He steps back, giving me space, and considers me. A moment later, he pulls me close and nuzzles at my neck again, affectionate. I am sorry, Claudia. Your ways are strange to me, but I will learn them. Some are quite pleasurable.

Yeah, they are. Especially when they come from him. But I don’t know that I should commit to being his mate. “Kael…”

Claudia, he tells me softly, my name the barest whisper. I know you do not wish to be my mate and that I scare you. I can smell your fear.

I shiver, a little worried at how he’s going to react. “You smell everything.” I remember him smelling my arousal. Just thinking about that is embarrassing.

How can I not? His claws caress my cheek, curve along my chin. You are everything to me. I am attuned to your happiness. When you are sad, I feel it. When you are aroused, it arouses me even more. You are brave and strong despite your fragile kind. You please me. I will do whatever it takes to make you happy, but I will not let you leave my side. You are my mate, and you belong with me.

“And what if I wanted to leave you? What if that’s what would make me happy?”

I wait for him to freak out, but he only caresses my cheek again. I would convince you otherwise. I would put my mouth on your cunt and lick that small hot bead nestled there until you beg to stay in my arms.

Heat floods through me. Such a blatant statement, and it makes me wet. But if he keeps turning me on, I’m worried I won’t be able to push him away if he wants more than the blowjob I just gave him. So I make a daring call and decide to tell him the truth. “You hurt me when we had sex. I didn’t like it.”

Kael’s eyes flare to black, and he goes still against me. I hurt you?

“When you bit me.” My hand goes to my neck. “Still feels hot.”

He relaxes, and the claws caress my skin again. That is the giving of fire. We do not bestow it every time we have sex. It is like your kiss—you do it to claim your partner.

“Well, I didn’t like it. And I don’t like being claimed.”

I will make it so you like it, he vows. Tell me what I can do to please you. Shall I lay you down and press my mouth to your woman’s flesh? I can smell your need. You like the mental images I send to you.

Are there no secrets from a dragon? That’s gonna take some getting used to. “You want to please me, huh?”

More than anything. His swirling eyes are an intense gold, tinged with blackness at the edges. He’s aroused, but more than that, he’s attuned to what I want.

And I have to think. What do I want? I want Amy. I want Sasha to be safe. But if I can’t have that for now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me. What would make me more comfortable to be here? I never imagined in a million years that I’d be taking a dragon as my ‘mate,’ but I guess I never thought big or crazy enough. Okay, if I’m going to think big and crazy, I’m going to go all out. “I want a home.”

This makes him pause. I have claimed this territory. Is this not acceptable as a home?

I shake my head. “It’s not comfortable. I need human things to make this a good place to live. If I’m staying with you—for now—then I want someplace real to sleep. A bed. A bath. Something to eat. Coffee. Things like that. I can’t live like this.” I gesture at the wreck of the tower. If anything, it’s even worse since we arrived, because Kael likes to land on ledges, and they crumble inward, spilling rock and concrete. “This is not a place where my people sleep comfortably. I want that.”

You wish a nest? I can hear pride in his thoughts. To make a home with me? I would enjoy nothing more, my Claudia.

For some reason, his pleasure at my request makes me happy. If I can’t have Amy and Sasha, I can at least not live like a damn animal. “I do want a home. And a bath. And something to eat.”

And time to get used to the concept of being his mate.

Satisfaction flashes in his eyes. Tell me what you would like first, and I will make it happen.

23

CLAUDIA

So…we go shopping.

The good thing about Old Dallas is that it’s super spread out. The city itself is completely ruined. Fort Dallas—the only settlement left for miles and miles around—occupies a tiny slice of the landscape, and the rest is left to scavengers, nomads, and wild animals. Oh, and dragons, of course. Can’t forget them. But because it’s so unsafe to venture far from Fort Dallas, and you can’t get far on foot, everything close to the fort itself is completely picked over. The farther out you go, the more choices you have.

And with a dragon? I can go really damn far out.

I don’t have to worry about running into outlaw nomads who’ve been exiled from their forts. I don’t have to worry about running into wild animals. I don’t have to worry about dragon attacks. I’m protected. I don’t have to worry about how far I can walk, either—Kael can take me wherever. The thought’s a little exhilarating.

I give Kael a few mental images of the types of buildings I’m looking for, and he grabs me in his claws and flies, circling the city until we find the right place. We land at a furniture store that’s not completely ruined, and I bounce on beds and sit on couches, testing everything out. There’s dust, but the roof is whole (or was until Kael ripped it open for me) and so the contents inside are unblemished by time. I pick out the first piece I want, and Kael grabs it with one foreleg and me in the other, and we fly back to our office tower. I’ve decided we’ll stay in the crappy office building because the parts with a roof seem to be decent, plus I really like the running water. I’m just going to decorate.

I sit in my chaise while Kael flies back to the furniture store and grabs the bed and mattresses I picked out. It’s silly how happy the sight of them makes me, but when he gently sets down the big wooden bed and tosses the mattress down, I don’t even mind that it’s got holes in it because he had to carry it in his mouth. I have a bed. A real bed. And a mattress. I fling myself onto it and lie flat on my back.

I never thought beds would be a perk to living with a dragon, but it seems that they are.

Once I have a sofa, a chair, and a bed, I rearrange a few of the unbroken bits of office furniture and make a dining table, just because. Kael flings the rest of what I don’t want out of my new ‘apartment’, and it’s kind of fun to just fling shit over the side of the building and watch it disappear.