Chapter 5
five
VI
Sleep didn’t come when it should’ve.
My body felt unnaturally hot.
And sore.
It couldn’t have been caused by the sex, so what was it? Heat?
I wanted to ask Elodie about it, but I’d bothered her enough. And I wanted to talk to Randa, but I still couldn’t interrupt her wedding night.
She probably wouldn’t have answered the phone even if I did. She and Jasper weren’t known for replying to texts quickly. Given they’d just gotten married, they’d probably left the devices in their car or something.
The only other person I could text about dragon stuff was Brynn, the guys’ sister, and I knew they didn’t tell her anything about their magic if they could avoid it. And they could usually avoid it.
Plus, she had a newborn baby. I wasn’t going to message her in the middle of the night.
So, that left me with one option for information.
Eli.
Yeah, sleep sounded better.
I closed my eyes and let out a long, slow breath, trying to silently persuade my mind that all was well.
Zen.
I was completely zen.
Zen enough to fall asleep, even though I was practically a puddle of sweat, and my entire body hurt.
It was a great day.
Great. Day.
I forced myself to wait another fifteen minutes before I started to feel like I might actually sweat to death. Then, I finally sent a message.
Me
You awake?
I listened for a ding, but didn’t hear anything.
He probably had the thing on silent.
And had left it in his jacket pocket or something.
I huffed.
Dammit, I was going to have to stop being stubborn.
Raising my voice, I called out, “Eli?”
“Mmhm?” His muffled response was immediate.
“Grab your phone.”
I listened for motion, but didn’t hear anything.
Mine vibrated in my hand a few seconds later.
Eli
Yep
What’s up?
Me
I’m sweaty
Eli
Ah
That would be heat
Me
How do I stop it?
Eli
Let me touch you
I scoffed.
Eli
I heard that
Heat’s purpose is reproduction. It’ll push us to have sex for the next two weeks. If we don’t, you’ll start feeling pain soon. I probably won’t be able to stay away from you if you do
Good thing I hadn’t told him I was already hurting.
Me
I’ll survive some pain
Eli
Not this pain
It’s supposed to be awful
Elodie could hardly speak when she was going through it. I thought August was going to lose his mind
Me
But they managed without sealing the bond?
Eli
Yep
Fell in love along the way though
Me
I don’t want a relationship, E
Eli
You got a mate anyway
Me
Can’t we just be mates who live apart? Some humans do that
Eli
I can’t fly without you anymore, so no. I’m not living away from you.
Me
What do you mean?
Eli
Dragons can’t shift without their mates after they’re bonded
Which is why we avoid human women
Me
You were flirting up a storm a few hours ago
Eli
For a reason
Me
What was the reason?
Eli
Let me share your bed and I’ll tell you
Me
No
Eli
K
I didn’t reply for a few minutes.
He didn’t either.
I was really sweaty. And my body hurt.
But I was stubborn enough that I wasn’t giving in.
Not quite stubborn enough to stop myself from texting him again, though.
Me
Elodie said something about fertility
Eli
I’d rather have this conversation in person
Me
I’d rather not be in this situation at all right now
He sent me a gif of someone sighing.
I sent one back of someone waiting impatiently.
Eli
You won’t have periods anymore. Only time you can get pregnant is during heat. And birth control prevents pregnancy, as you know. Nothing to worry about there since you said you have an IUD
Me
Finally, there’s a perk to this mate thing
Eli
There are lots of perks
Me, for starters
Complete, unimpeded access
You won the damn lottery
I bit back a grin.
Me
And you didn’t?
I’m the full package, E
Eli
I’m aware
My cock is too, for the record
My face flushed
Me
In your dreams will that ever happen again
Eli
*in ALL of my dreams
Me
Now you’re just being cheesy
Eli
Who doesn’t like cheese?
I sent him an eye-rolling emoji.
He sent a gif back of someone raising their eyebrows up and down.
Me
What else don’t I know? There was something about scents, wasn’t there?
Eli
There is
But I really don’t want to have that conversation over text
Me
I didn’t ask what you wanted
Eli
I noticed
Me
Just tell me
Eli
Just let me in
Are you in pain?
Even if you aren’t, I can help with the sweating
Me
No need
I’m fine
And I’m actually starting to enjoy being my own personal sauna
I heard Eli snort in the other room, and bit my lip to stop myself from grinning.
Eli
Glad you’re enjoying it, because it’ll be a long two weeks of sweating if you refuse to let me touch you
Me
I love sweating
Eli
I love the way you smell when you’re sweating
I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling, and sent him a middle-finger emoji.
He sent one back of a tongue.
Licking the finger.
My face heated further, somehow.
Me
Are you sure there’s no way out of this?
Eli
Yep
But there really are perks
Me
You keep saying that, but I have yet to hear one other than no periods and complete access to my arch nemesis
Eli
When did I become your arch nemesis?
This feels like a victory
I’d like a medal
Me
I’ll order a trophy that says “Asshole Award”
Eli
I’ll accept with tears of joy
Me
I’m sure you will
Eli
Randa is a pretty big perk
Me
What?
How do you figure that?
We’re identical twins. It doesn’t get much closer than that, and there’s no mate bond required
Eli
But she lives in Mate Mountain
Where I also have a home
And the proper vehicle to get you there
I stared at the message, my heartbeat picking up a little bit.
He was right.
That was a perk. A huge perk. I could see Randa whenever I wanted, assuming I could convince Eli to take me there. And he couldn’t fly without me, so he’d want to fly whenever I did, wouldn’t he?
I couldn’t let him realize how much hope he’d given me, though. That would make him think he had the upper hand.
Me
Since when did dragons become vehicles?
Eli
Since always
After we’re mated, we live to shuttle our mate around
Me
Sure you do
Eli didn’t respond right away.
I bit my lip and finally sent another message.
Me
Randa said she’s the only woman in Mate Mountain. Would they even let me stay there?
Eli
Yes
She is, but not because of any rules. Mated dragons can live wherever they want, including Mate Mountain. Most of them just choose to live among the humans.
My hope got a little stronger.
Maybe I was even getting a little excited.
Me
Do you live there most of the time?
Eli
About seventy percent right now. Brynn’s baby is too adorable to stay at the mountain full time
Me
Her baby is freaking perfect
Eli
I know
I keep trying to steal her, but Bash keeps threatening to kill me
Me
He’ll probably give you an Asshole Award too
He and I can team up
Eli
You can stay the hell away from him
Me
Elodie wasn’t kidding about the possessiveness
Eli
Nope
It’ll get better if you let me in your room though
Me
Still not happening
Eli
I’ll eat the rest of your spaghetti if you don’t open the door
Me
Go ahead. I made it for you, remember?
Eli
As a peace offering
But locking me out doesn’t seem very peaceful
Me
You didn’t fulfill your half of the peace agreement, so I cancelled it
Eli
Yes I did
You were looking for someone to go home with you, and I provided
Me
Starting a mate bond with me reignited the arch nemesis status
Eli
Then fate is your new nemesis, because I didn’t do that. It just happened. If I’d been able to control it, I would’ve waited until we were done, so you’d still have the option of rejecting me
Me
So you’d have the option of rejecting ME, you mean
Eli
No, that’s not what I mean
I would never have rejected you
I stared down at the text for a long time before I finally sent another message.
Me
If you’re not going to tell me about the scent thing and the reason for the flirting, I’m going to bed
Eli
Sweat dreams
*SWEET dreams
Damn autocorrect
I laughed.
There was no way it was autocorrect. Eli was just… funny.
Despite my stubbornness, I could admit that was a good trait to have in someone I was apparently going to be tied to for life.
That didn’t mean I was ready to embrace the bond, of course. It was just an observation.
One more text came through as I plugged my phone in.
Eli
I love your laugh
My throat swelled.
I shut off the phone and dropped it on my nightstand, squeezing my eyes shut. If I could go back in time and stop myself from making that damn bowl of spaghetti, everything would’ve been different.
And normal.
And I wished like hell that I could somehow find a way back to the normalcy I craved… even if it was a little bit lonely.
I tossed and turned all night, only dozing for a few minutes at a time before sweat or pain woke me up.
It was getting worse by the hour. A lot worse.
My entire body felt like it was a pincushion full of needles when six AM finally came around. I was in a puddle of my own sweat, and my sleep tank and shorts were basically glued to my body.
I had been fighting the desperate urge to ask Eli to come to bed with me for hours.
And to leave my room and get in the shower.
But if I went to the shower, Eli might see how much heat was affecting me. And if I invited him to my bed, I’d be giving in, which wasn’t an option.
I’d kept myself on the mattress with willpower alone, counting down the minutes until six.
As soon as it arrived, I finally peeled my exhausted ass off the bed and shuffled to the door. Hopefully Eli was asleep on the couch, and I would have just enough time to get to the bathroom before he?—
I froze at the door as soon as I had it open.
Because Eli wasn’t on the couch.
He was laying on the floor, right outside my door.
And he wasn’t asleep. Hadn’t been asleep all night if the tension in his entire body and circles under his eyes were anything to go off of.
“Are you in pain yet?” His voice was low and gravelly when he spoke.
It sent shivers down my spine.
“Nope.” The lie almost came out as a squeak.
I felt ridiculous, but whatever. The ridiculousness wasn’t anywhere near as big a deal as the pain. And the sweating.
Eli took in a slow, deep breath.
If I wasn’t already red as hell, I was pretty sure I would’ve blushed.
“Tell me what you’re feeling,” he said.
It sounded like an order, and I didn’t do orders. Not even a little.
“I’m great,” I lied, finally stepping over his gorgeous, tense body. That tension had the muscles on his bare abdomen popping out for me, which made me drool a little.
Or would’ve made me drool a little, if I hadn’t already sweat out every drop of liquid in my body.
But I had.
So, no drool.
Yay.
“You’re dripping,” he said, voice edging on a growl. “And I heard you counting down the minutes in your head.”
“I love being a sauna, remember?” I called back.
He made a noise that said he didn’t buy it, but I finally made it into the bathroom and shut the door behind me.
Whew.
That had been close.
I turned the water on cold and wasted no time stripping my drenched sleep clothes off and stepping beneath it.
The groan that escaped me was one of relief.
“If I find out you’re in pain and aren’t telling me, I’m going to pin you to your bed with my body for the next two weeks, Spaghetti,” Eli growled into my mind.
A shudder tore through me at the intimacy of the mental conversation. No way in hell was I replying that way.
“We couldn’t stay in bed for two entire weeks. We’d need to pee, and eat,” I yelled back.
“That’s what water bottles and takeout food are for.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s disgusting. And get out of my head!”
“Stop hiding from me, and I will,” he shot back, very much still in my mind.
I shivered again.
My knees knocked together as a new wave of pain rolled through my abdomen, and I swore viciously. Bracing myself against the shower’s wall, I bent in half, clutching my middle.
Eli knocked on the door loudly, and called out, “I feel that through the bond. Let me in. Now.”
“Screw off,” I groaned.
He snarled into my mind, and a moment later, the door opened with a splintering sound. It would’ve made me wince, if I hadn’t already been hunched over in pain.
He was across the room in a heartbeat, pushing the translucent shower curtain to the side and stepping into the tub/shower combo.
His chest was still bare, so when his arms went around me, his skin pressed against my naked side.
I moaned in relief as the pain immediately eased. It didn’t vanish entirely, but faded to a dull ache that was much more manageable. The feeling of overheating disappeared almost completely.
“You don’t get to be stubborn about this.” Eli pulled me away from the wall and turned me so my back was to his chest. His arms went around my torso, one wrapping around my hips, and the other just below my breasts. The weight of them rested on his forearm, and it felt ridiculously good.
“I can be stubborn about whatever I want,” I whispered back, my legs still shaking.
“Up until the moment it causes you pain, sure.”
I closed my eyes.
I didn’t have anything to use against him as an argument. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. Heat was brutal.
“We’re already mates. Nature wants you in my bed, taking my cock. You’re going to hurt every moment you aren’t,” he said. “You can hate me as much as you want, but we aren’t staying apart through this. Watching you suffer will rip my sanity away from me until I have no control over myself, and the agony will push you until you’re lost to your need too.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We fuck as ourselves, or we suffer until fate forces our bodies together.”
The words were harsh, but they were honest. And I needed that honesty.
I let out a long breath. Water was still falling over both of us, and it was starting to actually feel kind of cold. “Let’s get out and eat something. I need time to process this.”
“Alright. But after breakfast, we’re having a conversation.”
“Agreed.”
Eli stepped out of the tub and lifted me over the edge with him. My feet met the soft bathmat, and I sighed.
At least I wasn’t sweating anymore.