Chapter Thirty-Eight

Madison

“I want to ask something of you.”

There was a slight hitch in his voice when he spoke.

I turned away from the mountain valley view we’d been enjoying for the past hour, comfortably ensconced in one another’s arms atop the thick blanket. To my side, the remnants of a surprise picnic lunch lay forgotten.

“What is that, my love?” I asked, curious as to what, after all that had happened, could cause him to feel so uncomfortable. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine,” he said, pulling away slightly to better look me in the eyes. “Especially now that Jair located the receptionist and found out Cleye was paying him. Everything is all solved and peaceful now.”

“Just fine?” I asked, well aware of the relief he felt knowing there were no loose ends.

He smiled. “Caught that, did you?”

I nodded. “Hard to miss. Something’s clearly on your mind. What can I do for you?”

Cal shook his head. “What I want to ask of you is for us. But only you can do it. If you want.”

“This sounds serious.”

“It is.” He chewed on his lip for a moment, looking away as he gathered his words.

I loved him a little more at that moment. The willingness to show me his vulnerabilities was a sign of his trust in me. His ability to handle a functional relationship.

“Well, go on, then. Ask me,” I said, rubbing one of his arms in support.

“I’m working on it,” he said, trying to put a smile on his face.

I saw through it instantly. This was big. Really big.

“Hey,” I said gently, sitting up properly, taking his hand in mine and squeezing it. “You can ask me anything, Cal. Anything you want.”

“I know.” He swallowed. The man was nervous . “It’s not the asking that bothers me. It’s the fear you’ll say no.”

“You won’t ever know unless you ask,” I told him. “I might say yes.”

He nodded, licking his lips, glancing down between us.

When he looked back up, his eyes were calm and focused.

“I want to know if you would consider taking my scale.”

I had suspected this was coming. It was no surprise. In the two weeks that had passed since the showdown with Cleye, I’d continued to learn much about dragons. The sacrosanctity of the scale bond wasn’t new information. I’d encountered it from the very start after seeing Noa’s scale embedded in his chest.

But what I hadn’t truly understood until more recently was how much it would mean to Cal to be bound to me. I’d expected him to want some time after finally shedding his first mate’s scale to want to renew that bond with someone else.

Apparently, I was wrong.

His needing time, however, hadn’t stopped me from knowing it was coming.

“I have considered it,” I told him.

“You have?” A tiny tremor revealed the nerves he was keeping under a tight leash.

“Yes. It’s impossible not to. It’s a big thing between mated dragon couples. I wasn’t sure when, but I suspected it was coming. So, to answer your question, I have thought about it. Is that the only question you have for me?”

We both knew it wasn’t. But I wanted him to ask me properly. For both of us. To a dragon, this was the equivalent of getting married. I didn’t want to be proposed to by being asked to “consider” marriage.

If he wanted me, he had to ask me.

Screwing up his courage, Callum spoke once more.

“Madison Page,” he said solemnly, not flinching from meeting my eyes. “Will you take my scale and bond with me?”

I smiled. “Yes, Callum. Yes, I will.”