Page 20 of The Dragon's Stormwoven Bond

He rumbled out a sigh of content.

“We have to tell my dad,” I said. “I don’t know how, but we have to. Rip it off like a band-aid, I suppose.”

It was the only way to prevent this from happening again. If my father thought Valen needed a mate, he wasn’t going to stop with one pseudo blind date. Nope. My father was persistent to a fault. He probably already had half a dozen in queue.

The thought made me want to puke.

He shifted back to his human form. I braced myself for that other omega scent to slam into me. It was absent from the space. Thank gods.

“I showered again, shifted to my dragon form, swam in the lake, shifted to my human form, swam in the lake again. I air-dried outside and then came in for another shower,” he said.

There was no way he witnessed my reaction and thought it was proportional to what happened. And still… he responded with equal resolve. He was a good mate. The best mate. My mate.

“I didn’t even hear you leave,” I said.

“You were asleep by then. I’m so sorry, mate.” He wrapped his arms around me, his voice coming out pained. “I’m so very sorry.”

“I know it’s not your fault. It’s both of our faults—mine more than yours, but you know.” I rubbed my cheek against his, needing my scent embedded into him. “We need to tell my parents.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to work from home today. No one wants to see this face.” I pointed to my disaster of puffiness.

He brushed a thumb across my cheekbone. “I always want to see this face.”

I smiled. “Well, good. You’re not getting rid of me.”

“Never,” he said.

He leaned up and kissed me. I groaned against his lips, knowing that we weren’t going to make it far away from each other. The kiss deepened, and I was lost in the feel of him, the taste of him.

My breath was still shaky as I pulled back just enough to rest my forehead against his. I needed this… needed my mate’s physical touch, his taste on my lips, and his scent all over me.

“I hated all of what happened,” I whispered, my voice catching at the edges.

“I know,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry.”

He cupped my cheek, brushing his thumb gently just under my eye. “Come here, omega mine.”

I loved hearing that possessiveness in his voice. No matter how badly all that crap went down, especially my inability to deal with the consequences of my own foolish decisions, he still claimed me as his own. I was his and he was mine.

He scooped me up and carried me back to the bed and set me on the rumpled sheets, slowly undressing me, and I soaked in the beauty that was Valen’s form. He settled between my legs and waited for my eyes to meet his. His dragon was so close to the surface, staring back at me.

“I want a snack. Can I have one?” He licked his lips and looked at my hardening cock so as to make no mistake about what he was asking for.

I nodded, and that was all the encouragement he needed

Starting at my chest, he kissed a path down, licking, nibling, sucking the entire way towards his snack. As his tongue darted out, licking the precum from my tip, the entire world faded away until there was only us.

Chapter 12

Valen

I had work to do. So much freaking work to do. I wasn’t one to shy away from work, but man, things were piling up.

Despite that, I found myself enjoying my new job. There was just something about watching these young dragons learn a new craft and show off their talents. They had a lot of learning and growing to do to get into competing shape, but I was more than happy to guide them through it, and the idea of attending the competitions was exciting for me.

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