12. Damon

When I told Nicholas that I was afraid our bond was just due to George's trauma, he assured me it wasn't that. Sure, Sandy had warned me about this kind of connection. He was kind of a pain in the ass on a good day and saw trouble where there wasn't any. But he was coming at it from a good place. My brother loved me and meant well. He'd felt awful about not being there for me in the hospital, even if there was absolutely no way he could've known.

And to be fair, over the years I had given him reasons to worry. Sandy was there when I went through everything with the sperm donor, so he'd seen firsthand how great my decisions about men were. He couldn't know how different this was. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared.

Deep down, I was worried that Sandy was right and that maybe this was the trauma speaking. But not exploring something because I was concerned felt like a crappy way to live. And I'd have felt bad if I hadn't acknowledged the real possibility with Nicholas and given him the way out if he wanted it.

Thank gods he didn't.

Instead, he stood up, dragging me outside to show me something. This was another one of those cases where I should have been scared and worried, but I wasn't. I was excited in a way I didn't quite fully understand. This felt important… huge, even.

He whipped the towel off, and for a second I thought he was thinking sex was the solution. I couldn't think of sex as being a good solution for anything, but I was willing to give it a try. I hated not touching him, even if it was just a brush of a hand.

"Trust me," he said, and I did. I trusted him more than he could imagine. He'd already proven to me that he would be there when things got real—too real. It was all the stuff that usually came before that that we had to figure out.

"Now, just remember, nothing will happen to you." It was the third time he'd said that, and I was really confused until he took three steps, jumped in the air, and suddenly, before me, was a dragon… a freaking, real-life, they-exist dragon.

I had to be dreaming. There was no way this was real. Dragons were imaginary, make believe, fake… except George had called him one. Maybe George's imagination had infected my mind. That was the only logical explanation for all of this. The only one.

It was a dream.

I might as well enjoy it, right? Odds of getting back to the same dream twice were rare for me, and this one had the potential of being amazing. Even as a dream dragon, I was enveloped in a feeling of safety.

"You're gorgeous." I took a step closer. "You know, when I was little, I always dreamed that the books got it wrong. That the dragon wasn't the one the prince needed saving from; the ‘good guy' was. The dragon was always their always and forever."

I looked at Nicholas-turned-dragon standing before me. Could he be mine? Like in my old stories.

"The first time I saw you, I kind of thought you might be a dinosaur or a dragon, as silly as that sounds. Can I touch you?"

The big dragon head nodded, and he lowered it for me. I closed the distance between us and ran my fingers over the scales. I didn't know why I thought it would be cold, but it wasn't. "This is officially the best dream ever."

His body froze, and he hopped back, watching my face carefully. Before I could ask or say anything, he shifted back, his eyes serious.

"This isn't a dream," he said. "It's not even close."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, this is real… all of it."

"How could it be real? Are you saying that my son really could see your dragon? Why would my son be able to do that and how?"

"Do you know anything about his bio dad's family?"

I didn't know his family at all other than his mom, who I contacted exactly one time. But I did know him. "He was no dragon."

"No, he might not have been, but he might have been part of a lineage of shifters."

"So you're saying everything George said about people who turn into animals is real?" I needed to get back to the lineage thing later. This whole dragon thing was enough for one plate.

"Yeah. They are real. And for whatever reason George can see them."

"What other animals can you turn into? Can you be a unicorn? An aardvark? A whale?"

"I'm just a dragon… a boring old dragon."

I respectfully disagreed on the boring part.

"And really, one animal inside of me is enough. That day when you called me, even over the phone, my beast recognized its mate."

I blinked up at him, words evading me.

"My dragon recognized you as mine."

And then I got distracted. Not by his dragon or all I'd just learned, but by the glorious naked form in front of me. My eyes kept wandering down to his member, which was thick and very, very hard.

"Maybe we should get you dressed before finishing this conversation, because right now I want to do many other things with my lips than talk." How did that make sense?

"Okay." He wrapped the towel back around his waist and took my hand. "Why don't we take a walk and I can explain everything?"

"I'd like that." I gave his hand a squeeze.

Nicholas ran inside to get a change of clothes, then we headed out for a walk. He told me how his dragon recognized me and that he had to get to me. He didn't fully understand it until he was in the hospital. His human side was focused on finding me because of my voice and the heartbreak and needing to let me know my brother wasn't coming. But his dragon was all about finding their mate.

And then it turned out we were the same.

"Go back to this mate thing. What does that mean?" He'd said it a few times, and I only knew it in terms of sex. There had to be more to it than that.

"Mates are like getting married, but way better. It's a bond for life, and it's a connection that fate gives us, and no one can take it away."

"So you're saying I have to be mated to you?" Which was not the same as me saying I didn't want to be, and I worried that he might take it that was.

"No, there's always a choice, but once the bond is complete, then there's no other for me." His voice lowered, and there was unspoken hurt in it.

"But you're saying there is for me?" I wasn't sure that was true, not based on my emotions, especially examining them through this new lens.

"There already is none for me. I should have said you're my one, but yeah, you're free to walk away. I'd understand if this dragon stuff is too much. I'd hate it, but I'd understand." He meant it too, the sincerity in his words loud and clear.

"And when you said the bond is formed, how does that happen? Isn't mating like sex?"

"It is, but also, not really. And we have half a bond now."

I stopped in my tracks.

"You remember yesterday when you felt the need to bite me and you broke my skin and then were all worried and embarrassed and I tried to kiss it out of you?" Kissing became so much more. He'd been successful.

"Yeah. You acted like it was the best thing that ever happened to you. Oh. Oh. Oh. Did I... was that mating?" Yikes. If I mated him without permission… consent mattered. "I'm sorry."

"Never ever be sorry. It meant the world to me—it showed me that you feel it too. And you didn't need permission. I wanted you to do it."

"You didn't bite me back."

"No, I didn't, because I needed you to know what was happening and for you to make the decision. Trust me, it was hard, probably the hardest thing I've ever done."

He said I didn't need permission, but he was making sure he got it. There was all kinds of sweetness in that.

"Pretty sure fate did a good job. I keep wanting to feel like something's wrong, like we shouldn't be doing this. Trying to see what I'm missing. And even when I try to logically think of reasons, like a trauma bond, it doesn't matter. Because the truth is I'm drawn to you in a way I've never been drawn to anyone. And it's not just about you being hot or sexy or you even being at the hospital that day."

I reached up with my free hand and cupped his cheek. "You make me feel safe. You make me feel like I'm home."

"That's because if you let me, I'll be your home. I'll be your everything. And George, I will treat him as the treasure that he is in whatever capacity you decide you want me to."

I threw my arms around him and held him tight, trying to process all the things that had just happened. But the only thing that made sense was that this was where I belonged.

And Nicholas was my home.