Page 66 of Dragon in Denial
Chapter 15
“No stupid dragon bitch is taking over my position,” Darius raged, but instead of charging Antoinette like he had Maria, he turned toward the window and hurtled his body at the glass. It shattered as he dove through, shifting into dragon form as he did so.
“Seems like the door would’ve been easier,” Rahu remarked.
Ketu gave him a shove. “Go after him,” he commanded, even though it wasn’t his place to do so. Apparently, that was supposed to be Antoinette’s call.
“Oh,” Rahu said, glancing at Gabe. “Right.”
“We’re coming too,” Gabe said, striding toward the broken window, Talia hot on his heel. He paused as he passed Antoinette. “We’ll bring him back so you can properly punish him.” And then he followed Rahu, who had already jumped through the window and flown off after Darius.
Ketu stayed where he was. What was he supposed to do? Follow his reeve? Wait for Antoinette’s command?
Did she plan to accept the honor? Had this been her intention all along?
“No,” she said, looking at him and apparently reading his mind. “I didn’t plan for this. I was lying to Delilah; I never intended for them to choose her as reeve, but this—I had no idea. And I’m not sure I want it.”
“Why not?” Ketu asked.
She glanced over her shoulder at their audience, the group of blue hairs who were all blatantly and avidly watching their interaction as if Antoinette and Ketu were on stage, performing for their entertainment.
“Um, well, for one thing, we still have to, you know…”
“Mate?” the female Elder suggested.
Antoinette shook her head. “No, we already did that.”
“Oh good,” the lady said. “I’m glad. I always thought you two would make a charming couple.”
“So what do you have to do?” one of the other Elders asked.
“We need to…” Antoinette caught Ketu’s eye, held it. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do. Ketu lives up north now. I’m not sure…I might move. I don’t know.”
He took a step toward her. “You really do want to be mates?”
She shrugged, dropped her gaze to the carpet as her cheeks darkened. “I mean, we already are, right?”
“Yeah, but we didn’t exactly start out under the best of circumstances. And we still have a lot to work out. If you want to go our separate ways, I’ll understand. I don’t want that, but I won’t blame you.”
“I couldn’t do that to Henri. He already adores you.”
“What about you?”
She stared at an apparently fascinating bit of lint on her pants. “I guess I adore you too.”
“Enough to move all the way to Detroit? Give up being reeve?”
She blew out a breath. “I guess so.”
He was pretty sure his smile was damn near splitting his face in two. He moved closer and swept her into his arms, lifting her off her feet and planting a kiss on her lips. She clasped her hands behind his neck and laughed.
“This is crazy,” she said, clinging to him.
“Which part?”
“Well, all of it, but specifically the fact that you and I are mates.”
He shook his head. “Not really all that crazy. I’ve loved you for most of my life. I just didn’t realize how much until now.”
