Hoarded by the Dragon (Monstrous Matches, #4)(73)

The door opens with a click, and Kalos guides me into the room with a hand on my back, teasingly lowering it to pinch my ass when he has me where he wants me. “Open them.”

I blink them open, and the first thing I register is the light. The room is bright with cool light from the wide windows. The view of the forest and city beyond that is stunning.

The next thing I notice is the easel. It’s a durable build of light wood, and on it sits a canvas.

A large blank canvas. That isn’t all. There’s a drop cloth on the floor, more blank canvases resting against bookshelves, a table with organizational boxes that mimic the setup of my tools downstairs, except the cubbies are filled with new tubes of paint.

I move toward the set up slowly, as if it will disappear if I startle it. The tubes are all the same colors I’m used to working with, but these paints are the highest quality brands. I almost choke at the sight of the paintbrushes. I’ve only had one or two expensive brushes before, kept nice through careful cleaning, more than that would have been wasteful for the type of work I do. Most synthetic brushes work just fine.

Kalos has gotten me a whole set. A variety of sizes, materials, and shapes. Boar bristle and sable rounds, brights, flats, and filberts.

I’ll be the first to attest that nice tools aren’t required to be a skilled painter… but it sure makes it easier.

These are the tools of an artist.

“But I already have a workroom,” I say softly.

Kalos scoffs. “That’s a workroom. This is a studio.”

I stand stunned and start to blink rapidly at the sight of Griffin sitting in a new cat tower in the corner.

He fills in my silence with details. “If there’s anything I’ve missed, just let me know. And if you don’t like this room, you can choose another, but this does have an added benefit I’d like to show you.”

Kalos designed this room just for me.

“It’s perfect,” I say.

His shoulders drop in relief.

“Why? Why do this for me?” I ask.

Kalos stills and doesn’t answer immediately. The silence fills with all the options that my mind deems as possibilities in his smooth voice. Sweet reasons like wanting to foster my art to sexy reasons like wanting me to work closer to him and everything in between.

The one I refuse to hear is “It’s nothing.” Because this, this is something. He didn’t just buy a set of nice paints. He bought the best versions of the colors I already use. He devoted time and care to set everything up how I like it.

He got my cat a tower for fuck’s sake. This is not nothing!

Kalos’s brows furrow like he doesn’t know the right words to say.

“I think it’s time to have that talk,” I whisper.

Kalos nods, taking the change in topics in stride.

“It’s possible for a bond to form between us,” he says.

I blink. “A mating bond?”

Kalos leans back against the table, but the tension in his muscles belies his casual position.

“I consulted with a soul witch, and she says it may take some time, but it’s possible. It will require me opening up more to my dragon, but…” he trails off with a shrug. It’s possible for us to become mates.

“And what is this?” I gesture around us with a disbelieving smile. “Your way of convincing me to stay?”

The idea makes me giddy. No one has gone through the effort to make me stay. Nemo trying to keep me working with him doesn’t count. He wants me for my skills, not for me. I’m usually the one holding on tight, but here’s my dragon offering a hell of an olive branch whether he knows the right words to say or not.

He smiles back in chagrin. “Not only that. This is for you. Because you deserve a place to create. You deserve the room to explore what you want.” His golden gaze traps mine. “And maybe if you can let your destructive feelings go, I can do the same for mine.”

This is a new beginning for the both of us.

He clears his throat. “Healing my ability to bond may take more time than you’re willing to wait—”

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll stay.”

He gave me a studio and asks me for patience with his gaze and his words. This is him putting it all out there.

“And you don’t have to beg me to make art. I’ve gotten a lot better at letting the guilt go and believing I deserve good things.” Or if not deserve, to fight for what I want. To fight for this.

Kalos is my good thing. We deserve to be happy. I’ve paid my penance. Now it’s time to live.

Kalos is speechless for a moment, but he reaches out and pulls me into his arms. The embrace has my heart fluttering like a butterfly in the calm certainty of this moment.

“You honor me. I strive to be worthy of you.” Kalos cradles my cheek, the talons warm against my skin.

“You already are,” I say.

But Kalos shakes his head. “Not yet, but someday…”

The moment is a careful one that I soak up eagerly. Eventually, Kalos releases me but takes my hand.

“I also picked this room because it has a secret.” He strides toward the mantle of a fireplace and pulls a decorative flourish downward.

My eyes widen when the bookcase next to us swings open.

“I have a secret passageway in my studio? There are secret passageways in this house? Those are not on the blueprints!”