“Eoin?”
He flinched and shook his head. When he lifted his head, his eyes had returned to human form.
She retrieved the sheet from the floor and rewrapped it around herself. Whatever trance he’d been under was gone. “What was that?”
He stood dazed, rubbing his head and taking in their surroundings. “Wow, I never expected it to be that intense.” Without another word, he left the room, turning in the direction of his bedroom. Suddenly, the castle seemed too big for Angie and too empty.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and followed Eoin to the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she watched him dress. Was this when he would give her the breakup speech?
Eoin tugged on his jeans and shirt with sharp jerking motions. “I think I was initiating the fucking mating dance.” He fastened his jeans, crossed his arms, and loomed over her. “I can’t believe you inspired the urge so soon.”
“Why, because I’m still considered human?” The edge of her voice was sharp enough to cut.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled up so their noses almost touched. “No, Goddamn it. I would’ve mated you right there in the foyer. You are mine forever. Don’t think just because you can’t shift I’m ever going to let you go.”
“Then why don’t you mate me?” She hated the way her voice quivered. Stupid girl, get a grip and ignore his fancy words. They were just intangible things to keep her from running. If she really meant something to him, he would have finished.
“Because you didn’t continue the dance. The mating between two dragons is magical, Angie. It’s a spell that’s created instinctually between a mated pair. Don’t you get it? I’m not the one who stopped the binding. It was you. Without your dragon, you can’t respond and complete our mating.” His voice sounded so raw it made her eyes water. She’d hurt him.
Shrugging out of his grasp, she pulled him down next to her on the bed. She cradled his head against her shoulder and rubbed the soft fuzz on his scalp. “That wasn’t my intention. You know that, right?” God, she loved the feel of him against her.
He gathered her onto his lap and squeezed her tight against his chest. “I’m never going to let you go.” If her heart swelled any more, it would burst. She’d only known Eoin for a week but already she knew she’d spend the rest of her life with him. “It felt like you dumped me, kicked me in the balls, and slept with my best friend all at the same time.”
She gasped. “But none of that’s true.” She cradled his face within her hands and made him meet her stare. “If I knew what to do, I would’ve finished the mating dance with you. I need you to understand that.”
He nodded and broke his gaze from hers. “But you have to understand my dragon nature feels rejected, even though I know that’s not your intention.”
“Then we need to fix my shifting problem.”
“That means we’re going to have to delve into your past. Are you prepared for what we might find?”
No, spoke her younger self inside her mind. Would the truth change the way she felt about her parents? Not in a million years. She knew they had loved her. Whatever she found out, that wouldn’t change. If Eoin was going to be her future, she’d have to learn to let go of the past. “I’m ready.”
He rose, setting her on her tiptoes. “There’s a bathroom through that door where you can shower. Meet me in the kitchen. I’ll cook breakfast. Then I have something to show you.”
Chapter Twenty–Five
The food on Angie’s plate vanished quickly as she cleared a track through the scrambled eggs and bacon. Eoin purred in pleasure.
They sat in a small sitting room he hadn’t used in…forever. He’d discovered an old wooden table with some chairs in the room and he had set them close to the fireplace.
Her gaze wandered to the bare walls and the crackling fire but never on him. The silence stretched and he waited for it to snap like an elastic band. Beads of water dripped from the tips of her wet hair, leaving a small puddle by her plate.
“I forgot about towels.” He grimaced. “You have need for those kinds of things.” It shouldn’t take long for him to order a few online and have them delivered, but what else would she need?
With her fingertips, she shook out some of her short hair. “Don’t worry about it. My hair dries fast.”
“I know it’s rustic here. I don’t use this place like humans would. It’s just shelter. With some guidance, I could make it better.”
She chuckled and pushed her empty plate away. “The place definitely needs a woman’s touch.” Leaning back in her chair, she rubbed her stomach.
The motion trapped his gaze. She wouldn’t understand how such a simple gesture would affect him. Feeding her meant feeding his future young. It was protecting possible progeny, survival of the fittest, and fucking, all rolled into one. The mating dance, the need to own her, to drive his cock into her—fought just under the surface, pushing under his skin, waiting to get out.
She wasn’t ready. He could dance his heart out but she wouldn’t know how to reciprocate. He took deep breaths and pushed the instincts from his forebrain.
He needed a distraction. His gaze darted to the manila envelope sitting on the mantle. It was the same one Viktor had hand-delivered two nights ago. He hadn’t had the courage to open it yet. “I have something to confess.” He stared at his clenched hands resting on the table. When he’d hired Viktor to delve into her past, he hadn’t thought through the consequences. Now, he would have to admit trespassing into her past without her permission. “You have to promise not to get angry.”
“Well, you know that won’t happen. And Eoin, that’s the worst way to start a conversation with me.” She had a point, but experience made Eoin wary. If this woman had a chance to get angry, then she would. No matter how much forewarning he offered.
He pushed his chair back, rising to his feet, and made his way to the fireplace. Snatching the manila envelope off the mantle, he spun around and held it out to her straight-armed. “I hired a detective, of sorts.”
Angie leaned against the table to face him and she crossed her legs. “To do what exactly?” She raised her eyebrow. Eoin recognized the expression enough to know that she was not amused.
“You have to understand, after we met, I had to know who you were. I mean, a human girl who smells like dragon doesn’t cross my path—ever.”
“What’s in the envelope?” She wouldn’t take it, as if almost afraid to touch the package.
“Your past.” He drew closer to her, offering the envelope again. “I haven’t opened it.”
“Why not?
He shrugged. “You’re not the only one apprehensive about opening Pandora’s box. I’m not sure what we’re going to find, but I’m pretty sure that whatever is inside, we’re not going to be happy.”
She crossed her arms and turned away from him. “How long have you had that thing?”
“Two nights.” He stared at the envelope in his hands. When he first met Angie, his desire for this knowledge had been so strong, he’d been willing to pay anything. Now, he’d pay anything for it just to vanish. Some things were just better not being known. He moved closer to the fire and held the envelope over the flames. “If you ask, I’ll drop it.”
“No!” She shoved her chair back so hard it fell as she rose to her feet and snatched the envelope from his grasp. “Stop teasing.” She crumpled the envelope within her fist, aiming a daggered glare at him as if she wished he were in the fire. “The answers that we need might be in here.” She shoved the envelope under his nose. “Who else knows about this?”
“Besides the person I hired? No one.”
She deflated then rushed him with a hug, pressing her face against his chest. “God Eoin, I don’t know if I want to kiss you or strangle you.”
He released a sigh of relief and rested his arms around her fragile shoulders. He kissed the top of her head. “Kisses only, please. My list of stranglers is too long.”
“Will the person you
hired talk?” Her voice was muffled against his chest.
“I’ve known him for a very long time. He can be trusted.” There was no way Eoin was going to tell her about the vampire in his dungeon. They’d crossed enough bridges for one day and he was serious about the list of people who want to strangle him. He never wanted to add Angie to that list. Out of them all, she’d probably succeed.
Until this very moment, Angie had not believed everything Eoin had told her—being dragon, magic, this curse… Not until she held the envelope did she realize how heavy the truth weighed. If she had let him burn the envelope, she might as well accept being a throwback and walk away from him forever. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t imagine spending the rest of her life without Eoin.
Opening the envelope and reading the contents meant she accepted that her parents had lied about her life. Until today, she had lived a lie. A knot formed between her breasts and made it hard to breathe. What if she opened the envelope and the information confirmed she wasn’t a dragon? What if she really was a genetic fallback? She chuckled. That would be more probable. Fate always made her life harder. She wasn’t the type of person who got breaks.
“I need you to know, no matter what you find in the envelope, you will never chase me away.” Eoin rubbed his chin in the top of her head as he hugged her tighter. She knew he meant those words but it was based on what he believed in now.
“Mated or not?” He obviously wanted to mate with her but what if she couldn’t respond and complete the ritual? Eoin deserved more.
“Mated or not.”
She withdrew from his arms and sat back at the table, gesturing to the chair across from her. “We do this together.”
He joined her, refilling both of their coffee cups.
Sliding her finger under the sealed lip, she tore the envelope open and pulled out a handful of documents. She separated and lined them up between her and Eoin—birth certificate, fingerprints, her arrest record, her adoption papers.
The tight knot in her chest dropped into her gut like a cannonball. The pain was so sharp and sudden that she couldn’t make sense of the words on the paper work for a moment. She’d known this was possible. She’d known, but fuck, here it sat in front of her in reality. “I’m adopted.” Saying it out loud didn’t make it any more real. Why hadn’t her parents ever said anything?
Eoin’s fingers gripped her hands from across the table, anchoring her. His concerned gaze melted into sadness. “The supernatural community would never have let human parents adopt a shifter, let alone a dragon. We’re just too different.”
She pulled the papers from his grasp and reread them slowly. It never mentioned anything about her race, human or dragon or otherwise. “Maybe my parents thought I was human.” This envelope didn’t answer any questions. It just delivered more. “I don’t know what to do with any of this.”
Eoin shuffled the papers and shoved them back in the envelope. “Well, I do.” He moved around the table and pulled her to her feet until she was cradled within his arms. His lips found hers and he kissed her gently. “This information only confirms my claim on you. Nobody else has any rights but me.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The shop door closed behind Jessica Brown. She turned and waved at Angie before heading home. That was her last customer for today. Jessica was one of the rare panther shifters living in New Port. Angie loved running her sharp claws through the female’s thick glossy fur. But there were no potential mates for the panther shifter in the city and she was talking about moving. That would be a shame.
Beth cleared her throat behind her and held out a piece of paper.
“What’s this?” She plucked the note from her best friend’s hand and read the list. “You have got to be kidding me. I just cleared that sink yesterday. I’ve changed more light bulbs in this last month than I have in my whole entire life. And Eoin is paying for the dent in the wall of room three.” She paced across the waiting room, waving the slip of paper over her head. “The electrician said that we were up to code, that there are no electrical surges or malfunctioning sockets.” She crossed her arms and faced Beth. “I’m beginning to think that those charms you bought from the witch are actually curses.”
Beth lowered her gaze and folded her hands on top of her desk. “You could throw them away if you want,” she whispered. “I can change the lights for you.” The omega’s posture deflated Angie’s frustration.
Shuffling to Beth’s side, Angie rested her arms over Beth’s shoulders. “I’m not blaming you, sweetheart. I’m just frustrated by all this. I can’t keep shelling out money for light bulbs and sockets and pipes. One day, I’d really like to move out of my craptastic apartment.” Not to mention buying decent groceries.
Beth’s expression brightened. “I can go without pay for a few weeks.”
Angie dropped her head. “No. You deserve every penny you make.” And probably more. “I don’t think I have any bulbs left anyways. Can you add that to your shopping list for tomorrow? I’ll deal with the sink now.”
“Sure, Angie. The pack has a plumber. Maybe you can barter some scratching in exchange for his expertise.”
It was an excellent idea, but Ryota had finally given Angie some space ever since she’d started seeing Eoin. If she kept relying on the pack resources, he might get the wrong idea and come knocking on her door again. “No, it’s okay. Beth. I’ll handle this myself.” If her shop went bankrupt maybe she could start apprenticing as a plumber.
Angie grabbed her tools and went back to the same Goddamned sink and crawled underneath. Her gaze made contact with the same little charm Beth had planted in her shop. She plucked it from under the sink and sat staring at it. She’d moved this last time her sink was plugged. “Beth, can you come here?”
Beth poked her head around the doorframe. “Yes, boss?”
Angie winced. She hated it when Beth used that title. She held up the little stick figurine. “Did you put this back under the sink?”
The omega nodded her head. “I thought you said it was okay to keep the good luck charms.”
Angie nodded. “But why under the sink?”
“Well, originally to keep it out of your view. I put it back there because I really didn’t know how our customers would feel about witch charms within the shop. Some people are very sensitive.”
Fingering the little sticks that formed a triangular shape held by string, Angie reconsidered her position on superstitions. “Do you think it’s possible that this witch made a mistake with her charms? Is she reputable?”
“She’s been the pack witch for as long as I could remember.”
“Why does a pack need a witch?” No one from the pack had ever mentioned the witch to her before. There were times when Angie felt like she was drowning in pack politics and others, like now, that made her feel like an outsider.
“Sometimes there are messes that need to be cleaned up or hidden.” Beth rubbed her arms as if cold. “They help keep the human police out of pack business. Could you imagine the reports that would pile up if the humans could hear some of the hunters fighting challenges within their homes?”
To be honest, Angie had never really considered it.
“I could take you to see her. You can bring the charm and she could re-examine it. I’d pay.”
Angie ground her teeth. “You won’t pay but I’d appreciate it if you can take me to her. I will never stop doubting these charms until I speak to her myself.”
They closed the shop, went around the corner to Beth’s sports car and climbed in. It reminded Angie of the car that Eoin had gifted her. “Do you think you could teach me how to drive?” She fiddled with the zipper on her jacket, making adjustments that weren’t needed.
Beth gave her a quick side-eye. “I’d love to.” She couldn’t hide her excitement. “We could start this weekend. And I can take you to lunch and maybe catch a movie after.” What with her breakup with Ryota and her new relationship, Angie hadn’t realized how much she’d been neg
lecting her best friend.
“It’s a date.” Even if she couldn’t eat at the restaurant that Beth chose.
They pulled up to a cape-style house. The white picket fence had seen better days and leaned in a drunken fashion to the left. Opening the front gate required brute strength as Angie both unlocked and lifted the wooden structure to push it forward without dragging it through the dead grass.
“Seriously, has she ever heard of stereotyping?” Angie mumbled under her breath. Guess the witch market didn’t pay any better than back scratching.
Beth rushed past, her heels clicking on the uneven cobblestone pathway that led the front porch. With dainty steps, the slim omega climbed the front door and rang the bell.
Angie hurried to her side as the door opened. She’d expected someone to match the house but the woman who answered the door could have been Mrs. Claus’s twin sister, right down to the cheerful apron and rosy cheeks.
“Good to see you again, Beth.” The witch cleaned her hands on her apron. What came off was a rust-colored substance that smelled somewhat like blood. “Come in, come in. And who are you?”
“I’m Angie.” She made a half-hearted wave.
“You’re not pack.”
“We work together.” Angie elbowed Beth in the side.
“Angie’s my boss.” That didn’t help the awkwardness.
The witch eyed her up and down. “I’m Sabrina. What can I do for you girls?”
Angie’s stomach rolled and she glanced back at Beth’s car.
Beth grabbed Angie’s hand and tugged her inside. “You remember the good luck charm I purchased from you a few months ago?” She held up the charm that Angie had pulled out from under the sink.
Angie plucked the charm from Beth’s fingers and handed it to the witch. “I’ve been having nothing but bad luck. I wanted to check to see if we were using this thing right.”
Not His Dragon Page 17