Aiden opened his eyes, groggy as hell and in a foul mood after the row at Steffan’s yesterday. He glanced at his clock and saw his alarm hadn’t gone off yet. He sighed and closed his eyes, about to go back to sleep. Bang, bang, bang.
What the ever-loving fuck? He growled and pulled the covers back, placing his feet on the cold, hard wooden floor and cursing not putting carpets in the bedroom. It may be summer, but up in the mountains the air often remained cool, and he fucking hated cold feet. He hated a lot of things right now. Most especially the arsehole banging at his door.
With a string of words to make a sailor blush, he grabbed his bathrobe, slung it over his shoulders, and headed to the front door.
He saw the unmistakable silhouette of Steffan through the glass. With a sigh, he swung the door open and held one hand up. “You can save your lecture, I don’t need it.”
“Morning to you, too. You’re a regular ray of sunshine.”
“We brought muffins. I baked them this morning.” Mia popped her head around his door, and those big eyes of hers hit him right in the gut, making him hate his harsh words of yesterday.
The girl looked like an honest to goodness, dark-haired angel sent from heaven…or maybe the devil herself sent from hell to tempt him. He wasn’t sure which.
Muttering under his breath about people with no boundaries and morning types, he shuffled into the kitchen and gestured for them to come in.
“You look tired.” Her soft words made the guilt pinch at him again. Why did she have to care about him this morning of all mornings? He’d been a douche yesterday, and he regretted it in the cold light of day.
“Can I leave Mia here with you for a while?” Steffan asked. “I need to go talk with Rhiannon.”
“Sure.” He wanted to ask why Mia couldn’t go with Steffan, but that would make it sound as if he didn’t want her here, which to be honest, he didn’t because she tempted him every damn minute she spent in his company.
“I need a shower, but you’re welcome to take a seat on the sofa and make yourself comfortable.”
“Why don’t I make you a drink? Do you like tea or coffee?”
“Oh, gods, coffee.” Tea in the morning struck him as plain wrong.
“Shall I make you a coffee and put a couple of these muffins on a plate with some butter and jam?”
“Yeah, thanks. That’ll be great.” Fuck, why did she have to be so nice? Worse, why did she look so right standing in his kitchen, amongst his things? He needed to take a shower and wake up so he’d be better able to deal with all this.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be,” Steffan said. Then he kissed Mia softly on the lips and left.
What the hell? Why the kiss? Last night was meant to be a one-off. Did they get up to stuff without him there? Oh, Lord, he almost groaned at the idea, turned on but mad as hell. He bit it back in time when he became aware of Mia’s extraordinarily beautiful gaze pinned on him. Why did he even give a shit? He didn’t want any part of something beyond the bit of fun they’d had, so they were free to do whatever the heck they wanted.
“Right. I’ll go take a shower.”
She merely nodded and rooted around in his cupboards, taking out coffee jars and jam. He let his eyes linger on her curvy backside for a long beat before shaking his head and storming out of the room.
Once in the shower, he had a quick wash, and had to take care of another insistent issue, which necessitated another quick wash. His cock still didn’t want to behave, despite him taking the edge off. The simple knowledge of Mia messing about in his kitchen made him hard as nails.
It would be okay. Once she left, which should be later today, thank the gods, he’d be fine and all would go back to normal.
After getting dressed quickly, he set off back toward the kitchen and found her sitting at the table, eating a muffin and licking jam from her fingers. Her pink tongue darted from between her soft, plump lips and flicked over her index finger. And there went his dumb dick again with a mind of its own.
“I warmed them.” She gestured toward the muffins, and he smiled in response.
She pushed her chair back and walked over to the kettle. “Do you take milk and sugar in your coffee?”
“Just black, thanks.”
She nodded and busied herself making his drink, then passing it to him.
“You look better, less tired.”
“Thanks.”
She studied him for a moment then looked away, and her gaze darted around the room, taking in his things.
He tried to see it through her eyes. Plain, simple, not much in the way of luxuries. He viewed his home as a base, nothing more. Somewhere to come back to for short periods between travels. The contrast between his home and the weirdly luxurious cave Steffan lived in struck him.
“It’s not much, but I’m not here often.” Why did he feel the need to defend his home?
She smiled, closed-lipped and small, but a smile nonetheless. “I like it. Reminds me of my home. I mean, you’ve a lot less clutter than me. I like my knickknacks and my plants and paintings. But it’s homey like my place, only in a different way.”
“Nothing as grand as Steffan’s joint.” He bit into the muffin and raised his eyebrows. Damn, it was good.
“Steffan’s place is awesome.” Her face lit up. “I mean, walking up the mountain yesterday, I saw the cave and nearly freaked out. The guy scares me a bit as it is, and to see such an imposing cave! I imagined it to be full of creepy crawlies and slimy walls, but he’s made a proper home in it. It’s a shame you guys are secret, or I bet some architectural magazines would love to highlight his place.”
“You’re scared of Steffan?”
She considered him for a moment, head to one side. “Not now. Not after last night. We talked. And we slept together.”
He choked on his bite of muffin and had to grab his coffee to wash it down.
“Not like you’re thinking.” She shook her head. “We slept in the same bed, and he talked to me some about life here, and he held me.” Her eyes took on a warm glow. “It was nice. I’ve never slept the night through with anyone else before.”
“Never?”
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“Are you a virgin?” Way to go blurting out his inner thoughts!
She laughed. A proper, head-thrown-back laugh, and he found himself grinning right along with her at the sheer beauty of her in the moment.
“God, no. I’m not a virgin. But I never let boyfriends stay over, and I never stayed at theirs the full night either. Always had to get back for my fur baby.”
“How’s he taking it at Steffan’s?”
“He’s fine. He’s going to meet Steffan’s dogs later when they come home, and we’re all going for a walk tomorrow. You should come.”
Tomorrow? “Aren’t you going to Scotland later today, with Nathan and Claire?”
She shrugged. “They can’t come now for a day or two.”
What the fuck? It made no sense at all. Nathan had been dying to get here as soon as Mia arrived, so far as Aiden had been aware, and to take her away from their evil Welsh ways. He knew the other guy still saw the Welsh clan as mildly dangerous to the Havsa, even with Ellie gone, so why leave Mia here for a few more days?
“Did he say why?”
She shook her head and tapped her lips with her pointer finger. “No…but Steffan said something about having important business to do. They had a long talk last night on the phone.”
Really? His mind whirled. Something was going on, and he’d find out what from Steffan later. The big bastard better tell him. At the thought of Steffan’s broad build and stupidly impressive musculature, his dick once again got all hot and bothered. Fucking hell, he’d need another shower at this rate.
It didn’t help being cooped up in his small house with Mia and her long hair, soft body, and most of all, her scent. He’d be smelling her for months on his things. He needed to get out of the house for a while.
“Do you want a walk around the village? I can show you around.”
“Yes, please. Sounds great.” She clapped her hands together twice like an excited child, and his heart did an odd sort of thing in his chest, some unfamiliar emotional muscles stretching out and flexing, moved by how such a small thing made her happy.
He’d like to do more to make her happy. No, he clenched his hands into fists on his thighs. No, he didn’t need to be thinking sappy shit like that.
“Come on,” he grunted. “Let’s go.”
She wore jeans and a T-shirt. Simple clothes, but they hugged her curves, and the jeans molded to her gorgeous behind. The view from the front was no less enticing, as her full breasts pushed against the soft cotton of her T-shirt.
He placed his cup and plate by the sink and grabbed his phone. He didn’t need his keys because he didn’t lock his door. Most people in the settlement didn’t bother with locks or such precautionary measures. They stepped out into bright sunshine, and Mia stretched her arms out and looked at the sky.
“I love summer so much. Can we stop off and get Marlow first?”
“Yeah, of course.”
They trudged up the hill to Steffan’s cave home, and Mia untied Marlow from the long lead looped around a tree stump at the cave entrance. His basket was in the cool shade of the outdoor portion of Steffan’s cave, and he had a bowl of water nearby. The dog went crazy when they got near, wagging his tail and running around in excited circles.
Aiden worried he’d end up like the idiot fucking dog if he let the female get under his skin. For a moment, he let himself luxuriate in the fantasy of the three of them together. Him and her kissing, Steffan coming into the room and joining in. The scene warmed his heart and got his damn unruly dick all excited again. But then he fast-forwarded years. Years of being stuck in this boring village, expected to be the dutiful mate and guardian. Steffan had enough money and power so neither of the males would have to take menial jobs to support their mate, but their clan still lived by the old rules. He’d be expected to always be here. To cater to Mia’s needs and wants. And yeah, it didn’t sound so bad—in fact, some of it sounded awesome—but then he pictured his father. Hedron and the unhappiness he wore like a cloak, and the way he seemed the shell of a male he’d once been.
No. Commitment of the kind their culture demanded sucked the life out of you. It made you nothing more than a mate. And he didn’t want such a life for himself and doubted Steffan did either, which meant having Mia around for a few more days would be torture for the other male.
Of course, it meant they could maybe have a bit more fun. Perhaps another session where they all got laid would sort out the issue he seemed to be having with his dick. He swore overdosing on Viagra wouldn’t be this painful.
“Ready?” Mia broke in to his thoughts.
“Yep. We’ll go along the path here and by the far end of the village first.”
He looked at his hometown with fresh eyes, trying to imagine it from Mia’s perspective. All the tiny white houses nestled into the steep mountainsides, trailing down about a third of the valley, were pretty. The two-thirds of the steepest hillside, nearest the valley floor, wore a coat of deep green vegetation and glorious wild flowers. And all along the bottom of the valley floor stood huge pyres, waiting to be lit by the elder females the next time they had a feast or celebration.
“So, tell me about your society,” she requested. “I mean, Steffan told me some last night, but I want to know all about it.”
Where to begin? “You already know about how we bond and mate, right?”
She nodded.
“I suppose, in many ways, it also dictates how we live, to a degree. That and the fact we cut ourselves off from other preternatural beings. Humans too. We became insular—and isolated. We have a rigid hierarchy. We have leaders, who are always male and often strong warriors. Our leader is the dragon Robert, whom you met the other day.”
“And is he the strongest warrior in your clan?” she asked as they picked their way over some rocks straddling the path.
He huffed out a laugh. “No, Steffan is.”
She shot him a glance, her eyes wide. “He told me last night about his power, after I confessed to him how he kind of scared me a little. But I didn’t know he was more powerful than your leader.” She wrinkled the upper part of her nose slightly as she thought. “Why isn’t he the leader?
“I don’t think he wants it. Doesn’t want the hassle so far as I can tell. He’s a loner, if you hadn’t guessed. Running the clan would involve endless meetings and stuff the likes of which I doubt he’s got the patience for. Plus, the leader is, in a way, a figurehead. The real power lies with the females who control the day-to-day running of things. The clan council are all female, and our Warders are the most revered of our species. They are females with strong healing and magic. Look, an example.” He sighed and blew out a breath. “When we came for you, I nearly dropped out once Steffan said he’d be going. But Rhiannon requested two males go along. I declined, Robert declined. Rhiannon politely repeated her request…and here we are.”
“Oh, okay. I guessed Rhiannon had a lot of say as to what goes on, and Kate did tell me some about your society, as has Steffan. But it’s all so different from anything I’ve experienced before.”
All so stifling, too, but he didn’t say so aloud.
They reached a few large rocks, and he gave his hand to help her over. The moment her warm palm slid into his, his heartbeat picked up. Gods, such a simple touch, and yet it set him off. Feet sure and solid after years traversing this territory, he hopped off the last rock onto the track through the grass and heather. Mia followed suit but landed badly and twisted over on her ankle with a sharp cry.
Reflexes quick as lightning, he caught her as she stumbled against him. The feel of her in his arms brought back all the best bits of the previous evening, and he took the briefest moment to scent her hair.
He helped her to right herself and watched as she put her foot back on the ground, only to give a sharp wince and lift it up. She wore slip-on running shoes with her jeans, and he got her to sit on the nearest flat rock to let him take a look.
“Let me see. You may have injured yourself.”
Being as gentle as possible, he slipped the shoe from her foot and looked at her ankle. He tried to move it, and she cried out.
“Shit. I think you may have sprained it. We need to get you to Kate’s and let her look at it.”
“I don’t think I can walk.” She bit her lip and looked at him, and he had to swallow the urge to kiss her.
He bent forward and carefully gathered her in his arms. She weighed nothing to him. Male dragon shifters were physically strong as hell, and his mate needed help, so his strength became magnified.
Whoa! His what? He nearly dropped her as the panic at the aberrant thought hit hard. No, not his mate. Not now, not fucking ever. Jesus. He needed to get a grip. Teeth clenched tight, he strode back toward the village with her.
“Wrap your arms around my neck.” He whistled to her dog, who thankfully trotted after him as he set off down the hill.
“I’m so sorry.” She spoke into his neck, blowing warm breath against his skin.
“Why? It’s an accident. Nothing to be sorry for.”
“I’m a pain in your backside, and I know you…”
“I, what?”
“Nothing.”
Oh, no, she didn’t. He gave her a squeeze around her middle where one hand held on to her, the other under her legs. “Tell me. Come on—don’t go all shy on me now.”
She sighed. “I know you don’t like me.”
He stopped moving for a moment, shocked. About to tell her how silly she was being, he paused. He hadn’t liked her, had he? Even before he’d met her, he’d been determined not to like her because of her heritage. Which…crap, it sucked. Made him a prejudiced son of a bitch. And even when they’d been doing unspeakably hot things to one another, he’d tried his hardest to remain detached, not to let himself have any feelings for her other than lust. When feelings did pop up, as just now proved, he freaked out and did his best to shove them back down deep where he’d never have to face them.
He’d treated her as an object. Not trying to get to know her at all as a person, but instead, using her body and trying to limit any emotional entanglement. Even his thinking of a few minutes ago, where he’d been planning how the three of them should have more fun times, reduced her and Steffan to nothing more than vessels for him to slake his lust with and move on. In the past, it hadn’t mattered if he indulged in casual encounters because that’s all the other party wanted too, and feelings absolutely weren’t involved. But try as he might, feelings were getting in the way here. And if they were for him, they must be for Steffan and Mia, too.
Hurrying down the hill toward Kate’s abode, he hoped Mia hadn’t injured herself too badly. Despite his promise to himself to remain detached, he ached when he thought of her in pain. Thankfully, a sprain wasn’t serious. Not like Steffan’s horrifying injury. The thought of the poison working its vile way around Steffan’s virile body, slowly making strong become weak, healthy fall sick, made Aiden sick. Another reason to get the hell out of this mess before he found himself so involved he couldn’t get disentangled. Steffan may never get better. Oh, gods. Steffan might die.
“What’s wrong? Why have you stopped?”
“Sorry?” Her words reached him through a haze of foggy horror at the train of thought he’d been on.
“You’ve stopped. Do you need to put me down?”
He came to himself with a snap and realized he’d stopped dead, halfway down the mountainside. Shit. “No. Sorry. You don’t need to stand.”
He began moving again, but his mind scrambled to make sense of all the thoughts and emotions bombarding him. If he walked away now, and later heard Steffan had died, how would he feel? The sick lurch of his stomach and his increased heart rate told him enough. It would still hurt like crazy. A world without Steffan didn’t bear thinking about. He may not have known the male for long, but he’d idolized him…forever, it felt like. At times, he’d questioned the attraction, wondered if he only liked Steffan due to his unavailability. And maybe a part of it had been about such things, but increasingly, he also understood how strong their biological drive to bond proved to be.
They reached the outskirts of the housing area, and he headed straight for Kate’s abode. A two-story building, it stood out amongst the other single-level homes but fit the landscape well. Kate and her mates had a brood of little ones they had adopted, so the space became necessary.
He banged on the door, hoping he wouldn’t be disturbing them.
It opened, and Kate beamed at him, then frowned the moment she saw Mia in his arms.
“Ooh, come in. What happened?”
“We’re not disturbing you?”
“No. My males are with the young at a fire class.”
He smiled, but a pang of something akin to guilt hit. Mia had missed all of this. Learning how to control her magic and how to unleash her power in a safe way. She’d need someone to teach her, as Nathan and Dom had done for Claire. She needed mates. And he realized in that moment, if he and Steffan didn’t step up, most likely some other males would. The idea of anyone else touching her made his teeth clench.
“Come through to the living area.” Kate led the way, and he followed.
On the way, he noticed lots of photo frames dotting the house, full of pictures of Kate, her mates, and their young. In all of them, they looked happy and content. Could he do it? Be that guy? The one who settled down and lived a life of quiet contentment in the clan? His skin itched at the idea. Fuck, he’d gotten himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either having to accept Mia with other males and saying good-bye to Steffan, or trapping himself in a situation where he’d wither and fade like his father.
Determined not to focus on these thoughts now, lest he drop Mia on the huge sofa Kate pointed to and turn tail and run, he banished the issue from his mind.
Kate knelt by Mia once he’d placed her with her feet resting on the sofa, and she gently took her shoe off. She smiled at them both.
“Doesn’t look too serious. I think you’ve twisted it, but I don’t think you’ve sprained it. Even if you have, it isn’t severe. I’ll prepare a poultice to help with the pain and swelling.”
She exited the room, leaving him with the source of all his discomfort. The woman who thrilled, tempted, and terrified him in equal measure.
*****
Steffan took a sip of the tea Rhiannon offered. She sat back on one of two sofas, both groaning with bright, jewel-toned cushions. Her home represented the ideal dragon abode: full of treasures, fine silks, and stunning rugs, all in bold colors.
“Whilst this has been a lovely chat and catch-up, something tells me you didn’t come here to enquire about every person in the village, Steffan.” She smiled to soften her words, but she had him there.
He put down the ridiculously dainty cup and gave her his full attention. Jiggling his leg, he forced himself to say the words. To ask what he wanted to know. He cleared his throat. “You told me the wound in my leg can heal if I had something to live for. Is this true?”
She nodded and her gaze sharpened. “Yes. As far as I know, it is true. Your body held the poison at bay so long as you had a purpose for living. Your purpose lived in the revenge you so keenly sought. But I fear, over time, as the dragon you seek hasn’t surfaced, your purpose has dimmed.”
She placed one warm, dry palm over the back of his hand. “You need to find a new reason to live.”
“What if I have?” Oh, fuck. Putting it out there made it real.
Her sly smile, mouth tipped up more at one corner than the other, told him she already suspected as much.
“I’m not surprised. The connection between the three of you is…immense. Your issue will most likely be Aiden. The young male has…problems. He’s derisive of our way of life and spends much time away from the clan. I sensed Mia, too, has fears. As I suspect do you, but you two can overcome them. Him, I’m not so sure.”
“I’m not sure what I’m doing.” The admission pained him, but he may as well get it all out on the table. “If I had two willing mates, I’d still find this hard. I’ve been alone for so damn long. But throw Aiden into the mix, and I don’t have a clue.”
“I think he’ll give in to it eventually. I can’t see him fighting something so powerful, even if he wants to. The issue you have is dealing with you and Mia possibly having to be together without him for a while.”
His sharp inhale of breath at the blasphemous idea had her pausing to give him a small smile. “It’s not impossible, Steffan. It goes against our cultural beliefs, not some absolute, set-in-stone biological fact. We live this way because it makes sense. We live this way because it is decreed by our forbearers, but they were not all-knowing. My view? You’re the best chance that girl has of finding her way and being happy. She’s also the best chance you’ve got. With or without Aiden. He’s the icing on your cake. The last thing that needs slotting into place to make it perfect for you, but you can’t force him.”
She tapped her finger against her lips three times. “You let the girl go, she’s going to find it horribly hard to deal with everything, and you’ll go back to the poison eating away at you all over again.”
He heard her, but he wasn’t sure he agreed. Now that he’d let himself feel it all, his damn naïve heart had cracked open like a fissure, and emotions he’d kept locked down for centuries were washing over him in powerful waves.
“The thing is, I don’t want to do this without him. Pain in the proverbial ass he may be, but I want him. I need him to complete us. He matches me so perfectly. Gods, I only have to stand near him for our heartbeats to sync and his breathing to slow to my pace. He probably doesn’t even recognize it to the same degree. He won’t be aware, but it’s amazing.”
“I hope this works out for you, Steffan. For all three of you.”
She stood and pulled him into a tight hug. A waft of something like jasmine washed over him and he smiled. Dragons didn’t often wear perfume because of their exquisite sense of smell, but if they did, they’d dab a little natural plant oil on their person. Maybe Mia would like some?
“Thanks for the talk.”
“Good luck.”
He headed out the door thinking about how much he needed that damn luck.