Page 56 of Always Say Yes to a Dragon

His flat face wrinkled. “You’ll want to keep your joballfour months?”

My stomach tightened when I remembered all the times Dwayne had gotten my mom fired. “I need—”

Loud banging interrupted me. Az groaned. “Don’t move. I’ll tell whoever it is to go away.”

He clomped out of the kitchen. I poked my head around the corner as soon as I heard a feminine voice from the doorway.

14

Az’zael

“Good afternoon, Az! Where’s your human?” Tikalass shoved a wrapped package at me as she stepped inside, wearing a brightly patterned wrap dress.

“Busy.” Trust my baby sister to waltz in at the worst possible time and act like I should have been expecting her.

Tika pouted. “But I came to apologize.” She held up a second, smaller package.

I waved it away. “You can’t give her gifts until we’re mated.” Tika knew better.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s just a makeup set. Courting dragons aresounreasonable.”

“I don’t care what it is.” The rational part of my brain knew that my sister wasn’t trying to steal Elle from me. The part of me that drove me to claim a city, sniff out wealth, and create a hoard only saw Tika presenting herself as a possible provider.

“Besides, I told you to cometonight.” It was pure luck Elle was here at all.

Tika notched her chin up an inch. “I’m going back to my lair tonight, just like you told me to.” She lived high in the mountains. Like most dragons, she’d picked out an isolated territory to claim as soon asshe hit adulthood. Dragons like me and Niemrin, who claimed cities, were outliers.

Although I suspected Tika wanted to claim her own city as well, she needed to mature a little first.

“I thought waiting until afternoon would give you enough time to do”—she waved her hand vaguely—“whatever it was you wanted to do. It has to be now.”

I recognized the half-embarrassed, half-angry set to her shoulders as she sauntered through my foyer and set Elle’s wrapped gift on the nearest surface. I groaned. She was punishing me for chastising her last night.

Elle tiptoed out of the kitchen, still wrapped in one of my shirts. It almost reached her knees, and she looked lickable. I motioned her back. No telling what Tika’s apology would be like if I didn’t prep her first. Maybe I could send her packing and return to Elle before she realized what a pain in the ass my sister was.

“Where’s my gift?” Tika demanded.

I flushed. “I didn’t know you were coming so early.”

“You must havesomething.” She waltzed into my neglected library. Tika had inherited all of our parents’ knowledge-sniffing abilities. Of course she’d want a book.

I clenched my jaw and stood in the doorway. Elle tiptoed up behind me.

“Not this…not this,” Tika said to herself as she picked through my books for her gift.

“What’s she doing?” Elle whispered.

I held up the wrapped package in my hand. “We haven’t seen each other in a while, so she expects a gift.”

Elle wrinkled her nose. “Just becauseit’s been a few months?”

“When’s the last time you added anything to this pathetic excuse for a library?” Tika called out, laughter in her voice.

I kept my focus on Elle and hoped she didn’t notice Tika’s taunt. Just a few hours ago, Elle had invited me on a date. What if we spent more time together and she thought I was an idiot? I’d always been confident that I could provide for a mate materially, but intellectually…maybe she’d prefer someone like Udar. Udar probably wouldn’t have been so stupid about human courting that Elle didn’t evenknowthey were courting.

“More like weeks,” I forced myself to answer. At Elle’s confused look, I added, “It’s a dragon custom.”

I ran a hand down Elle’s spine, and she nestled against me in a way I found intensely satisfying. Humans might not give gifts as often, but they gave their affection as easily as all the rumors claimed.

---