Page 20 of Love Bites Extra Hard

I couldn’t let myself have it, of course. Not even maybe.

But that didn’t stop me from wanting it.

I’d just act like nothing happened. That was probably the best call.

Yep.

So, I carried my stack of scales over to the fireplace’s mantle and spread them over it. I could only fit a few extras, but I didn’t think Talon would lose that many more. Not after the crazy number he had already dropped.

I padded into the bathroom to grab the ones I’d left there the night before. When I picked the first one up, I frowned.

It felt… warm.

That was strange.

I checked the others, and realized they were the same.

Huh.

Maybe there was some kind of magic in them or something. I’d have to ask Talon. Or maybe his sister. Stella seemed more likely to tell me facts about dragons.

I added those scales to the rest of them, and took a few minutes to make them look nice. I wasn’t sure why I did. They were gorgeous even when they weren’t arranged nicely. Some part of me just wanted to make them look like they belonged there, I guess.

It was ridiculous. I knew that, but I still couldn’t walk away until they were perfect.

When they were properly placed, I padded back to the closet and changed into a new pair of clothes.

I hadn’t packed the right clothes. Mostly because I didn’t have any warning about how cold it was going to be. I’d assumed we were going to Dragon Manor. Honestly, I didn’t evenownclothes that were warm enough to keep me from shivering in the dragons’ castle.

So, I put on a clean pair of jeans and a cropped, long-sleeve tee. Ripped jeans and cropped black tops made up most of my wardrobe, to be honest. I didn’t aim for variety.

I was debating which sweater would be the warmest when the door to my bedroom opened, and the smell of pancakes flooded the room.

Yumm.

I ditched the closet immediately when the gorgeous, gigantic dragon I’d just been thinking about came in with two plates of pancakes. The monstrous stack was clearly for Talon, but thesmaller one was more than enough for me. And there were bacon, eggs, and sausage with it.

Maybe I loved Talon’s castle a little bit.

Or maybe the stupidly good orgasms the night before made me sappy. It was hard to say.

I stole my plate from Talon, ignoring his gorgeous face and ridiculously tight ass. He looked tired, and there were circles beneath his eyes, but I didn’t bring that up.

I was sitting on the edge of the bed and stuffing my face with food a moment later. I thought I heard him chuckle, but when I looked over, he was just eating next to me.

He was still finishing up while I dabbed syrup off the corner of my mouth with one of the napkins he’d brought, and my gaze went back to the scales he’d left.

I wasn’t sure why, but looking at them made me feel sort of proud. Logically, I knew they were shitty decor. They basically looked like large, flat gemstones. But that didn’t matter to the weird pride I was feeling.

Dragon Manor was making me insane. Scales were like toenail clippings, and I was the creep who was collecting them.

“You can have your scales back,” I said, though some part of me silently dared him to try to takemyscales.

That part of me needed to take a hike. A long one.

“No,” he said.

I blinked.

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