Page 26 of Fated for his Flame

“You look amazing,” I rumbled unthinkingly, still in dragon form.

She had let her hair down for the evening, falling across her shoulders in waves. Other than the glani, the only thing she wore were some small pendant earrings and a pair of wristlets my sister had lent her. It was perfect. She didn’t need anything else. Not in my eyes.

“Thank you.” Chloe turned slightly away in embarrassment. She was a woman who didn’t like the attention being so focused on her, I was learning.

Closing my eyes, I shifted forms, flexing my legs and taking a deep tactical breath before striding forward to take her arm. The buzzing in my head increased the closer I got to her, like spikes into the sides of my brain. Only the unflexing steel of my will allowed me to push through it. Hopefully, it would subside, so we could enjoy the evening.

Through my forearm, Chloe’s pulse was easily noticeable, and it ramped up as we touched. I didn’t blame her. She would have to be nervous. With all the dragons inside, it would be a big test.

“It’ll be okay,” I murmured, keeping my voice low.

“What will?” she asked, not looking at me.

“I can feel your pulse,” I said. “You’re nervous. Scared.”

“Oh?” Her voice trembled.

“Yes. But I’ll be at your side all evening. You have nothing to worry about. These are friends in here. Even those who think you don’t belong will not try anything. Not with me. You’ll be safe. I promise you. You can relax.”

“Uh, right, of course. The dragons,” she said, nodding sharply. “Yes.”

I looked up as we cleared the hedges surrounding the landing pad, and the pathway to the house came into view.

“Huh,” Chloe said as she looked around. “Well, that’s something.”

I snorted, holding back outright laughter as I watched her take in the property.

“Aram has an interesting sense of style,” I said, noting how her eyes ran over the gaudy decorations.

Gold was everywhere courtesy of the goldmine owned by Aram. He made no attempt to hide the wealth it generated for his family either. Golden tapestries and banners hung from the sides of the house. Golden inscriptions inlaid into the walls, the walking paths. Golden ropes lining the edges of everything.

“There’s a style to this?” Chloe remarked, forcing me to stifle another outburst of laughter.

“Supposedly,” I said, shaking my head in amusement. “It’s just the way he is. He’s not all that bad, to be honest. A little arrogant but not a horrible person. He’s just obsessed with gold.”

“Sounds like any dragon in any story ever,” she pointed out. “So, I guess the myths had some grounding in reality.”

“I suppose,” I conceded as servants opened the doors for us, admitting us into the grand hallway.

We walked down the carpet-lined hallway—also gold—and paused in front of the matching doors. Those were gold as well, though only plated, not solid. A moment later, we were ushered in to the ballroom.

“Oh, my,” Chloe whispered.

“Keep it together,” I murmured, though I was speaking as much to myself as to her. Seeing all the dragons inside must have brought it home to her, and her fingers had tightened on my forearm.

My dragon, already active and unhappy at not being given free rein to her body, made its interest in her known once more. The rushing of blood between my legs drew the material tight, but I clamped down hard, using several deep breaths to bring myself back under control. Though I wasn’t sure how much longer that would last.

People started to notice my presence and make their way over. That was the part I hated the most. Pretending like I cared. Most of them just wanted something from me and would say whatever it took to get it. I shook hands, smiled, and did my best to make my way through the crowd as fast as possible.

“Are they all this fake?” Chloe asked at one point when we had a brief lull, leaning up on her tiptoes to whisper it into my ear, so only I could hear.

The warmth of her breath sent a shiver racing down my spine. She was close …

“Mostly,” I said, wrenching my mind away before it could go down that path. “Some of them are good, though.”

Eventually, we made it through the crowd to my destination.

“Aram,” I said, emerging from the circle of guests around the host. “Good to see you.”

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