Page 37 of Soar

“Smooth.”

Gregori winked at him. “But don’t misunderstand Dimitri’s actions. He definitely respects your brother. He views him as an equal. Sam has just learned to adapt to a dragon’s instincts. We have one drive in our lives—protect our mate. It defines us and gives us joy.”

“And these same instincts are screaming to you I’m your one and only mate in the world?” Salem countered, and for once he didn’t sound combative. Just very curious. “How can you even be sure?”

“Hundreds of years of personal experience.”

Salem sat back in his chair with his arms folded. His expression shoutedConvince me.

Was it wrong to take some hope from this? It was the first time Salem had brought it up on his own, and he wasn’t being mean or sarcastic about it. Rather the reverse, like he was curious and wanted to understand. Gregori felt hope soar in his chest and he mentally scrambled, trying to pull together the right words. Maybe this time, he could get through to Salem.

“Do you think I fell in love with you when we first had sex in Brazil?” Salem’s expression fell a little and growing redness started at the tips of his ears. Gregori threw his head back and laughed. “Recognizing your mate has nothing to do with emotions. Well, at least not love.”

“So, you’re saying there are dragon and mage mates out there who don’t love each other?”

“Nope. I’ve never met mates who didn’t love each other.” Gregori shook his head. The idea of two mates not falling head over heels in love was just ridiculous. “But it’s not love at first sight. Lust, maybe. Not love. There are plenty of mates who meet and can’t stand each other at first, but it doesn’t change the factthat mates are meant to be together. It’s written in our DNA, and the first one to recognize it is always our dragon.”

“It was your dragon who told you I was your mate?”

Gregori nodded. “Yep. It knew immediately and passed the knowledge on to me. A dragon always recognizes its mate. They have to in order to fulfill their drive to ultimately protect their mate.”

“Instincts,” Salem said, skepticism tinging his tone.

“You don’t believe in instincts? The same drive directing birds flawlessly across thousands of kilometers twice a year. Or driving a salmon back to the same stream it was born in. You haven’t had a gut feeling when you were treating a patient, where test results were telling you one thing, but your instincts told you something else?”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, I get it. Sometimes our subconscious processes something the rest of our mind hasn’t caught on to yet. But it’s a little hard to believe we could even find each other. Millions of people around the world and you just happen to find your one person.”

“I’ve waited centuries to find my mate. There are plenty of dragons who wait even longer, and others who never find their mate. I’m lucky.”

Salem snorted. “Trust me, no one is lucky to have me as a mate. I have the world’s worst record when it comes to dating.”

“Everyone does until they meet the right one.”

“If I could bottle and sell your optimism, I’d be out of debt completely right now.”

Gregori grinned at him. That wasn’t at all on his usual snark levels. Perhaps he was getting through to Salem after all. He almost didn’t want to keep talking about it, fearing they’d end up in a fight again.

“I’m still not convinced.”

“You will be. Since my dragon realized who you are, it hasn’t wavered. Not for one second. Youaremy mate.”

“Whatever.” Salem rose and picked up his empty plate. He scooped up Gregori’s on his way to the kitchen. “It’s late. We should turn in. Tomorrow is a busy day.”

Salem was clearly uncomfortable talking about this further, hence his abrupt escape. But that was fine. He had asked and hadn’t gotten mad at Gregori’s answer. Uncomfortable was better than mad and was good progress. Salem just needed more time to think about what he’d said. More time to get to know him.

So why did Salem walking away hurt?

For all that he’d felt they’d taken a step forward, it was also starting to feel like Gregori had backslid two steps.

A month in the United States. A month of trying to convince Salem they were meant to be together and their lives would fit together like the teeth of a zipper.

Gregori felt no closer to having his mate.

He knew Salem’s stubbornness wasn’t really stubbornness—it was a trauma response. Salem had given him enough pieces to put the overall picture together, and Gregori was pissed at all those other men who’d convinced him he wasn’t worth the effort.

Even though Gregori knew the root cause, he felt almost helpless at times, unsure how to reach through the pain to Salem’s heart. His frustration was mounting, his own heart hurting, because he couldn’t claim his mate the way he wanted to.

Not to mention, he was battling his own suffocating wave of homesickness. The first couple of calls back to the clan with Ha Na had helped, but now he felt like it was a struggle just to keep the mask of optimism in place. If he let on for a second that he was having trouble, he was scared Rodrigo would order him back to Brazil.

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