Page 19 of Sanctuary with a Dragon
In other words: get lost, lady.
“Oh, well...” Undeterred, she stepped closer and ran a finger up his chest. “I can always stay the night? We could... watch something together, maybe snuggle on the couch?”
Alaric, still with that blank expression and dead look in his eyes, gently took her hand and removed it from his chest.
“Alissa,” he said quietly, “I’ve told you before—I’m not interested.”
She reeled back like he’d slapped her. “I thought you were joking!”
“I never joke about intimacy.”
His voice was firm but gentle. Alissa’s chin wobbled, and suddenly I wanted to beanywherebut there, witnessing this.
“But, we’d be so good together!”
I cringed.Lady, have some dignity. The dude said no. Walk out with your head high.
“I’m waiting for my mate,” Alaric said,voice as firm as adamantine. There was no mistaking what he meant.
Her laugh was high and brittle—no longer bell-like.
“You’re over a thousand years old. You can’t tell me you’ve been waiting for your mate that long? That you’ve beencelibatethat long?”
Athousandyears?
I tipped over into the remains of the baked potato, and landed in the garlic butter from the steak, splattering it all over myself and the table.
Alaric, ever-attuned to me, jerked his head toward the noise, saw my predicament, and quickly came to my rescue. Despite the potato and garlic butter mess, he gently scooped me up into one hand and brought me close to his chest—probably to help me feel secure.
I knew I was getting his shirt dirty, but I was too lightheaded to care.
How was he over a thousand years old?
I couldn’t even process it.
I blinked stupidly at his thumb as it gently rubbed my feathers. Curled in his palm, I felt like a fainting goat recovering from emotional whiplash.
And she’d saidovera thousand years old! Like, how much over were we talking? Thirteen hundred years? Fifteen hundred? His thumb kept stroking me gently, as if he knew I was quietly spiraling and he was trying to calm me.
“I have, Alissa. And I don’t care if anyone elsebelieves it. What matters is the truth. I’m not interested in anyone but my mate.”
Alissa’s chin had stopped wobbling. Now she looked furious.
“But you haven’t found her yet!”
“It doesn’t matter whether I have or haven’t. My answer’s still the same.”
Alissa tried a different tack, dropping her voice into a sultry register. “But surely you get lonely, Alaric.”
I hissed.No means no, lady.My feathers fluffed in irritation. It was instinct, I think, but it felt satisfyingly salty as well.
“Of course I do. But I’m waiting for my mate.”
“But what if you never find her?”
Alaric sighed, his thumb now brushing my feathers in calming circles.
“Goodnight, Alissa.”
