Jasper hadn’t had enough to drink. The beast prowled at the edges of his consciousness, looking for ways to take over. He sighed and set down his glass before tearing off his jacket.
Watching Cora receive her gifts had been nice. It pleased the monster living inside him. He lived to make her happy, to make sure she was safe and taken care of. He wished he could tell her that but doubted she would believe him. All because someone else had hurt her.
His beast growled. He stepped into the woods and let the creature surge forth. His hands were replaced by scaled toes and long claws. His tail lashed and slapped the nearby trees, leaving ruts in the wood. Tucked against his back, his wings itched to spread out and catch air. Ahead was a clearing.
He ran for it. As he broke free of the woods, his wings snapped open and he lifted from the ground. It was amazing to think that a creature the size of a house could fly. He would have reveled in the fact had his beast not been driven by a single thought.
Drive Cal out.
The war needed to end. There was no way Jasper could become the king he was meant to be until he finished this war. Each day that passed proved to him that his father had only been partially right.
Jasper was exhausted. Snow was slowly falling outside, painting a winter wonderland that he could not enjoy. The house was empty. There were no howls of rage or hoots of excitement. His cousins were home with their mates, spread out across the mountains instead of here, keeping Jasper distracted from the one thing he could not have.
Across the court yard, Cora was still hiding in the guest house. He hadn’t seen her since the breakfast debacle. It’d been a sight to behold. He’d been convinced every woman was birthed with the innate ability to cook. Seeing her utter failure had been both comedic and alarming. To keep Cora from burning herself or the house around her, he ordered a pizza and used the food as an excuse to give her more things.
He liked giving. It made him feel competent when he knew he was missing the mark in other ways. Cora was no closer to trusting him than she was when she arrived. He couldn’t find Cal earlier, either. The enemy dragon’s disappearance irked him. Especially when he knew the man was up to something.
If he could, Jasper would have destroyed the man and taken his clan. Before he could do something so ambitious, Jasper needed to make sure the clan he was running was safe. He knew that his father’s lack of involvement with some of the shifters had led to the creation of some imbalanced social structures. He needed to disassemble them but didn’t know where to begin.
He didn’t want to assert his power over them, though he knew he could if it came to it. Control was only a momentary solution. It was impermanent in the long run. He needed to convince them to follow him. But who would want to follow a mess of a king like him?
They must all know that he was endangering them. Not only was he starting fights all over the mountains, but he’d been a reckless fool for so long they couldn’t possibly think of him any other way.
He snarled at himself, at slipping so deep into thought when he could do nothing about his problems right then and there. There was no use dwelling on what he should have been doing when he knew what needed to be done first. On the stove was a roast that needed to be shared with someone.
If she wouldn’t leave the guest house, he would camp outside her door in the snow before she let him inside. He was determined to make progress tonight. Cora was already his, he just needed her to trust him.
That meant getting her to talk. Food always made people talk. There was something inevitable about conversation over meals even though mouths were full of food. It was strange and undeniable magic. His mother had taught him that, one lesson from a parent that had actually paid off.
He stood and marched himself across the courtyard, leaving footprints in the snow. It would have been a magical moment had Cora not slammed the door in his face the second she saw him on the other side. His beast clawed at him. It pushed him forward, but he would not break down the door.
Not everyone had the control of his silver dragon, the idiot who’d systematically dismantled Jasper’s Jaguar. The mechanic was still putting it back together and the new hood was lost in transit somewhere. Of all the things this war had cost him, the Jaguar was probably the most insignificant yet most irritating.
“Cora!” He called out. “I just wanted to invite you to dinner. It’s just me. There’s no one else in the house.”
If this was a movie, he’d be standing outside with some romantic proclamation. The snow had already set the stage. Unfortunately, all Jasper had was a roast that was getting cold and a half-finished bottle of whiskey.
Real life wasn’t anything like the movies, but when Cora opened the door and scowled at him, he realized it could be so much better. Even more so when she approached him and brushed the snow from his hair. There was a ghost of a smile on her lips, even if it was a little wry and uncertain.
“I can’t forgive you for thinking I needed an adult sippy cup.”
He was thrown for a second. “Oh, you mean the insulated wine glass. I mean, don’t most women need a lid on their cup after the third or fourth glass? I figured you might want to drink away some of your problems…or boredom since you refused to leave.”
“I’m a shifter, remember? A single bottle of prosecco isn’t going to make me drunk.”
“Ah, that is a thing I forgot since I haven’t seen you shift since you arrived here. Or as long as you’ve been in my mountains.” He wasn’t trying to goad her, but when her smile fell, Jasper knew his banter had missed its mark.
Miserably so.
“If you want to grab the bottle,” he said instead, “we could share it over dinner. I made a roast and I don’t want to eat it alone.”
The confession was stark, but it was the truth. Jasper couldn’t ignore the loneliness he felt anymore. His life had been filled with people, with Griffin’s presence. Yet, Jasper had always felt on the edge. His beast sat between him any connections he might have made. The only time he felt a part of something was when his court was together, when he could see what his problems had forged.
Even then, he didn’t feel complete.
Cora turned without another word and disappeared into the guest house. A long while passed, leaving him in the snow. He thought she’d abandoned him to hide once more when she returned with the bottle of prosecco and what she called an adult sippy cup.
“About that roast,” she said.
***
It was her second time inside Jasper’s house, but somehow this time felt like the first. Without the presence of the other shifters, the rooms felt more…intimate.
When she went to retrieve the bottle of wine, she’d almost stayed inside. Logically, this felt like a bad idea. She shouldn’t hang out with Jasper if she wanted to keep him at a distance, but the part of her that craved being near him made her compromise.
This wasn’t a date. It was a chance to show Jasper that she would be the worst dragon wife ever.
He gestured to the living room before going into the kitchen. The smell of roast beef and caramelized onions filled the air. She didn’t know if prosecco was the right kind of wine to pair with such a rich meal, but she didn’t think it actually mattered.
Across from the couch was an unlit fireplace. A cool draft blew from its mouth, reminding her of the snow falling outside. She was tired of the snow, but she couldn’t deny the beauty of it now that she was inside. The delicate flakes fluttered in even the smallest breeze.
Jasper returned with two plates loaded with food and a corkscrew. They ignored the wine for the time being. Having something to eat other than pizza was exhilarating. Cora hadn’t realized she could overdose on pizza so quickly.
“Who taught you how to cook?” she asked around a mouthful of rich beef. Embarrassed, she covered her mouth with her hand, but Jasper just smiled.
He laughed before telling her that his mother taught him. “It was a kind of magic. She was h
uman and so watching her make magic intrigued me. Dad didn’t want me in the kitchen with her, but she told him I would have to attract a mate someday and I wasn’t going to do it with my charm.”
Cora laughed so hard she snorted.
“Mom knew that I would have trouble far before anyone else did. She made sure I was prepared.”
Grief flashed across his features. While it was brief, she saw the depth of it. His parents were nowhere to be found. She assumed he must have been their only child, born late in their lives. If his mother was still human and his father died, the magic keeping her alive would have faded and taken her with it.
Jasper hadn’t lost just one parent, but two.
Cora knew how that felt, though she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Not yet. The wounds were still too fresh.
“Seems a little redundant, though,” Cora noted, moving past her pain. “Your mother had to know that you would take a dragon wife someday. You wouldn’t need to cook for yourself again.”
Jasper raised a brow, obviously unconvinced and probably a little confused. There was no way he didn’t know what she was talking about. Every male dragon shifter had a dragon wife.
Then again, only one of the human mates in this court had been changed and, as far as Cora understood, that had been an unfortunate accident. Neither Ashton or Wyatt seemed to care that their mates were human. And, if Jasper’s mother was still human when she passed, then maybe this clan did not have the same traditions hers had.
“Obviously, I’d never ask you to cook,” Jasper said.
Cora’s head snapped up. The statement was so simple, yet it shook her entire world. She’d thought that was a non-negotiable part of her life, a facet she would never escape. Jasper just stated that he didn’t expect it of her.
“Are you serious? You’d cook every meal yourself?”
“After what I saw you do earlier, I would gladly make every meal…or order out if it came to that. I can’t have you getting hurt for a steak.”
She leaned back, surprised. “You would forgo hot meals for the sake of my safety?”
“What kind of mate would I be if I made you risk your neck every night when I’m perfectly capable of cooking. Like I said, my mother made sure I was prepared.”
This was not the kind of man she’d thought he’d be. The demon that scoured the mountains for her and filled her mind at night was another creature altogether. They were only alike in the fact that they shared the same soul.
It wasn’t until they’d set aside their plates and consumed a couple glasses of prosecco that Cora realized just how close they’d become. The heat of the beast living inside him washed over her side. Unfortunately, it left her other side shivering. She no longer had warm food to abate the chill air coming in through the fireplace.
Jasper noticed, too. He set aside his glass and leaned forward, facing the hearth. His eyes danced when he looked back at her. Cora watched, transfixed by the mystery of his display. He didn’t reach for a lighter or any kindling for the tinder already stacked before him. Before her eyes, his chest swelled. The muscles of his back worked, and she thought she saw a hot glow blossom inside his chest.
Flames erupted from his pursed lips to consume the dark heart. It was like a carnival trick, but this involved no liquor or kerosene. This was the pure force of his beast.
It was a wonder to behold. There was something primal and magical about it, watching the muscles dance beneath his shirt as they tried to contain the pure force of his heat. His shoulders constricted and he sat back beside her, warmer than he had been before. In the fireplace was a steady burning fire that cast warmth in every direction.
In the small space between the couch and coffee table, with snow falling outside and a fire in the hearth, Cora felt safe. It was an unusual feeling. She was no longer used to the idea of feeling safe, so when it washed over her and relaxed her tight muscles, she found herself releasing a deep sigh of contentment.
Jasper’s shoulder pressed against hers, a small bit of physical contact. Though he was her mate and she knew he must have craved more, he didn’t act on it. If he struggled with the urge to touch her, he didn’t show it.
“Tell me,” he asked. “What is a dragon wife?”
Cora swallowed. “It’s a tradition among my clan…one I’m assuming your clan doesn’t have.”
He shook his head, still waiting for her to explain. Cora didn’t know why this was so hard. It had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. There had not been a day she could remember where she didn’t think she would become a dragon wife.
Except for today.
Jasper already told her he wasn’t looking for someone to cook for him. Looking around the room, she didn’t think he needed a housemaid, either. The living room and what she could see of the kitchen were spotless. The furniture looked new, even, and well cared for. He wasn’t some unruly bachelor that needed a woman to mold him into the image of an upright man.
He was already all the man he was meant to be.
And she felt the heat of that manhood while under his gaze. She looked away, though she already missed the spray of freckles that lined his delicate cheekbones.
“I guess you would say a dragon wife is everything expected of a wife in the fifties, plus a dragon shifter.” She pushed her hair behind her ear, thinking back. “My mother was human. It took dad a long time to change her because he didn’t like the idea of hurting her, but Mom wanted to be his dragon wife.”
Cora had been young when it happened. She remembered her mother’s forehead beaded with sweat, lips twisted in pain as the change remade her body. Cora had been glad she was already a dragon. She never had to live through the pain her mother had just to be a dragon wife.
Though, Cora had been born with her own curse.
“That’s definitely not a thing here,” Jasper agreed. “Human mates are left human. The only time that changes is through accident, such as Lilah’s case. There was a dragon in the early nineteen-hundreds, a metallic relative of mine, who lost control of his beast and changed his wife, but it has not happened that way since.”
She nodded. There was a feeling stirring in her chest, but she wasn’t sure what it was. No amount of turning it over could tell her what she was experiencing, not until she looked to Jasper and the feeling exhaled through her lips.
It was relief.
The things she’d been told, the part of her life she’d rebelled against, was not a part of her mate bond. Jasper was clearly competent enough that he didn’t need a woman to take care of him. As she sat beside him, she wondered what it was he did need.
Companionship?
Cora didn’t know anything anymore. Her view of the world had been shaken and her knowledge had come loose, falling between her fingers. She didn’t fight it, grateful to be released from those specific shackles, even if a few others remained.
Like the truth of her scales. Even if Jasper didn’t want a wife, he would covet her scales. There was no way around it.
“You look like you’re thinking awfully hard. Have I not poured enough wine?” Jasper twisted to grab the bottle on the other side of him and refilled her insulated cup.
Cora wanted to tell him that wasn’t it, but she bit her tongue. She couldn’t let him know about her scales. This was going to be a difficult relationship if she had to hide her true self from him…for the rest of her life. As much as she was learning to like Jasper, it wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t stay with him, couldn’t stay in Grove.
She needed to peel away from this town soon. If she didn’t, the roots growing at her feet would hinge her to the earth and she would never leave. He would find out about her rare scales and force her to stay. Any happiness she might have had, any friendships she could have forged, would all rot.
“Are you worrying that I’ll try to keep you against your will?”
Jasper’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She found him watching her
with a gentle intensity. He looked as though he wanted to touch her, but his fingers curled into a fist atop his knee instead.
“I know your secret, if that’s what you’re afraid of. If you think I’m going to cage you because you’re a pretty dragon, then you have me all wrong.”
Cold sliced through her veins. Each beat of her heart sent small daggers through her body. Suddenly poised to run, halfway to standing, Cora stopped herself. She turned back to Jasper.
“What is it that you think you know?” He could be bluffing, trying to draw the truth from her. It would have been a smart tactic, but she feared that wasn’t it.
He touched the side of her face. “I’ve been in your head. Remember? The dreams might seem strange and surreal, but it was there I learned about your beast. You haven’t shifted in months because you’re afraid I’ll see your crystal scales and want to keep you like a pet.”
The daggers of ice in her veins sharpened.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about that.”
Cora’s knees gave out and dropped her back to the floor beside him. His thumb traced the line of her jaw, touched the corner of her lips. His eyes were entranced by them, following the line of heat his touch left behind. Cora leaned into him. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop herself.
She reached and grasped Jasper’s arm. Everything about their relationship broke the neat pattern that had been laid out before her. He was nothing like she thought he would be. Instead of locking her away, he let her hide behind walls of her own choosing. He left her gifts, fed her, and made sure she was safe.
All the while, he knew.
Jasper knew about her scales, the reason Cal hunted her so doggedly, and he didn’t lock her away. He didn’t force her into marriage. He didn’t demand she give him heirs.
“Your demon said something of the sort,” she said out loud as she recalled the dream. “It asked me why it should care about my scales when it had its own. The demon already has a legacy.”
Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5 Page 59