Chloe Cole(10)

It wouldn’t be that way with Willa.

He shifted in his stool, his cock growing thick again as he imagined it. Burying himself inside her. Rough and tumble, no holds-barred rutting. Plunging in and out until--

"You ready to order, sweetie?" A redhead with a foot-high bun loomed over him, pad in hand, pen at the ready.

He shoved back his carnal thoughts as he faced his bride. "What would you like, Willa?"

"I guess I'll have a meatloaf sandwich with fries," she said, setting her menu down on the counter.

"And I'll take three steak dinners and four slices of apple pie. All to go, please," he said.

If he was going to be fighting back his dragon’s needs all night long again on no sleep, he needed to keep up his strength.

By the time they made it up the side of the mountain an hour later, the predicted rain was coming down in sheets. Visibility was nearly zero and he said a silent prayer of thanks for that. The brutal weather was another layer of insurance that she'd stay put for another day. If he could just string a few of those days together, he was sure he could convince her that she was exactly where she needed to be.

They walked into the house in silence and he led her straight to the media room.

He picked up the universal remote and, with two clicks, the fireplace popped on and the television lit up.

"Here," he handed Willa the remote. "I'm going to nuke our food real quick and get some napkins and utensils."

When he came back into the room, he was surprised to find her sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her holding a large, leather-backed book in her lap.

“What did you find?” he asked, setting their meals on the coffee table and gesturing toward her book.

“Found it on the shelf over there. It’s about dragons. Eat, I just want to finish this section.”

He nodded and willed himself not to read too much into it. Just because she seemed enthralled with the material in front of her didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about him.

He sat down in a chair across from her and tucked into his meal as she finished what she was reading and set the book to the side.

“So, you’re telling me that male dragon-shifters keep harems?”

He lifted his gaze from his plate of steaks and stopped chewing momentarily at the look on her face. It was as sour as spoiled milk.

Interesting.

“Of all the facts in that thousand page book, you manage to ferret out the most lascivious one? I was only out of the room for eight minutes, little wolf.”

“Spare me the lecture,” she said with a derisive snort. “Is that for real?” she asked, gesturing toward the still-open book in disgust. “Like…that’s got to be back in the olden days, right? People couldn’t possibly still be doing that nowadays.”

He forked up a bite of his steak and chewed thoughtfully. He didn’t like lying to her, but the truth certainly wasn’t going to help his cause.

“Drake?” she pressed, her pretty brown eyes widening incredulously. “Oh my god. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Clearly, it was time for some damage control. He set down his fork carefully and sat back with a sigh. “The choice to engage a harem might seem archaic, but really, is it any more so than an arranged marriage?”

“No,” she snapped, and leaned over to pick up her meatloaf sandwich. “It’s just as barbaric. If that’s supposed to be a selling point, I’m afraid you’ve struck out there.”

“What I mean to say is that there are some wolves who believe in the old traditions and some that don’t. In this way, we’re no different than you. So, yes. There are some males who keep harems, but they’re rare.”

If only because dragon-shifters themselves were rare, but there was no need to put too fine a point on it with her right now.

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she stared at him for a long moment. “So have you ever had one?” She was striving to sound casual, but the effect was ruined when she paused with her sandwich half-raised to her lips, awaiting his answer.

“No.”

She nodded slowly and then took a bite. When she swallowed she met his gaze again. “Promise?”

And what had started out as an interesting conversation had just gotten even more interesting. Surely a woman who cared about him not at all wouldn’t be soliciting promises from him. Especially ones pertaining to his sex life.

“I do.”

“Would you want one?”

If he hadn’t found Willa, would he have eventually turned to the old ways? Probably, if only to keep his dragon content. But he had found her, and the thought of other women did nothing for him.

Again, he settled for as close to the truth as he dared to go.