Page 13 of The Dragon's Stormwoven Bond

A growl rumbled in my throat. “Don’t talk about Valen like that.”

Rhythe shot me a look, then returned his attention to the fridge. He wouldn’t find much, we hadn’t done any grocery shopping. “Oh, I mean, he’s hot, don’t get me wrong, but he’s Dad’s age.”

I wasn’t sure which I hated more, my brother thinking my mate was old or thinking he was hot. Obviously he was hot. No one could see the man and not think so, but at the same time, he was mine. Why should anyone be looking at him at all?

“I know that. Why do you think we aren’t telling Dad?” I didn’t care about my mate’s age. He was my mate, and my dragon knew he was perfect for us, and I trusted that. It was everyone else’s reaction that gave me pause.

“Yeah, that’s going to be a mess.” He grinned then pulled me in for a long hug in which he nearly squeezed all the air from my lungs.

“What was that for?” I said.

“I’m really happy for you.” At least someone was. And not any someone, but the person who was closer to me than anyone else.

“Thank you. I’m really happy too. Surprised and worried, but happy.” And a thousand other emotions.

“Tell me everything. Was it amazing?” He shut the fridge, finally giving up on his beer hunt.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not telling you about getting mated.”

He gave an exaggerated shake like he was shaking that mere idea away. Asshat.

“No, I mean realizing you were mates. Was it instant? Did you swoon when you saw him?” Rhythe had dragged me out of the kitchen now and pulled me down on to the sofa.

“You saw when he saved me from Craig?”

He nodded.

“Well, after that, I already liked him. How could I not?”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s fabulous, but the mate part—I’ve always been so curious about it and had no one to ask. Was it instant?”

“It was for Valen, not for me.” Although looking back, I did know too, I just hadn’t been able to understand what it all meant. “We spent the entire night at the bar talking, and then finally went back to his hotel.”

My brother’s jaw dropped. I wasn’t one to even kiss a guy at a bar and here I was telling him a story that included me heading off to a virtual stranger’s hotel room hours after we met and before we verbalized that we were mates. Better telling my brother this than my father, that was for sure.

“We were on the street at two in the morning when we voiced out loud that we might be mates.”

Rhythe waggled his eyebrows. “And then you went back to his hotel to bone?”

I punched him in the shoulder. “Slightly more romantic than that, but yes, essentially that is what happened.”

“We need to go to the bar more often. Maybe I can snag me a mate too and we can raise our clutches together and drive our mates up a wall with our antics.”

“Not sure if the bar is the best place to do that, but I’m on board with you finding your happiness.” I leaned into my brother’s side. This was going to be the first time we lived apart. I was going to miss him, not that he was far away.

“I just hope Dad doesn’t kill your mate.”

“Asshat.”

“You love me.” I did, but also, I didn’t need another what-if running through my head.

Chapter 8

Valen

My mate and I might have had several years between us. Several hundred years, that was. But that didn’t mean we didn’t have a lot in common, or so I was quickly discovering. It also didn’t mean that we couldn’t have our share of first experiences together, something I knew was important to my mate.

Today, we were both starting our first day of work on the same day at the same place. He began his job as the media specialist in the library, and me as a Flight Leader. We wouldn’t cross paths during the day with the exception of meals, but we’d be soclose to each other. I wasn’t sure who liked that more, me or my dragon.

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