Page 56 of The Heart of the Dragon

Magnus

Mate.

The word kept running on constant repeat in my head as Isaac and Kitra left the vehicle. For once in his life, Isaac didn't argue with me. Hopefully now he understood how hard I was working to keep the dragon locked down with the ripened scent of our mate blooming in the small confines of this goddess forsaken carriage.

If we didn't get out of here soon, we were going to go straight past tenuous to downright insane when the dragon asserted himself.

"Magnus, what is wrong with you? Why did you make them leave?"

"Because I'm still a dragon and we are fucking possessive. I can't have another male this close to you like this. Not even a mated one. Unless you are okay with me choking the life out of him."She gasped, and I shot her a look. "What? I told you I was a beast."

"I'm aware. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I've had it up to my eyeballs with your raging dragon already and this talk about mating heat. I am not an animal and I am NOT in heat. So unless you have some proof, can you shut up already?"

I leaned back against the seat, crossed my arms, and placed my ankle on my knee. "If you prefer, I can sit here and watch you suffer until you can't take it anymore. I'm not a total sadist, but watching you writhe and beg is bound to wind me up."

"You asshole! You can sit there until you draw your last breath before that's going to happen."

"Fine. Then we'll wait and see which one of us breaks first."

She huffed out a huge breath and I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. I could understand her natural frustration, but it was a futile effort to try and beat mating heat. It couldn't happen.

"What makes you so sure this is a real thing?"

"All the signs are there. The hot flashes, the pain in your womb. But the biggest and most convincing factor is the ripe scent of your fierce arousal. It's the most incredible thing I've ever experienced."

She scrunched up her face, forcing a smirk to cross mine. I'd seen a lot of things about this woman to admire and enjoy, but that sassy look might be my favorite of all.

"You are sick. You are making insane assumptions based on what? And the last thing I want to hear is how you are smelling me. Is this how you talk to all the women you've slept with?"

My thoughts instantly darkened. I didn't know what game this was, but I didn’t like it. "This kind of thing has never happened to me before. And people like you are so fucking rare I've never even seen one except for Kitra."

"People like me? What the hell does that mean?"

"An omega," I said through gritted teeth.

She took a slow breath in and then released it just as slowly. "Maybe you should explain what you think an omega is, because by my definition, I'm thinking about throwing you out of this car and leaving the three of you by the side of the road."

I barked with laughter. "You could try. But your little carriage can't outrun a dragon."

A slow, wicked smile crossed her face. "Maybe not. But the multitude of weapons I have hidden in this vehicle greatly improve my odds."

I blanched, thinking of that shotgun she'd previously leveled in my face. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked. "I've gone out of my way to keep my dragon impulses under control around you and you're planning to kill me?”

"Under control? Are you kidding me? Tell that bullshit line to my destroyed cottage. Or my grandfather's couch." She took a bigger breath, and I braced myself. "Thanks to your dragon impulses, I'm now homeless. And maybe my parents weren't completely wrong about you. I was fine until you all showed up in my life. Now I've found out my parents have lied to me, I may not be human, and there's a teeny tiny chance that I might be chained to a dragon for the rest of my life."

"Destroying your home was an accident. And I'm truly sorry about what happened to your furniture. But you'll never be homeless. Your home is with me. But it's lovely to know that you consider me only a hardship in your life."

I sounded like a petulant child, but I didn't care. Her words had sliced far deeper than they should. A stark reminder why I preferred to keep myself hardened off from others. The moment I thought about letting someone in they attacked or worse. Every time.

Her expression fell and a flash of regret crossed her face, mixing with the frustration.

Well, welcome to the club, sweetheart. "My new life here hasn't been a walk in the park. Finding out my uncle had held me hostage for most of my life, under mind control really pissed me off. For decades I served at his knee and committed heinous acts with no questions asked. And the bonus cherry on top is that now that his mind control is broken, I still remember everything I did."

"What kind of things?"

"The unforgiveable kind."

"Like what?" she pushed.

---