I looked over my shoulder to see Cyn standing there—stare wild, hands curled into claws, and teeth bared. Oh, and he was still naked. I'd never been so aroused and so afraid at the same time. “Fuck.” I pushed Kimu away and slammed the door. “Run, Kimu!”
I had just enough time to bar the door before Cyn got me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
By the time Kimu returned with food and coffee, the Midnight Clan had heard the news of our mating and was celebrating. A Raltven mating the Dragon King meant that my entire clan was now a type of extended family of royalty. They would work doubly hard for Cyn now.
I smiled as another cheer filtered through my apartment's thin walls. Cyn and I were taking a brief break from mating to eat the food Kimu had brought while it was still hot, though we ate it on the bed, so we didn't have to sit apart. Cyn was delighted with the coffee and declared that it appeased his dragon, and Kimu could live.
“They're really celebrating our mating?” Cyn cocked his head to listen to the Raltven get a little rowdy.
“My achievements are their achievements.” I shrugged.
“And I'm an achievement?”
“Fuck, yes,” I said and chuckled. “You're my greatest achievement. I've bagged a king.”
Cyn snorted, then his expression softened. “I knew it from the beginning.”
“Knew what?”
“That you were meant to be mine.” He reached over and took my hand. “My dragon rose in me the moment I first saw your face. I felt him in my chest, this primal awareness. He recognized you. The more I got to know you, the more certain I became that you were my mate. I'm not surprised it happened so quickly.”
“Quickly? I thought Dragons tend to mate during the first fucking?”
“Some do. Many take a few tries, and some can take months. It makes it difficult to know when to give up on a relationship. But now that I'm mated, I’ve learned we recognize our mates before we claim them. We're drawn to them more than to other lovers. So even if it had taken months with you, I wouldn't have given up. Both my dragon and I had to have you.”
I shook my head in amazement. “This is all so overwhelming.”
“Are you all right?”
“I'm better than I've ever been.” I leaned across our meal to kiss him, making it quick so I wouldn't wake the beast between his legs. “I'm ecstatic that I'm your mate. It's just going to take some time for it to sink in.”
“Oh, it's already sunk in, but I'll sink more essence into you soon.” The Dragon King smirked.
At first, I grinned, but it faded as my mind whirred. “What will this mean for me?”
“Well, you'll move in with me, for starters.” He snatched up my hand and kissed it. “And I'll have to present you to my dread.”
“You'll have to do what?” I went still.
“You didn't know?” Cyn asked in surprise. “The mates of Dragon Kings must be presented to the King's dread. If the dread doesn't accept the mate, the King must either step down or give up his mate.”
“What?!”
“Relax. It's just a tradition. A dread rarely rejects a mate.”
“Even a Raltven mate?”
“You are not the first Raltven to have mated a Dragon, or even a Dragon King.”
“I'm not?” I gaped at him.
“No, Ru.” He paused. “Actually, no, that's incorrect. It was DragonPrincewho mated a Raltven. So he didn't have to present his mate.”
“Great,” I muttered. “They're never going to accept me. I'm a fucking thief.”
“The King of Racul mated an assassin.” He shrugged. “The very man who had been hired to kill him. Oh, and he was a human.”
