Page 39 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

The last thing I’d needed was Cade to come running to find my naked, post-orgasm body in the shower. I would never have been able to say no. He would’ve taken me, sliding his hard cock between my—

“How’s it going in here?”

I yelped in surprise as Cade came around the corner, the cloth rag flying from my hand and landing right across his face.

We froze for a moment. Then he slowly lifted a hand and peeled the dirty rag from his face.

“Good to see you, too,” he said, his expression asking for an explanation.

“Sorry,” I said, trying to stifle the giggle threatening to escape. “I was just lost in thought, and then you were there. You startled me.”

He frowned. “I came clomping in the front door like a marching band. How did you not hear me?”

“As I said. My mind was elsewhere.” I didn’t elaborate and didn’t intend to.

“Ooookay,” he said, shaking his head. “How’s it going in here?”

“Slow,” I said. “But making progress. Should be ready to start on the next room soon. So, I’ll need you to be on bucket duty.”

I was going room by room, emptying it of the nature that had crept in and then doing a deep cleaning. Some rooms were skipped if the windows were broken, but otherwise, the house was slowly but surely coming together.

“It’ll be nice to have a bedroom,” he said, looking around. “Once I get a bed delivered, you’ll be able to sleep in peace.”

“Me?” I asked. “Didn’t you say this was your old room?”

“It was. Is,” he said with a shrug.

Did he expect us to sleep together? That seemed like an odd jump. Not to mention, he’d specifically said I would sleep in peace. So, what did he mean?

“Not that the sleeping roll isn’t comfortable,” I said awkwardly. “But—”

“I’ll take the primary bedroom,” he said before I could say more. “Down the hall. Since I own the house now, it seems appropriate, I guess.”

I doubted he was as comfortable with that thought as he tried to appear, but I didn’t point it out. Cade had been doing great at not letting his memories affect our cleaning. We’d piled lots of things to get rid of.

“Got it,” I said, switching topics. “I need you to go through this stuff here before I add it to our junk pile.”

“Right,” he said, making a beeline for the items in the middle of the room. He pawed through it while I continue to clean.

To my surprise, he accepted getting rid of most of the things. A few he set aside, including some wooden carvings.

“There. All done,” he said from behind me, his voice deep.

Attractive.

“Great.” I scrubbed hard at a spot of dirt, giving it my full focus.

Why was I like that around him? I wasn’t a schoolgirl. It should take more than a good kiss and an eighty-pack of ab muscles to reduce me to a quivering, horny mess. Yet every time he spoke like that, I couldn’t help but think of it. Of him.

Part of me wondered if I should just give in. Go to him and get it over with. After all, the entire purpose was for us to end up as mates. The insistent thrumming of the tension between us had to be a good sign. Didn’t it?

I shook myself mentally. It wasn’t about sex. It was supposed to be more, and I had always told myself that if I was going to care again, if I was going to love again, it would be with someone who made me their priority. Their number one.

And I just didn’t feel that with Cade. Not yet, at least.

“Anything else?” he grunted.

“Not at the moment,” I said, scrubbing hard.

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