Page 91 of Never Feed a Dragon

The repeated ringing of our doorbell yanked me out of sleep.

I jerked upward, my eyes wild and my mouth dry. My hair was probably everywhere too.

The doorbell rang multiple more times.

I heard a muffled sound that made me think someone was yelling outside.

“I’ve got it,” Eli mumbled, though he had yet to move from the position he’d been sleeping in.

“I’ll do it. Go back to bed.” I brushed a few wild strands of his hair off his forehead, then padded across the room. After a quick stop in the closet to pull one of Eli’s shirts over my head, I made my way to the front door.

The bell was still ringing, which didn’t seem like a great sign. I didn’t know where either of our phones were, so hopefully there hadn’t been an emergency or anything.

When I finally opened it, I froze in the doorway.

“Where have you been?” my mom demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me the mate bond was real? Or that you moved out of your old apartment? Miranda said it’s been more than a month, Viola. That’s more than enough time to pick up the phone and call your parents!”

I rubbed my eyes. They were gritty from sleep, and my face felt greasy. “I should’ve called sooner. Sorry. Come in.” I opened the door wider. “We’ve been trying to figure things out. Give me a minute to change, and I’ll explain.”

“You damn well better,” she tossed back, striding into the house like hell was on her heels. My dad was behind her, and didn’t look anywhere near as angry as she was.

“Just sit down somewhere. I’ll only be a second,” I said.

“If that dragon shifter is home, get his ass out here too,” mom added.

I gave her a two-fingered salute and slipped back into Eli’s bedroom, leaning against the door with a huff.

He was already out of bed and buttoning a pair of jeans, a clean shirt draped over the edge of the bed.

“We should probably wash up or something,” I whispered.

“I already got a towel wet.” Unlike me, he spoke mentally.

He ditched his shirt where it was, grabbing a towel off the floor and bringing it over to me. I tried to take it from him, but his hand was between my thighs before I could.

My face flushed as he cleaned me, leaving one hand on my hip, over the top of the shirt I’d borrowed.

“You look good in my clothes,” he murmured into my mind.

“Don’t try to turn me on while my parents are here, E.”

The words earned me a low chuckle. “I need all the extra credit I can get if I’m going to ace this. Including turning you on at inopportune times.”

I couldn’t bite back my snort. “You know I was joking about the B.”

“I know. I just like smelling how much you want me.” He winked at me, then tossed the towel on the bed. “Are we telling them about the test run?”

Shit.

I hadn’t thought about that.

Didn’t want to think about it, either.

But there was no way around it.

“No. If we don’t seem sold on the mate bond, my mom’s going to lose her crap even more. It might make her dislike you. So… we pretend we’re a happily mated couple.”

“We are a happily mated couple, aren’t we?”

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