Page 80 of The Dragon's Mate

She smiled. “We have our disagreements likeall families, but yes it’s an apt description.”

There was silence for a few minutes, the onlysound the muted hum of the occasional car driving on the street below them. Shewas tired and she knew Bren was too, but she enjoyed the warm intimacy of lyingin his bed in the dark and talking with him.

“Thank you again for allowing Sika and Jarvisto spend the night,” she said.

“Of course,” he said. “They’re welcome tostay for longer. I’m not sure they should travel even tomorrow.”

“They’ll need to,” Kaida said. “The clanwill want to see the hatchling, and we’ll be feeling the pull for our clan bytomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“That morning after the love potion mess,when I left so abruptly,” Kaida said, “was not only because I was embarrassed.I needed to be with my clan again. Dragons can only be separated from theirclans for so long before they go…”

“Go what?” Bren asked.

“Insane.”

“Are you kidding?”

She shook her head. “I am not. Our dragonswill go crazy if we spend too much time away from our clans.”

“How long can you be away from them?”

“It varies from dragon to dragon, but mostcannot go more than forty-eight hours. Insanity sets in and we,” shehesitated, knowing how bad it would sound to the human.

“What?” Bren said.

“We kill ourselves.”

“Holy fuck.” He sat up on one elbow andstared directly at her. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”

“It is our way. We cannot be separatedfrom our clans. Once the love potion was no longer affecting me, I needed tobe with my clan again. My embarrassment at what I had done drove my need to bewith my clan higher. Does that make sense?”

“Yes,” he said. “Now I feel even worseabout what happened.”

“Don’t,” she said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

He settled back on his side, punching thepillow into a more comfortable position. She studied his mouth and the strong lineof his jaw, feeling a warmth and a need pooling in her belly.

Give me the human. Please?

She ignored her dragon’s pleading. She hadtold Bren she wouldn’t do anything to him, and she intended to keep thatpromise. It didn’t matter how tempting she found his mouth or his half-nakedbody.

“Wait,” Bren suddenly said, “you said earlierthat Jarvis lived with that other clan for two weeks. How is that possible?”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be the clanthat you grew up with,” Kaida said. “As long as your dragon is happy and feelsaccepted by the other members of the clan, then being with a new clan is assoothing as your old one. Does that make sense?”

“As much as itcanmake sense.”

She smiled a little. “Dragon ways are strange,I know.”

“How do you go on vacation?” Bren asked.

Her smile widened. “If a dragon wants tovacation, we go in small groups. Last year, Gram and I went to Hawaii withJarvis, Sika, Bones and Javee. Gram and I didn’t spend every moment of ourvacation with the others, but we had dinner together every evening. Our clanwas smaller, but it was still our clan, and our dragons were soothed. Do youunderstand?”

“Yes. What did you mean when you toldJarvis he would be banished if the others found out he changed to his dragonform?”

She swallowed hard. “It’s getting late,Bren. We should get some sleep.”

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