by Jill Haven
First priority was checking all of the locks and the little traps I’d set up in case someone tried to break in. It wasn’t as good as a proper security system, but it was better than nothing. Once I was reassured nothing had been disturbed, I headed upstairs, not surprised to hear the shower on in the master bath. What was surprising, however, was that Beau was talking to himself.
“Stupid sexy dragons and their stupid smiles,” Beau muttered. I could hear the hint of bottles being moved around, like he was doing something to his hair or getting soap or something else.
A wide smile curved my lips, warmth settling in my middle and around my dragon at the fact he thought I was sexy.
“Stupid, stupid,” Beau grumbled. “Why do I always go after the wrong ones?”
My smile faded and a cold started settling in my bones, any happiness or pride I’d felt eradicated by his words.
“He’s such a player. He says he wants one thing, but I’d bet he’ll have another farmhand in his bed by the end of the week. Definitely before he goes back north.” Beau scoffed to himself. “Stupid, Beau. Stupid. He’s all wrong for you.”
Chills radiated through me, and for a second it was like the world had slipped out from underneath me. It was the sound of his shower shutting off that had me hightailing it to my room. I did need a shower, but I also needed some time away from him after that.
I stripped without urgency and stepped under the hot spray, letting the water blast in my face for a few moments to try and get some of the anger out of my bones, to combat the numb coolness I felt.
No, I wasn’t angry. Not really. I was hurt. Yes, I’d been a playboy and I flirted as easily as I breathed, but I had tried to tone it down, aware that it was something that bothered Beau. Logically, I knew he had no reason to trust me. But I hadn’t realized exactly how little he thought of me.
I closed my eyes as I scrubbed my body down, skipping a jerk-off session for the first time in a while. Thinking about how my fated mate thought I was going to fuck someone else as soon as I could didn’t exactly get me off.
Fuck. Had I made things worse when I went into his bedroom and made him come, listened to him beg for what he wanted? Maybe he assumed I did that with everyone.
I groaned, a hand falling to the cool tiles. I spread my fingers out, the chill grounding me. This was why I avoided feelings. When feelings got involved, someone got hurt, and it was usually me, because people didn’t think I had any in the first place.
By the time I went downstairs, Beau had already fixed dinner and was plating it. “Just the two of us?” he asked, a hand on a third plate.
“Ten’s still out,” I answered, aware my voice was subdued but not really caring to fix it. I felt numb, like the personal side of me had retreated while my professional side kept all of its senses on alert. Without saying anything else, I went and sat at the opposite side of the table from where Beau had sat last time. I wanted to be near him, I couldn’t deny that part of the bond between us. But right now, I wasn’t certain I wanted to be closer than I had to be.
“I should have asked if you liked seafood,” Beau muttered, his voice sounding closer to a ramble. Was he nervous? “Can dragons even have allergies?”
“I eat anything,” I said quietly.
“Crab cakes and some potato salad.” He set the plate in front of me and then took the chair closest to me. There were already bottles of water on the table, so I picked one up and took a drink, then turned my attention back to the meal in front of me.
We ate in silence for the first time since I had arrived, but I could feel Beau’s eyes burning into me. “Are you okay?” Beau asked finally, like he couldn’t help the question.
I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “I’m just tired, that’s all.” I let out a chuckle. “You weren’t kidding about hard work.” I kept it as casual as I could, but he didn’t relax much at all, like he could see right through me. Maybe he could.
“Okay,” Beau said, the words doubtful, but he didn’t press. I finished first, picking up my plate and taking it to the sink to wash it. I wouldn’t go upstairs or to bed until I knew Beau was safe, but this at least gave me a distraction.
When I turned around, Beau was standing not too far away, his empty plate in one hand and his eyes locked on mine. There was worry in their amber depths, something I couldn’t process. If he thought so little of me, why did he worry?
“Don’t frown, Pretty Eyes,” I said, reaching out to smooth a thumb over his cheekbone. “It’ll give you wrinkles.”
Beau’s lips shifted to a scowl, but there didn’t seem to be any actual anger behind it. Instead his cheeks had turned that pink again, like he couldn’t help but react to my words.
Instead of talking or watching a movie, I moved toward the stairs, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’ll stand down once you’re safe in your room.”
Beau blinked at me. “Oh. Okay.” He hesitated, then cleaned up in the kitchen before he walked past me, his steps steady. I cast a quick glance at the downstairs, making sure nothing was wrong, then followed, thoughts churning like butterflies in my stomach.
We made it to his bedroom door before he stopped. Thankfully, I was a few steps behind him and didn’t run into him.
“Are you really okay, Ace?” Beau asked, his voice lower. His eyes showed the worry I had seen earlier, and for a second, it looked like his guards were down and he genuinely cared. Then they flickered up, shielding him. It wasn’t visible, but it might as well have been. Unable to find words, I nodded.
Beau moved his hand to the doorknob, but slowly, like he was moving through molasses.
Apparently, my brain took that as an invitation to start talking. “It’s tiring, being a playboy and lusting after everyone that walks by.” My words held a tinge of coldness but were mostly sarcastic. “It’s like I want to make them form a line so I can fuck them, making sure I don’t miss a single one. I’m a busy boy.”
Beau’s eyes widened, then he cringed, turning away. “You heard that?”
That didn’t warrant an answer. Instead I just crossed my arms across my chest, my version of a shield.
“I was just venting,” Beau said, although the words sounded clumsy. “I didn’t mean it.”
“But you did,” I pointed out as coolly as I could. “I understand why you see me that way. A month ago, you wouldn’t have been wrong. But I wouldn’t fuck one of your workers after having been with you. I told you that. What we have, it means more than that.” With that, I took a few steps away, opening my door. “Go to bed, Beau, and lock your door behind you.”
Speechless, Beau did as I asked, and once the lock clicked shut behind him, I let out a breath and entered my own room.
11
Beau
I stood just inside my door, staring at the far wall like it had the answer to every question I’d ever asked. Except right now, my worries weren’t questions, they were the six-foot-something, sexy-as-fuck shifter in the bedroom next to mine, whose feelings I had apparently hurt.
Inwardly I cursed at myself. I should have remembered. Grandpa had mentioned the enhanced hearing, and I’d remembered it before. But Ace scrambled my brain and I hadn’t known he was in the house, much less close enough to hear. Would I have said the words again, even knowing he could hear me?
I winced. I would have phrased them differently, but probably. Ace had playboy written all over him, and it wasn’t an insult as much as a statement of fact. The hurt that had flashed across his face surprised me more than anything, because even when stating a truth, I didn’t want to purposefully hurt someone.
Except I had, and that someone was becoming more important to me the longer he stayed in my house.
Shit.
I ran a hand through my hair as I started pacing my room. I needed to just go to bed, and when I woke up tomorrow, things would be better. It had to work that way.
But it wouldn’t. Groaning, I grabbed a pair of pajamas and changed into them, deciding that even if I
was just going to pace, I might as well do it in more comfortable clothes.
Twenty minutes of pacing later, I dragged my ass to bed, firmly telling myself that if I did my deep breathing, I would be able to fall asleep.
Yeah, no, that didn’t work. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while I lay there, staring at the ceiling, but sleep wasn’t coming anytime soon. With a sigh I dragged myself out of bed. There was no way I was going to get to sleep unless I dealt with this thing with Ace. I would knock on his door, apologize, and then go to bed.
Five minutes later I was still pacing back and forth in front of his door, half the length of the hallway, trying to figure out what to say. He was probably asleep. I didn’t want to wake him. But I wasn’t sleeping. Was it selfish?
Before I could get too lost in my thoughts, the door swung open, making me squawk in surprise and spin to face him.
Ace stood there, dressed in sweatpants and with obvious bedhead, and stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. “What are you doing?” he asked, sounding a combination of curious, tired, and exasperated.
“I can’t sleep,” I blurted out, trying desperately to come up with words that wouldn’t give everything away. My guards were flagging, the exhaustion and stress a devastating mix. “I’m still freaked out over the whole kidnapping thing. It’s like an itch between my shoulder blades I can’t scratch.”
It was true, too. I’d been too distracted to notice it, but the ever-present itch had eased now that I was standing next to Ace, even though he was staring at me. His gaze raked over my body, like he was assessing my honesty, before he smirked and moved to the side, gesturing for me to come in.
I moved next to the bed, and after a second, I sat on the end. Ace closed the door without speaking, moving silently until he was a few feet away, his ocean-blue eyes intent on mine. I tried not to squirm under the gaze, but it sparked something inside of me, something I still didn’t understand.
“We need to talk,” Ace said calmly, sounding more serious than I had ever heard him. “Since you’re here, we might as well.”
Nerves flared under my skin and I swallowed despite the lump in my throat. Worse was the desire to do something, anything, to make him smile again. Ace’s carefree persona was part of what made him him, and while I was grateful that he was taking his job seriously, it made him feel so off.
“Did your grandparents ever tell you about fated mates?”
I frowned, then shook my head. Mates I could understand, but I was fairly certain Grandpa had never mentioned fated mates.
Ace let out a long breath, his gaze shifting from me to the window, like he was seeing something I couldn’t. “For a long time, we thought it was just a rumor.”
“We?” I should have kept my mouth shut, but it was hard.
“Dragons.” There was a hint of a smile on Ace’s lips, but he didn’t look at me. “Most dragons search for centuries, looking for their fated ones, but most never find them. It was so rare that it had faded into lore.”
I tensed. I could guess where this was going.
“My friends have somehow stumbled into finding theirs. Carlisle, the Princeps Draco—that’s the leader of the east clan—was the first. But with the discovery of his omega, Haiden, dragons started realizing that there were other omegas hiding out. Seth was kidnapped by the same man who took Haiden, and he was Mason’s fated mate. Then there was Bishop and—”
“And that guy who was obsessed with the cows?” I guessed, the puzzle pieces slotting together. If he was a dragon, maybe that explained how weird he had been.
Ace chuckled, the amusement genuine and warm. “Yes. His name is Evan.”
I sat as still as I could, watching him. It was like my body was hot and cold, like it couldn’t decide whether it was thrilled with the news or terrified. “Why are you telling me this?”
The amusement on Ace’s face shifted to sadness and he let out a sigh before he came to stand in front of me. I looked up at him, much shorter since he was standing and I wasn’t. My pulse was racing, blood rushing through my ears. He took my face in his hands, his movements gentle and tender, like I was a treasure he wanted to protect. “What do you feel when you’re around me?”’
Fear prickled down my spine. “Nothing,” I said quickly. “Well, maybe annoyance, since you’re annoying, but—”
“Beau.” Ace was humoring me, I could tell. He knew I was lying. “I’ll give you some time to come to terms with it, but you should know that you’re my fated mate. Everything about you calls to my dragon like no one ever has, and since we met, I haven’t even looked twice at someone else. You’re all I think about.”
My mouth dropped open and I stared at him, shivers wracking my body at the intensity in his expression. I snapped my jaw shut like a turtle, struggling with what to say or what to feel. He leaned down and pressed a soft, sweet kiss to my lips, closed-mouth but still heating me up like nothing ever had.
“I was a playboy,” Ace said, that same, calm tone. “It was fun. After meeting you, I thought if I tried to return to that lifestyle hard enough, I would get you out of my system, but it never did.” He straightened up, one hand rubbing his chest almost absentmindedly. “It hurts, being away from you. Physically.” He grimaced. “By the time you called, I knew I was coming back eventually.”
“What do you mean, it hurt?” I struggled to keep my hands to myself, so I set them on the bedcovers next to me.
Ace’s smile was crooked. “Like a part of me that I didn’t know I needed was gone. Like a physical ache that isn’t cured until I’m with the person I’m supposed to be with.”
“I haven’t…” I trailed off, my brow furrowing. I didn’t remember feeling like that, but it didn’t mean I hadn’t. My job was so physical that if I wasn’t sore at the end of the day, it meant I wasn’t working hard enough. “Oh.” I wasn’t sure what else to say to that.
“When you claim your mate, it gets better and worse,” Ace continued. “That connection is even stronger. Carlisle and Mason both work in larger cities but live with their partners in Charleston, and they can only stand to be away from their mates for maybe twenty-four hours before one of them gets sick.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good deal,” I muttered, averting my eyes from his.
Ace tilted my chin up with one of his fingers, his face still that solemn warmth. It didn’t seem like him, but it was him. It was a serious side of him that he didn’t allow many to see. “At the same time, the benefits from the connection get multiplied significantly.”
“Like…telepathy?” I guessed.
Ace chuckled. “The claiming locks your spirit with the shifter’s, which deepens the bond.”
When he stopped, I searched his face. “And that means?”
Ace sighed. “We don’t know a ton. Most of it has been lost to legends. But from what we’ve observed, the mates are able to sense each other from a distance, tell if the other has been harmed, and we’ve also seen evidence that it’s increased the healing rate.”
I wasn’t certain I wanted to know what sort of thing had happened to get the healing rate knowledge. I was reasonably certain they hadn’t purposefully hurt an omega. From the way Ace talked about them, playboy or no, he seemed to respect them and their partners. Still, I was too stunned to think of anything to say.
“It also provides comfort for both partners in a bone-deep sense that cannot be achieved otherwise,” Ace murmured, his eyes locked on mine again. “It also heightens the sex.”
Before I could manage words, he was kissing me again, his lips urging mine to open. His tongue curled against mine, his hand on my neck firm and gentle at the same time. It was easy to lose myself in the kiss, to melt into it and give myself over to him, even if it was just for that one moment. He scraped his teeth against my bottom lip, drew my tongue into his mouth and sucked on it. My pulse was throbbing, my cock hard, and I was so turned on I couldn’t think straight. But he kept me grounded.
He stroked my cheek
with his thumb, and by the time he broke the kiss, we were both panting. I let out a low whine, almost helpless in his thrall. Embarrassing as hell, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted his mouth back on me so damn bad.
“Later,” Ace whispered, giving me a gentle, chaste kiss. Before I could register anything, he was lifting me and moving me onto the bed, then underneath the covers. He settled in next to me, pressed as close as he dared. “I’ll follow your lead in this,” he said, his hand cupping the side of my face. It seemed to be one of his favorite things, the way he could stroke my cheek with his thumb but ensure I was looking at him. “I won’t rush things.”
My head spun, and I didn’t complain when Ace nudged me to turn over and then spooned against my back. I fit perfectly against his body like I was meant to be there, his arm draped over my waist. He pressed a gentle kiss to the nape of my neck. “Sleep, Beau.”
I closed my eyes, but sleep didn’t quite come. My mind was spinning. I had always wanted a forever relationship and if what Ace was saying was true, this was one practically dropped in my life. Ace was stubborn and occasionally immature, but there was a lot more to him than that. If was lucky—if he was right—I would have the rest of my life to learn everything there was about the cocky dragon.
Snuggling into Ace’s grip, I let out a breath and let myself fall asleep.
12
Ace
The sharp ringing of my phone woke me up earlier than any alarm. Groaning, I reached for it, my senses waking me up quickly when someone stirred in the bed next to me. It took the rush of warmth when I felt fingers on my upper arm before I settled, realizing I wasn’t in danger. Beau. It was Beau.
Seeing Ten’s name on the phone screen, I reluctantly pressed answer and tucked it to my ear. “This had better be good.”
“Hope I’m not interrupting something,” Ten said cheerfully. Or cheerful for him, anyway. “I’m heading back. I’ve got everything we needed, so you need to handle the wiring and set-up for it before I get there.”
