Page 27 of Lachlan

Did that mean twelve-hundred-and-ten-year-old dragon shifters were real too?

Thatshe, as Lachlan had claimed,was his one true mate?

Lachlan was aware of the moment Belle stilled across his thighs.

Quickly followed by him almost being able to hear her thoughts processing and accepting the information—and the pain of being spanked—of knowing that she really wasn’t still alone and dying in a cave on the mountain. That she was very much here, in Lachlan’s home, having her arse smacked.

When they were fully mated, Lachlanwouldbe able to clearly hear the thoughts Belle wanted to share with him, as she would be able to hear his. Because they were true mates. Lachlan had no doubts about that after kissing and touching Belle and glorying in the beauty of watching her as she climaxed again and again.

Something he wished to see again at the earliest opportunity.

The taste of her was almost enough to make him come in his jeans as he reveled in the taste of that nectar on his tongue.

But here and now, he needed to deal with what Belle had realized was indeed reality.

Her new reality.

She slowly placed her feet on the carpeted floor before carefully standing, gasping her dismay when she realized that she was now completely bare from the waist down. Her ripped panties lay on the carpet, feet away from the bed, where Lachlan had thrown them before devouring her.

She kept her gaze averted as she quickly grabbed her jeans from over the back of the chair in front of the dressing table beforehopping from one foot to the other as she pulled them on and the zip up before fastening the single button at the waist.

Lachlan watched her every move like the predator he truly was. At the same time as he was fighting the urge he felt to throw Belle over his shoulder and carry her off to his cave, where he would then lay her down among his other treasures. Belle was far and beyond the most precious jewel he had ever imagined, and he would guard her with his life.

Belle’s cheeks were once again as white as the snow outside, but she held her chin at a challenging angle. “You’re real.”

Lachlan surged to his feet, pleased when Belle stood her ground. “I am,” he confirmed, although it was more a statement than a question.

She moistened her lips. “And a dragon shifter.”

“Aye.”

“A twelve-hundred-and-ten-year-old dragon shifter.”

“One who looks pretty good for my age, apparently.”

She swallowed. “And you think I’m your true ma?—”

“I don’tthinkanything, Belle. Iknowye’re my true mate,” he growled.

Her knees buckled, and she put her hand out to grasp one of the four wooden posts to steady herself before scrabbling to sit on the bottom of the bed, looking up at him. “You really knew Sister Agnes.”

“She was called Ailsa when we met her and took her to the convent, but aye, we knew your Sister Agnes.” He grimaced. “Probably not a good idea for her to have written that meetingdown for someone else to read centuries later, but I’m sure she had her reasons.”

“She was probably as awestruck by the event as I am and just needed to write it down so that she could read it occasionally and know that it really happened. Besides, I wouldn’t have come to Scotland if she hadn’t written her journal and I found it and read it. Then we would never have met.”

Lachlan felt his chest tighten just thinking about never having seen or spoken to Belle. Never making love to her, which had been the single most erotic experience of his long life. Of how the years he had left to live would have continued in that monochrome of black and white and varying shades of gray instead of all the multitude of vibrant colors he could now see.

He gave a fierce shake of his head. “I couldna have born that.”

Her head tilted. “Your Scottish accent deepens when you’re upset or—” She broke off, her cheeks blushing a fiery red.

“Or aroused,” Lachlan finished huskily. “Aye, it seems that it does.”

“Didn’t you already know that?”

“When I’m upset, or during anger, yes, but when I’ve been aroused, no. I believe that is unique to you, my mate.”

Belle moistened her lips before speaking. “Does the true-mate thing mean that you would be faithful to me, and only me, for the rest of your life?”

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