I finished my shower and dried off, choosing jeans and two shirts to try and stay warm. I walked out of the bathroom, passed our trays that we ate on earlier, and went toward my bag.

Robert watched me with intense interest as I searched for a pair of warm socks. From the corner of my eye, I saw Robert's bare feet, and let my gaze travel up the length of his blue jeans past his knees to his large, muscular thighs.

As I stood, I smoothed my hands up the ridges of his hard torso, his eyes dark. His pupils were enlarged as he stared at me. Then he held his hand for me to stand. I swallowed as I took his offer. My palms traced his biceps and circled his neck. His mouth was close to mine as he whispered, "Daphne."

Instinct took over as heat surged through me. I glanced at the half open door as his lips brushed my skin. His five o’clock shadow tickled my skin. I felt alive, though I pointed to the door. He left my side and closed it as I asked, "Robert? Are the children gone?"

His fingers traced my inner thigh. "Yes. I know we said we’d camp with them, but it was your first night. Samantha returned to the house and offered to take them to bed. I told you a lot today and thought you might need space.”

“I don’t know if I believe you that I’m a dragon or any of it. I don’t feel any different."

Then he unsnapped my jeans and slipped his fingers inside my panties. My heartbeat grew. I licked my lips and muttered, "Ohm."

His probing hand found my apex.

A bright golden image of myself flashed in my mind and I know Robert had a red aura around him, but then he caressed into me, kissing my forehead. I bit my lip to stop my moan. He took my silence as a yes and slid my jeans and panties down my body. I lifted my leg to help him, and tugged off my shirts.

His eyes widened as he stared at my new black lace bra with the rosy nipple peeking through to snag his attention. I’d bought it in Italy before we’d flown home, along with a few other things. The surprise etched on his face was enough. I tugged the band of his briefs and let my fingers trace the muscles of his tight butt.

He dropped his own pants as my hands squeezed his backside, his gaze narrowed. . My cheeks flushed. He said, "Your new clothes might be late arriving because of the weather."

New clothes were not what I was after. "I don't need them."

"Soon, you will see you do." This sounded promising, but I wanted him more than I wanted answers.

I was ready for him. I slipped off my bra and my nipples were already hard. His hand brushed against my sensitive skin and I ached for what happened in Pisa to happen again.

His hands heated my entire body as his lips nipped my breast. "Kiss me."

The moment his mouth met mine, fire inside me burst. He broke our kiss but his hands caressed my silky skin.

His attention to my breasts sent me into overdrive.

He turned his attention to my other breast.

Then he positioned me so I faced the bed. He squeezed my bum. "Robert...." Then he pushed against me, inside where I was even more sensitive. I sighed. Sparks of gold and red seemed to emanate through both of us. "Oh wow."

He pressed himself fully into my body as he drove steady. "We have the rest of the evening."

“Others” no longer mattered. The slow rhythm that he set stopped my thoughts. I bit my lip. He pulled out and then pushed in again. My body trembled. His arms wrapped around my hips and tugged me against him, making me feel weightless and alive. I lost my ability to speak. All I wanted to do was this.

He kissed my back as his hands squeezed my breast.

Yes.

He angled my hips and drove deeper inside me, creating pleasure so intense that my vision blurred and I could only feel. Him, and me. Then somehow he went further into me. I felt like I floated in heaven. My eyes rolled to the back of my head. I couldn't see. I could only feel. "Mmmhmmm."

Robert pumped faster into me than I knew possible as he said my name. "Daphne, oh Daphne."

My lips curled as my body acted on its own accord. "Yes."

Soon enough my body was so on fire that I lost the ability to function. I floated in my desire to oblivion.

---

I woke up as the windows rattled from the night storm. I noticed the towel and bowl of water on the table beside me and had a vague memory of Robert washing me after we made love a second time.

I’d loved every second of my undoing.

I turned over in the bed and touched the cold mattress. Had Robert slept? I checked the time on the nightstand clock and read midnight. With all the warnings, the time made my stomach turn. I twisted the sheets around me and walked into the bathroom.

I switched on the light and studied myself in the mirror. The golden streak in my hair was even more pronounced. I touched my flushed cheeks, and wondered if dragon shifters looked different?

Nothing caught my eye, except a love bite on my neck. I never would have had this a few weeks ago. I was different because I was no longer alone.

On the chair was my neatly folded jeans and shirt. Robert must have cleaned up the place after our lovemaking where we threw everything off fast.

Windows rattled and a chill entered my body. I needed Robert and he couldn’t disappear on me again. I brushed the goosebumps on my arms as I walked into the hall to find him.

In the hall, I heard the children giggling. I hoped that Robert would be with them.

I flung open the door to a green sitting room, meeting Samantha’s steely blue eyes. For a split second I thought I saw a wolf, but that was likely my imagination based on what Robert had told me about shape shifting dragons. Yet I oddly wondered if this was correct. What if I was a dragon too?

Samantha blinked and she wasn’t a gray hairy werewolf, but a slim, tall blonde dressed stylishly in jeans and a sweater. I shook off the strange vision, still wondering if it was true.

Then I heard the sound of stretched springs and screams of joy and turned toward Harper and Helen. They stopped bouncing on an indoor trampoline when they saw me standing awkwardly in the doorway. The green wall with framed dragon and wolf art behind them echoed inside me. What if they could all transform?

No. Everyone should be in bed. It was the middle of the night.

Samantha lifted her nose into the air. "May I help you?"

The two children were in their pajamas but their flushed faces and damp hair suggested they might need a bath before bed.. They started bouncing again, clearly happy. Neither was too close to the edge, but my heart pressed against my chest. They shouldn't play on dangerous toys and get their adrenaline this high at night. "I heard everyone laughing—I was looking for Robert.”

“He’s not here.”

“Don’t the children have school tomorrow?”

“I’ll start their lessons after lunch.”

Homeschooled, like me. I had always wanted to go to regular school like I’d watched in the movies and on television.

"It's awfully late though. Shouldn't they be in bed?"

Samantha, arms crossed, blocked me from getting too close and kept me at the door. I held onto the handle so she'd not kick me out entirely. "After my sister died, I took over their care. I know what they need. I’ll put them in bed later.”

The woman clearly modeled a wolf protecting her pack. I tucked my hair behind my ear. "Is there a schedule? I’d love to know it so we figure out how to get along.”

Again she lifted her nose. My response sounded like dragon fire and I did not want to come across as cross. I hugged my waist as she said, "I will write out our usual daily events for you tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"For now, they will sleep at dawn."

This was going all wrong. I pressed my heels into the ground and tried to understand. Children needed schedules, but the house was off-kilter. They could hurt themselves in the middle of the night—but their aunt was there. I lowered my eyes at the last moment. "Samantha, I hope you and I find a way to work together, but seeing them on the trampoline like that scares me."

She stepped in my way. "I've devoted my life to these two. They are all I have and I will not let you bedazzle them only to leave them when you fly away."

I detected a slight growl in her tone, which made my temper hot. I clenched my fists and my jaw but then I told myself to stop. I realized she didn't care at all what I said and I had to tread lightly. "I am sorry for your loss. I lost my grandmother not that long ago, but it was nothing like what you went through.”

“Thanks.” Samantha dropped her hands to her side and sighed. Her eyes misted as she turned away. She leaned on the armchair she had been sitting on to hold herself straight. "I miss my sister. What happened was preordained now that Robert is finding his flight."

“You also believe I’m in his flight?”

“He wouldn’t have mated with anyone else ever again unless you were.”

I glanced at Harper who had the face of an overtired boy. My grandmother would get fussy if I didn’t put her in bed when she gave me similar looks. I stepped forward and placed my hand on her curved shoulders. "I do think the children need to go to bed soon."

Samantha snapped her fingers. "Remember already so you stop this well-intentioned nonsense."

"Remember what?" Grayson had said I didn’t remember too.

She shook off my touch and glared at. "It's not for me to tell you, your majesty."

"I'm not a queen."

"You're acting like you know what's best and you've been here about 12 hours."

The children were overtired. It was on their faces as they stared at me arguing with their aunt. Something tapped the window. My fingers trembled. All my life I’d been taught to protect myself against the night. If a door wasn’t locked, then something terrible might come in. My heart beat faster. I had to protect Harper and Helen. I pulled back the curtain to check the lock, and then saw a ghoulish white face with black eyes.

The children screamed behind me. Ice rushed through me as I made sure the lock was tight and then dropped the curtain.

The children climbed down from the trampoline.

Harper held his sister close as he scolded me. “I told you to stay away from the windows.”

I looked at Samantha as I clutched my waist. “What was that?”

“We are safe inside the house, children.” She knelt down toward them.

Right. I needed to not shake, but that thought didn’t stop my quivering muscles. I had to find Robert. “Do you know where your father is? He can protect us.”

Samantha shook her head but I thought I saw a slip of a smile as she said, “He’ll be out there, ensuring the house is safe, by breathing fire.” Samantha turned toward the children. "It's time to go now."

"He's outside?"

"Yes."

"I should help him." Not that I had any idea how to help, but I had to try. I’d married him, I loved him, and he’d told me he was hurt. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him because I was afraid.

Harper had been right about “others”—Robert had to stop trying to protect me from the truth. Vampires were real, and my husband couldn’t fight them alone. Samantha’s intent gaze narrowed as if she saw the crack behind my confidence. I nodded at her. "I can do it. Protect the children."

"Of course—but until you remember, you are weak."

Harper and Helen left Samantha and hurried toward me. I wasn’t sure what they wanted until Helen wrapped her arms around my waist. I knelt down and hugged them both. They smelled like powder. Family. This was my responsibility now.

“Don’t go,” Helen said.

“I have to help your dad.”

Harper pulled free. “You should talk to Mrs. Adams.” He tugged Helen back to Samantha.

Mrs. Adams, my nemesis, as housekeeper would know everything that happened within these walls. Despite how cold she was to me, she’d know where Robert had gone and what I should do.

“Thanks for the tip, Harper.”

Samantha sneered. "I'll be sure to have the children in the dining room at noon for breakfast. I hope you are there."

I didn’t answer her as I closed the door behind me and walked toward the kitchen.

No more hiding. I needed to know each secret in order to be the best mate to Robert.