Page 32

My disappointment pierced straight through me. I had said that. Not in so many words, but dammit, I had.

Yet this man was everything I’d ever dreamed of having, and had long ago decided didn’t exist. Strong. Gentle. Intelligent. Compassionate.

He couldn’t be more perfect.

Except, of course, for the fact he wasn’t human.

My heart ached. It, and Fate, were telling me that I was being an idiot. And now that I accepted that the serum wasn’t the cause, I was more inclined to listen.

If I believed him, that is. But then my heart added the final characteristic. Xandros was honest .

He’d called me his true mate, and the word resonated through me. Him, and Zyair. From the first moment I’d laid eyes on them, something deep inside me had wanted them. It was a powerful thing. Was it really Fate? Or was it just lust?

There was no doubt they were sex with wings. But was that the only thing going on here? Because it felt?—

It felt cosmic .

Maybe I did need the hard slap up the back of the head to acknowledge the truth—that it wasn’t just my overzealous sex drive that was smitten by these Drakes.

Xandros swayed, putting out a hand to keep himself sitting upright, and my heart constricted.

He was hurt. I didn’t entirely buy his reassurances.

When he shivered, I moved closer to him, and dug around in the pack.

If I knew my friend as well as I thought I did—I pulled out a couple of ration bars.

Thank you, Yani. Peeling them both, I offered one to him.

“You eat them,” he said.

“Look, all that shifting and screaming had to use resources.”

“I did not scream,” he protested.

“Well, moaned then.”

“Correct my English. But I thought females moaned, males groaned.”

I regarded him in surprise. “Where did you hear that?”

“I read it. In one of Zyair’s books. ”

Just what kind of books did Zyair read? “You definitely groaned, then. Eat.”

I pushed the bar at him. His eyes gleamed at me, and instead of grabbing it with his hand, he lowered his head, and took a bite.

The warm brush of his lips against my fingertips sent a pulse of heat straight through me. He chewed, and then swallowed. My eyes traced the way his throat moved…

I’d never thought of swallowing as seductive. Maybe it was a Xandros thing.

I cleared my own throat. “Finish it.”

His gaze never left mine as he took another bite. It wasn’t a big bar, so two Drake-sized bites basically left only a tiny bit in my hand. I popped it in my mouth, and raised the second bar.

“You first,” he said in Primal.

“You need it more,” I protested.

“I am feeling much stronger already.” He wasn’t lying—he’d stopped shivering. “I think what I have read about true matebonds is factual.”

“And what have you read?” I took a small bite of the bar.

“That nothing heals you like being with your true mate.”

I choked on my mouthful, and barely managed to swallow. “But I’m just sitting here.”

His eyes had a feverish gleam. “The word ‘just’ should never be applied to you.”

I was having problems breathing, but the heat radiating from him belied his comments. He might not be shivering, but he was still burning up. My mind raced. “Is that the truth?” I offered him the bar.

“Is what the truth?” he asked, taking a bite. His teeth were very white and strong, the canines long and sharp and oddly, sexy as hell.

I took a deep breath. “That I can heal you?”

He took the time to chew, and swallow. “Well, you certainly wield a laser with authority.” Another tremor passed through him, and even sitting, he swayed .

I put a hand out to steady him, and then in somewhat of a panic, offered him the last bite of the bar. As he carefully took it from my fingers, I let them linger against his lips. “How are you feeling, really?”

His lips moved against them. “That depends.”

“On what?” I whispered.

“On whether you want to be my true mate,” he husked.

My heart jumped within me as I lifted my chin. “Do I have to give birth to dragons?”

His eyes ignited. “Maybe.”

I bit my lip. “That might be scary.”

He raised a hand, and ran trembling fingers along my jaw. “I would never let anything happen to you,” he rumbled softly.

It resonated right through me, touching places I hadn’t realized existed, filling my heart to overflowing.

He swayed again, and this time, I could barely stop him from falling right over on his side. “Xandros!”

“I will be fine,” he whispered. “I just need to sleep for a bit.”

Dammit. I wasn’t going to let that happen. “Yes!” I blurted out.

His brows lowered in confusion. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, Xandros. I will be your true mate.”

He closed his eyes. “You are just overreacting to me being tired,” he said.

“You told me ‘just’ never applied to me.”

His eyes opened a slit. “I did say that, did I not?” He shook his head. “Let us continue this discussion once I have had a nap.”

I was terrified that he’d lost too much blood, and had internal injuries that he wasn’t confessing to. Ribs, his ribs had been broken… had they punctured a lung? I laid my hand along his jaw. “Can I heal you?”

He turned his head into my hand, which brought his nose along the inside of my wrist. And then, he inhaled. “You cannot always believe what you read,” he whispered .

My heart was pounding. But seized by an impulse, I pulled his head down to me.

And I kissed him.

His lips moved beneath mine, before his hand slid up to cup my head, and his tongue tickled my own.

Unlike his brother, he knew how to kiss.

And then, he chuckled.

I pulled back to look at him. His eyes glimmered with mischief.

Mine narrowed. “You seem to be feeling fine now.”

“My mate just kissed me. I am feeling shaftzing fantastic.”

I slapped his chest, hard, and then shook my hand. Ouch. Bloody Drake was like rock. But I glared at him. “You scared me.”

“No. I am less than healthy at the moment, I was not lying. A nap could be nice. But I have had far worse than this over the years. And if my weakness forced you to examine your misbeliefs, then all the better.”

My emotions careened around and I struggled to sort them. His brother had meant to be honest with me, but I’d blamed him when he’d failed. Xandros, who I had labeled honest, had just played up his pain to deceive me. Yet my anger warred with relief, and relief won. “Are you really okay?”

“I am more than okay,” he rumbled, and then tilted his head. “Damned horny, if I were honest.”

“Honesty, at this point, would be appreciated,” I was going for annoyed, but the words came out rather breathless sounding.

I pushed away from him and rose.

His brows dropped. “Where are you going?”

“I was going to leave you to your nap.”

“Maybe I no longer wish to nap,” he growled. “I am feeling quite a bit better.”

Displaced by my movement, the cloak fell away, leaving his massive shoulders and wings bare. A gust of wind splattered us with random drops, and they steamed where they touched his skin.

As I stepped behind him, he tensed, turning his head. His tail twitched hard once, and then froze when my fingers traced along one wing.

“Well, you are probably far too unwell to do anything else.” Lowering my lips, I kissed the soft skin over the bone.

He gasped and shuddered. “Jaz?—”

His reaction ignited something deep within me. “If I’m your true mate, these wings belong to me.” I stroked them with my fingers, and then lowered my lips again, running my tongue along where the membrane attached to the bone.

He proved himself to be much stronger than he’d let on by shooting to his feet, the cloak floating to the ground as he spun to stand before me.

Seven feet of swaying, gorgeous, naked, glistening wet, and highly aroused dragon warrior.

His skin in the firelight was an artist’s portfolio of tattoos—most of them dragons, rendered spectacularly in vibrant color.

Magnificent. There was no other possible word.

Xandros’s tail thrashed, and his eyes gleamed sapphire as he reached to cup my jaw with one big hand. “Do not start this unless you mean it.” he whispered huskily. “Because once I start, I do not know if I can stop. You shaftzing smell better than chocolate.”

His voice was a rumble that I swear reverberated clear through to my soul. My knees buckled slightly as I reached up to trail fingers over his face—the brow, beneath the eye, the length of his nose, and finally, the curve of his lips.

“After that little trick, you don’t deserve me. But I mean it,” I promised.

“This is not about what I deserve,” he whispered. “It is about Fate.” He gently peeled Yani’s beanie off me, tossing it to the side, before he bent, and this time, he kissed me . So gently, as if I were made of glass, his tongue emerging to trace the seam of my lips.

A small moan left my lips, and I pulled back. “You know how to kiss.”

He smiled. “Drakes do not kiss. But then, I have never lain with a Drake. My generation has made do with other species for their entertainment.”

Wait a minute—I stiffened. “I am not entertainment!”

Any traces of humor vanished, and he ran big fingers along my jaw. “No. You are something much, much more. There will never be another.”

The honesty in the words, and in his expression—my heart flipped right over. He saw the assent in my eyes… but then he swayed, and took a stagger-step backward.

“Kneel,” I said, pulling him down with me. The speed with which he dropped to them showed that he wasn’t as healthy as he’d like me to believe—but the moment we were both down, he gently captured my head in his big hands. And began to prove that he was, indeed, an expert kisser.

Zyair had evoked memories of sweet tobacco and cool rain showers on a hot summer day. But Xandros smelled of the breeze that moves through pine forests, with a dash of cinnamon added. I inhaled, and my heart soared.

I leaned into the kiss, pushing his lips open with my tongue, and tangling it with his. He groaned, long and low. One hand slid beneath the hem of my tee shirt, to tickle along the small of my back. And then, it rose to my bra?—