“Why do you think anything will change?”
“I’ll be a dragon. Sophia says I’ll have to watch my temper. That whole quick to anger thing? She says it can be a problem.”
“What else might change?”
“Ummm, pretty, shiny things? Aaron seems concerned I’ll go overboard with the whole jewelry thing.”
I laughed. “I will love buying you lots of shiny things.”
She opened her eyes and met my gaze. “No. You can’t encourage it. Special occasions only, and even then, he says I should start learning to invest. Aaron says I have to teach the dragon to be happy looking over an asset sheet.”
“What else?”
“Control, mainly.” She closed her eyes and snuggled back in. “Unlike a swan, dragons can change at will, but I won’t have many opportunities. It’s possible I’ll be able to change to a swan at will, instead of only during sex. So far, only Sophia and one other have been able to. Either way, I’ve never had to fight to stay in my human form before.” She took a breath and opened her eyes again. “Dragons who are born to it are always the dragon. When they’re a human, they’re a dragon in human form. It isn’t like most shifters who have an animal nature and then their human nature. Those who’ve been turned from swans to dragons report the dragon characteristics cropping up in their human form when they don’t realize it.”
“Okay, so we work through shit as it comes up.”
“You aren’t mad?”
“Dragons are much harder to kill than swans. How could I be mad?” But, I needed to tell her the rest. “I’m irritated about you not telling me, but I’m more hurt that you didn’t think we could talk about it before now. This is clearly something you intend to do whether I want you to or not, but I’d still like to hear how you arrived at this decision.” Because I wanted to make sure it was her decision and not something Aaron and Sophia had pushed her to.
“I can do my job better as a dragon. Better hearing and sight, more magic, and he says I’ll be smarter. Not book-smarter, but logic and problem solving. No one fools a dragon.”
“And if you weren’t a bodyguard, would you still want to change who you are?”
She gave a tiny headshake. “Sophia says it won’t change who I am. My morals and ethics will be the same. Everything in my life that’s formed the person I am now will still be there. I’ll be stronger, quicker on my feet both mentally and physically, and harder to trick or fool or confuse. I’ll have to watch my temper, but Aaron doesn’t think I’ll have a problem controlling it. My time with Able and his owls taught me not to act on my temper and not to speak without thinking.”
“A bear and a dragon doesn’t seem any more ridiculous than a bear and a swan, does it?”
“Really? I’ll be bigger than you in animal form. You’ll be able to ride me, where you could carry me before.”
She looked into my eyes as if trying to read them. Her scent had elements of disbelief and hope, as if she was afraid to believe I might be okay with it. Was that why she hadn’t told me?
“I’ll still be able to carry you in swan form, right? Does it matter?” I gave her a cocky grin. “Besides, I kind of like the idea of riding a dragon.”
She narrowed her eyes. “There won’t be a bit with reins, you know.”
“Unfortunately, you’re probably right. I don’t think much of anything stands up to dragon fire, if the mythology is correct.”
“Hmm.” She rested her head back on my chest and closed her eyes. “The future dragon in me wonders if bears might taste better with ketchup, or maybe some ranch dressing? No, I have it. Horseradish.” She opened her eyes and grinned. “A nice horsey sauce.”
“Maybe on my dick for you to lick off. Perhaps we’ll try that tonight.” I stroked over her hair. Petting her. “I can put you in a room next door for a few hours until my shift is over. You can stay in here as long as Bobcat doesn’t need his office, but that isn’t likely to last much longer.”
“Next door? The hotel?”
“Yes. Little known fact, but we own it, too. Don’t tell anyone.”
“I can drive home. I don’t want to be a pain.”
I tilted her sideways so I could pull my phone out of my pocket, and called Magnum in the control room. We’d never let a prospect man it before, but he wasn’t far from being voted in and he was a damned fine geek. It was tricky because he didn’t know all our secrets, but we were making it work.
“I need you to call next door and set me up with a regular room. Nice, but not a suite. I’ll be at the front desk in about five minutes to pick up the key.”
“Roger that.”
I hung up and held onto my phone. I could put it back later. “Done. No trouble. It isn’t like we’re fully booked. Anything else you need to tell me?”
“I love you.”
My heart stopped beating. I’d said it to her a few times, but it’d made her uncomfortable, so I’d stopped. It took a few seconds before I could pull enough air in to answer. “I love you, too.”
I didn’t ask why she waited until now to tell me. She’d been afraid of my reaction — worried I’d reject the dragon. I tried not to sigh because I didn’t want her thinking I was upset she’d told me. I was upset she’d waited to tell me. There was a difference.
“We have to communicate, Ember. Please don’t keep big things from me. I know there are some things you can’t tell me relating to your job, and you know there are club things I can’t tell you. Other than that, I need us to not keep secrets from each other.”
“I don’t think there’s anything else.”
I hesitated before saying it, but I had to. “You don’t think there is? Or there isn’t?”
“If there is, it hasn’t occurred to me that it’s something you need to know. I don’t want to say something that isn’t absolutely true, so I’m being careful. I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m trying to get around the truth. I’m not. I’m being one hundred percent honest when I say I think you know everything medium sized and big. Anything little just hasn’t occurred to me to tell you.”
I took a deep breath and analyzed her scent. Yeah, I was being a little rude to be so obvious about it, but the bear in me had to. I didn’t pick up on even a tiny bit of a lie. Not even any uncertainty. “Okay. If you think of something, tell me.”
“And I have your secrets?”
“Everything that relates to you.”
“What did you just tell me about communication?”
I stood with her in my arms, transferred her weight to my left arm long enough to put my phone in my pocket, walked to the door and opened it, and then resettled her in my arms as I made it to the side door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ember
I awoke in the hotel room with D behind me, spooned in tight. He’d pounded my ass good when he finally got off work, and he usually prefers keeping lube to a minimum. I’m pretty sure my asshole had friction burns, but that was okay because I’d had orgasm and after orgasm, and I was no longer stressed. It’d been exactly what I needed despite the fact I’d begged him to add more lube.