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Tired of waiting, Tiber strode outside to find Mia—with the intention of dragging her back inside and fucking her senseless.

He’d screwed up, he realized that now.

He was done pretending to be someone he wasn’t. He was a dragon and she was the greatest treasure of all. So he would do what dragons did best—hoard his treasure and keep her safe.

Even if it meant kidnapping her.

But the moment he stepped into the cool night air he tasted her fear on the wind.

Without conscious thought, his beast took over, magic and energy bursting in the air as he shifted to his dragon. His camouflage fell into place as he tracked the scent up the side of the mountain.

Mia’s sweet orange blossom scent mixed with something sinister—the vampire.

And the male was moving fast with her, his vampiric speed likely the same as Tiber’s. Some vampires could fly. Not in the same sense that dragons could, but some of the powerful ones could make short flights with magic. Even without it, they ran at such rapid speed they might as well be flying.

Rage burned through him, driving him onward as he flew up the side of the mountain higher and higher until he crested the peak.

As he reached it, dark magic blasted him back. His beast prepared to breathe fire, but he paused, realizing the magic wasn’t for him specifically.

There was a barrier of sorts in place, likely invisible to the naked eye, but in dragon form he could see a faint outline pulsing in the air, moving across the snow cap at vampiric speed.

He crested higher for a better view, trying to keep his head instead of releasing fire and blasting the entire top of the mountain.

To save Mia, he had to be the skilled warrior he was, not the wild animal that wanted to take over and simply destroy everything.

The only thing that gave him a kernel of hope was that the vampire had taken her alive. It wouldn’t be for anything good, but he still wanted her alive.

Now Tiber had to get to them before the male hurt her. The vampire was a dead male walking.

Only a fool with a death wish took a dragon’s mate in dragon territory.

Roughly a hundred miles later, the pulsing bubble of magic slowed, then stopped. He swooped lower, his night vision allowing him to see through the spell work.

Mia.

His sweet, wonderful Mia.

She was alive.

And he could once again draw in a full breath. The tension around his chest was impossibly tight, but his mate was alive.

As the vampire dumped Mia on the ground and stalked away into a cave, the magical bubble moved with him. And as it did, Tiber spotted the opening.

At his age and power level, he could simply rip through the spell with raw magic.

But it would take time and put Mia in danger.

So instead of being a battering ram, he forced his beast to shift back to human and barely slipped through one of the openings, careful not to touch the dark magic, as the bubble pulsed around the cave.

Still in camouflage, he crept on bare feet over the boulders along the top of the cave, crouching down as he peered over.

He wanted to call out to Mia, to let her know that he was there and she was safe, but he couldn’t give himself away.

That was when he realized that she wasn’t even bound. The fool hadn’t even tied her hands, which meant he didn’t view her as a threat.

The vampire really was all ego.

Tiber could hear movement inside the cave as he moved right to the edge of the drop-off. As soon as the vampire walked out, he was dead.

But as he moved, a couple smaller rocks skittered off the edge, scattering below. Fuck. He paused, and so did the sound inside.

Then to his surprise, Mia picked up a handful of pebbles and threw them at the cave opening.

“Come on, you coward! I’m not afraid of you! You’re nothing but a weak baby who doesn’t like being told no.”

What the hell was she doing? A red haze descended over his vision as the vampire flew out of the cave, aiming right at Mia.

Letting his rage snap free, Tiber dove off the top of the cave and tackled the vampire to the ground below with a crunch of bones. He didn’t even care what he’d broken, just that he’d caused the vampire pain.

It wouldn’t be enough—nothing would ever be enough for this monster. And though he wanted to toy with his prey, to disembowel him, then rip him apart limb from limb while the vamp was conscious, right now wasn’t about him.

He had to end this threat for Mia.

So instead of staking him to the ground and tearing off pieces of him inch by inch, he grabbed the male by the top of the head. As Charles screamed in agony, Tiber yanked back to hold him in place and punched through his back and ribs to rip out his heart.

The vampire burst into ash in a rush of wind, the fight over before it had even started. That had been no fight at all, the male not a worthy adversary. Just some pathetic entitled asshole who thought to take his Mia.

“Tiber!” Mia screamed. “Show yourself!”

He let his camouflage drop and raced at her, scooping her up as she threw herself into his arms. He hated that he was covered in blood and ash, but there was no way around it.

“Goddess, why were you antagonizing him?” he breathed out, actually trembling as he held her close. He’d come so close to losing her.

“I knew that was you on top of the cave—or I assumed it was. And I thought he might have heard you, so I started throwing rocks at him to distract him.”

“You have a lot of faith in me.”

“I knew you would come for me,” she whispered as he pulled back to look at her, to truly inspect her.

There were shallow slices around her neck, but he couldn’t see any bruises. “Did he… are you okay? Physically?”

“I’m okay-ish.” Her words came out raspy, but he heard the steel behind them. “He scared me more than anything. But other than grabbing me, he didn’t hurt me. He was going to though.” Her gaze strayed to where he used to be, now simply ash on the wind, and she shuddered. “What a fool.”

His thoughts exactly. “Let’s get you home. My home,” he added with a growl.

She nodded, still holding onto him tightly.

“Where you will sleep in my room or up in my bed. Always.”

Her eyes widened slightly, but she nodded again.

“You understand what I’m saying? You’re mine, Mia.

I’m obsessed and possessive and I don’t even like you sitting next to other males.

I’ll live with it, but I’ll never like it.

I want you with me always, even on missions.

I know it’s not realistic, but I’m trying to show you who I am.

I’m also fighting the urge to take you to the mountains to hide you away from everyone because you’re so fucking beautiful and so fucking mine, that I don’t want to share you with the world.

And I know that’s the mating instinct riding me hard, but I’m trying to be honest because I think it’s what you need.

And it’s what I need. I don’t want to start off our mating on a lie. I’m utterly obsessed with you.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and he couldn’t get a read on her scent or expression.

But when she gently cupped his cheek, he turned into her hold.

“No one is taking anyone to the mountains,” she said quietly.

“But I’m with you on the honesty. I thought I could live with just sex—” At his growl, she pressed a finger over his mouth and shushed him.

“But I can’t. I want everything from you, Tiber.

I never expected you and I’m not giving you up…

I think we need to wait on the official mating thing—”

“I might give you a week,” he growled. “But no more.”

She murmured something about his possessiveness before leaning up and brushing her lips over his.

Though he wanted to deepen it, to take her right then and there, he shoved back all the urges riding him. Before they did anything, he needed to get her away from her past and fly her back to her future.