Dragon's Fake Wedding Date - Riley Storm Page 0,66

shuddering breath.

“Oh.” It was all she could manage. The power of his words, the force behind them, it was palpable. She could see it in his face, but she could feel it under her fingers as well.

He wanted her.

Gayle knew that he wanted her to say the same. To voice her desire to be with him, and only him. Part of her wanted to say it back as well. To tell him just that.

But she couldn’t. Not yet at least.

“I’m not saying no,” she said. “But I’m not…I’m not ready to say the same back to you either.”

“That’s okay,” he said with a smile, reaching up to take her hand and clasp it in his own. “I’m not asking nor expecting you to. It’s soon. You need more time. Right now, all I want is for you to be in my life.”

She smiled. “That, I can manage. I would like you in mine as well, Rann Atrox.”

“Then, I suppose I will be,” he replied happily. “As much or as little as you want. I’ll be here.”

“Thank you,” she said. “For understanding.”

He smiled and brought her hand to his mouth, gently placing a kiss upon it before returning it to his chest.

“So, um, what do we do now?” she asked.

Rann’s chest bounced twice with silent laughter. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to be completely and totally boring and go to sleep. I have a fight in the morning, and I was going to be hard pressed to win it at full strength. Now it’s going to be near impossible.”

Gayle frowned. “More vampires?”

He shook his head, letting out a huge yawn. “No. With Kladd. For leadership of the clan.”

She smiled, stroking his forehead as his eyelids closed slowly, sleeping coming on.

“I’ll be there to watch, if that’s okay with you,” she said softly.

Rann nodded. “I would love that.”

“Me too,” she whispered, trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered at hearing that word come out of his mouth. “Me too.”

Why am I all giddy right now? Does that mean what I think it does?

It’s too soon for that though. Isn’t it?

Chapter Thirty-Four

Rann

This time, he didn’t have to look up into the stands to try and find Gayle.

She was there. He’d seen her arrive. Seen her smile with pride and a hint of something else every time he made eye contact with her. She was in his corner, figuratively and literally, and Rann knew he no longer had to worry about something external coming between them.

The only thing that could split them apart now, he knew, was himself. If he tried to rush things or push too fast, he would run the risk of scaring her off. Knowing that he held the key to keeping or losing his mate was a lot of pressure. Despite his stated intent to sleep the night before, Rann hadn’t gotten all that much of it.

He was scared of screwing it up. Of hurting her. Everything needed to be absolutely perfect if he was going to keep her around, and Rann didn’t know if he was up to it. He would never confess that to anyone, not even Gayle, but deep down, in his most private thoughts, it was a fear he harbored.

“You know we don’t have to do this, right?”

Looking up at the speaker, Rann shook the comment off. “Actually, we do.”

“Rann, nobody would accuse you of cowardice for not going through with this.”

“I would,” he growled, straightening his aching body. “And that’s enough. Besides, I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back. This is just a new challenge. Imagine how embarrassed you’re going to be when I make you submit inside five minutes. Are you sure your ego can handle it?”

Kladd threw back his head and laughed.

“Okay, tough guy. We’ll do it. But I’m not going to be able to pull any of my punches.”

“If you did that, I’d lose all respect for you,” Rann said. “I’m choosing to be here. To do this. I’m not going to go easy on you. I expect the same treatment from you.”

Kladd nodded slowly. “Once it starts, all bets are off. I will be fighting to win.”

“Winner is buying beers after,” Rann said, making it clear that he wasn’t backing down but that the outcome wouldn’t change their friendship. Not on his end at least.

“Works for me,” Kladd said, sticking out a hand.

Rann took it, and they shook.

Then, Kladd retreated to the far end of the chamber, where he rolled his shoulders