“You work with animals?” Kymar asked.
“Yes, I work the reception desk at a vet clinic, but I help out with our boarders, taking them for walks and such as well.”
He smiled. “Your job fits you. I bet you do a great job soothing people who are worried about their animals.”
As hard as it was, that was one of my favorite parts of the job, helping people be able to smile again when they were worried or sad. “Thanks.”
“Go ahead and make your call, then we’ll shower. I’m going to message Claudia to make sure she knows you’ll be with us for a few days. What would you like for breakfast?”
“What are my options?”
“Basically anything you can think of.”
“Anything?”
“Unfortunately with the weather, we do have to limit ourselves to what we have here, but I make sure the kitchen is well-stocked. If I have a craving, I don’t want to have to fly all the way to town to satisfy it.” He paused and looked me up and down.
Even though I’d meant not to think of the future, I imagined him getting a craving for me and flying to town to satisfy it. Would he? Was there any way we could keep this up and just let it be casual?
No, I’d be fooling myself if I thought I could. Nothing about Kymar was casual, certainly not my feelings for him. There was a reason I didn’t go back for seconds with alphas. Once the snow cleared, I had to leave and not look back. “What about French toast and bacon?”
Kymar smiled. “Sounds perfect.”
It was. He was. One more perfect day. I could have that, and then I would go back home.
6
Holden
We somehow managed to get through the shower without giving in to the urge to get each other off again. I think it was only the lure of bacon that kept us focused on getting clean and getting to the kitchen. Even though I had seen Kymar’s kitchen the night before, I couldn’t help but marvel at it again. It was huge, and all the appliances were obviously top-of-the-line. The black marble countertops were gorgeous, and the cabinets were painted a lovely pale turquoise that was soothing and gleamed in the sunlight. I couldn’t even imagine how many tens of thousands of dollars had gone into it. I could definitely get used to breakfasting here every day if I was willing to let myself.
A woman who had to be Claudia was grilling French toast at the cooktop situated in the middle of the kitchen island. I would guess she was around sixty. Her hair was mostly gray and pulled back in a bun, and she was wearing a holiday-themed apron. She looked like a grandmother from a picture book.
“Good morning, Claudia,” Kymar said. “This is Holden. He’s going to be staying here for a while.”
I resisted the urge to correct him. There was no point in arguing about it further, and I’d told him I didn’t want to talk about the future. “It’s nice to meet you, Claudia. Dinner last night was incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever had better brownies.”
She beamed. “Thank you very much. I’m glad you’ll be staying with us. It’s always nice to have extra people to cook for.”
“I promise not to be a lot of extra work.”
“You can’t possibly eat as much as this one.” She tilted her head toward Kymar.
He huffed. “Dragons have a very fast metabolism.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. He had eaten at least half the pan of baked spaghetti the night before and three or four brownies.
“Claudia, are you feeling all right?” Kymar asked.
I had noticed that her voice was scratchy, and her cheeks were quite pink, but that could be from the heat of the grill.
“I’ve just got a bit of a sore throat this morning. I’ll be fine.”
Kymar frowned. “I want you to take the rest of the day off and rest.”
“Certainly not. We have a guest.”
“There’s plenty of food already prepared, and we’ll be fine. You should put your feet up and rest in front of a nice fire.”
I’d already been thoroughly charmed by the way Kymar flirted with me from the moment he’d landed at Laszlo’s house, the things he’d done to me in bed, the fact that he’d truly been concerned about my pleasure, not to mention how absolutely breathtaking he was, but seeing him so concerned for Claudia, a person another wealthy man might simply dismiss as a household servant, made me long to find the courage to stay with him. He wasn’t just sexy, ludicrously wealthy, and damn good in bed, he was also willing to put someone else’s needs ahead of his own. I couldn’t say that about many of the alphas I’d slept with, and none of them had been the total package that Kymar was.
“I promise I’m fine,” Claudia insisted.
“What did Dan say?”
She glared at Kymar. “That old worrier tried to get me to stay in bed this morning. He said he’d come over and make the breakfast, but I think you know what a mess that would have been.”
Kymar grimaced. “Holden and I would be better off on our own than that, but I’m going to have to insist that you rest for the remainder of the day. And you must bundle up on the way back to your cabin.” He peered out the window as if assessing the weather. “Maybe I should carry you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I have a sore throat. There’s nothing wrong with my legs.”
“There’s at least a foot and a half of snow on the ground.”
“Twenty inches last I heard,” she said.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been in that much snow. “I wonder how much they have in town?”
“Not nearly this much, but a good eight to ten inches at least, I think.”
“Wow. The roads really will be impassible for a while.”
“Days at least,” Kymar said. “Weeks maybe.”
Claudia frowned at him. “Incompetent as they may be with snow removal, they’ll get it cleaned up in a few days at most. But who’s going to get lunch and supper for you if I’m lying around in my cabin like an invalid.”
Kymar scowled. “Are you saying I’m incapable of taking care of myself?”
“Essentially, yes.”
He stomped over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. “Do you see all this? He pointed to the copious amounts of food inside. I should think I could at least make a sandwich for myself.”
I decided I should intervene. “I actually like to cook. I can’t make anything fancy, but I usually make dinner for me and my roommates. I promise I can handle it, Claudia. Kymar won’t go hungry. And he’s right, you should get some rest. You don’t want to feel worse and have him over here starving while you’re too sick to do anything about it.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re a sneaky one. I think you’ll do just fine for him.”
Kymar winked at me, and I immediately focused on Claudia again. “I’m not… We’re not…”
She gave me a don’t-give-me-any-of-that-bullshit stare. And I decided it was a futile argument.
“So after breakfast you’ll go rest?” Kymar asked.
“If I’m to be attacked on all sides, I guess I might as well give in.”
Kymar narrowed his eyes. “Keep that up, and I’ll insist on carrying you.”
“Hush up. I don’t care if you are a dragon or a thousand years old. Sometimes you don’t act more than ten, and I’m not afraid to give you a serious talking to.”
I pressed my lips together, trying my best not to laugh. Eventually I had to turn away and cover my mouth.
“I’ve just about had enough of both of you,” Kymar huffed. “The snow is slowing down now. I might just fly somewhere I’m appreciated.”
“If you can fly, then you can take me home,” I said.
Kymar glanced out the window and then back to me. “Never mind. I misspoke. It’s very dangerous out there.”
“Fly you home? To town?” Claudia shook her head. “You’d catch your death of cold. You’ll stay with us until the snow is cleared.”
It wasn’t like I actually wanted to leave, not with Kymar and Claudia here to take care of me. “All right, Clau
dia. If you promise me you’ll rest today, I’ll promise to stay until the roads in town are safe and the storm has passed.”
She studied me for a moment and then nodded. “It’s a deal.”
When we’d eaten breakfast—OMG Claudia’s French toast was absolutely the best ever—I insisted on cleaning up the kitchen so Claudia could return to her cabin. Kymar relented on carrying her, but he did insist on escorting her.
I was loading the last of the dishes into the dishwasher when the door flew open and Kymar practically leapt inside. “The snow’s died down. It’s perfect for us to go outside now.”
I frowned. “Outside?”
“Yes, to play in the snow.” He looked as excited as a five-year-old.
I hadn’t played in the snow in years. Maybe once or twice with my first foster family, certainly not since I was more than nine. “I don’t know if I—”
“Please. I love snow. That’s why I moved up here, but I don’t usually get to enjoy it with anyone.”
There was no way I could turn him down when he was giving me pleading puppy eyes—not something I would have thought a dragon could do. “Okay, but I’m not sure what to wear. I didn’t exactly come here dressed for playing in the snow or even to stay for multiple days.”
Kymar waved off my concern. “I brought back some of Dan’s old things for you to wear. They’ll probably be a little large, but they’ll do for playing in the snow. You won’t need any clothes when we’re inside.”
“I’m not cooking dinner for you naked.”
Kymar pushed his lower lip out in a pout. He was so adorable, I almost wanted to tell him I’d do anything he asked, but I had to have some standards. “It’s too risky. Would you want me to burn myself and then not be able to entertain you for the rest of the time I was here?”
His expression went from pouting to horrified. “All right. You can dress for cooking, but you should be naked the rest of the time.”
“I’ll be naked some of the time.”
He ignored me, likely thinking he’d convince me to do whatever he wanted. “We’ll put your clothes in the wash, and you can change into these ski pants. With a sweater and the jacket I borrowed for you, plus a hat and gloves, you’ll be fine.”
I frowned at the thought of being bundled up like a snow monster.
“No arguing,” Kymar said. “I don’t want you getting frostbite. I want all your appendages nice and toasty, even while we’re sledding.”
“Sledding?”
“Yes, and then we can build a snowman and have a snowball fight.”
I laughed. “You’re totally like a little kid about the snow.”
Kymar sniffed. “If you think I act like a kid, you should see Laszlo when it comes to Christmas.”
“Seeing him decorate the tree was enough to give me a hint.”
“He was subdued then, probably trying not to scare you and Roman with his enthusiasm.”
I followed him up the stairs, knowing I was going to have to fully outfit myself in snow gear. I frowned at myself in the mirror once I’d put on layer after layer. “At least tell me we’ll get hot chocolate and more of Claudia’s brownies when we come in.”
“If you require a sugar fix after your time in the snow, angel, I can provide you with whatever you need.” The way he was looking at me suggested he assumed I’d need a lot more than hot chocolate and a brownie to warm me up. Surely he didn’t find me attractive in this ridiculous getup. I felt like the abominable snowman in an old man’s hat.
“I can’t believe you’re looking at me like that when I’m wearing a snowsuit.”
“Technically it’s a ski bib and a jacket, a snowsuit is—”
I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the door. “Enough talking. Let’s just do this.”
When we stepped out into the snow, I was thankful for the waterproof pants and the fact that Dan and I both had very average-size feet, so I was able to wear the boots Kymar had borrowed. They were so well insulated my toes didn’t feel the least bit cold. I wondered if Kymar had gotten them for Dan. My hands stayed toasty too. Kymar had given me hand warmers to slide into my gloves, telling me I’d be thankful for them when we were shaping snowballs for our big fight.
Kymar led me to a shed that hadn’t been fixed up yet, like the rest of the property. He opened the padlock and swung the door open. There had to have been a dozen different sleds inside. Old-fashioned wooden ones, saucers, and oblong ones that would fit both of us. “Do you want to slide together, or do you want your own sled?”
“Together.” I wasn’t sure about sledding at all, so I definitely didn’t want to go down by myself.
“That’s what I hoped you’d say.” He pulled out one of the toboggans. It was far fancier than the kind kids usually had. He used the tow rope to pull it behind us as he led me to where there was a path wide enough for three or four people to walk side-by-side through the trees. “This was made as a walking trail, but it’s also a perfect toboggan track.”
“We’re going down that in this?” I pointed at the sled.
Kymar grinned. “Of course.”
“I’m not so sure—”
He pressed a gloved hand against the side of my neck. “I would never let my mate come to harm.”
“I’m not—”
“Please, just trust me.”
I realized I did. Kymar would keep me safe. I’d flown here on his back, so I wasn’t sure why I was hesitant about getting on a sled, especially when I took risks with men all the time. But that hill just looked so steep. “I do trust you.”
“Good. Now get on the sled.” Once I was seated, Kymar settled behind me. “Hold the rope.” I did, and he put his hands on top of mine. “Now, just stay loose and relaxed. I promise to keep you safe.”
Before I could respond, Kymar kicked off, and we started down the hill, gaining speed every second. Somehow he managed to use the rope to steer us away from the trees, but there were numerous near misses. I wondered just how far my screams carried. Could they hear me in town? But about halfway down, when we were still alive, I stopped being afraid and started thoroughly enjoying the adrenaline rush. Instead of tensing up, waiting to smash into a tree, I relaxed back against Kymar, and reveled in the exhilaration.
“Again?” I asked as we lay in the snow after tumbling off the sled at the bottom of the hill.
Kymar sat up suddenly. “You liked it?”
“Once I got over being sure we were going to die, I loved it.”
His smile would have been enough to keep me warm even if I’d been lying in the snow naked.
He held out his hand. “Come on.”
I let him pull me out of the snow. Only then did I realize we had to climb the hill before we could slide down again. “I don’t suppose you can shift and carry us?”
7
Kymar
For much of my thousand years, I’d experimented and researched a way to make my magic reform my human body with clothes on, but as far as I knew, no dragon had ever managed it. “I would love to fly to the top, but it takes a long time to take off and put on snow gear, and it’s too cold out here to be naked.
“I forgot about that part. It’s too bad clothes don’t make the transition, although, then I wouldn’t have gotten such a full picture of your assets when we first met.”
The flash of interest in his eyes almost made me want to fly him up the hill anyway, but as much as I loved snow, I really hated standing in it barefoot, and Holden would have a difficult time holding my bulky snow gear and staying on my back.
He was everything I could want: eager, willing, playful in and out of bed, caring. If only he weren’t so scared of giving me a chance to prove we belonged together. I supposed I should feel thankful he wasn’t afraid of my dragon form or my strength or the wicked things I liked to do to him. But he was afraid to trust in our mate bond.
At least we had some time. Maybe I could figure out what was holding him back. Maybe I could change his mind. I had to convince him
eventually, or we’d both suffer from separation. Unless I was wrong. Unless I wanted Holden to be my mate so much, I’d conjured up these feelings. Was I so jealous of Laszlo that I was sensing things that weren’t there?
I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on Holden. “What I can do, is carry you up the hill.”
Holden studied me for a moment as if trying to decide if I was serious or not. “I can walk. You don’t have to…”
“As you may have noticed, even in this form, I’m much stronger than a human.” I turned around and bent my knees. “Hop on my back.”
“You’re going to piggyback me up this mountain?”
“Unless you’d rather walk.”
He looked up the steep hill we’d slid down and then back at me and then back up the hill. “All right. If you say so.” He climbed on my back, and I didn’t just carry him. I ran with him.
“Oh my God,” he yelled in my ear a few moments later. “How do you have this kind of stamina?”
“Lots of flying practice.”
“This is amazing!”
I was starting to tire by the time we neared the top of the hill. I slowed my pace and let myself feel the warmth of him pressed against me. I could sense joy and the connection stretching between us like a thread tying us together. It was our mate bond. It had to be.
When we reached our starting place, I let him slide from my back. I turned to face him and wanted to pull him to me and just melt into him. I’d been with lots of omegas in my nearly thousand years, and I’d enjoyed them, had fun with them, given and taken pleasure, but I’d never felt this sappy feeling like a character in a rom com or, even worse, a Christmas movie that I got when I looked at Holden. I hadn’t even thought such nonsense was real.
“Kiss me.” Holden said.
My heart thundered in my chest, not just from the exertion of carrying him up the hill, but also from exhilaration at feeling our bond and terror that he would never accept me fully. I pulled him to me, but I didn’t kiss him right away. I brushed his hair from his face and cupped his cheeks, wishing I weren’t wearing gloves and could feel his soft skin. His eyes were wide, and he was holding his breath as I slowly lowered my lips to his. I licked his bottom lip, just a barely there flick of my tongue. He jumped in surprise, and I smiled against his lips.
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