“Stuck the landing, Leopold. Impressive, right?” Evander takes the robe from Leo and puts it on.
I step out from behind Leo.
“Raine.” Evander’s face lights up. “You’ve never seen the portal fully in action. But if you had, you’d know that was a really good landing.” He pulls me against his warm, naked body—his robe’s hanging open.
“You’re hot,” I say, placing my cold hands on his hard chest.
“You’re hotter.” He peppers kisses on my cheek until he reaches my lips. His kiss is firm and demanding. It has me completely forgetting about how cold my hands are. He pulls back first. “Thank you, Leopold.”
“You’re welcome. I have food set up for you and Miss Fischer in the dining room.”
“Wonderful.” Evander interlocks our fingers and leads me to the dining room. A dining room that didn’t have any food in it a few minutes ago now has a stack of grilled cheeses, potato salad, potato rostini, and roasted potatoes.
“I guess he knew exactly when you were going to be here,” I say as Evander helps me into a seat. He pulls his chair close enough that our legs touch.
When he’s mounded his plate with food, he leans back in his chair and smiles at me. “It’s good to be home. Damn, in all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never once thought about this place as home.”
“Really?” I take half of a grilled cheese from the platter, but I’m no longer hungry. Being with Evander has filled that emptiness inside of me. And it hits me.
This feels like home to me too.
I nod, keeping my realization to myself. I should think this through for a while.
He puts his fork down and squeezes my hand. “You’ve done that for me. You’ve done that for all of us, actually.”
“I feel the same,” I blurt out. So much for thinking things through. “I do. I...”
“What?”
“What happens if I don’t have the lightning? If I never get the mark? We haven’t talked about it.”
“Right, I don’t think we need to, because I’m confident it will happen. But you’re right: you need to know how things work.” His thumb draws circles on the back of my hand.
I nod.
“We’re like Earth shifters. When we claim a mate, we bite. And when one in a thunder claims a mate, it claims the mate for the whole thunder. That doesn’t stop each male from claiming the female and having the female claim them. Legend has it that while it’s an honor to be the first mate to claim a female, each mating after is more erotic and pleasurable.”
I reach for my water because I’ve suddenly become exorbitantly thirsty.
“I’m willing to wait a long time. I have a great aunt who is known for being a bit headstrong. It took her over six months to have her lightning. Her mates knew she was theirs, or so the story goes.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Not that I think you’re headstrong.” He drops his hand to my thigh.
“I... I’ve been accused of it before.” I drop my napkin on the table. I didn’t realize it, but I’ve been twisting the ends. “Do you think I could be the reason why the lightning hasn’t happened?”
“No... no, Raine, that’s not what I meant. My great aunt was Rivulet and just wasn’t sure she could live on the prairie of Elderglen. It’s different.”
My focus flicks to his brown eyes. “Rivulet vs Elderglen, Crest Wing queen vs regular girl. It’s not that different.”
“True, but I’m sure about you. That’s one of the reasons why we have broken the rules. And why I’m willing to break more rules if we have to.”
They’re not supposed to be sharing me yet. I take another sip of water. “What other rules?”
Evander’s chest rises. “Right. If you don’t have the lightning, you can’t come to Crest Wing. But I’m willing to fight them on that. Dragons of the older generation can be a bit rigid. And by the older generation, I mean Kieren’s parents. They are firm in their ways.” He takes a bite of his sandwich. “And humans who aren’t lightning mates aren’t widely accepted.”
“Especially as a queen.”
