Aiden hated himself. He couldn’t focus on the dig. All he wanted was to be back in that cursed village with Steffan and Mia. He tasted them on his lips still, for fuck’s sake. At night, as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw them. Saw Mia’s huge, tear-filled eyes as he walked away. Saw the broken expression on Steffan’s face the moment he’d accused him of about the worst crime of their people—a forced mating. Okay, he hadn’t fully accused Steffan of such a thing, but he might as well have. He’d said as much in coded language.
He hadn’t meant it, but in the moment, he’d panicked horribly. All he’d felt had been sheer terror. He’d seen the prison bars clang shut as he faced a lifetime stuck in the tiny clan village. No more digs. No more travel and freedom. He had run away, and even running away didn’t bring relief. He’d spent four days here now, and instead of the calm and happiness he usually found once he got involved in a dig, that wonderful sense of flow, all he experienced were day-in-and-day-out anxiety attacks. He missed his mates physically, as if he’d lost a limb and still felt it or something. He ached for them, and the damn bite from Steffan plagued him. It burned and itched but in an insanely pleasurable way. At least four times a day, he found himself sneaking off into the woods to take care of business because, otherwise, he thought his cock might explode.
So, basically, he was fucked. Either he stayed physically trapped in the village. Or he left his mates behind and traveled but found himself trapped in a totally different way.
Sighing, he glanced at his backpack off to one side. Maybe he ought to do as Rhiannon suggested and phone his father.
He dug for another hour, but when he almost broke a tiny piece of a vase he’d been digging out due to his inability to concentrate, he finally called it a day. Calling out to the others farther down the trench, he clambered out and grabbed his backpack.
Not wanting to risk being overheard, he walked far from the site until he deemed it safe to call his father. His heart pounded as he dialed the familiar but rarely used number.
After a few rings, he’d almost hung up when Hedron’s deep but worn voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Father.”
A beat of silence and Hedron laughed. “You must be psychic, son. I only spoke of you earlier today.”
“How are you?” He didn’t know how the hell to take the conversation in the direction it needed to go.
“I’m fine, but I hear you are not.”
Damn Rhiannon. Steffan wouldn’t have called Hedron. Not his style to interfere in such a way.
“So, Rhiannon called, did she?”
He laughed again. “No, I called Kate. I do it often to check how you are, and she told me some of what has been going on.”
“You call Kate? To check on me?” How did he not know this? “Why?”
There came a long pause and a sigh. “I don’t know… I’ve lost the ability to communicate easily with you, son. I don’t want you to feel pressured to talk to me—I know you don’t enjoy our calls. So I leave it, and I phone Kate to check all is okay.”
How did he go around giving everyone the impression he wanted nothing to do with them? Mia thought he hated her. Steffan believed he didn’t want him, and now his own father thought he didn’t like their calls. But then, a small voice niggled at him, telling him he did always cut the calls short. He loved his father, dearly, but he saw his life as sad, as wasted. And talking to him depressed Aiden, he supposed.
“I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. Crap, I feel awful now.”
“Don’t go feeling badly. You are a busy young male. You do this amazing archaeology, and I am so proud of you. But now…now, I think you have some choices to make.”
“I don’t want to end up like you.” Oh, shit! He clapped his hand over his own mouth as if to stuff the nasty words back in.
“May I ask why not?”
Christ, to give him his due, Hedron sounded calm considering he’d been royally insulted.
“That came out wrong, I’m sorry. I meant to say, I know you’ve been sad. That you have some regrets. When I was young, you used to talk to me about the things you’d seen and experienced as a young dragon and all the other things you might one day do. But…you never did. You sacrificed your dreams for your mates. And I know it is the way of our kind, and what I am about to say is heresy…but I don’t want to do the same. I like traveling and I like learning.”
Silence. Nothing but a long beat of silence. “Oh, son. I have gone so wrong somewhere along the line.”
Shit. This conversation proved harder than he’d imagined. He braced himself for a real telling-off.
“Aiden, I have never once regretted my choice in life. Not once. That I led you to believe I did somehow is wrong of me. But you see, it was a choice.”
“I know.” He spoke over his father. “I get it, you chose your mates, and you can’t say you regret doing so. But…it feels like a horrible choice for me. I either leave them behind. Let them go, which…fuck, it hurts. Or I give up part of myself.”
“Firstly, you always give up part of yourself when you make a commitment, but if you make the right one, it shouldn’t be an important part. We all give and take, but we should never have to give something vital to our soul. But, you’ve misunderstood me. I didn’t have to choose between my mates and traveling. They fully supported me doing so if I wanted to. I didn’t want to in the end. Yes, I loved talking to you about it. Giving you the fire for knowledge and for learning, and I still did learn, but I didn’t feel the need to travel anymore. I didn’t have to choose between two things. I simply decided I preferred to be with the clan. When I lost my mates, and you were traveling so much, the clan became a lonely and sad place for me. I wanted to be with family again, so I came back here. I think I may have made a mistake in doing so, given you the wrong impression. Made you think I couldn’t wait to get away or something? When in reality, I only felt the need to get away from there once my mates were gone.”
Okay. Wow, this wasn’t what he’d been expecting to hear. But still, Aiden didn’t believe he’d be happy at the clan, spending every day there, stuck. Trapped. “I don’t think I can be happy stuck in one place, though. Not in the clan, it’s so…insular—and too damn cold and dark in winter.” He gave a small laugh.
“Then talk to your mates. Mine were more than happy to either come and travel with me on occasion or let me go off on my own. I simply didn’t wish to any longer. I lost the desire for travel, I suppose. I still loved to read about far-flung places and even plan trips. Only when it came down to it, I found I never wanted to go. If things are different for you, perhaps your mates can come to an understanding.”
Hedron sighed down the phone line. “Of course, if they are highly traditional, you might find they are not flexible in this, but from what I hear, they are not.”
“I have mentioned it, and they didn’t seem willing.” He had…hadn’t he? Sort of. He’d made jokes about Steffan’s cave and… Yep, he’d basically insulted Steffan and not broached the subject with Mia in any meaningful way. Great, more assumptions he’d made.
“Mentioning it isn’t discussing it properly. You can only try, or…you walk away from this without trying. I’ll support you either way. I only want for you to be happy.”
“Can I ask you something?”
His father gave a hum of consent, so Aiden plowed on. “You say you have no regrets, but I’ve sensed a lot of sadness in you. Why the sadness if you don’t regret anything?”
“I miss my mates. I miss you, but as I say, I can’t stay in the clan without them there. It’s far too raw. So, I returned here, to where I still have family, but I miss you, hence my sadness. I don’t regret one minute I spent with my mates. I only regret I didn’t have more time. It’s a lonely world without them, but if I could have avoided this pain by never having them in my life in the first place, I’d still do it all over again. You ought to come see me. You’d love it here. It’s beautiful.”
His stomach soured as he remembered all the years he’d avoided his father, chalking his melancholy up to a lifetime of regret. Maybe even regret of having adopted him as a child. When all along, his father had simply been lonely. Grieving. Shit, he’d been a crappy son.
“I will come and see you, Dad. I promise. Very soon. And maybe, if things work out, I will bring my mates with me.”
“I’d be honored to meet them. Now, go and sort things out. And, Aiden?” His father’s voice caught, and he cleared his throat. “It’s been really good to talk with you. Let us keep in touch more often.”
Aiden’s heart ached, and he too swallowed down his emotions.
They said their good-byes, and Aiden hung up the phone. He needed to go home, and he needed to do something he found hideously difficult. To talk…about feelings and shit. Gods, he hated touchy-feely stuff, but if he didn’t address this now, then he’d never get another chance. He’d head home the next day.
*****
Mia stared at the slim, toned young woman opposite her. Holy crap, her sister was stunning. Her sister! Those words gave her such a thrill. Claire smiled and threw her arms around Mia, pulling her in tight. Either side of her, the two males who were her mates stood guard like sentries.
Mia couldn’t believe it—she held her sister in her arms! After thinking she had no family left, she now cuddled with her own flesh and blood.
“Wow, look at you. You’re so beautiful.” Claire stepped back and gave her another full-on grin.
“I can say the same to you.”
Claire wrinkled her nose as if she didn’t think herself beautiful at all. Her skin glowed, her hair shone a dark black, and her eyes were astonishing. Plus, she had a body to make any model jealous. Mia felt a tad dumpy next to her.
She flicked her gaze over the two men. Both tall and broad, the leaner of the two looked younger. His blue eyes marked him out as Dom, from Steffan’s description. Nathan possessed a similar build to Steffan, and his shrewd, dark eyes took in everything.
“Nathan.” Steffan pulled the man into a hug.
They slapped one another’s backs in that blokey way men had…and clearly dragon males too. Then Steffan greeted Dom in the same way. Finally, he gave Claire a brief hug.
“Come in and let us eat. I have made a great feast for us,” Steffan said, and he led the way past the newly repaired doors. He’d spent hours preparing the cave and making lots of mouthwatering delicacies for their arrival. When she’d offered to help, he’d turned her down and told her to go relax. It seemed these guys liked to take to care of their women. She could grow used to a life like this. But her stomach did the little drop it always did these days whenever she got too excited about the future. She missed Aiden. She hadn’t told Steffan for fear of upsetting him. Making him feel he wasn’t enough, but she desperately missed the other man. Despite his temper tantrums, when he wasn’t being an utter dick, he lightened the mood between them.
They all filed through into the kitchen area, where the dining table at the back of the room groaned with cheeses and meats, tasty vegetable side dishes, wines, chilled water, bread, and grapes.
Her stomach rumbled and she flushed, but Claire threw her head back and laughed. “My reaction exactly!”
They all settled around the table, and she found herself immediately drawn into conversation with Claire. She learned all about how her sister had met her men. How she’d learned to control her magic, something Steffan now taught Mia for an hour each day. Claire lowered her voice and told Mia all about what happened when Ellie took her and carved poison into her skin. The details were horrifying.
“I’m so sorry you went through such a terrible thing.” Mia found herself blinking back tears. She might not know Claire yet, but she already felt a bond with her. Damn biology again. What was the saying? Blood is thicker than water? Must be true as she already felt something akin to love for the striking young woman opposite her.
The men were talking in low rumbles, and every now and again, Mia focused on what they were saying, only to zone out and concentrate on Claire. Then she heard Aiden’s name and pricked her ears up.
“You gave him the bite?” Nathan’s eyes widened. “Well, shit, Steffan. Why didn’t you piss all over him and get it done with?”
Steffan shook his head, but he laughed. “Don’t think I didn’t consider it. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“You don’t even regret it, do you?” Dom smirked.
“Can’t say I do.”
“Bloody dominant males. Pains in the arse.” Dom rolled his eyes.
“You love it,” Nathan quipped.
They finished the meal, joking and chatting amongst the five of them, and the men began to clear things away. Mia offered to help, but they shook her off.
“Let us ladies go for a walk while the males tidy up.” Claire took her arm and walked her toward the entrance of the cave.
They said their good-byes to the men and stepped out into the sunshine, Marlow at their heels.
For a moment, Mia didn’t know what to say. She had so many questions. So much she wanted to ask. She started with a blunt but important question.
“Can I ask you? Are you happy, Claire? Do you miss your human life?”
Claire cocked her head to one side for a moment. “No, I honestly don’t. I still see people from my old life. In fact, my close friend came to visit me at the clan. We simply told her we were an old-fashioned community. And on the journey back, one of the dragons used a bit of magic to wipe her mind so she wouldn’t be able to remember how to get to the clan’s land again. But I never fit in that world, so I don’t miss it.”
Mia didn’t fit either, did she? But something told her she wouldn’t meld into dragon life as easily as Claire had. For one thing, Claire’s mate was the clan leader, and so he’d changed things up for her. Modernized. Mia couldn’t see Robert doing so, and she didn’t imagine Steffan would want to challenge the other man and end up with the burden of running the clan. And what about Aiden? She sighed and nibbled on a nail, squinting at the sun.
“You don’t have to stay here, you know.” Claire nudged her with a shoulder. “I know things have gotten all hot and heavy between you and the guys, but if you’re not sure, you are more than welcome to come back with us. In fact, I wish you would for a little while. I want to visit with you, get to know you. You can always make your home in Scotland.”
“That’s part of it. I love my life in many ways. I am happy in my house. It’s gorgeous. I’d love to show you one day. I have a stunning view out over the ocean, and my studio is there. Painting is like breathing to me—I can’t give it up. And even if I set up a studio here and paint here, I’d miss the sea. I don’t mean I have to be there every moment. But I’d want to spend a fair bit of time there in the summer. I’m not sure Steffan or Aiden would agree, and as for Aiden, he’s taken off anyway.”
“Oh, he’ll be back, or at least, so Nathan says. And he knows pretty much all there is to know about dragony shit.”
She laughed. “Dragony shit.”
“Yeah. They have some strange ways.”
Laughing together, they paused for a moment to look out over the view. Claire turned to her, eyes sparkling. “I can’t tell you what it means to me that I found you, Mia. I’ve wanted to have a real flesh and blood family for so long. I love my adoptive family, but I always felt a bit on the outside. Particularly after something happened with my fire when I was young. Mum made me so scared to tell anyone, as she said I’d be taken away. So instead of feeling safe in my family, I always waited for someone to turn up and wrench me from my life.”
Mia nodded and swallowed hard, her throat thick with emotion. “I can’t believe I actually have a sister.”
Claire cleared her throat. “Maybe more than one.”
“Excuse me?”
“We have more siblings out there. We are trying to find them. Think we might have found another—another sister, too.”
More sisters. Oh, wow. The idea made her head swim. “So, there’s more like us? Out there?”
“Yeah.” Claire’s brow scrunched. “Thing is, we need to get hold of them because apparently, the older we get, the more our magic will start to come out unless we know how to use it. There are people out there, like us, who might find themselves in danger. They might become seen as dangerous and even criminals by the human authorities. And God forbid any of them go to the doctors for tests.”
Mia thought of her own plan to check about her erratic periods and winced. “Are you actively looking for them?”
“Yes. We’ve got dragons out there searching for them. Human private eyes are also looking into things, but it’s tricky as we must wipe their memory after, and we don’t want to draw attention to the whereabouts of any of them. I presume you know something of our heritage.”
She bit her lip. “Yes, I do. I don’t think Aiden likes what I am.”
Claire’s eyes flashed and her jaw tensed. “It pisses me off. Honestly, from what I understand, both sides did some crazy shit. The Welsh clan were the original victims. Although Nathan says even this is in dispute because there are rumors some Welsh males took a Havsa female a long time ago, and that’s why the Havsa raided the Welsh clan. But whatever happened, both sides did some terrible things, and I think the only way forward is to completely move on. But the Welsh clan clings to their idea of being the ones in the right. And our recorded history is not great. Dragonea don’t have tons of history books like humans. Things are passed down in a few ancient tomes and by word of mouth. It means our lore is kind of hazy, and ultimately, no one can truly claim to know what happened. Nathan says even dragons who were there might not remember it accurately. He says it’s hellishly hard to remember things well when you’ve lived hundreds and hundreds of years. The past becomes a blur, maybe a dream almost.” She laughed. “Listen at me ranting on. It annoys me, though, the way the Havsa have taken all the blame, and it might not be the way it really went down.”
They stopped by a large rock, which jutted out over a steep drop below and had astonishing views out across the valley. Without even speaking, they both sat on the rock and shuffled to the edge, dangling their legs over. Mia smiled at the way they already appeared able to read one another.
“How are they treating you here?” Claire changed the subject.
“Good, actually. I mean, the only one who has shown any issue is Aiden. Kate and Rhiannon have been lovely. Steffan…” She blushed, and Claire laughed softly. “Robert has been welcoming and polite, and the rest I haven’t met other than quick hellos here and there.”
“If you returned to Scotland with me, you’d be so welcomed. We have males back at the clan who aren’t mated, too. Many. So, if you wanted to get mated eventually, I’m sure there would be plenty of choice. Whether or not you’d match is another matter.”
“I don’t want to be mated.” She considered those words and amended them. “Or I should say, I don’t want to be mated for the sake of it. I’ve never dreamed of getting married or having kids or any of that. Give me a fur baby and my easel, and I’m in heaven. But, whenever I think of leaving Steffan, it kills me. And it pains me that I don’t know where Aiden is right now or how he’s doing. My God, it’s been days, and already I’m feeling emotionally attached to these men.”
“Yup. It works fast. Knocked me for six.”
“This…this weird thing happened.” She paused and pushed a lock of hair back from her face. “These sort of smoke dragons slithered out of us, out of all of us, and merged together, came apart again, and then went back inside us. I swear to God, it sounds crazy as hell, but it happened. Ever since, it’s been as if Steffan and Aiden have physically placed a part of themselves inside my heart.”
Claire stared at her, her eyes even more striking in the bright light of the sunny day. “This happened? Already?”
Mia nodded.
“Oh, shit. You’ve really been thrown in at the deep end, haven’t you? I’m going to ask the guys if we can stay here at the clan for a few days. I think you need some support. I can’t go back yet, and I don’t think it’s fair to ask you to leave Steffan after what you’ve told me.”
Claire reached over and gave her a big hug, and Mia enjoyed the feeling once more of having her sister in her arms.
The next few days passed in a blur. Claire, Nathan, and Dom all stayed in the village. Robert had happily let them stay at his home, and Steffan had started to plan extensions to the cave, so if they came to stay again, there would be room for them in his abode, as he called it.
And Mia went along with it all, but inside, she felt mounting panic. She didn’t know how to tell Steffan, but she didn’t want to live here in the mountains all the time. She missed her home, she missed her studio, and she even missed her friends in the village. The feeling of claustrophobia mounted too. She struggled to explain it, but she had lived by the sea all her life and being away from it, hidden away in the high mountains, made her feel like she couldn’t breathe somehow.
The clan had been great and had made both her and her sister welcome. The previous evening, they’d held a feast and she’d seen the dragon elders, the most important females, including Rhiannon and Kate, swoop down and light the massive fires all along the bottom of the valley floor. It had been magical, but all the while, her restlessness grew. Christ, she hated to say it, but she understood all too clearly how Aiden felt.
Steffan didn’t seem to realize he was such a force of nature and how he’d basically expected they would want to stay with him. By not discussing it, he’d acted as if it didn’t need saying. And now her stomach churned as she faced telling him how she felt. She’d discussed it with Claire, who’d told her to go for it
Great advice, but for some reason, she felt sick at the thought of doing so.
Her sister and her two mates had taken off for the afternoon to visit one of the region’s famous castles. This afternoon presented the perfect opportunity for her and Steffan to talk.
A commotion at the front of the cave had her head snapping up. The dogs were going mad over something, or someone. The glass doors were open to let the fresh summer air in, and a prickle of awareness cascaded over her skin. Somehow, she knew before she saw him. Aiden sauntered into the living area and dropped his dusty bags, and she gave a squeal and ran to him. She flung her arms around him, and he laughed, hugging her back. Then reality hit. She’d basically run to greet a man she barely knew. One who resented his connection to someone he viewed as an enemy of his kind.
She stepped back and nibbled on her lip as her face burned. Great.
“How have you been?” Aiden’s eyes searched her face.
Was it her imagination, or was there something lighter about him? He’d lost the sullen, angst-ridden air he carried with him.
“I’ve been okay.”
“The wanderer returns.” Steffan walked into the room. He’d been doing some work in the bedroom, something to do with his investments, and must have heard the noise.
The two men eyed one another warily, and Steffan made a soft noise in the back of his throat. “So…what changed?”
What? She didn’t follow.
Aiden sighed. “I talked to my father, realized I’d been a dick, and I needed to talk with you.”
Steffan shrugged one massive shoulder. “Now’s as good a time as any. Nathan and his mates are staying here in the village and will eat with us later, but they’ve gone out for the afternoon. Shall we sit?” He indicated the massive couch.
Aiden nodded.
“Would you like a drink?” Steffan asked.
Again, the other man nodded and licked his lips. “Yeah, I’m parched. Cup of tea, please.”
She agreed to a cup, too, and Steffan went off to make the drinks. She glanced at Aiden. “Did I miss something? The whole conversation went right over my head.”
“He sensed a change within me. Something different.”
Oh, Lord, she had too. She hadn’t fully understood it, but she’d sensed it nonetheless. Maybe her lessons with Steffan in understanding her dragon senses were beginning to take effect. She’d also done some training with Claire and Nathan on using her fire. The first time she’d held the smoldering ball of flame in the palm of her hand she’d cried at the knowledge she held such power.
“I thought the same thing, but I can’t tell what’s changed.”
“I’ve given him acquiescence…to this. Us.” He rubbed his palm on the leg of his cargo pants and glanced out the door.
“You surprise me.”
“Why?” He turned his focus back to her.
“Because when I first met the pair of you, I’d have sworn Steffan would be the one who couldn’t talk about feelings, but you’re much worse at it.”
He chuckled. “I suppose I am.”
Steffan stepped into the room and handed over their steaming mugs. “I’ve been thinking, I can extend this place quite a bit. Make more room for us.”
Aiden’s jaw clenched, and Mia understood how he felt.
“There you go again. It’s this sort of shit that makes my skin itch.” Aiden’s hands tightened around his mug.
“Oh, I’m sorry I want to take care of my mates and provide them with a good home.” Steffan’s jaw ticked.
“It’s great, the way you think of us, but did you ever stop to consider we might not want to live here.”
Steffan looked as if Aiden had slapped him. “Don’t you?”
“I’m not sure.” Aiden turned sad eyes to them. “I’ve been struggling with all of this so much. To cut a long story short because I hate talking about this shit, I believed something for many years that isn’t true. It clouded my judgment. But, I also know myself. I’m not sure I can live here in this tiny village, year in and year out, and not go insane.”
“Me, too,” Mia blurted and then clamped her lips tight as both men looked at her.
Steffan rubbed at his sternum as if in physical pain. “Okay, so neither of you wants this. Do you…” He cleared his throat. “Do you want me?”
Mia nodded and wiped a tear away before it fell down her cheeks. “None of this makes any damn sense. I’ve known you such a short amount of time, but yes, I want you. Both of you. But I need some time. And also, I don’t want to live here all the time. I love this home you’ve built, Steffan, but I miss the sea.”
“Okay.” He looked slightly less pained as he watched them both. “How about you, Aiden? Because, right now, I don’t feel like letting you in all over again, only for you to walk away the next time you panic. Mia and I, we’ve got a good thing going here.” His face had hardened as he spoke, and Aiden’s eyes narrowed.
“You can’t be a pair. It’s not allowed.”
“Don’t give a shit what some centuries-old rule says.” Steffan crossed his arms and tipped his head to one side, regarding Aiden, waiting.
Aiden’s shoulders tensed, but he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, okay? I know I acted…badly. I just… Fuck. Okay. As I said, I can’t stay here stuck in this village. I can’t, not don’t want to or won’t like it. I’ll fucking freak out if I have to stay here day in and out. The winters are so long and dark, and there’s fuck-all to do. And all the bullshit. I can’t stand it, it makes me twitch. I saw one of my fathers, Hedron, die a little each year he stayed here. He sacrificed everything he cared about and loved to stay here with his mates. And we’ve talked since, and I misunderstood some of what was going on for him. But he still changed. I saw it. A fire went out in him.”
Aiden’s eyes glistened, and she watched in shock as he gave an annoyed grunt and dashed his hand over his eyes.
“I want you both. Never wanted anything more. But I know myself, and if I stay here, I’ll fucking die inside. I don’t mean I’m not happy to spend time here. But not all my time. And it’s what the clan will expect of us.”
“Fuck what they expect.” The force of Steffan’s words shocked her. “I want you two. I don’t care if I have to move to outer fucking Mongolia to make it happen. As long as I know you’re on the same page, we can make this work.”
“Okay.” Aiden nodded his head warily. “But would you both be happy either to come with me a few times a year when I go on digs, or let me go alone? I’d never, ever cheat on you.”
Steffan snorted. “I know. Our match is far too strong for you to be tempted. I’m not worried about you straying. More, I worry about your safety. I lost my mates before because I wasn’t there. I can’t go through that again. I’d rather come with you… That is, if you don’t mind or think it’s because I don’t trust you. And perhaps Mia and I can explore the places you go while you’re working?”
Aiden smiled then, a real, face-splitting grin. “I’d love for you to come with me and explore in the day. Then at night, we can go out for meals and do other stuff.”
“Other stuff, eh?” Steffan laughed. “And we can put off the official mating ceremony for a while. Give you time to get used to all this.” He glanced at her. “Both of you. I don’t want to trap you here, or make you stay in something you don’t want. I just need to know you both want to make it work before we take it any further. We’ll take our time. Do…what is it you humans call it? Date?”
She giggled. “Dragon dating, how…different.” She still needed to talk to them about her need to be by the ocean for some of the year.
“What is it?” Steffan asked. “I can tell something’s bothering you. If you’re not ready for this, say so. We can give you…time.”
She laughed again at the way he said the last sentence, as if he might be able to do it just about over his dead body. “I don’t need time, at least not alone. As long as we can wait to make this official, because, honestly, I cannot go from being single to married, mated…whatever, in like a few weeks. And I think we all need to settle into this and see how it goes. But there is something I want.”
“Spit it out, gorgeous.” Aiden winked at her, and he might seem to be back to his flippant self, but there was a depth now to his gaze, something emotionally charged and different.
“I want to spend some time at my house, at least during the summer. To be honest, it’s not great in the winter. It can be isolated and bleak when there’s weeks of rain and wind and nothing but the gray, rolling sea. But I love it in summer, and I’d like to keep the house. I grew up there with Mum.”
“Of course,” Steffan said.
Could it be so simple? What about Steffan?
“You love it here. What about what you need? This is all about us so far.” She blew a stray hair out of her mouth and waited as he considered her words.
“I don’t love it here. Don’t hate it either. It’s simply where I live. I’ve been alone for centuries. Centuries.” He let it sink in. “Didn’t imagine having anything different, of having something like this. So, yeah, I don’t give a shit where we stay if we’re together. There are things I may still need to do, too. If Rhyndor ever shows his ugly face again, I need to avenge my mates, so I get you both needing to keep aspects of your lives. I’m not Nathan—I don’t run a clan, and I don’t see the need to live by their archaic rules. And some of our kind do live outside of clan society. It’s rare, but it does happen. We can do what we damn well please and figure it out as we go along.”
Her heart lifted as, instead of envisioning years and years stuck in this small village, she saw an open future, decided as they went along. It filled her with a crazy-scary sense of exhilaration.
“I didn’t think it’d be this easy,” Aiden mumbled.
“Sorry you’re not facing another fight?” Steffan shot back.
“Why, do you want one? I won’t let you beat my ass so easily this time.”
“Oh, for the love of God, you two. You’re terrible. Honestly, I’m going to be spending all my time keeping you in line!”
“I like the sound of that.” Aiden tossed her a wink.
She rolled her eyes but didn’t stop smiling.
“How about you show me how alpha and dominant you are in a different way?” Aiden fixed his green gaze right on Steffan.
She watched, always fascinated by it, as Steffan’s eyes warmed right in front of her, turning molten gold. That right there was enough magic in itself, never mind changing into a dragon.
“Come on,” Steffan grabbed her and Aiden by the hand. “We only have an hour or so before they return. Let’s make use of the time.”