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“For years, from what Zara said. I bet that was part of the reason he fixed up your great-grandfather’s place. He was still looking for you even after five years, though he’d accepted you might be dead.”
A flash of a memory shot through me, and I frowned. “I remember seeing him . . .”
“He was attacked by locals in the parking lot of the Mountainview Pub. They hit him in the back of the head but despite almost blacking out, he swears he saw you, that you saved his life.”
“That’s what I remember.” My spine loosened; I hadn’t even realized tension had been spiraling through me. “I attacked them, scared them off.”
“Livy was waiting in the car and saw everything. By the time she found me and Zara and we’d run outside, you were gone. Kuunik wasn’t sure if he’d imagined seeing you, though Livy swore she did.”
“I bolted again. Flew to the tiny log cabin I’ve been living in. When I found it, it didn’t look like anyone had lived there for a very long time. It has no running water or electricity. I fixed it up. I felt like I needed to stay close to the commune for whatever reason.”
“Maybe you just needed to heal.”
I shrugged. “I don’t feel compelled to be there any longer.” Because my home was with Mazie—and our son. “I can’t wait to see Kuunik. Meet Zara and Livy too.”
“Zara and I are best friends. We’ve known each other forever.”
Finished, we took care of our dishes. We settled in the living room on the sofa together like an old married couple might do. Not quite a real second date, but I loved it. I could easily picture myself moving in with her—if she wanted that—and raising our son together. Maybe we’d have other children, though I was getting ahead of myself there.
Still, it was wonderful to dream. I hadn’t done that for years. While a prisoner, survival was all I could focus on. I wasn’t sure I’d live long enough to escape.
Sitting with her and talking about little things like her favorite beer and whether she preferred mild or hot salsa made me felt warm and alive.
“The time I lived in the cabin is a blur,” I said. “It was only a while ago that I started coming out of it. That’s when I worked on the cabin, made it habitable. I think I was in dragon form most of the time, roosting high in the trees. Hiding. Watching the commune in case someone survived.”
Were, my dragon said.
Am I broken? Will I do that again? I couldn’t bear the thought of disappearing on Mazie like I had years ago. I couldn’t do that if I wanted to be with my son.
You won’t, he said after a long while. Mate. Claim mate. All well.
Are you suggesting sex can heal me? I was sure he could tell I was affronted by the idea.
Bond. He huffed. Sex is other.
I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. But if Mazie and I did anything, it would be because our hearts wanted it.
Not because I thought it would keep me sane.
Chapter 15
Mazie
Icouldn’t hold back my yawn—the fifth in the past twenty minutes.
“I’m keeping you up when you need to sleep,” he said. “We haven’t talked about that yet.”
Asher was home, which meant I couldn’t sleep in his bed any longer.
“I’ll take the sofa,” he said.
“It’s a loveseat, not even full-sized.”
“It’ll be fine.”
It was much too small. Even if I slept on it, I’d spent half the night worrying I’d roll off the side, the rest of the time cursing the short-sheeted bedding, my feet jutting from the bottom. I’d end up propping them up on the armrest. And I was short; I couldn’t imagine how it would be for Gravor who was so much taller and broader than me.
I stood, looking down at him. I still couldn’t believe he was back in my life, that he wanted to be with me.
