He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Did he think I was serious? Hell, was he serious? Had the word serial got cross wired and he thought I accused him of murdering oatmeal?
“All will be clear soon,” he said. “Are you afraid of water?”
“What sort of water?” I asked.
“Afraid of trick questions?” he arched a thick brow.
“Well, you gave me a severed hand and tail. I’m not sure what else is different here.”
“You’ll see,” Beal shrugged and picked me up again.
He raced with me over his shoulder through the lush vegetation, weaving between trees and jumping over rocks and fallen logs. Soon, over the heave of my own breath, the whisper crush of water falling reached my ears. Its grumbling gushesgrew louder until it came into view. A rushing thing of a river that led to the rock’s edge and plunged off.
“Don’t throw me in that!” I said and wrapped my arms around his middle.
Beal laughed. A hearty sound that shook me up inside. Maybe he was a serial killer after all. A second later, he dropped our shirts, stole my pants, and stripped out of his one-handed. Then the world morphed into a blur of rushing water and our bodies cutting through air. He righted me midair and with my head not pointed down my heart rate slowed. I was a dragon. If the calmer water below us failed to catch us my wings would do the job. We landed and sank. For a second, my heart raced, thrumming in my ears. The water was colder than I expected, and Beal had stolen what little protection my clothes would’ve offered. I came up, gasping and blinking to find that he’d already surfaced.
I wiped the water from my eyes and blinked until I could clearly see his smirk. Did he think it was entertaining? Was this normal for him? I breathed in, testing my lungs and preparing to tell him that this was to never happen again under any circumstances. Only I couldn’t. His scent filled my head and my lungs. My legs forgot to kick, and he grabbed me by the arms and pulled me close before I sank down again. My toes barely brushed the bottom and then only if I stretched them as far as I could.
“Alpha,”my dragon whispered into my thoughts over and over as if tasting the word as Beal’s scent filled every fiber of my being. Before, I knew he was my mate. I knew it because it was there so earnestly in his aura. I knew it because really who else would go through all that fuss over me? Only now it was different. Everything inside me wanted to bellow and spit fire and declare to the world that this was my guy. Mine and minealone. The water wasn’t so cold with the realization coursing through my body.
Beal wrapped one arm around my waist to keep me up and close to him and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Our lips crashed together, and his tongue wasted no time snaking between my lips, warm, moist, and delightful. I kissed him hard, trying to suck in all his scent and taste with every breath. My heart thrummed against my ribs as I leaned into his naked, muscular body. Warmth radiated from his skin and phantom fur brushed against me as if his cat reached out to say hello.
Then Beal broke my heart.
He stopped kissing me.
“Hey! I wasn’t finished with you,” I laughed and leaned in to kiss him again.
“Your third courting gift,” he said, his tone serious.
“This can be it,” I leaned in again, but he dodged.
“Courting gifts prove that your mate can keep you safe,” he said.
“I’m a dragon. I can sort of do that. So, two’s enough to prove it to me. Besides, don’t the omegas here fight too?”
“They do and they’re very demanding,” he nodded.
“Well, I’m demanding in other ways. You left a beaver butt on my pillow. The least you can do is kiss me.”
“The butt was not attached to the tail,” Beal said.
“I’m aware. Thankfully aware. No beaver butts on my pillows. No severed paws on my doorstep. No hyena hide cloaks. None of that. Kill whoever you want. Really. Do it. I’m sure you had a good reason but—”
“I didn’t kill them, mate,’ Beal shook his head. “They can live as I left them. They can live with the lesson for all their days.”
“Okay, maim all the assholes you want to. Just fucking kiss me!” My skin burnt hotter with each word I spoke. I was slick and hard, and his erection kept brushing against me, makingit hard to think. I would’ve thought the all-consuming reign of heat was upon my head only I’d experienced enough heat cycles to know that’s not what this was. Sure, I wanted to mate with him, but I wanted to crawl into his skin and his thoughts and to never come out and heat had never made me feel that way about anything or anyone.
“Your courting gift, mate. I want to do this right. I want to do right by you,” he whispered, running his finger over my chin.
“Please do not bring me any more body parts,” I sighed and leaned in for another kiss.
He let me have it that time but short and sweet and not nearly enough of his tongue twirling around my mouth.
“You carried me all this way. Maybe that can be my third gift?”
“I’d carry you to the ends of the universe and then create a whole new one just so you have a place to lounge in a sunbeam,” he said and I melted.
