Ever Mine (Dragon Lore) Read Online Free PDF Page B

murmur in her ear. “It would probably help if you let go of me.”
    She frowned up at him as delicious shivers raced over her skin. “I can’t stand up on my own yet,” she snapped in a whisper. “My legs aren’t steady.”
    “I just asked…you know what, never mind.” He lifted a hand and gently untangled hers from around his neck. “We need to get to my aunt’s before it gets too late.”
    “Right,” she grimaced, nauseous all of a sudden. Going home meant facing her father and the rest of the Elder Council in her new, human body. If Nathan’s aunt managed to return her to fairy form, there was still the Council to worry about. Even if they never found out about her body transformation, all human interaction was strictly forbidden. It would mean punishment and possible banishment. That she’d let a human kiss her… She shuddered, thinking about what they would do.
    Worse, they had been threatening to pair-bond her to Aeron, the eldest son of one of the Council members, to preserve the untainted bloodline. She’d held them off by being on her best behavior, but if she went home now and they didn’t banish her, she had no doubt they would force her into the pairing.
    Nathan’s face was right in hers. “Are you alright?”
    She forced herself to nod. He’d done enough for her already, as it was. He was a fixer, but there was nothing he could fix about her life.
    He studied her for a long moment, then nodded, said good-bye to his sister and his niece, and before Katenia could say her farewells too, he’d scooped her up and was carrying her out the door.
    She shifted and frowned at him as the apartment door closed behind them. “I’m not going to learn to walk if you keep carrying me everywhere.”
    His massive shoulders lifted in a shrug. “No need for you to learn if we’re just going to turn you back into a fairy.”
    She couldn’t argue with that logic. She’d worry later about what would happen if his aunt couldn’t change her. She had more confusing things to think about at the moment.
    “Nathan?”
    “Yes?”
    “Do humans ever mate for life?”
    “We can,” he said, dropping his gaze to her face for the barest moment as they reached the sidewalk, “but it rarely lasts a lifetime.” He started across the traffic. “What about fairies?”
    “Why did you kiss me?”
    He hesitated in the middle of the road and frowned at her. “Are you changing the subject?”
    “No. I just, when I said primal earlier—”
    He cut her off. “Please stop talking about it.”
    “I would if you would listen to me.” His gaze snapped to her, his hand frozen on the handle of the vehicle door. She nodded once and smiled at him. “Thank you. When you were kissing me, it felt like you were trying to stake your primal claim on me.”
    A muscle in his jaw ticked as he opened her door and set her in the seat without looking at her again. “You’re mistaken. Humans don’t do that.”
    “I didn’t think so,” she muttered, confusion lacing her words, “and fairies don’t usually, either, but…”
    He hesitated. “But, what?”
    “It can happen, and I know what I felt.” She sucked in a low breath and met his gaze before she could change her mind and hide the truth. “It would be a very bad idea, Nathan. For both of us.”
    His expression went dark as he jerked his head in a nod. “Then it’s a damn good thing I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snapped, and slammed her door shut.
    * * * *
    As he stalked around his car, Nathan was so pathetically grateful for the seconds to get his emotions under control he could have kissed the damn ground. He was a terrible fucking liar, and if he would've had to face her for another heartbeat, she’d have seen the truth in his eyes.
    He had been trying to claim her. It wasn’t something he’d thought about, or even understood, but damn, it roared up inside of him like an inferno. If Lux hadn’t stopped them when she had, what would he have