Page 14 of The Dragon's Emberlinked Mate
I knew that. It was obvious just looking at him that he was fully healed, but every time I thought about approaching the topic, the memory of him on that hospital bed with no heartbeat resurfaced and stopped me dead in my tracks.
“I still can’t get the image of your broken body out of my mind,” I confessed.
“I’m home,” he said, and he grabbed my hand, placing it on his naked chest. “I’m here. I want nothing more than to be your mate, even though it makes me feel selfish.”
“Selfish? Why?” I asked. It sounded like perfection to me.
“The academy deserves so much more than a mate like me for their commander. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t have a career, a plan, or anything.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d expressed his insecurities, and honestly, I didn’t know how to strip them away from him. Aside from telling him repeatedly all of the ways he was the dragon of my dreams, I was stumped. But I’d find a way, because seeing him like this nearly broke me.
I cupped his cheek. “Rhythe. You don’t need to have any of those things. Do you think I knew at twenty what I was going to be when I grew up? You have an eternity to figure these things out.”
“I do know one thing that I want to be.”
“Well, what is it? Just say it and we’ll make it happen.”
“A father.” His gaze met mine, and I was shocked at the intensity there. There was the light that had been missing.
That was the last thing I expected to hear from his lips, while at the same time being the most magical words I’d ever heard. He was going to be such an amazing father to our dragonets when the time came.
“I want that too,” I said, “more than anything.”
“Then claim me, Emmen.”
Chapter 9
Emmen
Hearing those words from my mate’s lips was my undoing. Though I would never get the image of him lying on that hospital bed out of my head, broken, when his heart had stopped, it was time for me to move past it. Rhythe had healed. His body was whole again and his heart beat. For me. Just as mine beat for him.
I put my hand behind his head at the nape of his neck and pulled him closer to me. My lips settled over his gently. He opened forme immediately, as if he couldn’t take another moment without my taste. His tongue explored and tasted. I let him devour me.
“Off,” he said.
It took me a moment to realize that he was referring to my clothes. He wasn’t playing games. He wanted this, and now.
“We can go slow, mate, we have all the time in the world,” I said. We had our entire lifetime to explore each other’s bodies, and I planned to do exactly that.
“We can go fast, mate, we have all the time in the world to go slow later,” he countered, his cheeks a deep rosy red. He spoke the words with such confidence, but there was a shyness shining through that was both endearing and hotter than the sun.
I chuckled, resting my forehead against his. “There will never be a dull moment with you, will there?”
“Goddess, I hope not,” he said.
I sat back and removed my shirt, slowly, making sure to at least give him a little show. He was right, we could do slow later, but that didn’t mean we had to rush. There was a fine line between going hard and fast and rushing.
He licked his lips as he soaked in my naked chest. I undid my pants next. Rhythe scooched forward and helped. Apparently, he was serious about moving this along, and my attempt at a show wasn’t in his lineup for the evening.
He peeled off his joggers, and I bit back a groan. He was already hardening for me, and it was a sight to behold.
When we were both naked, I took a moment to appreciate my mate’s physic. He was lean, with sleek muscles, and the outline of his abs were visible. Meanwhile, age and a desk job meant that my muscles had softened. My stomach was no longer defined; instead, it was more round and covered with hair.
Not that you’d know it by his reaction.
Rhythe reached a hand out and ran his fingertips over my pecs and down to my middle. “Fuck, you are gorgeous, mate. I knew you would be.”
“Me? You’re the gorgeous one.”
