Chapter 6

Chardum

I ached all over, but most especially my stomach, which was so empty it felt like it was about to disappear. When was the last time I’d eaten? Before the rock slide. Before I’d become trapped beneath a pile of stone and a curse. My mind sought out the one link to the world that I had always continued to feel. Rosy was twenty-six years old, so about that long.

With effort, I peeled open my eyes, but for a long time, I couldn’t make much sense of what I was seeing. The grains of wood, stained dark brown and worn smooth by countless footsteps. Zachary’s entrance hall floor.

That’s right, I’d freed myself and managed to convince my precious Rosy to invite me into her home. Not that I had needed such an invitation, but certain customs had to be upheld, some boundaries one simply did not cross. That was one of them: do not enter the home of a lady uninvited. I smirked to myself. After that, all bets were off; I was looking forward to seducing my Rosy because I’d sensed from the start that she was my mate.

Rolling my head to the side, I peered through my hair. There she was, sitting against the doorjamb to the living room, her head down on her chest as she slept. Then my eyes caught on the beam of wood cradled in her lap, an impromptu weapon. How adorable.

Feeling a little better now that the cobwebs started to clear from my head, I carefully sat up and appraised what remained of my injuries. Bruises covered my flesh, as did several gashes on my limbs. Nothing major; I just needed fuel to help me heal, food, and a lot of it. My eyes went again to the sleeping form of my mate and I got trapped in staring at her.

Silky soft skin, a rich walnut color and even softer looking hair of deep midnight black. Her tight curls framed her face lovingly and shimmered with health and luster. She tempted me to rake my claws through the locks, to hold them as I tilted her soft mouth up for me to devour. If I were in my dragon form, I could flick out my split tongue and draw her taste deep inside of me. But this human mouth was wonderful too, letting me picture licking her soft, curvy flesh.

Her eyes shot open just as I scented the first curls of her arousal in the air. Oops, had I touched her mind again without meaning to? She drew me so strongly that it was hard not to do so. Deep brown, her eyes held the faintest hints of green deep at their centers, hinting at the heritage that lay there, waiting to be uncovered.

They widened in shock when she realized I was awake, her hands jerkily gripping her improvised weapon and holding it up in front of her chest. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll whack you if I must!” she warned me fiercely, and pleasure skated through me. Would she really? I found that I was tempted to find out…

Raising my palms in the air, I offered her surrender instead. “I’ll behave, for now,” I drawled with a smile that felt good. Ah, the things I wanted to do now that I was free and with my mate. My eyes slid to the stairs leading deeper into the old farmhouse, wondering which room she’d picked to sleep in.

“That’s not behaving, buddy,” she snapped. She was too cute. Didn’t she sense that she was safe? Didn’t she know that I would destroy anything for her, lay waste to her enemies if she so much as asked? She was my mate, and I was going to be her partner as she upheld the duty bestowed on her family to protect these lands and the secrets they held.

“I can’t help it,” I said to her. “The presence of a lady as beautiful as you… It tempts me.” When I rose to my feet, a towel slid down my leg and puddled on the ground at my feet. “I need food to heal.” I smirked when I caught her eyes staring directly at my cock, right at eye level for her, as she was sitting on the floor. But I was a gentleman—sometimes—I wouldn’t tempt her further when I needed to regain my strength.

I turned to stalk toward the kitchen, which I remembered well from my time spent here with Zachary. Then I came to a shocked stop at the abysmal sight that greeted me. “I see time has not been kind, has it?” The kitchen was a mess, the cabinets rotted, the appliances rusted, and no sight of a refrigerator anywhere. The slate flagstones were sticky and grimy beneath my bare feet, and every single window had been boarded up from the outside.

Twenty-six years had not been kind to this place without a caretaker. Why had Zachary not returned? Why hadn’t he freed me from those rocks? I knew he had the power to do so. If his fledgling daughter could, a master at the craft like him would have no problem. My connection to him had shifted to his daughter on that fateful day; was that because he’d died?

From behind me, Rosy made a wry laughing noise. “No, it has not been kind to this place. But I don’t think the roof leaks, so that’s a win.” What an odd way to phrase it, but I’d get used to that. As an immortal, the change of language was a given. “I piled the food on that table over there. I still have to order a fridge from town.”

Ah, she was right. There were foil-packaged boxes on the table, and delicious smells started to drift toward me from that direction. My mouth started to water and my stomach rumbled angrily, reminding me how badly I needed food.

“Please, could you just… Wrap this towel around you or something? You might not mind being naked, but I sure do.” I glanced over my shoulder at my mate and found a strangely embarrassed expression on her face, a hint of heat I could sense pulsing in her cheeks. I was a shifter, so I was used to nudity; it did not bother me in the least. Zachary knew this. He was used to it. Why didn’t she?

I took the proffered towel and wrapped it around my hips, while my eyes never left her face. “Better?” I asked, and when she nodded, I cocked my head to the side. “You’ll have to get used to it. I prefer to do my shifting naked, and I really need to stretch my wings after I’ve eaten.” The desire to feel the wind in my wings as I patrolled this piece of land was almost tangible. I wanted it so badly that it ached. Though, admittedly, the ache to possess my mate was even stronger.

“Shift? Wings? The stuff you are on must be really good,” Rosy sassed, but I could see the faintest hint of doubt in her eyes. I turned my back to her and started uncovering all the food. It was an enormous pile, but it wasn’t going to be nearly enough. I’d have to hunt some deer in the woods nearby once I had recovered enough to shift.

Methodically, I started plowing through all the food, only barely savoring each taste as it hit my tongue. I had missed this so much, but it was only sustenance; the real ache was for the sky and for my mate. It bothered me how confused she seemed; didn’t she recognize me? Had her father not told her of the duties she had, the job we were supposed to share?

The next piece of food I picked up was white and sticky on my fingers, then sweetness exploded across my tongue and I moaned. Surprised, I glanced down and discovered I’d grabbed a handful of chocolate cake covered in sticky, half-melted frosting. “This is amazing,” I muttered as I stuffed another bite into my mouth. “Is there more?” It was so tasty that I couldn’t help myself; I ate bite after bite of the rich treat, imagining that the bruises and scrapes along my body healed as I did so.

My mate giggled, the sound adorable and sweet. I glanced from the food over my shoulder to see that she’d propped her shoulder against the doorway, her ankles crossed as she watched me. The smile on her face made my chest feel warm, and I tapped my sticky fingers against my sternum. That was close to how it felt when I breathed fire, and yet… It wasn’t the same.

“You’ve got something on your face,” she said with a grin. The little piece of wood she’d been holding like it was a sword was now dangling casually at her side. Good, she didn’t seem wary of me any longer. We were making progress. Staring at her, I raised the last big piece of the delicious cake and ate it.

“Where?” I asked, and I angled my chin her way. An invitation to move closer, to help me clean the smudge from my face. I held my breath, my eyes locked with hers as I waited to see what she’d do. There was a brief flicker of hesitation in her hazel eyes, but then she raised her chin, and her fist tightened around her piece of wood. When she strode over it was with a smooth, sensual gait, though I didn’t think she knew she was doing that.

She flicked up a finger to stroke it along the corner of my mouth, heat and sensation shooting through my body at just that simple touch. It was, perhaps, a good thing after all that she’d made me wrap that towel around my hips.

She held up her finger, covered in delicious white frosting, triumphantly. The look in her eyes was telling me, ‘See? I wasn’t lying!’ I grinned and dipped my head, only to cross a small bit of distance to close my lips around her raised digit. Lapping the frosting off her skin was even better than that chocolate cake had been. The reward for my daring move? The sweet scent of her arousal as it perfumed the air between us.

“The fuck?” she demanded, snatching her hand back and clutching it to her chest. She acted shocked and indignant, but I knew better. It had turned her on as much as it had me, my cock rising eagerly beneath the thin cloth of the towel.