Tipping The Scales: Knox (Mate Craze)(47)
“We take things slow. Whenever you are ready, we can move forward. For now, we are fine and I am more than happy with this, for now. You are my mate and there are no vows that can make that more permanent to me. You are mine for always and I am yours. The rest is just-formality. Plus, I am the Alpha, so you will be announced as the Alpha female.”
Her brown eyes showed alarm. “Do I have to do stuff? Are there like responsibilities? I still have to finish school, Knox. There are still things I need to do.”
“Hey, none of that will change.” I hooked my finger under her chin to gently make her look at me. “Everything you had planned is still first and foremost. After you are finished with school and more settled, if you want to take on some clan responsibilities, you may. If not, there are other people who can and already are handling them. You priorities are my priorities now. I’m not sure you understand.”
With her hand now on my waist, she pulled me toward her. The heat from our bodies joined as our dragons reveled in the new coupling.
“Explain it to me. How did your father explain it to you?”
“He said, ‘Your mate is before yourself. Her needs come before yours. Her desires become your own. Your hearts are joined as one and your lives become inseparable. For you, there will be nothing more important than making her happy because in her happiness you will be the king of the world.’ ”
Her eyebrows bunched together. “But what about your dreams and wants and needs? What happens to those?”
My father never told me the answer to that question, but I knew it. “The same is true for you. If we are both the most important things to each other, then nothing either of us needs or desires will ever be overlooked. As the mating bond grows stronger, you will feel me and know what I need. It becomes easy.”
“I can already.” I heard her just above her heartbeat.
“It will grow stronger.”
She tried in vain to quell a smile. “Like right now, I know you are almost dying to kiss me, and still a little afraid?”
Well, damn it all. She had me nailed to the wall in less than a week of being a dragon.
“Yeah, I’m still afraid the human part of you will run screaming any moment now.”
Before I could mutter another word, my mate’s soft and warm lips were on mine. Her fingers were in my hair at the base of my head, pulling me down further, closer to her. She turned her head a little as I got closer and with one swipe of her tongue deepened the kiss while she shocked me by hooking her leg over my hip. One rocking of those hips and I was almost done for. She pulled away sooner than I would’ve liked.
“Does that help? What do I have to say to make you know?”
“Say you love me.”
She giggled. “I do, Knox. I love you. “
That’s all I needed to hear in that moment.
“Want to meet your dragon? Because mine is more than ready to meet his beautiful mate on his terms.”
“I’m more than ready. Where do we go? Where do dragons go to fly around here?”
On the way to the cliff outside my home, I explained to her about flying up toward the mountains, not below where humans had prying eyes. I held her hands during certain parts, not sure if she would be weary of the changes that would occur.
“Knox?” she asked when we were side by side looking over the cliff.
“Yes, darlin?”
“Does it hurt?”
That was the question I’d been avoiding. “The first time it will hurt. I’m sorry to have to say that to you, that I changed you into something that would cause you pain. But it will only hurt the most the first time. As you get used to the change, it will get easier, I promise. The upside is… you can fly and breathe fire. That counts, right?”
She smiled, but only with one side of her mouth. “It’s definitely a plus. Let’s get this going. I noticed your clothes shred when you changed before and you took your clothes off when you first showed me your dragon. I’ve got to strip for you, right?”
Odin, this female would be the death of me before I’d even mated her properly. Hearing her say the word strip undid me.
“Yes. I have to strip too; you won’t be alone.”
Piece by piece, she teased me as she took off every item of clothing and folded it before moving on to the next one. I did the respectful thing and looked at her face the entire time. There would be a lifetime for me to appreciate the curves and dips of her body, but this time, it was about my mate and her dragon getting acquainted.
“Okay. What now?”
I held her hands between us. “This is the easy part. Reach inside yourself. Reach toward that voice that seems so far away. She will reach back, and when she does, you must allow her to be the primary and you will move back into the shadows.”
She squinted and squeezed my hands. She was trying too hard. “Relax. Your body is now attuned to her. It’s a simple exchange of consciousness. You become submissive and she becomes dominant. There’s no giving and taking, it’s a trade between you and a different part of you.”
“There’s nothing happening,” she said, already frustrated and stomped her foot.
“I think I can help. Hold on.”
Following my own instructions, I connected with my own dragon immediately and he took over, eager to get this process moving along. In a transition faster than I’d ever experienced, he was in front of our mate and with his dragon voice, called to hers.