Page 74 of Never Flirt with a Dragon

Lovely.

I could add that to the list of problems. Somehow, it just kept growing.

“I haven’t asked you to give up your family, your friends, or your sister. Yes, I brought you to Mate Mountain, and I want us to live here. But not because of what it costs you; because you can work from here, and I can’t do my job from Scale Ridge.”

“You already said you don’t care if my family likes you,” I protested. “And living here, I can’t see them. I’m trapped.”

“I have wings,” he growled. “You’re never going to be trapped anywhere again. If you want to see your family, we’ll go see your family. And for the record, I didn’t mean that I don’t want them to like me. Of course I want my mate’s family to like me. I just won’t walk away from you if they don’t.”

Shaking my head, I ran my hand down my face.

I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and scared.

Really, really scared.

But there wasn’t much I could do about it.

Jasper was right—I wasn’t trapped. He couldn’t fly without me, so I effectively had my own wings. And had stolen his in the process.

I’d had to give up some of my freedom, but so did he.

I wasn’t the only one being forced to sacrifice for the mate bond.

Maybe that shouldn’t have satisfied me a little, but it did.

And maybe I was being a pain in the ass, and needed a break from everything mate related so I could look at my life from a more reasonable point of view afterward.

A break like… drawing something.

Anything.

The itch hit me hard, so I finally turned the water off. Stepping out, I wrapped myself in a towel and twisted my hair up with a second one.

I got fully dressed for the first time in ages, then squeezed the water out of my hair and tugged a comb through it. The pancakes were done when I made it to the kitchen table, and Jasper was cutting into his stiffly.

“I’m out of my element with this mate stuff,” I told him, wrapping an arm around my middle with my free hand while I stabbed a bit of pancake with the other. “I’ve never even been in a relationship before. The closest I’ve ever been was going out with some guy three times in a row.”

Jasper grumbled, “Don’t tell me about him. I’ll want to track him down and kill him.”

“It was three dates. You and I spent fourteen days in bed together,” I pointed out. “And shared an incredible number of pancakes.”

Jasper cut his food violently. “You’re mine.”

“I think we’ve been over that.”

We ate in tense silence.

He’d claimed he would be back to his normal self after heat was over, but he still seemed just as possessive.

I’d start a conversation about that later. After I’d had a few hours to get away from everything and focus on my art. I’d have to turn my phone back on then, too.

But all of it could wait.

I let Jasper take my plate when I was finished, and silently crossed the living space. Shutting the door to my library, I leaned up against the wood.

My chest kind of hurt.

Breathing was a little difficult.

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