Page 18 of Must Love Dragons (Sable Cove #4)

Zay glanced at his phone for the second time, wondering where Kinsley was. It was after six. Lyra had already come down into the kitchen with Nysa, made her dinner, and left for something she called a “cat play date.”

Drumming his fingers on the counter, he wondered if he should go find her.

And then his phone buzzed.

A simple text from Kinsley was on the screen.

Come outside.

His dragon hummed curiously. Zay tucked the phone into his pocket and grabbed his keys from the hook. He stepped out onto the front porch and looked around, not spying his mate.

He was about to call her name when he felt a pull to the back of the house and decided to follow his dragon’s instincts.

Walking to the side of the house, he followed it around to the back, and there in the center of the backyard, was Kinsley.

She stood in a dress and jacket in the chilly fall evening, just past the spill of light from the inside of the house.

As he approached, she moved her hand back and forth and the firepit that they used in the summer blazed to life, illuminating her more clearly.

“What are you doing back here?” he asked.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

Her voice was calm but there was a strange electricity in the air.

He drew close to her, picking up her sweet scent, his dragon growling in approval. She smelled so good, like sweet smoke and vanilla.

He stopped just short of reaching her, caught in the intensity of her gaze. The firelight flickered over her face, making her look ethereal and powerful.

She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out something metallic that glinted in the light. His dragon stirred, sensing something momentous was about to happen.

“I learned something interesting,” she said, her voice soft but sure. “Dragon females are the ones who initiate the mating bond, the ones who claim first.”

His heart pounded, and his dragon went completely, reverently still inside him.

“I didn’t know,” she continued, taking a step closer.

He swallowed hard as emotion rose up inside him. “Kinsley.”

She shook her head, and he closed his mouth.

“You’ve been waiting for me,” she said. “Even though it might not have occurred to you to tell me what you needed, this is something that I need to do too.”

She was right. He had been waiting—aching—for something he hadn’t put into words.

She reached for his wrist and his pulse thundered beneath her touch.

She brought the silver cuff to his wrist and said, “I claim you, Zayvien Vohn.” She slid the cuff onto his wrist and clicked it closed.

The metal warmed, heat spreading up his arm like an invisible flame, recognizing that she wore the other, matching bracelet.

He didn’t have to look at the bracelets to know they’d belonged to his grandparents.

His sister had given them to Kinsley so she could claim him in the way of their people. His dragon roared in triumph in his mind.

“You’re mine,” Kinsley said, her voice taking an ethereal tone, her eyes flickering with golden light. “And I’m yours.”

Something snapped inside him.

With a growl, he grabbed her by the waist and crushed his mouth to hers. Kinsley gasped against his lips before melting into him, her hands curling into his shirt as she kissed him back as fiercely as he kissed her.

The firepit next to them roared and crackled, the flames brightening as the fire grew with the hunger coiling inside them both.

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground to deepen the kiss.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself against him as he poured every ounce of devotion into the kiss.

She’d claimed him in the way of his people.

And he was going to claim her.

Right the hell now.

He gripped her close and strode into the darkness, away from the house and blazing firepit and toward the storage shed.

She bit his neck and sucked on him like he was her favorite piece of candy as he opened the door to the shed and pulled it closed behind him with a thundering crack.

He immediately turned and pushed her back against the wall, finding her lips as he reached up under her skirt to tear off her panties.

The thin silk tore quickly and she let out a soft gasp, tilting her pelvis and reaching between them to pull her dress up.

He undid his trousers and freed his cock, and in seconds he was buried inside her, fucking her hard and fast against the wall.

He cushioned her back with his arm so she didn’t get scraped by the rough wood. When she pulled from the kiss with a moan, he swiveled his hips as he rocked into her, waiting for just the right clutch of her body around his, just the right hitch in her breathing.

Almost.

Almost.

Fuck yes.

She gasped and jerked in his hold and he knew he’d hit the right spot.

Driving himself into her over and over, he ignored the tingle at the base of his spine until she came around him, plunging him head over tail into pleasure as she cried out his name and shuddered in his arms. His fangs elongated in his mouth and he struck, sinking them deep into her throat as she soared through bliss, their bodies wed tightly together.

She moaned softly, going limp in his arms as he extracted his fangs from her neck and tenderly licked the wounds.

They would scar permanently, a reminder that they truly did belong to each other.

She rested her head on his shoulder and shivered.

“Are you okay?” he whispered hoarsely. “I wasn’t too rough?”

“Are you kidding? I loved it.” She kissed his neck and hugged him tighter. “You can take me against a wall anytime.”

He chuckled. Kissing her jaw and then her cheek, he found her lips and kissed her again. It wasn’t the feverish, heated kiss of the claiming, but the sweetest kiss of completion and emotion, and the promise of other things to come.

“You’re the best thing in my life,” he said. “I’m so glad I crashed in the rescue’s backyard.”

“Me too, Zay. I’m so glad you’re mine.”

He was glad, too.

The beautiful witch had stolen his heart, but he would have gladly given it to her anyway. She was his, after all.

* * *

When they’d basked in the afterglow long enough for the chill in the air to settle on them, they fixed themselves up and left for dinner, but the whole night had taken on a different tone.

They were real, true mates now. Fully claimed by each other, the bracelets and the mark proof of their devotion to each other.

He drove them to the little diner by the park, and even though they were late for their reservation, Lyra had called and asked the café to hold the table for them. His sister was one sweet and kind female.

He pulled her chair out for her before taking his seat across from her.

The café was quiet, the soft hum of conversation and clinking of dishes blended with the occasional laugh from other tables.

They were seated in front of a huge picture window that overlooked the park, which was lit with old-fashioned streetlamps to showcase the curved sidewalks, immaculate gardens, and stone benches that centered around a fountain.

After perusing the menu, he ordered wine and a platter of mixed appetizers to share, along with lasagna for their main course.

When the server brought the wine, Zay reached for Kinsley’s hand and lifted his glass. “We should toast.”

She lifted her glass with a smile. “To the future.”

“To us.”

“To dragon-witch hybrid kids running amok.”

He laughed. “They’ll be a double threat with dragon fire and fire magic.”

Her eyes glittered with happiness as their glasses touched with a soft ringing, and then they took a drink.

The appetizer platter arrived shortly after, and while they picked between fried cheese, stuffed mushrooms, and fried chicken tenders, she said, “I guess we should talk about the future, huh?”

“Definitely.”

The conversation stopped, as if both of them were waiting for the other to kick things off. He already knew what he wanted, and he hoped it was what she wanted, too.

“I want to move to Sable Cove.”

Her brows rose. “What about the clan? The bookstore?”

He took a bite of stuffed mushroom and chewed thoughtfully.

“Your coven is in Sable Cove. The clan can be anywhere. I don’t know if they’ll come with me, but I think they will.

We could open a bookstore in Sable Cove, and hell, my dragon loves the mountains, but it’ll also be cool to fly over the ocean.

Plus,” he said, giving her the full weight of his words, “I’d be anywhere you wanted to be, and I know how important your coven is to you. ”

She squeezed his hand, her eyes simmering with emotion. “You’re important to me, Zay. I can be anywhere just so long as we’re together.”

Damn, he was falling so hard for her.

“Sable Cove?” he asked.

The words hung in the air between them for a long, quiet moment.

And then she smiled and nodded. “Sable Cove.”

When their food arrived, they talked about Sable Cove, the rescue and opening a bookstore, her house, and the others on either side.

There were plans to be made and more conversations to be had, not only with the clan but also with her friends.

By the time the plates cleared, a plan was taking shape and the future was slowly coming into view.

For the first time since he’d lost nearly everything in the warlock battle, he felt like his life was finally falling into place.

It had just taken a witch saving his life - twice - for him to figure out where his heart was.

Firmly with Kinsley in Sable Cove.