Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“How long did you visit me for?” I asked Harpy, immensely proud of his need to check in on me.
“Maybe three hours,” he whispered, like he was ashamed to admit it.
“I think you helped me,” I said, remembering my nightmares and how I’d felt calm all of a sudden.
“You were whimpering in your sleep,” he confessed. “I couldn’t just sit and watch you in anguish.”
I gave him a soft smile. “I’m glad you were there for me. Thank you.”
His eyes met mine, so vulnerable and pretty.
“Do you think that’s the reason we sealed our bond? I heard you needed to know the other person pretty well for a bond to seal over a kiss.”
I nodded. “I think so. The Magic works in mysterious ways sometimes. But I’m glad it sealed us together. I wanted nothing more than for you to be mine.”
“Truly?”
I laughed. “You have no idea how hard it was to keep away from you. I needed to take walks to clear my head.”
He laughed too, the sound warming my insides in the most pleasant way.
It felt as though a shiver ran through my body in an instant, spurring me into action.
I simply had to have him. My dragon took over, making me stand and grab a squeaking Harpy in my arms, then sitting me back down with Harpy straddling my lap.
I kissed his surprised lips, groaning in delight as I tasted my fated once again.
This time Harpy returned the kiss immediately, his enthusiasm clear.
I groaned, feeling myself harden under his gyrating ass.
Tightening my grip on his hips, I enjoyed the friction it caused. My sexy mate was so tall he could reach the floor with both feet, using them to move on top of me with perfection.
Harpy broke the kiss, panting heavily as he searched my gaze, then blurted, “You can’t claim me yet.”
Blinking, I gaped at him, the lust fog slowly dissipating. “What?” I croaked, begging my ears to have heard that wrong.
Harpy looked sheepish, but he still replied with confidence. “I want to wait with the claiming, please?”
“But why?” There was a whiny tone to my voice, but I ignored that.
“I just need to wrap my mind around being mated, and I know my wish to wait will be hard on you, but please?”
“What if I have to shift during class?” I had Harpy’s cat form now, too.
Sealing the bond meant we both got each other’s forms as well, but I didn’t trust that shifting to the cat form wouldn’t push my dragon instincts to take over.
Dragons needed to claim their mates, and once I’d shifted my instincts would force me into claiming Harpy.
I wouldn’t be able to stop it. We often shifted several times a week and my dragon was used to flying at least twice a week.
I’d never not shifted for more than three days in my entire life.
And with the need to claim Harpy, to rip his clothes to shreds and fuck into him so hard and deep…
to fill him with my cum until he couldn’t walk…
I felt my eyes flash. My dragon was so close to taking over and just claiming Harpy right here in the library.
“We’ll figure something out,” Harpy assured me.
I swallowed audibly. “How long?”
“No more than a week, I promise.” His smile was forced. He knew how much this would affect me. His promise was assuring, but I still worried I wouldn’t be able to behave. My fingers were literally trembling as I fought the urge to rip his pants off and rub his soft skin.
“Okay,” I relented, knowing I had to honor my mate’s wishes. I wanted to be the best mate ever for Harpy. “But please tell me this doesn’t mean that we can’t see each other the whole week, too.” It would kill me if I couldn’t be with my fated, especially now that we’d sealed our bond.
“Of course not!” Harpy shook his head, his expression serious. “I wouldn’t want to be parted from you. But I think it would be best if I waited to shift, too, even if I’m dying to try my new dragon form out.”
A relieved sigh left me, leaving me drained from all the excitement. “If you shift to your dragon mine will definitely come out to play and I won’t be able to stop it.”
He nodded, biting his bottom lip. Did he perhaps like the thought of me losing control like that?
“I would like to take you out on a date,” I decided, fully invested in courting my mate, especially now that I had to be good for a week.
Harpy seemed surprised by that, a musical laugh escaping his mouth when he realized I was serious.
“I would love that,” he beamed, his eyes gleaming with happiness.
Harpy’s past relationship with Casey would still linger between us, but Harpy seemed determined to prove he was in this too now.
I could respect that his heart still needed time to adjust to no longer belonging to Casey but now me.
The sealed bond between us made that easier, the knowing, the proof that Harpy truly was mine.
It helped those possessive urges to mark my mate’s flesh with bites and scratches for all to see. I could be good.
Maybe.
Casey offered me a pained smile when I returned to our shared room, his eyes red and puffy. Guilt flooded my veins, but I couldn’t allow myself to drown in it. Casey would soon find his own fated and then everyone would be happy.
Offering an understanding smile back at him, I got ready for bed.
Harpy had agreed to a date tomorrow after our classes.
I had never dated anyone, waiting for the day I would meet my fated.
What should I even do? Take him for a walk?
Or was that too boring? I would’ve loved to fly him around, show him the wonders of the sky, but shifting was out of the question, so what was I left with?
“How did it go?” Casey asked, his tone hesitant, like he wasn’t sure if he truly wanted to know or not.
“It went well,” I replied, keeping it at that.
I had the urge to comfort him, but maybe that would make him feel even worse.
Before thinking it through, I said, “You can eat breakfast with me and my family tomorrow. I already asked Harpy if he wanted to join and meet everyone. They would love to get to know you better too.”
“Really?” he sounded surprised and happy to be invited.
“Sure,” I shrugged, stepping out of my pants before removing my shirt.
“Thank you.”
“Of course. Harpy wants to keep you in his life, Casey. You might not be fated, but he still loves you.” It hurt to say it, but I knew Casey would always be important to Harpy, and I wanted them to keep that love, just as a platonic sort of thing now.
“And you’re okay with that? Me being friends with him?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I turned to face him, sitting on my bed to get comfy.
“Because you’re a dragon?”
I laughed. “Trust me, my dragon isn’t thrilled, but it wants Harpy to be happy and with our bond sealed now, he feels confident in his claim on Harpy.”
Casey’s eyes widened, his eyes glistening. “So, you did seal the bond.”
Oh. I nodded. “We did.”
Casey wiped his eyes. “I guess that’s a good thing. Then Harpy truly can move on.”
“And so will you,” I assured him. “I can even help you find your fated.”
He laughed but it still sounded sort of broken. “I wish it was as easy for me to spot my fated as it had been for you and Harpy. Hell, even I could tell you two belonged together.”
“Your fated is at this school, Casey, and you have two whole years to claim them.”
He smiled. “Yeah, I hope you’re right.”
Knowing I was seeing Harpy at breakfast, I fell asleep fast, wanting to speed through the hours we were kept apart. I dreamed only of Harpy and his musical laughter.