He made her nervous.
Kelos tilted his head on one side as he approached her. “It’s good to be home.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, but she twisted her head around and their lips met. Heat flared across his skin and he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
Amber sighed in contentment, placing her hands on his chest as their kiss deepened. He nipped her bottom lip before soothing it with his tongue, sending a shiver through his mate as she opened her mouth. Kelos tasted her mouth, their tongues entwining as they stood in the afternoon sun, the trees swishing gently in the breeze that ruffled her hair.
She stimulated his senses more than any spring day on the mountain could. Here in the place he’d chosen to call home, he shared his first kiss with his mate. It was as if this dragon’s fairy tale had finally come true.
As their kiss broke and he nuzzled her neck, his tongue trailing across her warm skin, he caught the scent of another man and a pang of jealousy hit him. His need to claim her as his own and not allow any other male to come near her rocketed and he fought to keep his breathing under control and his body relaxed.
“Shawn.” He lifted his head and looked into her eyes.
Amber looked over Kelos’s shoulder. “He’s back already with Elliot’s medication?”
“No.” Kelos frowned. “I can smell him on you.”
“You can?” She sniffed her clothes and then looked up at him, searching his face for an answer. “You’re jealous.”
“I am.” He forced a smile onto his face. “I’m jealous he got to spend time with you today while I was at work.”
“Well, you’re here now. You’re the one who gets to kiss me.” She gave him a playful smile.
“Lucky me.” He let go of his pent-up breath and forced himself to relax. “What did Shawn say. About Elliot.” Lying had never been his thing. Of course, he cared about Elliot, but he was more concerned with why his mate smelled as if Shawn had touched her, held her in his arms.
They are old friends, his dragon reminded Kelos. People hug.
Kelos let go of his possessiveness. He released the pent-up anger that threatened to cause steam to escape from his ears. His dragon was right. Shawn and Amber were old friends.
“It went well.” She slipped her hand into Kelos’s and they walked toward the house. “He examined Elliot and said he’d pop back later with the meds he’s prescribed.”
“He’s coming back today.” Kelos’s jaw tensed. He was being completely unreasonable. At least that was what his modern-day human brain was telling him. However, his old-fashioned shifter brain didn’t want the man who had laid his hands on his mate anywhere near her.
“Yes. I thought we could all have dinner together.” She half turned to look at Kelos, her eyes searching his face. She could sense the tension in him. “I thought you were good friends.”
“We are.” Kelos decided to come clean and be honest with his mate. “I can smell him on you.”
She stopped walking and turned to face him. “Smell him on me?” She lifted her arm and sniffed her clothes. “I guess I can smell his cologne.” Amber locked eyes with Kelos. “And that’s a problem?” Her arched eyebrow told Kelos that his problem might become their problem.
“No. At least not really.” He shrugged apologetically. “I have a jealous streak. One I did not know I possessed until I got home.”
“And smelled another man on the woman who is yours.” She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I can relate.”
“You can?” Kelos asked in surprise.
“Yeah. I don’t think I’d like it if you came home with lipstick on your cheek. Even if the lipstick was the evidence of nothing more than a kiss between friends.” She turned away from him and continued toward the house. “But I’d trust you just like you trust me.”
“I do trust you,” he said hurriedly. “It was a knee-jerk reaction.”
“Then we’re all good.” She went inside his house and poured two cups of coffee into the mugs she’d already set out. “I was waiting for you to get home.”
Amber offered him one of the mugs and he took it. “Thanks.”
“I also baked cookies.” Amber picked up a plate of cookies as evidence. “Shall we go and sit outside?”
“Sure.” He looked up at the ceiling. Kelos could sense the others were in bed asleep. “Are they all okay?”
“Yes, just tired. Margie figured it would be good for them to take a nap and try to catch up on some sleep.” She gave a lopsided smile. “I was standing guard.”
He smiled. She wasn’t joking. When she’d come out to meet him, she’d been afraid that he was an intruder, a threat to her brother’s family. “I’m here now if you want to go and rest.”
“I don’t think I could sleep. I want to spend some time alone with you.” She inclined her head toward the back yard. “Shall we?”
“Sure.” He followed her outside and they sat down in the two wooden chairs he used to rest the lumber he had to cut on.
“I love it here.” Amber sat down and inhaled deeply. “I can see why you chose to live here.”
He gave a brief chuckle. “My friends would tell you I chose the house because it was cheap.”
“And would they be right?” Amber’s eyes danced as she took a bite of her cookie.
“They might be partly right.” He glanced over his shoulder at the ramshackle house, with its peeling paint that flaked off the door and its faded timber. “But I also saw the beauty hidden beneath it. The house is old but that doesn’t mean it can’t have a new lease of life.”
“It reminded you of you.” She sipped her coffee and squinted against the sun as it broke out from behind a cloud. Amber was more beautiful than any view he’d ever seen and warmed his soul more than the sunniest of days.
“It
