Page 25 of Witch's Bells and Mistletoe

“Well done, my love.”

Chapter 19

ADEON

The blizzard is still raging some hours later when I finally manage to steal Katherine away and get her up to the room. That she was cornered for some time by a few of the locals who wanted more precise instruction on the magic of the charms had garnered a lot of her attention. I don’t mind, but I am glad to finally have my mate to myself.

She sinks down beside me on the couch with a blissful sigh as the candles on the table beside us dance. There are only three candles cheerfully glowing, but it’s enough. Between the townspeople stuck in the hotel for the night—at the hotel’s expense with food and accommodation provided even if there has to be some doubling up in the rooms—and the guests, we’ve cleaned out all the thick pillar candles that the hotel has in stock. Regardless, it creates a restful and romantic atmosphere that I know my mate appreciates as much as she just appreciates being able to see a little.

The room is otherwise dark since the power is still out, but it matters little. I just enjoy curling up with my mate and could stay like this all day. She leans into me, and I tuck her beneath my arm so that her head is pillowed against my chest. Her body fits against me so perfectly that I’m purring again as my tail loops possessively around her legs. She may see me as a grabby male, but I’m pleased that she doesn’t complain. I simply want to touch all of her at once, and it is for this reason I allow my wings to spring out so that I can wrap one around her. From her soft sigh as she snuggles closer to me, I know that she enjoys it.

I enjoy it, too. As much as my cocks ache to be buried within her body and the dragon fire burns restlessly through me, demanding that I mount my mate and share the fire between us, simply being entwined with her is pure pleasure too.

I feel her shift in my arms very slightly so that her head is angled up and I can admire the soft curves and gentle lines of her face. Her fingers trace one of my scales slowly with a light touch that goes straight to my cocks as she peers at me in turn.

“Were you serious about wanting to stay at the coven house?” she murmurs.

My brows raise in surprise. Does she doubt my sincerity? “Of course. You are my mate, and therefore your land becomes part of my territory, and your kin is my kin. Your coven house is more pleasant and would be a kinder environment for you, my love.” I fidget, knowing that I need to share the secret I’ve been keeping from her. “Truthfully, I had long planned on staying there since I know it would sadden you to leave and that the mountains where my den is located wouldn’t be very comfortable for you. I’ve been carving a new den below the house,” I admit and cast her a worried glance.

Will she be angry that I did so without her permission and reject me now?

She stares at me in surprise, her brows winged up high. Her cheeks pinken slightly and I brace myself for her anger, but I’m surprised when she chuckles softly.

“You aren’t angry?” I ask cautiously and she shakes her head mirthfully.

“No, but I suppose that explains why you’d disappear for so long. I thought you were just searching for your jewel.”

I grunt, guilty. “I probably should have. I started out spending hours looking in every spot that I could think of but as the months passed, I lost my enthusiasm to hunt for it when my other instincts began to kick in.”

“Other instincts?” she whispers breathlessly, and I meet her eye and nod.

“When dragons mate they nest,” I explain, a little uncomfortable with it since we’ve yet to cross that final barrier separating us. “It is instinct that the male provides his female with an ideal nesting place. Usually we do this gradually, over the centuries, refining our hidden dens as our hoard grows. All of this becomes part of the nest that we share with our mate.”

“That’s very sweet, but what does that have to do with building a den under my home?” she teases, and I give her a sheepish smile in response.

“I just started doing it one day. It is true what I said earlier—that I couldn’t bear the thought to steal you away and trap you within a dragon’s den high in the mountains where you would be unhappy. I’d already become comfortable in the coven house, and my nesting instincts just took control. I carved it out and even installed an entrance to it from the main house, fantasizing about when I might have you down there, resting on a pile of jewels while we shared in our pleasure together.”

Her eyebrows shoot up and a look of panic crosses her face. “And your hoard is there now, unprotected!”

She practically shrieks the words at me as she begins to hunt for her phone. Chuckling at her frantic searching, I grab her hands in mine and hold them still.

“What are you doing, my love?”

She gives me an incredulous look. “I’m calling Fran so that she can check on the house. We have various protections on the coven house, but little can stop a determined thief.” Her brows lower in a scowl, “Or a certain member of the family who gets a little carried away at shiny things.”

Laughter rumbles from my chest as I lift her hands and brush a kiss against them. “You don’t have to worry. My gold and gems are still safe within the mountain. I wouldn’t have moved it until I was certain. There is a portal to it, but it is dragon magic and won’t respond to any others who don’t possess a drop of my magic.”

That is a strong hint that she could get to my hoard at any time, but she doesn’t comment on it or even seem to pay it any mind as she makes a happy sound in her throat and snuggles in closer. I release her hands so that I can wrap her in my arms again. We sit there together for a long moment, her breath warming my shirt as I keep her there next to my heart before she speaks again.

“I wish I had known. All this time I worried about getting too close or even just enjoying our time together because I assumed you wouldn’t want to stay.”

I lower my head a little so that I can more easily look into her eyes. “Why didn’t you say anything? I would have told you—I would have showed you.”

Katherine gives me a patient look. “Okay, but if you were very clear about your intentions, I would’ve pointed out my concerns. My gift has always been with manipulating energies, and while that is a very broadly applicable skill, I’m afraid it doesn’t make me a mind reader.”

She has a point there. But I still don’t think it would have been quite as easy as she wants to imagine it now.

“Would you have accepted that… truly?” I rasp. “Would you have entertained the idea of a dragon’s courtship when you were so accustomed to being alone and giving everything up for everyone else around you? Or would you have found an excuse to push me away ‘for the good of the coven?’”

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