Page 53 of Fated for his Flame

My mind was a mess, and I wasn’t having any luck sorting it out.

“Come with me,” Silas said abruptly, extending a hand toward me.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because,” he said. “There’s something I want you to have.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Silas

There was only the slightest hesitation before she took my hand. Anyone else might not have noticed it, but I did. The way her eyes, as alert and green as ever, flicked down to my upraised palm and then to my face.

“Where are we going?” she asked, using the question to help hide the hesitation as she lifted her hand.

“Not far,” I promised.

“Are we flying?”

“No, no. It’s here at the house.” Her hand gripped mine, easily sliding between my fingers and thumb.

Like it belonged.

Forcefully, I pulled my mind away from that idea. I didn’t want to linger on it just in case things couldn’t be salvaged. Doing so would only make it hurt more, and I was already unsure of how I would handle losing her.

So, don’t lose her.

My dragon roared its agreement from the depths of my mind. It didn’t like my negative thoughts. How was I supposed to not have them, though? Despite my dragon’s desire to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to my cave to ravish her for the rest of her life, I knew that wasn’t actually something I could do.

Chloe was a person. She had rights, and I had to give her the autonomy she deserved. No matter what I wanted. What I needed. Even if it was her. If she said no, that she wanted out, I would have to respect that.

The goal was to do everything in my power to make sure she never wanted to say no. That the only answer I ever got from her was yes.

And so far, I wasn’t doing great.

Which was why I was taking that next step. One that would probably result in even more heat coming my way. I shrugged that aside, taking the stairs down into the basement, Chloe at my side.

A tiny shiver ran down my spine as I actively thought about that phrase. Of her being at my side. For now. For life.

I wanted that.

My stomach retracted as the gut-punch realization washed over me anew.

“Are you okay?” she asked as we reached the end of the stairwell.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, trying to compose myself so more of my thoughts didn’t bleed through. Scaring her off would be the worst thing I could do.

I escorted her down a hallway to a heavy metal door with a giant wheel in the center. There were a dozen holes set evenly apart around the wheel. Each one as big around as my wrist.

Turning to Chloe, I smiled, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m going to need you to close your eyes for a moment while I unlock this if you don’t mind.”

She smiled and turned her back to the door. “So I don’t see your secret passcode?”

“Pretty much,” I said, unable to tear my gaze away from her. I wanted to stare at her forever.

“Silas?”

“Right. The door.” Shaking myself free, I stepped forward, lifting my right hand. As I did, the lower half of my limb lengthened, growing red as my fingers became claws. Reaching forward with my dragon paw, I inserted my claws into the holes in a specific pattern. As they reached the back, pressure plates were triggered in a specific order.

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