Page 123 of The Dragon's Mate

“Yes,” he said.

She kneaded his thigh. “I’m glad that I haven’tcrushed your fragile bones or accidentally set you on fire.”

He burst into laughter before planting akiss on her mouth. “Me too. You hungry? I can make us some dinner.”

“Starving,” she said with a soft smile. “Feedme, human, and in return I’ll take you to my bed again.”

“Technically,” he kissed her throat, “it’smy bed, but I like where you’re going with this. Come on, I’m about to makeyou the best boxed macaroni and cheese you’ve ever tasted in your life.”

* * *

“Do you want jam or peanut butter or both?”Bren juggled two pieces of hot toast onto a plate in front of Kaida.

“Just jam, please.” Kaida was scrollingthrough his iPad.

“Did you sleep okay last night?” He placedthe jam in front of her and sat down, spreading peanut butter across his owntoast.

“Yes, thank you.” She smiled at him. “Ilike spending the night in your bed.”

“I like it too.”

“What time do you need to leave for work?” Shewas wearing just his shirt and her morning bedhead was sexy as hell.

“Half an hour, forty minutes. You’rewelcome to stay in my apartment as long as you want. I can leave my spare keyfor you.”

“Thank you, but I’ll leave when you do,”she said.

She turned back to his iPad and he said, “Didyou find it yet?”

“Found it.” Kaida propped his iPad up againstthe jar of peanut butter and hit play on the video. The image of his father, standingat a podium with a few men and women in suits standing behind him, popped up onthe screen.

His father smiled at the sizeable crowd of peoplesitting at the round tables in the hotel conference room. “Thank you again forjoining us today. Your donation to the HAPI group is much appreciated. I’mhonoured to be working with such a fantastic organization dedicated to keepinghumans safe.”

He waited for the polite applause to diedown before gripping the podium. “As you know, we’ve had recent confirmationof the existence of dragons.”

There were some scattered boos throughoutthe crowd and the senator put up his hands, nodding in agreement. “The existenceof these creatures puts us all in grave danger. While it is harmful enough tohave predator animals such as grizzlies and lions and wolves walking among us,the dragons living in the forest outside of our city pose an immediate threatto every man, woman, and child.”

The senator paused, his hands gripping thepodium, his gaze solemn as he stared out at the crowd. “Many of you know that Ihave spent almost my entire political career fighting for the rights ofhumans. Humans who deserve to live without fear from the monsters who walkamong us. I promise you that I will never stop fighting. And, as many of youalso know, I’ve been working on a bill for the Senate. One that will require paranormalcreatures to register with the government and wear an identification tag, sothat we can better identify threats to us and our loved ones.”

He paused again, a greasy smile crossinghis face. “Today, I’m happy to announce that, very soon, I will be introducingthe bill to the Senate.”

The room erupted in applause. Some of thepeople stood up, clapping and cheering as the greasy smile on his father’s facewidened.

Feeling sick to his stomach, Bren hit thestop button on the video and flipped his iPad face down on the table. His appetitewas gone, and he pushed his toast away, watching as Kaida did the same.

“You okay?” he asked and then could have smackedhimself. What a stupid question. Of course, she wasn’t okay. “Sorry, that wasa dumb thing to say.”

She reached out and took his hand. “Itwasn’t. I’m all right. It’s … gross to watch a bunch of people cheering overhaving my kind tagged and registered.”

“It won’t happen.” He squeezed her hand.

“It might,” she said. “There were a lot ofpeople in that room.”

“It is only a fraction of the people inthis city,” Bren said. “Even if the bill gets past both the Senate and theHouse, the President will still need to sign it into a law. She’ll never signit. She’s pro-paranormal. It’ll be fine, Kaida. No one’s being tagged and registered.”

“I hope you’re right, Bren,” Kaida said, “butwe both know the discovery of my kind changes everything.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

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