Page 18 of Witch's Bells and Mistletoe

“Because I want you to be sure.”

I frown at that because it’s absurd. I’m the one who invited him into my bed, after all. If it were only about him protecting me, I would have given him a pillow and rang up room service to bring up an extra blanket so that he could make his bed on the floor.

“Of course I’m sure. I’m a grown woman and think by now I know my own mind,” I retort, though I inwardly grimace at the fact that knowing my own mind is a far cry from knowing what I want and allowing myself to have it.

Adeon’s laughter rolls over me without a trace of mockery. It is beguiling, as are his eyes that dance with amusement.

“I think we are talking of two different things here, my love,” he rumbles. “I’m not just talking of enjoying each other carnally—I’m talking about mating. I’m talking about forever.”

I gasp and stare at him in shock. Mating? Yes, he said that I’m his home, but I thought he meant it more figuratively in that he felt an emotional comfort with me which is a far cry better than being seen a desirable possession that he might want to selfishly keep to himself… but mating?

“I don’t understand.”

He releases a gusty sigh and gives me a fond look. “It may be a little difficult for a human to comprehend. When a male dragon finds the female that his instincts demand he mate with, she becomes everything to him. He begins courting her, and sharing his magic with her, all which is designed to bring them closer, but when he consummates the bond,” he chuckles and drags a hand through his tangled hair, his horns bowing a little as he does so, “well, that is a bit trickier. He will do many things to give her pleasure if she allows it, but if he joins his body with hers there’s no stopping the sharing of dragon fire.”

“What?” I gape in horror and nearly shoot off the bed except that I remember that I’m firmly pinned in place against him.

Adeon makes a soothing sound at my obvious panic. “It’s nothing to be afraid of, Katherine. You’ve been taking small amount of my fire this whole time while we’ve been courting.” He grins when I scowl at him in confusion.

“I think I would remember being burned,” I point out waspishly.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “What do you think happens when a dragon shares his magic. Every spell I’ve taught you has required me to thread a small amount of my magic with yours, infusing you with a little bit of it. This is how we share magic—and how we begin sharing our dragon fire to prepare for the ultimate gift.”

“Which is what exactly?” I whisper, overwhelmingly aware that this a lot more than what I worried about from the typical relationship. This is more, far more, and it was terrifying even if it makes some insane part of myself stir eagerly.

His gaze burns through me with every bit of heat that I imagine coiled within him. “The breath of the dragon’s fire. A kiss for you, my lovely little witch, in which my fire—my magic—would flood you and join your essence to me for the rest of our long lives together.”

“What, thirty years or forty years? Adeon, humans don’t have a lifespan like a dragon—or even an elf, for fuck’s sake. I’m going to get old and die within an eyeblink of time for you.”

He gives me an infuriating smirk that always makes me want to punch his handsome face and make a dent in it. “You will be joined to me, my love. That means that bound by dragon fire, your lifespan will match mine. You will quit aging altogether until we reach the last couple of decades of life.”

I give him a puzzled look. “How would that work if you mated a dragon? Would you infuse each other and join to each other’s magic—and this is something you won’t have by mating with a human?”

“Ah, no,” he admits with a reluctant grin that I prefer by far over the smirk. “Females have a form of dragon fire in that it fuels their magic and helps them spew flame, but they typically don’t have to expend their fire for mating unless they mate someone who lacks it. A female will still exchange bits of her magic—small amounts of her fire—with her male, but the male is the one who expends the greatest of his fire to join them and shoulders the cost for doing so.”

“Cost?” That alarms me a little. I don’t like the idea of Adeon suffering in any shape or form.

He shrugs nonchalantly. “We are weakened for a period while we recover. It takes weeks or months. It varies too much to say for certain, but it rarely matters since he goes to nest with his female while he recovers.”

Because he’s vulnerable. Adeon doesn’t need to say that part aloud for me to pick up on that. Not only does he want me to be sure that I’m ready for this—which I now can’t honestly say that I am with all of this new information—but he is wary because of the situation with the fairies and feels a driving need to protect me.

“And this is what would happen between us… what you wish to do with me?”

His eyelids lower in a heated smolder that crawls straight down to my clit and makes my pussy dampen. “More than anything. I crave it, Katherine. I want to bind you to me with my flames, and I don’t even think I could stop if I wanted to if I were rooted deep within that beautiful cunt of yours.”

My breath breaks out of me in a shaky pant as my wicked imagination tries to tease me with how wondrous it would feel to be stretched around his cocks. I push it away, forcing myself to refocus.

“What of Fran? And my coven? I can’t just leave them behind to go on without me.”

He snorts dryly. and I startle at the sound. “My love, need I remind you that now that Fran is mated with Reynard she is not suffering any great risk of getting older either. As for the coven, I’ve no intention of taking you from there. You may lead for as long as you have the desire to, and when you wish to give over the reins to another then we will still be there to take care of our family—though I wouldn’t object to traveling a little with my mate.”

The corners of my lips tug up a little at that. He’s offering me everything, and I hate that some small part of me is timid and terrified of making the wrong choice and possibly harming my coven with such a monumental impact that this would have beyond any typical relationship.

Adeon smiles and takes my hand in his, lifting it to his mouth. He presses a chaste kiss against my knuckles that melts my heart as assuredly as it does my panties if I were wearing any. “There is no need to decide today, Katherine. I will wait for you.”

And just like that I’ve fallen a little more in love with him.

Chapter 14

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