Rhys
He groaned as something started buzzing.
“I shall burn this castle down if you don’t shut off that infernal racket at once,” he muttered.
“Hey, listen here, fire-breath, and in the mornings don’t take that as a compliment,” she added as he started to smile. “I need to go to work.”
Aimee started to slide out of bed, but his fingers hooked around her waist and pulled her swiftly back down on top of him.
“I don’t have time for this,” she protested, trying to wiggle out of his grip.
“You don’t need to work,” he announced. “I have enough wealth for all of us. We can do whatever we want.”
Her face closed down immediately, in a way that he’d learned to recognize as meaning he’d screwed up.
“Uh, was it something I said?”
“You know I don’t go to work because of the money. It was never about the money. I would have gone elsewhere to do something else if I wanted money. I work because I want to help people, Rhys. Because I’m good at my job. Damn good, and when someone’s life is on the line, I don’t want someone less skilled to be the one going into danger. Someone could die from that. There’s no way I could live with that on my hands.”
He sank back into the bed before using an elbow to prop up a hand and resting his head on it. “You are one remarkable human being, Aimee Florette,” he said, letting go of her with his other hand.”
“And you are one lazy dragon who wants nothing more than sex,” she told him, leaning in to kiss his forehead even as she pushed her other hand under the covers.
He flinched in surprise, then glared. “Now that’s just mean.” In response he let his powers of lust flare up.
Aimee’s pupils dilated instantly, her mouth dropped open a little wider and she began to breathe heavier. Her nakedness was evident, and he saw her nipples harden into points.
“Stop that!” she said with a visible amount of effort, pulling her hand away from his hardness.
He let it go, but not without a very unashamed grin directed her way.
“Seriously though, you need to go do something,” she told him. “You do nothing but lounge around my apartment all day.”
“Not true. I just do that while you’re here. When you’re at work, I actually leave the premises, as shocking as that may be.”
“It’s very.”
He rolled his eyes, making a “ha-ha” face at her.
“Well, what do you do while you’re gone?”
Rhys finally had the opening he wanted. Two weeks he’d lived with her in this squalor as they confirmed that this was what the both of them wanted, and needed. Everything lined up perfectly. She had little faults, but he was already coming to love them, and she’d told him the same about his idiosyncrasies. Everything just…fit.
But he wasn’t lying; he’d been busy while she was gone.
“Preparing us.”
“For…?” Aimee was instantly on guard and suspicious.
He reached down to his side of the bed, into his backpack. He’d begun to carry it a week or so before, using it to hide everything he’d had to carry. Aimee hadn’t really cared, not realizing how abnormal it was for a dragon to have one. “The move.” He pulled out a tablet and flipped the cover up to bring it awake.
“I’m sorry, the what?”
He snorted, not bothering to hold it in. “Like I was going to let you live like this with me forever. Here, take a look.” He opened the page the designer had given him, so that she could scroll through everything.
“Rhys,” she breathed as picture after picture scrolled past. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. My mate is not going to live in this tiny thing. Absolutely not.”
“But that…that’s a…a…”
“Castle?” he supplied.
“Yes! A castle. It’s frigging huge! It has a moat, for goodness’ sake!”
“It’s a river that’s being partially diverted to flow around our property,” he corrected her, knowing it was really the same thing.
He was old-school. He liked his moats.
“Is it just the two of us?” she asked. “We don’t have enough stuff for that.”
Rhys reached out and took her hand. “Which is why we’re going on the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees,” he informed her with complete seriousness.
“Oh wow. Okay!” She’d finally reached the page that detailed the walk-in closet. “Come to mama,” she whispered, awed.
He grinned even wider, the look of happiness on his mate’s face worth every ounce of gold the palatial grounds and building was costing him. There was nothing in this world he wouldn’t give to her, and now he had a place that he could feel safe leaving her in.
If Aimee was determined to work, he knew that she would be going into dangerous situations, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. It irked him not to be able to protect her, but he was aware that she was the type that needed to be trusted, and so he gave her that.
But when she was at home, that was his domain, and he was going to make her as safe as possible.
“But I’m still going in to work today,” she announced. “But after my shift, we’re going to go take a look at this. I’m assuming it’s not done?”
“No. They just broke ground last week. It’s going to be some months yet, my love. Especially now, with it being winter, there isn’t much they can do. I, ah, cheated, and warmed the ground so they could dig, but still.”
She slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “That’s okay. The sooner we can get in, the sooner we can leave here!’
He nodded, and they kissed.
Three days. Three painfully, excruciatingly long days until he could have his mate by his side again.