Page 129 of Hoarded By the Dragon

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks.

“About what?” I ask even as my throat thickens.

Kalos runs his scaled thumb over the back of my hand, not dissuaded by my deflection. “Whatever is keeping you from me. From living. That flash in your eyes is the first I’ve seen of my mate since you woke after the fae gate.”

My lip trembles.

His golden eyes wince. “You’re allowed to still be angry with me—”

“I’m not,” I interrupt and am surprised by the truth of that. I’d worn my anger like a suit of armor, but each piece has melted away when faced with how he’s taken care of me.

Without the anger, there’s only clawing emotions that give my mouth a metallic taste.

“Why aren’t you mad at me?” I whisper as if his anger would make the guilt trying to drown me easier to navigate.

Kalos frowns and tilts his head.

His confusion frustrates me. He should know exactly what I’m talking about.

“I put her in danger,” I say. My hands on my stomach in explanation.

His frown clears, but instead of the expected derision, there’s only understanding.

I don’t want the understanding. “What I did was worse than going down to the caverns alone. With that, I had a plan. I was thinking about keeping her safe—” I break off, struggling to breathe for a moment. “I forgot to think of her at all when I approached you at the fae gate.”

Kalos pulls me into his arms. The move so unexpected that I accept the embrace without thought. The warmth of it has a tear escaping down my cheek. He lifts me and turns until he sits on the couch with me in his lap, an echo of every time he’s held me to provide our daughter heat.

I hiccup, and he presses his forehead to mine.

His voice is soft when he speaks. “Rina, I’m sorry for how I reacted in the caverns. I was wrong and struggling. It was unfair to put the burden of that on you.”

I sniff. All of Maggie’s words about fate, and it’s Kalos’s that finally release the tinge of guilt and failure from that memory.

Kalos continues, “Life is full of risk. It’s easier to realize that now that I’m whole. With the fae gate, I could not expect you to sit on the sidelines while I was in danger. Not when you could possibly do something to remedy it.”

Shock makes its way through the despair that’s coiled around me.

Kalos pulls back to meet my gaze, his determined. “You are my mate. Whether the bond is complete or not. You are courageous and daring. To expect you to be anything else is contrary to your nature. For you to demand of yourself anything else is destructive to who you are.”

The truth of that fights at the miasma of negativity surrounding me, lightening it. Kalos’s arms squeeze around me.

“I am here to protect and care for you.” His talon slides over my cheek, wiping away the tear there. “Will you let me?”

“But I just mess things up,” I whisper.

“You do no such thing,” he rumbles, and there’s finally anger there. “Yousavedme. You shouldn’t have had to, but you did. You ran from here when needed to protect our daughter. You found strong allies that could keep you safe and close by.”

As he lists out each item, the guilt releases its claws and the truth of my conflict surfaces.

“I’m scared to want this,” I say. I’m scared to love Kalos only to lose him. The close call showed me just how easily we could lose our daughter.

“Ah.” Kalos’s face softens. “Now that is a feeling I know well. Fear is why I pushed you away for so long. It kept me manageable… but broken. I don’t wish that for you.”

He kisses me, and the fire of need flares, attempting to douse my worries. The endless fear that would destroy this life I’ve fought for.

“Allow me to help remind you how brave you are, thief of my heart,” he says against my mouth when the kiss breaks.

My brow scrunches in confusion.Of my heart.Does that mean—

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