Chapter Twenty #2
For a long moment neither of us moved. I could hear nothing except our breathing, feel nothing except the weight of Dominic on top of me. My body was boneless, every thought slow and distant. Somewhere beneath me, the bed creaked as Dominic shifted slightly, pressing a kiss against my shoulder.
"God," one of us said. Possibly both.
I let my eyes close for a second, content just to exist here, warm and twined together. Then Dominic made a reluctant noise and disentangled himself.
"Don't go anywhere," he muttered as he staggered out of bed to deal with the condom. As if I were physically capable of moving.
Back in bed moments later, he curled around me, his arm a heavy, reassuring weight. I was absurdly content, tucked against Dominic's chest while he held me as though he had no intention of letting go.
“You run warm,” I murmured.
“Dragon,” he pointed out.
I wrapped my hand around his, where it lay against my chest, and he snuggled even closer.
Snuggling was not a word I’d ever expected to use about Dominic Bedwyr, but I was beginning to learn that while Dominic Bedwyr was real, there was also just Dominic.
He was as unlike his father as it was possible to be.
I wondered how they navigated one another—they must spend a lot of time together, with Dominic being the heir to the headship. Like today, when they’d both disappeared for hours.
“Did you get summoned to another meeting with Mortimer?” I asked.
He shifted slightly, tangling his legs closer with mine and pressing a kiss to my shoulder.
“Not this time. Anne’s seventy-five today, so we delivered some presents and stayed to see her cut the cake.
” He was quiet for an instant. “I didn’t actually expect that of Rhodri, driving all that way just to say happy birthday, but what do I know? ”
Surprised by the fact he referred to his father by his first name, I turned my head enough to press a kiss against his hand. It was catching, his habit of dropping little kisses on any piece of skin that was handy. And I liked it. I liked being able to touch him, to kiss him, whenever I wanted.
“Your father doesn’t usually do birthday visits, then?” I asked.
Tension rippled through him, and when he spoke, there was an edge to his voice. “How would I know?”
I had the uncomfortable sense I was missing something.
It was clear his relationship with his father wasn’t easy.
They barely exchanged a word at meals, and Dominic seemed not to know things Rhodri should have told him.
And now this. How could the heir to the headship not know such a basic fact?
He should be understudying his father, preparing for the day the headship became his.
But the last thing I wanted was to blunder onto a sensitive topic with my size tens. I changed the subject.
“Your territory’s pretty enormous, isn’t it?” It felt neutral, and it was less awkward than keeping silent would have been. “I checked it out before I came here, and was really surprised.” I ran my fingers along his arm. “Must be what comes of being King Arthur’s favourite, all those years ago.”
“Leaving aside the fact half of it’s mountains, so no earthly use to anyone who doesn’t think a crampon’s the best invention ever, I guess so,” he said. “You make any earth-shattering discoveries while I was gone?”’
I turned in his arms, because I wanted to see his face in the lamplight.
“I’m not sure it’s earth-shattering, but it does look as if one of your relatives had a bastard child with a human.
Which, you know, not great, except for the fact that it was centuries ago, so I think dragon blood would be so diluted that we’re safe now.
I wonder how it works. I mean, if someone’s half-dragon, can they shift?
Would they shift into a full dragon if they could shift, or just have… I don’t know, wings and a tail?”
I pushed up on one elbow as it hit me. “Maybe that’s where those medieval carvings of devils come from, human forms with tails and sometimes wings?”
But the excitement disappeared as quickly as it had come once I thought it all the way through. “That wouldn’t work—we don’t have cloven hooves.” I sighed, more disappointed than I liked to admit that there was still so much locked in the past that we’d never understand.
Laughter shook him and he drew me back down and kissed me. “Ever consider there might be goat shifters?”
No, I hadn’t, and he wasn’t serious, so I elbowed him in the ribs. “Anyway, I’m making progress,” I told him.
He stroked my hair back from my face. “You know, you get this look when you start working things out.”
“What kind of look?” I asked suspiciously.
“As if you’re just about to solve the most exciting mystery in history.” He pressed a kiss against my forehead. “It’s hot.”
My cheeks heated. I knew perfectly well I was reasonably attractive, but no one had ever called me hot before.
“You start talking faster, too. Like your mouth can’t keep up with your brain.”
Oh, and now he was teasing. “I do not.”
“Historian, I regret to inform you that you absolutely do.”
And then we were lying there grinning at one another, and I’d never been so happy in my life.