Hoarded by the Dragon (Monstrous Matches, #4)(26)

“If I need to be here for the majority of the time, I need to have my friend be able to visit me,” she says.

I want to agree because that’s reasonable, but I hold back. “Is this friend involved in anything dangerous?” I ask.

“Oh, no! Not at all. I met her after leaving that life.”

I nod. “Then of course.” I think on it. “And have Ben be the one that transports her in too.”

She agrees and takes a bite of her food.

I mentally check off all the items as a way to keep my mind from wandering to the urge to have her on my lap and feed her. It’s an instinctual response, nothing more.

“After the child is born—” I clench my jaw on the words that they should live elsewhere. My dragon is causing more trouble than I know how to deal with. I’m tapping my talons, trying to think of what he’ll accept, trying to set expectations.

Katarina places her hand on mine, scales and all. “We don’t need to decide now. We can wait until we know each other better.”

I nod. Knowing each other better shouldn’t make any difference, but I accept the opportunity to stall this fight with my beast.

I move on to something that can’t be stalled. “I need you to tell me about who employed you to steal the figurine.”

She releases my hand and starts to look nervous. “Uh, I can’t tell you that.”

“Rina,” I say softly, and some tension leaves her at the shortening of her name. My dragon puffs in pride. “This is something important to your safety. What led you to take the job to break into my hoard?”

She squirms. “I wasn’t employed to do it. It was a favor for someone.”

“A favor led you back into a life that you are adamant you aren’t in anymore?” I pry.

“He was in danger, and I care about him.”

I take a moment to breathe through the explosion of jealousy in my chest that burns like dragon fire. I am more than this instinctual reaction. It’s a close thing though.

“Romantically?” I ask.

“Oh, god no!” Katarina’s horrified face soothes the burn. “Just someone who looked out for me and taught me skills when I needed them.”

She doesn’t name him, which is smart. But she doesn’t need to. Ben already gave me a report about her, which includes Nemo Wint as being the person who she worked with in thieving. I would not describe their relationship as one where he looked out for her.

I’ve mentored many people, and I’ve never put a teenager in the danger that he must have. He got to her young and used her for her skills.

And now, as an adult, she put herself in danger because of some misplaced loyalty.

It makes me want to kill him.

“Alright,” I say. I can’t discuss this anymore and remain logical.

Katarina sighs in relief. “You got a little murdery there.”

I twitch my lips. “I try not to, but my dragon can have outsized reactions.”

“Is your dragon who I met that night?” she asks, a teasing note to her voice. “I like him.”

And he very much likes you.

“He’s closer to the surface during breeding time,” I allow.

At the word breeding, her cheeks redden temptingly, and I watch her place a hand on her still flat stomach.

She clears her throat. “Well, I had fun.” She grins, and a strand of hair falls onto her cheek.

I clench my fist to keep from smoothing the rebellious strand behind her ear. It’s more of a temptation not to touch the woman than it should be. My familiarity with her body doesn’t help. The knowledge of how it feels to have her tightness strangle my cock and the mewling sounds she’d make are poisonous spines lying in wait.

Dangerous.

“You said that dragons can only breed under certain conditions, do you think that the figurine influenced that? It’s a magic item, isn’t it?” she asks.

I lift my chin to consider the matter before shrugging. “Unlikely. These things are written into the very threads of our soul. The figurine is from a coven of witches who are powerful, but not as powerful as that.”

“What are the conditions that allow dragons to breed then? Maybe we accidentally did something.” Katarina’s brow is furrowed. I don’t want to ponder how this came to be. It doesn’t change anything. The child exists no matter how impossible.

“We did not. Dragons can only breed with their mate.” I clench my jaw, trying to keep my tone even.

It was a mistake to say that.

Katarina’s face lights up as if that possibility is precious. Something her soul craves. It’s a lash across my senses.

She opens her mouth before I can head her off. “Do you think it’s possible—”

I almost snarl to interrupt her. “You cannot be my mate because I already have one.”





13





KATARINA





“YOU’RE MATED?” Fury I don’t recognize blazes through my chest, even as surprise is as sharp as a slap.

How dare he?

How could he be with me while he was connected to another? Is this just one more thing I don’t understand about paranormal beings? But everything I’ve heard treats mating as an absolute. Infidelity in a mating is almost unheard of. Alarm flares next, protective over the little disturbance inside me. What does him having a mate mean for our child?