Page 97 of Cruelly Fated
That was fair. My cock had other opinions, but she wasn’t sayingnoto fun—justnot yetto mating marks and babies. I could live with that. I just had to restrain myself from biting the mark while we fucked. Easy. Sort of. I gulped. The act triggered a female mate’s ovulation, and resisting it felt like going against my nature.
From the corner of my eye, I caught the tempting swell of her breasts beneath the sheets. I yanked the blanket higher, tucking it snugly around her, then hopped out of bed before I lost my mind.
“Come,” I said, reaching for her hand. “I want to show you something.”
She raised a brow. “O-kay…” She stood, gloriously naked at my side. I coughed, snatched a T-shirt off the floor, and pulled it over her head. It swallowed her whole—my shirt hit just above her knees. Perfect.
With her hand in mine, I led her out of the bedroom to the sliding barn door near the kitchen. I slid one side open.
She gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as she stepped into the room, eyes sweeping over everything like she couldn’t quite believe it. She turned in a slow circle.
Blank canvases of all sizes leaned against the back wall. Two easels stood in the center, flanked by a long table covered in neatly organized paints, brushes, pencils—everything she might need.
“I’ve finally figured out what this space needed,” I said.
She brushed her fingers over the luxury paints atop the table, chewing her lip, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. I crossed the room in three strides, lifted her off the ground, and plopped her perfect ass down by the paints.
I hated seeing her cry—but these were the good kind, right? Two silent tears slipped down her face. She cupped my jaw inher small hands and whispered, “This is perfect. How could I ever repay you?”
My brows shot to my hairline.Repay me?She’d saved my life, freed my dragon, taught me what real love and freedom felt like—and wanted to bear my children.
Fuck me.
I shook my head. “I owe you more than you know. And I plan to make it up to you every single day of my life.”
Then I kissed her—those salty tears first—before scooping her into my arms and carrying her toward the kitchen. As much as I loved fucking her senseless and spoiling her silly, I also lived for the way she moaned over food I cooked. That was a dragon thing…
I settled her on a barn stool, stole a few more kisses from her mouth, then headed to the fridge.
“I like watching you cook naked,” Allie said in that sinful bedroom voice of hers, and I nearly dropped the carton of eggs.
I scowled at her over my shoulder and she grinned.
Adding “cook naked” to the list of things that make my mate happy.
My phone buzzed with a horror movie-inspired ringtone—Valor. I ignored it.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” Allie asked.
“If it’s an emergency, he will call back—” Valor’s ringtone blasted again.
Shit. I loped back to the bedroom and grabbed the phone off thenightstand.
“I was robbed,” Valor said instead of hello.
“You want me to smoke his ass?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave my girl alone, but I’d make it quick.
“Here’s the thing…it’s a she.”
Silence. I frowned at the phone, confused. Valor could handle one girl, couldn’t he?
“I went to a blood donor auction last night,” he went on. “There was this girl who looked too sweet to be there, so I tried to help her. Slipped her some cash. She thanked me—and walked off with my wallet.”
I rubbed my chin. “You sure it was her?”
“Yeah, man. She had this glint in her eye. I thought…never mind.”
I bellowed with laughter, doubling over. Valor had been grifted by a little blood donor.
