Page 34 of Labor of Love

Zenith opened his mouth. Orange flame billowed out, swallowing Ronald—except the flames turned blue. Emre couldn’t imagine how much hotter that was.

Ronald whined pathetically. He shifted back into a man and screamed, and Emre watched as Ronald’s skin burned.

Zenith stopped the flames. When he spoke again, his voice was a gravelly rumble. “Do you regret hurting Emre?”

“It’s my right to do what I want,” the bleeding man snapped.

Zenith bared his teeth, stepped forward, and crushed Ronald’s chest with a large, scaly foot.

There was suddenly one less heartbeat in the room.

Zenith stared coldly down at Ronald. Then he turned and met Emre’s eyes. “Are you okay?”

Emre nodded, stunned speechless. He sagged against the bedroom door, his knees suddenly weak.

Zenith was a dragon. Emre hadn’t even known that dragons existed.

And Zenith had just snuffed out the monster from Emre’s nightmares like he was squashing a fly.

With a golden shimmer, Zenith shifted back into a man, picking up his phone. He tapped a few buttons. “I recorded the audio of that. Just in case.”

“Yeah?” Emre asked weakly.

Zenith nodded. “My other brother’s pretty high up in the police force.” He tapped a few more buttons and held the phone to his ear. “Blade? I may have a situation.”

The voice on the other end of the line rumbled, “What situation?”

“My mate’s ex used to beat him. He came to cause trouble, and... he met an unfortunate end.”

“Text me the address. I’ll be there.”

“Will do.”

Zenith ended the call and typed into his phone, then closed the distance between himself and Emre. He carefully cradled Emre’s face in his hands. “Was that okay?”

“You’re a dragon.” Emre thought his eyes might fall out of his head.

Zenith smiled wryly. “You should meet my family. There are a number of us. Blade’s a dragon, too.”

Emre tried to wrap his mind around that. “But... if there was so much fire, and the building’s made of wood, why didn’t everything catch fire?”

At that, Zenith looked embarrassed. “When I sneeze, sparks sometimes fly out of my mouth. My lairs are fireproofed just in case.”

It was such an unexpected reason that Emre began to laugh. Zenith grinned.

Zenith swept Emre off his feet and into his arms, bringing their faces close. “Is it okay if I kiss you now?” Zenith murmured. “I think I might have won a kiss.”

Emre’s heart skipped again. He laughed and cupped Zenith’s face, pressing their foreheads together. Their breath mingled. “Yes. Please.”

Zenith turned his head slightly. When their lips met, it was all soft, damp and sweet, a chaste kiss that led to another, and another.

Emre’s heart soared.He’s kissing me.

Zenith slipped his tongue into Emre’s mouth, boldly tasting him inside.

“I think we should celebrate,” Zenith murmured, each thrust of his tongue reminding Emre of their mating last night.

“But your brother will be here soon,” Emre panted.

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