Page 53 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

My cock strained against my jeans just thinking of that possibility and I was sure I had“Come fuck me eyes”as Ember so eloquently put it.

I laughed silently, thinking of the way she’d scolded me for not being able to contain the desire of my beast, as I flipped through another volume about all the historically famous dragon pairs who’d registered over the years.

It was possible that someone hadn’t documented a connection to a human mate.

In our earlier history, such a pairing would be frowned upon if not outright shunned. And there was a chance that the dragon wouldn’t have lived long enough to register anyway.

Dragons didn’t survive more than minutes after the last beat of their fated mate’s heart.

Human lives were so short…

Maybe that was the clue.

I grabbed the tome on registered deaths from the shelf in my study and turned back to my desk. Less dust coated the leather bindings on this book. I’d used it more often than any other over the past few years.

As I scrolled through our history, I scribbled down a list of random dragons here and there who’d died with shorter lifespans.

There weren’t many, but as I made notes, I found a pattern. Unmated. Males and females both. Suddendeaths, and none of them were in the presence of their flock.

I pushed away the registrar book and leaned back in my chair, crossing my hands behind my head.

It is possible.

It could be.Or I could be skewing the data to fit my own purposes. I was old enough to know better than that. But I couldn’t help the nagging feeling that I was missing something important.

It wasn’t like with the prophecy. I’d studied those runes until my eyes bled, and despite what others believed, there was nothing new to interpret.

This, though, was something different.

The thrill of discovery awakened a deep desire within me, one that died in the next breath.

What did it matter?

The end was still upon us.

That’s what makes it worthwhile.

I stopped thinking, trying to really listen to the wisdom of my beast.

Other dragons were moving their flocks to steadier ground, trying to live out their remaining years in peace. I’d chosen to hunker down here, knowing that half of my flock could no longer take to the skies. Their bodies were too aged for flight.

Trying to prolong the inevitable like the others were doing had seemed so human—woefully ignorant and idealistic.

But Ember had come into my world like a storm, shaking up the foundation of what I’d built here on her family’s land.

I hadn’t expected it.

She might not be a dragon or my mate, but she was something worth saving.

Even if her life would be short, I could do everything in my power to make it a good one.

Screw the books, the prophecy, our roles, and what had been taken from us.

There were worse ways to spend the last days of my life.

I couldn’t think of anything I’d like to do more than use the remaining time I had left to court a pretty and wild woman.

I pushed back from my desk, feeling a new sense of purpose.

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