Page 20 of Protecting His Treasure

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“I missed you,” Kaede told her.

Cuddled up on the couch, next to her dragon, Sinclair responded with, “You were only gone for a few hours.” But it felt like forever. She thought it, but didn’t say it.

“It felt like forever,” her mate admitted.

It was like he could read her mind. Again, she thought it, but didn’t say it. Instead, she said, “What were you all doing? Training?”

“Lee told you about the training, huh?”

“Was it a secret that I wasn’t allowed to know?”

“No. I was going to tell you about it after the new year. I know once you start training, you’ll probably end up being asked to teach some classes. And once I return to my regular schedule, we won’t get a chance to spend much alone time together.”

So, he wasn’t hiding it from her. He just wasn’t ready for them to start spending less time together. Awww.

“No matter what,” Sin told him. “We’ll always make time for each other. Even if we both have crazy schedules.”

“Promise?”

She raised up, kissed his nose and then whispered, “Promise.”

“I don’t know if I trust you. You also promised me some Puckleberry pie before bed.”

“Oh, shit. I forgot. You still want some?” That look in his eyes told her he wanted something more than pie. His hand caressed the inside of her thigh. “Do you want some pie, naughty dragon? Pie. Not thigh.”

He nodded.

“Pie coming right up.” She scooted back to get out of bed. He pulled her closer. “Hey, I thought you wanted pie?”

“I do,” he answered. Then surprised her by scooping her up and turning onto his side.

“Kaede, what are you doing?” Sin yelled.

He sat up then stood up with her in his arms. “Taking you to the kitchen.”

“I can walk.”

“So can I.”

“Kaede!”

“I haven’t had you in my arms for hours. I’m not ready to let you go.”

She knew the feeling. Instinctively, she wanted to remind him that she wasn’t a small woman. He hated it when she did that. It was a habit. Habits were hard to break. Keeping that comment to herself, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he took her from their bedroom to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, she expected him to put her down her feet. Nope. Her dragon wasn’t your average man. He didn’t half-ass anything. Without putting her down, he opened the refrigerator door then squatted low so she could pull the pie out of the refrigerator.

“I can’t cut the pie with you holding me,” she told him as he stood up and kicked the door shut.

“I know that.” He turned and strode over to the counter where he sat her down. Not on her feet. On the counter. Her mate grabbed a knife from the drying towel she had it resting on, and without moving from between her legs, he cut two large slices of pie.

Despite not having any of the real ingredients she needed, the pie still looked delicious. Reaching on the other side of them, he grabbed one plate and two forks. He then placed the two slices of pie on the plate along with the forks.

“Ready to put the pie back in the refrigerator?” He asked.

After she nodded, he handed her the pie, then scooped her up and carried her over to the refrigerator. She pulled the door open, and then he squatted down so that she could place the pie back inside. After kicking the door shut again, he carried her back over to the counter, where she grabbed their plate, and they began their journey back to their bedroom.