“It deserves to be out of storage. I’m sure demons don’t give a fuck about human ethics.”
“Not a single bit,” Montrose says, his voice strangely soft. He touches a red beaded gown. “Oh Hades, is this vintage Valentino?”
I nod, still stunned as he holds the gown up to him and swings it around. Shuffling back, I plop into a chair, watching the scene play out like I’m having an out of body experience. My dragon is acting so odd—not at all how he should in this setting. The fact that I’m comfortable having Montrose in my hoard room is weird enough, but my dragon isn’t preening or being territorial. He’s acting as if helikeshow the demon is touching everything. But there’s something missing, like my dragon is holding something back that I can’t quite put my finger on.
“How often do you come in here?”
“Often.” My glance turns to the chaise where I spent weeks licking my wounds from said demon. Fortunately, there’s no lingering evidence of my misery in here. “For a dragon, it’s the equivalent of home. Living among humans, it’s the safest space for us. We can shift and be our true selves.” I smile. “And of course, being surrounded by our treasures is soothing.”
“You don’t bring anyone in here often?”
“Never,” I grumble, followed by a puff of smoke.
Montrose turns and faces me, his eyebrow raised. “Never?”
“No, but you were sad, and I didn’t like it,” I admit, furrowing my brow. “Anyway, you’re not a human. I wouldn’t bring a mortal into this place. They wouldn’t understand.”
“Yet two of your brothers have human mates, no?”
“That’s different. They’re mates. That’s what our hoards are for, to impress our mates.” I clear my throat, trying to dislodgethe thick lump that’s forming. My pulse skyrockets, and for some reason I half expect the demon to latch onto that last sentence and, I don’t know, tease me? Press for more information? But he doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t even act like he heard me. An odd sense of disappointment ripples under my surface.
Montrose sprawls out on my chaise longue, covered in my jewels and the fur coat, and my dragon fuckingpurrs, pressing against me to get a closer look at the beautiful demon. Still, there’s no preening, and no discomfort or desire for him to take off my things. Instead, I’m pretty sure Montrose could walk right out of here with them and I’d let him.
Fucking weird.
MONTROSE
I feel strange.
Tino’s dragon hasn’t taken his eyes off me since we came into this room, and for some reason, I really like the attention. I mean‘ready to pose like I’m in a fashion show’ like it. My dick is pretty damn into it too, in spite of the horrific trauma I’ve suffered this afternoon.
Laying on this velvet chaise surrounded by a thousand-year hoard makes me feel like I’ve climbed the highest ranks of demon nobility, only better, because instead of being in the dark demon realm, I’m here with a pretty dragon.
“Thank you,” I croon. “You too, dragon. You definitely succeeded in lifting my spirits.”
Tino nods, but a puff of smoke rises from his nostrils.
“Is your dragon uneasy with me being here?”
“No.”
“Good. Maybe someday you can let me see him. All the way, you know. Do you have rules about that?”
“Rules?”
“Yeah, like, I don’t show my true self unless I want to terrify someone. It’s sort of a rule we uphold to maintain our mystery and power. We keep it for the shadows and for nightmares. My true form is comfortable to me, of course, but humans find it grotesque.”
“You’re not grotesque,” Tino blurts before clearing his throat. “I’ve only seen it briefly, but it’s not ugly.”
My chest flutters with some unknown emotion that’s kind of pleasant even if it’s uncomfortable. “You’re not human.”
“No, I’m not,” he agrees.
“It frightened your brother.”
Valentino chuckles.
“The circumstances frightened him, and he’s practically a whelp still. Nothing scares a mature dragon,” he blusters, and I laugh before a more sobering thought hits me.
