Pia Saves the Day (Elder Races #6.6)(22)

“What do you need now, Dragos?” she asked softly. “Do you know? Do you need space, or your own place to sleep? Or do you want to go back to the mountaintop?”

The swiftness of his internal reaction jolted him, an immediate whiplash of denial at the thought of taking his own space, but when she mentioned going back to the mountaintop, he had to pause.

He couldn’t deny it. He was tempted. The stone of the ledge would still be radiating heat from the day’s sun, and the gigantic canopy of the night sky would arc overhead, stars gleaming like diamonds. The wildness and solitude of the place called him, and he knew she would come with him if he asked.

Yet, while he wanted to return at some point to collect the small pile of treasure—his gifts—going back there now would not be conquering the alien landscape of this place, and that was what he was most determined to do. He needed to invade that private place upstairs, the nest she had shared with the other Dragos, and to claim it for his own.

He needed to claim her in that space.

Holding her gaze, he said deliberately, “I need to take you to bed.”

The sense of her arousal deepened, and the light that came into her face in that moment had nothing to do with her own magic, and everything to do with the magic they were creating between them. She whispered, “I’m glad.”

Keeping hold of her hand, he turned and they walked through the silent house together.

Chapter Eight

Pia didn’t know what to think of Dragos’s deliberate, sensual approach, or the way they journeyed upstairs hand in hand.

It should have felt like a sedate pace. It didn’t. It felt like a slow burn that crawled underneath her skin and set her on fire.

As they passed Peanut’s nursery, he glanced at the closed door, and the expression in his eyes turned moody. “I need to see him too,” he said. “But not yet. First, I need to be more settled in myself.”

After a pause to think it over, she replied, “That’s an excellent idea. The accident was only yesterday afternoon—it’s been barely over a day. Much as I miss him, he’s surrounded by people who love him, and I know they’re doing a wonderful job looking after him. It’s okay to take a few days, maybe even a week.” She looked up at him. “The most important thing right now is to make sure you get what you need.”

He opened the door to their suite, set a flattened hand at the small of her back and ushered her inside. Biting a nail, she watched him explore the rooms, discovering for himself where everything was. Silently, he disappeared into his walk-in closet for a few moments, then he strode into the bathroom. A moment later, she heard the sound of water running.

If the situation had been normal, he would never have let go of her hand. She would have gone with him and offered him comfort and sex. They would have shared healing intimacy in that shower. They had certainly done so several times before.

Now everything was so strange. He advanced on her and made no secret of his sensual interest, and yet he had barriers that remained in some deep, fundamental way. It confused her and made her question her own instincts.

He acted like Dragos, but he didn’t act like her Dragos.

Eyes filling with tears, she went to the balcony doors, opened them wide and stepped outside for some fresh air. He didn’t know about the healing, intimate times they had shared in the shower together, and she didn’t feel confident enough to go into the bathroom to join him, even though she wanted to. She didn’t know how to act, and she was afraid of doing something wrong, something that might send him away.

She didn’t hear him step out onto the balcony. Not only was he fast and light on his feet, but he was also extraordinarily quiet when he chose to be.

Something else alerted her, a huge, fierce Power brushing against her senses.

Wiping her face, she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the shadowed mountain range in the distance.

“You could leave, you know,” she said. “Be free, start a completely new life. You have an out like nobody has ever had in the history of Wyr mating.”

Also, just because they had mated, that didn’t mean they had to live together. Several different species of Wyr chose not to live with their mates. Solitary by nature, they kept their lives separate and came together only when they needed.

She didn’t want to live that way. She couldn’t imagine adapting to that after the wealth of what they had shared, but you never knew what you could live with once you didn’t have any choice. If that was what it took to keep him in her life, she would do it.

His hands clamped down on her shoulders, and he spun her around.

He was naked, his inky black hair and dark bronze skin still damp. His clean, male scent wafted over her. She got only a blurred impression of his muscled body before he jerked her toward him, bending over her upturned face.

His expression had turned murderous, and the gold in his eyes glowed bright and hot.

“Fuck that,” he hissed.

Aw, he said the sweetest things to her.

Patting his hair-sprinkled chest, she said unsteadily, “I didn’t say you should, or even that I wanted you to. I said you could. I only meant to point out this situation is really bizarre.”

He thrust that deadly face into hers, growling, “I keep what is mine. I don’t leave it. I don’t lose it, not ever, and I go after anyone who tries to take it from me.”

She knew that quite well, which was one of the major reasons she had chosen not to tell him that she had once stolen from him. That, in fact, him chasing after her had been how they had first met.