He drew in a deep breath, startled to realize that she was right.
It had never been a real home before—home was Gregory’s mansion, where they’d grown up together.
But now, for the first time, this large, empty house that he’d built for the family he’d never had seemed to come to life.
He hadn’t spent much time here. He didn’t have many memories of this place to share with Chiara.
But that was all right. Because now, for the first time, he could see in his mind’s eye how it would look one day soon: windows filled with light, a swing in the garden, and inside, the laughter of children.
A real home. Just what he’d always wanted. Something he hadn’t been able to build with his own two hands, because it took more than that.
It took a second set of hands. A second heart.
He took hold of Chiara’s hands and gently drew them up to his mouth, kissing them tenderly in a promise of what was to come.
And then he swept her up in his arms while she laughed in delight.
“What are you doing!” she demanded, giggling. “Put me down!”
“What does it look like?” He grinned down at her. “It’s our first night in our new home. And I’m going to do things right from now on. Which includes carrying my mate across the threshold.”
Amused, she shook her head at him, but her eyes still gleamed with laughter. Through the bond, he could feel her happiness—and her own desire, now that they were skin to skin once more.
He had to swallow when she wrapped her arms around his neck. It took all of his strength not to just press her against the wall and kiss her breathless—but they had a perfectly good bedroom inside. And he wanted to make it perfect.
The first night in their new home.
The first night of many more that were to come.
He’d wanted to give her a tour of his house—but right now, with Chiara at last in his arms and the house all to themselves, he found himself carrying her straight towards the bedroom instead. In the doorway, he stopped.
Braeden and Alyx had told him that they’d moved out all of their things and had taken care of the cleaning too.
But what they hadn’t told him was that they’d apparently found the time among the chaos of the move to prepare their bedroom for them.
Wryly, Jared realized that the idea had probably been all Alyx’s. Braeden, who’d grown up underground with the other fire dragons, still wasn’t entirely up to date on human courtship rituals.
Still, the bedroom had never looked so lovely before. It felt as if they’d stepped into the honeymoon suite in a luxury resort.
There were flowers everywhere, vases with roses covering every surface. A large “Just Married” balloon floated beneath the ceiling—only someone had taken a sharpie and crossed out the married and written MATED in large letters underneath.
There were candles scattered around as well—not yet lit, but Jared saw that they’d thoughtfully left him a lighter as well.
The bed was freshly made, with new sheets of red silk he’d never seen before. And on top of the sheets, they’d scattered rose petals—red and pink and white, forming the outline of a heart.
Gently, he placed Chiara down on the bed. Her eyes were wide as well. And then she broke into sudden laughter when she saw the balloon and the helpful correction on it.
“This is amazing. What a wonderful surprise!”
“Not my idea,” he admitted, “but I wish it had been! I was so overwhelmed by everything I didn’t think—”
“Come here,” she said tenderly, reaching out for him. “It’s been a crazy few days for all of us. And honestly, our mating was perfect the way it was. Which still doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate this, because this is lovely. Your friends are lovely.”
“There’s only one thing in this room that is lovely,” he said hoarsely, “and that’s you.”
She sighed when he kissed her, relaxing against him even when he grew more demanding. His erection had been throbbing with need ever since he’d realized that they’d finally get some alone time—and now he could hardly bear the rough denim anymore.
“I’ve been thinking,” she murmured, looking at him from half-lidded eyes, “that it would be sad if their little dragonet grew up without a griffin to play with, wouldn’t you agree?”