Page 56 of Consorting with Dragons

“Whatever you say. Whatever you want. Whatever you need to hear. I changed my mind, and I want you to come and be with me. I think I need to rethink this idea of the Riders as some kind of—what did you call it? ‘Warrior monks,’ I think you said, with no lives outside of our work. Why should we not build housing for our mates there at the camp? So we could go home most nights and still keep our mates by our sides. Just because we’ve always done things in a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best way.”

“Exactly! But do you really mean that?”

“Yes, I do. I’ll let Talon work with the other dragons, like your grandfather suggested. Talon was an amazing help whenI was looking for you. And even Sulamon seemed better at communicating when he was with us. Anyway, it couldn’t hurt, and Talon has the new Goldens to try his lessons on now too.”

“Well, this is…different. Do you really mean all this?”

“Yes and no. I mean it, but I’ll probably hate every second of it at first. You may have noticed, Rylan, that I’m not what most people would call a flexible person. But I can learn new things, right along with Sulamon. I still hate the idea of you being in that dirty camp with no privacy and all of the soldiers ogling you all the time. I don’t think you realize how attractive you are. I want you here at home where it’s safe, and I hate the idea of you being in danger. But you’d be in my bed at night, and that would make up for a lot.” He heaved a big sigh. “The bottom line is that I’d hate being away from you even more, so there’s no real choice.”

“And this would be for everybody, so you wouldn’t have to worry about the other men being jealous of you having your foreign husband with you.”

“That’s right. Though I finally realized I really don’t care what they think anymore. Not enough to be miserable without you.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say. This is totally new.”

“When I couldn’t find you, I stopped caring what anyone else thought. Idon’tcare. Besides, you’ve more than proven yourself in battle, Rylan. The way you saved me from those Thalians who were about to hang me… It was smart and brave and amazing. I’ve been foolish to deny it for so long. Say you’ll come with me today when I go.”

“But won’t I be in the way?”

“Of course, you will. But come with me anyway. I’ll manage if you will.”

I threw my arms around his neck to pull him down and kiss him for a long time. He sighed and didn’t fight it too much after the first few seconds.

“You can’t do this at camp,” he said, after a while as he came up for air. “Not all the time, anyway. We’ll all need to be discreet.”

“I understand. And I’d love to come with you. I know that all the mates will love it. In fact, I never want to be parted from you again. But you need to be sure about this. What if Talon and I will get on your nerves?”

“Oh, I fully expect you will, but there’s nothing to be done about it. Now get your things together, and I’ll go let Talon know. He can eat a few snacks to hold him off until his next meal. A flock of sheep should be enough to hold him off until we get there.”

“He’s a growing boy.”

“What about you? What will be enough to hold you off?”

“An hour or so of you making love to me before we go should do it. We could stop along the way, too. I can take a blanket with us. Then of course, after we get there, we could take a ‘nap.’” I waggled my eyebrows at him.

I laughed at the look on his face and jumped up on top of him to wrap my legs around his waist and kiss him again.

“Tell me you love me.”

“I can’t be doing that all the time. It’s unseemly.”

“I don’t care. I need you to do it at least once a day.”

He sighed heavily. “All right.Once.At night. After we’re in bed.”

“Let’s practice it now.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I want to hear how it sounds.”

I smiled as he growled and then leaned up, bumping my chin with his nose and letting his head fall back to give me access to his throat. He moaned long and loud as I licked him and nibbled at him, and then he turned the tables and began to lick me and bite down on my neck, laving his tongue over my mating biteand giving me little love bites all around it. My neck would be covered in his marks if he kept this up.

I pushed him away. “Tell me.”

“All right. I love you. Are you happy now?”

“Say it again, like you mean it.”

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