Chapter 17

Mikhail stood outside the door to Piper's bedroom for a long while, listening to her shift and toss under her sheets. When he heard the faint chattering of her teeth, he'd had enough. He eased the door open and peered cautiously inside. She was asleep but still cold, despite the mountain of blankets on her bed.

With a growl of frustration, he approached the bed and carefully slipped her out from under the blankets and into his arms. Her chattering teeth stilled, and she murmured something fretful in her sleep before she nuzzled his chest and sighed.

Unable to stop a cocky grin from spreading across his face, he carried her back to his room and settled her beneath his blankets before he turned out the lights and joined her under them. Her feet were like ice, and her hands were just as cold. He tucked her body close to his and placed her feet on his shins. Soon she'd warm up. A dragon gave off more body heat than a human, one of the perks of being a shifter, such as being able to extinguish or start a fire with a wave of his hands. Both had come in handy tonight. Mikhail curled an arm around Piper's waist and buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair.

"You have nothing to fear from me, little dove." He whispered the words, hoping she would hear them in her dreams and know what he said was true. "I vow on my life and my brothers' that you are safe."

He wanted her desperately, but he would wait as long as it took to earn her trust. Because she is my mate. It was a thought he'd been afraid to embrace before now, but it was harder and harder to deny how he and his dragon felt about this fiery beauty.

The only problem was that she was humanlike Elizabeth. When dragons mated, they tied their lifespan to that of their mate. If he mated a dragonessan admittedly unlikely prospecthe would live another five thousand years, but if he mated a human? He would draw his last breath mere hours or days after she did. Unless he found a way to change her.

Being a dragon shifter meant his life and his body were controlled by ancient magic. Ever since he was a child, he'd heard legends of humans who had, after great sacrifices, earned the right to join their ranks. They lived immortal lives alongside their dragon mates. He remembered his mother telling him stories about the first dragons, how they had been creatures of magic and how the early humans had bonded with them, combining the dragon's soul with the human's body. Those had been the first dragons. The later generations had been born rather than made. Those first dragons had come from another realm by virtue of special gemstones, ones which held great magic. But no one had done this in a long time, longer than he had been alive. The knowledge of how to do it had been lost, even in the oldest of his people's memories.

Mikhail didn't like the idea of Piper having to make any great sacrifice, so he would not ask her to change for him. He closed his eyes, holding his precious human close. If he only had another sixty years with her, it would be enough. Every moment would be a treasure. He didn't want to make another mistake, not like he had with Elizabeth.

That was why he had taken Piper tonight. He had to be in control at first, until she could decide if she wanted him. If she did not, he would let her go, but not before he was certain he could trust her with the truth of who he was and, more importantly, what he could become.

Five hundred years ago, being a dragon had been dangerous enough. He could've been captured and killed. But now? In the digital age where cameras were everywhere and scientists were eager to dissect creatures like him? Not to mention the damned Brotherhood of the Blood Moon, who had a stronghold in every major city these days, always watching and waiting for one of his kind to make a false step. It was crucial for himself and his race to stay hidden in the shadows.

His hold tightened on Piper, and he settled deeper into his bed. He had been alone for five centuries. It felt so good to have a woman in his arms again, even if he had to face letting her go when the morning came. Until then, he would dream as he hadn't done in years, of his gray-blue-eyed dove and the hoard of jewels hidden in the cellar of his house.

A smile curved his lips as he slipped into the realm of a dragon's dreams.