“If you’ll take it,” he nodded. “I hear you’re very good at what you do.”
“I am,” she whispered.
“Good,” Brian nodded. “You can start today, right after you come over here and kiss me.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Winter scurried across the floor, reached for Brian, and pulled him toward herself. Then she kissed him. She kissed him like he was heaven. She kissed him like she meant it. She kissed him like they were true mates destined to be together after all.
“You don’t think this is crazy?” Winter whispered.
“It’s crazy,” he nodded, “but you know what?”
“What?”
“Maybe crazy isn’t all that bad,” Brian chuckled, and kissed her back. He reached for Winter and then he just held her for a long time. Winter couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so safe or protected or loved. Brian made her feel adored, and that was probably the most incredible thing she’d ever felt.
Ever.
“What’s going to happen next?” Winter whispered.
“I want you to come live with me,” he said.
“Really?”
“Really,” he said. “Winter, you’re incredible. Finding you on my beach, spending the weekend with you...it was everything I could have ever dreamed of.”
“I feel good when I’m with you,” she whispered.
“I feel alive when I’m with you,” he countered.
He pressed his lips to her forehead, and Winter sighed. She’d come to Sapphire Island for a story, but she’d found so much more than that. She’d found the answer to her hopes. She’d found her dream. She’d found...
She’d found her mate.
Now she and Brian were together. They hadn’t had to say goodbye after all. She didn’t have to spend the rest of her life wondering if Brian was the “one that got away.” Instead, she got to spend the rest of her life loving him, caring for him, playing with him.
Apparently, she was getting her happy ending after all.
Epilogue
A few months later
Brian and Winter were a happy couple. Once they’d found each other, there was no keeping them apart. There was literally no way either one of them would be satisfied continuing to live without the other, and so they had a mating ceremony as soon as they possibly could. They invited almost everyone they knew, and the ceremony was huge, wonderful, and beautiful.
Winter couldn’t believe that fate had smiled on her. She’d come to Sapphire Island to write a story. She never could have imagined that she would not only fall in love with a dragon man, but be claimed as his mate, too.
The dancing at the reception continued for hours. Late into the night when the stars had come up, the dragons were all still drinking and eating and laughing and dancing. Everyone was having a wonderful time, and each time Winter looked over at her new husband, her mate, she was amazed at just how blessed they’d been to find each other.
They shared a dance with each other, and she reached around his neck and pulled him closer to herself. Winter kissed Brian like she meant it. She kissed him like nothing else in the world mattered. She kissed him because he was important, and wonderful, and kind.
He was everything to her.
“Well, what do you think of the party?” Brian’s eyes sparkled and shimmered.
“It’s everything I could have hoped for,” she told him honestly.
“You’re everything I could have hoped for.”
“Oh?” Winter grinned. “Then why don’t you prove it, dragon man.”