Page 51 of The Dragon King’s Claw (The Dragons of Serai #17)

By nightfall, the Dragon King found enough control to venture out of the carriage.

His knights still stood guard, and when we emerged, they bowed to us in unison.

Then they formed an honor guard—one that kept its distance—and cleared the way through the castle for us.

We made it up to the royal apartments without the King attacking anyone. But just barely.

As soon as we were alone, Tor'rien was inside of me again.

I knew what to expect with a Dragon mating, but knowing and experiencing were two different things. He was right about the Dragon immortality—it did help. Hours later, I was astride him in bed, riding him enthusiastically with no concern about when we'd stop.

Of course, it wasn't constant. There were breaks in between Tor'rien's wild hours of need.

The longer the mating went on, the shorter the time between those breaks became.

And the more I looked forward to them. The sex was incredible, but lying in his arms afterward while we spoke about the future was even better.

Because I could finally think about a future with him without worrying about anything. Not even living in the castle.

With his essence in me, my silly fears vanished.

He was a part of me now, and Dragons fear very little.

So, we spoke about me moving in—he considered that done already—and if I'd keep working as a claw—I considered that an obvious yes.

We also discussed what I might like to have in the castle to make me more comfortable.

Things like that. We didn't bring up the murders or what would happen to the criminals he had helped me apprehend.

Such topics didn't belong in our bed, much less while we were completing the mating bond.

No, this was a time and place for joy and love.

For relief and hope. It was time to look forward instead of digging up the past. Time for us.

Nuzzling into the Dragon King's embrace, I felt as if I had investigated my own life and caught the man who would make me happy. The only one. Tor'rien had been certain from the beginning, but I had to come to it in my own way. In my own time. And it was so much better because of that.

I had inspected all the positives and negatives.

Found every reason to not love him. And then I had to accept the truth—that love couldn't be reasoned away.

It couldn't be forced either. But Tor'rien had never forced me.

He had stayed firm in his belief and waited for me to get there. Because he was my perfect match.

From detached claw to the heart of the Dragon King, my transformation was complete. Case closed.