“We play games, talk about the old days. Tease each other. Explore outside.” His lips spread into a smile. “Go flying.”
She sighed. “Really? Can I go sometime?” It was getting easier and easier to believe he really was a dragon. After what she’d seen this afternoon, the only other option was she was hallucinating, and she didn’t feel like it.
“I can take you sometime, probably. When we’re mated,” he said.
“And how does that work?”
“I can’t tell you,” he said. “Not until you agree to it. It’s secret.”
She sighed. “How can I agree to something I don’t understand?”
“I guess you would just have to wait until you totally trust me,” he said, his teal eyes soft and patient.
It was so fun and familiar, having him across from her at the table, eating her food and enjoying it, Tank sitting obediently at his side. She really could imagine a future like this.
“It’s so weird to me, the whole mating thing. Very foreign.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because my last boyfriend, he couldn’t commit at all. That’s not why I left him, but he was always putting off the idea of marriage. Most men seem like they just want to get what they can and run.”
“Disgusting,” Liam said. “But maybe more men than you realize would like to settle down. Maybe you were just meeting the wrong men.”
That stung. She shrugged. “Maybe.”
He gave her a playful grin. “Maybe it was so you could reject all of them and be waiting here for me. Sorry I didn’t come sooner.”
She giggled, blushing, and wiped her lips with her napkin. “Silly.” But she loved it. These little moments where he stopped holding himself back so much and let her see his personality were just wonderful.
“I’m glad to see you smile. I was worried you weren’t going to for a while. At least with me around.”
“It’s hard, but I’m going to get used to it I think. But if you can imagine, it’s a big thing for me to realize that humans aren’t alone on this world. I’ve never even considered anything like that.”
“Ever? Not even in your imagination?”
“I’ve never been very imaginative,” she said. “Well, maybe in childhood, but it gets sort of beaten out of you as you grow up, as adulthood takes over.”
“Beaten out of you?” He stood, looking angry. “Who? Where is he?”
“No, no,” she said, hastily waving a hand. “Not at all. I’m sorry. Please. I meant it figuratively. You know, not literally.”
“I’m not sure I get it exactly.”
“No one hit me,” she said. “I promise.”
He seated himself again, his heavy weight making the chair creak beneath him. So large. She grinned to herself as she remembered how that big body had felt pressed up against her when they’d made love.
As if he could read her thoughts, he grinned up at her, taking a bite of lasagna.
Oh hell, if she wasn’t careful, they were going to end up doing something again. And would that be so bad?
It would be if she didn’t understand well enough.
“Anyway, is there anything else I should know about being a dragon? What was that sword?”
His eyes were shifty. “That’s another thing I really shouldn’t talk about, but since you’re my mate and you already know some things, I guess I will. Me and my crew are metal dragons, each a different metal or alloy, and we have access to an ancestral weapon of immense power, created in the metal that flows in our bloodline.”
“And which dragon are you?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you when you mate me,” he said with a grin that was slightly predatory.
She flushed. “So many secrets.”
“All you have to know is that I’m never going to hurt you and I’m always going to keep you safe. And if you say no to me, I’ll just try to keep winning you over. And if you still say no to me, I’ll always be watching over you. We’re meant to be together, and I know that you, not being a dragon, may take time to be okay with that. But I can wait. This is forever.”
She heard her own heartbeat; she was so silent and frozen as she listened to his sincere, quiet words. His handsome, masculine face was almost too earnest, and she felt embarrassed at how brave he was in expressing his feelings.
She certainly wasn’t that brave. “I’m sorry I made you go,” she said, putting a hand over her eyes. “I really didn’t know what to do. I was freaking out.” She looked up at him through her fingers. “And thank you for coming back.”
He got out of his seat, put his napkin down, and walked over to her. He knelt at her side and pulled her hands away from her face. She looked away from him, sure she was flaming red.
He reached up a finger and easily tilted her face back to him. Just how strong was he really? Would she ever be able to see that?
He had a very slight dimple in his strong chin, and she wondered how it felt to touch it. She reached out and brushed his hair off his forehead, thinking how odd it was that she could already feel this tender toward him.
That she could feel so clearly that he needed her. It had been so long since someone other than her dog and her employees had needed her.
“I didn’t really leave. But yeah, I’d always come back. You’re part of me. I don’t really know how to make you understand that.”
“It just takes time,” she said, running her hand through his hair again. He closed his eyes as if it felt good, and she wanted to do it again. But he caught her hand.
“I can give you time. I can even spend the night in my truck if you’d like. But I can’t go. Not with that guy still out there.”
A chill went through her. “No. I don’t want you to go. Besides, I’m happy for you to stay here. After all, you have to catch up on my yard.”
His expression brightened. “So you won’t hire someone else?”
“Of course not,” she said. “Who else could do as good a job as a dragon?”
He laughed at that. “Good. No one else could do as good a job. I promise that.”
She squeezed his hand. “So now what?”
He arched slightly, touching his back. “I think I’ve spent too much time in human form. My back is slightly sore after all. Perhaps I will rest.”
“I have something better,” she said, looking out at the deck. “Do you have a swimsuit?”
“A what?” he asked.
“Oh, right, you probably don’t. Oh well, you can wear your underwear.”
“For what?” he asked. “Am I missing something?”
“No,” she said, getting up and heading to her bedroom. “I’ll be out in a minute. Meet me fully clothed on the back deck, and I’ll show you what I mean.”
He stood there looking confused, patting Tank on the head as she left.
It was about to be a really good night.
12
It was getting dark as Liam followed Kate out onto the deck, confused as to what she wanted to do out there. She was wearing only a towel over some sort of hidden garment, and he felt extra protective of her, being out in the open with her wearing so little.