Persuading the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 9)

No, I won't risk it.

Because there was always a slim chance that she was his true mate. And she wasn't strong enough for a frenzy.

Wait, what? There would be no frenzy. Ever. Not only because he wouldn't kiss her lips, but because fate wouldn't be that fucked up.

Not wanting to dwell on his slipup, Zain leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Which turned out to be a mistake. Her soft, warm skin was bad enough, but the faint scent of female and flowers filled his nose, making him want to lean closer and take a deeper inhale.

As if he were burned, Zain stood upright as quickly as

possible and looked to Bram. "What about the paperwork?"

He snorted. "This is probably the first time someone has thought of the bloody DDA paperwork so quickly after mating a human." Zain merely raised his brows, and Bram sighed. "Fine, fine. My assistant is still working on it since this was put together so quickly. But once my assistant is finished, he'll bring it over. In the meantime, you stay here with your mate. A little surprise from all of us will arrive shortly, and you need to ensure you take care of Ivy."

He studied Bram closely but couldn't glean any extra information from his expression. "What's with the cryptic statement?"

Nikki grinned. "It's called a surprise, Zain."

"I don't like surprises," he muttered.

Ivy smiled—the first real smile he'd seen—and he stopped breathing a second. The human looked years younger, and less like an enemy, when she smiled.

Combined with her hair up and her blue dress, she was going to be a bigger threat to him than he'd thought. And Zain had only been mated to her for a few minutes.

His dragon laughed but said nothing. Probably because he didn't want to scare the human with flashing dragon eyes.

Still smiling, Ivy said, "It's been so long since I had a good surprise that I can't wait."

Of course she'd want surprises, although it made zero sense to Zain. Her last big surprise has been her brother's murder.

And just like that, Zain remembered why he'd mated Ivy and how things would be. No more noticing how pretty she was or thinking he wanted her to smile more often. No, he would protect her and work with her, nothing else.

He expected his dragon to say something, but he merely remained silent. And that made Zain more nervous than anything else.

Chapter Ten

Ivy had expected the mating ceremony to be solemn and perfunctory. And while her vows hadn't been the stuff people dreamed of, the aftermath had been quite nice.

First, feeling Zain's muscles underneath her fingers had sent a thrill of excitement through her body. Not to mention the kiss on her cheek made her blush furiously, as well as woke up certain lady parts she hadn't thought would ever respond to a dragon-shifter's touch.

But then Zain had moved away from her as quickly as possible, and the spell broke, reminding her this wasn't some sort of fairy tale. She was a human, he was a dragon-shifter, and there was a mile-wide ravine of hatred and fear between them.

However, Nikki's mention of a surprise garnered her full attention. Holidays hadn't been celebrated inside the Dragon Knights. After all, dragons didn't stop existing for a birthday or Christmas. And while she'd tried her best not to wish to have those things again—they'd been some of her favorite times of year before joining the Knights—it'd been hard not to have a tree to decorate or experience the anticipation of opening a present.

But her past was that—the past. Ivy needed to start celebrating the small things, such as surprises.

Bram shook her hand, smiled at her—was it real, she wondered—and left. And without thinking, Ivy turned toward Nikki. "Can't you give me a hint about what's coming?"

Nikki laughed. "Wow, if I'd known something as simple as a surprise would bring out the true Ivy hidden beneath all that fear and misinformation, I would've suggested it earlier."

The words stung a little, but Ivy wouldn't let them ruin the first real enjoyment she'd had in a long, long time. "That's still not a hint."

Jane snorted. "Tenacious, aren't you? Maybe with time, you'll fit in here nicely."

Not wanting to go down the road of thinking about her distant future, Ivy chanced a glance at Zain. The furrow of his brows made her blink. "Now what are you angry about?"

He grunted. "I don't like surprises."