Page 45 of Dragon Exposed

“I can feel you watching me, Levi.” She didn’t open her eyes, but she shifted back into the covers enough that there would be space for me to slide in next to her, to press my body against hers. “It’s creepy.”

Leaning down, I brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I was going to start dinner, but Declan gave me a potion, a spell from our clan witch, to cleanse the thrall from your mind. If you feel up to taking a bath, just empty the vial into the water with Epsom salts. It’ll take away any thoughts the vampires slipped into your head.”

She grabbed my wrist before I could pull away, sitting up so that we were closer to face to face. “What if it doesn’t work? What if there is no thrall?” She sighed. “Or what if there’s more thrall than we know about, and there’s some memory I’ve repressed?”

“If it doesn’t work, then we’ll just have to work out your fear of dragons the fun way.” I winked at her, smirking as I purposely let my gaze drop down to her breasts. “If there’s other thrall we don’t know about, wouldn’t you rather know that your mind is your own, that you’re free from any thoughts put there by someone else? Wouldn’t that be worth the risk?”

She pursed her lips, her big green eyes heavy with sleep still as she looked up at me. “Will you stay by my side when I do it, then? Be here, in case something worse comes out?”

I slid down to my knees before wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her in close. “Of course, mate. I could never deny such a request from you.”

17

Cleansing

IZOBELLE

Declan didn’t join us for dinner, even though Levi tried to bring him inside. He even left a plate of food on the back porch, covered to keep any wildlife or bugs away, but still, Declan just sat out in the grass.

No matter how many times Levi tried to tell me it had nothing to do with me, that his brother was having troubles that weren’t caused by either of us, it was hard to believe that he wasn’t at least a little pissed or a little surly to be here.

I could only imagine what it was like in their family. Levi still hadn’t told me much about the whole dragon thing, undoubtedly trying not to trigger my fear unnecessarily, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t forget what they were, any more than I could forget that Levi had given me no reason to fear him, no reason to believe that I’d wake up trapped in some crumbling castle with no way to get free, no way for even the most charming of princes to rescue me.

Then again, Leviwasa prince, wasn’t he? Maybe he was the rescuer, and New York had been the castle I was trapped in, and I hadn’t even realized it.

It was a better thought than the alternative, where I’d been abducted by a feral beast of a dragon who would feast on me as soon as he got the chance.

“You’re quiet, mate. Is there something weighing on your mind?” He reached over and scooped me out of my chair, into his lap, as easily as if I were a doll. “Was dinner not to your liking?”

I laughed, despite myself, and leaned into his chest, looking over at the plate I’d just abandoned. The one that had all but been licked clean. “That’s definitely not the problem. If you wanted to cook for me every meal, I could get used to that. I should probably start working out or something. I have a feeling I don’t even want to know how many calories I just ate.”

Levi’s brow furrowed and his hand curled around my hip in a possessive grip that made me want to drag him back upstairs before he could say anything more. Almost.

I also couldn’t help but want to hear his opinions, to enjoy his possessive touches.

“I wouldn’t even be able to give you that number, but even if I could, it wouldn’t matter, and I wouldn’t share it with you.” He kissed along my jaw, occasionally punctuating the soft pillowy touches of his lips with a scrape of his teeth. “I like your curves, your soft, full body. But if you want to burn calories, I can think of several ways of getting you all sweaty upstairs in the bedroom.” He looked around before adding, “Plenty down here too, but I wouldn’t want my brother to walk in and lose an eye for getting a peek at my beautiful mate in the throes of passion.”

A blush crept into my cheeks, and I buried my face into his chest, hiding the rosy tint from him. “Are you always going to be hard for me?”

“Is that a problem?” He paused, letting the question linger in the air until I looked up and met his heat-filled gaze. “I mean nothing by it, other than to say that you are sexy as fuck and remembering your taste on my lips just makes me want to send all the dishes crashing to the floor to feast on you for dessert.”

I bit my lip, stifling a moan, as I slid my fingers into his long, thick hair. “You might just be the death of me, Levi Wystan, if you’re going to be this insatiable.”

In an instant, he was on his feet with me tucked in against his chest, cradled safely against his hard body. “I could show you just how insatiable I am, mate, if you doubt just how badly I need you. How much I’ve longed for you, even before I knew who the fates had picked out just for me.”

Just as his foot hit the bottom step of the stairs, though, Declan’s voice boomed through the house, dousing us as surely as a bucket of ice water would have.

“More dragons are on their way. Your dive has cost us all more dearly than you know, brother.”

Levi snarled, turning to look at Declan with a completely different fire in his eyes. “Keep them from the house until we’ve broken the thrall. I won’t have the whole fucking family landing here and terrifying my mate.”

“It’s not just the Tourmalines, Levi.” Declan shook his head. “The Carmines, Gavin, Pru, and three dragons I don’t know at all are all on their way.”

“Fuck, I don’t have the space here for that.” Levi glanced down at me, but he didn’t let me slide from his arms. “Keep them outside, and we’ll hold this summit under the stars, if they insist on showing up with a fucking invitation.”

Without another word, he carried me up the stairs, bypassing the bedroom all together to carry me straight into the bathroom. “We have to break your thrall now, Izobelle.”

I nodded, even though the idea of some family member crashing in with me naked in the tub was the last thing I wanted to have happen. “How many dragons, exactly, are included in everyone Declan just named?”

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