Because she had a hell of a lot to lose now if she didn't succeed.
But she couldn't do anything until morning. So she merely enjoyed laying with Zain for an hour or two, teasing him, and eventually falling asleep in his arms.
Chapter Fifteen
It was another few days before Zain could coax Ivy away from her work long enough to show his dragon form. He'd even had to make a bloody appointment to do it.
His dragon snorted. I'm as anxious as you are, but she's doing important work.
Something about her on the verge of a breakthrough that would protect all dragon-shifters, not that Zain understood all the scientific jargon. All he knew was that she'd roped in Blake to help her with the math and formulas. If not for Zain's irritation at being separated from Ivy, he might've laughed at how the once hermit-like male had turned extremely growly anytime he was away from his mate.
But at least Blake was mated, which meant Zain didn't have to fight the urge to kill him for giving Ivy the wrong kind of look.
His beast spoke up. Ivy is ours, and she said as much. And whilst we might not have claimed her yet in bed, we have legally mated her. The clan knows this, so calm down.
Rich coming from you, dragon. You like nothing more than to flash naked images of her inside our mind.
It helps me with waiting since we only saw her naked the one time.
Ivy had decided that she couldn't be naked around Zain until she was cured. It was too great a temptation.
Never in his life had Zain hated clothing more.
He paced the living room, glancing at the clock. It was five minutes past two. Ivy was late.
Just as he was about to charge into her workspace to see what was going on, Blake emerged into the living room with a smile on his face.
Zain clenched his fingers into a fist and ground his teeth. Remember, he's not a threat, not a threat, not a threat.
Blake finally noticed him and blinked. "She's upstairs waiting for you."
Not wanting to encourage the male to go into a long spiel about things he didn't understand, Zain nodded and raced up the stairs to Ivy's office.
He found her hunched over a desk, scribbling furiously. Despite the fact she wore stretchy yoga pants and a loose T-shirt, with her hair hastily tied back, she was still the most beautiful female in the world to him.
While impatient, he merely watched her work. If Ivy was on the cusp of a breakthrough, not even he would be selfish and risk her losing her train of thought.
After all, Ivy was working to safeguard not only Stonefire but dragon-shifters the world over.
When she finally sighed and tossed aside her pen, Zain took that as his cue to approach her. Without a word, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kneaded the tight muscles. She moaned into his touch and said, "If you ever decide to give up on your Protector duties, you'd be an excellent masseuse."
He snorted. "Right, because my brusque manner will surely put people at ease." He kissed the top of her head and asked, "Did you solve your puzzle?"
Ivy shook her head. "No, but I'm nearly there. There's just one last bit of the formula I need to crack, and I may have something to counter any human-made drug against dragon-shifters. Well, within reason. It won't protect you against something like sarin gas, or other types of biological weapons."
"I think that's fair. Not even you can make us immortal."
She smiled and looked up to meet his gaze. "An immortal dragon-shifter would be far too cocky. I don't think the world would be able to handle it."
He chuckled. "You're probably right." He removed his hands from her shoulders and motioned toward the door. "Can you still come out for a break? My dragon is getting rather impatient for some ear scratches."
She nodded and stood. However, Ivy swayed for a second. Zain steadied her, frowning in the process. "Are you sure you can handle going out? If you're exhausted, then tell me the truth."
"I just need something to eat, and I'll be fine, I promise. And before you get extra protective, Dr. Sid saw me this morning and said I was doing well. She even sent me home with a copy of the results, just in case I needed to prove it to you."
He grunted. "I'm not that bad."
"Oh, yes you are." She placed a hand on his chest. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."