Chapter Forty-Seven
Dela
I chewed conspicuously on the piece of fresh bread while Ember, Mark, and Chelsea chatted nearby, the background sound of other diners and clinking of cutlery and dishes muted as I listened to them.
They were getting along. They were getting along!
I was near fair to bursting at that sight.
While Chelsea and Mark had always put on a show of being civil to the men I’d dated in the past, they hadn’t taken to any of them like Ember.
Mark was actually laughing and joking, and the two men had even clinked glasses together.
Like friends. My heart was full to the point of overflowing.
Finally, after so much searching and failure—much of which was my fault for not seeing the truth of the situation—I’d found someone who fit with my crowd of people.
True, I hadn’t introduced him to my parents yet.
They were flying in the following week, but I had no worries about them.
Ember would win them over, just as he had me.
“Are you going to be okay over there?” Chelsea asked, removing herself from the conversation with the men and leaning over to me. “You look like your head is going to explode.”
“Is it that bad?”
Chels nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
“Crap.”
I’d been trying to keep my composure, but it was freaking hard. It was Chelsea. My BFF from forever and a day ago. I told her everything, and I meant everything. Down to the gross, nasty, or spicy details. We never didn’t share. But now I was keeping secrets from her. Big secrets.
Like the fact that I was royalty. A frickin’ princess of a dragon clan.
Not even humans. I couldn’t tell her, though, and it pained me to keep that secret, but Ember had made me swear it.
The world as a whole wasn’t ready for dragons.
Even I still had difficulty adjusting to the fact that I was mated to one.
Such a strange word—mated. We used it to describe animals. Not humans, not people. But there was something deeper about that connection. Something more intense than a simple commitment. It spoke to that animal side in us, affirming that, no matter what happened, he and I were together for life.
“You two seem to really be hitting it off,” Chelsea said, drawing me back to reality. “I think this one is actually a keeper.”
I glanced over at Ember. Although he was mid-conversation with Mark about some sports team or another, something Ember had no actual clue about, he managed to look over at me.
For a second, deep in his eyes, a faint flash of yellow-red appeared.
It was gone so fast that if you weren’t looking for it, you’d have missed it.
But I saw it.
“Yeah,” I said, glancing at my friend. “I think so, too. There’s something just different about him. Different than any other times I’ve said it’s different, too.”
“I agree,” Chelsea said. “He seems like a good one. I mean, he’s charming, funning, polite—”
“And hot as fuck?”
“I am married,” Chelsea said primly, though her smile gave away her true emotion. “But he does take good care of his body, yes. Not quite my type, but perfect for you.”
I laughed softly. Mark was a triathlete.
He was slim-fit, with big legs. Ember was thick-muscle and exuded strength.
They were both in good shape, but it was totally different types of shape.
But they both looked good. Mark was attractive, as Chelsea had said about Ember, but he didn’t do anything for me.
Ember, on the other hand. He looked at me more directly, sensing my staring, and winked, a promise of wickedly delicious things to come. My body started preparing then and there, blood rushing through my body, heat pooling between my legs.
“So, you two gonna get married?” Chelsea teased.
I glanced at her. “Aren’t you the one who normally advises caution and taking things slowly?”
“Yes. But you were staring at him, and I needed your attention.”
“Ha-ha,” I said dryly. “But no, probably not. Marriage isn’t really a custom of his. We don’t need it.”
Ember’s head swiveled as I talked, his conversation with Mark dying off.
His gaze latched on to me, and he reached across the table to drape his fingers over my hand.
I definitely did not shiver delightfully at his touch, and my nipples most definitely did not grow slightly stiffer. Not from a touch.
“You sound upset,” he rumbled. “Would you like a wedding?”
Chelsea's jaw dropped open.
“I mean,” I said, stumbling. “It’s okay, Ember. I know you don’t really go for those sorts of things.”
“But you would like one?” he pushed.
“I did,” I admitted. “I dreamed of it for a long time. I think every woman did or does. That perfect day, all about you and the one you love. Celebrating and committing to one another for life.”
I didn’t have to tell him it wasn’t necessary because we’d already done that in the presence of the dragon God-King.
But it’s not the same, and you know it.
“If this is something you want,” he said, “then you’ll have it.”
Chelsea cleared her throat, gathering all eyes to her.
“Yes?” Ember asked.
“You know, it’s customary that if you’re asking a woman to marry you that you do so with a ring while on one knee. That’s kind of part of the tradition. You have to ask her first. And maybe after more than two weeks of dating.”
I giggled at that last part. Two weeks or two years, I knew it didn’t matter anymore. Not to me. Ember was my Eternal Mate, and we’d proven that in front of a magical being. I wasn’t going anywhere.
Ember frowned, nodding slowly. Then he reached below his dress shirt and tugged out his necklace. He covered it in one hand, and my eyebrows rose as I felt the heat he gathered there. Without checking, he stuck his other hand in and moved something around.
“What are you doing?” Chelsea asked, then looked at me. “What’s he doing?”
“Getting her a ring,” Ember rumbled in a deep, intense voice, his eyes locked on me. Then he slid from his chair, went down onto one knee, and took my hand.
I bit my lip, my eyes wide. I glanced at Chelsea, who couldn’t seem to believe what was happening. Mark just sipped his beer, a smile on his face as he watched the proceedings.
“It’s going to be too big,” I whispered as he opened his hand.
It wasn’t. I gasped at the warm metal as it slid up my skin, settling perfectly into place. Ember then withdrew his hand, and we all caught our first glimpse at the ring.
“Oh, wow,” I gasped. “Ember …”
His necklace, the key that allowed him to navigate the clouds around Mount Drakonus, had been transformed.
The 2-D figure of the dragon surrounded by a circle with a fire opal at its heart was now a true ring.
Ember had somehow heated and reshaped the dragon until it ran along the side of the ring itself.
The dragon's jaws held the fire opal in place with their four fangs, while the tail wrapped around the neck from the other side, uniting it.
“Wow,” Chelsea said, stunned. “That is quite the unique ring.”
“It’s perfect,” I said.
“But there’s a problem,” Chelsea said.
I looked at her. “What? No, there’s no problem. None at all. Trust me, this is amazing.”
“Actually, there is,” she said, a twinkle in her eye.
“What is it, then?”
“He never actually asked you,” she pointed out, lazily flicking a finger in Ember’s direction.
The dragon shifter sighed. “Very well. Is there a proper format that I should ask? I wouldn’t want to screw that up, too.”
I smirked at the gentle rebuke, and even Chelsea couldn’t hide a smile.
“Yes, you have to say her name, then ask her if she would do you the incredible honor, or amazing privilege, or something like that, of marrying you and spending the rest of her life with you.” She leaned over and rubbed Marc’s hand.
Ember nodded, his eyes locked on me. “Dela Brooks,” he said formally. “Will you make me the luckiest d—man on this planet and any other by agreeing to wear this ring and spend the rest of your life with me?”
“Yes,” I said. “I will. Happily.”
“Now kiss her,” Chelsea whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
“Gladly,” Ember growled, lunging up from one knee and rocking me back in the chair as he smothered me with a fiery kiss.
“Not one for propriety, is he?” Mark drawled, lifting a beer. “Congrats, you two. This is the wildest thing I think Dela has ever done in her dating life since I met her. I sincerely hope it works out better than any of the others.”
Chelsea slapped his hand.
“What?” he said. “It’s true.”
“Yeah, but you don’t say that part out loud,” she admonished.
“Guys, it’s fine,” I said. “I know it’s crazy. But … you’re going to have to trust me when I say it’s not that crazy.”
Chelsea leaned over. “Are you sure, Dela?”
“I’m sure,” I said. “You know those times when you just know?”
She nodded.
“This is one of those,” I said. “Things with Ember are just so different, in every way conceivable, from everyone I’ve ever dated or liked in the past. Completely and totally different. We just … click. Everything is in sync.”
“Okay, good. I’m glad. I still maintain this is crazy, even if I did just help you get engaged, but it definitely feels different.”
“Oh, it’s very different,” I said with a chuckle, ignoring Chelsea’s questioning look after. It wasn’t like I could tell her the truth.
“Whatever,” she said, sticking her tongue out when it became clear I wasn’t going to spill. “I just like that we can double date now. It’s so nice.”
“What, me as a third wheel or with a revolving table of new dates wasn’t fun? Is that what you’re saying, best friend?”
“Precisely,” Chelsea teased. “That is precisely what I am saying. Because I want to do this again.”
“And we will,” I said, glancing at Ember, who nodded. “Though it’ll be a bit.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Travel,” Ember put in. “My work has me doing lots of travel right now.”
That was putting it mildly. We’d been all over the Fire Realm in the past week and a half, meeting with various influential families and simply meeting anyone we came across. There were more dragons than I’d ever expected.
Most of them were wary of me, making this dinner extra peaceful. Only a few of the people we met had been outright hostile to me because of what I was, decrying a human on the throne, but Ember had dealt with them.
Still, there was more work to be done, and we would be back and forth between the Fire Realm and Earth repeatedly for some time.
The princedom was no longer embroiled in the beginnings of a civil war, but it still had much healing to do.
And as not only his princess but also a human, it was necessary for me to accompany him everywhere we went.
The fire dragons had to get used to seeing me as their princess.
“Are you going with him?” Chelsea asked.
I nodded. “Yes, he’s going to fly me everywhere he goes, so we can spend time together.”
“Well, that’s fun,” Chelsea said. “When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow, actually,” Ember said, glancing at me.
I smiled tightly, trying to contain my nerves at the reminder. “Big meeting tomorrow night, isn’t that right?” I said, trying to sound cheery.
“Indeed. It’s going to go well, though,” he said. “I know it will.”
“I hope so,” I said, licking my lips.
It was a big meeting. Very big.
Tomorrow we were meeting the heirs to the other dragon thrones.