"I love him. It doesn't matter if my dragon is imagining the mating thing or not. He's my friend, and I will do everything I can to ensure Midir never gets anywhere near him," Yelena replied honestly.
Charlotte sighed. "With the way you two were arguing with each other, I never expected you to hook up with him."
"Oh, we are still going to argue. I don't doubt that," Yelena said with a bright smile. "We will just hook up as well."
"And he doesn't scare you? He did just try to cut out Afon's tongue."
Yelena shook her head. "He has never scared me. I appreciatethat he is protective of me, just as he is of his family. He might be scary to others, but his heart is good, as you well know."
"I do. I only wanted to make sure you know it too. More to the point, he has a soft heart under all that grumpy attitude. It was already broken once when he found out that you had lied to him about Caelan. As my friend, I would ask you not to do that again when he clearly loves you even more now," Charlotte said, and Yelena took note of the warning.
"I won't ever do anything to hurt him," Yelena assured her. "I'm surprised you think he was heartbroken over that. I thought he was just angry."
"No. He moped terribly, and his brothers had to have an intervention because he wasn't eating or sleeping. I have never seen him like that over anyone. I've never even seen him smile at his brothers the way he smiles at you. He adores you, so I will say again, please be careful with his heart. He is more fragile than anyone knows," Charlotte said and kissed Yelena's cheek. "I'm happy for both of you."
"Thank you. Please don't say anything about him being my mate. I haven't quite figured out how to tell him yet. I don't want to upset what we have by trying to move too quickly," Yelena replied. She wanted to tell him, especially after showing him her dragon form, but she wanted to protect what they were building too much to upset it.
"It will come out when it's meant to. Just don't wait years and years like Reeve did to me," Charlotte said, and they both laughed.
"I won't." She hugged Charlotte. "Thank you for always being my friend."
"You're welcome." Charlotte leaned in and whispered, "And if you ever want to find a way to hex that asshole Afon, I will help."
Yelena only hugged her tighter and knew this was what having an Ironwood as your sister felt like.
29
Valentine had never had a sleepover before and wasn't exactly sure what to take with him. He settled on some toiletries, and with Yelena's tendency to shred clothes, he packed an extra set of pants.
He cast a glamor and walked through the palace to Yelena's tower. There was a strange charge in the air, like the world was taking a breath before a storm. Valentine didn't know if that was his imagination or not, but there was a definite tension around the palace since the meeting with Midir.
Probably just the magic responding to Taranis's mood, he thought, and rubbed the uneasy itch at the back of his neck.
Valentine knocked on Yelena's door and was pulled inside by the front of his shirt.
"Hi," he said, grinning down at her. "You okay?"
"Would you have cut out Afon's tongue today if I wanted you to?" Yelena asked, a little breathless.
Valentine didn't have to think about it. "Yes. As it was, I only stopped because you asked. You shouldn't have to deal with thatfucking asshole talking to you like that. Why? You want me to go do it now? Because I have the time."
"Fuck, that's so sexy," Yelena said and pulled him down to kiss her. An electric shock of lust zipped down Valentine's spine. He dropped his bag and picked her up in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her lips nipping and sucking.
"Does that mean you want me to go and do it? Or no? Because I'm getting some mixed signals here, baby girl."
"Too busy to let you go," she said and wriggled. "Put me down."
Valentine released her, and instead of sliding to her feet, Yelena kept dropping until her knees hit the soft rug. The sight of her kneeling before him went straight to his dick. Without taking her eyes from him, she undid his belt.
"I've never had someone stand up for me like that, and I want to show you how much it means to me," Yelena said.
Valentine cupped her cheek. "I didn't do it to get a reward. I did it because you deserve to be treated with respect."
"I know, and that's why I really, really need to suck your dick right now," she replied, her eyes shimmering with silver power.
Fuck, like he could ever deny her when she looked at him like that. Yelena pulled his dick free.
"Don't be gentle. I don't want it gentle," she said, her fingers wrapping around his shaft. "You have the sexiest dick."
