Page 52 of Dragon Unleashed

“I don’t want to.”

The moment the words leave my mouth I regret them. Hurt flashes over his face. He went to all this effort, and hell, I do want to.

“I’m sorry. I just—”

“Would you rather it was one of them?”

“Who?”

“You’d rather it was Farrell, wouldn’t you? After all, ?queen’ must have quite a nice ring to it.”

I shove at his chest. “What? No.”

But I do. Sometimes I look at Farrell—hell, even Zephyr—and I want them. I’m a bad girlfriend. A worse mate.

“Chano, I’m sorry. My head is all over the place. But what is going on with you? You keep pushing. Pushing me for sex. Butit’s not even that, is it? You’re pushing me to feed. Even when I don’t need to.”

Chano holds my hands between his. He looks vulnerable.

“I thought…” He avoids my eyes, staring somewhere over my shoulder and swallowing hard. “I know you don’t want to have a second-stage bonding ceremony, but our Aeternum bond could progress without it.”

I heave a sigh.

“We’re vulnerable like this, chica. Stuck in the first stage. Something could still happen, take you away from me. And…” He lets me go, rubbing a hand over his face. “And thetiosare asking questions. Normally the Aeternum mating stages happen in quick succession. They’re suggesting there’s something wrong with us, with me.”

I frown down at him.

“Chano, a second-stage ceremony…it’s like throwing an engagement party. It feels like a big thing.”

“The bond can form naturally without a ceremony. I thought it might happen if you fed more often.” His voice is growing smaller and smaller. “But now you’re talking to the others again. Maybe you’ll feed from them, and we won’t…not so much.”

Ah shit. There it is—his obsession with me feeding from the allegiance.

“I’mdefinitelynot ready to feed from anyone else.”

He gives me a slow, lopsided smile and pulls me toward him. “It don’t mean you shouldn’t, chica. I’m just worried. Worried for you. Worried for us. If we’re fully bonded, I can protect you better. You should, you know, think about feeding from them sometime.”

I hesitate. “Is it always sexual?”

He laughs, tracing my incisors with his finger. “No. Feeding only heightens things, makes what’s already there more obvious. So, unless you want to jump Naeve’s bones…”

He waggles his eyebrows, and I can’t help laughing, shaking my head.

“Then it’d just make your friendship stronger, I think. Whereas Zephyr…” Chano growls, and I feel the sound reverberating through my chest. “Maybe it’d be sexual with him.”

I poke Chano in the chest. “It’s sexual for Zephyr with everyone. He’s a nymphomaniac.”

He arches an eyebrow, but thankfully doesn’t push me.

That’s it. That’s the real reason I’ve been putting off the bonding ceremony. I should only have eyes for my Aeternum and yet Zephyr, in all his model-like beauty, makes my heart skip a beat. Even freaking Farrell. Even when he’s being an asshole. Especially when he’s being an asshole.

I look deep into Chano’s gorgeous eyes. I hate that I’ve put concern in them.

“I’m not ready.”

Pain slices through his features, and I place a finger on his lips before he can speak.

“Wait. I’m not ready for a ceremony. I won’t be rushed by yourtios. But…” I sneak a kiss at the side of his lips. “I’m also not ready to give up on our sexy time and feeding. I don’t want to feed from the others. So, I guess you’re right, if it happens naturally then I am ready.”

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