Chapter Eighteen

My dragon roused me before the sun as he always did. But, this time, he wasn't pissed off or rough about it but sated and peaceful.

This time, I was the opposite.

Last night had been incredible. Hutch and I moved together as naturally as though we had been mated for decades, knowing each other's bodies and needs by heart—yet with all the excitement of a first coming together. My dragon spoke to him several times while we were making love, making Hutch smile. I'd do anything in the world to make him beam like that every day.

Not long after my eyes blinked open, shame doused my fire, my happiness.

I'd gone against my word. Mated him put him in danger. He was part of my life now, a one of constant awareness and never sure if this day was my last. Gods, I never wanted him to suffer that way.

I got up, barely able to tear myself away from the warmth of Hutch's body, and sat on the edge of the bed, gripping my hair, trying to inflict punishment on myself for having no fucking control.

"Maverick?" he said a few minutes later. The only thing that could stop me from drowning in my own ocean was him.

"I'm here, omega." My mouth spoke, but my dragon pushed the words through. I'd put my mate in danger. I'd failed. One day, he would look at me with regret and anger that had built over time and wedged between us.

"But you're not," he said softly. The mattress moved and he came to sit behind me, his legs wrapped around me, his hands splayed over my stomach. "Don't do this, Maverick. It was my choice. I wanted to mate you last night. I wanted it more than anything. Unless…" He laid his face against my back. "Unless it wasn't good for you?"

I whirled, pinning him to the bed with his hands over his head. "Listen well, omega mine. Last night was incredible. The best night of my whole life."

"Then why are you looking like someone ran over your tail?" He rocked his hips beneath me. So damned tempting.

"Because now you have to join this life with me. I'm going to get calls in the middle of the night asking me to end the lives of others. I'll be gone sometimes for days at a time. You'll worry yourself sick over me while I'm miserable without you. When we go to the city or to town, I'll be searching every corner for enemies. A gun strapped to my hip; I'll be noting every exit. We might sleep at night, but there is no rest for people like me. I didn't want that for you."

He sighed, and I was sure I'd changed his mind. Hating even thinking about him ever leaving me. My dragon would try to burn down the world if my mate lay in the arms of another, but this was what was best for him.

Right?

Right?

"You listen to me you big, strong, fiery, fearsome alpha."

My dragon perked up at all his adjectives for us. Stroked his ego well.

"I was the one who chose to push my promise aside and offer myself to you. Mating you means I also choose to share your life. I'd rather live a lifetime looking over my shoulder and have your love than a million years of so-called safety without you. Anyway, look what happened to me while I was living a normal life. I went for a job interview and ended up being—"

I swallowed his painful words with my mouth on his. "Are you certain? Omega, please tell me. I already love you. I won't be able to let you go after this."

Tears came from the corners of his eyes and plopped onto the sheets. "Then don't. Because I never want to be without you."

He broke me so easily. Me. A dragon assassin who thought nothing in this world could shake him. "Can I mark you, mate?" I asked, eyeing his shoulder.

"Yes. But you need to get inside me first. My wolf is eager to have my bite on you as well."

Didn't have to ask me twice.

We made love again and, this time, he cried out in the peak of orgasm as my teeth sank into his tender flesh. Soon after, he bit down on my shoulder, branding me with his love, a welcome pain/pleasure that seared me to my marrow.

We showered and took the morning slowly even though we had responsibilities that lay just outside our bedroom door.

"I have an idea," I said, pulling on his T-shirt for him. Sure, he could do it himself, but where was the fun in that?

"Shoot," he said, smiling.

"How did you know?" I asked. "Are you reading my mind?'

He chuckled and shook his head. "I wish. But no. I meant, shoot, like, tell me your idea."

I snorted and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I want you to learn how to use every weapon we have, and I want you to train with King. He's the best hand-to-hand combat fighter we have. He'll be tough on you, but it will make you stronger."

He pressed his cheek to my chest as my arms wrapped around him. If he was mine, I would make sure he was as prepared as possible for this life. "That sounds good. I don't want to be a liability."

"Look at me. You are no liability. You are a part of this team now. And you are mine."