Page 11 of Shifting Desire
I nod.“She should.But she isn’t.She gets mad.She pushes back.She’s the only creature alive who’s ever made me feel like I was...”I pause.“More.Not less.”
Serephine’s expression softens.It’s rare.Even at her age, power, and cold pragmatism, she’s still capable of something resembling compassion.
“What are you going to do?”
I glance at her, eyes burning gold.“I’m going to earn her.”
She laughs once, harsh but approving.“You’re insane.A closet romantic, but insane.”
“She’s worth it.”
“Fine.No more magic.No more interference.But Malichai...”Her gaze sharpens.“You only get one shot.If she rejects you when the bond fully hits, if she walks away, there will be no redo.No second spell.No memory wipe.You will lose your mate forever and there will be consequences.”
“I’m not afraid of rejection.”
I’m a liar.I’ve never feared anything more.But if it means she gets to choose ...if it means she wants me, not because her soul demands it, but because her heart does?
Then I’ll take the risk.
Serephine leaves without another word, and I’m left in the silence of my office with only the sound of my own heartbeat and the burning weight of need in my chest.
I won’t wait anymore.But I won’t rush her either.Tomorrow, it begins.No more staring from a distance.No more smooth lines at the bar.No more silent suffering.
Tomorrow, I make her laugh.Then I make her want me.And when she finally looks at me not with suspicion, but with something more?That’s when I’ll show her what it means to be claimed by a dragon.
Not with fire but with forever.
Chapter Five
Ari
Unraveling
Iwake up in a tangleof sheets, lust, and unresolved tension.
Malichai is in my dreams again.Shadowed eyes and a deep voice.Calloused fingers that skim my skin like fire, leaving need in their wake.I don’t remember what he says, only that I wake up aching.Empty.On the edge of something I can’t name.
