She closed her eyes as she felt a blinding flash of energy emanate from him. The only thing grounding her was her skin touching his; otherwise, she felt lost in a whirlwind, almost as if her own thoughts were being pulled from her.

But as she held on tight to him, she calmed, kept a hold on her mind.

“I’ll be back,” he whispered. And then he was gone, lifting Cliff in his arms and flying up and away from the crowd in the direction of the trees he had pointed to. They were large, mature pines and would hide him and Cliff well.

She heard moans and muttering as everyone looked around them. Melanie was one of the first to recover. She stumbled toward the broken platform, the ruined flower arch, and Ella felt genuinely bad for her.

“My wedding!” she screeched. “What just happened?”

“Them,” Ella said, thinking quickly and pointing to Cliff’s friends, who were pulling themselves off the ground, covered in dust and debris from Dante’s landing. “They stormed the stage… I don’t know what came over them. They obliterated everything.”

Everyone looked at her in shock, trying to remember what happened. Since no one had any memory, they all seemed eager to buy into what she was saying.

Or were too confused to do otherwise.

“My wedding,” Melanie cried again as Ben tried to comfort her.

“It’ll be okay, sweetie,” Ron said. “We’ll figure this out. Do it another day. Everyone is still in town.”

Everyone nodded, gathering around to help clean up the mess as Cliff’s friends made a run for it to get out of town.

She wondered if they would call the police on them. She’d feel bad if they weren’t part of the plot to get her forcibly married. Maybe after dealing with Cliff, Dante would want to take care of them, too.

Were bats extra powerful in the shifter world? Why hadn’t she heard of them?

She waited until everyone was focused on Melanie and then made a break for it, disappearing through the crowd and escaping out the back of the seating area. She took off her shoes to be able to run faster as she leapt over the thick, dry grass toward the woods where Dante should be waiting.

It was farther than she had thought.

She paused, hands on her knees, panting, and then looked up to see Dante emerge from the tree line. His wings were gone, and aside from his torn-up suit, he looked normal.

Unperturbed compared to everyone else in the situation. When he saw how tired she was, he broke into a jog and headed straight for her.

When he was close, she stood and ran into his arms.

For a moment, he just held her, stroking her hair as she dug her fingers into his back, reassuring herself that he was real, that everything that had just happened was real.

Thank heavens she had ignored all the reviews and gone into Date-A-Dragon… Wait…

“You’re not a bat, are you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes up at him.

“No,” he said, laughing. “What gave you that idea?”

“The wings,” she said.

“I’m offended. Have you ever seen such magnificent golden wings on a bat?”

“No,” she said. “I’ve never seen them on anything.”

“Come on,” he said, putting an arm through hers. “Did you drive with Cliff?”

She nodded. “But in my car.”

He wrinkled his nose. “At least that’s something. Let’s get out of here, go find some place to talk. A hotel or something nearby. There is a lot to work out between us now that Cliff is out of the way.”

“Um, where is he?”

“Out of the way,” Dante said sharply. That was all the reply he gave. “Now let’s go have our happy ending. Or something.”

Ella had to agree.

* * *

They stopped at the nearest hotel, a small honeymoon boutique situation up near the base of the closest mountain that rented little private cabins that were rustic on the outside and luxurious on the inside.

Dante set her down and walked straight to the bed to sit on it, folding his arms.

“Okay, now explain,” he said flatly.

“Me explain? Why don’t you explain? You left me last night, and you came flying down out of the sky.”

“Right, because my mate was in trouble.”

“Do you mean mate the way Cliff did?” she asked, remembering Cliff’s words.

“I can’t figure out what’s going on with this town. Are you saying the humans here know about the shifters and just don’t talk about it?”

“Yes,” she said. “It has always been part of protecting the town. Protecting peace in the town.”

“I’m not sure it’s working,” he said. “There are dragons that police different parts of the world. I’m going to suggest they send some here.”

She sighed. “If you think so. Is that what you are, then? A dragon?”

He nodded. “But I didn’t know how to tell you. If I’d known you were already aware of shifters, I wouldn’t have been so worried about it.”

“I think I would have still found it shocking,” she said, sitting in a chair across from him.

His gold eyes were hot as they looked her over. “And for what it’s worth, no, I don’t mean mate in the way he meant it.”

“Oh?”

“No,” he said. “A mate isn’t an excuse to force a woman to accept you. A mate is someone you know is meant for you basically from the moment you meet her. And then it’s your job to win her over, to make yourself her best and only choice.”

She felt blood rush into her face at his sweet words, and the implications of what he was saying sank in. “Wait, so is that why you wanted to work with me?”

“Why I was rude to you at first, too,” he said. “You weren’t in awe of me like other women, and I couldn’t figure out why it bothered me. I realized pretty quick it was because you were the only woman I wanted to be in awe of me.” He frowned. “Not that I want such a conceited thing now. I just want you beside me, forever. Is that so much to ask?”

She quirked a smile. “No. But how did you know to come back?”

“I didn’t leave, not really. I had to go get my powers back so I could beat the ass of the shifter threatening you.”

“And how did you know that again?”

He looked to the side. “I can read minds.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling slightly faint.

“I don’t, though, usually,” he said. “It’s considered rude. But that night, everything made no sense.”

“Um, so… you heard my thoughts…”

“I heard in your mind that you were afraid for me because I was human. And I was because my powers were restrained.”

“Wait, is that normal for your kind of shifter?”

“Depends,” he said. “There are modern dragons and more ancient dragons that are being reawakened. Me and my kind are from more like the Viking era.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” she said, putting up a hand. “So you were a Viking?”

“No,” he said. “I was a noble in that era. Vikings are brutes. I’m familiar with several of them.”

“So when you said your family was dead…”

“I meant many hundreds of years ago, yes.”

She rubbed her temple. “I need to process this.”

“There are so many things I can tell you about my life back then,” he said, standing up and walking over to kneel in front of her. He put his hands up to take hers. “But all that really matters to me is who I am now, with you. In my old life, I was alone. Pampered. Empty, except for the pursuit of treasure. I wasn’t even that in touch with my dragon.”

She just watched him, waiting for, needing more words.

“Today when I was flying back to you, it was the best I’ve ever felt in that form. I felt powerful, at home, and as you came back into view, so far below, I realized that this time, this place, wherever you are is where I’m meant to be.”

She felt tears bite at the corners of her eyes. “But there are things you don’t know about me, too.”

“And I want to know them,” he said. “So I can be gentle with you. Careful with you. Help you heal.”

“You already have,” she said, squeezing his hands with hers. “You’ve been making me feel alive again by the way you touch me, the way you’re careful with me. The way you love me.”

He blinked at her, gold eyes looking slightly glassy. “Really?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Can I pick you up?” he asked, standing and reaching down for her. She nodded, and he picked her up and carried her to the bed, sitting down against the headboard with her on his lap. “That feels nice. I’m ready for anything you could tell me.”

He was so solid beneath her, and she knew now she could trust him with anything. She’d never thought there could be anyone out there just made for her, just waiting for her.

Now that she knew there was, she couldn’t wait to get started with him. And that meant no longer holding back.

So she told him, burying her face in his shirt, holding on to him as she explained everything with Cliff, both in the past and the present.

He listened patiently and quietly for the most part, save for a few quiet curses and an obvious tightening in his body. When she was done, she let out a long breath.

It felt so good to finally tell someone.

“So he told you no one would believe you?”

She nodded.

“Except your family, who he threatened to harm?”

She nodded again. “But he didn’t bother me after that. He kept his word. Whenever I saw him in school, I freaked out, but he just gave me a disgusted glare and stalked off. I buried myself in my books and decided not to worry about men ever again.”

“Until you met me,” he said with a grin, stroking his hand over her hair in a way she found ultimately soothing. “Now everything’s perfect.”

“I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head. But then she laughed and leaned into him. Her tears had dried, and it had set in that she was really and truly safe. “So Cliff isn’t coming back?”

“No,” he said. “I can assure you of that.”

“What will they tell his family?”

“Better shifters than me will sort that out,” he said. “Right now, I just want to be here for my mate and comfort her however she needs.” He looked into her eyes worriedly. “Are you sure you’re all right? He didn’t do anything to you?”

“I mean, he did back then, but—”

“Is there anything I need to be careful of or not do or—”

She put her hand up to his lips. “No. I was lucky in some ways. He damaged me really bad mentally, with his cruel words and the way he scared me. But he wasn’t able to… do that much to me physically since I hit him in the groin pretty hard.”

“Maybe I should go back and kill him after all,” he said angrily, trying to stand.

She pushed him back. “No. However it is, leave it. I trust you. And it’s over. He can’t touch me anymore.”

He nodded tightly, jaw muscles practically twitching. “Fine.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. It’s just, even though it’s nonsensical, I can’t help wishing I was there, even back then.” He pulled her in tight, wrapping his arms around her. “I wish I could have protected you.”

“You have,” she said. “Ever since you came into my life, and you’ve continued ever since. I feel safe with you.”

“That’s the best thing I can hear,” he said. “Well, second best.”

“What’s the best?”

“Dante, I love you. Please let me stay with you forever.”

She crinkled her nose. “Seriously?”

He thought about it. “No, there’s something even better.”

“What?”

He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You coming.”

She flushed madly and pushed back on him, pretending to try and get off his lap. He laughed and held her in against him, and instead of being frightening, his strength was reassuring and warm.

She relaxed in his hold, listening to the pounding of her heart. She loved him. She knew that. She should tell him.

“I… love you, Dante.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I kind of got that when you sent me away to save my life.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Good thing I’m a ferocious dragon and there’s not a shifter alive who can take me. I didn’t even need to shift into dragon form.”

“I see,” she said. “When do I get to see it?”

“I’d show you right now,” he said. “But we’d have to go really out there where no one could see us, and that would take time. And there’s something else I would rather do.” His gaze was heated, and she knew exactly what he meant.

Just being with him, talking to him, holding him was starting up a fire inside her. She had too many memories now of what he could do with his hands.

“What’s that exactly?” she asked, teasing, expecting him to make some kind of off-color remark.

“Make it official,” he said, pulling something out of his pocket. It was the gold ring he usually wore, the one carved in the shape of a dragon’s head.

He took her hand and looked at her ring finger, then put his hand around the ring and focused for a moment, closing his eyes. When he opened it, it was changed completely. A delicate, tapered gold band with the shape of a slender dragon winding around the center of an open setting where a stone would go. There were little flower embellishments around the setting.

She gasped at the workmanship in it. “How did you do that?”

“Gold dragon,” he said quietly, taking her hand and bringing his ring toward it. “Ella, will you mate me? We can get married, but this is for much longer. When we mate, you’ll have my lifespan. Things will be complicated, but—”

She grabbed the ring from him, shoved it on her finger, and threw her arms around his neck, catching his lips in a kiss. When they pulled apart, she giggled and looked at the ring. “Of course I will. I’d be crazy to turn down a dragon. And now we have the rest of our lives to figure out the details.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Phew. Thank you.”

“What would you have done if I said no?” she asked.

“Died inside,” he joked, but his eyes were somewhat serious. “Luckily, I don’t have to think about it. When we get back, we’ll pick out a stone for your ring. I have some friends who can help us with that.”

She laughed. “Okay, then.”

“So there’s one other thing that is part of mating, and if you aren’t ready for it, I’ll wait,” he said. “I know we haven’t done it yet because I didn’t want to rush you, but…”

As he trailed off, flushing, she realized what he meant. She’d heard about something similar with mountain lion shifters. “Sex, right? Unprotected sex?”

“Yes,” he said. “After you’ve agreed to be my mate. But you can’t catch anything from me, and you won’t get pregnant, at least right now. And—”

“Sold,” she said, putting a finger up to his lips. “I say yes, Dante. I’m ready. With you, I’m not scared. I know you won’t hurt me.”

“Hurting you is absolutely the opposite of anything I want to do.”

“I know,” she said. “So show me. Show me everything. Make me your mate.” She felt so free inside, so ready to finally be open.

The past could finally stay in the past.