Page 87 of Fated for his Flame

“I am. I’ve been hurt worse. I know the limits of my healing,” he said, stuffing more bacon into his mouth.

“I’m glad?” I said. “I think. I don’t like the idea of you being hurt.”

He smiled at me. It was big and wide, with egg in the corner of his mouth, but it was so happy it was infectious.

“What?” I asked, a giggle slipping out as he continued to stare at me.

“I love you so much,” he said. “Thank you for caring about me.”

I was shocked. “You’re welcome? It seems like the least someone could do.”

He shrugged. “I’ve never had someone before you.”

My eyebrows shot up in shock. “What? That’s impossible. You’ve never had a girl? I mean, how did you get so good at …”

“There have been girls,” he said. “But only physical. I’ve never had anyone I called mine. Someone who cared for me beyond a romp in the sack.”

“Well, now you do,” I said, brushing a piece of egg off his cheek as he continued to feed like a pig. “And I’m not going anywhere, you know.”

“I know,” he said. “That is something I know.”

I frowned, sensing he was going somewhere with that comment. “What don’t you know?”

“You,” he said, putting his food down to lock eyes. “Who are you, Chloe? What’s your story. Your real story. Not the one you told me about. Since I assume that was fabricated.”

My cheeks blushed red. “It was. I mean, my name is Chloe. Chloe Durselle. Though I don’t really lay a claim to that last name.”

“Why not?” he asked inquisitively, his eyes watching me intensely, soaking in every word I said.

“It’s not mine. Not really,” I said. “I grew up in foster care. Jumping from house to house. It was beyond dysfunctional. I hated it. I ran away when I was eighteen and never looked back.”

He snorted. “So, it must have been quite the homecoming to walk into my family drama.”

I laughed, my belly shaking. “It was honestly quite familiar, yes. But then I met you. And Caleb and Shi. I saw how the three of you have banded together. How you keep Abby safe. There is a family here, Silas. A good one, even if your father is a stubborn old prick. He came with you to save me at the end.”

“He came to retrieve a prisoner of the sovereign,” Silas said. “It’s not the same thing.”

“But he was there.”

“Yes. He was.” Silas shrugged. “But I’m not expecting it to change him at all. Though, I guess I’ll find out.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Dragon Council has granted me permission to formally put my proposal before them to be voted on. For the governorship of the occupied territories.”

“Silas, that’s wonderful!” I cried, getting up to throw my arms around him. “Congratulations. I know you were really pushing that!”

He grabbed me up and swung me around into his lap. “Yes, I was,” he said, planting a big bacony kiss on my lips.

I just laughed at his enthusiasm. My arms went around his neck and locked him in for a fresh kiss, however. I wasn’t letting him get away that easily.

The growing bulge poking through his pants was a dead giveaway that perhaps I was the one who wasn’t getting away that easily.

“I’ve waited long enough for this,” he growled, literally tearing the glani from my body and taking control.

I let him.

Chapter Forty-One

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