Page 44 of Scales and Seduction

Ruby has changed.

Loran’s voice breaks the quiet, his eyes wide. “Did you see that?”

“Yes, what the hell was that?”

She lifts her head shakily, her hand rising to her forehead, but the exhaustion is too much. Her head falls back down to the pillow, and her eyes flutter closed again with a shaky sigh. “My head hurts so bad.”

“She smells like magic.” Crinkling his nose, Noodles sniffs the air from his place near her feet. His fur bristles momentarily, his whiskers twitching as though he hates the way it smells. Then he stops, leans closer and sniffs again beforesnorting a soft huff. “I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never smelled anything like it before.”

I glance at Loran, my mind racing as I continue to turn over what my mate has become. I can sense it in the air—something has changed. As if a new presence is lingering in her place, but I can’t grasp it. I’m unsure what the poison has unleashed in her, but once she’s feeling better, we’ll have more time to investigate it.

“Are you alright?” I give her hand another squeeze as I try my best to convey less fear than I feel. I don’t want Ruby to worry about this at all, because maybe, just maybe, this might be a good thing.

“I’ll be okay,” she whispers, though it’s less than convincing. “Can you turn out the lights?”

Ruby sitson the edge of the bed now, fiddling with her fingers and the edge of the blanket. Her eyes are so distant as she tries to pull herself back together. A magic hums just under her skin, but what it is, I still can’t place. She’s slept for hours, and now she swears she wants a bath.

My eyes are drawn to her, noticing the way she’s still herself but somehow so different. “Are you alright?” I swallow hard as I hold her tiny hands in mine.

Ruby glances up at me, her lips curling into a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m just really tired,” she says softly. It’s less than convincing. but I don’t press. Her eyes no longer glow, but her irises are peppered with flecks of lavender as a reminder.

“I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you, Ruby.” I hesitate to say more, watching as she leans her head against my forearm, wrapping her fingers around it.

“I’m alright now…” She presses a gentle kiss to my arm before lifting her head to gaze at me with exhausted eyes. “I knew you would get here in time.”

“But you weren’t.” I shake my head, grabbing hold of her shoulders. “You were...gone. I didn’t know if we would find the antidote in time, or if you’d wake up. I would have been left with a memory of you.” I can feel the weight of the words as they spill from my lips. There’s so much rawness and fear radiating out of me that I failed to acknowledge. “I was terrified, Ruby. Terrified I would lose you.”

Ruby squeezes my balled fist, brushing her thumb gently over the back of it, allowing it to loosen. “I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. I can’t, at least not yet...” There’s a flicker in her eyes as they well with tears. I can hear her voice tighten. “I don’t know if I want to leave.”

Her words help soothe the aching places in my heart, but still, worry gnaws at my insides. How can I not be afraid? Everything has changed, and I still can’t tell if it’s for the better. Ruby now has changed, the app is still out there doing who knows what, and there’s someone searching for it, wanting to destroy it all because of a curse we can’t understand. It’s like there’s a shadow looming over us, and I’m unsure if we can outrun it.

“Baby, don’t cry,” I say, gently wiping tears from her cheeks.

Ruby nods, though she chews at her raw lips like she always does when there’s something gnawing at her anxiety. “It’s just—Gideon, I love you,” her voice trembles. “My friends, my family…they’re all gone now, and if I’m changed, can I even go back if we found a way?”

Her declaration stabs at me—it’s such a heart-wrenching sentence. Ruby is giving up everything to be here, and if she chooses to stay here with me…if she loves me, then I’m the reason she’s separated from them all. “You love me?”

Ruby nods, a small smile turning the corners of her lips upward. “Yeah, I do, stupid naga.”

My heart can’t take it.

I’m drawn to Ruby as she leans in just a little, her breath warm against my arm. She looks at me as if there is something more than just a naga beside her. Deep within her eyes, there is this softness that lingers there amongst the bitter tears. I’m her mate, and it’s then I realize she finally feels it too.

She slowly allows her fingers to slide up my arm, and each touch makes my scales itch for more until she traces a spot on my stomach. I let out a shaky breath as the tension between us grows and my cocks throb within their pouch at her touch. God, I love her too.

“I’m so happy I can touch you, and you’re here.” My voice is rougher than I’d like as I trace the softness of her jaw.

Ruby smiles, and her eyes flicker with a soft intensity. “I’m here, Gideon, with you.”

Before I can say anything else, Ruby slowly rises to her feet between us. I crane my neck down as she leans to kiss me. At first, it’s gentle, tentative, as if she worries I may second-guess it. But I don’t. I lean into it fully, cupping the back of her neck as I anchor her to me. It reminds me that she’s real and she’shere.

Her lips part against mine as our kiss deepens, slow and filled with longing I wish I could voice. It’s a kiss that feels as if it holds everything unspoken between us: the fear, the relief, the promises and the adoration.

When I pull back, Ruby’s forehead rests against mine as our breaths mingle. “I don’t know what will happen, or if I’ll be safe to stay, but I want to be with you…always,” she whispers.

My heart clenches, and I inhale a deep breath as the longing to tell her how much I love her stays on the tip of my tongue. I’ve said it once while she was unconscious, but I can’t describe howhard it feels to say now. It’s not that I don’t want to, but it feels so momentous that the simple phrase doesn’t feel like enough.

She loves me, and I love her. My mate, my one and only. I press my lips to her forehead, wrapping her up in my arms. “I will always be yours, Ruby. You are mine, and I am yours forever, no matter what’s to come.”

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