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But the Curse, followed by centuries of war, had left dragons toying with extinction. And now maybe I’d pushed us a step closer by screwing up with Chloe. Lachlan hadn’t helped by putting doubts in her head about fate giving us a human mate. Six meals had passed since her last note, and my hopes of receiving another were fading fast.

I set my empty whisky glass on the end table with a decisive thunk. “We have to persuade her to accept our claim.”

Lachlan folded his arms, making his T-shirt pull taut across his shoulders. He also wore MacKay tartan pajama bottoms, which I’d gotten him as a joke. The uncharacteristically casual clothes made him even sexier for some reason. Which, considering he’d been holding out on me since Chloe fled the tower, was irritating as hell. “How do you propose to do that?” he demanded.

“I’ll charm her.” I waved a hand when his eyes darkened. “Not charm her charm her. I mean use my considerable powers of seduction to soften her up.”

He snorted. “Someone’s awfully confident.”

“You doubt my abilities?”

“You’ve tried all your bedroom tricks.”

I stood and walked toward him, untying the drawstring on my sweats as I went. I let my voice dip into a lower register. “Not all of them.”

He rolled his eyes, but his breath hitched when I dropped the sweats and my erection sprang free—and he didn’t protest when I climbed into his lap and straddled his thighs. He eased back slowly, unfolding his arms and resting his head on the back of the chair.

Unlike him, I didn’t go slow. After five days of reluctant celibacy, I was ready to burst as I slid my hands into his hair and mashed my mouth to his, my hips rolling so the tip of my cock prodded his abs.

His lips curved against mine. “What bedroom trick is that?”

My answer came in heavy rasps as I stroked my tongue back and forth across his, reveling in his taste and the feel of his hard body under mine. “When I think…of a name…I’ll tell you.”

We made out for several long moments, our moans filling the room along with the crackling fire. He skimmed his hands up my back and over my shoulders, raising goosebumps in his wake. Pulling me closer so our chests touched and my aching shaft leaked onto his shirt. Judging from the damp bulge nudging my ass, he was having the same problem.

Still kissing him, I tugged at his shirt. “Take this off. Want tae feel you.”

He tried turning his head.

I growled and brought him right back with a hand on his jaw.

His laugh rumbled my mouth, and he jerked his head more forcefully, breaking off the kiss. “It’s hard to undress when you’re sucking my face off, Murray.”

I leaned back so he had room to maneuver. As I watched him pull his shirt over his head, I frowned. “What’s with the distance this week, anyway?” It wasn’t like him to turn down sex. But he had—repeatedly—and my balls were in serious danger of staying blue forever.

He lifted his ass enough to push his pajama pants down his hips. When his shaft sprang thick and ready between us, he gave it a pointed look. “You really want to talk about this now?”

No. But it seemed important. If there was tension between the two of us, how could we hope to woo Chloe? We needed to present a united front.

He sighed. “I’ve just been working through some things in my mind. I guess you could say coming to terms with Chloe being ours.”

“So you accept it?” I tried to keep the eagerness from my voice, but I was probably unsuccessful. He knew me too well.

“Aye,” he said softly. “It’s hard to deny the mental connection.” A distant look entered his eyes, as if he saw things I couldn’t. “I’ve lived so long, I thought I’d seen everything. Never could I have anticipated gaining a new gift, and one no werewolf halfling is supposed to possess. And I certainly can’t deny wanting Chloe’s body.” His throat worked as he swallowed. “I don’t think I’ve ever craved a woman so badly. I wanted to see if going without her made me feel different. If the need would fade.” He flashed a rueful smile. “It hasn’t.”

Joy burst like a firework inside me. I never doubted he’d accept her eventually, but hearing him say it meant everything, especially in light of her recent questions about dragons mating with humans. She might dispute the power of fate, but I didn’t.

And now I knew Lachlan didn’t either.

I wrapped a hand around his cock and gave him a few slow, thorough pumps. “Well, until we bring Chloe around, I guess you’ll have to make do with me.”

His golden eyes glittered with unconcealed lust. “That’s hardly a sacrifice.”

I bent and kissed him again, and it was like he released some kind of barrier he’d imposed on himself. The dominant, insatiable Lachlan came roaring back, his tongue shoving at mine and his hands roving my body like he couldn’t get enough. His biceps flexed as he explored, his questing hands stroking my shaft and cupping my balls. He ran a hot palm over my abs. Another across my chest, teasing my nipples as he went. When I was flushed and trembling, he slipped a hand under my ass and found my crease.

“Don’t need prep,” I rasped, bearing down on his fingers teasing at my entrance. “Just give me your cock.”

With record speed, he stretched an arm to the end table, dug in the drawer, and produced a bottle of lube.