Alaska was beautiful. She could get used to it as long as she had Col. She’d have to lie to more people than just her boss. Wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about her dragon man. Ever. Not even her family. They’d just have to think she met some logger while she was on her business trip and fell head over heels. They’d be sad she was moving, but they’d probably be thrilled that she was moving on.
She plugged in her earbuds and opened the Skype app. Then dialed her sister.
Naomi didn’t know what time it was back in New York—maybe early evening—but Camila would have her phone next to her no matter what. Especially if she was waiting for her to call. Since she was supposed to call every single night and hadn’t last night, her sister would be pissed. Not that her family was controlling. They were just super close.
She and Camila talked every day. In fact, Naomi couldn’t remember the last time she’d missed their nightly phone call. They spent almost every weekend together as well. Between shopping and hanging out and Sunday night dinners with the family. It was like she’d never moved out.
“Ohmygod! Nai! Finally.” Her sister’s voice screamed through the app. A moment later her face appeared in the camera window. “You realize you’ve given me a heart attack. And Mom. What happened to you? We were so scared you’d been eaten by a bear.”
Not a bear.
Naomi chuckled inwardly.
Crap.
She needed to call her mother, too. Her parents were probably just as worried as Camila, because her sister had likely shared that she hadn’t been calling in. “I’m okay, Cam, just had a little accident and—”
“Are you okay?” Her sister’s picture went black for a second. “Hang on, I’m adding Mama.”
“What! No!” she started. She wasn’t ready for the onslaught just yet. Hell, she hadn’t even figured out what she was going to tell them yet.
Too late. Her mother’s face appeared split on her screen along with Camila’s.
“Naomi Maria Parker!” Her mother looked so tired. Red rimmed her eyes like she’d been crying. There were dark circles under them.
All her fault.
“Mama, I’m okay. Just a little accident. I hurt my head and was out of it for a while. I couldn’t get to my laptop or phone, but I’m doing better now. I’m so sorry you were worried.”
“What happened?” Cam asked from the other screen.
“Snow machine accident.” The words were literally falling from her mouth without permission.
Oh, well. It was as good an excuse as any.
“I hit my head really bad. A local found me and helped me get back to my cabin.”
“You’re sure nothing is wrong?” her mom asked again.
“I’m fine. Promise.”
“Why didn’t he take you to a hospital?” Cam asked.
“Probably because the closest one is hundreds of miles from here and you have to fly.” Naomi held in a laugh. Technically, Col, could’ve flown her. Not that he would’ve known where the hospital was. Plus, he would’ve been a dragon. That wouldn’t have gone over well with the locals.
“Holy Toledo! Is that the local?” Camila screeched pointing at the screen. “No wonder you didn’t call yesterday.”
“Cam.” Naomi force her gaze to the square on the screen where her camera view showed her.
Oh geeze.
Col was standing behind her with a curious expression. By some miracle he was wearing his kilt thing.
So at least he wasn’t flashing her mother and her sister. That would’ve certainly made an impression.
Her sister’s mouth twisted into a mischievous grin. “So, did he help you get over the injury personally?”
“Cam,” Naomi whined. “That’s a personal question and I’m not—”
“Fine, fine. Whatever. I’ll call you back later without Mom on the line, so you can dish,” her sister said. “Go be with your local. Call me back later, okay?”
She sighed.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me, Naomi? I should at least get to thank the man that saved my daughter’s life. Whether or not you decided to reward your savior is none of my business. You’re a single woman.” Her mother was pointing at the screen now too.
Pointing at Col.
She turned to her mate. “Come on over here, Col. My mother wants to say hi.”
He smiled and moved to kneel next to her chair in front of the desk. His head and bare shoulders still showed in the camera view, but at least he wasn’t showing off his entire torso anymore.
“What magick is this?” he asked her softly.
“I told you. It’s science. This is a phone call.” She covered the mic with her hand, so her family couldn’t hear. “This world has a lot of technology. It might look like magick. But it’s not.”
He nodded, but his expression remained doubtful.
Naomi popped out one of her earbuds and put it into his ear, then leaned closer so they could share the mic. “Col, this is my Mama.” She pointed at the picture of her smiling mother. “And this is my sister, Camila.” She indicated at the other box on the screen. Camila waved too.
“It’s nice to meet you, Col,” her mom said. “Thank you for saving my baby girl and taking good care of her.”
“Yeah, I bet he took good care of her.” Her sister snorted through a laugh.
“Cam,” Naomi groaned.
“It is a pleasure to meet family of my shuarra.” Col’s voice was low and even.
“Shoo-ar-ah?” her mother repeated.
“It’s just what he calls me. It’s Native.”
“Um, he said my,” Camila said. “Girl, you didn’t like participate in some tribal marriage ceremony? Are you married?”
“Of course not,” she shot back.
Her dragon man opened his mouth and she could feel the protest coming.
At least he hadn’t called her his mate. Yet. She put her hand over his mouth and glared, hopefully giving him a look that communicated she wanted him to stop talking.
“Look, I’ll call you back later okay. I just wanted to let you guys know I was okay. This was the first time I was back where there was WiFi.”
“Naomi, I want—” her mother continued.
“Sorry, Mama.” Naomi slapped the laptop closed, ending the call.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I thought you were sleeping.” Naomi tugged the earbud from Col’s ear.
He turned the chair and met her gaze. His eyes flickered gold. “I was sleeping. Then I heard you speaking. I thought someone had come into the cabin. Why were you ashamed when I called you shuarra?”
“It wasn’t that…it just…I don’t know how to explain us to my family yet,” she admitted, wishing she could shrink away or become invisible.
“We are soul mates. You are mine. I am yours. What else is there to say?”
“Well, it sounds so simple when you put it that way. Still, people don’t really do that on earth. We don’t have magick and soul mates.”
“You do now.” Col grasped her chin between his fingers.
Naomi’s heart fluttered, and a shiver of anticipation made her body throb. Just a small touch made her burn for him.
Made her whole body need him.
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
He smiled, obviously pleased with her enthusiastic response. “I can smell your arousal, shuarra. Let me satisfy your desire.” Her dragon man pushed between her legs and pulled her closer, rolling the chair forward until her crotch was against his chest.
She put a hand against one of his rock-hard pecs and shoved back. “We are not having sex again, right now. No more distracting me. I know that’s what you were doing in the shower. We—I—I need to know how this is going to work. Where do we even start? I’m not really into living in caves or the wilderness you know.”
“Is this not your home?” he asked, gesturing to the room.
Naomi shook her head. “I’m just renting it. I don’t live here, Col. I’m new here, just like you. I
live in a huge city with millions of people over four thousand miles away from here. We can’t stay here either.”
12
No home. No wonder his mate was unsettled. This cabin was also not hers. She’d only gotten permission to stay a short time.
“I will build you a home, Naomi.” He rose from the floor and offered his hand. “Come sit.”
She rose from her chair and followed him over to the couch.
He pulled her down across his lap, wrapped a blanket around her—his mate liked blankets—then held her tightly with his arms. Col nuzzled the side of her head and sniffed the lovely perfume of her hair. The soaps she used were soft and blended with her natural scent. Her curls tickled his face and he rubbed his cheek against them again. So soft. So beautiful was his shuarra.
“How?”
“I am strong. I will take care of you. As a dragon or human.” He repeated the word she’d used to describe her people. “I was a prince in my tribe.”
“Ah, is that what those guys meant when they called you Heir to the Dragon Lord?”
“Yes, and you will lack for nothing you need. I will learn how to thrive on this world. And I would be honored if you would teach me your people’s ways.”
“But, I don’t know how to live in Alaska. I don’t hunt or fish or know how to chop down trees. None of that survival stuff.”
Col smiled and buried his nose in his mate’s hair again. “I can do all those things, shuarra. It is the phones and technology you’ve spoken of I do not understand. I do not understand how the light in this home works or how you have water flowing from pulling a lever in the washroom. But I can learn. These are all things I can learn.”
A shuffling sound outside put him on alert. He couldn’t smell through the thick cabin walls. It wasn’t like a tent that allowed breezes through. In here he was separated from what was going on outside.
“What is it?” Naomi asked, tensing in his lap.
“Someone is outside,” he murmured. He slid out from under her on the couch and walked to the side of the door.
The window was covered by draping fabric. If he pulled it away, whoever was outside would know he’d heard them. He glanced around the room and into the kitchen. There was another door in the back.
“Stay here.”
“What? Wait. Where are you going?”
Col pointed at the kitchen door.
“Why don’t we just open the door and see who it is? It could be the landlord for the cabin checking up on me.” A brusque knock on the door followed her statement. “See.” She pointed. “Would the evil dragon knock?”
He curled his lip in irritation, but he agreed with her. Sefa would not knock. In fact, if Jaha’s sister had tracked them here, it was much more likely that she would land on the roof and rip it off to get at them. Col chose not to share that scenario with Naomi.
His mate moved across the room, blanket still wrapped around her, to open the door.
“Naomi.” He called her back, but it was too late, the door was already opening. He charged forward, pushing her behind him as he met the golden flicker of a gaze standing in front of him.
The man pushed back a furry hood and gave a slight bow of his head. “Col of House of Li’Vhram, Heir of the Dragon Lord. I am Tor. Kann and Saul said—”
“You are Tiger Tribe. Why are you here? Did you track us?”
“We did,” the large redheaded man said stepping down a stair. “The dragon left alive on the mountain is vicious. She has killed several wolves already. The three of us had no desire to be her next target.” He gestured behind him.
Col saw the two familiar lion shifter males standing back a few yards. “What do you want?”
“Kann said you have a human mate,” he replied. “We have spent nights in the forest. One night in an abandoned shelter before humans came. We left before they saw us. This world is strange. We don’t know how to approach people. We tried at one home to ask for a meal and they shot a weapon at us and told us not to come around again. We have been hesitant to hunt as our animals as there are many human hunters nearby.”
A soft hand touched his arm and tugged. “Col, let them in.”
“No.” He faced his mate.
She dropped the blanket to the floor, crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a hard glare.
It was similar to the look that his mother would give when he and his sister had misbehaved.
“I am not a youngling. That will not work on me.”
“These men are almost all that’s left of your entire world, and you would turn them away?”
“Shuarra.” He bared his teeth, let his fangs descend, hoping she would back down.
She did not.
“I know better.” Naomi flashed a smile he wasn’t going to be able to intimidate her. Not that he truly wanted to do so. “Your dragon would die before it hurt me. It’s probably angry at you just for growling.”
His dragon rumbled its agreement.
Col snorted in disgust. “It is not safe.” He turned back to the tiger shifter who’d stepped down off the stairs to wait for an answer.
Neither he nor the other two males showed signs of stress or fear. Their hearts beat steadily. Their faces held nothing more than quiet hope.
If he’d come through the portal alone and hadn’t found Naomi, would he be in the same predicament?
He was a dragon. He probably would’ve just lived up at the top of the mountain, eating what he could catch.
But he wasn’t alone. He had Naomi.
“You have to trust some people Col. Not all of them will let you down.”
“You were my mate. I knew I could trust you.”
“Let them in. I have enough food to at least give you all one good meal. Then we figure out what to do from there.” Naomi stepped closer and looked outside.
The cold bitter wind rushed past her, blowing her curls around her head. Beautiful. Wild. Free.
She had such a kind heart. After everything she’d been through with her past, and then with him, she was still willing to extend hospitality to even more strangers.
“Very well.” He turned to the doorway again, disapproving of Naomi’s choice, but willing to make the effort on her behalf. “You may come in. Should you attempt to hurt my mate, I will kill you by roasting your flesh slowly while you remain alive.”
Tor visibly gulped and bowed his head again, soothing Col’s need to see that they feared him.
The other two—the lions—approached and he moved away from the doorway to allow them inside.
Col pushed Naomi behind him again, still waiting for their pretense to fall and a fight to start. Decades of unrest didn’t just vanish over the course of a few days.
No one moved angrily. All three trooped in wearing heavy fur coats and their traditional warrior kilt garb and soft leather boots. Just like his, except designed with their tribal colors. The Dragon Tribe wore purple. He had no need for the coat, but not all Reyleans burned as warm as dragons.
“I’m Naomi.” His mate pushed his arm aside and took a step forward toward Tor. She held out her hand as if offering it to the tiger to touch.
His dragon roared inside, and he snarled. He caught her around the waist and hauled her back against him. “No one touches you, shuarra.”
The males stood silent and wide-eyed. Probably waiting for his dragon to shift, destroy the cabin, and kill them all.
Col was tempted.
“I was just offering my hand. It’s what humans do to say hello!” Naomi screeched. “Put me down. I swear if this was Star Trek, you’d all be a bunch of Klingons. Hot Klingons, but still. Klingons. Minus the bumps on the face of course.”
He set her down over beside the desk and her laptop. Her words didn’t mean anything to him. No frame of reference for this thing called a Klingon.
But she was frustrated. That he could easily tell by her tone of voice.
“No touching as a greeting.” Col pinned her with his gaze. “It is not our way. You a
re mine. I am not only Reylean, I am the son of a royal House. It would be a grave dishonor for them to touch my mate. They should bow.”
The fight went out of her body and she peered around his shoulder at the three silent men standing in the middle of the living room. All of them had bent at the waist in a deep bow. “I didn’t mean to dishonor you or put them in a bad way.” Naomi’s voice calmed. “We don’t have the same customs. How was I supposed to know?”
He paused. His dragon still vibrated in his chest, a low rumbling growl warning all how close it was to bursting out.
She was correct. She wouldn’t have any knowledge of his world’s customs, just as he had no knowledge of hers. Also, why the other men were likely having trouble making their way with other humans. Because they did not know the expectations of this world.
All three men released a slow sigh and stood straight and silent, as if waiting for instruction.
Col sighed. “Sit.” He gestured to the small table and four chairs near the cooking space. “Naomi,” he gestured to the last chair.
She moved quickly, grabbing her blanket off the floor and wrapping it around her shoulders again. “What about you?” She slid into the chair and looked over her shoulder and up at him.
“I will stand behind you, shuarra.”
She turned back to the group and frowned. “I’m guessing hugs aren’t really a thing with your people either, huh?”
The tiger spoke up. “What is a hug?”
“An embrace. Humans hug each other when they feel strong emotion or a strong connection to someone,” Naomi continued.
Kann shook his head. “Mates embrace. Parents embrace their children.” The others nodded their heads in agreement.
“Males in the same tribe will clasp wrists in a welcoming gesture,” Tor said. “Is that what you were trying to do earlier?”
His mate sighed. “Kinda. Not really though.” She turned and took Col’s hand, then shook it up and down. He watched her carefully. “That’s a handshake. It’s pretty common in human culture.” She stood and took a step away from him. “Especially for introducing yourself. You hold out your hand and wait. If the other person is friendly. They take it.” Naomi gestured for him to take her hand again in demonstration.
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