Page 25 of Lachlan

She could be brave and say exactly what she pleased in a dream, couldn’t she?

Could she even question this huge man who claimed he was centuries old and could shift into a mythical creature?

That she thought she’d actuallyseenpartially morph into exactly that!

Instead of dragons, she should have become obsessed with unicorns, she chastised herself. They were beautiful and ethereal and gentle.

Maybe not so gentle, considering they had a vicious horn on their head that could gore someone to death.

Okay, she’d stick with dragons. But they wereherdragons, and that meant they should damn well behave how she wanted them to behave.

“And just how manymateshave you had?” she scorned.

“I only have the one tr—” His brow cleared. “Ah, you were asking how many women I’ve hadsexwith.”

“Same thing,” she muttered.

“Not in any way, shape, or form, lass.” Lachlan stood, every bit as tall and muscular as Belle remembered him to be as she raised her gaze up and then up again so that she could look at his sculptured features.

As sheimaginedhe looked, she corrected herself, because none of this was real. It couldn’t be.

Lachlan walked round to the bottom of the bed before sitting, now only feet away from where a poised-for-flight Belle stood. “I’ve had sex. Of course I have. Although probably not as much as you might think, considering how long I’ve been alive,” he added ruefully. “Truth is, the last few centuries, I lost all interest in meaningless sex and just longed to find my true mate.”

“Oh, I’m atruemate now?” Belle taunted.

He frowned. “Dragon shifters have one true mate, yes.”

“And I’m yours?” she scoffed.

Lachlan’s eyes narrowed until they appeared as icy slits between his lids. “I’m not accustomed to having what I say doubted nor questioned.”

“Really?” she derided. “Well, if I’m going to be stuck in this torment of what seems to be my idea of hell with you for the rest of my eternity—although quite what I did to deserve going to hell is beyond me!—then we should probably set some rules from the onset.” She gave a decisive nod. “Rule number one is that I don’t give a damn what you’reaccustomedto. This is obviously my version of what my afterlife in hell looks like, and as such, I should have a say in how you do or don’t get to behave in it.” She lifted her chin in challenge.

That had told him.

Well…that had told the man she onlyimaginedwas sitting a few feet away from her when she was only wearing panties below the waist, and he was looking sexier than even a sexual fantasy had the right to look.

CHAPTER NINE

Lachlan stilled at the realization Belle thought that he and all their interactions to date were nothing more than the tormented imagining of her brain as she prepared to die alone, frozen to death, in a cave up on the mountain.

There were two ways he could think of that would ensure she realized this was all very real.

One, he could kiss her.

Two, he could throw her across his thighs and spank her arse for being so scornfully disbelieving.

Appealing though the latter was when only those thin cotton panties would be between his hand and her bare arse and when his mate was looking at him with such scorn, he didn’t think it was the right thing to do when he was hoping to convince her that she wanted to be his one true mate.

But he reserved the right to change his mind if the kissing wasn’t successful!

Lachlan reached out to lightly encircle one of her wrists with his fingers.

“What are you doing?” she demanded after Lachlan had tugged on that wrist so that she lost her balance and ended up sitting sideways across his thighs. “Now look here.” She glared at him. “This is my fantasy and— Umph!”

Lachlan was tired of being reasonable, of taking Hunter’s advice to take things slowly.

This washisreality: Belle was his true mate, and he couldn’t wait a moment longer to taste her sweet lips.

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