"No. He didn't get in."
Gregor blinked. "I destroyed your door."
Ella hadn't even noticed the mess. Looking at it now, she cringed. "It's okay. We can call someone in the morning."
"It isn't safe to sleep like this. Especially now. It is still early. I will call someone and have them come over."
"It's going to cost an arm and a leg," Ella said, staring down at the remnants of her pretty blue front door.
A frown shadowed his face. "I refuse to give an arm and a leg. That seems barbaric for such a civilized society. I have gold. He shall have to make his peace with that."
Ella snorted with amusement. "I'm sure the gold would work, though I think he would prefer a credit card."
"I do not have one of those. Your world is complicated."
Her shoulders drooped. Weariness was creeping in and all she wanted to do was get into pajamas and veg out in front of the TV. Or, even better, veg out with a good book. "That it is," she agreed. Ella handed over her cell phone to Gregor. "You can use this to call. Don't be surprised if you can't get someone out tonight."
Gregor's eyes were unreadable. "I can be very convincing," he said, with no arrogance in his tone.
She bet he could be. It was one of the many reasons him moving in, even temporarily, was a horrible idea. Worst one she'd ever had. Not that she was the one who had it. She could blame her friends for that one. She was only to blame because she didn’t put her foot down.
But seeing Ludovic standing outside her window was enough to give her pause. She could do close quarters with Gregor if it meant Ludovic wouldn't come back. There was something profoundly disturbing about the dragon. An emptiness in his eyes she found terrifying. A shiver ran down her spine. If dealing with Gregor kept her from ever feeling that again, she would deal with it.
Happily.
6
Gregor
Ella had a lot of rules. She sat across from him, her legs crossed over each other. Her toes were bare and her hair swung down around her face as she studied the paper she'd scribbled all over.
"If you cook, the other person cleans." She looked up at him and adjusted the dark-framed glasses on her face.
Gregor couldn't decide if he loved those glasses or hated them. He loved the color of her eyes and how expressive they were. But when she wore the glasses, he imagined her asking him if he wanted a spanking.
He was having trouble concentrating.
"Do you cook?" she asked.
Ella damn well knew the answer to that question.
"I do not," Gregor said.
"So if I cook, you know to do the dishes?"
A soft sigh escaped him. "I am not an idiot."
She tapped her pencil against the paper. "I didn't say you were. But do dragons wash dishes where you're from?" Ella speared him with those eyes and sexy glasses.
"They do not," he admitted.
"Ha!" she crowed and tapped the pad again. "So my next question is, do you know how to do the dishes?"
Ella was exhausting him. They'd been at it for hours. "Yes," he said, his jaw clenching with annoyance. "Sara taught all of us. She, too, is anal-retentive about someone else doing the dishes if she's doing all the cooking."
"Anal retentive?" Amusement sparkled in those gorgeous eyes. "I see you're picking up some of the lingo."
"It's hard not to," Gregor said, "living with four insane women."
A laugh burst from her, but Gregor could tell she didn't want it to.
"Well, these four insane women had four dragons burst into their home and fuck everything up. So, we can be crazy if we want to." She set her pencil down and held it in place with a thumb. "Have you ever thought about getting your own place?"
Gregor was stunned by the question. No. He never had. And why not? He frowned at her. Because he never wanted to be too far away from her. If he told her that, she'd scoff or pull away. As much as he was annoyed by this, he was also eager for her company. This is why he hadn't told her to stop talking yet.
"I have not," was his response. He hoped she'd drop it.
But this was Ella.
"Well, why not?" she demanded.
Gregor shrugged and tried to think of a lie. "Because all of us grew up together, and we are not used to being apart."
If he were talking about any other dragons, it would be a damned big lie. Dragons were notoriously greedy and fickle, but they'd spent so much time in close quarters and almost dying together, they'd all formed an unbreakable bond. He couldn't imagine ever living too far from his brothers.
Even more, he couldn't imagine not living close to Ella.
"Maybe when this is all over you should think some more about it?"
When this was all over, if he and Ella weren't mated officially, he was going to drown some sailors. Or something. Just to get some frustration out. "Maybe I will," he said, having absolutely no intention of doing so.
"Good." Ella picked up her pencil again. "No dirty underwear on the floor, got it?" A delicate shudder racked her lithe frame. "We will have two separate hampers. Do not put your dirty clothes into mine! And, I'm not doing your laundry. I'll show you how to use the machine."
"No need," he interjected. "Sara showed us all how to launder our clothes."
"Good. If you want to eat, be here at 6:30. If you aren't here, I can't guarantee there will be leftovers."
"I will always be here for dinner." A sharp grin formed on his face. Ella took one look at it, blinked, then frowned. "Always," he repeated. "A dragon does not miss dinner."
"Oookay," she said, looking uncomfortable. "No touching."
Gregor's gaze sharpened. "Why is that a rule?" Just a little while ago, they’d been doing a whole lot of touching.
He could almost see the thought wheels spinning in her head.
"This has to do with personal boundaries," she said. Ella pulled a string of her hair up and was wrapping it around her finger. She didn't like this topic. It was making her nervous.
"What if you cut yourself?" Gregor asked, his tone innocent.
"Unless I've cut off an appendage, I can manage it myself," she said. Ella straightened in her chair.
He pushed more. "What if you've burned yourself, and you're racked with pain?"
Two spots of color hit the tops of her cheeks. "Unless I am completely immobile, I can deal with it." She opened her mouth, no doubt to move on to the next rule, but he pushed a little more.
"What if you want me to?"
"Want you to what?" she snapped. Her gaze locked with his. Ella's breath was coming quicker now.
"Touch you," Gregor said. His voice was like silk and he could see how it affected Ella. She did not yet know that a mating bond was forming between them, but soon, it would be all she could see.
The silence drew out like a taut bowstring.
After a few seconds, she dropped her gaze and cleared her throat. "I can assure you if that ever were the case, which it will not be—" She shook her head and swallowed. "—anymore. I won’t ask you to touch me anymore. But if I do, I will do my best to ensure I give you strict verbal instructions on the hows and whys of it."
One of his eyebrows rose. "That seems really proper," he said. "I can't help but think that sometimes there is passion involved in touching. In that case, the only type of verbal thing I'm interested in hearing is you repeatedly screaming 'yes'."
Ella's cheeks were flaming red. There was a touch of sweat forming right at the dip of her neck.
"Gregor," she hissed. "That is wildly inappropriate."
He raised his hands in surrender. "You're the one making all of the rules. I'm merely asking you to explain the scenarios."
Her glare would have cowed a lesser man.
"Moving on," she said, her face still a fiery red. "I'll make you a key, but if you lose it, you need to notify me as soon as possible so we can change the locks..."
And so it went, for another hour and a half until Gregor was so exhausted, he was falling asleep in his cha
ir.
"Gregor!" she snapped.
He jerked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can't you just write them all down and give them to me? I feel like this is overkill."
"It might be overkill, but I have very strong boundaries." Her voice dropped. "And I haven’t lived with many people before." Ella's shoulders slumped. "I'm completely freaked out about it."
Sympathy washed his annoyance away. "Hey. It's okay. I'm neat, clean, and I know how to do dishes. I'm only here because of Ludovic. If he comes back, I will deal with it." He leaned over and touched her chin. "Okay?"
She nodded and blew out a slow breath. "Okay. The whole thing is just so strange."
"I get it. I'm sorry it had to come to this." Gregor was most definitely not sorry it had come to this. He'd been trying to get Ella into close quarters for a while now. Hell, he'd even tried to trick her into spending time with him before she moved out. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But now? Sharing the same roof and with no one else to interrupt or interfere? He was like a kid in a candy store. All he wanted to do was eye all the delights and dig in for dessert. Of course, he couldn't do that right now. She was not used to having someone here, and it seemed like she wanted to bolt.
He'd have to make sure he put her at ease. Then, he could slowly ease his way into her heart.
It's what he'd already been trying to do.
Since he was here, he knew it was working. At least a little. She called him first when she spotted Ludovic, so he knew, at a minimum, she felt safe with him.
This meant she trusted him.
He was a man who knew how powerful trust could be.
Gregor would do his best not to abuse it.
Ella tossed a stack of blankets onto the guest bed. "These should do for you, but if you need more, there are more in the chest in the living room." She walked out and came back seconds later holding two pillows. "These were the best I had. Maybe we can go to the store to get more if they're uncomfortable."
Gregor took them from her and punched them. "We're used to sleeping on the ground or in the sea. These will be just fine."
He glanced around the room and saw nothing but sparse walls and gray carpet. "I take it this was the last room to be decorated?"
Ella shrugged. "I had a lot of other things to do first. I didn't think I'd ever have a houseguest for more than a day or two. Sorry. Maybe we can spruce it up a little over the next week."
Gregor grinned. "I'm kidding. This is perfect. All I need is a bed and food. Other than that, you'll find I don't complain a lot."
It was true. At least for him. He needed to go back to the sea soon and he would, but he was an atypical dragon. Most kept things, a lot of things, with them. Some even had massive hoards. All Gregor had was his small satchel and two precious things from his former life. To an outsider or a thief, those two things weren't worth anything. To him, they were everything.
A lock of hair Telya gave him when they were courting.
A pearl his father had given him before he was taken away.
Those two things were his entire life. Or they used to be. Before Ella came into his life.
Ella busied herself making the bed up, but he shooed her away. "You don't need to do that. I can take care of it. Thank you for allowing me to stay here."
She frowned at his words. Technically, she had allowed him to stay. She just didn't want to. There was a big difference. Gregor expected the first few days to be awkward, but he would do his best to set her at ease.
Every time he thought about how terrified she looked when he burst into the house, rage boiled in his veins. He never, ever wanted her to feel that again. Gregor wanted her always to be safe.
He wanted to be the one to keep her safe.
Gregor smiled at Ella and took the blanket from her hands. If he had his way, he wouldn't be sleeping in the guest room for long. He could see the yearning in her eyes when she looked at him. It had to be that way. If they weren't mates, he knew he could mistake the look. But every time he saw the golden light of the bond curling around her waist, he knew she wanted him.
Just as much as he wanted her.
Ella nodded and walked over to the door. "I'll leave you to it, then." She tapped on the edge of the door and closed it gently behind her.
As soon as she left, he sat down on the edge of the bed and let out a low groan. He didn't know how he was going to be able to live with her without claiming her. It was making him feel like he was on fire.
And yet, he couldn't tell her about the bond right now. It would freak her out, and he would lose the progress he’d made with her.
Maybe soon. Soon he would be able to tell her without any fear. All he could do for now was hope she would realize how much he cared about her and how he wanted to do everything he could to keep her safe.
Gregor rubbed the back of his neck. Telya wasn't this hard. A harsh laugh escaped him.
Telya was wonderful. Biddable and sweet. Ella was harsh words, sharp intellect, and mistrust. She was fire to his water. Telya, as much as he loved her, was the exact opposite of Ella.
Gregor still couldn’t believe he’d managed two mates in one lifetime. If that’s what this was. If his feelings were any indication, he’d been blessed not once but twice. It was impossible. And yet, when he looked at the woman outside of his door, he felt in his heart it was true.
He finished making up the bed. Satisfied it was to his liking, he quickly stripped out of the armor he’d quickly donned when Ella called. Gregor slipped into a pair of sleep pants and got into bed. He crossed his arms underneath his head and closed his eyes.
Soon, Ella would love him. He knew it in his bones.
This would make waking up under the sea after thousands of years finally worth it.
7
Ella
Two long weeks had passed. Living with Gregor had been an exercise in both patience and willpower. Every single time he brushed by her, she thought about the day they'd gone shopping and what had happened at the very end of it.
Even now, it still made her shiver in anticipation. Gregor was a consummate houseguest. She never had to worry about picking up any of his dirty laundry. He stayed to his word about the dishes, so there was rarely a time Ella had to load the dishwasher.
The one rule he kept breaking was the touching, and Ella couldn't bring herself to get mad about it. The touches weren't sexual, she didn't think. Though Gregor did have a way of making every touch linger, which made her think about sex, the touches themselves were innocent.
A caress against her lower back when he needed to walk behind her in the kitchen. Fingers brushing against each other when they both reached for the same bowl. His knees too close to hers as she introduced him to modern television.
It was slowly making her go out of her skin.
Then, there were the stares.
It wasn't all the time.
It wasn't even creepy.
It was just ... she'd catch Gregor watching her intently. As if he knew something about her she didn't know. It made her squirm. The first couple of times, they locked gazes. She was always the one to look away first. In fact, Gregor could be the world champion of the no blink game because she never saw him blink when he was looking at her.
After a few times, she stopped catching his eye and just continued doing what she was doing. If Gregor wanted to tell her what it was, he would. Until then, he could look his fill.
She was in the kitchen dicing yellow onions when he came in. Her breath stuttered and stopped as she took him in.
Gregor had all but commandeered her patio for Aikido practice, a new art he'd learned while watching YouTube. He hadn't gotten an instructor yet, but she didn't think he needed to. Ella almost always made a point of ensuring she was in the living room reading or pretending to work when it was time for him to go out and practice.
He always took his shirt off. Then, when he finished, he would pick it up and wipe the sweat off his face, leaving Ella a good twenty seconds
to gape at him unabashedly. He had to know she was staring at him. Ella couldn't help being obvious. But if he did, he never said a word.
He hadn't put the shirt back on this evening. Ella's knife slipped and she damn near drew blood.
Her hiss of surprise alerted Gregor and suddenly he was at her back, looming over her like a knight in shining armor.
"Ella?"
She set the knife down. "Close call, that's all. You surprised me."
Ella didn't dare turn around. If she had, she would have lost all control. The heat of him beat against the thin fabric of her tank top and against her bare shoulders. He had to be twice the size of her, all-powerful muscle and bulk. Gregor was almost frightening in his power.
Ella knew he would never harm her. He was one of the few people she felt safe with.
She picked the knife back up and began to chop a few cloves of garlic. Gregor loomed for another moment beside her and then took a seat at the bar where he could watch her.
"What are you making?" he asked.
This was their ritual most evenings. He sat there, his hair brushing against his temples because it was still mussed from his workout, and inquired about what she was making. He asked about ingredients, cook times, anything else his mind came up with.
And Ella answered anything he asked.
"Tomato soup and grilled cheese," she said, sparing him a glance in between her chops.
"Grilled cheese?" he questioned. "What is that?"
"It's a sandwich. A delicious one." Ella pulled the two cans of diced tomatoes she'd gotten out earlier towards herself and opened the tab. She set those aside, picked up the chopping board, and poured the diced veggies into the pan filled with two tablespoons of butter and a little avocado oil. It sizzled, sending the smell of onion and garlic into the air.
Gregor closed his eyes. His nostrils flared. "I think I am going to like this," he said. His chest was still bare which made Ella feel like her tongue was full of cotton.
The Alpha Dragon's Mate (Dragon Shifters of Kahului Book 2) Page 7
