Page 147 of Smoke and Lure

“Yes.”Micheala using her like a baby’s sippy cup was the least of her concerns, but her government was a real threat.“They want us back.”

“Never,” he growled, and this time, the dense puff of smoke that came out was charcoal gray with a pungent sulfuric smell.

Avalore shivered at the scent even though she knew Liekki’s threat was not directed at her.

“They will not have you.No one will touch you.”

She wanted to remind Liekki of the plans the council had devised, but seeing the illumination of his scale markings now a blood-orange hue, she decided not to agitate the dragon-shifter further.The last thing Aodh and the other leaders needed was Liekki’s dragon flying over to the Wall and burning the entire place down, which had been one of Liekki’s suggestions during the discussion.

All the leaders had been clear that the civilians in the Dispatch District needed to be protected.Liekki, in this state, would put everyone at risk.

“I know you’ll ensure I am safe.”On instinct, she reached out and placed a hand at the center of his chest.Avalore could feel the tension in the big man’s form release and settle.

Did my touch do that?

He raised his hand to cover the back of her hand, keeping it against him, his warmth heating her palm and surrounding her.“To do this, I must claim you.Mark you in all ways as mine.”

“Liekki, I—” She wanted to deny it and tried to pull her hand away.

Liekki held her firm.“I never wanted a mate.”

She couldn’t bear seeing the truth of those words in his eyes, so she trained her gaze on his chest where their hands rested.Hurt, she bit out, “No one’s asking you to take one now.”

His hand flexed around hers, and the sound he made in his chest was the settling of rocks and boulders at the bottom of a valley.

It made her breath catch.

“No man denies what the Great Spirit gives for long.”

She shook her head.His words weren’t the balm to her core as he may think.There was still a tightness inside of her.Doubt strangled all hope within her heart.She’d believed her family would be there for her always.She’d hoped the sacrifice in the lab would provide her with financial freedom.

Now, she couldn’t put credence in anything else.

“I won’t be a burden you must deal with to appease your Dragon God.”

Avalore knew what she had to do; she had to work harder to learn to fight and protect herself.A war was coming, and she refused to be anyone's responsibility.An obligation.Hell, she volunteered for the lab because she knew if she didn’t willingly decide to be a breeder to unburden her family and increase their balance on their bank book, she was another mouth to feed, another body to house.Avalore refused to take their grudging charity then, and she wouldn’t do it now.It felt like her soul was being cleaved from her as she kept herself away from Liekki.

Liekki growled.Released a flurry of white smoke that draped over her head and shoulders like a shroud, some cloak of protection.He squeezed his massive hand around hers and held it so tight against his chest that she could feel his heartbeat so strong she imagined she was holding it in her heart.

The pulsing sensation in her palm caused quakes to move through her body.At that moment, it was like Liekki was giving her something, entrusting her with something valuable and precious in his heart.

As the smoke vanished, she tipped her head back and gazed into his eyes.The flames showed the sapphire blue that she’d seen the day he held her down on the table in the hall, but for a brief second, at the base was a lighter blue, something softer she couldn’t decipher.

“The same God.Little lure, you are not a weight...a burden.You.Are.My.Mate.”He leaned down in increments as he spoke, placing his face right before hers.

He was so close, she could see the flexing of his pupils, the curls of smoke in his nose as he breathed, the perfect symmetry of his face, and the stone-carved tightness of his strong jawline speckled with an ever-present shadow of dark hair.The urge to stroke her fingers over his wide jaw until she got to the perfect shape of his mouth.His top lip was thinner than his lower, and his bottom wasn’t as full as her own but enough that she could take a bite.

The thought jarred her.She would have stepped back if Liekki hadn’t held her hand against him.Instead of running, her mind returned to his words.You are my mate, he’d said.So confident.

“How can you be sure, Liekki?There are so many beautiful and strong Drahkelle among your people.You’d be better choosing any one of—”

His other hand gripped her waist as if he knew she considered fleeing from his words, as he said, “I choose a pair of boots, I choose what I will eat at meals, I choose whether or not to fly north and help with the patrol or to cover the south.But you, my little lure, the beautiful woman who drew my beast out of the sky with a single sighting.You who have started the roaring flame in my core, filled my lungs with smoke, and set my heart beat after beat...are no choice but a part of me.”

“No—” she shook her head and started to deny it, but the word got stuck in the tightness of her throat.The adamant speech of the big Drahk caused so many emotions to swell inside of her.She wanted to believe him.Yearned to believe him because she had been fighting her feelings and desire for him since she opened her eyes and watched how he cared for her.Even with all his gruff manners, he’d still treated her as if she were precious.

I’m his.

“Yes,” he declared as if he’d heard her.“But we can’t remain here.”

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