Page 34 of Shifting Desire
“I’m still mad,” she whispers.
“I know.”
“But I don’t want to sleep alone.”
My dragon roars.But I don’t touch her.Not until she reaches for me first.Until she forgives me every move between us will be initiated by her.I’ve already hurt her in the past and I won’t risk losing her now.Her fingers curl around mine, soft and sure.
And just like that, I know.The next time Ravik comes for her?He won’t find a frightened girl.He’ll find a queen.
And the dragon who will burn the world for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Ari
Mine to Keep
Iwake to the scentof dragon smoke and dark roast coffee.It’s oddly comforting.Warm.Solid.Like waking up wrapped in something ancient and dangerous, but safe.
I stretch slowly, eyes still closed, the blanket tangled around my legs.My body aches in the best way.Not from anything physical.Just ...from the sheer exhaustion of existing beside him.
Malichai.My dragon.Even though we set the mate bond, I haven’t said it aloud yet.I haven’t even dared whisper it into the stillness of night.But I feel it.Every breath.Every heartbeat.Every flicker of magic crawling across my skin like it’s being called home.
It’s him.It’s always been him.
The bond hasn’t fully clicked into place, not yet.It’s holding back because I am.But it’s there.Pulling at me.Warming me from the inside out.And last night, I let it.Not fully.But enough to give us both hope.
The bed is empty beside me.I sit up and look around.He’s not far.
Malichai is standing by my window, sleeves rolled to his elbows, tie gone, shirt half-unbuttoned.He’s sipping coffee like it’s a ritual, staring out at the street with that perpetual tension in his shoulders, like he’s waiting for the next threat to arrive.
He always looks like that.Like a god of war pretending to be a man.
“You’re brooding,” I say sleepily.
He glances back, eyes softening.“I do that.”
