Page 45 of Here Be Dragons

“Exactly.” I held the compass out to the only wizard I had ever fully trusted. “Enchant that compass to look like a ring. Itdoesn’t have to fit Carly’s finger; she can wear it around her neck on a chain. Thanks to Emmett’s little visit to the museum the other day, the news on the grapevine is that I’ve been distracted from the competition by the discovery of my mate. We can play that up to conceal our search for the final artifact.”

Carly looked confused. “How do you propose we do that?”

She’d said the word without even realizing it.

“Tomorrow, we will announce our engagement. The media will eat it up. Then, we will head out on our engagement trip.”

Carly didn’t reply. She just stared straight ahead.

Had I said something wrong? “Humans do that, do they not?” I looked at Seth.

“They do, but, um, Boss, I think you just broke her. She’s in shock.” He looked at Carly, then back at me again. “Also, if you don’t mind me saying, zero out of ten for style on that proposal. I suggest you get a real ring and try again. I understand why you had to do it, but still,notromantic. I think you’ve got some groveling to do.“ Seth said. He took the compass from me. “I’ll get this thing transformed. I’ll stay at your estate while I do it. I don’t trust this anywhere else.”

Humph. I was a dragon. We were not known to be romantic. We were known to be self-serving, prideful, and aloof. But for my mate, I would try.

“Tell Liam I’ve got a job for him. I need his brand of security on this trip.”

“On it.”

Chapter 23

Carly

It took a hellof a lot of kisses to boot me out of my shock.

“You scared me,” Desmon said, cradling me to his chest like he was warming a cold, lost kitten. “Do you need more Diet Coke?”

I stared at the familiar white and red can, looking humorously tiny in his large hand. Where had that come from?

I must’ve asked the question out loud because Desmon answered it. “I asked what would make you feel better and you said a Diet Coke. I thought it was an odd request, but I got one for you anyway.”

I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Thanks. Diet Coke does make me feel better when I’m stressed. It was my go-to for studying, and I guess I’ve conditioned myself to believe it means I’ve got things under control.” The words sounded far away, like someone else was saying them.

I took the can from him; it was ice cold, just the way I liked it. I took a nice long swig, letting the fizzy artificial goodness calm me.

“If you are upset I did not give you a romantic proposal, I promise I will do another one. I do not know what humans consider romantic, but I will learn.”

Despite what Desmon or Seth thought, my zoning out hadn’t been because I was unimpressed with his non-proposal. I was just shocked we’d gone from purely a working relationship to being engaged in a matter of days.

He’d already told me I was his mate, and that was basically like getting married. So why was I so surprised? Maybe it had just taken this much time for the events of the last few days to really sink in, and now that they were, I was losing it.

Yeah, that must be it.

“It’s not that,” I said softly. “I’m not upset.”

Or was I? Okay, so I did feel a tiny,teenybit like I was getting cheated out of a proper, on-his-knees style proposal. At the same time, I was engaged to a dragon. A motherfucking dragon. That breathed fire!

“Are you sure? Elana also assured me that ‘I did it wrong’.”

“How do dragons do it?” I asked.

His brows furrowed. “Dragons do not propose. Many do not even partner up. If they wish to start a family, they contract with another dragon for an egg or sperm, then raise the child alone. Unless they have found a mate.”

Oh! It sounded very unromantic indeed. “What about mated dragons?”

“The male decorates his nest with the pieces of his hoard he believes his mate will like best and invites her to lie in it. Dragons who find mates in each other combine their hoards. Sharing one’s treasure is the ultimate display of affection.”

I gazed up at the colorful gems he’d hung around his nest and remembered how he’d asked if I liked them. “So, in dragon terms, you pretty much proposed when you invited me here into your nest.”

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