Page 10 of Dark Dragon’s Mate

He just smirked. “Wait until you’ve been chained in my dungeon for awhile. You’ll change your mind.”

She rolled her eyes. “In your dreams.”

That corner of his mouth was definitely headed in a smiley direction. Ha. The prince liked sassy wolves. He looked down at the books again. “Really? No sex at all?”

“No, perv.” Keep the sassy going. “Except a few passionate kisses, when the dark, dangerous, enigmatic hero can’t hold back his feelings anymore. But then he disappears into the gloomy castle for days, brooding. Because he’s no good for her.”

“Uh huh. So if there’s no sex, why are they all running around in their nightgowns?” He held up the books. He was not wrong; all the covers showed women running through dark forests in flowy white nightgowns. “Is it an Earth custom I don’t know about?”

“Yes,” Trish said, deadpan. “It’s called ‘marketing.’”

He raised his eyebrows, clearly not getting the joke. She sighed.

“These are all gothic romances, in which a woman goes to live in a big gloomy old house or castle for some stupid reason, falls in love with the dark and brooding master of the house, uncovers deep dark secrets, almost dies for some other stupid reason, and finally discovers he loves her too and lives happily ever after.”

“Sounds fascinating,” Emon said. “Not.” But that kind-of smile was still hovering around his mouth. “Where does the nightgown come in?”

“It doesn’t,” Trish said. “They hardly ever run around outside in their nightgowns, but it’s on all the covers anyway. Like a signal, so you know it’s a gothic romance. Just like all those steamy romances have naked man-chest on the covers.”

She really needed to get him off this topic. Because now she was picturing his naked man-chest. “You know it’s not socially acceptable to carry women you just met off to your sex dungeon, right?” she said. “They told you that in prince school?”

“I was raised by an evil wizard,” he said. “So no. My conversational skills suck. The Bad Bloods have been trying to educate me, but…” He spread his arms in a gesture of futility. “Clearly the lessons haven’t stuck.”

Trish snorted. “Seriously? You’re expecting to learn manners from the Bad Blood Crew? That’s like trying to get an earthworm to teach you how to fly.”

“Lucky for me, I already know how to fly.” Yep, that mouth-thing was definitely a smile.

“Okay, well, just because the no-sex-until-after-mating thing is outdated for most shifters, doesn’t mean they all want to come to your sex dungeon. And some people are waiting for their true mate to come along.”

He ran his finger down the stack of books. “So you’re waiting for The One?”

For some reason, the question hit Trish like a knife straight to the heart.

The One.

A fated mate, bonded for life with utter devotion. Like Jace and Emma, her pack leaders. Or Kane, their Enforcer, and his mate Rachelle. Or Mina, head of the research team, and her mate Noah, who were here with their son Brock.

Something she, with her broken wolf, would never have.

She shrugged one shoulder. “They’re just books. Don’t read too much into it.”

He gave a brief nod of acknowledgement, but his eyes were still on her. Thinking. Assessing. Searching deep inside her, where the darkness was waiting.

She felt suddenly exposed, like he could rip her chest open and lay all her secrets bare, leaving her to bleed.

Hell, he was an Al-Maddeiri Draken, with mind powers. He probably could.

She shivered, despite the warmth of the fire.

He narrowed his eyes. “So why are you here, Trish Waverly?” He knew her name? “Besides a dark desire to be chained up in my sex dungeon?”

He’d figured out she had an agenda. But this wasn’t the time to blurt out all her troubles and beg him for help. She had to wait until her brain was fully functioning, and she could figure out the best way to bring it up.

“I—I’m just part of the research team.”

He stared into her eyes, and she felt like a rabbit in a hawk’s sights, frozen in fear, knowing her doom was coming but unable to get out of the way.

“Come to dinner tonight,” he said suddenly.