by R. E. Butler
“My mother’s clan lived here. My father had two brothers, and they all lived in the cabin, but he was the last one to get mated. When he met my mother, he wanted to stay here instead of starting a new clan in Tomb.”
“Why?”
“He never said for sure, but I think part of it was because of the pack. Dragons like to be with just their clan.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind being in Tomb?”
“Hell no. Wherever you are is home for me, period.”
“I feel the same way.”
They reached his parents’ home, and he knocked on the front door before opening it. “Mom? Dad?”
“We’re in the kitchen,” his mother called.
He led her down a hallway that was lined with family pictures, and she slowed her stride to look at them. “Aw, did you dress up as a dragon for Halloween when you were little?” she asked, looking at one of the framed pictures.
He laughed. “Yeah, all the clan children did that year.”
“Adorable.”
He snorted. “Dragon males are never adorable.”
“Fiercely adorable?”
“That’s not a thing.”
She grinned. They walked into the kitchen, and a man looked up from his phone and smiled, and a woman dried off her hands on a towel and moved to them.
“Mom, Dad, this is Cecily, my mate. Sweetheart, these are my parents – Benecio and Vanessa.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Vanessa said, giving Cecily a hug. “How are you feeling?”
“Wonderful, thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
She shook Benecio’s hand. “Won’t you join us?”
Torrence pulled out a chair for her and she sat. His mother brought coffee for everyone and set a plate of cookies in the center of the table. Torrence put his arm on the back of Cecily’s chair and said, “Now that I can speak, I wanted to tell you what happened.”
“We’re all ears,” Benecio said.
Torrence explained how he’d woken up with a desire to go to town, how he’d shifted the moment that his eyes had locked with Cecily’s, and bitten her arm.
“Can we see the mating mark?” Vanessa asked.
Cecily nodded. She fished her arm out of the tunic sleeve, and carefully adjusted the top so it kept her covered.
“It glowed,” she said.
“What?” Benecio asked, standing and leaning over the table to look at the mark. Torrence removed his shirt entirely and laid his arm next to hers.
“The mark. When I woke up in the cave, it was black. But then Torrence and I were intimate, and right at the end, the mark glowed bright green.”
“It glowed on my arm, too,” Torrence said. “Then it turned black and we passed out together.”
“That’s very strange,” Benecio said, sitting back. “But nothing about what happened since you had that allergic reaction to the fruit has been normal. After you showed up last night, I went back through the books again, but I still came up empty. No one has ever recorded a dragon being allergic to the fruit, and no dragon has ever mated outside of our kind, at least not in the history of this particular clan.”
Cecily put her arm back in her tunic. “It’s still good, though, right?”
“She means it still counts as a mating,” Torrence said. “She’s worried that dragons will feel as though we aren’t truly mated.”
Benecio snarled. “There’s no other way to look at it. In my mind, it doesn’t matter that you were allergic to the fruit and mated a human. She’s clearly the catalyst you needed to claim your dragon. If you’d come to us and said you mated a human but you hadn’t shifted, I would have just assumed you weren’t meant to shift.”
“And not for nothing, but that’s the largest mating mark I’ve ever seen,” Vanessa said.
“Does that mean something?” Cecily asked.
“I don’t think so, but it’s interesting nonetheless,” Benecio said.
“Are you coming to stay here?” Vanessa asked. “We could get the builders working on your home.”
“Actually, we’re not,” Torrence said. “Cecily owns a donut shop in Tomb. She’s going to move into the cabin with me and I’m going to help out at the shop.”
“I’ll transfer the territory rights to you both,” Benecio said.
“Thanks,” Torrence said. “Cecily needs to call her friend. Do you mind if she uses a cell phone? Ours are both back in Tomb.”
Vanessa stood and went to the counter, tugging her cell from the charger cord. Cecily joined her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you can stay tonight. Benecio and I would love to get to know you better.”
She looked over her shoulder at Torrence who gave her a sweet smile. “That would be wonderful.”
Stepping into the living room to have some privacy, Cecily dialed Andrea’s cell.
“Hello?” Andrea answered.
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Where the hell are you? Are you okay? Did that dragon hurt you? Why the hell didn’t we know there was a damn dragon in Tomb? Holy shit!”
“Whoa, calm down,” Cecily said. “The dragon’s name is Torrence and he’s my mate. The alpha and some of the other males in the pack knew about him, but it wasn’t common knowledge. I’m on his clan’s mountain now, we’ll be back tomorrow. And no, I’m not hurt. He’s my mate.”
“Um, dragons don’t mate humans.”
“Well, this one did.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I felt compelled to go to him at the shop, and then he bit me, and we now have identical mating marks. I feel really connected to him, like we were meant to be together.”
Andrea didn’t say anything for several moments, and then she said, “Well, I’m happy for you! Please tell me you’re staying in Tomb.”
“I am, but I’m going to move into his cabin on the mountain. He’s going to work at the shop, too.”
“You still need me, right?”
“Of course.”
Andrea blew out a relieved breath. “Good. I just got this job and I kind of really like it.”
“Me, too.”
“So, you’re sure you’re safe and happy?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Does he have a brother?”
With a laugh, Cecily said, “Sorry, no.”
“Damn.”
“We’ll be back tomorrow. How’s the shop look?”
“I cleaned up the broken glass and some of the wolves helped me board up the windows that were cracked. The door is ruined, so my dad replaced it, but it was expensive.”
“I’ll be sure to thank him when we’re back in town, and I’ll get him what money I can and then get him the rest as soon as possible.”
“I’m sure that will be fine. I’m glad you’re okay, I was really worried about you. I went to the alpha and told him what happened, and he said that there was nothing we could do because the mountain belonged to the dragon, so we couldn’t trespass without potentially being burned and eaten.”
“Ew. I don’t think that Torrence would eat someone for coming up the mountain. Unless they were attempting to harm one of us, of course. My mate is very fierce.”
“I saw,” she said dryly. “He took out the gazebo and three cars.”
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t call you before now. I hate that you were worried.”
“You’re okay now, and that’s what matters. And maybe now Jerris will take the hint and leave you alone.”
“He better,” Cecily said.
“Call me when you get to town. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” she said, ending the call.
Torrence came into the room. “I’m paying for the damages to the town and shop, so don’t worry about that.”
“You heard?” she asked.
He tapped his ear. “I have great hearing.”
She closed the distance to him, wrapping her arms around him and settling her head on his chest. She could hea
r the steady beat of his heart. He hugged her back, kissing the top of her head.
“My parents are having a dinner tonight to celebrate our mating. You’ll get to meet the clan.”
“That sounds fun. I hope they don’t mind having a human around.”
“Of course, they won’t. And if they do, I’ll just throw them off the mountain.”
She laughed. “My fierce mate.”
“Kill first, ask questions later. It’s my motto.”
“You need a new motto.”
“We’ll see. Now I think we were talking about taking a shower together?”
She glanced toward the kitchen and lowered her voice. “Can’t they also hear well?”
“My bedroom is on the third floor and is well insulated. Trust me when I tell you that I never wanted to hear my parents, either. Great hearing can be a hardship at times.”
“Then lead me to the shower.”
He gave her a gruff growl and smiled wickedly. Scooping her up into his arms, he headed for the stairs.
“There are clothes for you two for tonight,” Vanessa called from the kitchen. “If you put your clothes outside the bedroom door, I’ll run them through the washer.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Torrence said.
He carried Cecily up to the third floor. There were two wooden doors in the hallway, one on either side. He put her down inside the door on the right and started to strip. She followed suit and put her things in a neat pile outside the door with Torrence’s. The moment she was back in the room, he slammed the door and locked it.
“Mine,” he murmured, his voice a low rasp. “So fucking mine.”
Chapter 9
Torrence didn’t really want to get dressed or leave the bedroom. He and Cecily had spent the afternoon making love, first in the shower and then on the bed, until his voice was hoarse from vocalizing his pleasure, and Cecily’s skin was flushed a beautiful rosy pink. He’d thought she was gorgeous before, but seeing her eyes bright with passion and her lips swollen from kisses, he knew there was never a more stunning female in all the world.
He was one damn lucky dragon to have her for his own.
He dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, rolling the sleeves up to his elbow to reveal the bottom portion of the mating mark. His mother had left Cecily several outfits to choose from, and she picked a sleeveless dress. She came out of the bathroom in a mint green dress that fell just above her knees. The mating mark looked amazing on her skin. She’d confessed to at first being weirded out by the mark. To her, it looked like a tattoo, and she’d never planned to ink her skin. But once he’d gotten the same mark, she’d come to really appreciate the physical mark of their bond.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
She smiled. “Thanks. This dress is nicer than anything I own.”
“There’s a seamstress in the clan. She specializes in female clothing, but when I was a kid she used to make suits for me to wear for special occasions.”
“That’s adorable.” She sat on the bed to put on a pair of sandals. “I think it’s pretty neat how unmated dragons stay with their parents.”
He leaned against the dresser. “I take it that humans don’t have that arrangement?”
“Yes and no. A lot of us want to get out on our own as soon as possible, get out from under the protective wing of our parents and try life out. No curfews, no parental disapproval for choices. Some humans stay at home until they’re married, or they go away for college and come home to stay on break.”
“How old were you when you moved out of their house?”
“I moved out right after I graduated from high school, and lived with Andrea in her grandma’s tiny two-bedroom house. My parents passed away that summer, so I always wished I’d stayed there longer to spend time with them.” She gave him a sad smile. “Anyway, when I leased the donut shop, it came with the upstairs apartment, so Andrea lives in the house by herself now, and I have the apartment. For humans, I think it’s a mark of adulthood. You’re not really an adult until you’re on your own.”
“It’s an unwritten rule that unmated dragons live with their parents. I think it encourages our people to stay close.” He glanced at his watch. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She stood and smoothed her hands down the dress. He almost missed the tremble in her hands.
He closed the distance between them and grasped her hands, surprised to find them cold. “What’s wrong?”
“Why would anything be wrong?”
“You’re cold and trembling.”
Her fingers flexed slightly, and she sighed. “I’m nervous about meeting your clan.”
“Why?”
“Hello, I’m the only human on this mountain.”
“You’re my mate.” He ran his fingers up the mark on her arm. “This means that you belong with me. You have just as much right to be on this mountain as anyone here. And I want to point out that female dragons don’t shift. The only difference between you and any other clan female is that you had two human parents.”
She hummed. “I guess that does make me feel a little better.”
He chuckled and cupped her face, tilting her head and kissing her. “Cast all your worries away. I’m at your side and I’m not going anywhere.”
He watched her face for the moment when she did as he asked, her features relaxing and a smile gracing her plump lips. He didn’t want her to be upset or concerned about the get together his parents were having to celebrate their mating. He was certain if her parents were alive that he’d be nervous to meet them. Although they were mates, he would still have wanted her family to like him and be happy for their mating. His parents – the only dragons he cared about – were thankful he’d found Cecily and intent on celebrating their mating. They were treating her as if she were a female dragon and they’d met during the mating ceremony.
“Ready, my beautiful mate?” he asked, cocking his elbow toward her.
She smiled sweetly and rested her hand on his arm. “Yes. Lead the way, sexy dragon.”
He laughed and opened the bedroom door. He could hear the commotion in the kitchen, and caught a whiff of his mother’s Boston cream pie, which happened to be his favorite dessert.
“I feel weird that I never asked what you do for a living,” she said as they walked down the stairs. “We spent all our time doing…other things except talking. You know what I do because you destroyed my front door.”
“My family owns a design company. We specialize in custom stonework, from tile floors to intricately carved fireplaces and statues.”
“You’re a mason?”
“Yep. Many clan members work for the company. Mom does the bookkeeping, dad runs the front office. I handle the website and also make stone sculptures.”
She stopped and faced him on the second-floor landing. “You can carve stone?”
“Of course. Give me a hunk of stone and a tool set and I’ll make whatever you like.”
“Oh, like a fountain made of donuts?”
He snorted out a laugh. “If that’s what you’d like, I’ll make it.”
“It would look amazing in the front of the store. Oh, and a dragon? Like you? I could put him in the flower bed.”
“What flower bed?”
“The one that we’ll have around the cabin.”
“Decorating already?” he asked with a grin.
“You don’t mind, do you? I’ve never had a house house. My parents lived in a trailer, and Andrea’s grandma wouldn’t let us touch her flower beds because they had these old, thorny roses in them.”
He could already picture a flower bed around the cabin, full of colorful flowers. “I think you’ll keep me busy.”
“Will your parents be upset you won’t be working with them?”
“I can still do carving at the cabin. I actually hadn’t given much thought to what I’d do with my future.” He’d only just wanted to get away from the clan and the pitying looks of everyone who had seen him fail at a basic dragon act
ivity. Now, with Cecily, the future felt wide open.
Cecily beamed. “I can’t wait to get home. I want to watch you carve something.”
“I can show you something I just finished up for a client after dinner.”
“All right.” She took his hand. “I had no idea I’d mated such a creative guy.”
“You’ll be my muse.”
They continued down to the first floor, following the sounds of conversation to the grand dining room, where his parents hosted dinner parties. The crowd quieted, and his parents joined them.
Benecio cleared his throat, then said, “I proudly introduce Torrence’s mate, Cecily. As is our custom, she is now a member of our clan. Let’s welcome her with open arms and hearts.”
Everyone clapped, and Vanessa hooked her arm through Cecily’s and said, “I want to introduce you to everyone, come with me.”
Cecily smiled and let go of Torrence’s arm. He hated to see her leave, but he was glad that his parents were so welcoming.
“I overheard your conversation with Cecily on the stairs,” Benecio said.
There were zero secrets in a house where everyone had great hearing. “You don’t mind me working from the cabin, right? Things happened so quickly I haven’t had a chance to talk to you about the future.”
“It’s fine with me. I was hoping you’d want to keep working, you have a client request list a mile long.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
He clapped his hand on his shoulder. “You’re welcome. Of course, as a mated male, I need to warn you to make whatever Cecily wants first. Then you can get back to the clients.”
Torrence watched as his mate was introduced to the clan. She was smiling and seemed genuinely happy, and he wanted to make sure she stayed happy, all the time. “The dragon will be easy; the donut fountain will be tricky.”
His father laughed. “You’ll have to send me pictures when it’s done. I’m sure it will be awesome.”
Staz came over with a petite redhead on his arm. “Welcome back, Torrence. This is my mate, Julep.”
“You can call me Jules,” she said, extending her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.”