26. Hannah

Chapter 26

Hannah

W e went downstairs, and while Reylor stacked the pieces of railing and sent Detective Carter footage from the cameras, I drove to Kraken’s Keep to pick up our meal he’d paid for when he placed the order. We ate in the small dining room and packed away the leftovers, sitting in the front parlor after that to relax.

Reylor sat beside me on the sofa, his arm stretched across my shoulders. He kept fingering my hair and each time he made the simple gesture, heat spiked through me.

I’d had time to think about my ex and my hiatus, plus the way Reylor was so eager to stand by my side, and I’d come to a decision. I wanted to be with him even if taking a chance might result in being hurt again. I didn’t think Reylor would ever cheat. Being fated mates might make a difference with that, though I supposed he could still cheat if that was something he craved.

I sensed it never would be. This guy was steady and true, and he was making it clear in so many ways that he adored me.

With that in mind, I slid off the sofa and moved to stand between his thighs.

“I’ve come to a decision,” I said, my voice shaky. Thinking I wanted more and making my needs plain were two different things. Why were risks so hard to take?

“About what?” he placed his hands on his thighs and gazed up at me with his gorgeous amber eyes.

“About us.”

“You don’t need to decide anything about that. It hasn’t been long. I plan to woo you for at least a few more days.” Laughter spilled into his voice, but his gaze remained serious. He swallowed hard, telling me what I had to say wasn’t anything he’d brush off lightly.

“I want to be with you, Reylor.” I lifted my hand, tilting it to show the symbol that matched his. “You said dragons take their fated mates to their nests, and I think I’d like to see yours.”

“Hannah,” he croaked. “Hannah.” He rose to his feet. “I don’t know what to say except I’m stunned. Happy. No, thrilled. I—”

“Could you show me how a dragon claims his fated mate? I mean, a dragon shifter. I’m not ready to be with your dragon, as gorgeous as he is.”

“Hell yeah, I can show you.” He swept me off my feet and strode through the first floor to the kitchen. We stopped and made sure Max had plenty of food and water and locked his cat door to keep him inside. He sat on the island, blinking at us, and he didn’t voice a complaint as Reylor urged me out through the back door and onto the deck. Once the back door was locked, he lifted me once more and, with one leap, he landed on the patio below. He bolted to the path weaving through the dunes, stopping partway. “I’m shifting, and I’m not putting anything on when we reach my nest. Got it?”

“Hell yeah!” I said with a joyous laugh.

He ripped off his clothing, and I truly wanted more time to check out his gorgeous body, but in seconds, he’d shifted into his dragon form. He lowered himself to the sand, and I climbed up onto his back.

He burst into flight, and at first, I thought he would take me to the apartment he’d mentioned he was renting until he bought a permanent place, that his “nest” was just a dragon-like way to say bedroom. And I was okay with that. I wanted to see his bedroom. My veins simmered with a need to settle in his bed with him looming over me.

But he flew out of town and headed east. My mind was swallowed by the gorgeous, star-speckled sky overhead and the way the full moon gleamed, and I soon lost track of what direction he traveled.

Finally, the flap of his wings slowed, and he soared lower, aiming for the coast. When he swept out over the sea, my heart fluttered along with the pace of his wings.

A small island with a tall building loomed ahead, and he aimed for it, landing on one of the huge slabs of stone peppered only with spurts of grass and a few wildflowers surrounding a black and white striped lighthouse. The light kept swirling in circles at the top, a beacon for those returning from sea as well as a warning to avoid the rocky outcroppings around the island.

When Reylor dropped to his belly, I slid down his front leg to the ground and gazed around in awe. He shifted and came up to wrap his warm arms around me, curling forward to kiss the side of my neck.

“What is this place?” I asked, lifting my voice to be heard over the crash of the waves on the eastern side of the island.

“My nest. In the past, most dragons used caves, but as we joined human society and settled in various parts of the world, we took our nests with us. I love this part of the country and knew right from the start that I wanted to settle here. Lighthouses still work their original purpose, but this one had fallen into disrepair. The government made sure the light kept running, but otherwise, no one had lived here or maintained the structure for a long time. I’m not the first dragon to reach out to buy one. Since I’m willing to maintain the lighthouse, and I won’t interfere with its original purpose, the town was eager to hand it over to me. I’ve owned it for a very long time.”

“It’s pretty here.”

Mist from the crashing waves drifted across my face as we stood there, soaking in the feel of this abandoned place that was also now a new home. A nest, I supposed, but it was basically the same thing.

A biting wind sought us out, though I remained warm nestled in Reylor’s arms.

The lighthouse towered in front of us, casting eerie shadows in the moonlight. The air tasted of salt and smelled like seaweed, though it held a hint of the cottage roses blooming in clusters nearby.

Waves crashed against the jagged shoreline beyond the lighthouse, the sound a swishing roar in my ears. Beneath my feet, the wet rocks were slick, and I’d have to take care when I walked across them in my heels.

“Would you like to see what I’ve done inside?” He stepped back, away from me, holding out his hand.

I turned and swept my eyes down his muscular frame, taking in his broad shoulders and rippling chest that narrowed to his hips. His abs could be featured in a workout magazine, and I couldn’t wait to run my fingertips across each bump and seam.

And his cock . . . Big enough to please and thick enough to make my heart thump faster.

Taking his hand, I linked our fingers. “Yes, show me.”

With a grin, he led me across the rocks, but it was slow going in my heels.

“They make your legs look like they go on forever,” he said, stopping and gesturing to them. “I can’t wait to see you walk across my bedroom wearing only them. But . . .”

“I should’ve worn sneakers.”

“Never,” he rasped. “Never, sweetheart. I want you to wear these all the time.”

“Like when I’m painting a ceiling?” My laugh burst out. “They’re not my most comfortable or safest footwear.”

“Maybe on special occasions?”

Like this one. “Agreed.”

He lifted me into his arms and strode across the rocks, more sure-footed than me, stopping only to key in the code on the touchpad beside the metal door. It screeched open at his push, and he stepped inside, shutting and locking it behind him. Metal stairs rose ahead, spiraling around the outside of the building, and moonlight shone in from a window a flight above.

“The place is wired for electricity, and it runs on the solar power I had installed with a battery to store it, but I can see well. I’ll turn the lights on if you’d like.”

“No lights needed. Take me to your nest.” My heart thudded heavily with anticipation. This was it. We’d be together, and I’d know what it was like to join with a fated mate. Would thunder boom overhead or only in our hearts?

“Right this way, sweetheart,” he drawled, climbing up the stairs.

Around and around we went, each step taking us farther inside the structure. I was eager to explore it in the morning, but tonight was for us.

About halfway up, we came to another metal door, and he swept it open, revealing a big open room.

He lowered me to my feet and turned me to face him, cupping my cheeks and giving me a lingering kiss that made fire blaze through me. “Give me a moment, would you?”

“Of course.”

He left me by the door and strode about the room, lighting one candle after another. Their flickering amber light slowly grew, revealing a large bed on one side, four windows that must look out at the sea in all directions, plus . . .

“Chests?” I asked, not sure I was seeing this right.

“My hoard.” A touch of hesitation came through in his voice. “Most dragon shifters keep theirs in locked rooms, but mine’s secure enough out here. Only I have access, I’ve installed alarms, and short of a tsunami destroying the building, the odds of which are pretty much zero, nothing and no one will touch my collection.”

“You keep all your wealth here?”

“Oh, no, not at all. Most of my money’s secure in banks, but dragons do like their shiny things.”

His smile was so sweet and boyish, I couldn’t resist striding over to join him at the foot of the bed, facing the closed chests that could’ve stepped out of a pirate adventure movie.

“What’s inside?”

“Go see.” His warm hand on my spine urged me forward, though he walked with me, remaining a bit behind me when I bent down in front of one of the chests.

“Is there a key?” I asked.

“They’re not locked.”

“You really are trusting,” I said with a low laugh. Five closed chests about half my size marched across this part of the room.

“Good security. And it’s my hoard. A dragon knows when someone’s touching it.”

Hmm. “You’ll feel it when I touch your things?”

“Like a caress of your hand on my spine. The feel of your tongue on my . . .” He coughed. “Anyway. Only a dragon’s mate is allowed to touch anything he hoards.”

“You’re suggesting you hoard your cock?”

He joined me in front of the chest. “I’m not giving it to anyone but you.”

I paused. “You’re a virgin?”

He shook his head. “Not quite, though it’s been a long time. You should know that I picked this location to move to because I could sense you were in this area.”

“Some might consider that creepy.”

“Do you?”

I shrugged. “I guess not.”

“I knew you’d one day come into my life, and there’s no one I want but you.”

Who could be upset about a statement like that?

“Go ahead. See what’s inside. Each holds the same thing.”

“You mean all five contain, like, gold coins?”

“Each one holds something separate but the same thing. Open them and see.”

I lifted the first lid and gasped at the cut jewels brimming inside. Red, clear, blue, gold, and green. The enormous pile stunned me.

“You’re not saying anything,” he croaked.

“Are they real?” I whispered.

“Oh, sure. My mother’s father gifted me with this chest full of jewels when I was born. Her mother gave me that one,” he waved to the next chest. “And my father’s parents the two after that.”

“And the fifth?”

“That’s the wealth I’ve amassed through my life, per dragon tradition.”

“This . . .” I wasn’t sure what to say.

“You can touch them.”

I slid my fingers through the top, marveling at how silky they felt, how they trickled across my skin like water along a series of falls.

After closing the chest, I moved to the next that held the gold coins I’d suggested. I’d seen a few coins like them in the past, locked inside glass cases at museums, but never this much wealth all in one place.

The next held pearls and jewelry made from all sorts of shells. The fourth held silver, from chalices to necklaces to platters. And the fifth contained artifacts, from rolled up scrolls to what must be first editions of leather-bound books, to ancient daggers and swords.

It was a bit overwhelming. I shut the last chest and turned to face him, not sure what to say.

“It seems pretentious to me, but I’ve held onto my hoard to show it to you before I do something with it,” he said softly.

“What do you hope to do with it?”

“Help others.” His amber gaze met mine. “I was hoping you could give me some suggestions.”