Page 11 of No Room at Dragon's Landing

“Try me.” I coaxed and took his hand in mine. Friends did that, right? Not just alphas trying like hell to flirt with their mates?

“I write under the name B. Talon. The series is…”

I nearly jumped into my scales with excitement. “The Dragonrider’s Journey. I have the entire series!” Giddiness bundled in my belly, and I barely refrained from hopping up and down. “Silas is my favorite.” Silas was the main character in the series.

“You do? He is? How? They are meant for middle-school readers. I thought only children’s bookstores carried them.” His body turned to me but by the wringing of his hands, I could tell he wasn’t used to talking about this with people.

“There’s a bookstore in Dragon’s Landing. They have all kinds of shifter books and dragon ones especially. I was passing by it one day and noticed Silas.” He kind of looked like me, but I left that part off.

My mate cocked his head sideways and studied me with an intense gaze. “I didn’t see it before. But you are just like himwithout the scales. My hero. The character I mean. Silas. Silas is my hero.”

“Kind of sounds like Cyrus too.”

Boen stepped toward me. “It’s uncanny, you know? It’s like I drew you before I knew you. Hey, that rhymed!”

He didn’t realize how close to accurate he was. The dragon on his page could easily have been modeled after me. I loved that he could see it, even in his human form. We shared a laugh.

“I was thinking you and I could get some lunch.”

He gave me a half smile. “I thought this place only served brunch.”

“Well,” I said, taking his hand in mine and Goddess bless me, he allowed it. “I happen to be in with the owner and the chef and he’s preparing something special today.”

“Is that right?”

“That’s right.”

Derrick welcomed us into the kitchen with open arms. It was all clean and spotless from brunch, but he was playing with recipes for the rest of the afternoon, as he did.

“You did all of this for me?” The cutest omega in the world said as he took the offering of a seat.

“I did. I wanted to get to know you. Thank you for sharing your pen name. You just had a new release, isn’t that right?”

“I did. A few weeks ago, in fact. It even sold out in some stores. Hard to believe it, sometimes. That’s why I was given this trip, even if it wasn’t real. You know what I mean.”

I laughed. It was adorable the way he just said things he thought.

I laughed. “Can I be nerdy and ask for you to autograph my books?”

“You absolutely can. Maybe we can make a trade.”

“For what?”Please be something sexy or naughty or at least romantic. Please.I poured a little of my desire into my words,hoping he got the hint. He was more than another guest I was simply being kind to. My dragon and I would revolve around him for the rest of our days.

“Tell me what you know about dragons? You live here. I mean, it’s not called Dragon’s Landing for no reason. A little history? I just want to know more.”

Such a curious little human.

“I could do that. Sounds like a good trade to me.”

We talked more while Derrick served us a meal fit for kings. Roasted meats and vegetables. Fresh bread. He’d even made a berry pie and topped it with homemade vanilla ice cream. I didn’t even know we had an ice cream maker.

“This morning, I almost thought I saw a dragon,” Boen said between bites of pie. “From your apartment window.”

“Is that right?” My beast perked up inside me. He knew something I didn’t already.

“But then I realized it had to be drones.” He dabbed his chin with a napkin. “You know, for the fest. Like they do at the sporting events.”

“It’s possible.” I had to play coy for now. There would be a time and place to tell my mate that I was a dragon shifter, and in fact, the very one he’d seen that morning, but now wasn’t the time. My dragon wanted me to tell him right that second, but we disagreed.

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