Page 8 of Her Dragon

“Thank you for being so understanding.” She sniffed, her eyes shining with tears. “I feel awful. As though I stole from you, but I swear that I was going to call Leyton if the test my professor promised to run proves that I was right.”

The monetary value of the moon rock that I had owned for years meant nothing compared to the fact that it was what had brought Marielle into my life. But that didn’t mean I would give it up so easily. And definitely not to some asshole who tried to convince my smart-as-fuck mate that she was wrong about what it was. “Where is the Lunaite now?”

Her eyes widened. “You knew what it was all along? And the proper term for it?”

“Of course, I did. I’m the one who put it where you found it.”

“Well, crap,” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “So much for me thinking that I had made a grand discovery.”

“Sorry, baby. I’ve owned it for a long time.”

“Until I basically stole the darn thing and gave it to my professor for testing.”

Thinking about how I’d referred to her as my little thief in my head when I first found her, I smiled. “You’re welcome to anything I have since you’re my mate.”

Her professor was another story, and I would definitely be dealing with him at some point.

7

MARIELLE

“Mate?” My brows drew together. “You don’t have an accent, but are you Australian?”

He shook his head with a deep laugh. “No, but that would be a fuck of a lot easier to explain.”

I blinked up at him, biting my bottom lip. “I don’t understand.”

“Let me pull the pizza out, and then I’ll fill you in.”

The rumble of my stomach had more to do with nerves than the delicious smell coming from the brick oven as he took out the pizza and set it on the table. I’d been looking forward to devouring about half of the pie just a moment ago, but now I was too anxious to take even a small bite.

Spotting my trembling fingers, Artemis wrapped his hands around mine and tugged me over to a chair. After helping me settle, he yanked another seat closer and dropped onto it. His thick thighs bracketed my knees, and even though there was space between us, I felt surrounded by him. But in a good way.

“What did you need to tell me? Are you in the witness protection program or something like that?”

He chuckled again and squeezed his knees. “I’m glad you have a good imagination because you’re going to need it with what I’m going to share with you.”

I was acutely aware of the heat from his palm as he rested his hand on my leg, but it didn’t distract me from the conversation we were about to have. “I don’t think I can take any more buildup, so please just spit it out. Whatever it is that you need to say can’t be any worse than the scenarios running through my brain right now.”

He scrubbed his other hand down his face before he blurted, “When my kind uses the term mate, it’s different from what the Australians mean.”

“Your kind?” I echoed, not understanding what he was talking about.

“Shifters.”

His one-word answer didn’t help at all. “I’m going to need you to be more specific because your explanation isn’t clearing anything up for me.”

“Shit, sorry.” He raked his fingers through his thick hair with a grimace. “I’m usually a man of very few words, and I never really thought about how to explain this if my fated mate was human.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You say that as though you’re not a human, too.”

“I have a human side, but I’m also a dragon.”

His confession still didn’t make any sense to me. Instead, it just left me feeling more confused. “A dragon as in a mythical beast with scales and claws that can fly and breathe fire?”

“Not so mythical since I can shift into one.”

My imagination apparently wasn’t good enough because I just couldn’t see how that was possible. “You’re a big guy, but dragons are supposed to be huge. From a scientific standpoint, there is no way one would fit inside you.”

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