“I know.” Brody sighed. “But at least I know what happened. And why.”
“Avery seems like a decent dude.”
“I’m glad to see he is.”
“His kid’s as cute as a bug’s ear.”
I sent Brody a glance, who sent me a wicked grin in return.
“Time to start making babies?” he asked, his tone sly.
Feigning outrage, I snapped, “Hardly. I’m sooo not in love with you.”
“But you’re getting close, yes?”
“Shut up.”
I refused to say anything more on the subject, despite Brody’s teasing me the rest of the way home. That he was absolutely correct didn’t help matters at all.I’m not ready for a romantic relationship. Am I?That I was indeed falling in love, very quickly in fact, with him had me wondering about this fated mate bullshit he kept on about.
Could there be something to what he believed? That outside of time and space, we are destined to find one another and be together, dragon mates, for all our lives? Raise dragon kids, teach them to fly and breathe fire? Could it be possible?
Brody sat heavily on my sofa. After carefully setting his foot on the pillow, he beckoned me. “C’mere.”
“Why?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I want you to.”
“We don’t always get what we want.”
He laughed. “Go figure.”
Deciding against teasing him any further, I sat beside him, letting him pull me against his chest. I ran my fingers over his hard, flat stomach, thinking again of flying rug rats. “Did your folks teach you about being a dragon?”
“Sure. I got mad once – I think I was maybe three – and set the living room carpet on fire. Shit, were theypissed. Anyway, I was forbidden to shift unless given permission, and a stern lecture on proper dragon behavior.”
“And controlling your temper?”
“Yep. And being respectful of property, and definitely how to prevent humans from knowing what I am. What we are. Flying and flaming under certain circumstances only, no sharing secrets with my school chums, that sort of thing.”
“Was it hard for you as a kid? Carrying all that secrecy around?”
“Not really.” Brody stroked my cheek. “Are you thinking of our kids?”
I lightly slapped his belly. “Not so fast, buster. I’m not sure about this fated mate shit. Or that I’ll want kids with you.”
“You’ll come to believe it, babe. That I promise.”
“Hmm. That’s a stretch in believing that events with Austin and Bethany are pushing us together.”
“Not a stretch at all,” he replied. “Funny how you just move in and Austin lands on us with both feet, then your ex sis-in-law finds you. Too much to be a mere coincidence.”
“I see your point,” I said slowly. “I wouldn’t fall for such a belief if I didn’t find out what I was.”
“And that I’m a dragon, too? Again, this is fate. Not a coincidence.”
***
“I want to fly again,” I commented as I drove Brody to a local dealership the following morning. “Tonight, maybe?”
