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“Yes.”

“Can someone call him?”

I watch the storm swallow the mountains one ridge at a time. “Beck said there would be no cell service.”

“Well, that’s not good.”

“No.”

“Is he going to go after her?”

I turn to Nina. “Knowing Beck, he’s already scented her and is on his way.”

She considers that for a moment, and a small smile curves her lips. “Somewhere out there, a woman is stranded on an icy mountain with a dragon who apparently values his solitude even more than you used to.”

Then she grins. “Oh, she’s in trouble. Or possibly, it’s her lucky day.”

It’s her grin that gets me.

The way she can hear that another dragon is about to have his perfectly ordered life turned upside down and find the entire prospect delightful.

The way she has turned mine upside down, and I have never been happier.

“Nina.” I cup her face in my hands. “I love you.”

Her eyes widen.

“I know we’ve known each other for an absurdly short time. I know there are things about me you haven’t discovered yet. But I have spent a century and a half believing I understood what it meant to possess something precious.”

My thumb moves over her cheek.

“I was wrong. I love you, honey. Not because you’re my mate. Not because my dragon chose you. Because you walked into my home and made me want things I never knew I was missing.”

“Like what?” she whispers.

“Someone to argue with over breakfast. Someone who moves my belongings and leaves her coffee cups everywhere. Someone who makes me laugh.” My voice catches. “Someone who makes this enormous, empty house finally feel like a home.”

Her eyes fill. “Silas.”

“I love you,” I say again, because now that I’ve said it, I find I rather enjoy the freedom of it. “Quite desperately, I’m afraid.”

She laughs, but there’s a tear slipping down her cheek. “You ridiculous, wonderful man.”

“That is not technically a response.”

“I love you, too.”

My dragon goes utterly silent.

Nina presses her forehead to mine.

“I love your fancy suits and your rules and the way you pretend you’re not stealing my things. I love how you worry about whether I’m warm enough. I love that you listen when I tell you you’re wrong.” She smiles. “And I love that underneath all that terrifying billionaire dragon nonsense, you’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”

“Sweet is not an adjective commonly associated with me.”

“Well, get used to it, honey.”

My dragon finally finds his voice.