“She can stay at the castle.”
“Ah, are you sure? Evander and Kieren were pretty specific with the NDA.”
“Yes, I’m sure. There are lots of empty rooms.”
“Oh, I’d like it if she stayed with me. It’s her birthday.”
“Her birthday, yes. That’s a human custom.”
“You don’t celebrate your birthday?” This lighthearted conversation I started to make me forget about crawling-being-pulled into his lap is taking a rather serious turn.
“No, we celebrate the day our thunder is complete.”
“And what day is that?” I can’t help myself.
He glances down at the footwell and up at me. “I don’t know. It hasn’t happened yet.”
“Oh, a thunder isn’t a business or a brotherhood but a?—”
“A fated mate group.”
That feels very much like a real answer, and my heart squeezes. “Oh, so you’re going to?—”
“We will share one female, yes.” A puff of smoke rises from his nose.
My throat closes, and it’s not from the steam coming from him. It doesn’t smell like tobacco or sulfur. I don’t know why I always thought dragon’s smoke would smell like sulfur. It’s lightly sweet-smelling, but not overly so. Warm apples? I can’t quite pin it down.
I’m having a definite reaction, thinking about the woman who’s going to end up with the three of them. If I’d been asked if I wanted to date three guys a month ago, I would have laughed myself out of my seat. But now? The three of them? Maybe. I still don’t trust Kieren. His dragon tried to carry me away for a little snack. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like to me. But Evander is charming, and Roark’s protectiveness hits me in the right way.
He wasn’t asking me to be his... anything. Anyway,ShifterTodaysaid... “Won’t you know your fated—thunder—mate right away?”
There’s another puff of smoke. His forehead wrinkles. “It doesn’t always work with our type of dragons like that. It can take time. Or it can hit immediately. It varies from thunder to thunder.”
“Oh.” My gut tightens. The job that’s too good to be true. Being invited to eat dinner with them when none of the other staff are. The flirting. I turn away from him, staring out the window. I’m not sure if I’m upset at not being given a job because of my qualifications or in awe of the ruse they’ve seemingly created to draw me here. But why me? Why now? “How do you know where to look for your mate?”
“Most thunders don’t,” he says, holding my eyes.
“But your thunder?”
“Has had some help.” He squeezes my hand again but lets go this time.
There he goes again. He’s the master of giving information without giving answers. “And has that help been, well, helpful?”
“It’s been mostly frustrating.”
“I see... No, I don’t. Can you just tell me?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, that’s not a no.”
“It’s not a no.” He smiles and wraps his arm around my shoulder.
27
KIEREN
My dragon’s irritated already when I land in Cloud Rift. It’s been almost a week since I’ve been here. Almost a week since I almost picked Raine up by her shoulders. The castle smells of human men, and I can’t pick up any of her scent.
