A small voice in the back of her mind warned her that their relationship wouldn’t last. It tried to tell her Ryker would find someone of better standing, that he would find his true mate in someone other than her. She did her best to shake it off, but her anxiety fed it until she walked through the door.
The air smelled of beer and rice, a scent Mina realized she quite liked. The others sat at a table near the stage. Wyatt’s mate was feeding him sushi rolls. He tried to return the favor, but the roll popped out from between his chopsticks and hit a nearby diner in the back of the head. The woman clamped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Wyatt did his best to apologize.
There were two open seats. Mina tried to tell herself that one of those seats belonged to her, but it still didn’t feel real. She waited for someone to come back from the bathroom and take the seat, but no one came. Ryker put his arm around her, the touch chasing away some of her fears.
“Do you want something to eat?” Ryker whispered in her ear.
Mina was ravenous after her healing and their lovemaking, but she was not a sushi person. Ryker picked up on it, perhaps from the way she eyed Wyatt’s plate with abject fear. Before leaving to place an order at the bar, Ryker kissed her cheek and asked her to trust him.
While she did, his disappearance left her alone. She approached the table of metallic dragons and their human mates. All eyes turned on her, and she wanted to flee, but she managed to force one foot in front of the other.
The woman who’d been feeding Wyatt jumped in her seat and clapped her hands together. “How did you like the peanut butter tart?”
Mina smiled and nodded, even though she knew she should say more. Anything. She could have said it was delicious, or simply said she liked it. But nothing came out. All she could think was that she didn’t belong here. Not among these dragons. Jasper, Griffin, Wyatt, and Ashton watched her. It felt like they were accusing her of intruding.
It wasn’t until a warm and solid chest pressed against her back that she let out the breath she’d been holding. It was then that she saw their smiles, their welcoming faces. No one was glaring at her. No one told her to go away.
Ryker pulled her closer, his arm over her chest. It felt like a barrier, one she could relax behind. Mina hoped she would not need it forever, but it was pleasant for the time being. While he held her, she was reminded that she had a place here.
“I thought your tart was delicious, Kennedy,” Ryker said. “You can continue sending everything you make to our house.”
Our house.
Mina caught the way some of their brows rose. Ashton let out a loud whoop that had half the bar turning to glare at them. Griffin’s brows fell flat as he looked away. She could not read the expression, but it bothered her all the same.
Ashton slapped Griffin’s shoulder. “Maybe we should buy you a maid, too. Maybe then you could find someone who wants to put up with your broody bullshit.”
Griffin’s lips peeled back in a snarl, but Ashton didn’t seem affected. It was as if this was only a brotherly ribbing, and Griffin wasn’t about to bite his head clean off. She waited for the silver dragon shifter to attack, but he never did. Instead, he grumbled something and lifted his burger, words lost as he bit into it.
Makenna slapped the table. “Well! Before you all decide to kill each other, I want a chance to go onstage.”
She snatched up the guitar case that’d been hidden in the shadows behind her. Mina watched Makenna approach the stage. All Makenna had to do was salute the man behind the bar counter and he seemed to know what to do.
Ryker urged her toward a seat and took the one beside her. While Mina watched the human woman on the stage, the music began thrumming through the bar. Ashton was rapt, grinning at his mate like a besotted schoolboy. He was so openly affectionate toward her. Mina knew that was the mate bond. It folded the human woman into the family with no regard for the hierarchy that held them together.
Makenna had a place carved out for her. She didn’t have to make it, so when Mina had asked her how she’d found her place among the metallic dragons, it was obvious why she hadn’t understood. Mina, on the other hand, still felt like she needed to earn her place. She glanced at Ryker, wondering how he would want her to prove herself.
Mina found that she wouldn’t mind sleeping with him again. She would buy all the girly magazines and read all the secret ways to please him if that was what it took to keep him. Thankfully, she already knew how to cook and clean. Those would be the easy part. The other things would take some time. She could only hope that Ryker would be patient as she learned.
He bent, making Mina’s brows fold together, and grabbed the legs of her stool, pulling it between his knees. Her back touched his chest and filled her with warmth. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t keep from touching her at all times. The thought made her heart swell and brought a smile to her lips.
While Makenna switched to another song, the waiter brought their food. Mina eyed the coming plate warily but was pleasantly surprised to see a burger and sweet potato tots. The smell of fryer grease and sugar tickled her nose and made her stomach growl.
“Are you okay with what I picked?” Ryker whispered in her ear.
Mina popped a sweet potato tot into her mouth and nodded as the warmth burnt her tongue. This made Ryker grin. He nuzzled her neck, sending chills down her spine. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t have to work to deserve him. They way he held her, wanted to touch her, made Mina think that she’d already won him over the way he had won her.
“This has to be the quietest family day, ever.” Ashton stole a sushi roll from Wyatt’s plate.
“Give it time,” Jasper said, voice low. “I’ll throw a chair eventually. I just haven’t found my target yet.”
Everyone stilled until they realized Jasper had made a joke. Ashton was the first to laugh, slowly building from a nervous huff into a roar. Ryker acted like his family was a mess, but they seemed to care for one another. She didn’t know any other dragons who would voluntarily spend a night together and do their best to be kind to one another. She saw the effort that crinkled Jasper’s eyes, the way Griffin eyed the nearby door but never bolted for it.
Makenna’s set finished. Mina was halfway through her burger, with grease dripping down her chin in the most ungraceful fashion, when Ryker tapped her shoulder. He gestured to the stage. Mina froze.
“We should sing together. It’s just karaoke so it doesn’t have to be perfect. We could pick a song where there’s lots of screaming. That could be fun.” The gleam of happiness in his eyes was impossible to ignore.
Mina felt like she couldn’t say no. Ryker had done so much for her. He’d not only fed her, twice, but brought her to orgasm, twice. She eyed the stage, stomach churning with the undigested food. Anxiety brought it up and made her throat burn, but, against her better judgement, she conceded.
Ryker grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the spot-light. Mina followed along in the wake of his excitement. She tried to let it fill her, but it did nothing to chase away the nervousness now kicking around her stomach.
While he bent and observed the display screen to choose a song, Mina tried to peer at the crowd. The light above was so sharp that it seemed to form a wall between her and those watching. She knew they must all be staring at this massive man and his mousy date. The only reason they watched was to see her fail.
The light burned her eyes. Her heart pounded in her ears. Everyone in the bar watched her. They judged her. It was as if she could hear them asking why she stood beside a metallic dragon. Ryker was beautiful. He was a god carved from stone and brought to life, while Mina was nothing more than a puny dragon shifter who had nothing going for her.
She opened her mouth as the song began but choked. Her throat closed around the lyrics. Ryker watched her, lips in a flat line. Her hand shook. The microphone buzzed from the way she trembled. The sound rang in her ears.
There was no way she could do this. Mina dropped the
microphone and darted out of the room. She shoved the door open. Bitterly cold winter air slapped her in the face, but it did nothing to cool the heat of embarrassment that clung to her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around herself, but her heart still thudded. Each beat felt like her heart might burst.
She couldn’t believe she’d let Ryker down. All she’d wanted to do was make him happy, and she couldn’t even do that. She hid her face in her hands. This was never going to work. She wasn’t right for him. There was no way she could give him everything he wanted. The mate bond was a lie, one she’d let herself believe for the short time they’d lain together.
***
Ryker stared at the door his mate had fled through. His heart hit the ground beneath him and shattered.
Once more, he’d failed her.
He never claimed to be a good man, but he was beginning to feel like he should have warned her. He was turning out to be the worst mate, ever. His cousins and their mates glared at him. Their accusations were clear. Mina deserved better.
Ignoring the music now blasting, the song they’d sung together in their house, he leapt off the stage and chased after her. He’d thought since she’d sung with him back at the house, since she’d opened up, that she wouldn’t mind singing with him here. He’d ignored the look of panic in her eyes when he’d suggested it, thinking it was only a gut reaction and that it would fade as long as he stood beside her.
He’d been so wrong.
The music faded once the door closed behind him. He scanned the dark parking lot for his mate, but he saw no sign of her. Thoughts of the unfamiliar dragons invaded his mind. He feared they had snuck into the mountains and kidnapped his mate for what she’d done to one of their own. He cursed himself for leaving her alone. He ripped through the parking lot, searching every shadow.
Just when he was about to let his beast tear through him, he found a familiar shape sitting in his truck. His shoulders relaxed, but guilt began to set in. He could do so much better. He needed to.
His mate was curled in on herself in the passenger seat of his truck. She’d pulled her knees to her chest. He watched her swipe at the tears that must have fallen down her cheek. As much as he wanted to, he found he couldn’t open the door and pull her into him. He felt as though he didn’t deserve the chance to make it better.
If anything, he needed to know that she could forgive him. Ryker could barely forgive himself in that moment. He was a fool, far too used to doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He was no longer alone, and while it was a blessing to have found his mate, there were things he still needed to learn.
He only wished that he hadn’t hurt her in the process.
Eventually, the truck door opened, and she slid out. His guilt was mirrored in the droop of her shoulders, the way her chin pressed against her chest. The sight of her looking so downtrodden destroyed him.
“Oh, my love,” he croaked through tears that threatened to fall. He bit them back, refusing to cry. His steps were shaky, but he made it to her before falling to his knees. Gathering her hands in his, he looked up at her. “None of this was your fault. I’m an absolute moron who didn’t think about what I was asking of you. This is all my fault.”
She shook her head. He could see that his words hadn’t sunk in yet. That, or she refuted them. Mina had been trained to think everything was her fault. He wanted to run to her uncle and tear the man in half for what he’d done to Mina, but he needed to fix what he’d done. Mina needed to understand that she would never disappoint him.
“Listen to me,” he began. “We’re going to have a lot of ups and downs in our relationship. Every relationship does, as far as I understand. We’ll have days where we want to throw things at each other—”
“I wouldn’t,” she mumbled.
He laughed. “No, I think you’ll discover that you’ll want to. You’ll want to make me eat my socks when you realize I don’t take care of them. But there will never be anything that will break us. We will work through every little bump and tackle the big ones together.”
He drew in a breath, waiting to see if his words made a difference. He couldn’t bear watching his bright and sassy mate crumple every time something went wrong. He needed to pay better attention to her. Instead of making demands, he needed to ask questions. Then, someday, she would realize just how much she meant to him.
Mina let her head fall back. Ryker didn’t realize, not at first, that she was crying. He couldn’t see the overflowing tears running down her cheeks. It wasn’t until he saw the shudder of her chest that it became apparent.
If it had been any other woman, Ryker would have panicked. He wouldn’t have known what to do about a crying woman. He’d tried everything over the years, but eventually gave up on bothering with crying women. Yet, with Mina, he knew exactly what to do.
He gathered her into his arms and hoisted them both into the back of his truck. Inside one of the storage bins was a blanket he kept for nights like this. Holding Mina with one arm, he wrapped the blanket around the both of them. Slowly, her tears died down. Her shoulders shook with the last of her sobs.
“I’m afraid I don’t deserve you,” she whispered.
“There is no universe in which you don’t deserve everything. If I could reach into the sky and grab a star for you, I would. I’d string it on a gold chain and put it around your neck. It could be the sparkliest star in the world, and I’d still say you’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I don’t think sparkliest is a word,” she said between sobs.
“This is exactly why I need you.” He rested his chin on her head. Before Mina, Ryker had been the kind of guy who was more fists than words. He’d used his appearance to his benefit and played into his strength. She’d swept into his life and turned him into a shitty poet and a teddy-bear.
“But you don’t need me. You need a maid, not me.”
He growled. “I need exactly you. A woman who isn’t afraid to tell me that sparkliest isn’t a word and to make sure I don’t eat cake every day for the rest of my life. A woman willing to rush into battle with me. A woman who can knock a dragon out cold. That was mighty impressive.”
She snorted. “I think I shattered my shoulder doing that. It would explain why I was out cold for five days.”
His heart seized. Though he’d known the extent of her injuries from the house call the doctor made, hearing the flippant way Mina spoke of it terrified him. He hoped she never did anything so dangerous again.
“I love you, you tiny fool.” The words left Ryker before he could think to stop them. When they entered the world, he panicked, but only for a split second. The words settled around him and solidified into the truth.
He only hoped Mina would believe him.
As much as he wanted to hear her say the words back to him, she only wound her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She probably wasn’t ready. He could give her time, as long as they had it. The threat of the intruding dragons could steal away the time she needed, so Ryker made a silent promise to keep the dragons from taking over their mountains.
Mina never had a chance to enjoy her own home, to experience the wonder it had to offer. Ryker had ignored such wonders all his life. He wanted to explore them together. This was a new chapter, and he was prepared to make the best of it, for the both of them.
“I’ll get Wyatt to drop off our leftovers later.” Ryker stood and carried her down from the truck bed. “How about we go home for the night?”
Mina was still quiet, but he felt her gentle nod. He wished she would say something. Anything. Later, he would remind her of how he felt with his body. He would show her the power of their mate bond. Offering orgasms might not be enough to make her love him, but he would gladly do it every night to show her he meant every word he said.
Chapter Fourteen
Mina realized the metallic dragons had been waiting to make sure she recovered before meeting with the dragons positioned at the foot of the mountains. Jaspe
r and the others wanted to know what kind of debt they were going to place on the dragon’s heads. If she’d died, the debt would have been huge. She was, thankfully, alive and well.
She was sure the ache in her body was from Ryker’s attempt to convince her they were mates. She’d enjoyed every moment of it, but her body cried out in the morning. Her ribs throbbed and her shoulder sent a sharp pain through her spine every time she lifted her arm over her head.
Jasper made her carefully catalogue all her injuries, so he knew what to charge the dragons with. As much as Mina would have liked to brush it off, Jasper’s seriousness through the line of questioning forced her to see the importance. He was finally acting like the king of his mountains. This meeting would show the intruding dragons that Jasper was not to be trifled with.
“Are you ready?” Ryker touched her elbow.
She craned her neck to look up at him. His shoulders were taut, tense with the threat of the unknown. He’d tried to convince her to stay behind, but Mina refused to let her new family go alone. Though she often felt ineffectual, the desire to accompany them would abate some of her own anxiety.
Fear of what she didn’t know would tear her apart faster than any actual fight.
Seeing what her presence was doing to Ryker, she worried that she would only be a hindrance. He was one of their strongest dragons. The steel of his scales made him not only the hardiest, but the most dangerous.
“Promise me you won’t put me before your king,” she begged him.
Ryker gave the slightest of nods but said nothing. She pressed her lips together. If her uncle had been there, he would have smacked her for asking anything of a metallic dragon. Mina had to constantly remind herself that Ryker was not some untouchable god, even though he looked the part. Ryker was her mate. Her lover.
She was being perfectly reasonable. It was her right to make requests, same as he’d attempted to ask her to stay home.
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