Chapter 16

Alistair placed her on the ground, then shifted from his dragon shape. She flew into his arms, desperate for comfort.

"You—you came," she gasped, tears forming in her eyes.

He wiped the droplets away before they could fall. The sight distressed him. "Of course, dear one. I will always come for you."

She shook in his arms. "I… I wasn't sure," she confessed.

His grip around her tightened. His warmth was a comfort against the fear that had chilled her. The thought of a life without Alistair had been more terrifying than the blade at her throat.

"Let's go before the knights get back," she said. No doubt Alistair could defeat them all, but she didn't want to deal with the confrontation.

"Oh, I'd say there's no chance of that," Alistair assured her.

She tilted her head in question.

"The roar you heard was Morthil. It seems he didn't appreciate the trespassers." A careless what-can-you-do shrug. "Hopefully the indigestion won't be too bad; he's only a juvenile swallump after all. The grown ones can swallow anything without any trouble at all."

"So they were never going to take your treasure? You weren't really going to have to give them anything?" It made sense. His offer had been too dramatic. Naturally, a dragon wouldn't give up his hoard, especially for a human he was affectionate with.

Alistair frowned, his gray eyes narrowing. "Of course, it was a real offer. I didn't know Morthil would do that."

"But if you give up your hoard you'll lose all your strength!"

He cocked a brow at her. "I'm aware."

"You shouldn't do that," she protested. "I'm not worth it. I'm just some peasant you picked up from a village that didn't want to give up any sheep."

"You are worth everything."

And with that, he captured her lips. It was a gentle kiss at first, as if he had to reassure himself she was truly in front of him. But she needed more. She needed to feel him against her, to breathe in the smoke on his tongue until it drowned out the fear. She gripped his obsidian black hair and tugged him closer.

When they parted for breath, he nuzzled her cheek. "You are the most important thing in the world to me, Lenora Tashe. Treasure is nothing compared to you. You're not just my heart. You're my twin flame."

She startled back. "What? How?"

"Some things simply are. I've known from the first moment I saw you."

Shock roared through her. All this time she had thought she was nothing more than a passing dalliance for Alistair, because what was one human in the eyes of an immortal dragon?

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to pressure you," Alistair explained, pain in his eyes. "I wanted you to want me for me, not because fate decreed it. When I thought you had chosen to leave, I told myself I should respect your choice." His voice turned soft. "But it was a lie because I could force myself to let you go no more easily than I could carve out my obsidian heart."

"You absolute idiot."

Alistair startled at her language, looking a bit nervous.

"You should have told me," she continued. "Because I love you, and the only reason I didn't tell you is I thought you were destined for another and couldn't see me as anything more than a belonging rather than an equal."

This time, he devoured her lips in a hiss.

"I shall love no other, Lenora Tashe. I could want no other."

And then the mighty dragon did the last thing she ever expected.

He sank to his knees before her, gripping the back of her legs with his black-tipped fingers as he gazed up at her with adoration.

"And now I ask, because you are your own person, not my belonging—will you marry me, dear one?"