Page 15 of Dream Lost (The Fae Universe #12)

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B as set the lasagna dish down before he dropped it or hurled it at his brother’s head. Val, shut the fuck up.

No. She needs to know Bas. She’s not going to be scared off. If she’s your mate...

Bas immediately cut the connection off between them. He couldn’t hunt monsters and think about the fact Bridget could be his mate.

While it would explain his dragon’s irrational reaction to protect her, he couldn’t consider it just yet. And he sure as hell didn’t need his family telling her about their mating for life habits.

Dark fucking gods, he hadn’t even kissed her yet. Something he really needed to rectify because watching her talk to his father about Ficino had done weird things to his insides. She fit with them, and that would make it harder to let her go when the time came.

“What do you mean, you are dragons?” Bridget asked, looking at Bas.

He quickly got busy cutting the lasagna.

“We have a dragon in the bloodline, and with the return of magic in the last year, we might even be able to shift,” Cosimo explained. He told Bridget a condensed family history while Bas plated food and tried not to have a panic attack. He couldn’t lose Bridget when he had only just found her.

“That explains why you turn into a dragon in the astral plane!” she said, sending a smile at him that was so beautiful and triumphant his toes curled in his boots. He was definitely overdue to kiss her. “I thought you were just turning into a dragon to show off.”

“Oh, he definitely would have been showing off,” Apollo said.

Bas’s cheeks heated. “I like flying.”

“Me too. That’s why...hawks,” Bridget said, taking the sting out of his brother’s teasing.

“Aren’t you two sweet,” Apollo said, fluttering his lashes.

“Have any of you shifted in real life yet? Is that a thing? How do you know where all that dragon goes when you shift back?” Bridget asked.

Cosimo chuckled. “All questions for Taranis, I think. He’s the one who seems to think we will have the ability now.”

“Woah, as in King Taranis?” Bridget said, eyes bugging out.

“You know of him?”

“Not so much him, but I love his wife’s web serials.”

Apollo cracked up laughing. “Auntie Quinn is going to love you too. I don’t suppose you remember her writing any with Mpreg by any chance.”

“Come now, not at the dinner table,” Cosimo groaned. He got up to help Bas with the plates.

He touched Bas’s mind, She’s gorgeous, Bas. Quick mind. Lots of magic. Can you imagine her with some training and a loving family to give her some confidence?

She’s not a stray cat, Dad. We can’t just keep her.

Can too...if you get your act together.

Oh my god, can you not? We need to find and kill this dream monster.

Cosimo gave him a pointed look. You are a brilliant and talented magician, son. Use some of those skills I taught you and multi-task. Either you seal the deal, or I will in a different way. I could use an assistant to help me with my work. Especially one who is so pretty. I’ll be fighting the Italian magicians off her every time we go there.

Bas narrowed his eyes at his father. Try it, and I’ll set you up a profile on every dating app I can find, including Grindr. Besides, Marge would never let her go.

Cosimo only smiled at the challenge. You don’t think I’d be able to handle Marge Whitmore?

Bas growled, low, deep, and possessive. Cosimo laughed in delight and started putting plates of lasagna down on the table, serving Bridget first. Bas served his brothers before taking a seat beside Bridget.

“What was that all about?” she whispered.

“Dad’s being a dick.”

“I am not. Now, Bridget, tell us all about this dream monster that you two are meant to be chasing,” Cosimo said.

Through bites of lasagna, Bridget and Bas updated everyone on what they had learned that day from Kenna and Bridget’s experience with the creature’s hooks in her.

“It doesn’t sound like any creature I know,” Valentine said with a thoughtful expression. “If it is something that has only just awoken, I would head to the old myth section of the library. It’s got to be something obscure because it hasn’t been hunting for centuries.”

“Kenna couldn’t find anything in the Ironwood library, so it must be obscure. There isn’t much that the Ironwoods haven’t hunted,” Cosimo added. “I suppose the biggest question, after what it is, is how to kill something that lives in dreams?”

Bas had thought a lot about that too, but it was Bridget who jumped in to answer.

“If it has been sleeping or dormant for centuries, it must have some sort of physical manifestation, or it wouldn’t have needed to. It would have just kept feeding off people. If that’s the case, then it would need to have somewhere to hide in Dublin if it’s hunting here,” she said and ate another forkful of lasagna. “Maybe we need like a big map of the city so we can plot out where all the victims live, and we can find a common area where it might be hiding.”

“Good idea. I can make sure you have something to work with tomorrow,” Cosimo said, lifting his wine to his lips. Brilliant and beautiful, Basset. A rare woman.

Mine, Bas’s dragon, growled back. Cosimo’s eyes shone animal bright at the challenge.

Bridget looked between them, a frown on her face. “Are you two okay?”

“Of course,” Bas said with a wide smile as he kicked Cosimo under the table. “I hope you all saved room for gelato.”

After dessert, Bas escorted Bridget back upstairs. He had watched her win over every member of his family without even trying. They were dragons and magicians—both knew treasure when they saw it. Bas’s hands clenched into fists. He had found her first. She was his, and he wouldn’t let any of them take her.

“You okay? You look like you were going to murder all your brothers and father at least once during that meal,” she said, a teasing smile playing on the corner of her lips. “And now, for that matter.”

“That’s because I did want to murder them. They love to tease, and I don’t want them to scare you away because they don’t know when to keep their mouths shut,” Bas replied honestly.

His dragon’s tail had been flicking like an angry cat since his father had said he was going to offer her a job as an assistant. The rational part of his mind knew his father was just playing with him, but his rational side wasn’t even remotely in control when he was around her. It was getting worse.

Bridget tucked her hair behind an ear. “You know, I’ve never had a family dinner like that before. They didn’t do anything to upset me. It was kind of a relief to not have to censor myself as much as I normally do.”

“So they didn’t scare you away? Not even about the dragon thing?” Bas asked.

Bridget’s expression turned incredulous. “Why would that scare me? It’s the coolest fucking thing ever. You could turn into an actual dragon, Bas! Fly, for real, not only in the astral plane. I’m jealous as fuck, not scared.”

Bas hadn’t considered that. “Oh. That’s good. I don’t want you to be scared of us. Or me. Mostly me.”

“I think you’re the only man I haven’t been scared of in my entire life.”

Bas stopped on the stairs, his vision going red. “Why? Who hurt you? If you give me their names…”

Bridget turned and put a hand on his mouth. “Hush. I’m okay. The people who hurt me are long dead. Men make me nervous when I first meet them, that’s all. You don’t, so take a breath.”

Bas was frozen, her fingers still lightly resting on his mouth. She seemed to notice it at the same time and went to pull away. Bas caught her gently by the wrist and kissed her open palm.

“I’m glad I don’t make you nervous,” he said and let her hand go.

A red streak creeped up her neck. “I’ve changed my mind. Now I’m definitely nervous.”

Bas smirked. “I’m sure you’ll recover.”

Bridget turned and hurried up onto the landing where her rooms were. “So…where are your rooms?”

Bas pointed at the stairs that kept going up. “The door to my rooms is on the next level in case you need me at all.”

“And you are sure the dream creature can’t get me? I haven’t drawn any sigils or anything,” Bridget said.

“Nothing can get through the Greatdrakes wards, I promise you. If you get scared, you can always come and find me.”

Bridget chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m in your tower now, aren’t I?”

“You are. I thought you would feel the most comfortable here. Also, dragons are…possessive. Mine wants to protect you. Having you close keeps it calm.”

“Your dragon wants to protect me?” Bridget said slowly despite bouncing nervously on her toes. “That’s kind of nice. No one has ever wanted to protect me before.”

“Protecting you is one of the many things I want to do to you,” Bas replied, his voice holding more dragon than before. It could smell her scent and wanted to sink its fangs into her hard enough to pin her.

Kiss me , her mind shouted at him, and his dragon echoed the sentiment.

Bas stroked his thumb over her warm cheek. “I would like to kiss you right now. If that is okay?”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Only one way to find out.”

Bas leaned down until his lips were almost brushing hers. “I wanted to be sure because I’m still scared of you threatening to kick me in the balls.”

Bridget tugged on the bottom of his waistcoat. “Be brave, Greatdrakes.”

Bas pressed his mouth to hers and knew from the first taste of her that it was going to be worth the possible kick. She tasted of chocolate gelato and something that made his dragon growl in happiness. He took a deep inhale of her scent of cinnamon and rain and the rose soap she had used that day. The softness of her lips, the heat rising from her body—he let the feel of her overwhelm all his senses.

Bridget slid her hands over his chest and up to thread through his hair, making his whole body hum. Bas softly brushed his tongue against hers, and Bridget groaned, opening her mouth for him.

Fuck yes. Bas hooked an arm around her lower back and pulled her up against him. She was so much shorter compared to him, but she was the perfect fit against him. There was no way to hide how hard he was, and she made a soft, helpless sound as she ground up against his dick. Stars flicked behind his eyes, and his grip on her tightened.

After a few agonizing seconds, Bridget broke off the kiss, the vulnerability back in her eyes. Bas loosened his hold on her, worried he had gone too far.

“You should know that I don’t get physical often because I find it really overwhelming,” Bridget said, swallowing hard.

“I’m not going to pressure you into anything you aren’t comfortable giving,” Bas replied. He willed his dick to behave itself, but it was ignoring him as usual.

“I know you wouldn’t. I just felt like I needed to warn you so you manage your expectations. I’m bad at physical stuff because I can’t get out of my head for long enough to enjoy it,” she babbled nervously.

“That’s okay. Ninety percent of sex happens in the mind anyway,” Bas said and lifted her chin gently so he could gaze into her amazing eyes. “And I’m very, very good with my mind, Bridget.”

Bridget inhaled in surprise. “Basset Greatdrakes, are you a secret freak?”

“Ain’t no secret about it, sweetheart,” he said, grinning. He bent down until his mouth was just brushing her ear. “I could make you come harder than you’ve ever done in your life without laying a single finger on you.”

Bridget made the sweetest little moan he had ever heard, but he knew tonight was not the night to push her. He let his hand drop from her face and moved back towards the stairs.

“Yeah, I’m totally not going to be thinking about that all night,” Bridget said sarcastically with a loud exhale. “Not at all.”

Bas laughed. “Oh, I definitely want you to think about it. Ninety percent, remember? Good night, Bridget.”

“Night,” she said, a dazed expression on her face.

Bas’s dragon preened inside of him. He could still taste her on his lips, and the hunt to make her his had finally begun.