It was a soft, innocent kiss—despite my dragon raging below the surface, demanding I kiss him harder, claim him, finally make him mine.
We pulled apart, breathless. Muzo’s eyes gleamed with affection.
“You’re mine,” I said.
The words slipped out of me before I realized what was happening.
Muzo let out a dazed, airy laugh. “I am?”
My fingers dug into him. Not painful, but possessive.
“You’re my fated mate, Muzo,” I growled gently.
He stared at me. It didn’t look like he was even breathing. Was it this much of a shock to him?
“I felt your trials among the humans as a pain in my heart,” I went on. “It didn’t subside until I found you. Until I knew you were safe.”
Finally, Muzo blinked like he’d returned to his body. A slow grin curved his mouth. “Until you ripped the door off its hinges, you mean.”
I chuckled. “You could say that.”
Muzo’s cheeks flushed. He couldn’t contain the joy bubbling inside him. “Fated mate, huh? Maybe I’m denser than an aquarium rock, but I had no idea.”
Now that the truth was out in the open, I felt a cloud-soft lightness in my chest.
“The broken door on the first day didn’t clue you in?” I asked.
“I figured it was an accident...”
“The overly indulgent gift basket wasn’t a clue?”
“I just thought you were being nice!”
“And the sex we had that night?” I prompted.
Muzo shrugged. “Hey, stuff like that happens all the time on reality TV shows.”
I snorted in amusement, then brushed my nose against his forehead. “Now you have no excuse,” I said, holding him closer. “And nowhere to run.”
He grinned, a hint of his inner jackal flashing in his dark eyes. “Who’s running?”
A surge of feeling welled up in my ribs. Muzo was here. He was mine.
He was finally,finallymine.
Now I wanted to show him exactly how much he meant to me.
The half-lidded, sensual look on Muzo’s face told me he wanted that, too. Fire ignited below my belly. I didn’t care if the Games weren’t over yet. My fated mate was right in front of me, and I wasn’t going to waste a single moment with him.
Hungry with desire, I closed the space between our bodies—or at least, I tried to.
I’d forgotten Muzo was still holding the bucket.
“Oh,” I said, glancing down at the beautiful, slimy creature. I looked up at Muzo bashfully. “We should take care of this first. Let me put the snail into the tank before we have sex.”
Muzo cackled, nearly doubling over with laughter. He wiped a tear from his eye. “Okay, I take it back.Thatis now officially the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
Seventeen
