Lead knew it was a cowardly move to hit the gym the next morning instead of waiting for Brittany to wake up, but he didn’t feel he had any choice.

He didn’t want them to fight again, as they had the other morning. And even if she was fine with the way things had gone, because she wanted to release tension, Lead didn’t know how she’d react to the fact that he wanted so much more.

He’d told her so many things in the heat of passion. How she was his, how he wasn’t letting her out of his sight (which was true because he’d told Arsenic to let him know if he saw her leave the room and come upstairs). Arsenic was always up before everyone.

But during all of it, the storm of his unreasonable jealousy and possessiveness, she’d been patient and passionate and unfailingly kind.

There was so much about her he liked, and he still had so much to get to know about her.

But no matter how he wanted her, she was a still a human with her own life and her own world outside of this one. And even if she might stay here, she might not be allowed to be with him.

A part of him knew he should just call the oracle and ask about her, but he didn’t know what he’d do if the oracle said no. He didn’t feel he was ready to hear her answer. He didn’t know what havoc the dragon inside him would cause if denied.

And he didn’t know the oracle well enough to trust her to know what was best for him.

Yes, he was in more trouble than when he’d slain the beast of Agnar.

He wiped sweat off his forehead and picked up his dumbbells before lying back on the bench he used for chest presses. He had just started his second rep when the door to the gym creaked open.

He jerked his gaze over and saw Brittany there, wearing a burgundy robe over her pink nightgown, her hair still mussed from last night, her cheeks flushed as if she’d been running.

“You scared me,” she said, putting a hand on her chest and walking over to him.

She leaned over him, upside down in his vision, but no less beautiful, and he sighed and dropped the weights on the ground at his sides.

Then he sat up slowly, giving her a chance to move back. She sat on the bench next to his, watching him pensively.

“Why did I scare you?” he asked.

“I thought you’d run away again,” she said. “That you were going to spend the day avoiding me.”

“No,” he said, taking his hand towel and wiping off sweat, not wanting to appear unseemly in front of his mate. “I’m afraid that’s not possible anymore.”

“So you meant what you said last night,” she said carefully.

He nodded, embarrassment at his lack of honor going through him. He wanted her, and he was glad she knew it, despite the fact that he knew there was a chance this could all go wrong and break both their hearts.

Still, he’d hurt her yesterday by pulling back and stating his mistake, so he wouldn’t do it again.

“I was hasty yesterday, but I didn’t lie,” he said, planting both feet in her direction and putting a hand on each of his knees. “I don’t mean to stay away from you.”

“Why did you come down here, then?” she asked. “Why didn’t you wait so we could get up together?”

“I… didn’t want a repeat of the other morning,” he said. “Where I took my shame at my lack of control out on you. I wanted to get my head clear, try to figure out what to say.”

She smiled slightly. “And did you?”

“No,” he said with a laugh. “I still don’t know what to say. What this is. Why you put up with me. But I like you, Brittany. A lot.” He shook his head. “It’s hard for me to even think about you being around the other dragons. I feel like everyone is going to try and take you.”

She shrugged. “Well, they do all say as much. But if I like you, I know they’d stand back.”

Lead wasn’t sure about that. They’d always been loyal as a group, but he didn’t know how they’d react to finding out that the captain who said everyone should stay away from the human had taken her for himself.

“I don’t think we should tell anyone for now,” he said.

“So if you like me, what is this mating thing they all talk about?” she asked, leaning back and crossing her legs.

Lead tried not to think about how beautiful she looked in that robe and how much he just wanted to take her back to his room and make love to her all over again. “On Drakkaris, it is different than on Earth. The act is the same, but the meaning is different. On Drakkaris, mating is simply a way to seal a dragon’s heart and keep it from poison. On Earth, it is an affair of the heart, a promise only to one person. Like marriage but more serious.”

“And do you want to mate me?” she asked.

“That is complicated,” Lead said. “I wish I could make promises, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Lead had no idea what to tell her. “All I can say is I won’t run from you again. Whatever difficulties we face, I won’t leave you unless you want me to.”

She nodded. “I see. Well, I don’t want you to leave me. You were my first friend in this house. You made me feel safe here, and I’m wildly attracted to you.” Her gaze grew mischievous. “I was thinking of you all day yesterday, too.”

“You were?”

“I like the other dragons here, but even though they’re all good looking, the only one I’ve really been able to see is you.”

He felt unbelievably flattered at that. Almost flattered enough to forget he was being a piece of crap for going along with this. Still, he had to follow his heart. The dragon in him would flambé him otherwise. “I’m glad,” he said. “I never thought I would fall for a human we rescued. I never had ulterior motives, but almost from the moment I met you, I wanted you to be mine.”

She flushed, smiling happily. “And I’ve never met anyone I liked as much as you. So why is it complicated? Why can’t we just date and see where it goes? Why do you always seem so conflicted?” She frowned. “Does your poison affect me?”

“No,” Lead said. “It is carefully controlled within me, and even when I use metal as part of my powers, it’s carefully controlled so it doesn’t enter the air or contaminate surfaces. Besides, I’m not even close to the most potently poisonous of the dragons.”

“Arsenic?” Brittany asked.

“No, probably the volatile metals. Zinc. Cadmium. Mercury, though he’s already mated.”

“To another dragon,” Brittany said.

“That’s right,” Lead said. “And they seem very happy. Good for them.” He felt an odd rush of jealousy at what they had. He wanted that for himself, with Brittany. But it wasn’t that simple.

Still, he intended to spend as much time getting to know her as possible, getting into her good graces so that by the time he approached the oracle, she would be ready to fight alongside him for what they both wanted.

“I’m not telling the others about us, but I do want to spend a lot more time with you,” he said. “So be prepared to see me a lot.”

She smiled, her color deepening. “I’d like that, you silly dragon.”

He stood, reaching out a hand to help her up. “So I’ll see you at breakfast?”

“That’d be great,” she said.

“If you want to head up, I can join you after my shower,” he said, throwing his towel over his shoulder and heading in the direction of his bathroom.

“Um, if you want, I can help clean you off?”

His eyebrows shot up as he turned to face her, a slow grin curving his lips. “With such a lovely lady asking, how can I say no?”

She skipped forward happily, putting an arm around his neck and following him into the bathroom with a little purr.

Dammit, complications aside, how could he be so lucky?

He wanted this woman to be fated to him. She had to be. If she wasn’t, well, then he was just going to have to twist fate.

* * *

“Lead, ah, don’t stop, ah, ah…”

Lead buried his mouth between her breasts with a smile as she arched back against the glass wall of the shower.

It had been a few days since their talk in the gym, and Lead was getting better and better at just letting go with her and living in the moment.

Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her wet heat pressed to his abdomen, and his hands held her under her thighs, propping her up as he’d kissed and sucked her sensitive nipples.

This was her third orgasm. Lead knew he shouldn’t be counting, but he couldn’t help it. These moments between them were too precious, even as they became more common.

He was settling into life together. In the morning, they’d shower like this together, making love and getting each other dirtier before washing off, him holding her up and gently cleaning her off, caressing her body.

“Lead, don’t… make me wait.” She gasped, biting his shoulder. He adjusted her slightly, and she wriggled impatiently, wanting to be one with him right away. He seated her over him, slowly sliding into her all the way until they were together.

“Ahh,” she said. “I’ll never get tired of that.”

“So think you’d be okay with a life with this dragon?” Lead asked, unable to hold himself back when they were like this.

She nodded, biting her lip. “Oh, yes. All the time. I can’t even remember what life was like before. Everything changed when I was kidnapped. And then again when I was found. I don’t think I could ever go back.”

“Good,” he said, thrusting in deep and then pulling back and repeating the motion, slowly speeding up. “Because I can’t live without you, Brittany. I can’t.”

“I know it’s crazy,” she said. “But so is this whole world. So I might as well just have what I want.”

He couldn’t agree more, and as her breaths increased and she gasped and moaned his name, closer and closer to completion, he felt his heart speed up.

His dragon roared in anticipation, as it always did when he was with her.

The past few days had been so pleasant. Games in the day time, watching the other dragons play football outside or playing video games at night.

Hearing stories from Brittany about the human world. He could tell that despite being human, Brittany had never really been happy in that world. She’d lost her family early, and she’d never really bonded with any friends.

It made him that much happier that she was willing to take a chance with him, to let him in where she hadn’t let anyone else.

He would never break that trust. He would die first, and he couldn’t die. He had to spend the rest of his life protecting her, loving her, getting to know everything she loved and hated.

He already knew she liked mild, sweet things. That she liked playing games and didn’t mind losing as long as everyone had fun. That she enjoyed being in groups but could also spend one-on-one time.

He also had heard more about her experience saving a kid who’d nearly been kidnapped, and it had only made him love her more.

He was pretty sure that was all that could happen the more they spent time together.

“How are you so wonderful?” she asked, throwing her head back again as she thrust with him, clashing their hips together in a symphony of sensation and wet heat.

“I’m not,” he said. “You are.” And then he drove deep, feeling tension overwhelm him. Luckily, she seemed to hit her limit at the same time, and she screamed, digging her nails into his shoulders and thrashing in his arms as the shower water rained all around them.

His teeth rested on the soft skin of her neck, wanting to bite down, to claim and mark her for everyone to see, but he held back.

He had a condom on, one he’d put on when they went into the shower so they wouldn’t have to pause when they moved to intercourse.

Now he wished it was off, that the rhythmic pulses of her sex clenching around him could mean they were fully mated. That she was finally his.

He’d never been so impatient for something in his life.

He’d also never asked for much. He’d spent his life following orders, not questioning any request to help others. He’d always tried to do the right thing.

So didn’t he now just deserve having one request granted?

He held Brittany tight, hoping the oracle would think the same thing.

When she slumped in his arms, still mumbling about how wonderful he was, he pulled out and caught her with both arms, swinging her up against his chest. He gently washed off with her and then stepped out of the shower with her in his arms.

“There,” he said as he set her down and wrapped her in a towel and then did the same for himself. “All clean.”

She smiled wickedly, plopping back on the bed in her towel. “Then why do I always feel so naughty?” She rolled onto her stomach, her generous cleavage pushing on the towel in a way that made his mouth dry and made him want to start all over again.

“I don’t know,” he said, jumping onto the bed with her and making it bounce. She squeaked and tried to get away, but he caught her with both hands and pulled her against his chest. “It’s a mystery.”

She giggled and settled in against him, then gave a little pout. “I guess I should probably go up to breakfast first.”

“I suppose,” he said. They’d been trying not to go everywhere together as a way of not making people suspicious. If the dragons noticed anything off, they didn’t mention it. Lead was glad he’d chosen a room in the basement, next to the gym, because it ensured no one would hear them.

No one questioned them sleeping down there, as Lead was assigned to watch out for her at night.

Still, he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this going.

“We should say something soon,” he said.

“What would we say?”

“True,” he said.

“Lead,” she said, looking up at him. “What are we?”

He didn’t know how to answer that. He knew what he wanted, but until he spoke to the oracle, he couldn’t tell Brittany for sure.

“Why does it still feel like you’re pulling back somewhat?” Brittany asked, sitting up gingerly. Her beautiful hair was damp and curling over her shoulders, looking wild and untamed. He pushed it back with his fingers, but she flinched away slightly.

“I’m not,” he said. “I’m just… It’s like I said. It’s complicated.”

“It’s just, this isn’t just a crush to me,” Brittany said. “Every day we’re together, my feelings get stronger for you. Sometimes, it’s like you’re all in with me, and I’m all you can see. But then sometimes I feel you pull back, and it sucks. I just… want to hear you say what you want from me.”

I want to mate you. Keep you forever. Pleasure you for the rest of your life. Protect you from everything in this or any other world in the universe.

But he couldn’t say any of that. Not yet, or it wouldn’t be fair.

“I told you when we started that I shouldn’t be doing this. That there were reasons I should hold back. Now I know I can’t hold back any longer, but there are still obstacles between us that I have to resolve. But trust me. I’m not letting you go.”

“Okay, I trust you,” she said. “It’s just hard sometimes when I know you’re holding back.”

Damn. He really needed to figure things out. It would make it easier for him as well if he just faced down his fears.

He had a sudden idea and wondered why he hadn’t thought of it. He could talk to Marina. She was close to the oracle. Maybe she could help him figure out the best way to ask for Brittany as his mate. Or if that was even possible.

“I mean, you don’t have to predict our whole future, but I just wanted to know that I’m not just something fun for you to obsess over now.”

“Of course not,” he said. “I’m not that kind of man. I couldn’t do any of this unless I—” He cut himself off, realizing he was about to say he loved her.

Love. Such a common word to most people. But he’d never had much love in his life. He’d had honor, nobility, integrity. His aunt and uncle had done their duty. His friends had been loyal and true.

But no one had ever mentioned love, and he’d never thought of his feelings for anyone that way.

Looking at Brittany, he knew that was what it was.

She stared up at him expectantly. “What were you going to say?”

“Nothing,” he said, resisting the urge to spill everything in his heart. He would work things out, and then he would deserve to tell her and hear her answer in return. “Just… I wouldn’t play with your heart. Just be patient a little longer, and I’ll try to make this right.”

She nodded warily, still leaned on his chest. “I guess I don’t have a choice.” Her hand played over his bare chest, and she grinned up at him. “Still, you have a way of making it worth the trouble.”

He laughed at that, holding her close for a moment more before he had to let her get changed and leave the room without him.

Hopefully, just one more day of hiding, and then everything would be in the open.