“I’m still trying to figure that out myself.”
12
Dagen
I stepped out on the porch and halted in my tracks at the sight of Kari holding my two husky puppies in her lap. They were currently climbing over each other to smother her face in kisses, while at the same time she giggled and snuggled them both to her chest. I never thought I would be jealous of two dogs more than I was now.
I leaned against the door frame for a few minutes more, content to watch her uninhibited joy. It wasn’t until she felt my presence and glanced over that I moved toward her, setting a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of iced tea on the table next to her. The smile she gifted me with was like a hot poker branding my heart. Her crystal blue eyes completely mesmerized me. How was I going to let her go back home when just a smile had this affect on me?
Seeing her in my joggers and hoodie, her long blond hair piled in a knot on the top of her head, ignited a primal instinct in me that I had only heard stories about. It was like a fire raged inside me, hotter than my own dragon flames.
I was completely and totally screwed.
I eased into the chair next to her on the porch, my muscles still sore from my collision with the ground earlier. The full extent of the injury to my wing would take longer to heal, but the rest should be fine in a few days. I grunted when one of the puppies, Toro, vaulted into my lap. His paws clinging to my t-shirt as he climbed up to lick my face. Once he’d thoroughly drenched it with slobber, he turned in a circle and laid in my lap.
My house was situated at the top of the mountain, overlooking the green valley below, farmhouses dotted the landscape in the distance. I wasn’t much for life in the city, preferring the isolation of the mountains and the freedom to shift and fly whenever I wanted.
Running my hand across Toro’s back, I turned to Kari. “So you really think that it was some sort of spell that’s been sending you to random places?”
I didn’t want to tell her that finding me was not random at all. From the moment she had landed on my back, I felt our connection. There was no doubt in my mind that Kari was my mate. The fact that she had heard my voice in her head confirmed it. I listened to her thoughts for only a moment. Just long enough to know she believed it was one of the gods speaking to her.
She shrugged. “I don’t know what else it could be. For a demigod, my life has been pretty uneventful up until now.”
Mine had been too. Until that kiss happened. The way her body reacted to mine and the shock waves that pulsed through us strengthened our bond. If she was sent to me, because she was my mate, then she was also sent to the Scotsman for the same reason. If that was true, then I needed to help her find him.
She had filled me in on the way home about everything that had happened to her recently. I knew that she was not unaffected by her visit with him. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. Feel her affection for him through our mate bond.
And that made it all the more painful for me. Not knowing if she would even entertain the idea of having more than one mate. I knew it wasn’t for everybody. Hell, I didn’t even think it was for me until I saw my brother with his girlfriend and her mates. Their dynamic worked and they were all happy together. I craved the same happiness.
“It really is beautiful here.” She gazed out over the valley with my pup, Luna’s head nestled in the crook of her shoulder.
“It’s not as scary to be this high up when your feet are planted on the ground.”
She laughed, the sound burrowing deep into my chest.“I never thought I was afraid of heights until I was riding bareback on a dragon.”
Kari’s bareback elicited all sorts of carnal images in my mind. Some of them that I wished I could do to her now. My cock agreed wholeheartedly as it attempted to break free from my pants. Denying the mate bond was torture with her sitting so close to me. The urge to strip her bare and take her on the porch did nothing but consume me.
Though I couldn’t tell her about our mate bond just yet. She had already been through enough and announcing that she was my fated mate might push her over the edge. I wanted her to have a clear head when I finally explained it to her.
Through our bond I knew her feelings for Callum confused her and she was still trying to process them along with the fact that she never thought she would see him again.
For now I would help her find Callum and then we could discuss all of us being together. I would give her as much time as she needed. If you weren’t familiar with a mate bond, it could be scary with the overwhelming sensation of feelings that burned through your body.
Once you understood the bond and fully embraced it, then it would balance inside you. Until then though, I would need to use every ounce of self-control I had. At the moment my restraint was currently on the verge of failing.
“I think that I might be able to ease your mind about one thing. I don’t believe that this spell has anything to do with you being naked or showering. I think it’s just bad timing.”
After finishing her sip of tea she snorted. “Well if you have a different theory then I would love to hear it.”
How could I explain this to her without letting her know the whole truth? I needed to give her just enough information to convince her. I couldn’t imagine being afraid to take a shower or get undressed. Since I was a shifter and we were always naked before and after the shift, nudity wasn’t a problem for me.
I rubbed my chin through my beard as I searched for the right words. “I believe that everything happens for a reason and fate plays a huge part in our lives. Maybe Callum was brought into your life for a reason. Or maybe meeting you altered his life in some way. You said that he was hunting some supernatural creature. What if you arriving when you did ended up saving his life?”
She pressed her fist to her mouth and her eyes grew wide. “I never thought of it that way.”
We sat in silence for several minutes. I wanted to give her time to process my theory. To come to the realization on her own that a spell wouldn’t make her care for someone. That those feelings she had for Callum were real. I needed her to admit it out loud so that I could help her.
I knew the moment that she figured it out. I felt the pain through our bond, piercing my heart. Toro whimpered in my lap, feeling my distress.
“But why let me stay after saving him? Why not whisk me back home immediately?” She swiped at a tear that hovered on her lashes. “If I had left then, I wouldn’t feel so lost right now. I would have gone back to my boring life, not knowing what I was missing.”
I lifted Toro from my lap and set him in the chair before taking Luna from Kari’s arms and placed the pup next to Toro. The two adjusted their positions until they were curled up together.
Kneeling in front of Kari, I held her trembling hands in mine. “But you do know what you’re missing and I want to help you find him. We can figure this out together.”
Her eyes brightened. “Why would you want to help me?”
“Maybe I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress?” I cupped her cheek and gently swiped a tear away with my thumb. “If you’re ready to leave, I can drive you back home now. From there we can try to figure out how to find him.”
“I’m actually staying with my friend Willow in …”