Slade shook his head, a gentle movement as if he’d unsettled a thought, and without a word opened his door and slid into the driver’s side. When I ducked in under the suicide door, I noticed that he barely fit his massive frame on his side.
All of their low-slung sports had obvious modifications to accommodate alphas, but it was clearly still a squeeze.
When the doors were closed, I breathed in the scent of leather and Slade. A heady combination that had me wanting to squirm on my chair. I didn’t though, remembering how much it annoyed Hunter.
Notantagonizingthe dragonwas the ticket to staying alive longer.
“We could have taken your bike, you know,” I said, my words drowned out by the throaty roar of the engine. As the vibrations rumbled beneath my ass, I almost had an orgasm then and there. The feeling of all that horsepower was incomparable.
Slade shook his head, making it clear he’d heard me perfectly well. “I prefer not to be touched unless in fight training. And only because it can’t be avoided.”
I filed this away with the very limitedinformation I knew about him. “I respect your boundaries,” I offered, hoping he understood that I’d do everything in my power to comply with his touch aversion. After all, I had plenty of my own boundaries.
Slade shot me a quick glance and offered the slightest incline of his head. I tried not to think about that tiny acknowledgement as he exited the garage, heading along the driveway down the side of the house.
I’d expected to be terrified in the presence of this dragon, and to some extent I was, but he was also… different… to what I expected. He was icy and contained, broken and terrifying, powerful and reluctant. A plethora of mysteries. And for a brief shining moment I wished to be the shifter who got to unravel them. Only I couldn’t ever get that deep with him.
Or any of the alphas.
The fact that Slade was already the most dominant and powerful shifter in the world should be comforting, but if I knew anything about power, it was that you never had enough.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Slade didn’t break the silence during the drive, but I wasn’t bothered by it.
Mostly I enjoyed my time in his powerful supercar.
Music played in the background, and it was heavily instrumental. I had no idea what genre it was, having only ever listened to pop, rock, and dance music at the clubs, but it was nice.Soothing. Between the speed, the thrum of the engine, and the instruments, I felt more relaxed than I’d expected around Slade.
If he wasn’t a nearly seven-foot-tall walking wall of muscle, with a face too beautiful to stare directly at, who could turn into a giant dragon, I’d have almost forgotten he was in the car with me.
Almost.
I hadn’t noticed how fast he was driving until we were out of the urban center, heading along a narrow back road. The location change didn’t worry me, though, after Hunter’s message about Slade needing to see his squad. As we raced along the road, I caught sight of a track with stadium seating in the distance. I wanted to ask if that was where the pack raced, but tall, silent, and deadly wasn’t exactly inviting conversation.
Pulling out my phone, I found that Kellan had messaged again.
Golden Boy: Emme, what’s happening? Is Slade behaving himself? Just don’t encroach on his personal space and you’ll be fine.
Daddy Alpha: Don’t touch him or anything that belongs to him.
I side-eyed the dragon.
Slade hadn’t shown any outward signs of being a threat, at least not right now, appearing content to silently drive like I wasn’t even here.
Pretty Girl: I’m currently sitting in his car. Does that count as touching his belongings?
There was a minute delay before Hunter’s reply came through.
Daddy Alpha: No, brat.
Well, he couldn’t blame me for clarifying.
Pretty Girl: Just quickly, is the racetrack you own on the way to where Slade’s squad trains?
They both answered at the same time.
