Chapter Thirteen

Silas

Inearly shifted too soon.

We were on the landing pad outside of Aram's estate, and Chloe had just finished picking her way down my wing. She was starting to grow accustomed to the action, but it would take time. As such, when she reached solid ground, the first thing she did was fiddle with her outfit.

My dragon lost its mind at the hint of soft skin as the curve of her rear flashed briefly into view before the folds of her glani hid it once more. If I'd continued to shift as planned, I would have been left standing there with a raging erection and absolutely no way to hide it before she noticed.

Flanks heaving, I fought to control myself, to push down the surge of arousal and the growing chant of Chloe hammering at my temples. It never went away like it was a constant buzzing. Seeing her there, accidentally exposing a small part of her ass, made it all the worse. She had no idea what she'd done either, and so knowing it was forbidden, that I shouldn't have been allowed to see even that little, drove me further toward madness.

I had to have her. Soon. Holding back was driving me insane. She was there to be my mate after all, so it wasn't an outlandish idea. But I knew if I had one taste, I would want another. And another. There would be no stopping me from having all of her. Once the dam of my self-control burst, it was over.

"Aren't we going inside?" Chloe asked as she turned back impatiently. The movement sent the hem of her glani twirling, the blood red fabric glittering in the torchlight.

"You look amazing," I rumbled unthinkingly, still in dragon form.

She had let her hair down for the evening, falling across her shoulders in waves. Other than the glani, the only thing she wore were some small pendant earrings and a pair of wristlets my sister had lent her. It was perfect. She didn't need anything else. Not in my eyes.

"Thank you." Chloe turned slightly away in embarrassment. She was a woman who didn't like the attention being so focused on her, I was learning.

Closing my eyes, I shifted forms, flexing my legs and taking a deep tactical breath before striding forward to take her arm. The buzzing in my head increased the closer I got to her, like spikes into the sides of my brain. Only the unflexing steel of my will allowed me to push through it. Hopefully, it would subside, so we could enjoy the evening.

Through my forearm, Chloe's pulse was easily noticeable, and it ramped up as we touched. I didn't blame her. She would have to be nervous. With all the dragons inside, it would be a big test.

"It'll be okay," I murmured, keeping my voice low.

"What will?" she asked, not looking at me.

"I can feel your pulse," I said. "You're nervous. Scared."

"Oh?" Her voice trembled.

"Yes. But I'll be at your side all evening. You have nothing to worry about. These are friends in here. Even those who think you don't belong will not try anything. Not with me. You'll be safe. I promise you. You can relax."

"Uh, right, of course. The dragons," she said, nodding sharply. "Yes."

I looked up as we cleared the hedges surrounding the landing pad, and the pathway to the house came into view.

"Huh," Chloe said as she looked around. "Well, that's something."

I snorted, holding back outright laughter as I watched her take in the property.

"Aram has an interesting sense of style," I said, noting how her eyes ran over the gaudy decorations.

Gold was everywhere courtesy of the goldmine owned by Aram. He made no attempt to hide the wealth it generated for his family either. Golden tapestries and banners hung from the sides of the house. Golden inscriptions inlaid into the walls, the walking paths. Golden ropes lining the edges of everything.

"There's a style to this?" Chloe remarked, forcing me to stifle another outburst of laughter.

"Supposedly," I said, shaking my head in amusement. "It's just the way he is. He's not all that bad, to be honest. A little arrogant but not a horrible person. He's just obsessed with gold."

"Sounds like any dragon in any story ever," she pointed out. "So, I guess the myths had some grounding in reality."

"I suppose," I conceded as servants opened the doors for us, admitting us into the grand hallway.

We walked down the carpet-lined hallway—also gold—and paused in front of the matching doors. Those were gold as well, though only plated, not solid. A moment later, we were ushered in to the ballroom.

"Oh, my," Chloe whispered.

"Keep it together," I murmured, though I was speaking as much to myself as to her. Seeing all the dragons inside must have brought it home to her, and her fingers had tightened on my forearm.

My dragon, already active and unhappy at not being given free rein to her body, made its interest in her known once more. The rushing of blood between my legs drew the material tight, but I clamped down hard, using several deep breaths to bring myself back under control. Though I wasn't sure how much longer that would last.

People started to notice my presence and make their way over. That was the part I hated the most. Pretending like I cared. Most of them just wanted something from me and would say whatever it took to get it. I shook hands, smiled, and did my best to make my way through the crowd as fast as possible.

"Are they all this fake?" Chloe asked at one point when we had a brief lull, leaning up on her tiptoes to whisper it into my ear, so only I could hear.

The warmth of her breath sent a shiver racing down my spine. She was close …

"Mostly," I said, wrenching my mind away before it could go down that path. "Some of them are good, though."

Eventually, we made it through the crowd to my destination.

"Aram," I said, emerging from the circle of guests around the host. "Good to see you."

"Ah, Silas, welcome!" Aram said. He was a few inches shorter than me, with a big booming laugh and matching voice. Easily exuberant, his cheeks were always a little flushed from constant excitement.

He came and greeted me, shaking my hand profusely.

"And guest," he said, taking in Chloe with a look that bordered on too long.

My dragon didn't like it, growling angrily as someone looked at what it deemed as ours. Chloe wasn't property, however. She was a person, and I wasn't going to get defensive over her.

Besides, she looked fucking good, and I would be na?ve to think I was the only one who saw it. She'd been drawing looks since the second we'd walked in, and not all of them were in disdain of a human being among them.

A second person came over to us, standing at his father's side.

"Hey, Silas," Jadon, the eldest of Aram's sons said, nodding his head in greeting.

"Good to see you," I replied, shaking his hand perfunctorily, the words nothing but meaningless gab. I didn't care and, truthfully, would have been happy if he were somewhere else.

Dressed in a black shirt edged in gold stitching, his dark-brown hair perfectly coifed, Jadon looked every bit the party-focused child. In his mid-twenties, his attitude was wearing on just about everyone besides his father, who saw nothing but his pride and joy.

"Can we talk?" I asked Aram, leaning over to speak quietly. "I have something I want to run by you."

Aram's face tightened. "Silas, listen, if this is about your proposal …"

I wanted to explode. "He's already contacted you, hasn't he?" I snarled in frustration.

"Yes." Aram shrugged. "I'm your father's closest ally. That should come as no surprise. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"You should," I growled, shaking my head. Chloe squeezed my forearm but stayed quiet. Still, I appreciated her silent support. "I'm going to guess he neglected to tell you why?"

Aram smiled. "He didn't, but I've known your father for a long time now. I doubt I would be far from the mark if I guessed it might have something to do with this lovely human on your arm."

"Chloe," I said, belatedly remembering to introduce her. "Her name is Chloe."

"Hello," she said, waving her hand politely.

"Your father hates humans, Silas. You knew that," Aram chided.

I shook my head. "It shouldn't matter. If we stand still, our opponents will gain. All because of his stubbornness."

"I'm sorry," Aram said determinedly, "I won't be the first to defy your father to support humans of all things."

Chloe twitched, but only barely, at the casual derogatory remark.

"He's going to drag us down," I pushed. "All because of his hatred of humans."

Jadon, silent until then, joined in, speaking loudly. Unlike his father, however, who knew when to exercise tact, Jadon just spoke his mind at any level.

"I heard it wasn't just that that pissed him off," he said. "I saw you reject Lilith in front of him after he arranged an entire party for you."

"Jadon," I growled, not liking where he was going.

But Aram's son ignored me, a big grin spreading on his face as he told the story about my arrival and the presentation of a mate by my father. The other hangers-on who had been there nodded in agreement, while those who had been absent listened intently.

"Having your daughter rejected publicly like that, then to see him strutting around with a human on his arm a day later?" Jadon said, laughing. "Damn, that kind of insult has to sting, doesn't it?"

"Fuck," I groaned.

The instant the words were uttered, I knew shit was about to go from bad to worse. So far, nobody had made the connection or mentioned it out loud. But now that Jadon had deemed it an insult, word would make its way to Caine, Lilith's father, and his family in no time.

Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention. I swore to myself as I noticed Mattias grinning maniacally from ear to ear before disappearing into the crowd.

"We need to go," I whispered to Chloe. "Right now."

I hadn't seen Seth at the party yet, but if he was there somewhere, Mattias would head right to him to repeat what he'd heard. Then Seth, Caine's eldest son, would come find me.

That would not be good.

Keeping a hold of Chloe's arm, I disengaged us from the conversation as fast as I could without being overly rude and made a beeline for the exit.

For her part, Chloe stayed quiet and did as needed. The questions would come, but for now, she was smart enough to know better than to interrupt me.

There really was a lot to like about her, I decided.

We reached the gold-plated doors just as they swung open to reveal Seth at the head of a group of dragons.

And at his side, Mattias, who was practically preening after how I'd treated him earlier. To him, it must be the sweetest form of revenge.

"Hello, Silas," Seth said with a cold smile. "Going somewhere?"