Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Adrian’s eyes popped open, and he tried to glare at Haru, but it wasn’t easy when the dragon was playing with his hair and looking so smug. “He doesn’t owe me. If he can be one less god wreaking havoc on the world, I’ll take it as a win.”
“And what will you do to keep one less dragon from wreaking havoc on the world?”
Haru’s expression remained playful, but there was a new sharpness in his gaze that left Adrian frozen. This question felt bigger for some strange reason, and he wasn’t sure how to answer without causing monumental damage on all sides. In the end, Adrian forced a laugh and stepped around Haru, trying to move to the other side of the room.
But the damn room was too small, and it was shrinking by the second now that Haru was shadowing his steps.
“I think Nori would jerk a knot in your tail if you created chaos,” Adrian joked.
“Return to the Isle of Stone with me,” Haru murmured, but the way those words hit Adrian in the chest, he could have been shouting. He’d loved staying on the Isle of Stone with the Omari Clan more than he cared to admit. It was peaceful and breathtakingly beautiful there. And he’d seen only a fraction of it all. There hadn’t been enough time to explore.
“If we survive all this, I’m sure Cael will be happy to give me some time off.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Adrian stopped at the foot of the bed he’d chosen, though he was sure Haru was going to weasel his way into sharing the same bed. It didn’t matter that there wasn’t enough room for both of them. Haru would destroy the other bed or pitch it out the window if it meant cornering Adrian into sharing a bed.
He knew Haru hadn’t meant coming to the Omari clan as a vacation like he’d originally suggested weeks ago, but Adrian was determined to avoid thinking about where all this was leading with Haru.
“Haru,” Adrian started in the hardest voice that he could muster. “Where do you think this is all going? You agreed this was just sex and fun. Nothing else.”
Adrian hadn’t heard a whisper of sound from Haru, but when the dragon replied, his voice was right in Adrian’s ear. Haru was the same height, but it felt as if he were towering over Adrian. The power rolling off the dragon was immense and oppressive.
“I do not call you ‘my Adrian’ and ‘my mate’ lightly,” Haru said. There was a sharpness to his voice that Adrian had never heard. It was as if Haru had pressed a blade to his throat, and the slightest movement would cause his flesh to be cut. “I realized before you left my home for Stormbreak that you were my mate. You fit in my home like no one else ever has. It is where you belong. Beside me. You are mine.”
Something inside Adrian shivered and threatened to snap in half. That something wanted to belong to Haru. It wanted to return to the Isle of Stone and never look back. He wanted to get lost in that world and maybe find a piece of himself that had always been missing.
But that wasn’t possible.
“You seem to be forgetting something important.” Adrian turned and put a hand on the center of Haru’s chest, pushing him as hard as he could. It was still only enough to get Haru to take a tiny step back. “I’m a human. You are a dragon. Your kind looks down on pairings like that. I’ve seen it firsthand in the Chasm.” That was where all clanless dragons were forced to live. Any dragon whose former clan had dissolved in disgrace. There were also more than a few mixed breeds from dragons and humans. Dragons trapped in human form but with some scrap of magic to call their own.
Yet, the only magic Adrian could claim was a loan from Caelan. Adrian was thoroughly human, and in the eyes of dragons, he was less.
“Nori wouldn’t care, and his opinion is the one that matters to me. His grandson is half dragon.”
Adrian snorted. “He’s also a god and a king, so it’s kind of hard to snub him. I don’t have those things going for me, and I never will.”
“I don’t care. You have met the Omari clan, and they like you. It will be your home, and you will be happy.”
Joy blossomed deep in Adrian’s chest at his words, because he believed he could be happy with the Omari Clan. Yet…
“Nori is still trying to convince dragons to be more accepting of those in the Chasm. I worry that my presence would cause more problems. I don’t want to be a hindrance. If the clan is unhappy because of how other clans see them, I would be unhappy for causing it.”