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  “Sorry, kitten.” Cage had enough sense to look abashed at his bad behavior.

  Jakob swirled his thumb in a circle on her back. She didn't want him to do that, but she didn't want him to stop either, so she didn't say anything.

  “Her powers are extraordinary. I've never seen anything like it. She commands three out of the four elements without so much as a twitch of her nose. But, that wouldn't bring a horde of fifty or so demon dragons down on us.”

  Cage nodded. “I saw the black marks in your garden. I assume your troops took care of them.”

  “No, I sent them away yesterday. All but Steele, who is now en route to the US.”

  “You're telling me you and kitten here defeated fifty demon dragons.”

  “That's what you call those black snake people?” Demon dragons? That sounded a hell of a lot worse than snake people. Were they demons, or dragons, or both? Jakob cleared his throat and Ciara giggled to herself over the way his chest puffed up. “I took care of them.”

  “Yeah, right. Not unless you found a way to quadruple your powers.” Cage scoffed at Jakob and jerked his thumb at him. He grinned at Ciara like they had some sort of conspiratorial agreement that Jakob was a dumbass.

  Ciara stuck her tongue out and I'm.

  “As soon as the sun rises and I'm sure Ciara is safe, we can take this outside and I'll show you.”

  Great. The dragons were going to get their dicks out and measure them.

  “Sounds fun. But we'd better save it for the AllWyr Council.” Cage leaned back against the counter. “Have fun explaining to Match how you lost the first Dragon's relic to meet a hot chick.”

  “I've got a lot more to tell the AllWyr Council about.” Jakob chucked Ciara on the chin and moved the blanket from her right shoulder, exposing it to Cage's view.

  Cage's jaw not only dropped open again, but his eyeballs about popped out of his head.

  What? What did he see? Ciara twisted her head to look at her self, but could only see her shoulder. There was no way that that was her skin, because she did not have a giant tattoo of a green Dragon.

  “Like the fact that Ciara is my true soulmate and that I have claimed her.”

  Those tingles that Jakob put in her back traveled up her spine, pinged her in the back of the skull, and sent pins and needles across her scalp.

  This was going to throw a kink in her plans. Not the kind of kink that got her motor running, the kind that stopped it dead.

  3105

  Chapter Ten

  You Belong to Me

  If Ciara hadn't worked some sort of magic on all of their emotions, Cage's head would have exploded. Into a million pieces.

  Jakob knew exactly how he felt.

  But he was less concerned about Cage's reaction to his declaration and waited to see what Ciara did.

  So far, she hadn't moved a muscle. Seriously, she was frozen.

  “Ciara, honey?” He'd take anything from her at the moment. Tears, anger, she could even slap him in the face.

  Mating was a pretty big thing to spring on a person, even if she didn't fully understand the extent of what a dragon's true mate meant.

  She did none of those things. Instead, she push his arm away and walked out of the kitchen.

  Shit that was probably bad.

  He followed her, and Cage was hot on his heels. She went back through the great room and up the stairs, moving fast enough that he had to take them two at a time just to catch up.

  “Ciara, talk to me.”

  She held up a hand, and then just one finger. That finger shook at him, but Ciara still didn't say anything. She kept walking until she got to the guest room he'd put her in yesterday.

  Was it all too much for her, was she going to collapse? Go to bed and pulled the covers over her head? Christ, he’d done this to her. Broken his mate when it was his job to protect her, keep her safe.

  It wasn’t like he could ask any other dragons for their advice on how to handle a mate. No one else had a mate or even thought they would. He was making this up as they went along.

  If he had to wrap her up in cotton, or even better cotton candy, he would protect her, make her feel safe.

  She threw the door open and went to stand in front of a dresser that had a small mirror hanging on the wall over it.

  The blanket covering her fell to the floor and she bared her shoulder.

  The reflection staring back at her was confused. Lips pressed together into a thin line, and wide eyes that watched her fingers brush over the mark he'd given her. The dragon sparkled under her touch.

  “What. The. Hell. Is. This?”

  Okay. She was pissed. He could handle that. At least now he knew what he was dealing with.

  “She’s gonna kick your ass, man.” Cage whispered, having way too much fun over this. Any second now he was going to pull up a chair and grab some popcorn.

  “Fuck off.”

  “Nope.”

  Jakob could only hope that someday Cage would find a mate too. Mostly so that Jakob could make Cage’s life just as miserable when that happened.

  He didn’t even know if that was likely. He knew nothing about how or why he’d been blessed with Ciara.

  “Jakob,” she snarled.

  Cage was right. She was pissed. Cute as hell too. Her cheeks had that same flush to them when she was mad as when she was coming.

  All Jakob wanted to do was take Ciara to bed and show her exactly what that mark meant. “Cage, get out.”

  Ciara pointed to Cage. “Oh no, if you won't tell me what you did to me, maybe he will.”

  Cage held up his hands and began to back out of the room. He was no dumb Dragon.

  “This doesn't concern him. That mark is between you and me.”

  “This isn't a mark. This is unauthorized body art. It's a frickin' tattoo.”

  Cage made it to the door, and grabbed the handle to pull it shut, leaving Jakob and Ciara alone. “She's gonna kill you. But, if you survive this, you've got to call and AllWyr ASAP. Have fun with that.”

  Cage shut the door, leaving that little truth bomb to explode inside Jakob's head.

  Shit.

  He could call in AllWyr, a meeting of all four wyverns, and then everyone would see how he fucked up. He certainly wasn't turning out to be the leader his father had been. But, what choice did he have?

  The villa and his lair had been compromised, demon dragons had tried to steal his soul shard, and he had marked and claimed a mate.

  He was way in over his head. He'd been trained to lead his troops in battle against evil, and keep peace among his Wyr.

  That's what his father and his father before him had done. It's what all wyverns had done since the first great battle a couple thousand years ago. If that's all he had to do, he'd be a bad ass wyvern.

  But, mating? Love?

  He had no idea when it came to either of them.

  He’d known Ciara for a couple of days, there wasn’t time for love. This mating was completely instinctual, it had very little to do with feelings.

  “Is there any way to get this thing off of me? Why would you put a tattoo on me in the first place?” Ciara rubbed her fingers over the mark like she was trying to rub it off.

  He might be feeling like a failure at the moment, but he needed to put that aside, and take care of his mate, which was something he hadn’t done since second he’d found her.

  Jakob finally figured out how to pull his head out of his ass and crossed the room to Ciara. He placed his hand over hers and stopped her scrubbing at the mark.

  “A lot has happened in the past few days and quite honestly it's as overwhelming to me as I think it is for you.”

  She glanced at him in the mirror, a flash of mixed emotions flew through her eyes staring back at him. There was a good dose of disbelief, some frustration, and the one that bothered him the most, fear. He done more than enough to make her fear him. The opposite of what I make should be doing. He needed to start earning her trust instead.


  “I am sorry for everything I've put you through. But, I won't apologize for claiming you. I will be thanking the First Dragon for the rest of my life that we were brought together.”

  Ciara's shoulders sagged under his hand. “I'm not your property to claim.”

  She tried to jerk away but he didn’t want her to think he was some misogynistic pig. He couldn't blame her. He been acting like a dick, hulking over her, controlling her every move. What could he do to show her what he meant?

  Jakob grasped both of her hands in his and sank down to his knees in front of her. “It's not like that.”

  She looked down at him, pretty eyes wide. “Really?” Some snowflakes formed a halo around her head. “You don't think I belong to you now?”

  There was frost in her voice, but she'd tempered it. The snow dissipated before it even hit her hair. He hoped it was his actions that had done that, and not her suppressing her emotions again. He swallowed, trying to choose his next words very carefully.

  He was either in for a flurry of kisses or a smackdown of snow.

  “I do. You do belong to me, but I belong to you too. We were made for each other.”

  She shook her head. “No, I don't see how that could be at all.”

  Humans believed in the concept of soulmates, there were enough sappy books and movies to prove that. But the human mating ritual was nothing like that of dragons. They danced around each other. Dragons marked, claimed, and mated. He needed to find an inbetween for his mate. “You're my true soulmate. We were destined to be together”

  Her brow furrowed, making a cute little crinkle. “I've seen too many happy couples in my line of work to not believe in destiny. But, how do you know?”

  Good question. It wasn't like he had a manual on mating.

  “I'm operating completely on instinct with you. Every cell inside of me, every scale on my body knows that you are mine.”

  “I could maybe accept that if we'd known each other for years, and dated, and…well I was gonna say had sex, but we did do that part.”

  “We did that part really well.” The next time would be even better.

  Her eyes softened and one side of her mouth lifted in a partial grin. He was making progress.

  “Could we do those other things? The getting to know each other, and dating? Or do I have some horrible form of that syndrome, you know the one where the hostage falls in love with her kidnapper? I really don't understand how I could possibly not hate you. But I don't and that's weird to me.”

  He would love to romance her. He would buy her a new beautiful green gown and white gloves, choose a diamond necklace from his treasure, and fly her to Prague, where they would see an opera like La Traviata. She would probably like it better than the Pirates of Penzance. but, with the demon Dragon attack and his suspicion about what had really happened to the relic there would be no time for wining and dining her.

  “I would love nothing more, but I don't think our situation will allow that.”

  She stepped away from him, trying to hide her disappointment.

  That shredded his heart, and he swore to someday make it up to her.

  Right now, he had a choice to make. No, this choice he needed to allow her to be in charge. He got back to his feet and stood behind her, wanting her to feel his presence, but not touching her.

  “If you want me to take you back to your home in America, I will.” Even if it would kill him.

  “I have a whole life to get back to there. I have a date on Thursday with Wesley.” Ciara licked her lips and made a face like she had a bad taste in her mouth.

  Over his dead body. He wouldn't yet tell her that if she refused him, there would be no other for either of them. He didn't want that to influence her decision that way. “Stay.”

  She didn't say anything, which punched him in the gut. Now was the time to push his case. He knew she felt something for him, he’d scent it on her if she didn’t. Maybe presenting her with the rest of his working theory would help persuade her.

  “There's something more going on besides you and I mating. The massive attack of the demon dragons here at the villa, the attempt to steal my soul shard, and to get to you are all connected somehow.”

  She paced back and forth. He tracked every step. “I wouldn’t be safe if I went back home, would I?”

  “I would send an entire battalion of green dragon warriors to guard you.”

  “But, you wouldn’t be there.”

  If she wanted to be his mate, they would have to be here, in his homeland, where his people and his Wyr were. “No.”

  “I figured. My life is never going to be the same, is it?” She didn’t sound as bothered by that statement as he’d thought she would be.

  “No. The mating changes things.” If he were very, very lucky, it would be for the better for them both.

  “Yeah, you’re going to have to give me the mating 101, or at least the Cliff’s notes.”

  Her statement gave him hope that she was considering being with him. He’d happily spend the rest of his life teaching her about mating. She’d be teaching him too. “

  “I haven’t exactly been safe here either. Are those demon dudes after you or me?”

  “I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. I don’t think they were after me exactly. One of them tried to steal my soul shard. They may have been after your necklace.”

  “I don’t even know what it was or where it came from.”

  He had a theory about that. “I think someone took the first Dragon's relic and planted it on you in the form of that necklace. It had some powerful spells on it though because until I touched it, I had no idea what it was either.”

  She stopped her pacing. “You don't think I'm a thief anymore?”

  She’d tried to tell him all along, but he hadn’t listened. “No, whoever took the relic from my lair wanted me to find you. They knew you were my mate.”

  No dragon had that kind of power, no human either. Another kind of demon maybe? Not a demon dragon, there weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. Succubi and Incubi traded in sex and blood, not souls. Nothing in his knowledge had the kind of power to change the fate of dragons.

  “But, if we we’re destined to be together, like you say, wouldn’t you have eventually found me anyway? Or, couldn’t I find you?”

  Dragons had been searching for the cure for their lack of mates for centuries. They’d mostly given up hope.

  “I don't think so. No Dragon in the last seven hundred years has found his mate. Or if he did he didn't know she was the one. I never imagined you were even out there for me.”

  He still hardly believed it, except when he looked at her and felt it all the way from his scales to his bones that they belonged together.

  “Seven hundred years seems like a long time for a race to be without husbands or wives.”

  “Wives isn't exactly the right word for a Dragon warrior's mate, but close enough since all of them are female.”

  “Lesbian dragons?”

  That made Jakob laugh out loud. “No, although there are some gay dragons, so I guess every mate isn't a woman. But there is no such thing as a female Dragon.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, we are all sons of the first Dragon. I am the first son of the first son of the first son, etcetera, of the first green Dragon.”

  “That's a lot of sons, for not having any mothers.”

  “The past few generations of mateless dragons have had companions.” He’d ignored the fact that his Prime had crept up on him and he’d soon be expected to take a companion. No woman had interested him lately. Then bam.

  “Like Dr. Who?”

  “No. Some companions are like wives, some are not. But they are all lovers. Many are mothers of dragons.”

  “Oh, I see. You're all a bunch of Dragon man whores.”

  He supposed they were. The fifty years between when he hit puberty and the beginning of his Prime he'd been one horny fucker. But, until his father's death he hadn't
ever considered having a son. Until right this moment, because having a child with Ciara had just zipped up to the top of his priority list. His dick woke right up at the thought of seeing her ripe and pregnant with his younglings.

  Unless of course, she chose to leave.

  “Most companions are very special to their dragons.” Ciara was much too far away. He carefully stalked toward her. “I suspect if we hadn't lost the ability to mate, many of them would have marked and claimed their women, just as I have you.” She saw I'm coming and skittered to the other side of the big bed in the room. That was fine, he'd happily pulled her onto it.

  She wasn't really trying to get away from him, but his instincts pushed him to chase her.

  “If I decided I didn't want to go back to America right now,” she held up her hands to stop his forward progress. “Do you have someone like that Mrs. Bohacek woman, who can help me learn how to use these crazy ass powers I seem to have manifested?”

  “You mentioned her before, my little dumpling, but I still don't know who you're talking about.”

  He placed one knee on the bed and planted the ball of his foot into the floor, ready to spring if she bolted. She snagged a pillow off the bed and held it out in front of her. Like that would stop him.

  “You must. She knows you, was in your house, was in your lair. You know, real beautiful, long white flowing dress, has more magic than a fairy godmother.”

  Jakob pushed a tiny portion of his shift to his back and prepared to unfurl his wings. But her comment about being in his lair stopped him.

  “Where else did you see this woman?”

  She came to me here right after you locked me in the room, and took me down to the kitchen. I thought she was going to help me escape but then she said something strange —”

  She didn't finish her sentence but her expression changed to surprise and then she threw a pillow at him. He blocked it and tossed it aside.

  “What did she say, Ciara?” He pounced off the bed and missed her by a scant centimeter. A puff of wind pushed him back.

  “Nothing.” She scrunched up her nose and the fireplace reignited. “Shoot, that's not what I meant to do.”