Rhydian quirked an eyebrow at her in question. "What are you thinking about, love?"
In most cases, she'd say the truth without hesitation. But she didn't want to scare him off, so she gave a half-truth. "The future and how I look forward to it."
His pupils flashed rapidly as his grip on her waist tightened a little.
Her gaze dropped to his firm, full lips. She'd never burned to kiss someone so much in her life.
Rhydian groaned. "Don't look at me like you're about to lick me up, Delaney. It's hard enough for me to hold you close and keep my dragon in check."
She met his gaze again. "When will you finish your operation with Stonefire?"
"In a few more days." He moved to her ear and whispered, "After that, I'm going to kiss you and worship you in our bed for days on end."
The thought of Rhydian's mouth on hers as his cock moved between her thighs made wetness rush to her core. "Good. Because I'm more than ready for it."
His hand trailed from her back to her arse and lightly squeezed. "Just because I can't kiss you on the mouth doesn't mean I can't kiss you elsewhere right now."
Her heart thumped faster, but somehow she retained some of her rational mind. "What about Rian?"
"Dragons have very good hearing, love. If he so much as snores, I'll know."
Her cheeks flushed. "But that means he'll hear us, too."
Rhydian chuckled. "That lad sleeps like a log. Maybe it'll change when he's older, but he won't hear us tonight." He lightly nibbled her earlobe and Delaney cried out softly. Rhydian added, "Well, provided you can keep quiet."
His wicked fingers moved from her arse to between her thighs. As he stroked, she pressed her forehead against his shoulder. "I'll try my best."
Rhydian scooped her into his arms, and she reveled in the feel of his hard, warm body against hers.
Before she could think better of it, Delaney murmured, "I love you, Rhydian."
He froze, the muscles of his chest turning hard.
She found his gaze but couldn't read it. Bloody fantastic. She'd maybe just ruined the mood and evening between them.
Then a slow smile took over his face and she relaxed again. Rhydian's husky voice filled her ear. "I love you, too, Delaney Murphy. And since I can't kiss your mouth, I'm going to show how much you mean to me by worshiping your pussy with my tongue."
Her nipples tightened harder, and before she could reply, Rhydian had them in his—soon to be their—room. He laid her on the bed, stripped her slowly, and murmured "I love you, Delaney," before fulfilling his promise.
Delaney didn't know if many people had fallen in love without so much as a kiss, but as Rhydian devoured every inch of her body outside of her mouth, she didn't care. She loved her dragonman and couldn't wait to claim him as her own both with the clan and between the sheets.
Chapter Thirteen
Five days later, Rhydian tried his best to stand still as he waited in the main security room inside Snowridge for any sort of word from his Protectors.
Stonefire and Snowridge were currently carrying out their operation near Cardiff. However, as was custom, the clan leaders stayed on their respective clans and away from the line of fire.
It was one of the things Rhydian hated most about his position—he couldn't be with his people, helping them succeed, taking risks alongside the others who chanced their lives day after day.
His dragon spoke up. We would just get in the way.
We train nearly every day with the Protectors, and sometimes even win the drills. We wouldn't get in the way.
Even so, what if something happened to us? Every dragon clan in the UK needs Snowridge to be an ally and remain stable. If we fell, the clan would descend into chaos.
Especially since Rhydian was still trying to find one of the troublemakers on his list, a male who had voiced support for scaring Delaney away by any means necessary. However, the dragonman hadn't been seen ever since the vandalism and threat to Rhydian's female.
Had that been less than two weeks ago?