As he slid the chair under her, he leaned down and whispered, "As I mentioned, I've spent two years watching the female I couldn't have. During which, I had a lot of time to learn what you liked."
He slid into the seat next to her, and she raised an eyebrow. "That sounds a wee bit creepy, if I'm honest."
Making a cross over his heart, he replied, "I never ventured into creepy territory, I promise. Because when I finally see your naked body, I want you to look right into my gaze and show me every emotion you have."
Her heart skipped a beat at the certainty in his words. With anyone else, she'd probably scold him to behave.
But as wetness rushed between her thighs, Layla shivered at the thought of Chase's intense, dark gaze watching her undress.
Bloody hell, what have I become?
Her dragon snorted but remained silent.
Chase's heated gaze morphed into an inquiring one. "Is today one of the days you need only food and bed?"
There he went again, remembering what she'd said. She shook her head. "No. Today was a short day for me, really."
"Ten hours shouldn't be short," he growled.
She shrugged as she opened a pizza box—noting that they came from the nearest human town—and took a slice of pepperoni pizza. Her mouth watered at the scent of seasoned meat and cheese. "It usually doesn't get much shorter. Although, tomorrow the Seahaven doctor is coming for the first time, so maybe I'll get off work a little earlier."
Chase took some food for himself. "Are you nervous about him coming?"
A few people had asked her that question, including Lochguard's clan leader. She'd been mostly honest with Finn, only leaving out her own constant, protective worry of the clan. However, she didn't hesitate to answer Chase. Maybe because he was outside her usual sphere of work and responsibilities. "More than I'd like. By all accounts, Daniel Keith is a good doctor. And aye, he used to live on Lochguard, but I didn't really know him back then to judge his character. Regardless, it's my duty to watch over the clan's health. And until I can judge his skills, I'm not sure of how much help he'll truly be since I'll be watching him instead of doing work myself."
Chase nodded. "Aye, I can understand needing to assess and judge his skills. It's why they didn't let me wire an entire building by myself on the first day of my training, and only once I passed muster. It'll take time, but I'll be rooting for him to far exceed your expectations. It's not purely for altruistic reasons, mind you." He leaned over and added, "I'll always crave more alone time with you."
She rolled her eyes. "You can stop being over the top at any time now, Chase. You already have me sitting here with you, so no need to flirt."
He took her free hand and brought her knuckles to his lips. The light touch caused electricity to race through her body.
As they stared at one another, his gaze intent and heated, she stopped breathing for a few seconds.
Bloody hell, she'd never been so attuned to a male before.
He murmured, "You deserve to be flirted with. Besides, it's not something I can easily turn off."
She raised her brows. "I hope you're not going to regale me with your former conquests."
He leaned even closer until she felt his breath on her cheek. "Fuck, Layla, don't do that. Right here, right now, it's just us. I don't want to talk about other males or females. I want to know you, lass, and only you."
Her dragon spoke up. He means it, I can tell. Stop trying to push him away already.
At her dragon's words, she resisted a sigh. I promise I don't try to do it deliberately.
Don't tell me. Talk to him.
Chase watched her, waiting. Unused to speaking freely about her thoughts, it took Layla a second to say, "Sorry. It's just unreal still, aye? You being here, looking at me like that."
He smiled, humor in his eyes. "Like what?"
"You know what."
He gently ran his thumb over her knuckles. "No, I don't. Enlighten me, lass. I can be a bit thick at times when it comes to females."
She narrowed her eyes and Chase waggled his eyebrows. She couldn't help but laugh. "You're incorrigible."
Kissing her hand again, he murmured, "I'm still waiting for you to describe this look I have."
For most of the last seventeen years, ever since she'd started her medical training at eighteen, Layla had learned to hold back part of herself in order to do her work. Yet, as she stared into Chase's eyes, she realized how much she wanted to be able to say whatever came to mind. So, for the first time in a long time, she did. "You keep looking at me as if I'm the only female in the world, and that you'd like nothing better than to eat me up."
In a flash, Chase tugged her into his lap and held her close. With his strong arms around her, his solid chest against her side, and even his arousal pressing against her outer thigh, her entire body was on fire, aching to have more than just an embrace.
Layla was starting to understand how a mate-claim frenzy had begun as an afterthought, if all true mates had the same chemistry as she and Chase.
Not that chemistry was enough, she reminded herself.
Chase nuzzled his nose against her cheek as he said, "Your assessment of my look is correct." He moved his mouth to her ear, his hot breath tickling her with each syllable. "And it's not going to fade anytime soon, so get used to it."
She snorted. "If I didn't know this clan so well, I'd dare you to keep looking at me like that for as long as possible."
He moved to catch her gaze again, a smile on his lips. "And because you know the clan so well?"
Without thinking, she moved a finger to trace the bridge of his nose. "Because I do, I know your stubbornness would try to see it through, no matter what, especially if a bet was involved. And then our secret wouldn't be one anymore, would it?"
"I don't need a bet to keep looking at you like I do, Layla."
The truth in his words did something to her heart. "How can you be so certain of that? Neither of us had parents with some happily-ever-after love story. Love and wanting can fade, Chase. It happens all the time."
She expected him to deflect and change the subject, but he searched her eyes as he said, "Aye, both of our parents' happy endings didn't last. But their stories aren't ours, and we can make our own, lass. Even given how much of a bastard my father was to my mum when he abandoned her, there are people out there like Lorna MacKenzie, who loved her mate for nearly thirty years after his death."
"It's easier to stay in love with someone if they remain a memory."
He tucked a section of hair behind her ear. "What's made you so cynical, Layla? Tell me."
Chase was asking for even more of herself. She shifted in her seat, debating what to do. No one knew the full extent of her sister's silence, not even the clan leader. Her mother was determined to pretend everything was normal, and her father had agreed. After the second or third year, Layla had lacked the energy to keep fighting them as she became head doctor.
So telling Chase would be a bloody big deal.
Her dragon spoke softly. You're doing it again. How can he get to know us if you don't share things?
She finally met Chase's eyes again. At the patience and curiosity burning in them, she finally blurted, "What do you know about my younger sister, Yasmin?"
Chase had known that Layla put on a façade to be the clan doctor, showing a certain side of herself to everyone.
However, despite his years of watching her, not even he had realized how little she talked of herself until this evening.
Some males might be upset at all the hesitating and attempts at deflection. But to Chase, it only made him more curious. And not just because he wanted to become the one she leaned on, either. The more he learned about Layla MacFie, the hungrier he grew to know even more. Aye, she was a doctor, but there was so much more to her, he was certain. And he was starting to think he'd do anything to bring out that other side of her, the one she kept from everyone else.
He watched Layla, waiting for an answer to his qu
estion about being cynical. When she finally looked up, she asked, "What do you know about my younger sister, Yasmin?"
The sister. Rumors ran aplenty, but he preferred the truth instead. So he answered, "Not much. I vaguely remember her sending-off party at the great hall, but that was what, four or five years ago?"
Layla bobbed her head. "Aye, too long ago."
The sadness in her voice instantly made both man and beast alert. "What about her, lass? What happened to your sister to make you so cynical?"
She looked at his chest and plucked at his top. She may be in her thirties, but in that moment, she barely looked older than twenty. She said softly, "My mother arranged a marriage for Yasmin to a friend's son in Clan One in Iran—the clans are simply numbered there. And since Yasmin was always the dutiful one, desperate for our parents’ approval, she agreed to it despite me being the only one who knew she cared for someone here."
He resisted a frown. Arranged matings had been rare for the last fifty or hundred years among dragon-shifters. And if there had been someone on Lochguard who loved her, then they'd been a bloody fool to let Yasmin go without a fight. Doing his best to keep his voice calm, he asked, "Why do you think she agreed to it?"
Layla shrugged, still keeping her gaze on his chest. "I don't know. I think Yas was always trying to convince herself it was what she wanted, that it would make Mum proud, and so she never complained or shed a tear, at least that I know of."
Chase had heard maybe two real complaints from Layla over the last two years. "So, she's like you, then."
Her startled gaze met his. "Why would you say that?"
He smiled as he stroked her back, hoping to calm her. "Come, lass, you don't complain, either. And there's plenty to go on about, especially given how much you have to put up with here. Archie and Cal alone are enough to make one take up drinking."
The corner of her lips curled upward, no doubt remembering one of the foolish revenge acts the two old males had carried out over the years, each accusing the other of stealing some of their land or livestock. "They've calmed down quite a bit since becoming involved with Meg Boyd and rarely end up at the surgery anymore."
He snorted. "How that female managed to catch two males, I'll never understand, let alone the rumors about them all sharing a bed together."
Amusement danced in her eyes. "I would elaborate on that, but I'm sworn to secrecy as their doctor."
He gently chucked under her chin. "I don't care about the old biddy and her males. But one day, I'll ferret out all your secrets, Layla. Wait and see."
After a beat, Layla tried to get off his lap and Chase let her. As much as he wanted to act like a possessive male, hold her tight, and say she was going to stay with him, he'd give her some breathing room. For now.
Layla took a bite of pizza, picked up her plate, and motioned toward the hall. "Show me how to view the security footage and then we can watch it together."
Inwardly, he groaned. Watching people coming and going from various storage closets wasn't his idea of an ideal date. And yet, this was only the first of many tests to come when it came to being the mate of a doctor.
Even though he'd have said yes anyway, he stood and tilted his head. "We do that and then I get to pick our next activity."
Chase slowly looked up and down her body, taking in every curve and valley.
Her cheeks flushed and his inner dragon took notice. There's a lot we can do without kissing her on the mouth.
Ignoring his beast, he put on a mock expression of surprise. "Why, Dr. MacFie, are you thinking dirty thoughts?"
Her cheeks turned even redder, and he did his best not to laugh. Especially once she stood taller and straightened her shoulders. "Of course not."
Biting back a grin, he crossed over to her, snagging a pizza box on the way. He stopped next to her, leaned over, and whispered, "Don't worry, I have enough dirty thoughts for the both of us, lass."
Her breath hitched, and it took everything he had not to turn his head and kiss her.
Instead, he went down the hall toward the extra bedroom Layla used as a secondary office, where he'd set up the receiving equipment. Part of him wanted to discover the thief right away to ease Layla's worries. However, another part of him wished she'd get bored at seeing nothing suspicious so he could do something to try and make her laugh or smile and help her forget for a few minutes that she was a doctor.
Chase's dragon spoke up. What happened to all of your patience?
It's easier to wait when you have no encouragement. Now, however, being around her all the time, it's a lot harder.
If I can keep myself in check, you can, too. We need to prove we're the mate she needs.
Knowing that his dragon was right, Chase hurried toward the office. He'd waited two years for Layla. A few more weeks or months shouldn't be impossible.
No, it had to be possible because he couldn't risk the alternative. If he forced the mate-claim frenzy on Layla, she'd never forgive him.
With a fresh surge of determination coursing through his body, he went after Layla.
Chapter Six
If any other male had said those words to her, about having enough dirty thoughts for the both of them, Layla would've frowned and told them to mind their manners.
But when Chase said them, her body heated, and she itched to asked him what some of them were.
As soon as he left the kitchen, her dragon spoke up. Then ask him.
I…can't. He's distracted me enough tonight as it is. And we really need to view that security footage because the longer the supplies keep being stolen, the more it hurts the clan in the long run.
Her dragon huffed. We can do both. It'd be even easier, though, if you asked for help. Chase's brother would help. And you can't use any excuses because Grant knows how to keep a secret.
From Finn? I doubt it. The surgery is my domain, and Finn will disrupt it, as well as make everyone question my authority and ability to run the place. I'll ask for help once I know who it is and why they're doing it, but not before.
It wasn’t as if Layla would never ask for help if she truly needed it. But no one was dying or in danger. Yet. She wasn't about to become the female who cried wolf.
Her dragon paused a second before adding, You've proven yourself as head doctor. There's no need to keep shouldering all the burden.
It's not by choice, dragon. Until another fully trained doctor is around, it has to be this way. I can't entrust a junior one still in training without the necessary supervision. No matter how good their intentions, someone could still die.
Her beast sniffed. Hand over the smaller duties to the junior doctors, all of them if possible. That alone will free up some time.
There's not much more I can hand over.
Her dragon was about to reply, but not wanting to have the same argument she'd had many times before with her beast, Layla ignored her and went to her home office.
Right after she sat down, Chase followed suit and took another slice of pizza. Watching Chase casually sitting there, taking a bite of pizza, gave her a glimpse of what an ordinary, everyday life could be. Aye, some females dreamed of flowers, presents, and ballads, but for Layla, she simply wanted a partner in life she could love and be loved by in return, one who would be there for her after a long day of surgeries or paperwork.
She wasn’t entirely convinced yet that Chase could be that person, but she was at least giving them a chance. She owed him that much.
She adjusted her position in the chair next to him and her arm casually brushed his. Even so, a slight shock tingled up her skin, making her heart beat faster.
Chase leaned closer toward her. She wondered if he'd touch her again, but he reached around and flipped on a few switches before moving back and typing something on a keyboard. Images appeared on the screen in front of them.
Tamping down her disappointment at him doing exactly what she'd asked, she listened to him explain how to turn it on. Once she nodded at the end, he put the image on fa
st-forward and ordered, "Eat."
If she weren't so bloody hungry, she'd fight him. But as her stomach growled, she took a bite of the warm, cheesy goodness, loving the grease and ignoring the doctor in her that said she should be eating something healthier.
Chase merely sat and watched her until she'd eaten the entire slice. Once she lifted her plate and made an overdramatic gesture of it being empty, he grinned. "Good, lass."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a dog or horse."
He placed another slice on her plate. "No, but since I can't reward you the way I want, I've resorted to teasing you."
Not wanting to flush yet again and only make them both frustrated, Layla asked, "What's one of your guilty pleasures then? You know my secret love of pizza, but what's yours?"
He blinked, surprised at the change of topic. Both woman and beast felt a thread of warmth at being able to surprise the charming male.
She may be predictable at her job, but when she was younger, she'd loved playing pranks on her sister.
Before she could go down memory lane and feel sad again, Chase shrugged and garnered her full attention. "It's not really a secret, but not many people would guess I like gardening and trying to find new plants from around Scotland to plant in my secret garden. Something about taming a yard, working hard to showcase its hidden, unrealized beauty satisfies me. Besides,"—he winked—"it gives me the chance to take off my shirt and have everyone ogle me."
She narrowed her eyes at the thought of a pack of females watching Chase's powerful, sweaty back.
Then she remembered a minor detail. "You said it was secret, so no one would be there to watch you. Unless you count the squirrels and hedgehogs?"
He grinned. "You're too clever for your own good."
Ignoring his comment, she said, "I like that idea. Sort of like a Snow White in reverse, aye? Do you call the animals and they come to help you with the chores? That would be quite the show."
Gently taking her cheek, he nipped her jaw. "Cheeky lass. No bloody animals come when I call."
The Dragon's Pursuit (Lochguard Highland Dragons Book 7) Page 6
