Dead Sexy Dragon(22)

“Have I wanted you?” Stig nuzzled his nose against hers. “Since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

His words filled her with bubbling warmth. “That long, huh?”

He chuckled and let his fingertip outline her jaw. “I think I felt the first spark the first time I heard you laugh. Hector’s story had you laughing so hard you snorted and had tears running down your face. I remember thinking it had been a long time since I’d seen someone so alive.”

She marveled at Stig’s ability to make the simplest retelling sound so romantic. He proceeded to untie her wrists and ankles, massaging them before cuddling up beside her. Cora placed her head against his chest and listened to the steady thump of his heartbeat. In a moment of wonder, she realized that heart had been beating strong for hundreds of years.

And now it belonged to her.

* * *



Stig held Cora close as she dozed. Although he felt more settled and happy than he ever had in his life, Stig worried he’d made a big mistake. He’d succumbed to his lust, desire, and his forbidden love for Cora without a second thought for the consequences. Ignatius would be furious when he learned Stig had found his mate and that she was human. It simply wasn’t done. There were rules about that kind of thing, rules he’d agreed to follow when he’d pledged his allegiance to the Brotherhood. Dabbling with human females was at the top of that list.

Farther down that list? Taking a mate, period. Ignatius wouldn’t allow mated males to remain in the Brotherhood. A man shouldn’t be torn between his duties to his wife and family and his duties to his Brothers. Ignatius had drilled that into his head. Cutting ties with the men he considered family wouldn’t be easy but one glance at Cora’s sweet face and he was ready to make that call to confess.

But it wasn’t just the very real possibility he’d be discharged from his duties as a Brother of the Green Hide for taking a mate that troubled him. He was worried about Cora.

The fact that her touch had provoked such a profound change in his dragon form convinced Stig she was meant to be his mate, but what did that mean exactly? It wasn’t natural. If she’d been a human of the witch variety, he wouldn’t have been so spooked, but he’d never heard of anything like this happening with other men and their mates. And what would the others say when they saw the effect her touch had on him? Would it be viewed positively or seen as a scourge?

Stig didn’t know and it terrified him. He had to protect Cora. He’d been rash in his decision to introduce her to his secret world. He’d been cavalier in surrendering to his primitive needs last night. He’d put Cora in a position with consequences she likely couldn’t fathom.

So what to do now?

Stig still pondered that question when Cora woke a little while later. He didn’t want to upset her, so he pushed aside his worries and kissed her tenderly. They eventually got dressed and made their way downstairs for a very, very late breakfast. He hung back long enough to send a quick text to Ignatius, who had called numerous times and left half a dozen messages. His belly twisted with guilt as he typed the message assuring Ignatius he was fine. He’d broken their covenants and now lied about it. Love and lust were doing strange things to him.

“What did you do before building the holding cell down there?” Cora wondered as they noshed on her delicious food a little while later. “I mean, that’s relatively new, right?”

Stig nodded, glad for the discussion, since it gave him something to think about other than his betrayal of the Brothers. “I’ve made modifications over the last fifty years in terms of security. Before the cell, we built cages in one of the caves at a training camp and kept watch over one another. If we were away from the camps, we had clavigers to keep an eye on us during the mating phases.”

“Clavigers?”

“Human caretakers and servants.”

“Weren’t they vulnerable? I mean, these Knights you talk about seem pretty evil.”

“There are old laws that kept them safe. This house and the land it sits on, for instance, are unapproachable. My perimeter is marked by old magic, painful magic, to keep the Knights at bay. Their homes are much the same.”

“Why are they after you, Stig? Why do these Knights want to hurt dragons?”

Stig inhaled slowly and sat back in his chair. “A long time ago, a young male dragon fell in love with a woman and got her pregnant.”

“Oh! Scandalous.” Cora smiled mischievously and sipped her coffee. “How long ago? Like Jesus times?”

Stig shook his head at her choice of description. “Before Jesus, so, yes, a long time ago.”