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“You don’t know that,” she protested. She paused. “Wait.Doyou know that? Have other dragons fixated on humans?”
He nodded. “Several from my hive. We’ve heard of others as well.”
“What happened with them?” She held her breath, and to her surprise, she washopingthat they’d all had happily-ever-afters.
“They worked out,” he said simply, and her heart gave a lurching, sideways thump. “Each in their own way. I can introduce you to the couples I know, if you want.”
“Do the humans live at your hive?” she asked. Her pulse had finally slowed enough that she could enjoy the food, so she dug in. It was truly delicious, restaurant-quality stuff, though she didn’t recognize half the dishes.
Tairon nodded. “Some of them do. Others live with their mates in human housing for various reasons. All of them are together, though, barring a friend of mine who only fixated recently. They usually pair up pretty fast. A matter of weeks. Our case is…unique. It’s rare to fixate on someone who already has a committed partner.”
She winced. “Well, he wasn’t so committed, was he?”
“He’s a fucking idiot,” Tairon growled. “Didn’t deserve you. When I saw them together in the car, I wanted to kill him.”
“Why did you try and stop me from going home, then? Didn’t you want me to know, so I’d leave him?”
“Of course, but I didn’t want you to find out that way. I’m sorry he hurt you.”
Ivy set down her fork on her mostly clean plate, her stomach tight and pleasantly full. “You know what? I’m not sorry. My only regret is that I didn’t catch him sooner. But this was pretty much the best Christmas gift he could have given me. I feel really lucky to be here right now with you.”
“Does that mean you’ll come stay at the hive?” Tairon asked jokingly. She nodded, biting her lip when his eyes lit up and he practically bounced in his seat. “Yeah?!”
His enthusiasm was infectious, but she had to be clear about her plans. “I’m not saying I’ll move in permanently, but it takes a huge amount of stress off to know I have a place to stay while I figure everything out, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”
Over dessert, Ivy peppered Tairon with questions about his friends (“flaming idiots, mostly”), what he did for work (carpentry), and his biggest fear (drowning). Over champagne, she told him her dreams of owning her own bakery someday and maybe getting a cat.
“Cats are very dragonish,” he told her, after he’d washed their pie plates and popped the champagne, filling two flutes for them to sip by the crackling fire. “We twitch our tails when we’re annoyed, too. No whiskers, though.”
“Too bad, or I might keep you as a pet,” she cracked. He nudged the side of her head with his horns, purring, and she relented, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Okay, I admit it. I might keep you anyway.”
10
BythetimeIvyand Tairon finished the bottle and had conversations on a dozen more topics, they were snuggled together on the sofa, and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Ivy’d only had two glasses, but the champagne bubbles were zipping through her veins like a street race, making her dizzy. Impulsively, she kissed Tairon on his handsome cheek. He returned it with a lick up her neck from her clavicle to her earlobe that gave her goosebumps down the whole left side of her body.
“I’d like to give you your present now, if you don’t mind. Before we get too distracted,” he murmured in her ear, sending another rush of tight anticipation over her skin. He produced something wrapped in soft, dark-green paper and tied with red velvet ribbon. “It’s a custom for dragon males to make something special for their—”
“Fixations?” she finished for him, giggling.
He took his time brushing a curl from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear while she clutched the gift in her lap, enjoying being sandwiched between the warmth emanating from the fireplace and the warmth of his touch. “We say ‘alokoi’ in our language. It means ‘the one known to us.’ It’s a nicer way of saying fixation, I suppose. The gift is supposed to represent what we’ve learned about our alokoi by observing them and attuning to them. And then, if the alokoi accepts the gift, there are some ritual words to say.”
She jerked her head up. “Like…vows?”
His head gave the barest shake. “Not binding words. We call them ‘alokim.’ Roughly translates as ‘words of knowing.’ They just mean we got it right. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. I’ll just try again. No pressure.” He grinned crookedly down at her and pulled the end of the ribbon on the package so that the bow came apart.
Ivy gently pulled open the paper, bracing herself to react positively, no matter what was inside the package. She found herself holding a graceful, honey-colored wooden spoon. It had a tapered oval bowl, her favorite shape to stir up cookies or quick breads with. She looked closer and noticed the handle was carved with intricate, braided vines and ivy leaves, the details burned into the surface of the wood. At the very tip of the handle, a dark green stone glinted and glowed in the firelight.
It was stunning, strong, balanced, and fit her palm perfectly. There was no need to pretend—she loved it. If he’d shown her a king’s hoard and said she could only pick one treasure from it, this what she would have chosen. “Youmadethis?”
He nodded, eyes glowing. “I wanted to give you something you could use every day, and I noticed you always worked with wooden spoons at the bakery.”
She nodded. Most of her colleagues used metal or plastic, but she’d always preferred to work with wooden tools, like her grandmother had taught her when she was a child.
“I carved it from applewood because it matches your scent. The handle design is for your name, of course, but also because you wear your hair in beautiful braids so often.”
“To keep it out of my dough,” she said, voice thick with emotion. He’d really noticed everything.
“Pretty and practical, like you,” he said, fondness saturating his tone. “The stone is an emerald, because you love the color green and your birthday is in May.” He reached down and flipped the spoon over in her hands to show her the other side. “Forgive my ego, but I put my scale pattern on the back of the bowl because I hope I’ll become one of your favorite things, too.”
