I’m surprised Clay nor Marina hasn’t found them. Then again, what reason would they have for going through that old room?
It would be easy to go over there and find them, but then again, I do that, Carina would be pissed. Might even try to run again. The last thing I need right now is for her to leave. She’s not mentioned Shiverborn or anywhere else for her job since she started working on the piece she’s doing now.
I know at some point she’ll have to go to keep up with what she does, but that’s not right now. I’m notworrying about that until the time comes. Maybe by then I’ll be able to convince her to enjoy living around here instead of escaping the place she’s from to write about places for others to experience elsewhere.
I don’t want to be the asshole who keeps her from doing what she loves, but I’m also not going to lose her or let her go weeks and months at a time without her being with me. Shifter mates, no matter the species, can’t go long periods of time without seeing their other halves.
Watching her laughing and having fun does something to me, and all I can think about is having her beneath me. Now that she doesn’t have crutches and is able to bear weight on her leg, I couldn’t handle being able to touch her and not hurt her. She needed to get better, but now that she’s come this far, all bets are off the table. She’s mine, and I’m more than ready to have her beneath me. To complete what I started to save her.
If Carina were anyone else, I’d never have agreed in the first place. Hell, my dragon would have fought me. Not where she’s concerned, though. When it comes to Carina, I was the one who fought him, now, I don’t want to fight. I want to see this through. She’s my damn mate, and I intend to enjoy every bit of her I can.
One thing I need to get done before anything else happens is have her accept me as her mate. Without that, she’ll never fully be mine. It’s just the way it is with those who bear the dragon mark.
In the years past, over the millennium, the number of women born with the dragon mark has reduce significantly. Dragons fought over the women. It got to the point those who were born with the mark were killed on sight to keep peace among the species. Because of this, those who did have the mark ended up going into hiding. They’d shield those who were in the family that bore the mark.
There are still dragons out there that are obsessed with the dragon mark. Some very dangerous ones live in Shiverborn, a place I’m glad she never made it to. Just because the tattoo hides the mark, a dragon, especially older ones, can feel the presence of a female with a dragon mark.
Focused on Carina, I half-listen to Fire and Inferno talking about orders we’ve got coming in from the other charters and getting them filled.
When Heat and Brimstone join us along with Flame and Trigger, I nod. “What’s going on?” I ask, getting a look at all of their faces.
“Kinley called,” Heat announces.
“She did?” Fire asks, sitting forward, bracing his elbows on the table. “What did she say?”
“To stop looking for her. That they weren’t going to let us find her.”
“Fuck.” I shake my head, grimacing. “How does she sound?”
“Scared,” Heat answers with a shrug. “Fuckin’ didn’t know what to say to her. She was adamant that we drop the search for her.”
“Are we?” Inferno asks, brows furrowed.
“Fuck no, we’re not gonna stop. We’ll bring her home if it’s the last thing we do,” Brimstone snarls. She’s not his woman, but I know my VP has a soft spot for Kinley. Hell, we all do.
“We’ll find her, and when we do, we’ll make those bastards pay. They’re not going to get away with it.” Fire sneers, slamming his fist down. “They tormented Evelin and took Kinley. The fact that they haven’t shown up again in the past months doesn’t sit well with me. There’s something happening. What that is, I don’t know, and sure as fuck don’t like the idea of not knowing.”
“Agreed,” I mutter. I feel arms wrap around me that don’t belong to my mate that causes my entire body to stiffen.
“Hey, baby, I’ve missed you around here,” Britnay, a regular here at the bar, says.
I grip her wrists and remove her from me. “You know better than to come near any of us uninvited,” Itell her, my dragon far too close to the surface. He doesn’t like the idea of another woman touching us.
“You’ve never complained before.” She pouts.
“He didn’t have a girlfriend in his life then either,” my woman announces, voice far too calm.
“Oh shit,” Inferno mutters quietly. “Not good.”
“Sweets,” I call my woman, my lip twitching as I twist for her to come to me.
“Who are you?” Britnay demands, hands going to her hips.
Carina shifts to me, not taking her calm expression from Britnay. “I’m his and considering I’m not one for sharing, he’s also mine, so you can walk scurry on away,” she says, waving a hand in a shooing motion. “You’re not needed here.”
Britnay opens her mouth to say something, but my mate turns away from her and plants herself in my lap.
“Evelin and Francie had to handle some work, so I decided to join you. I hope that’s okay.”
