Page 96 of Twilight of Embers
“It’s not that bad,” Hayden mumbled.
I brushed my mouth across hers. “Need to be gentle with you for a few days.”
“Gentle sounds kind of boring after yesterday.”
I tried to rein in my shit-eating grin. My girl liked to play. The fates had matched me with just who I needed. And now she was all mine. Ours.
Hayden’s stomach rumbled, and she covered her face with her hands.
I kissed her temple. “Come on. We need to get you fed. You’ve slept for almost twenty hours.”
She jerked upright at that. “I what?”
“You needed it.”
“But I had a shift at the diner. My afternoon classes.”
“Maddox made sure you were excused, and I got in touch with Fiona.”
Hayden’s shoulders relaxed a fraction, but she instantly slid out of bed, searching for her discarded clothes. “I need to make sure I get caught up. And Fiona must think I’m the biggest flake ever.”
“She doesn’t. She’s a member of the horde, so she knows what happened.”
Hayden stilled as she went to pull on her sweatshirt. “She’s a dragon?”
I shook my head. “Wolf shifter. But she has sanctuary with us.”
“Wolf shifter…” Hayden whispered. “What else is there?”
“Too many things to count,” I said, sliding out of bed.
“I think I feel a headache coming on,” Hayden muttered.
I dropped a kiss to her head. “You’ll deal. It’ll take some time to learn everything, but you’ll make it through.”
She let out a huff of air. “I hope you’re right.”
I grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from my drawer and tugged them on, then guided Hayden into my bathroom. I found her a toothbrush, and we set to work readying ourselves for the day.
It felt so incredibly normal. I never in a million years thought that was something I’d have. Getting ready with a partner in the morning, a mate. But there she was, blonde hair a tangled mess and eyes still a little bleary.
As Hayden rinsed the toothpaste, the wide neck of her sweatshirt revealed the bite mark along her collarbone. My dragon roared in pleasure. My human half knew she’d have to wear something that covered it, but my beast wanted the world to see.
She looked up at me, shifting uncomfortably. “Is it going to be weird that we, uh, you know? Will the others be mad?”
I wrapped my arms around Hayden, pulling her into me. “They may be jealous, but they’ll also be happy. When one of us gets closer to you, we all feel it.”
Hayden’s eyes widened. “Really?”
I nodded. “I knew something had happened with you and Knox before he even fessed up.”
She frowned. “But you were mad at him.”
“I was. Because he was the reason you got sick. Sexual closeness tethers you to us in a way. When he kissed you, it made your body need physical touches from us. I knew you weren’t ready for that, but Knox screwed it all to hell.”
“This is crazy,” she whispered.
I brushed my lips across her temple. “I tried to get us all to hold back, but when we killed for you, it was all over.”
