“Hey!” I ducked when she ambushed me at the top with a wild, angry look.
“Stop following me!”
“I will when you start listening.” And, crap. The words came out half snarled.
Not the way to woo our mate,my dragon snipped.
She might be my mate, but this was not about wooing her. This was about keeping her safe.
“How aboutyoulisten?” she growled. “I make up my own mind. I decide what I will and will not do.”
I opened my mouth to argue — to tell her she didn’t get it, that she underestimated the danger — but she jabbed a finger into my chest hard enough to make me take a step back.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much stair left to step onto.
“So when I say—” she started.
I lurched, flailed, and grabbed for the doorway but got Mina instead.
Her eyes went wide as we toppled over. I pictured us crashing from wall to wall, around and around, all the way down to the ground floor.
Clenching every muscle in my body, I dragged us to one side while Mina grabbed the edge of the doorway. My back smacked into the curved stone wall, and Mina smacked into my front.
Oof.I winced.
On the bright side, we hadn’t tumbled down the stairwell.
Also on the bright side, my hands landed on her hips, and she stayed nice and close.
“Whoa. Are you hurt?” Mina asked an inch away from my lips.
“Yes,” I gritted, touching my ribs. “See what happens when you don’t listen?”
“See what happens when you recklessly chase me up a damn staircase?”
“Reckless?”
“Reckless.” Her face was so close, our noses almost brushed.
There was a long, charged beat. Her chest heaved against mine and her eyes blazed, glowing like the blue heart of a fire.
She’d make a great dragon,my inner beast whispered.
She would, and I could make her one if she accepted me as her mate.
Dangerous fantasies filled my mind. Fantasies I’d never entertained before but desperately wanted now.
Now and forever,my dragon agreed.
Mina glanced over her shoulder. “Good thing I caught you before you fell.”
I scoffed. “I caughtyou.”
“Sure. Right. That explains why I’m on top.”
And,whoosh.Her word choice woke the wrong part of my brain — the part with a hotline to my cock.
“No, you’re there thanks to these.” I brought her hand to my stomach. “I believe they’re called abs.”
