God, how strong is he? Norah thought with delight, and then her own pleasure took utter control.
There was no more holding back, no more resisting it. It was only pulses of pleasure that tore through her, that she was somehow convinced that he felt exactly as she did, and all they could do was hang on to each other. The bolts of desire left her shaking in their wake, but the important part was that she wasn't alone with it.
Instead they had each other as the pleasure threatened to tear them apart, and then as Val shifted and the angle changed, there was no choice for Norah at all. She couldn't stop the final bonfire of pleasure and need from bursting through her, and it was so intense that she clawed at Val, aware in some distant way of her nails shredding his shirt.
Nothing mattered in all the world except what her true mate, was making her feel, and she cried out with it, her voice echoing through the room.
Norah collapsed boneless back on the table, still supported in Val's arms. She gasped as he pushed into her one last time, climaxing with a vicious growl that rung something deep and primitive within her.
He was claiming her, and at the same time, he was being claimed as well. This was the man she was fated to meet. He was her mate, and now she knew it body and mind and soul.
When he tenderly lay her back on the table, he stayed bent over her, his nose mere inches from hers. Up close, she could see the faintest flecks of gold in his dark brown eyes, the way his canine teeth seemed longer than those of an average human.
“Mine,” he breathed with pleasure.
“Mine,” she agreed, and she started to laugh.
***
They eventually did make it to the restaurant, but only for takeout because Norah thought it was far too obvious what they had been doing. Instead, Val bought them about fifty dollars' worth of excellent Italian food, and they sat down to eat it on her couch, ravenous, exhausted, and still almost vibrating with excitement.
Before they could dig in, however, Norah's phone chimed, and seeing that it was Sayeed, she immediately picked up.
“So I see you listened to me as well as you ever do,” he said without a greeting, and Norah grinned.
“Did you find out who it was?”
“Some history professor,” Sayeed replied with disgust. “I sent the cops around to his place, and yeah, he's been at this for a while. Tons of books there, some wrapped up for sale. They're booking him right now, and I thought you should know so you didn't go running out to make a citizen's arrest.”
“I wasn't going to do that,” Norah said, ignoring Val's elegantly raised eyebrow. “But wait, did he say anything about, um, me getting the picture or anything like that?”
“He's admitted that he tried to get your camera away from you in the parking lot, and if you want to press charges you probably can. I told you not to play hero, Norah.”
“But that's it?”
“Yes, unless there's anything else you think I should know?”
“No, no, that's it,” she said hurriedly. “Let me know if there's anything else I can do, all right?”
“You've done more than enough,” came the aggrieved response, and Norah laughed.
“Well,” she said, ending the call. “Sounds like we're in the clear. I don't have to rescue you from the circus.”
“The circus would feed me in a timely fashion,” Val said reproachfully.
“Oh! Oh, God, you didn't have to wait for me. Yes, let's eat.”
Between bites, Val told her about the history of his kind, of the dragon that lived inside him and of the long life that now she would share. When their hands touched reaching for the gnocchi, Norah blushed and then felt incredibly silly until she realized that Val was blushing too.
“We're ridiculous,” she sighed. “Is it always going to be like this?”
“It'll soften. Eventually I'll have to do something besides look at you and think about how best to get my hands on you. I can't imagine that right now, but it has to happen some time. Mated pairs don''t actually just live in bed gazing into each other's eyes.”
“This is real, then,” Norah mused. “You're a dragon, I'm your mate. This is love.”
“It was from the moment I saw you,” he said quietly, and her heart beat hard in her chest.
“That's the right word, isn't it? Love?”
He set down his plate and took her hands in his. It occurred to her how handsome his hands were, lean and scarred and dark.
“I'm not afraid to say that I love you. It may be biology or magic or luck or a miracle, but I love you. If you need some time to say it back – “
“I love you,” she said, and he drew his breath sharply.
“Norah.”
“It's what I feel. It's what I know. A little silly to put it off in that case, isn't it?”
“Spoken like a sensible woman. It's settled then. We belong to each other and with one another, and what's mine is yours, until my last breath leaves me.”
If she thought too hard about his words, she would be swept away. She would break down into torrents of tears, or maybe she would simply drown underneath the power of what he meant.
Instead, Norah grinned, squeezing his hands in turn.
“And since we belong to each other, of course we must tell each other the truth.”
“We must,” Val said, a cautious note entering his voice.
“Right. So in light of that, love of mine, what kind of letters did you send to The Millbrook? That was you, wasn't it?”
Val groaned, taking his hands back so he could cover his face.
“You really want to know?”
“I do.”
Shaking his head, Val drew the packet of letters from his jacket and handed them to her.
“I suppose you might as
