“First, let me say one thing.”
“What?”
“I saw the slave quarters. You have enough room for fifty slaves, maybe more. And there's a pool in there. I mean, come on! What did you even do with all those men?”
“A lot.” He grinned. “And they weren't allowed to leave the quarters unless it was to be with me. So I had to make them as comfortable as possible.”
“Unbelievable,” I muttered.
Vaxarion's grin softened. “But I released them. The day you left, I gave them back to my court.”
I smirked again. “Yeah, I know that too. I told you I saw the quarters. Where do you think I got the collar and all that sex stuff?”
“Ah. Yes, of course.”
I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You don't have to thank me. I couldn't be with anyone else. Even having them in my apartments, knowing they were that close, upset me.”
I lifted a brow. “All right, you don't have to exaggerate. It's romantic enough that you sent them away and burned your flowers.”
“You don't understand. There's something I need to tell you. Something important. I know you think my behavior has been strange. You're attributing it to my love for you, and that is partially true. But there's more.” Vax took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “Zixin, you're my mate.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
Vaxarion scowled. “You're my mate. My only love for the rest of my life. The one person chosen for me by the Dragon God.”
“I thought mates were a Land Dragon thing, given to them by the Goddess?”
“They were. But then Karadas returned, and he found his mate. He wanted us to experience that joy as well. So, he blessed us with mating magic.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “But isn't there like a ceremony or something? Some kind of mating ritual?”
Vaxarion rolled his eyes. “Did you not find it odd that I couldn't stop coming? Or that I rubbed my ejaculate into your skin? Or that your skinabsorbedit?”
“I thought it was a Sea Dragon thing.”
“Zix, you're a beautiful moron,” he huffed.
“Yeah, all right. You don't have to be an ass about it.”
Vax snorted. “You're being an ass too. I just told you that we're bonded forever, that I will always be true to you, and I’ll love only you for the rest of my life. Your response was to question it. This feels like another rejection.”
“It's not! I . . . I just . . .” Suddenly, I grimaced and smacked him. “Why didn't you tell me?!”
“I did. Just now.”
“I mean sooner, you asshole! Why didn't you tell me when it happened?!” I lifted my hands and shook them at him in a what-the-fuck gesture. “Or maybe before I left you!”
“I tried to tell you before you left, but you kept interrupting me.”
“Oh,” I whispered, vaguely recalling him trying to say something to me while I just spoke over him. “I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance.”
“And I'm sorry I reacted so poorly. My dragon was already half-wild from hunting you after you left me in Gavemor. That's when I mated you, Zix. That first night we were together.”
“You could have told me then. Instead, you told me you couldn't be faithful to me.”
Vax grimaced. “I didn't mate you until after that. And then I thought we'd talk in the morning. I didn't think you'd sneak away while I was sleeping.”
