Race…there was something Attor told me.”
Instantly, the playful glint vanished from his eyes. “What?”
“Malcarion isn’t just caging the children with powers for his mines.” Her voice dropped. “He’s ordered every female who goes into heat to conceive, or be dragged to his soldiers. That’s why the blue wards flare so often. They’re tracking fertile women, too.”
For a moment, silence stretched, and a muscle jumped in his jaw, fury sparking in his eyes.
“Not for long, heart-fire,” he said softly, with deadly calm. “Not for long.”