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“Not if he knows what’s good for him,” I said in a low growl.

Suddenly, Harley was on top of me, her thighs astride my hips on the couch. I didn’t know where Dylan and Cassidy were, but I sure hoped they didn’t choose right now to come down the stairs. I ran my hands up Harley’s thighs, sliding them under her silky pajama shorts to squeeze the soft muscle of her thighs. “I love it when you get protective,” she said, her cheeks flushing a gorgeous shade of pink.

“Can’t help it,” I said. “It’s all for you.”

“What’s next?” she asked as she raked her fingers through my hair. The gentle pressure felt good, and my dragon nearly purred with pleasure.

“Now I need to provoke Sean,” I said. “Let him know he’s cornered. Push his dragon over the edge, so he challenges me.”

Worry turned the corners of her plush mouth down. “Provoke him? Haven’t you done that enough?”

“Not yet,” I said. “I need him to stop hiding. I need him to lay out the challenge himself.”

She pressed her forehead to mine, then kissed the crease between my eyebrows. “I know that won’t be easy for you.”

My grip on her thighs tightened a little. I felt like I was hanging on to her for dear life—like she was the only thing keeping me grounded. “It won’t.”

“It’s okay to grieve the brother you had once,” she said. “I know you still love him, even if you hate what he’s become.”

I let out a long, slow exhale. When she said it, it sounded so simple, but the emotions were at nonstop war inside me. The grief. The fury. The love. My need for a safe and stable future for my mate, and my clan, versus my dragon’s immature desire to return to an impossible halcyon past.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry you have to do this.”

“How do you do that?” I asked.

She tipped her head to the side. “Do what?”

“Read me so well. No one else can—no one else has ever been able to.”

She smiled, then leaned forward and kissed me gently. “Must be because I’m your mate.”

My dragon rumbled at the reminder, not that we could ever forget. We kissed for a long, sweet moment, then Harley pulled back a little. She set her teeth into her lower lip.

“What is it?” I asked at her nervous expression. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s a mate thing,” she said. “Something I’ve been thinking about.”

“You can talk to me about anything.” I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then trailed my fingertips down her neck.

Harley hummed and leaned into the touch. “I want you to claim me.”

My hand stilled. My dragon roared. I knew my eyes were burning gold—he was so, so close to the surface. Hearing those words fall from her lips was the most erotic thing I’d ever heard.

She wants us.My dragon snapped his jaws internally.Our mate. She wants to complete the bond.

I’d never wanted anything so badly. My fangs dropped at the mere thought of it.

But.

“Harley.” I leaned close and pressed my lips to her jaw. I exhaled, then slowly, luxuriously breathed in the warm, musky scent of her skin.

“You should do it tonight,” she whispered. “Take me upstairs.”

Fuck.

My grip tightened on her thighs, then I slid both hands to her waist. “Harley,” I whispered again. It took every ounce of my self-control to respond. “I can’t.”

She stilled. “What? Why?”