Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Veryn

“ Y ou look like a total douche,” Chaos says, shaking his head when he spots me. “Get your ass back in there and change.”

My hands slide down my dress shirt, but my head whips up to glare at the incubus. He’s one of Ember’s little brothers. Occasionally, I’d call him a friend, but I’ll still murder him if necessary.

“This is not the time to fuck with me,” I growl, trying to shove my dragon down.

He’s a petulant asshole all the time lately, and he made it clear not too long ago that he wouldn’t let up until I made things right with our mate. Not that we aren’t on the same page about that, but I have a small amount of tact, where he does not. We’re slowly working toward the end goal, but if we push too hard, she could shut us out forever.

My dragon just refuses to acknowledge that fact. If she tried, he would kidnap her. Probably try to keep her hidden in a cave somewhere until the Stockholm syndrome kicked in.

That fucker has no shame. It’s like dealing with a psychopath who does what he wants and has no understanding of morality.

Only, we share one fucking brain.

It’s exhausting.

“I’m not fucking with you, man.” Chaos pops off the couch. “I’m trying to help.”

“It’s weird to me that you can disassociate Veryn, the friend, from the guy going on a date with our sister,” Dash growls, rolling his bright red eyes. He’s a hellhound and another of Ember’s little brothers.

“They’re mates.” Chaos shrugs. “He waited a fuckton longer than I would have if I knew where my other half was. Come on, I’ll help you find something that doesn’t scream, I’m a pretentious dick .”

“I wore this to your parents’ recommitment ceremony,” I grumble, following him toward my bedroom.

“Exactly,” Chaos says, disappearing into my closet. “We need something that says I’m sexy, a little dangerous, and completely feral for you. That suit doesn’t hit even one of the points we’re going for.”

I roll my eyes, shoving my hair back from my face.

Jesus Christ.

And to think I refused to ask my dads to help me decide what to wear because I thought it would be a shit show.

“All right, try these on and be quick.” Chaos tosses a bunch of clothes down on my bed. “Dash may have missed it out there, but if he comes in here, there’s no way he won’t catch Ember’s scent. Then he’ll try to rip your head off, and it just won’t be a great start to yours and Ember’s first real date.” He claps, grinning like a total weirdo. “Love is in the air. I can feel it.”

I roll my eyes.

Seriously, I’m twenty-five. Ember is twenty-one, but outside of Chaos and their mom, everyone treats her like a teenager.

I’ve waited long enough.

It’s time everyone gets the fuck over their hang-ups.

Ember takes my breath away when I spot her. It takes less than two seconds for my brain to catch up.

“This is a date. I’m supposed to pick you up at your door,” I growl, taking a step forward. All I can think about is shoving my tongue into her mouth, which is the opposite of what tonight is supposed to be about.

“You’re cute, but no.” She laughs. “I’m not having all four of my dads pop up to make small talk and attempt to give me a curfew, when I’m twenty-one years old.” Her lithe shoulder shrugs, and her dress strap falls down her arm. “Also, my car is here now. So, there’s that.”

“Why would that matter? He should still return you at a reasonable time.” Dash tries to shove himself out the front door, but I elbow him out of the way. When that doesn’t work, I hip-check his ass. Hellhounds are solid, but I’m a dragon. He stumbles back, and that feels like a win.

Ember’s eyes immediately narrow, and my heart drops. “What time should I expect you home after your first date? Huh, Dash? Because I guarantee, the minute you assholes find anyone you’re interested in, I’m going to be stuck so far up your dick, you’ll never get a single second of privacy.” She steps forward, trying to shove her face through the open door to glare at her brother.

“Let’s not be hasty.” Chaos siphons, landing next to his sister. He tosses an arm over her shoulder. “Don’t you look lovely? Veryn is a lucky man.”

“You’re such a suck up.” Ember laughs as Chaos pecks her cheek, making a dramatic kissing sound.

I swipe my sweaty palms off on my dark jeans and pray that idiot was right about my change in attire. “Ready?”

Ember nods, licking her lips.

I can feel Dash directly behind me, so I swivel, grab his shirt, and tug him out the door with me.

Holy shit.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my life.

I scurry around the front of my truck in the Dalton parking lot, coming to a stop just in time to yank Ember’s door open.

Her long blonde hair falls around her shoulders as her head tilts.

“You’re really trying to play the gentleman tonight.” She chuckles, placing her hand in mine. “Aren’t you?”

I nearly scoff.

I’m a picture-perfect gentleman, but I’ve yearned for her for so long that my self-control is thinner than tissue paper. The urge to bite her has been almost uncontrollable recently, and I’m already walking a tightrope. If she had any idea how many nights I followed her around, staying just out of sight and ensuring her safety…

Well, fuck.

She might actually have me arrested for stalking.

My dragon is convinced she would find it wildly romantic. It’s almost like he doesn’t even know Ember as a person. Her wolf might think it’s an honorable trait that I’ve gone out of my way to protect her, but humans are funny about things like stalking.

Ember’s hand comes to rest over my T-shirt as her head tilts. “Did I short-circuit your brain or something, sexy dragon?”

She’s playing with fire tonight.

I bend, brushing my cheek against hers. It marks her skin with my scent, and that calms my dragon a tiny bit.

“Step on my boots,” I instruct very close to her ear.

“What?”

“You heard me. I would ask you to climb me, but I don’t like the idea of flashing your ass to half the parking lot, so this will have to do.”

Her nose wrinkles adorably, but I’m done waiting.

I plant a hand under her ass and lift her just a bit. My wings erupt from their confines, and I don’t think too much about the magic that makes it possible. Once I got strong enough as a kid to destroy my clothing with a partial shift, my mom found a special fae tailor that I still see to this day. She makes sure my wings can pass through my shirts and jackets, just like when the magicals transform. Beings like thunderbirds, bigfoot, and pegasus have a magical transformation, instead of the physical change dragons, wolves, and bears have. Because of that, they can change with their clothing on, and when they change back, it’s in the same place.

If only.

Say I were to fully shift and destroy my clothes, they’d be gone for good, and I’d be fully naked in the middle of Haven.

“Holy shit, Veryn.” Ember squeaks as I laugh.

My wings extend, and my hand teases up the back of her flirty little dress.

Do not get hard.

Don’t you dare get hard right now.

Aww, fuck.

So much for pretending to be a gentleman.

She wraps her arms around my lower back, squishing herself closer to my front. It pushes her tits against my chest, and I clear my throat, desperately trying to stay focused.

“I thought we were having dinner at the Dalton? Why are we even here if you were just going to fly us somewhere?” she asks.

“We are having dinner at the Dalton. The rooftop restaurant, to be exact.” I quirk an eyebrow as my wings propel us higher. “You know how limited Haven is.”

Flying is more exciting than an elevator… I hope. Also, I weigh a hell of a lot more than I look. I’m probably pushing the weight limit for the elevator.

“It’s great.” She stares up at me from under her lashes. “We haven’t flown together like this since we were kids.”

Well, I definitely didn’t have my hand on her ass then, but I get what she means.

I weave us around the building as we gain altitude, and eventually, the lights from the rooftop bar and restaurant come into view.

“It’s so pretty,” she whispers, making my heart race.

The building is all right, but she’s stunning.

The ambiance is on point, and I’m going to owe the quads a huge thank you for getting me this reservation on such short notice.

Callie, the female gargoyle who runs the place, puts us in a small booth that faces the half wall. It has a killer view over Haven, and being so far up, it really feels like we’re the only two people around.

We get our drinks pretty quickly and wait in companionable silence for our food to arrive.

Ember snuggles closer to my chest as she sips at her beer. It was clearly the right call to stretch my arm over the back of the booth.

Ember reaches for her silverware, and I chuckle, shaking my head.

“No way,” I growl, moving to pull her into my lap. “You eat by my hand tonight.” Once she kneels over me with her big blue eyes blinking, I realize exactly how precarious of a position I just put us in.

Fuck.

I’m going to need some practice at wooing and being romantic.