Waking up with Gwen tangled around him was something Neo could get used to. He watched her sleep for a while, enjoying the soft, innocent look on her face. The breeze from the overhead fan blew a strand of hair across her face, making Gwen wrinkle her nose and rub her face against the pillow. Neo wanted to see it again so he tickled the tip of her nose, ever so gently, with his fingertip.

Gwen made a face, her nose wrinkling and twitching. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Gwen opened one eye and gave him a baleful look.

“Messing with my sleep can be dangerous.”

“Lucky for me, I know how to tame your beast.” He lowered his lips to hers and gave her a long, slow kiss. He wasn’t trying for more, just trying to show her he cared for her by pouring all the emotion he felt for her into the kiss.

The alarm went off, signaling the beginning of the day. Reluctantly, Neo pulled away and rolled to shut off the alarm. When he turned back toward her, he found her sitting up and stretching.

“Awww, I was enjoying that.”

“I was too, but things are happening today.” She swung her legs off the far side of the bed and stood. “I expect to hear from your sister soon, then I can make some more solid plans about the future.”

“Is that what you’re waiting for? The future?”

Gwen stopped on her way to the bathroom and turned back to look at him. “No, I’m not waiting, but I want to get through this so we can put it behind us. I want to not have to tip-toe around because of politics.” She came back and leaned down over him. “I want to be able to bind myself to you, and I can’t do it until this business is done.” She dropped a light kiss on his lips then stood and disappeared into the bathroom.

After a moment, Neo realized he wasn’t breathing and took a deep breath. She wanted to be bound to him. This had all happened so fast, from no hope, to having a mate who wanted him. Not that he would trade any of it for the world. He would take even a single day with Gwen over a thousand years without her. He was blown away she was ready to bind her life to his, especially so soon.

Neo was still lying in bed when Gwen came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body and another on her head.

“You planning to lie there all day?” She went to the chair where her suitcase sat and dug through it.

“No, but you were in the bathroom so why move until I could get in there?” He climbed out of bed, stepped up behind her, wrapped his arms around her middle, and leaned down over her bent back to drop a kiss below her ear as he said the words he had been certain he would never feel. “I love you, Gwen.”

She straightened and turned in his arms before standing there a moment, watching him. “I know you love me, I can feel it.”

“You can?” He frowned.

“I can. It’s in your every touch, your every kiss and caress. Yes, the sex is good, but I’ve had good sex before. This is different. You want to comfort me when I’m feeling down. You want to make sure I’m happy and have whatever I need or want. Those aren’t things just anyone does.” She cupped one cheek as she met his gaze. “I appreciate them. I do.” Stretching up, she kissed his lips. Then turned back to the suitcase to gather her clothes.

Neo turned for the bathroom, a little hurt. She had said she knew he loved her, but she hadn’t told him how she felt. He tried to dismiss it. His dragon roared in his head. It’s just too soon. He told his other self. It will come in time. I just need to give her time.

When Neo finished in the bathroom, he found the bedroom empty. He pulled on a pair of slacks and a shirt before heading for the kitchen. He needed a cup of coffee. Stepping into the tiny kitchen as he rubbed one hand over his face, Neo smelled coffee. Glancing around the small room, he found Gwen standing next to the coffee maker, a steaming cup in her hand and another under the spout.

“You made coffee.” Neo immediately wanted to slap himself for stating the obvious.

“Here, this one’s yours.” She pushed the cup in her hands at him. He accepted the mug and took a sip while she picked up the other and did the same. He watched her for a moment, unsure what to say, then took his cup into the living room and sat on the sofa. It was early still and he wasn’t a morning person. It always took at least one cup of coffee, if not two, to get his brain functioning.

Gwen joined him on the sofa. After a few moments, she set her cup on the table on the other side and turned to face him. “I need to say I’m sorry.”

Neo frowned, not sure what she was talking about. She’d done nothing she needed to be sorry for, at least not that he knew about.

“I was raised in a very reserved manner. We never told our loved ones we care for them, we showed it with the little things we did. Small gestures to show someone how much they meant to us.” She paused and looked down at her hands a moment, they were folded together in her lap, the knuckles white as if she was stressed about something. He wasn’t sure where she was going with this. “It didn’t occur to me until after you’d gone into the loo that I should have said I love you too.”

Neo shook his head. “I don’t want you to say it just because I did. I would rather you wait until you’re sure. I know it’s fast, maybe too fast.”

Gwen laid a hand on his leg, stopping him as he stared into her eyes.

“Stop.” She smiled a soft, happy smile, as if something he’d said amused her. “I feel it. I do love you. I’m just not used to being so plain about it. It will take me some time to get used to the way you just say how you’re feeling, but I don’t want to change that either. I love it, just like I love almost everything else about you.”

“Almost?”

“Well,” she looked away, “you have this snore that could wake the dead.”

“I do not!” He pushed at her, not hard, just enough to get her to lean back a little. It was then he saw a grin had spread across her face. “Oh, I see what you’re up to. You’re going to pay for that. He set his mug on the table beside him and closed the distance between them. He tickled her while she screamed, laughed, and past the point where tears were running from her eyes until she begged him to stop.

“You’re going to make me tinkle.” She gasped for breath.

Neo leaned back on his heels. “Maybe then you’ll remember not to tell blatant lies.”

“Or I’ll remember why I do it.” She stood and headed for the bedroom. “I’ll be right back.” Neo watched as she disappeared then picked up his mug and took a long drink.

Maybe it isn’t too soon after all, Neo sent to his dragon. His other half didn’t say anything, just let a low, content purr rumble through Neo until he felt it in his bones.

When Gwen came back, she had her phone in one hand and her attention was on something on it, a crease forming between her brows.

“What’s up?”

She looked up and shook her head as if clearing it. “Oh, a weird message.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, it’s from Rhiannon, says she needs me back in Edinburgh as soon as possible once the treaty’s ratified.”

“Was that always the plan? I didn’t expect to get this done this quickly, but I was under the impression you would be staying a while.”

Gwen shook her head. “We didn’t expect it this quickly either, but I didn’t expect it to take the full fortnight we’d planned for the trip either. It was planned to give us some time to see the city and have a little down time once we were finished.”

“Hmm. I wonder what changed?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen looked back down to her phone and typed for a moment before looking up again. She set the phone on the table beside her and picked up her coffee again. “I sent a message to both Grigor and Rhiannon asking if something has changed to require us to return earlier than planned. I’m sure they’ll get back to me soon.” She shifted to face him on the sofa. “What are we doing today?”

“I’m guessing spending the day in bed is out?” Neo gave her a hopeful smile.

“It’s tempting, but if I have to go back as soon as the treaty’s ratified, I’d like to see something more than just the MesoAmerican.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady.” Neo dipped is head, imitating a bow. “We’ll have to get one of your entourage to accompany us. You’re still under the regulation of not leaving the hotel without one of them with you for a while yet. I wonder which will want to go with us?”

“I’m hoping for Isla. She’s more fun.”

“You want to call and let them know our plans? I’ll take a shower and get ready, then we can go up and get something to eat.” He left her dialing her phone and headed for the bedroom.