paused and gave Cameron a small smile. “I’ll definitely need to borrow your mate.”
Alric grunted, tightening his arm around Cameron’s waist. “You may borrow him, eventually.”
Cameron turned his head to smirk at the dragon holding him. “Eventually?”
“I have plans for you.”
Cameron slid his arms around Alric’s shoulders and laughed. He didn’t care that everyone around them was closely watching their conversation. “Plans? What sort of plans?”
Alric’s voice came out in a playful growl. “Private plans that mean I will be keeping you away from others for a while.”
“Sounds like I’m going to enjoy these plans.” Cameron brushed his lips across Alric’s, loving the sound of his breath catching. “Take me home, my mate.”
Alric hung onto control of his dragon by the tips of his talons. Between losing Cameron, falling into a stupid trap, getting Cameron back, and his mate’s declaration of love, Alric was sure if he still had use of both his wings, he would have carried Cameron off to some high peak where no one could find him. Where he could coil his large body around his precious mate and protect him from all the world.
But Alric wasn’t some fledgling dragon sneaking off to build his first hoard. He was King of the Fire Dragons, leader of the Burkhard clan. That meant he had to shove down his instincts when it came to his mate and see to the welfare and happiness of his people first.
Luckily, Cameron had a deep well of compassion. Alric didn’t doubt Cameron wanted to sneak off alone, but he had been right there at the close of the battle, checking on dragons. He’d not balked at the idea of going directly to the Jaeggi’s town to see if they could locate any of the clan.
Yet the second they reached the castle, Cameron was waylaid by his sister and grandmother checking on his well-being. The moment Cameron had finished reassuring them, Alric was pulling him off to the royal wing and his private suite. He needed Cameron alone at last, away from prying eyes and relieved comments that Cameron was home safe again.
“Alric, you know I love this castle, right?” Cameron started, sounding a little breathless.
“Of course.”
“Good, because right now, I could do with it being a hell of a lot smaller.” Cameron leaned in closer, the hand holding Alric’s squeezing tight. “I need you now. Naked and inside me.”
“Yesss,” Alric hissed. He narrowed his eyes at a smiling guard who stood at the entrance to the royal wing. “Anyone who comes near my chambers, I want them thrown in the dungeon.” The guard paled, and Alric didn’t stick around to make sure the guard understood there were no exceptions to that rule.
Cameron reached the double doors to his chambers first and threw them open. He started to hurry across the sitting room toward the bedroom, but Alric snagged his elbow after slamming the door shut again.
“What?” Cameron gasped, nearly falling into Alric at the sudden stop.
“This way,” Alric directed. He pulled his mate toward his hoard, and Cameron’s smile grew even wider.
“Really now? Among the books?” There was laughter in his tone and Alric smiled. Cameron was his light and joy.
“It’s the place where I feel most comfortable in my own skin. It’s the safest place I know.” Alric closed the door and leaned back against it. He couldn’t take his eyes off Cameron as he stopped in the center of the room, overflowing bookshelves rising up two stories all around him. It was the most beautiful sight in all the world. “It’s like I can truly breathe for the first time since your kidnapping.”
Cameron extended his hand to him, beckoning him closer like a siren. Pushing off the door, Alric closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms tight around Cameron’s slender waist while pressing his face into his neck. He could feel the steady beat of his pulse against his lips, the expansion of his lungs with each breath, the strength of his arms as they embraced him. Cameron was home, and he was safe again.
“My mate,” Cameron whispered in his ear, and Alric smiled.
Lifting his head, he stared into Cameron’s dark brown eyes, getting lost in their depths and wonder. “I’ve never wanted anything so badly in my life. You smiled at me, and I automatically wanted to keep you, but I was afraid I was being selfish, afraid I couldn’t make you happy as well as another dragon could.”
“Silly dragon,” Cameron murmured against his lips. God, he loved when