Still, I know the separation hurt.

  I can see it in his eyes.

  “I know,” I whisper. “I haven’t been with anyone since the break-up.”

  “Me neither,” he admits.

  “For real?” I raise an eyebrow before looking pointedly at his dick. “No offense, dragon, but how is that possible?”

  He chuckles and pulls me close. Now he’s the one stroking my hair, touching my shoulders, running his hands up and down my back. I sink into his touch. His scent wraps around me like a blanket, and I feel calm.

  Relaxed.

  Safe.

  Protected.

  “I suppose I haven’t found the right person,” he says. Then, after a pause, he whispers so quietly I almost can’t hear him add, “Until now.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lawrence

  WE’VE DILLY-DALLIED long enough. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but when Julie and I kissed, I felt this warm comfort descend over myself. It was kind of wonderful. I’ve never really felt anything like it before and I don’t know if I’ll feel anything like it again.

  My inner-dragon thinks she’s our mate.

  I think it’s a fairytale, but I kind of want it to be true.

  I stand up and stretch under Julie’s watchful eye.

  “How are you feeling?” She asks. “You seem to have regained all of your strength.”

  I nod. “I feel normal. Pretty good, really.”

  “Are you ready?” She asks.

  “Not really.”

  “How far is it to your clan?”

  In lieu of answering, I jerk my head toward Nicole, who is definitely awake now.

  “Let’s get her and go,” I say. “We’ve been loitering long enough.” Julie moves to untie Nicole’s legs. She removes the woman’s gag and whispers something to her. Anyone else wouldn’t be able to hear, but my shifter hearing enables me to clearly hear her asking if Julie needs anything before we go – the bathroom, a drink, food. I shake my head. Julie is so fucking considerate. Most people aren’t that way.

  Most people would give her a hard time.

  Hurt her.

  Julie doesn’t do that.

  She treats the woman like she’s still important, like she still matters, and I have to respect her for that. After a minute, Julie gets back up and helps Nicole to her feet. She leaves the woman’s hands bound, but Nicole remains silent.

  “All right,” she says. “We’re ready.”

  “Are you going to give us trouble?” I ask Nicole. She shakes her head. I’m not sure what changed overnight, but some of her bravado seems to be gone. Okay, all of her bravado seems to be gone. I can’t pinpoint exactly why she’s being so meek, but I sure as fuck hope it isn’t some sort of weird trick.

  “No,” she finally says.

  “Fine.” I look at Julie. “Do you have a bandana?”

  Julie fishes one out of her backpack and I motion for Nicole to come closer. She almost looks afraid as she steps forward.

  “What’s wrong?” I’m not as kind as Julie. “Scared of the monster you tried to kill?”

  “I didn’t try to kill you,” she whispers.

  “I just...it was just...”

  “You just wanted to capture me,” I say simply. I shrug. “I get it. That’s what Lucky is good at, after all. You guys capture shifters and then torture us until we give in and die.”

  Nicole gasps.

  “What?”

  “Don’t act innocent,” I say. “I know what you are. Now fucking come here.”

  Somehow, she manages to move. Her feet don’t seem to want to come forward, but I don’t care. I don’t care if she’s scared. I don’t care if she’s afraid. She’s part of something horrible, something evil, and I won’t stand for it. When she nears me, I fold the bandana neatly and then tie it around her eyes.

  “Is that necessary?” Julie asks quietly.

  “I can’t risk my clan,” I tell her. “I’m not going to kill you,” I say to Nicole. “But I also can’t have you seeing where we’re going. You understand,” I add, softening my voice. Maybe I am being too hard on her. Then again, I did see her shoot Bernie. Nicole isn’t above hurting people. Fuck, she isn’t above killing people. If it means getting what she wants, she’s going to do what it takes.

  “I understand,” she says. She doesn’t move as I turn to Julie. The beautiful human raises an eyebrow, as if silently asking me if I’m going to do the same to her. Am I going to bind her? Blindfold her?

  “Oh, believe me,” I tell Julie pointedly. “If I’m blindfolding you, we’re going to be alone, and you’re going to be completely naked.”

  Julie blushes bright red and Nicole lets out a tiny giggle. I’m not even bothered, although I should be. I like seeing the blush creep along Julie’s neck and cheeks. I like knowing I put that there. It’s not often I have the chance to surprise a woman, and I enjoy knowing I can catch her off guard.

  She’s delightful, and I want to get to know her better in so many ways. I can’t believe we stayed up all night talking. We were like a couple of fucking high schoolers: young and driven by hormones.

  “So how does this work?” Julie pointedly changes the subject.

  “I’ll shift and then you need to help Nicole onto my back.”

  “Got it.”

  “She needs to sit closest to my head. You sit behind her so she doesn’t fall.”

  “Fall?” Nicole swallows hard.

  “You aren’t going to fall,” Julie says softly.

  “Easy for you to say,” Nicole spits. “He fucking likes you. Me? I’m the one who shot him with a damn dart. You really think he’s not going to try to kill me?” She shakes her head. “You really are innocent.”

  “Hey,” I reach for Nicole’s shoulder. She flinches, and I pull my hand back. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  She doesn’t say anything.

  “Promise,” I repeat.

  “The promise of a dragon,” she whispers. “Real rich.”

  “My word is the most important thing to me,” I tell her.

  “Until now,” Nicole points out.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your word was the most important thing to you. Until now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I might be your arch nemesis, dragon, but I’m not blind. A know a dragon’s mate when I see one.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Julie

  DRAGON’S MATE.

  That’s what Nicole said. Judging by the way Lawrence’s eyes shot to me, I know this is something he understands and has thought about. I don’t know what it is, but I’m not going to worry about it right now. The only thing I’m going to focus on is helping this dragon guy get back to his clan. They can deal with Nicole and I can...

  I don’t know.

  I know Lawrence wants me to come with him. I’m excited to have been invited, but I’m also nervous as fuck. This was supposed to be a camping trip in the woods. It was supposed to be a solo camping trip. I didn’t exactly sign on for some sort of weird dragon adventure.

  When he moves away from Nicole and I and actually starts to shift, though, I realize that yes, I do want this. I want the adventure. I want this adventure.

  I want all of it.

  “What’s happening?” Nicole asks. “It got really quiet. Is he shifting? He’s shifting, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah.”

  It’s all I can manage to say. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’ve never even imagined anything like this. Watching him change from dragon to man was fast. I was in a panic because I thought he was hurt, so I wasn’t really able to enjoy the complete experience.

  This, though...Lawrence is a beautiful man, and he’s a gorgeous dragon. His abs and muscles fade away, replaced with scales and a tail. The shift happens quickly, but I watch every second, eating it up.

  Am I living in a fairytale right now?

  I kind of feel like I’m living in a fairytale.

  When he’s finished, he looks at us for a second, and I move to him. Nicole’s hands and arms are still bound, so she can’t try to remove her blindfold and run away. I ignore her, just for a moment, and move to Lawrence.

  “Hello, dragon dude,” I whisper, and then I reach for him. I’m a human girl. I don’t know what dragon etiquette dictates I’m supposed to do in a situation like this. I mean, am I supposed to be touching the dragon? Is that rude? Something tells me I don’t have to worry too much about how I’m touching Lawrence. He’s not exactly shy. If I’m doing something he doesn’t like, there’s no doubt he’ll tell me, so I reach for him.

  I stroke his snout. His body is cold now, and hard. I run my hands down his neck and to his sides, where I touch him more. I peer back at Nicole, but she hasn’t moved. Taking my time, I explore him just a little bit more. Maybe I’m feeling brazen because no one else is watching. It’s kind of just the two of us right now, trapped in our own little world.

  After a few minutes, I realize we really should get going, and I step back, breaking the trance. Lawrence seems a little surprised I stepped away, too, and I realize he got caught up in the moment just as much as I did.

  “It’s time,” I say.

  “Cool. Can you help me? Not to be a bitch or anything,” Nicole says. “But I can’t see.”

  “Yeah.” I’m in too much of an emotional trance to care about her attitude. Somehow, I manage to awkwardly help Nicole onto Lawrence’s back. Then I climb up behind her. Once we’re both situated, I speak to Lawrence. “Okay, dragon, we’re ready.”

  Without hesitation, he leaps into the air, and then we’re flying.

  “I feel so uncomfortable right now,” Nicole whispers.

  “Don’t,” I tell her. “It’s actually really cool. Besides, I told you, we’re going to be safe.”

  “Honey,” she shakes her head. “You really think I’m going to be safe? Among the dragons? Because I guarantee that after pumping me for information, they’re going to kill me.”

  I swallow hard.

  She might be right.

  I suppose I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’ve been kind of swept up in this thing happening between Lawrence and me. I mean, I don’t even know if something is happening. There have been no promises made. We haven’t slept together. Well, not in the sexual sense of the word. We have literally slept together, but that’s something else entirely.

  What’s going to happen to Nicole when we get to the dragon’s home?

  I don’t know.

  I don’t even know what’s going to happen to me.

  “They might not kill you,” I say, trying to sound encouraging.

  “I don’t want to die,” Nicole says, and her voice is a whisper. I don’t say anything for a long time. I just let her words hang in the air. She might work for an evil company, but is she actually evil? I suppose that’s the real question, isn’t it? Does a villain deserve to die? Should someone like Nicole be given a second chance? Or a third chance? Or more chances still?

  “You were going to capture me,” I say.

  “No, I was going to use you as bait.”

  “You were going to feed me to a dragon.”

  “What? No, I wasn’t. I needed help catching a dragon. For work. I told you this last night.”

  Nicole must be seriously messed up in the head if she thinks that’s what happened last night. She said she was going to use me as bait. She said she’d lost her partner.

  Unless...

  Did I seriously freak out on her and completely misread the situation?

  Is there a chance I overreacted to what she said?

  It was dark, and I was tired, and there was so much going on. I did freak out at their weird bitchiness, but maybe they weren’t actually trying to murder me. Perhaps Bernie and Nicole’s social skills were pretty fucked up when we met, but were they actually going to hurt me?

  Did I panic?

  “Why did you need to catch a dragon?” I ask her quietly. “And how was I supposed to help?”

  “I’ve never done this before,” Nicole shrugs. “Bernie is the experienced one.”

  “You’re new to the organization?”

  She’s talking. That’s good. Lawrence might be busy flying, but I know he’s also listening attentively to everything she’s saying. He needs to know as much as he can about Lucky and what Nicole was doing working for them in order to help his clan.

  “Brand spanking,” she says. “This is my first week.”

  “And they already sent you on an assignment?”

  “Yeah,” she says. “Apparently, I super fucked it up. We were supposed to come out into the woods. There are dragons here and a lot of them need help. We were supposed to get one and then contact our team members to help us bring it in.” She shakes her head, and Nicole sounds almost sad.

  “What was up with the drinking thing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You guys tried to drug me.”

  “That was Bernie. I don’t know what she was doing.”

  “Then why did you chase after me?”

  “You didn’t really give me a chance to explain...I wanted help. Bernie was obviously going nuts. I had a bad feeling about her before, but the way she acted when you ran off...I had to explain everything to you. I wanted you to help me.”

  “Catch a dragon?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It sounds fake.”

  “I didn’t want to hurt you,” Nicole says.

  “You kind of seemed like a raging bitch.”

  “Yeah, well, I was pretty pissed at Bernie. Sorry I went nuts on you.” She shakes her head. “If I didn’t know the dragons were going to kill me, I’d be bummed about losing my job. I’ve never worked in such a stressful environment before. I guess everything just kind of hit me at once.”

  “What do you mean? Losing your job? Why would you lose your job?”

  “You really think they’re going to let me keep working for them after this fiasco? Instead of catching a sick dragon who needs help, I managed to get captured by one and his human mate.”

  “You keep using that word...mate...”

  “So?”

  “So...what does it mean?”

  She’s quiet for a minute, and I look out over the tops of the trees. Lawrence is flying close to them. It might be my imagination, but I think he may have slowed down, just a little. Maybe he’s paying extra close attention right now.

  “I’m new to Lucky, but I’m not new to the legends of dragons,” Nicole says finally. Maybe I shouldn’t believe her, and it’s not that I trust her, but something about the way she’s speaking makes me think that this much, at least, is truthful. “But there’s a belief that each dragon has one true mate.”

  “Like a soul mate? Like the princess-meets-the-fairy-prince kind of thing?”

  “Yes, but it’s more than that. It’s more serious. The shifter’s inner-dragon will call to him or her and let them know that this is their mate.”

  “And you think that Lawrence and I are mates.”

  “Don’t tell me you’d mind.”

  I can’t see her face, but I know that there’s a huge smirk on Nicole’s lips right now. The worst thing is that she’s right. I wouldn’t mind. If Lawrence tells me I’m his mate, I don’t care. I feel a strange connection to him, as if there’s a rope pulling us toward one another. I’ve been missing something my entire life and I suddenly feel like he’s it.

  I feel like he’s the one.

  With Andrew...things were never easy or simple. I never had a real conversation with him that didn’t end in some sort of strife. Looking back, I don’t know how we managed to be together so long except that I worked so much and our relationship just sort of...happened. We were comfortable together. There wasn’t a mad, blinding attraction. We didn’t laugh or get along, but we stayed together because sometimes staying together is easier than breaking up.

  Sometimes being with someone is simpler than being brave enough to walk away.

  Then I remember something.

  “Bernie said you just got out of a relationship, too.” Nicole’s body stiffens.

  “Yeah.”

  “What happened?” Perhaps I shouldn’t push her, but I’m feeling kind of brave and kind of snarky and to be honest, kind of determined. If Lawrence actually is my mate, like Nicole thinks he is, then I should help him find out as much about her as possible. Maybe he’ll get some answers about what Lucky did to his clan. Maybe he’ll find some closure.

  “What always happens,” she shakes her head. “You fall for the wrong guy and he breaks your heart.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  “Did he cheat on you?”

  “Nope. He cheated with me.”

  I’m silent for a minute. That’s big. Being the other woman?

  “I didn’t know,” she pauses, and I realize she’s crying. Fuck. I shouldn’t have asked, shouldn’t have forced her to talk to me. “I didn’t know he was fucking married. I never would have done it if I...oh, I’m so stupid...”

  “You aren’t stupid.”

  “I am. The signs were all there and I was too dumb to see them. He never wanted to do anything with me on the weekends and he was never able to meet up for dinner unless it was early. He’d meet me late at night or during the day, and he didn’t like me calling him at home. Seriously, I should have known.”

  “Love is blind, right? I feel the same way about Andrew and Sam. They had been sneaking around for awhile and I just...I just didn’t even see it. In retrospect, it was super obvious, but when it was happening? I had no clue.”

  “The worst thing is that I still miss him, you know?”

  I don’t know.

  I don’t miss Andrew at all.

  Then again, now that I’m out of the relationship and I’ve had a little bit of time to process everything, I know I never really loved him. With Andrew, things were convenient and normal. Ordinary. It was never a fully romantic, can’t-get-enough-of-each-other kind of situation. With Andrew, things were common. Ordinary. Plain.

  I was eating vanilla yogurt without realizing there were a world of other flavors out there.