Chapter Fourteen
Trey
I didn’t want to sleep and miss a second of holding Angelica. But the day caught up with me and I ended up drifting off. I woke a few hours later as Angelica stirred in my arms. The faintest hint of light was starting to filter into the cabin and I could see all the scratches on her body. The bite from yesterday was still there, an unnaturally dark blue bruise where my lips had been and that glint of light showed up again, longer this time.
Maybe I had released enough venom into her to kick start the mating frenzy; it would explained how we’d both acted last night. Because never in a thousand years would I have believed that Angelica Dearborne would’ve let me fuck her senseless outside, in the mud.
But she had, and she’d enjoyed it as much as I had.
Craved it, if I wasn’t mistaken.
And this small spark might be the reason.
The venom worked on someone’s innate feelings, it didn’t override them or make them do something they didn’t want to. Otherwise, Dragon society would look very different, and awful.
But what if the venom did slip past one part of a person’s will? It was this scenario that I felt conflicted by.
Even if a female hated a male, if she accepted the bite, then she was bound to him. They would feel one another’s pain, sense one another’s emotions. She would even feel his arousal, though the choice would still be hers whether to allow him to relieve it or not.
I had wanted Angelica to choose me and the mating bond. And I might’ve fucked that up.
The mud last night had prevented me from biting her after our chase, though in the shower, it was a near thing for certain. It was only by repeating to myself that I’d lose her if I initiated a bond without her permission that I could hold myself back.
She gave a sleepy sigh and turned in my arms to snuggle against my chest. I chuckled, witnessing her vulnerable, and frankly adorable, morning face. She usually showed up at the office with her fierce face on, ready to take on the day. I’d always wondered if she woke up like that, or if it was simply more armor she wore. Now I knew.
This Angelica was soft and mewling as she pressed herself against me and breathed kisses onto my chest.
“Good morning,” I said.
Her eyes blinked several times, gold curls brushed back with clumsy hands. When her eyes settled on me I held my breath, waiting for the regret, for her mask to slip back on.
Then she smiled at me, and it was so bright and relaxed that my heart soared at the sight.
“Morning,” she mumbled, nuzzling her face against me. “You’re warm…is nice.”
I chuckled.
“And you’re fucking adorable.”
“Am not! I’m scary.”
“Not even a little.”
She laughed, that new sound that I now knew was the way she laughed before David had broken her world into tiny pieces. And it was me that had brought it out. That had to mean something, right?
“Are you hungry?” I asked, running my hand slow up and down her back.
“Very,” and then giving me a playful grin, “Are you going to hunt for me?”
I remembered what I’d told her last night and threw my head back, letting a deep laugh roll up.
“I will if you want me to, but I’m a shit cook.”
“I used to be pretty good but I haven’t done much cooking the last few years. If we go back to the house, there will probably be breakfast.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to do the walk of shame in front of your kids, so last night I asked Alexis drop off some clothes and food this morning.”
She wound her arms around my neck and proceeded to kiss me stupid.
“That’s very, very good thinking. And by the way, I’m not ashamed,” she whispered against my mouth. “I wish we had more time. I’d stay here with you…”
“Forever.”
She nodded.
“Yeah.”
I’d been waiting for a sign that she was ready to hear the truth, and that simple confession was it. Yet nerves careened in my gut, coiling tight as I worried she’d still reject me.
“I need to tell you something,” I said.
Her forehead wrinkled and she leaned back to get a better look at me.
“What’s wrong? If you’re worried because we didn’t talk about pregnancy or testing, I can tell you that I’ve been tested and it’s all clear. And as far as kids goes, I’m well past those years.”
I gave her a nervous laugh and shook my head.
“It’s not about any of that. Though, I’ve also been tested if you wanted to know and…well, I, uh…I can’t sire any off spring. All runts are born sterile.”
She pressed a palm to my cheek, the worry lines turning to something more compassionate.
“I’m sorry, that must be difficult.”
I tried to work some moisture into my mouth as I shook my head.
“No. I used to worry that my mate might want hatchlings and that I would be a disappointment to her but…,” I took a deep breath, “when I saw my mate in the pools of Fate during my trials, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem.”
I let the words hang there as I stared at her, willing Angelica to hear what I wasn’t saying.
She stared at me, at first in confusion as she processed the words. And then her eye brows raised, lips parted on a sharp inhale.
“Are you…are you telling me that I’m…?”
I nodded, trying very hard not to hold her tighter, but I was terrified she was about to bolt.
“I had a vision of you a hundred years ago and I’ve been waiting for you ever since. When I saw you in person four years ago it was a shock at first. I couldn’t believe you were really there. And then I couldn’t stay away from you.”
She scrambled back and jumped out of the bed, grabbing one of the throw blankets and covering herself like a toga. I watched as she paced back and forth, comforted that she wasn’t flying out the door, but still panicked.
I sat up and waited to say more, letting her process and find the questions she had. It was fucking torture because all I wanted to do was tackle her to the bed and make her remember how good it was between us, how right it felt. But that wasn’t the way Mundanes did these things.
So I let her pace and pluck at her lip as she thought it all through.
“A hundred years?” she asked, pausing at the foot of the bed.
“Yes.”
She nodded, took two steps and stopped again.
“This whole time you knew and this was all just a way to get me to accept you?”
“Sort of. It’s more that I have a biological imperative to protect you, to make sure you’re safe.”
“Oh…so it’s not…real then.”
I lunged across the bed, unable to stop myself as I knelt at the edge and gripped her arms.
“This is very real, Angelica. Sometimes Dragons accept the mate bond for no other reason except biology but for me, it may have started out that way, for a second, but I’ve been in love with you since that first moment. And it’s only gotten worse as time went on.”
“Worse? Like some kind of affliction?” she asked with a hard edge to her voice.
This was her searching for a way to protect herself, latching on to whatever she could find to dismiss my feelings. And I wasn’t going to let her.
“If by affliction you mean the pain of being so close to you and never being able to touch you,” I slid my hand to her cheek, “or kiss you,” I pressed my lips soft to hers, “then yes, it’s been a terrible affliction.”
“So, it’s more than just because you saw me in some pool?” her voice was raw, naked with emotion.
I’d never heard her like that before, fear and longing entwined.
“Yes, it’s because of you, Angelica. It’s who you are that made me fall in love with you, not a vision I had a hundred years ago. That was just the catalyst to find you.”
“You love me?” she whispered.
“Hopelessly, wonderfully, completely.”
“What if…what if I’m not sure how I feel?”
I smiled at her and kissed her forehead.
“I’ve already waited a hundred years. What’s a few more if it means there’s a chance I get to keep you at the end?”
She shook her head, a sound like a cross between a laugh and sob falling from her lips.
“You know this is crazy, right? I’m Mundane, I age faster than you and I’m already middle aged.”
“If you accept my mating bond, then I could change that.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“How?”
“Well,” I cleared my throat and realized that I hadn’t really prepared anything for this part. “I would bite you. My venom would change your physiology and make you…um, well, parts of you, Dragon.”
Angelica stepped away from me, eyes bulging with surprise.
“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” I said quickly. “And it’s not like you’d have wings or anything, more that your longevity would match mine, your stamina, speed, strength. It would all be a match for me and since I’m royal, it would make you a co-ruler, if you wanted to be.”
“I just… I need a minute, or several.”
“Of course, yeah, take all the time you need.”
She nodded, biting her lip as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
I fell back on the bed, compulsively going over every single word we exchanged and trying to determine if I could’ve done it better. I was still doing that half an hour later when the bathroom door opened and Angelica stepped through. Her jaw was set, lips pressed together, steel in her blue eyes. Panic gripped my heart but I made myself look past the usual signs of her putting up walls. Behind the determination was the same vulnerability I glimpsed earlier and I held my breath, waiting to see what it meant.
“I don’t know for certain if I want you to change me,” she said, a tiny tremble in her otherwise firm voice.
“I can understand that.”
“But I think I’d like to see where this goes. So if you can wait for the rest, I want to be with you, and only you.”
The words rushed out of her and I couldn’t quite believe I’d heard them at first, so I just stared, slack jawed and buck naked.
“Yes!” I blurted out. “Whatever you want.”
“Trey—”
“I know, it’s not a guarantee of anything, I know this is all a lot but…Fuck! I’m so relieved you’re not running out the door!”
I fell back onto the bed with a shaky laugh.
“You thought I’d run?” she asked.
“Yeah, either that or slap me. Maybe both.”
“You didn’t think that I maybe had feelings for you?”
“Do you?” I asked, bolting up.
“Well…yes…maybe…I think so.”
Unable to wait one more minute to feel her against me, I reached out and pulled her onto my lap.
“I was afraid to hope,” I admitted. “Because that would’ve been far worse, to hope and lose, than to just protect myself.”
Her hands slid along my shoulders, eyes downcast and she gave me a little nod.
“I can relate to that.”
“I’ll wait however long it takes, I swear.”
Her lips trembled and fat tears trailed down her cheeks. I kissed them away, determined to devour her unhappiness and transform it if I could.
“I’m scared.”
She said it so softly I almost didn’t hear it, even with my enhanced senses.
“I know,” I acknowledged, holding her tighter. “And I know why. But this isn’t what you’ve had before. Not even close. I’m not going anywhere, except wherever you go. I’m not going to fade away and change into a monster in front of you. You’ve already seen my monstrous side and if it didn’t drive you away, well then, we’re doing pretty good.”
She let out a shaky laugh.
“You’re my path, my destiny. Everything I do will always lead me back to you until the day I die,” I said. “I love you, Angelica. Let me earn your trust, and love.”
“You already have,” she looked at me with eyes full of tears and fragile faith that I was determined to keep safe. “I trust you, and I…I think I’m falling in love with you too.”
The last few words fell out of her mouth on a sob. And in spite of the way I wanted to throw her to the bed and make her forget any reason to be afraid to give herself over to those feelings, I held her as she cried instead. I knew what she risked by letting me in, by admitting this. It made it all the more priceless, treasured.
I’ll prove that you have nothing to fear. Even if it takes the rest of our lives.