Page 83 of Never Feed a Dragon

After we were done cooking, we sat down at the table to eat.

And I said, “You want to talk?”

He blinked at me before he answered, “Desperately.”

The word was honest.

Raw.

“You don’t believe I’m not mad at you?”

“I don’t know, Spaghetti. I feel like I screwed everything up.”

“You didn’t. I’m just… debating.”

“Debating what?”

“My view of life. And mate bonds.”

He blinked again. “Mate bonds?”

“Mmhm. Randa says a mate bond isn’t like a human relationship.”

His forehead creased. “How?”

“She thinks it’s not possible for a mated pair to cheat on each other.”

Eli’s face twisted. “It’s not. The magic would cause us serious pain if we tried.”

“That’s pretty significant to me, given the way my last engagement ended.”

His expression darkened. “I’d sooner tear off my wings than hurt you like that.”

“I’m starting to see that.” I finally cut into my food, though Eli still hadn’t touched his. “I was mad that you didn’t tell me the truth at first, but I get why you didn’t. You didn’t know if a bond would actually form, and you knew there was a good chance I’d run for the hills if it did.”

He nodded. “It drove me fucking insane. I fantasized about you in every spare moment after we met. Dreamed about you almost every night. But no matter what I did, I couldn’t get heat to start.”

“That sounds shitty.”

“It was. But it led to this, so it was worth it.”

He gestured between us.

I nodded, taking another bite. “You haven’t been sleeping.”

“I can’t sleep away from you anymore.”

My chest warmed. “I haven’t been getting much sleep either. I miss the cuddling.”

“Thank fuck.”

I couldn’t hide my smile.

“What else have you been thinking about?”

“Randa said I should give it a test run. Being actually mated. Romantically.”

Eli’s eyebrows lifted. “A test run?”

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