Magnus didn’t really know what he’d expected when he told his mate about being a dragon, but it definitely wasn’t this.

She was still fighting through the haze of hormones that came from the release he’d given her, so he figured maybe it was unfair to expect her to think clearly.

But at the same time, he couldn’t wait anymore. Every time he touched her, his body screamed, Mate. With every kiss, every touch, he was binding himself to her. He had to let her know she was his. That this was serious. That she belonged to him.

That he wasn’t one of the stupid, inferior human men who surrounded her.

Despite her shock right now, she would adjust when she realized the benefits of being mated to a dragon. He’d be able to protect her, certainly, and his treasure would ensure she didn’t have to work at the shop anymore.

But if he was expecting some sort of joy as his words sank in, he was wrong. Instead, Lindy just looked like she was feeling even more confusion.

She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back, biting her lip. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m a dragon,” he said. “An ancient dragon, awakened in modern times, and you’re the mate fated to be mine forever.”

She blinked, looked at the clock on the wall, and back at him. “Oh.”

He braced himself for some kind of outburst, but instead, she just pushed out from under him and got up, stretching. Then she walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, poured herself a glass of something, and downed it quickly.

She wiped her mouth and set the glass on the counter a little too hard, then leaned on the counter with both her hands.

She looked up at him, seeming to retain clarity. “What about you? You want a drink? I need to shower, and then we need to leave for work soon.”

That was it? That was her entire reaction? He didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. “Oh. Want company in the shower?”

She was about to turn him down, but then hesitated. Well, his mate might be resisting him in every other way, but at least she was definitely attracted.

He’d loved the way her body had jumped beneath him, every curve, every dip, every soft, wet spot his. He could hardly wait to touch her again.

Maybe she couldn’t accept his words about being his mate or understand what he meant, but he could definitely keep showing her.

“Um, no,” she said, obviously deciding to resist. “We’ll be late, and um… yeah. If you want, you can shower after.”

He shrugged. “I’m just going to get dirty at the shop anyway.”

She nodded. As she walked past him, her legs were slightly shaky, and he caught her arm to steady her. “I’m fine,” she said. “You can either wait here or go home and meet me at work if you want to.”

Then she gave him a hesitant look and disappeared down the hallway, as if eager to escape him.

He wanted to follow her, read her thoughts, even if it wasn’t like the metal dragons to do that without consent.

He supposed that had gone better than expected, as Aegis seemed to think all human women would become upset or confused at the announcement that their lovers were dragons.

Obviously, Lindy was taking it better than anyone could have thought. No hysterics, no accusations.

But somehow, this cold distance was worse.

Despite her being just a few doors over, it felt as hard to reach her as if he were still under the sea.

But then he thought of her soft moans under his lips, her hips eagerly thrusting up against him, and he smiled.

Her body already accepted him as a dragon; he just had to wait for the rest of her to follow.

* * *

As she went about the shop putting people to work and making sure things were running smoothly, Lindy tried not to think about what Magnus had told her that morning.

She poked her head out of the office to see him working hard as usual and couldn’t help admiring the play of his exposed muscles in the tank top he wore.

He had to be pulling her leg about the dragon thing, right? So why had he looked so serious?

Was it some sort of kink of his? After sex, he liked to be called a dragon and for her to play along as a mate because they were animals?

She didn’t know and she really wasn’t good at conflict, so she’d decided to use work as an excuse to avoid any awkwardness.

She sighed as she went back to looking over the invoices in front of her. She really did know how to pick the wrong men.

But she liked Magnus. She’d never intended to lose control and tell him as much as she had at dinner last night, but she had to admit it felt good to just let go and tell someone her troubles.

And she’d felt she could trust him, even with secrets she hadn’t consciously meant to tell.

But she also realized she didn’t know anything about him. Even though she’d told herself before making out that this was going to be casual, just for fun, she could feel deep down when she looked at Magnus, or when he looked at her with that sizzling green gaze, that wasn’t going to be the case.

I’m a dragon, and you’re my mate.

She wanted to laugh at the hilarity of it, but for some reason, the words were stuck in her mind. What was she supposed to say to him, though? Wow, Magnus, a dragon? What do you do, burn down villages and capture fair maidens?

No, he worked as a handyman, a very good one at that.

Then again, that house he lived in was weird, and sometimes he seemed old-fashioned, out of place…

No. Nooo. She was not going there. No way she was going to think her new helper was actually a dragon.

And from now on, she really should try to keep some professional space. So no matter how good he made her feel, and no matter how crazy he talked, it didn’t really matter because she wasn’t going to end up serious with him.

He was hot, he seemed to like her, and she liked experiencing life with him. But when the job was over and she got back to normal life, she was sure he would disappear.

Him and his odd words about dragons.

She was distracted by the sound of male voices entering the yard and jerked her head up to see several men approaching through the front driveway into the shop. She got up quickly and entered into the garage from her office, counting five men in total as they reached the entrance to the carport. She recognized two of them from Roscoe’s crew, the same men that had been at the bar the other night. The other three were unfamiliar, but judging the mean grimaces they wore and the tattoos on their arms, they weren’t friendly types.

Plus, they all had pipes, wrenches, or other heavy-looking metal tools in their hands.

It was still pretty early, and the shop wasn’t open to the public for another half hour while they finished up last night’s jobs. So nobody else was around, no witnesses except her and her employees.

“We’re here to inform you that the community is no longer in need of your services, Dunn,” one man said, stepping forward.

“Like hell. You’re just here to try to intimidate me into shutting down,” Lindy said, stepping forward and standing her ground.

She’d seen her father fight through divorce and bankruptcy and severe illness to keep this place open at all costs. She wasn’t going to cave into a few brutish thugs just because they told her to.

Beside her, she saw Mike on the other side of the car she was next to, glancing from her to the thugs, not sure what to do. Magnus too was looking up from his work, watching intently.

And Tommy was, well… Where had Tommy gone?

“This is your last warning. Don’t make us do something you’ll regret. Someone could get hurt,” the ringleader threatened.

“If you don’t get off my property, I’ll call the police,” Lindy responded, fearful the threat would hold little power to dissuade them.

The men glanced at each other, smiling, before advancing toward the garage.

Lindy both heard and felt the impact as a hulking, bald brute swung a heavy hammer down onto a workbench, smashing it in two as parts went flying everywhere.

Holy shit, were they actually serious?

Behind her, Lindy heard a loud growl, and just as the thug brought his hammer up to smash her valuable air compressor, Magnus appeared out of nowhere, catching the tool mid-swing as if it were a plastic toy and wrenching it from the man’s hand. Then with a loud crack, Magnus’s fist flew into the guy’s face, sending him careening backward and rolling down the driveway.

“Who the hell are you?” the ringleader said as he watched his comrade go flying in astonishment.

“Your worst nightmare,” Magnus said as he charged, head-butting him just as he finished his sentence, smashing his nose and knocking him to the ground.

The other three, startled and clearly not anticipating the sudden turn of events, all turned to face their attacker, raising their makeshift weapons in defense.

To Lindy’s complete shock, Magnus plucked one of the tools from a guy’s hand, then bent it in half as if it were made of putty.

“Child’s play,” she heard Magnus mutter as he punched the man in the gut, knocking the air out of him with a loud whoosh.

Next to her, she looked at Mike, standing agape at the display. Then, catching his wits, he pulled out his phone and started to dial 9-1-1, looking at Lindy for approval. But she shook her head hurriedly to tell him not to bother.

At that, Mike crawled beneath the car next to him, ducking for cover. Not a bad idea actually.

If the mob had paid off the police, then trying to call dispatch wouldn’t be any good. They’d just take their time getting here, take a statement, and never do anything about it.

And Magnus was clearly taking care of things. In his own peculiar way.

The other two both came at Magnus at the same time, probably hopeful numbers would work to their advantage. Magnus just stepped to the side to avoid the first swing, then kicked his heavy, booted foot into the other’s chest, throwing him into the wall as tools shook off their hooks and clattered to the ground with a loud clanking.

The other guy recovered from his missed swing and whirled around to face Magnus, just in time to be pulled off his feet by Magnus’s hand around his throat.

And despite the size of the thug, he looked puny compared to Magnus, whose muscles bulged and tensed, gigantic and glistening in the rising morning sun as he chuckled to himself. The thug just flailed in the air, trying desperately to break free from her employee-turned-lover’s grasp, to no avail.

“I’m here to inform you that your presence isn’t welcome here at this fine establishment. Now or ever,” Magnus said, practically growling like a feral animal, green eyes burning like fire as the man’s face started to turn red, then purplish.

The first man Magnus had head-butted grabbed him from behind, trying to somehow free his comrade. But moving Magnus was like trying to get an iron statue to budge, and he just laughed as he threw a fist behind him, straight into the face of his assailant.

“If you don’t, someone will get hurt. Understood?” Magnus said before lobbing the man away from the shop like a shot put ball, sending him rolling into the quiet street.

Satisfied, Magnus turned back to face Lindy, dusting off his hands as if he’d just taken out some particularly smelly trash.

Then Lindy heard a quiet, metallic click, and she looked to the side at the sound of the noise.

One of the men had gotten up, a distinct purple bruise covering one eye, and Lindy gasped as he pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at her.

“She’s not getting away with this. We’ll get our money,” the man grumbled, trying to aim the black firearm.

Cold fear shot through Lindy at the sight of the barrel. She’d seen guns before, even handled them, but never had one been trained on her.

In a huge blur, Magnus appeared in front of her, and she saw a gigantic, iron-hued axe, like a prop from a movie, come swinging down like a bolt of lightning, slicing the gun in half.

Lindy saw the man’s expression register shock and amazement a split second before Magnus grabbed the man’s collar with one hand and smashed the handle of the oversized ax he was now wielding into the man’s head, knocking him completely unconscious.

What. The. Hell?

“We’re not getting paid enough for this,” one of the remaining men grumbled. “Let’s get outta here.” He picked up his dispatched ally with the help of another and dragged him away to a car parked on the other side of the road.

Which left Magnus standing at the front of the shop, hefting the huge axe in both hands like some ancient Viking, red hair wild and free from the low ponytail he usually wore, grunting with satisfaction as he watched the men disappear down the street at full speed.

And while Lindy was still trying to register what had just happened, the weapon in Magnus’s hands disappeared in a bright flash, vanishing just as quickly as it had materialized—out of nowhere.

Then Magnus turned and walked up to her as if nothing has just happened.

“Are you all right?” he asked, worried.

Her knees felt like they would buckle, but she stood firm, keeping herself on her feet as she nodded.

It was painfully clear what she’d suspected was true. Something shady was going on with whomever was running her competitor’s shop. And they had it in for her for some reason.

This was why she’d wanted a bodyguard in addition to general help at the shop. But she’d never have thought it would get this dangerous, even if Magnus seemed more than capable of handling it.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, more insistently this time.

Next to her, Mike crawled out from under the car and dusted himself off. Lindy just hoped he hadn’t seen the whole axe thing, and given the vantage point, he probably hadn’t.

Roscoe and his crew had never been aggressive like this before. Ever. The worst they’d done was do stuff like throw empty threats when they saw her around or vandalize the outside of the shop, warning her to stay out of their business. But she did that. She had no interest in what other people were doing, shady or otherwise.

She was just a lone woman trying to make it in the world.

A lone woman who happened to have a guy who knew cars like the back of his hand, outworked everyone she’d ever known, made love like a storm, and had a protective streak ten miles wide.

And who also somehow made axes appear and disappear like magic.

“You can take the day, Mike. And if you see Tommy, tell him the same,” Lindy said. Mike nodded in response and walked toward the back to get his things, then disappeared.

“Shit. What have I gotten myself into?” Lindy muttered, her thoughts coming out involuntarily.

She felt Magnus’s hand lightly grasp hers, the thick calluses there ticklish and rough, anchoring her in reality.

“Nothing you can’t handle now that you have a dragon by your side.”

Something snapped inside her, and she stormed around to face him, putting her hands on her hips. “Do you even know what you’re saying? That’s not possible. Dragons don’t exist, outside of like, Lord of the Rings. I like you, and that axe thing, I admit that was crazy, but you can’t just keep saying you’re a dragon and not explain.”

He waited patiently for her to finish her outburst. “So you are curious.”

She threw her hands in the air. “Of course I am!”

“You weren’t this morning.”

“I didn’t know what to say this morning. Everything’s moving so fast with you, and I didn’t know if you were just teasing me…”

“I wouldn’t tease about something like that.”

She rubbed her temples. “Okay, let’s just assume for a second that you are a dragon. Why do you look like a human? Why do you like working on cars? What are you doing here in Seattle? Why are you here and not medieval times?”

“Aegis did warn us that our mates wouldn’t take this well,” Magnus said thoughtfully. “Perhaps I should have waited. But I figured with your history, it was better to lead with the truth.”

“Again with the mate thing,” she said, shaking her head. “How about we both call it a morning? I need you to explain in more detail. I mean everything. We can come back to the shop in the afternoon to help the scheduled clients with their cars.”

“All right,” he said. “We’ll get some lunch and go to a spot I know of that’s quiet. And more importantly, private.”

Private. That would be good.

Because Lindy had no idea if her sanity would hold out for what she was about to hear.