His dragon huffed. She can't scare me. Now I have to think of dirtier things to do to her.
He laughed. "Great, now there's a competition between our beasts for who can be the dirtiest. We may not get much of a say in the matter until they settle it."
"Hmm, we'll see about that. However, my dragon knows how I'll be the first to claim the man I love, not her."
Hear that, dragon? I'm going to do the same.
His beast grunted. We'll see about that.
Dr. Innes burst into the room. The bloody male kept doing that, to the point Asher wondered if he had cameras in the room, alerting him to when a patient may be tempted to do something they shouldn't.
Honoria never moved from her position next to him, though. And the act made him love her even more.
As he rubbed circles on Honoria's back—fuck the no display of public affection just then—she spoke up. "Yes, doctor? We haven't broken any of your rules, and Asher is fine, so I'm not sure why you're here."
Dr. Innes rolled his eyes. "Aye, you'll fit right in as leader. I think it's a bloody requirement for them to be stubborn and test my patience."
Asher cleared his throat. "What do you need, Dr. Innes?"
The other male answered, "The other two leaders mentioned how you'll be needing out of this room today. So I'm here to do a final check and give you stern instructions about your recovery, which I'm sure you won't follow."
Since Asher had lost too much time in prison as it was, he didn't beat around the bush if he could help it. "I'm not stupid, but I'll push boundaries. Tell me what I absolutely can't do without risking a relapse, or worse, permanent damage."
The other male didn't miss a beat. "No flying, end of story. I'm not sure how the damage to your back will affect your wings in dragon form. The first time you shift, I want to be there."
After so many years of not being able to fly, the thought of being earthbound again for an unknown amount of time didn't sit well with him. "I won't, but when can I try?"
Dr. Innes glanced between the pair. "We'll see, aye? I suspect you'll be busy with clan matters for a wee while anyway. All I ask is that you keep an open line of communication with me. If I call or text, you answer. You don't do that—barring some clan emergency—then I will station a Protector with you at all times to act as my liaison. And they won't be from this clan, either, so they'll listen to my authority over yours."
Honoria jumped in and asked, "You're a tough one, aren't you?"
The doctor raised his blond brows. "When you deal with clan leaders, you have to be."
Even though he may not want to follow Dr. Innes's orders to the letter, he admired the male for his dedication. At that thought, he had an idea. "What would you say to helping us pick a head doctor for Skyhunter?"
Gregor blinked. "Oh, aye? Are you sure about that? I already get the sense the people here don't like outsiders."
Honoria chimed in, "No, I think it's a brilliant idea. Ash and I will make the final decision, but we need to appoint someone who's dedicated and will risk ordering us about, like you've been doing, when needed."
Dr. Innes bobbed his head. "I'm interested, but can I bring my mate into this to help me? She's probably had more interaction with the other English dragon-shifter doctors than I have. And I think, for the time being, your clan will trust an English dragon-shifter over ones from other parts of the UK."
Dr. Innes's mate was also a doctor. Not just any doctor, but Stonefire's head doctor. She was back on Stonefire, unable to travel because of her pregnancy.
He and Honoria nodded at one another before Asher replied, "Your mate is well-known even down here. If she helps, it'll be an even better choice, I'm sure."
The corner of Dr. Innes's mouth ticked up. "Don't tell her that, aye? Otherwise, I'll never hear the end of it."
After finishing his final check and giving a few more orders—Ash was to limit any intense physical activity for a few more days—the Scottish doctor left.
Meeting Honoria's gaze, he asked, "So, are you ready to get to work?"
She kissed him and answered, "More than anything. Our first meeting tonight will be extremely important. So we're going to have to stop kissing and touching to focus on it. Not that I want to, of course, but if we don't nail this and start stirring confidence or earning trust, our leadership may be doomed before it even begins."
He agreed. And while Asher did his best to work on the speech and coordinate how they'd run the meeting, he did steal a few kisses here and there. After all, distractions helped to reboot the brain at times.
And he couldn't wait until he could do more than distract his dragonwoman. Asher looked forward to when he could steal her away and become her whole world for a few hours.
Chapter Eleven