At last! Victor exhaled loudly when they were in the air and on their way. His patience was on its last legs and he could wait no longer.

Kimber had barely made eye contact with him and he would stand this distance between them for not one minute longer. Standing up abruptly, he reached down to unbuckle her seatbelt, her eyes flicking up to question him, but again she said nothing, so he remained silent and instead he took hold of her hand, levered her out of her seat and led her to the back of the cabin. She didn’t exactly come willingly, her feet slow and dragging, but she also didn’t protest or attempt to remove her hand from his.

It wouldn’t have made a difference if she had objected. He was going to get to the bottom of what was going on, one way or the other. He refused to allow the distance that had sprung up between them to grow and the pain inside him to fester. Was she aware of that? If he had even an inkling of her being in any kind of discomfort, far less hurting, he’d be on his knees before her doing his damnedest to find out how to ease what ailed her.

He couldn’t keep himself from slamming the door when they entered his suite. Although there were several bedrooms on the jet, this one was for his use only and as such was more luxurious than the others. Kimber gasped when she saw the size of the room and the trappings of his wealth, but she soon clamped her lips tight together again . . . damn. What in the hell was wrong with her?

“Okay, Kimber, out with it.” Victor spun her around, trapping her in his arms to stare down at her. “What the hell have I said or done? Everything was fine and suddenly you’re acting cold and sullen. You’ve barely spoken and won’t look at me. My insides are churning and my heart feels as if it’s being ripped from my fucking chest. I’m not allowing this to go on, baby. We’re not leaving this room until you talk to me.”

She struggled briefly, her face flashing with anger as he tightened his hold. “You, you . . . you can’t just order me to talk, Victor. It doesn’t work like that.”

Victor refused to release her, his eyes locked on hers. “In my world, it does. And with us we’ll have to figure out how to do stuff, but right now, baby, I’m floundering around like a fish out of water and I feel like one too . . . I can’t breathe. I feel like I have a knife lodged in my guts and the pain is unbearable. And the worst part is I don’t fucking know what I’ve done!”

He stopped, realizing his voice had dropped to an icy growl full of the emotions rampaging through him. Kimber’s eyes were wide and glassy . . . shit, was that tears? “Fuck, Kimber, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you . . . again. Damn it. I seem to be making a complete ass of myself today and I don’t even know what started it. Please, can you just explain what I did that set all this off? Then I’ll try and fix it and . . .”

Kimber shook her head, a stray tear breaking free to start its descent down her perfect cheek. Victor couldn’t stop himself, leaning down to kiss it away before sinking his face in her long tresses that she’d left to hang free. “I’m sorry. For what, I’m not sure, but whatever it is I won’t do it again. That’s if you’ll tell me so I make sure I don’t, baby. This is killing me.”

How could he convey the storm that was going on inside him? The way his heart felt as if it were being consumed by a thousand tiny slivers of cut glass worming their way inside to slice it to shreds? His stomach having a bevy of silver daggers carving it up an inch at a time and it was non-stop . . . the pain was all-encompassing and he couldn’t think straight with his brain focusing on one thing: his Bloodmate and fixing whatever was wrong between them.

A soft whimper escaped Kimber as she pulled back, her eyes seeking his. “It’s me. I’m the one to blame and it’s all because of that one comment you made. One that made me realize that I have no family left to carry on our traditions that are sacred to us, to my Dragon customs. I’ve been taking it out on you and I’m sorry . . . although the fact you just presumed I’d accept your ring annoyed the heck out of me. You didn’t ask me, Victor.”

Holy hell. Victor shook his head, annoyed at himself. He didn’t know a lot about relationships but he did know one thing . . . every woman deserved to be wooed and if he were going to put a ring on anyone’s finger then he damn well should ask first. What a fucking moron.

“I didn’t realize you had nobody left. I’m truly sorry about that, but if you explain some of your customs I’m sure we can incorporate at least some of them. Can’t we?” he queried, sure that would be possible. “The other thing you brought up is a valid point. I was a first-class idiot and I apologize.”

He dropped down onto one knee, keeping hold of her hand. “I know it’s late, and I will do this better at another time, but for now, Kimber . . . wait, I don’t know your surname?”

“I don’t have one. Dragons have one name only with a convoluted hierarchy list of names to identify them with regard to their Clans, but they don’t make sense to others, so it’s really just Kimber.”

“I see, well, Kimber, would you do me the honor of wearing my ring to announce to the world that you are mine and mine alone? We can discuss whatever other service you’d like in keeping with your heritage, but for the human world an engagement ring for now would suffice, if that is acceptable to you, darling?”

Kimber’s cheeks blushed as she looked down at him, a hand tugging him up. “You didn’t have to do that right now. I just meant that . . .”

Pulling her into his arms his lips found hers, kissing her softly before pulling back. “We’re new. To each other, to love, to everything. We have a lot to learn but I think the first thing we have to do is agree to talk. Agree?”

Kimber tilted her head. “Yeah.”

“Why don’t we get comfortable and you explain what would normally happen if you’d met your mate?” Victor nodded to the sofa at the side of the bed.

“Okay, most of it won’t be possible, but it’ll be nice to chat about.”

So that’s what they did, with Kimber snuggled on his lap they talked, and talked, and talked. He learned so much about her family, customs and about Dragons that it gave him a few ideas, especially when he heard about the necklaces that the women usually received from their mates and were normally made with the focal stone the same color as their love’s eyes. That snippet of information had his mind working overtime with visions of wedding ring sets and a necklace to match. He’d make a call as soon as he was alone to a jeweler he liked who made the most exquisite, one-of-a-kind pieces. Unique was what he wanted for Kimber and that’s what he’d get . . . emeralds, diamonds and platinum. Perfect.

Although he would have to give strict instructions to the artiste because he had a dramatic flair. Simple and elegant was what he wanted and that’s exactly what would be perfect for Kimber. He’d have to be firm when placing his request for his commission, or else he’d receive something dramatic and over the top. Hell, he’d do what he always did: threaten to withhold payment if it weren’t up to his standards.

A soft knock on the door brought him out of his musings, realizing Kimber was napping in his arms. “Come in.”

Flint popped his head inside, nodding with a smile when he saw them together. “Glad you sorted things out. Just wanted to let you know we’ll be landing shortly, transport is waiting and everything’s set up at the house.”

“Fine, we’ll be out in a few minutes once we freshen up.”

“Sure.” Flint left, quietly closing the door.

“Kimber, baby, we’re due to land. Let’s freshen up and go through to our seats.”

Yawning as she stretched and opened her eyes. “I fell asleep, dang. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You must’ve needed it, but we need to belt up for landing.”

“Okay.” She yawned again before they got ready and returned to the main cabin and their seats.

Victor fastened her belt before sitting next to her and taking her hand, kissing her palm and whispering, “I can’t wait to take you skinny-dipping in the lake.”

He was rewarded with her cheeks pinking and her pupils dilating, her breath catching in her throat for a moment before she managed to reply, “Naughty, Victor, but I look forward to that.”

“Me too, baby, me too.”