Dragon Bound (Elder Races #1)(93)

“It’s a beautiful present,” she told him. “Thank you.”

“I’d like to put it on you.”

“All right,” she said.

She pulled her hair into a hand and held it aside as she twisted in the chair. His fingers worked at her nape, securing the clasp. Then the weight of the necklace settled into place around her neck, much heavier than the slim chains she was used to. It was longer than a choker and fell to the top of her br**sts. She looked down at it and touched one of the stones.

His fingers stroked the hollow at the base of her neck and trailed along her skin. “Lovely,” he whispered. He bent and angled his head to press a kiss against her throat. She stroked his black hair, her eyes half closed.

He drew back. The lines of strain were bracketing his mouth again. “Do you want to stay or not?”

“I’ll be honest with you,” she told him. “It’s hard to want to stay when you’re being impossible. But I don’t want to go.”

His gaze flared with something, triumph or relief, or maybe both. He started to pull her back into his arms.

“Wait.” She braced both hands on his chest. “I’m not done. I don’t see how we can finish this conversation until something else is concluded.”

“And what is that?” His eyes narrowed.

“I need to know for sure who and what I am. We both need to know. That’s got to come before anything else. You think you want me to stay, but what if you change your mind?” She put fingers over his mouth when he started to speak and said, “It doesn’t matter what you say right now, since this is actually about me. I won’t be able to trust things between us until I believe you know who I am. Hell, until I know who I am. I want you to help me try to change, please.”

He took hold of her hand and removed her fingers from his mouth. “Can I speak now?” he demanded.

He sounded mad again. She wondered if anyone had ever told him before that it didn’t matter what he said or thought. She licked dry lips and said, “Yes.”

“All right. You want to do this, we’ll do it right now.” He stood and pulled her to her feet.

“Now?” She looked at a nearby wall clock. “It’s four thirty in the morning.”

“The hell difference does that make? I’m not going to give you time to overanalyze things and chicken out. You napped, didn’t you?” He took her by the wrist and strode out the door.

“Well, yes.” She trotted to keep up with him. “Damn it, that’s another thing. You’ve got to stop dragging me around like a sack of potatoes.” It was always some kind of he-man issue with him.

He shifted his hold to lace his fingers through hers. “Better?”

“Maybe,” she grumbled.

He led her to the bedroom and into the dressing room. “You’re going to want to put on jeans and some shoes, maybe grab a sweater or jacket. There’s a pocket of Other land about fifteen minutes’ flight west of the city. I’ve used it before for this kind of thing. It’s not very big, but the magic is strong and steady.”

“Okay.” She walked into her closet and stopped. Nerves started to tie her insides up in knots.

Was she going to let him railroad her into doing this now?

Yes. Because he was right, she would overanalyze and she was already tempted to chicken out. It was hard enough to try on her own and fail to change. So much seemed to be on the line with this one.

Not giving herself a chance to think, she tore out of her skirt and hopped into a pair of jeans. She sat on the floor to tug on socks and her new running shoes, then grabbed a black zippered sweatshirt. Then she removed the opal necklace with care and laid it out on her dresser beside her small jewelry chest. She went into the bathroom to run her brush through her hair a couple of times, and she yanked the length back into a scrunchie.

Dragos appeared in the bathroom doorway. He had kept the jeans on and changed out of the Armani shirt, into another black T-shirt that molded to his muscled torso. He wore black boots and had a gun holstered at his waist and a sword strapped to his back.

She drew up short at the sight. “Oh-kay.”

“It’s just a precaution, Pia. We’re leaving the city,” he said. “We’re not going far, the gryphons are going with us, and we’ll still be well inside my demesne, but you’ve got to get used to this. Going out armed is a fact of life now.”

“Of course. It’s just another thing to get used to.” She looked at the holster. “A gun?”

“It’s for any trouble we might run into on this side of the passage. They’re safe enough to pack if you don’t fire them on the other side.”

She grimaced. “I guess I’ll adjust.”

“You’re doing more than fine with all this,” he told her. “I’m proud of you.”

She smiled at him as pleasure welled. She figured it was a measure of how far gone she was that his praise could affect her so. But she also suspected he didn’t offer praise lightly or often.

“All set?” he asked.

“Yes.” This time when he reached for her she was ready for him and took hold of his hand.

Bayne, Constantine, Graydon and Rune were armed and waiting for them when they went up to the roof. She looked from one to another. They were relaxed and alert and gave no hint that being called out before dawn was anything unusual. Graydon winked at her and she gave him an uncertain smile.