Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cass

I watched Natalie and Mick out of my corner eye. Glared maybe. She was holding him an inch in front of her face, grinning and giggling like they were having a conversation. Thanks a lot, Mick. I was making progress.

If Crux were here, he would be considering the ways they could possibly, uh, chuck the turtle out the window and get back to the seduction. Or was that Cass thinking that? My gods, how many of these intrusive thoughts had I been unfairly blaming on my dragon?

Looking over again, I realized I would have to learn to share. Natalie already was in love with this little shelled abomination. I had hardly ever seen Enid, River, or Rhia without their familiars, and I considered Nadaria. I’d never seen her familiar, but I bet he was somewhere on her person. They could be as tiny as an insect.

As we rode the elevator up in the packhouse, I felt the happiness buzzing off of Natalie, and I placed my hand on her bare lower back. It was hard for me to keep my hands off of her. She smiled when I put my hand on her. I was pleased to know that some of her happiness was because of me, and not all thanks to Mick.

When we got to her door, I cursed the fact that I would have to leave her for the night. I didn’t want to admit half of the things I would do to get into her room.

“Well, I guess this is goodnight,” she said, smiling up at me.

“I suppose it is.”

“Which room is yours?” she asked as she glanced down the empty hallway.

“Why? Are you going to come visit me?”

“Maybe,” she answered as her lashes lowered, her voice dropping into a flirty purr. “I might have bad dreams.”

“Well then, I’m wishing you a terrible night’s sleep with a plethora of nightmares.”

She laughed low in her chest.

“Seriously though,” I said, taking a step closer to her. “It’s three doors down. We don’t have to do anything. You can just… be with me.”

I was a little surprised by my offer. I’d never slept with a woman. Of course, I’d had s*x with women—a lot of them. But to lie down and sleep beside a woman? Never. That wasn’t me. Until now. I didn’t want to be away from her, even for a night. If someone had told me a week ago that I’d be standing here pining so heavily for a woman—a witch—I would’ve laughed in their face. Yet, here I was.

Part of me wanted her to just invite me into her room, but part of me also knew I would really like a shower. A cold one. Arctic cold.

Her gaze was soft as she said, “I didn’t take you as the cuddling type, Cassian.”

I liked the way my full name danced across her lips. I normally didn’t elect to be called by it. It was special to me, something reserved for the most intimate people in my life.

“You’d be the first,” I admitted.

“Oh. One of your firsts? Couldn’t have expected that.”

“I’ve also never been with a dark elf,” I added.

“Two of your firsts?”

“Many of my firsts,” I said, unsure how to express how my heart beat differently for her.

Natalie pushed up on her toes and kissed me on the cheek, saying, “I had a very nice time tonight.”

She opened the door and stepped into her room. I smiled, saying, “I’m glad,” while hiding the disappointment that was crushing my chest. Mick got to go in.

“Leave your door unlocked for me?” she called over shoulder as she disappeared into her bathroom and the bedroom door clicked shut in my face.

With a grin, I spun on my heel and winced. I could not wait to get these torture devices off of my feet.

Natalie

I closed the bathroom door and pressed my back to it, mouthing “holy s**t”. Mick was still in my hands and I clutched him to my chest.

“Mick,” I said, still breathless. “What are we going to do with him?”

He shuffled in my hands and glanced up at me, tilting his head.

Best night of my life? Was I going to go there? I certainly couldn’t think of another that compared.

A stark realization shattered the bliss, and I looked at the clock on the dresser. It was just past midnight.

That marked one day gone in the countdown for Cass’ life. It was a subject we’d avoided the entire night, not willing to ruin the mood.

The guilt was crushing. His dragon was gone because of me. If I hadn’t been captured, we wouldn’t even be in this situation. Tears filled my eyes. Poor Cass. Out of anyone I’d ever met, he certainly didn’t deserve any more tragedy.

I pulled Mick back and looked at his little face, insisting, “We must save him.”

He rubbed his cheek on my thumb again. Tomorrow I was committing myself fully to finding Morga. I didn’t know what exactly I should do, but I promised I would do anything and everything I could.

I took Mick into the bathroom and filled the big tub partway so he could use the steps to get out of the water if he wanted. Turtles didn’t breathe underwater, like some people thought. They could drown. When I let him go on the step, he slid into the water and swam, kicking his cute little back legs.

“You’re a natural,” I told him, smiling. “We’ll get you some food and whatever else you’d like tomorrow.”

I stripped the dress off, blushing when I looked at it and remembered the events of the evening. I put a shower cap over my hair, not wanting to wash it again, and then I turned the light off so I could take the contacts out. Mick was nocturnal, so I knew he wouldn’t be bothered. I could see in the pitch black, which was still mind-blowing, and it took me a handful of minutes to get the makeup off of my face and shower.

When I finally got out, I looked in the tub and gasped when I didn’t see a baby turtle. “Mick!”

I scanned the room and found him lounging on the heat vent. “Wow. You’ve got hops for a turtle!” There was no way he should’ve been able to climb out of that tub at his size.

He just stared at me like, “Yeah, and?”

“You scared me,” I scolded, clicking my tongue.

He opened his mouth in a little turtle yawn and was immediately forgiven.

“God, you are cute. It’s criminal.”

I went to the dresser and picked leggings and a long t-shirt. I glanced at the silk nightgown that Kat had picked for me and blushed. It was tame, considering the other options she’d suggested. I knew exactly what would happen if I wore that tonight. It was tempting, but I didn’t have to rush. There was plenty of time to be sure about this True One relationship. We should both be sure. There were more important things to worry about right now, like saving Cass.

The shirt had a little pocket on the chest. I’d chosen it for a reason, and slipped Mick inside the pocket. I smiled down at him and realized I missed Cass already. Yikes. I was so in trouble. I’d never enjoyed another person’s company this much.

I grabbed my sunglasses to keep from being blinded by the hall lights and knocked softly on the third door down from mine and tried the handle. It was unlocked, of course, and I let myself in.

The room was dark enough I could take my sunglasses off. Cass was sitting on top of the covers and watching something on television. I had opted to be nice and went for modest pajamas. He was shirtless with just sweatpants on. Rude.

“Hi,” I said, blushing, as I tucked my hair behind my ear.

The situation was registering in both its oddness and its seriousness. This person was someone I’d felt like I’d known my entire life, but I knew the reality was we were basically strangers. I sensed, though, that Cass had already shared things with me that very few people were privy to. I’d shared with him about my parents, something I never talked about. Is it time together that makes two people familiar, or is it the sharing of secrets?

“I found that for Mick,” he said, pointing to the nightstand.

There was a little heating pad there, like you would use if you had a sore neck.

“Winning my heart by spoiling my familiar?” I asked, and he lifted his brows once, a broad smile lighting his face. I said, “Clever,” and took Mick out of my pocket, placing him on the pad.

Cass held out his arm, and I climbed to his side like it was the most natural thing in the world. He wrapped his arm around me and I laid my head against his chest. His body was like a furnace. Mick had his heat source, and I had mine. Cass rubbed my upper arm lazily, and nothing more was said between us. It was a comfortable, peaceful quiet. We watched a nature documentary together, and I was stunned at how normal it all felt.