Page 4 of Ember's Claim

“I am trying,” I assure him. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t let you fuck me.”

“Goddamn, woman. You are so fucking stubborn.” The long, straight black hair on top of his head falls over his forehead as he sighs. “You get that it was out of my hands, right? Our parents had an old-people meeting and decided we needed to be keptapart until you turned eighteen. It wasn’t my choice. In fact, it was the last fucking thing I wanted.”

God.

Even thinking about it makes me upset. My mom wasn’t included in that conversation. I know because I flat-out asked her when I first found out about it, but it sounds exactly like something my dads would do.

“And if you had come to me and explained that, I would have understood,” I snap, wiggling my legs as my fury grows. “At the very least, I wouldn’t have spent two years wondering what I did wrong.”

“I was under the impression your family sat you down and told you the rules the same way my dads did for me. I had no idea they never told you about their bullshit mandate. Not until you turned eighteen and told me yourself. I can't fix the past.” His hold on my ass tightens. “But I can court the fuck out of you now. Just give me a chance. Please? I want a real relationship. Not this bullshit where you climb into my bed and try to sneak out every morning before I wake up. I want to be official. Fuck what anyone else has to say about it. Not that it matters anymore, since we’re both adults, but I’m done hiding.”

My stomach dances with freaking dragon-sized butterflies, and my wolf is to blame. She’s really stuck on what courting will look like from a dragon.

“Okay,” I hear myself say.

The smile that breaks out on Veryn’s face should be criminal, because it’s far too sexy to be legal.

“Perfect,” he purrs, slamming his lips to mine once more. My back hits the brick wall behind us, and his hands caress the globes of my ass. He’s playful and teasing as he swirls his tongue around mine.

God, he’s dangerous to my self-control.

“Veryn,” a gruff voice calls out. “Where the hell did you disappear to? I’m getting slammed up here!”

Veryn grinds against me one more time for good measure and groans as he pulls back.

“Damn.” His hand moves to brush the hair back from my face. “I’ve gotta run, but I will call you later to make sure you made it home okay.”

I try to keep my face placid as I shrug.

“I’ll answer if I’m still awake,” I say, like I won’t purposely force myself to stay up, waiting for his call.

He smacks my ass with the hand holding me in place. “You better. Otherwise, I might show up on your doorstep.”

I snort.

I still live at home with my family. He would have to be exceptionally dumb to try to sneak into my house. Although, my parents are pretty good about giving me my space.

I have my own entrance directly into my bedroom, and they don’t give me any trouble about coming and going as I please, but I have my mom to thank for that.

“You think I won’t, but you’ll find me tossing rocks at your window if you don’t pick up,” he says, giving me a final kiss.

My wolf preens in my mind.

She’s fully convinced he’s meant to be ours, but I’m only twenty-one.

Wolves and dragons mate for life.

That’s a whole lot of commitment to make when I’m just starting to trust him again.

Veryn lowers me to the ground, and my heart races. His straight black hair falls over his forehead as his bright blue eyes glimmer.

He really is ridiculously attractive.

Chapter Three

Ember

It takes approximately seven gallons of coffee to force myself out of bed in the morning. Talking to Veryn for an extra hour when I should have been asleep probably didn’t help, but I’m rundown in a way I’m not used to.

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