“We hire men to watch over her. Men who will be loyal to us, to her. We must face our parents soon before the plans go too far.”
“True. My friends might offer help, one of the tutors at the battlegrounds. I need to contact them to ask about the magic failure anyway. My gut is uneasy with this discovery. You know what happened the last time we had open borders. The humans on the mainland tricked us, used us, killed us whenever they found us in our dragon forms. I doubt much has changed during the intervening years.”
“Some humans accept us.”
“We can’t risk a repeat of the massacres. Our population is only now recovering and flourishing.”
“Leo?”
Leo hustled into the bedroom at Gwenyth’s call.
“Who are you talking to?”
“My dragon.”
“He talks?”
“I bite sassy human females,”his dragon muttered.
“We mindspeak—our common language. Sometimes, I speak aloud because it helps me mull over weighty problems.” Leo felt his dragon stir and saw Gwenyth’s eyes widen.
“He appears grumpy.”
“You insulted him,” Leo said.
“I’m sorry.” She wrinkled her nose. “My lack of memory is at fault. It’s most disconcerting having a black hole inside my recollections.”
“Awww,” his dragon sighed. “She’s adorable.”
“Once you’re feeling better, we’ll visit my parents,” Leo said, his lips twitching because he’d never, ever heard his dragon utter the wordadorable. The thought of the battle he must fight with his parents dampened his burst of humor.
Gwenyth’s brows rose, and Leo sought an explanation that would answer her questions yet reveal little.
“We’ll tell them of our marriage once we reach the castle.” Leo concealed his grimace.
“She must hold our scent first.”His dragon’s words held relish and apparent anticipation.
Leo’s body tightened, his mind traveling the same route as his dragon’s—touching and kissing and rutting to combine their signature scents. His fresh with her herby floral. He shook his head hard to divert his brain. He was turning as foolish as his dragon.
“Your parents live in a castle?” she asked after a brief hesitation, a widening of her brown eyes.
“Don’t worry. My mother and father will like you. So will my older brothers.”
His dragon snorted so hard a puff of smoke exited Leo’s nostrils.“Keep on saying that and we might both believe it.”
“Will your parents approve of me?” she persisted.
“No,” Leo admitted. “But you shouldn’t worry. We’ll have little to do with them. I spend most of my time here or with friends on the neighboring isles.”
“Oh, joy,” she murmured, her wry tone making Leo laugh. “I’ll have a fire-breathing mother-in-law.”
“Honestly,” he said, his lips twitching yet again, “it will be fine. I will protect you.”
“Protect me?”
“You are our mate, and we guard what is ours.” Leo made the promise, intending to stand by his words.
She fascinated him, and he wanted her as much as his dragon. Lust. He experienced a jolt each time he took in her slender body, her brown eyes, and her shiny brown hair. Surely, an excellent start in a relationship when he and his dragon craved her so strongly. It was the stuff of the old legends his nursemaid used to tell him of drakes who discovered their true mates. He’d thought the tales just that—stories spun to fascinate young dragons and to lull their active minds to sleep.
