and real that it felt a bit like snuggling under the covers on a quiet Sunday morning.
Whatever was happening between them felt inevitable, and that didn’t worry her in the slightest. It just felt right.
Thrett broke the kiss long enough to drink in Rylan’s beauty as the din of the theater behind the curtains gave them the perfect cover. But this wasn’t just him trying to steal a little action when nobody was looking. It was so, so much more.
Holding her again, even for just a couple of stolen moments, made him feel lighter than air. And as a dragon, he knew better than most what that felt like. The depth, intelligence, and kindness in her eyes touched him like no other woman ever had.
Dipping so his forehead pressed against hers, he stared into her eyes and squeezed her hips. He didn’t want to scandalize anyone—especially the children—but he quite literally couldn’t stop himself from wanting to touch her. It was like a biological imperative, almost like what others described having a fated mate felt like.
When she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his in a long, slow kiss, it hit him full force. What an idiot! How had he not realized it sooner? Probably her human-ness messed up the signals in his dragony brain or something, but the imprint of her lips would forever be on his because she was his mate. His fated mate.
No wonder he’d never been able to form any kind of meaningful bond with another female. It explained why he’d hidden away for so long after their tryst and never even looked at another woman. It explained…everything!
His dragon roared inside his head, no doubt relieved he’d finally figured it out, and his cock raged in his pants. Kids be damned, he had to have her. Now.
But not out in the open. Not even finding out the woman you’ve pined after for almost a decade is your fated could muddle his thinking enough to go any further until they found real, secure privacy.
Grabbing her hand, he fought his way through all of the wing curtains until he found a narrow door that led to a small closet filled with dusty props. Pulling her inside, he closed out the rest of the world and focused on her.
His thick fingers slipped through her auburn hair, admiring it, playing with it in his rough hands as he smiled softly. Burying his hand in it at the nape of her neck, he fisted a handful and gently tugged her head backward to expose her long, tempting neck. Her eyes flashed a mixture of passion and challenge. A strong, powerful woman might object to being dominated…at first. At the very least, she wasn’t resisting him.
“You need to be more careful around a dragon’s natural instincts, my dear,” he growled in her ear, rejoicing in the goosebumps that pebbled her flesh. His cock pulsed in response.
She gave a throaty chuckle and let her eyes fall closed. “Oh yeah? Would I get into trouble if I did…this?”
Her hand palmed the strained fabric covering his crotch and he nearly lost all control. He groaned his need for her.
“So much trouble.”
He nipped at the lobe of her ear before trailing the sharp edges of his teeth delicately down to the nape of her neck. The scent of her perfume was intoxicating, and the arousal he could smell in the air was like an aphrodisiac to him.
“I’ve avoided trouble for eight years,” she breathed. “Maybe it’s time I live a little.”
“Don’t have to ask me twice,” he snarled, easily lifting her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.
He pushed her back against the door, loving the heat and dampness soaking into his bulge, but loving her even more. He’d always loved her, he suddenly recognized, and always would. Of course she had a say in the matter, but if it were up to him, he’d formally claim her right then and there. Maybe it was time to tell her.
“Rylan, there’s something you need to kn—”
“Thrett? Thrett, do you copy? Over!”
Thrett froze at the sound of Grizz’s panicked voice crackling over radio at his hip. Because of course the newest, most eager-to-please member of the Wildridge team would cock-block him at the most inopportune moment. As if there was ever an opportune moment to be cock-blocked. Still, he held up a finger to Rylan before plucking the radio from his belt.
“Copy, Grizz. What’s up?”
“I have visual on the van,” Grizz panted, sounding