Aimee
Two days later she finally returned home. The weather had kept the team busy, even though the avalanches had come to a stop, much to everyone’s relief. It was prime ski season however, and accidents still happened. She was exhausted, and very much ready for her own bed after the uncomfortable cots at the hangar base. Fighting with the key to get it into the lock forced anger to bubble up, the frustration of something so small exasperated by her exhaustion.
Aimee finally got the door open, throwing it wide as she marched inside. What she saw beyond stopped her dead in her tracks.
“Holy. Shit.”
Her kitchen table was bowing underneath the weight of all the objects piled upon it. Stacks of gold bars were mixed with chalices, coins, and statuettes, all glittered the same dusty yellow that spoke of money. Gemstones sparkled and danced as they reflected the overhead light, rubies and diamonds, sapphires, and more. It was a fortune. More than a fortune, it was a treasure.
And it could only have come from one place. Her dragon mate.
The abrupt return of her team had forced them to part without saying any of the desperate words that were necessary between them. For perhaps the first time since she’d taken up the job, Aimee hated that she was stuck at the hangar, unable to go home. Her pocket practically burned from the stone he’d given her, a temptation that she was unwilling to give in to, mainly because she didn’t know how it would work. Trying out some sort of dragon magic for the first time while trying to keep it hidden from her teammates was just not a good idea.
But now…now she could do just that.
Stabbing a hand into her pocket, she closed the door. Fingers closed around the cool black stone, and she closed her eyes.
Rhys?
There was no response.
RHYS!
Ow. What the hell? Give a guy a second to respond before you start yelling, okay?
Have I told you yet that I’m impatient?
Well I was busy in a real conversation.
With whom?
Obsidian. Don’t give me that tone.
Wait, you can pick up tone through this? And what tone?
Yes, so I was able to pick up your tone where you’re shocked that I have someone to talk with.
She grinned.
That depends on whether you’re talking to him, or yelling at him as you try to beat him up.
There was a longer pause this time.
I’m going to ignore that.
No, you’re going to ignore him, and get yourself over to my apartment and explain the mess you left here.
Mess? Shouldn’t you be saying thank you, or at least not being rude about it?
She did her best to send the mental equivalent of a snort through the link, surprised at how easy it was to communicate with him. She’d expected it to be much harder.
I seem to recall you forcing a terrified woman to clean up and stack your piles of gold for you, even the ones you destroyed while angry.
How long am I going to be paying for that? He sounded grumpy.
Depends how fast you can get over here so we can talk.
The “line” cut off abruptly. Aimee wasn’t sure how she knew that’s what had happened, but she did. It just ended, as if he’d hung up the phone.
“That better mean you’re moving too fast to talk,” she warned to the now dull stone.
She doffed her bag and coat, letting it fall to the floor as she tried to estimate how much money was on the table and failed miserably. It was beyond measure.
Her door thundered under a knock. She jumped and spun, scared someone was trying to break in.
“Who is it?” she called, picking up a few bars from the table and preparing to use them as weapons.
“Me.”
She dropped the gold and ran to open the door. Standing there in the dim hallway was a familiar pair of blue eyes and a jawline she’d recognize anywhere with its determined set.
“My, you are a sight for sore eyes,” she said softly before launching herself at him.
His hands snatched her from midair. Warm soft lips locked over hers, sparking a melting effect through the rest of her body as she turned to a puddle of goo in his hands, finally understanding what the term swooning truly meant.
Eventually he set her down.
“So is this a booty call or something more?” he asked.
She punched him, not worried about doing any damage. “Where did you learn that term?”
“Obsidian.”
“That man is a bad influence,” she admonished. “But no, you’re here for something else.”
And quite possibly that, if things go the way I hope.
“I see.”
She grinned and walked back into her apartment, no longer bothering to try and contain how he made her feel, or how giddy simply being in his presence had her. That was what love was about, wasn’t it? Letting all the barriers fall away, opening yourself up to someone else fully, completely, without reservation? It wasn’t easy, and in fact was probably the most terrifying thing she could do, throwing gold bars at a fire-breathing dragon aside. But for him, she was going to do it.
“How did you get here so fast?” she asked. “I figured you would be out at your cave.”
“I was. I came under the city.”
“You came…what?” She took a particularly gemstone-heavy gold ring and tossed it up into the air, the meaty weight of it slapping it back into her palm.
“I can move through the earth, remember?”
“Yes. I recall seeing a little example or two of that.”
“Well, I moved under the city. Fast. Came up in the backyard of the building.” He looked away. “And I may have run up the stairs, one step per landing.”
“Just trying to get here as fast as you can, hmm?”
Rhys turned to face her. “I’m not embarrassed to admit that the thing I wanted most was to see my mate, to talk to her again. To have you call me and say you needed me was…well, I’m not sure I can describe the feeling.” He chuckled. “I’m sure Obsidian is just sitting in my cave still wondering what happened. I just sort of melted into the ground mid-sentence.”
She shared in his laughter, but sobered quickly. “Look, Rhys, I…” She fell silent as one long, lean finger rested against her lips.
“You don’t need to say anything,” he assured her. “I understand.”
“No.” She moved his finger aside but held onto it, enjoying the strength she absorbed from it. “I do need to say something. I need to tell you that I’m sorry.”
He looked uneasy. “Aimee, it’s okay. We all do rash things sometimes.”
“I know. But I am sorry for it, Rhys. I screwed up with you, and treated you horrifically unfairly. I promise I won’t do that again.”
Her dragon shrugged it off. “Your entire life changed. Your world, even, everything you thought you knew as truth. It only made sense that you would react that way, when something finally fell into place the way you thought it should. We dragons have been given a bad reputation in your history, perhaps rightfully so,” he admitted. “So you maintained some skepticism about me, which was only natural. When something came along that allowed your brain to fit me into the framework you thought I should fit as a dragon, you accepted that, because it felt more true, more in line with everything you had known.”
She stared at him. “I think that’s more than I’ve ever heard you say at one time before.”
Rhys grimaced. “I prefer to let you do the talking.”
“Well, you’d better get used to that then. Because if you’ll have me, I’d like to stick around on this crazy ride.”
“You would stay with me?”
She met his eyes, unflinching. “I would.”
The tension that melted off of Rhys as she spoke was palpable. His shoulders straightened and he stood a little taller, even as the smile on his face stretched his cheeks beyond what could have been comfortable.
“I owe you an apology as well,” he said, switching the subject back abruptly. “I should have told you earlier, made you aware of what I can do. That way you could have made an informed decision before we slept together.”
Aimee nodded. “Yes, you should have. I also freaked out, because I’ve never gone to bed with someone I’ve been interested in so quickly. I usually prefer the slower, longer burn first, to ensure I’m not making a mistake. With you I just couldn’t resist.” She felt her cheeks pinken at admitting that. “So when I found out what you could do, I just naturally assumed it was you making me want it, not something within me. Which, I’ve learned since, was totally wrong.”
They embraced, and she rested her head on his thick chest, hands feeling down his rigid back and then sliding over his taut ass.
“But I was wondering something,” she whispered, bouncing up on her toes so that she could catch his earlobe with her mouth, giving it a gentle bite and suck.
“What’s that?”
“Can you use it on me? I’m kind of curious.”
He pulled back. “Are you certain?”
“Rhys, if you didn’t think we weren’t heading to the bedroom after this conversation, then you’re not nearly as smart as I figured you for.”
“Well okay, but one warning.”
“What’s that?” she asked as his long arms pulled her back in close.
“We might not make it to the bedroom.”