As they walked towards her front door, Rayne thought about how this quaint little abode perfectly fit with what he already knew of the magnificent creature the Universe designed just for him. With his enhanced vision he could see it had been freshly painted a bright white, had window boxes with flowers depicting every color of the rainbow, proudly displayed for all to see and frilly blue curtains in the front windows. The entire structure they were approaching had four doors indicating four different side by side apartments. Kyndel definitely kept her place the prettiest of all her neighbors, she even had flowering bushes lining the walk to the front door and some type of vine gently wrapping around her white picket gate and fence. Absolutely stunning was the thought that kept running through his mind, just like the woman that resided here. She must be incredibly in tune with nature, another sign she was his. All dragon shifter mates had specialized natural abilities, even if they happened to be human. Most never realized they were any different than others but the shifter that was the other half of their soul recognized it immediately, just as he had upon seeing her and now her home. Now that the mates had found one another, those special abilities would grow and flourish. The Universe simply did not make mistakes. The Creator of always knew what She was doing.
He smiled as she mumbled to herself while unlocking her front door. She pushed the door open and crossed the threshold, “No matter how humble, there’s no place like home,” she said as she sighed and he could tell it came all the way from her toes. “Come on in. Let’s get you laid down since that’s all you’ll agree to.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kyndel knew she was not being the best hostess in the world but she was tired, irritated and if she was to be honest with herself, more than a little worried about the handsome stranger that she had welcomed into her home like some stray puppy. Add unexplainably aroused to the mix and she had gone from ‘Catty Kyndel’ to ‘Bitchy Kyndel’ without missing a beat. She tried hard not to lose her mind, her temper or anything else she might need later. She just needed to admit that the main thing messing with her mind was her inability to keep her thoughts from the beautiful stranger’s irresistible body and the very naughty things she wanted to do to said body. He stirred thoughts in her that she hadn’t known she was capable of having, hot steamy thoughts that she had no business thinking about a complete stranger, let alone one she had just met, with a bleeding head wound, that wanted to take a nap instead of getting medical attention. She wondered for about the millionth time in her life, why it was that no matter how good looking and mouthwatering men were, they were always completely exasperating?
She kicked off her heels and reminded herself that he was going to have to use her bed. She had converted the second bedroom into an office/craft room leaving only one bed in her apartment and he was so big there was no way he would fit comfortably anywhere else. She would have to take the couch, which was no problem at all. It was a big tan leather overstuffed monstrosity that she was blissfully comfortable sleeping on and that she absolutely loved. She had carted that heavy ass thing with her everywhere she had moved since her senior year in college. She found it at a little furniture store around the corner from campus that was going out of business. It had taken four football players to get it back to her place but the case of beer and four large pizzas she bought to bribe them had been well worth it. It was probably one of the top three reasons why she didn’t move very often, number one being that once she had things the way she liked them, she wanted them to stay that way and moving made that damn near impossible. Her old dependable friend, her couch, was by far the most comfortable piece of furniture ever made and it was all hers. How funny was it that her prize possession was a couch, she chuckled to herself.
She realized too late that once again he was staring at her, studying her face and smiling a smile that stole her breath and curled her toes. She narrowed her eyes on reflex as she wondered where in the hell her sanity had gone since she’d left her office. She had been lost in thought, standing in the foyer, staring into space, completely comfortable sharing her space with an utter stranger. That never happened. She never let her guard down. She had spent the better part of her twenty-six years erecting sturdy walls that kept her from getting hurt and somehow this man had sneaked past them all in less than an hour. Something very strange was going on and as soon as the man in question had taken his ‘nap’, she was getting answers to all her questions. She took a deep breath hoping to relieve some tension. “Second door on the right is the bedroom.” She pointed, “There is a bathroom in there, too. Towels are on the shelf, if you want to clean up before you “rest”.”