25. Tyson

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

TYSON

T he early afternoon sun beat down on my shoulders. I'd done a few push-ups to make sure my muscles popped. My dark red scaled shorts glowed from the quick clean I'd given them. I stood confidently in the sand on the border of water territory. At my back, my guards fanned out, looking impressive as hell. All of us watched Rehan and only Rehan walk to the border with my mate at his side.

The water heir narrowed his eyes before pulling Wiggles to a stop just before the border. Steam virtually popped his head off. I fecking loved it.

Operation ‘dress my mate' had gone well. She'd put her hair up in a high ponytail to keep it off her neck. A pair of short white jeans covered her hips, and a simple purple V-neck exposed the curves of her cleavage, leaving her defined arms bare. I didn't think I was an arm guy, but I learned new things daily.

"She's back here at eight," Rehan stated. "Or I will send every dragon I command after her."

"I don't believe that would even be the seagull hovering above us." I smirked and crossed my arms over my bare chest. "Even your family's on my side."

Wiggles looked up while Rehan glowered at me and growled. My mate pulled her attention away from the seagull, that was in fact above us, and rested her hand on Rehan's shoulder. The dragon stopped growling.

My grin instantly turned into a scowl.

My mate. My Wiggles.

Rehan smirked, and I fumed.

I left her that PlayStation so we could spend time together during the day. Not so the Jellyfish could unplug it. My excitement dimmed. I didn't take part in Wiggle's training for the fire ceremony. My only time with her was the flight there and back. It wasn't enough.

I needed her to know she was mine. "Midnight."

"No." Rehan spat on the sand. "The deal was eight."

"Ten." I crossed my arms over my chest and grinned. "She'll be hungry and too tired from training for the flight to water territory."

"If you're changing the deal." Rehan pulled her into his chest. "She won't go at all."

I lifted my phone from the thick chain dangling around my neck. "Should we see what Tukaqu has to say about that?"

Rehan sucked in a frustrated breath.

Wiggles wiggled out of Rehan's possessive hold with a scowl. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, and I glared to see the red case replaced with a plain blue one. My phone chimed, as did Rehan's. I shot him a scowl before glancing down.

Wiggles: Eight. Stop antagonizing Rehan. If you want more time with me, earn it.

I took a small step back and looked at her with wide eyes. "Earn it? A prince of fire does not need to earn anything, especially not from a human."

Anger flashed in her gaze, and I grinned, loving the fire my words lit. Except I wouldn't have the chance to fan the flames and see how far I could push my mate.

"Eight." I spat. "For today, I'll have my people call your people, and we'll see about tomorrow."

Rehan spun her to face him and kissed her hard before flinching away, holding his groin. I grinned—payback's a bitch—and held my hand for my mate. She took a deep, resigned breath before crossing the border.

I gently tugged her into my embrace where she should've been all along. She stiffened. I fecking hated it. My mom used to rub my arms when I was upset, and I released her and did the same. Only Wiggles got tenser. The memory of me forcing my mate mark onto her hit me hard.

I had to fix this.

"I won't hurt you, relax," I whispered. "You enjoyed our last flight. This one will be just as good."

She pursed her lips, and I turned to one of my guards. "Go ahead, let them know we're running late."

My guard saluted and ran down the beach before shifting and vaulting into the air.

I prepared to carry Wiggles as a dragon, hence my phone on a chain that I could wrap around my dragon wrist once transformed. Dragon flight was the fastest way to travel. But if this was all the time I had, I wanted to feel her against my human chest. Maybe if she could hear my heartbeat, she could feel how much she meant to me.

I swung her into a bridal carry, and she let out a surprised squeak, crossing her arms over her chest. Despite her serious expression, excitement filled her eyes. I unfolded my wings from my back and beat hard to get the weight of two off the ground. A salty breeze off the ocean curled under us, and I soared up, making sure to glare at Rehan a final time before leaving his arse in the sand.

Eventually, Wiggles relaxed in my grip. Goosebumps pebbled her flesh, and she shivered. I cuddled her closer to my chest, cursing Rehan for putting out my fire again.

"I forget how much cooler it is up here," I said. "I'll bring you a sweater for the flight back."

She didn't respond.

I bristled. I was being nice! She could at least acknowledge me, except she couldn't talk. I wrinkled my nose. Doctor Raba hadn't found anything wrong with her, and he should know. The human warlock had been living on our island for the last thirty years, studying shifters and the birth issues plaguing our race. He wasn't just magical; he had a human medical degree and worked with Scalehive.

A dark thought popped into my brain. Did Wiggles and the Doctor know each other? Was all of this a setup to trap me?

Anger flared in my chest.

What were the chances she was faking her inability to speak as well?

I pressed her into my chest and caught another updraft, beating my wings to climb. I rarely flew to the top of our shield. This close, our magic, twisting and distorting the pure energy from the Ley Line, made the hairs on my arms rise. Fortunately, my focus stayed on Wiggles and her racing heart. Before I could overthink it, I dropped her.

For a split second, she just fell, then she screamed–the sound impossibly high as whatever kept her from speaking scrambled her voice.

Feck. She wasn't faking.

What was I doing?

Folding my wings flat to my back, I dove for her. The wind whistled past my ears. Adrenaline made my heart race.

Instead of plummeting, she managed to spread her arms and legs, controlling her fall like a trained skydiver. With a thump, I collided with her back and wrapped my arms around her waist before snapping my wings back out to slow us further. She shook like a leaf. Her heart raced as she turned to cling to me. I skimmed the top of the forest, catching an updraft and bringing us back to a leisurely soar.

"Feck, Wiggles. I just thought…" I trailed off, unable to voice my sudden stupidity.

She didn't gain anything from any of this. She'd been miserable as Betty. The first time I mentioned kids, she'd told me she couldn't have them. If her goal was to trap me, she wouldn't have come clean.

A headache pinched behind my eyes. I didn't usually have to think this much.

Wiggles let out a squeak. She released her death grip on me, only to wrap her legs around my waist and squeeze. I purred, loving the feel of her thighs caging in my hips. I looked down at her face just as her arm pulled back, and she slapped me hard. The sound of it rang in my ears, and hot pain washed over me.

My wings dipped, and I struggled to keep us in the air.

"Squeak, squeak squeak squeak squeak," she yelled into my face.

"I didn't trust you!" I grabbed her fist before she hit me again. "And I should have."

Her eyes gleamed, and a grin kept pulling at her angry scowl. As much as I might have scared her, she felt a rush from falling. I filed that away for later when she didn't look like she would murder me midair.

I shifted her in my grip. "What do you want from me?"

"Squeak," she huffed, rolling her eyes.

I gritted my teeth and released her hand. She wanted me to trust her. I wanted to trust her, but unlike my mark on her neck, trust wasn't something I could burn into either of us.

"You can still express a lot with those squeaks, though," I pumped my wings, and she squeezed her thighs tighter around me to keep her balance. My dick twitched happily. "I mean, we've been flying for all of five minutes, and I've heard at least six different ones." I narrowed my eyes at her scowling face. "Tell me something in squeak."

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak," she said, punctuating each squeak with a poke to my chest.

"I am not a toy," I guessed, raising an eyebrow. "Or maybe, don't scare me again, sweetheart?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, don't drop me again, sweetheart," I amended. "But I wouldn't let you fall, for real. You weren't in any danger."

She shook her head, shivering again. "Squeak."

"Hmm." I wrapped her upper body back in my arms, and she greedily stole my body heat. "Just one word. So, it's not, ‘I knew you wouldn't drop me, baby.'"

She kicked my butt with one of her heels, not moving away from my chest. Her cold, hard nipples made blood rush for my dick, and I wondered what it would be like to fuck her mid-flight.

I put that idea aside for later. "One word." I rubbed her back. "Give me a hint. Does it rhyme with anything?"

She squeaked into my neck.

"Oh, baby, we need to work on your rhyming," I grinned, and she bumped my butt again.

I laughed.

The peak of the volcanic mountain that shaped our island came into view, and my heart fell. Fricking Rehan, I just needed more time.