11. Nicholas

I was torn between letting Damon sleep and waking him up so we could plan the future—even though it was too early for that.

The sliding doors were open, and while I'd opened the blackout curtains, a gentle breeze rustled the translucent ones. It was early, and while Damon had told me he got up at five on weekday mornings to get himself ready before he started breakfast and got George up, I wanted him to stay in bed as long as he wanted. If that was all day, I'd join him and we could snooze in one another's arms, eat, watch TV, or just stare into one another's eyes while pumping our dicks.

Oh, I voted for the last option.

But I was ready for coffee, whether Damon slept or not. I turned music on, making sure it wouldn't disturb him while I bopped around the kitchen naked. That was one of the many advantages in living out here: no close neighbors to peer in your window.

A nutty roasted aroma filled the kitchen, and I wiggled my hips to the music, anticipating my first sip.

"What are you doing?"

I swung around to Damon, naked just like me, his sizable cock dangling between his legs. Coffee and cock first thing in the morning? Yes, please. More cafés should put that on the menu. They'd have customers lining up around the block.

How had I not heard him? Once again I was worried I was losing some of my shifter abilities. There was another consideration that I pushed away because it was too out there to consider. Not really. Had George and his uncanny ability to see me somehow stolen a part of me?

My dragon wasn't worried and told me it was what humans called love.

"Dancing?" My voice rose as though I wasn't sure myself.

"With no music?"

I burst out laughing with relief. There was nothing wrong with me. Damon couldn't hear the music but to me it was blasting away. "I'm fine." I turned the music up, hoping Damon would join in.

"Good to hear." His gaze dropped to my length, and I boogied over the tiled floor to him. I bopped around him, and he stood, unmoving. Gods, what if he didn't like dancing? How could we mate if he wasn't a dance-around-the-house kinda guy?

But he boogied along with me, swaying his hips and shaking his head while doing arm rolls.

When the music stopped, we flopped onto the kitchen stools and leaned on the island, panting and laughing, praising one another's dance moves.

"George and I often dance at home, especially when one or both of us has had a bad day, and we dance that crap out of our lives."

"Do you want eggs with your boogie?"

"Please."

I anticipated him offering to help and told him no after giving him coffee and observing him guzzle it down.

He peered over the coffee mug. "You're not going to cook like that, are you?" he pointed to my cock. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to it." He gulped more coffee. "To you, I mean."

I raced into the bathroom, making sure to wiggle my ass, and wrapped a towel around my hips before starting the breakfast.

"Safer, but the view isn't as good." He grinned.

We ate at the kitchen island. Damon interrupted his eating to reply to George who'd sent a pic of him and his grandparents.

But the smile faded from his face as he put the phone down and pushed the food around his plate.

"I can make you something else. Don't be polite and pretend you like my scrambled eggs."

He shook his head. "No it's not that." He turned the phone around and showed the photo of George, a huge scar on his torso. "Seeing his injury reminded me of the trauma he and I suffered because of the accident."

I hesitated, not wanting to offer advice when it was none of my business. But if we became a family as I hoped, it would be our business.

"Though to be honest, he's coping better than I am."

"Have you considered therapy?" I held my breath, waiting for his reaction.

"Yes, Sandy mentioned it, and I'm not against it. Just haven't done anything about it."

I refilled his cup, and he wrapped his hands around it. "And that brings me to another topic."

The warm blood in my veins turned to ice—almost—and my dragon got busy conjuring up his fire. A sense of foreboding settled over me, and I stiffened, waiting for what was sure to be bad news.

"Don't get me wrong. The sex last night was amazing."

I plonked myself on the stool. This was worse than bad. He was breaking up with me before we were an us.

"I feel connected to you, but it's been such a short time since we met… well, all of yesterday afternoon and last night."

I bit the side of my mouth to distract myself from what was coming.

Damon stirred what was left of his coffee, the spoon clinking the side of the porcelain mug. "I'm worried that we bonded over George's trauma. I needed someone and you appeared, like a knight in shining armor. And I clung to you."

I pushed a hand across the island, but withdrew it before my fingertips connected with his. "I don't think that was it."

He lifted his head and our eyes locked on one another. "Forgive me, but you're not the one who's been through an ordeal." He got up and scraped the remains of his breakfast in the trash. "Perhaps we should slow this down."

"I'll agree to whatever you wish, even though everything tells me what we have is real."

"I sense a but coming."

This wasn't the time to pull off the towel and wriggle said butt at him. "But…" I stretched it out, hoping it's lighten the mood and I'd get a grin out of him. It didn't. "I'd like to show you something first. This is how I know what we feel," I put a hand over my heart. "is real and not the result of your past."

Thinking of what his ex-alpha had done could also make Damon reluctant to believe that falling in love at first sight wasn't just a huge cosmic joke.

"Does it involve us getting naked? ‘Cause while I'd be up for more…" He glanced at his cock. "Or I should say I am up, but I don't think having sex would solve anything."

This was going to be awkward. "Ummm, you can get dressed if you're more comfortable because we'll be outside."

"And you?"

I performed a little shoulder shimmy though I was anything but confident he'd understand after seeing my beast. But I had to try. Maybe if I had a kitty inside me or a puppy, it might've been easier, but a dragon wasn't a blink and you miss it kinda animal.

I should hope not.He was a little indignant at being compared to small domestic animals.

"I won't bother getting dressed."

There was a shadow of a smile on Damon's lips as he strode into the bedroom and retrieved his clothes. I took his hand and led him onto the deck and into the garden.

"I love what you've done here." He did a 360. "It's like we're in a different world." His rueful expression suggested he might prefer to be removed from his current life. He ran to the end of the garden, to the grassy space surrounded by trees and shrubs.

"Are you going to build something here? This bare patch looks out of place compared to the rest of the space." He inspected the flattened grass, some of it singed. He laughed and suggested it reminded him of a helicopter pad. He peered through the trees. "You don't have one, do you?"

"Gods, no."

"Oh sorry, you're right, they're not good for the environment." He bent down and inspected the burnt grass. "I'm intrigued with what's been happening here."

"That's to do with what I'm going to show you."

"Okaaaay." He plonked himself on the grass, but my dragon protested, saying he couldn't shift with Damon in the way.

"It might be better to stand. You'll see more."

"More what?" His gaze was fixed on my cock. "I can see plenty, don't worry."

I raced into the office and brought out a chair, making sure it was positioned farther back than where Damon was now.

"Please." I extended a hand, and he took it. "It'll be safer."

"Now I'm curious. Are you going to swallow fire or something? Though I'm not sure how that would show us we should be together." He got out his phone, but I begged him to put it away.

"Oh, it's super secret squirrel stuff. Right. Got it."

I walked to the middle of the grass patch. "Remember that no matter what you see, nothing will happen to you."

"You sound like George when he's about to perform a magic show."

Damn. I'd better make this convincing. No way was seeing a dragon in real life anything like a kid trying to make a coin disappear.