Last Immortal Dragon(32)
Her body was on fire.
Fire from the overwhelming heat of Damon’s body.
Fire from the warmth that churned in her middle as her release pounded through her.
Fire for the man she adored.
“I love you, I love you,” she panted out as he ran his tongue over the claiming mark he’d just given her.
“Mate,” he whispered against her skin. “I love you, too.”
Chapter Ten
“Favorite mate,” Clara said, holding onto Damon’s shoulders piggy-back style.
“You,” Damon said easily as he reached forward and pulled open the front door like it weighed nothing. The towering giant barriers groaned as they swung open and creaked as he closed them again.
“No, I mean out of your human mates.” Butterflies had been flapping around in her stomach since he’d first called her that this afternoon in his office.
“I haven’t called anyone my mate but Feyadine and you, and you’ve seen me through her memories. What we had wasn’t real. At least not to her. The humans I married were just to stop a freefall. I took on a wife when the loneliness got too bad. When the darkness was so thick, I thought I’d become the dark.”
“I think Feyadine loved you, Damon,” she said softly. “Not to defend her because I hate what she did to you, but I think you meant a lot to her. At least you felt big when I was in that vision. You felt important. She was hurting deeply when she told you about her betrayal.”
Damon shook his head, eyes on the cobblestone driveway he strode down. “She felled all of our people with her treachery.”
“Yeah, but she couldn’t have known that would happen. It felt like she was unhappy to be mated to Marcus and felt unwanted. Unloved. And then she met you, and she wanted to pretend her life was different. I think she was one of many mates to Marcus and wanted something real. You felt real. When I saw you through her…I loved you.” Gah, this was all so confusing.
“My answer is still the same and an easy one for me to give. You are my favorite mate. I wish you had been my only.”
“For all this time?”
Damon chuckled and released the backs of her knees, settling her on her feet. He turned and cupped her cheeks, then leaned down and kissed her gently. “For all time.”
Her cheeks heated with happiness, and she brushed her nose against his before she pulled away. Dangerous Damon.
He wrapped his big strong hand around hers and led her toward the waterfall tumbling off the cliffs above. From here, she could hear it clear as a bell. The mist as the falls hit the water below smelled like rain, and the silt that was being stirred from the bottom of the river smelled rich and earthy. The sun beamed down in speckles as they ducked under a low-hanging bald cypress branch and into the woods that encased Damon’s perfectly manicured lawn. With the pine-needle blanketed forest floor covered in gold pools of sunlight, and rays of dusty light streaming through the canopy to the soundtrack of the roosting birds’ song, this place looked like a completely different world. Walking in front, Damon smiled back at her as he led her toward a thin deer trail in the woods. His smile was bright and easy, flashing those gorgeous dimples, and his dark eyes danced when they landed on her. God, she loved him in this moment, more than anything. This incredible man who had survived so much had chosen her. He made her feel special when it was him who was truly one of a kind.
He’d changed out of his business suit and into a pair of low slung jeans and a dark gray T-shirt that clung to his ripped upper torso and more loosely around his tapered waist. He’d even forgone his usual polished black leather shoes for a pair of flip flops that looked as if he’d actually worn them before. He’d shocked her in the best way. Damon Daye had a casual side, and she bet he had shared it with very few people. She felt like the luckiest that he shared so much of his secret self with her.
Clutching onto his hand tighter, ignoring the slight sting of his heated skin against hers, she followed him toward the sound of the waterfall that was now blocked by the thick pine canopy above them.
“In storybooks, dragons protect treasure. Do you have piles of gold and gemstones buried deep in your mountains, and if so, can you draw me a treasure map? I’ve always wanted to swim in a pile of gold coins.”
He laughed and shook his head. “My treasure is this land. The mountains themselves are what my dragon protects.”
Her stomach fluttered at his open admission. She’d only been joking, but he’d gifted her with honesty. She looked around at the mountain peaks surrounding them, covered in evergreens. It was nothing but miles of rolling hills—beautiful, lush, and stoic.