Dante was going to add Marnie and Tamar to the list of people he was going to kill. Delle very nearly made the list, too. But it was she who suggested they all go swim in the river, using their dragons to heat the water, and finally the house was quiet and Dante could get some rest.

It was dark when Dante awoke, though it hadn’t even been noon when he fell asleep. He saw to his needs and quietly made his way to the kitchen--passing the sofa a sleeping Bear laid upon--to pick at some bread and guzzle some water. His muscles hurt even more than they had earlier. He considered shifting his wings away for a reprieve, but the pain would only be worse when he shifted back if he didn’t let them recover naturally.

He didn’t go back to his room after he ate and drank. Instead he padded to the sofa in the common room and dropped to a knee. He hadn’t given anyone instructions on sleeping arrangements--he hadn’t expected to sleep all day--but he’d assumed Bear would stay with him. He heard Delle tell her that he’d show Bear her room, though he never got around to it. Given they only had the three bedrooms--his, Delle’s, and Marnie’s--he’d assumed Delle meant the room the princess would share with him. But here she was.

Her hair was down, the ash-blond locks flowing around her head and down her front. It was a good thing, too, because she was wearing a nightgown so thin he could see the outline of her nipples, and her hair was the only thing keeping him from being able to easily imagine her breasts in their full glory. He swallowed, moving his gaze to her angelic face, and brushed a knuckle down the side of it, her eyes fluttering open at the touch.

“Do you want to come to bed?”

Bear blinked. “I didn’t want to disturb you or assume--”

“Yes or no, Bear?” he cut her off.

“Yes.”

Dante lifted her under her knees and shoulders again, ignoring the protest of his arms after having to carry her like that for nearly two days straight. Back in his room, he deposited her on the bed where she curled on her side, facing him, eyes open.

He’d been sleeping in the nude, but pulled his pants on to venture into the common areas. He didn’t really want to sleep in his pants, and he certainly wasn’t going to sleep in the nude now, so he plucked a pair of undershorts from his clothes chest and asked Bear to turn around. She did so and he changed then slid into bed next to her, his front to her back like they usually did. It wasn’t cold in the house, but Dante put an arm around Bear anyway. It already felt second-nature to do so.

Bear’s scent was purer after her swim than it had been, and Dante could detect a hint of soap. She’d been worried about tasting bad, likely worried about smelling bad, but she never could. Not to him. She always smelled like her, just a more or less intense version of her peaches-and-honeysuckle scent depending on how much dirt and sweat and other smells were on her. He liked it best when it was just her, right after bathing, but it wasn’t bad otherwise. He just preferred when he could take whiff and smell only her, not the grass she’d been sitting on or the bread she’d been eating or anything else she’d been around that had left their mark on her. Unless it was him. He didn’t mind his own scent mixed with hers.

Lost in scenting her, Dante hadn’t realized he’d gripped Prim’s nightgown in his fist until her palm flowed over the back of his hand and she intertwined their fingers like she often did. It must be second-nature to her already, too.

“They took me shopping,” she explained, though he hadn’t asked. “I have my own flying leathers now, too.”

“You don’t like mine?” He’d come to like the look of them on her, despite the bagginess.

“You need yours.” Bear released his hand and twisted around, her hair getting caught and wrapped around her. She lifted her torso up to gather the mass of locks and throw it behind her before laying back down on her side, now facing Dante. “You must be able to wear them with your wings. That’s the whole point of them, right? But how? I would have noticed those holes the fae clothes have.”

“There’s an adhesive that keeps them closed when I’m not using them.”

Bear nodded. She didn’t say anything more, but she didn’t turn around or close her eyes, either.

“Yes, Princess?”

“How does Tamar fit in with your family?”

Dante clenched his jaw. He was definitely going to kill Marnie. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Bear chuckled. “I only meant--is she Delle’s sister? Or what?”

Oh. “Cousin.”

Bear kept her soft smile. “You’d already told me you two had a history, remember?”

“Yes, but my niece’s riveting reenactment of her moaning my name was a bit much.”

Bear laughed again, low and breathy. “I still hope to one day get a chance to moan your name.”

Gods, he wanted that, too. But it couldn’t happen. “I am your captor, Bear. Anything we do would be coerced, and I would never take a woman like that.”

Bear ignored him, instead asking, “Can Marnie hear like you can? Is that a family thing?”

“No. My heightened senses are a gift. Marnie and I share no blood, anyway.” At Bear’s confused look, he added, “I was adopted. Carson and I shared no blood.”

“How is she a dragon whisperer and perfect?”

Thankful for the change in subject giving his throbbing cock a break, Dante was pleased to explain. “Dragons don’t speak through gifted magic. There are some gifted dragon whisperers, but it’s actually more common for them to be perfect. Dragon whisperers aren’t born, I don’t think. There’s no way to test it, anyway--not like the magic sac that automatically identifies a gifted. I think the dragons just choose who to speak to. They’re always human, though." Too bad the magic sacs on gifted babies' throats shrank to nothing by puberty as their gift developed--otherwise Marnie wouldn't have been able to trick Bear into revealing they'd kissed.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Why’s that?” The way her face twisted in curiosity was adorable. Dante chastised himself for enjoying it so much.

“Fae have their own wings. Shifters have their own animals--sure, their animals are themselves, but still. Dragons only claim humans because they have neither.”

Bear nodded again, then looked at him, swallowing.

“Yes, Princess?”

Dante heard the change in her breathing. She was nervous. “What are you?” she asked quietly.

He knew what she meant. “Does it matter?”

“No.”

Dante could tell she believed that. Because of that, because it was his last secret anyway, he gave it to her. “I’m not human.”

Bear rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

Dante felt his mouth twitch involuntarily, though he contained his smile. “Nor am I fae or shifter. Not entirely. I have fae wings, eyes, and insulation but have rounded ears and can freeform shift because I am both fae and shifter.”

Bear furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

“My birth mother was fae. My birth father was a shifter. My adoptive parents--my real parents--thought he might have been a bear shifter, but they didn’t know for sure. They never met him, only the woman. The couple weren’t expecting a baby--obviously--and didn’t want one. My mom knew the woman and offered to take me in. My parents always wanted a second kid, but it never happened for them. My mom said it was because I was always meant to be theirs.” Dante actually offered the princess an apologetic half-smile, knowing the incredulity of what he was saying.

“I don’t understand,” Bear said, sitting up. With her hair still behind her, Dante could now make out her breasts under that thin nightgown almost as if she was wearing nothing at all and he had to look away, forcing his mind back to their conversation before he did something reckless.

So Dante sat up, too, and focused on Bear’s eyes and nothing else. “I’m half fae, half shifter. Apparently that does something to make the shifting ability freeform instead of just having a single animal form. It’s not a gift. I think if there were a half fae, half shifter perfect, they’d be able to freeform shift, too.”

Bear turned on the bed to face him fully, crossing her legs under her. “That’s not possible. Fae and shifters and humans can’t interbreed.”

Dante shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Princess. I exist. Granted, I’ve never heard of another, though I’ve looked. But I assure you, it is possible.”

Bear didn’t look at him, her eyes unfocused at a spot on the floor.

Dante regretted telling her. Someone who’s life had likely revolved around how to make an heir didn’t need to hear that everything she thought about that was wrong. That--while she still couldn’t have married Maria because she was a woman--she might have been able to consider another fae, or shifter. Maybe she’d had a long, lost love she’d had to reject for such reasons, and he had caused her untold pain in opening that wound.

“Maybe I am the only one. Maybe it is impossible except this one time,” Dante said, trying to bring her back.

It worked. Her eyes once again focused on him. “Is that why you named me Bear?”

“No. That was because of how unbearable I thought you were.”

Bear stared at him a moment and he thought he’d hurt her feelings again. But then she was laughing and threw her arms around his neck. Too quickly for him to react, she brushed her lips against his in a whisper of a kiss, then laid back down on her side, turned away from him.

Dante remained sitting up for a moment longer before he, too, laid back down. His arm was over her and her fingers through his a moment later.

“You shouldn’t do that,” he whispered into her hair.

“Why not? It can’t be coercion if I’m the one kissing you and you don’t even kiss me back,” she said toward the opposite side of the room.

Dante realized he did have a couple more secrets, after all. He let her have another one. “Because I like it too much.”

“I like you too much,” Bear said, snuggling back into him.

He didn’t tell her the feeling was mutual. She already knew.

#

“Bear’s not on the sofa.”

“I know.”

“Bet she’s in Dante’s room.”

“I would assume so.”

“Do you think she went in there herself or do you think he came out and got her?”

“I don’t know, Marn. But he could be awake, so you might want to zip it.”

“Mama, I think he knows Bear is in his bed whether or not he overhears me say it with his freak ears.” Marnie sang the last two words teasingly, correctly guessing Dante was awake and listening.

He opened his eyes. Fucking teenagers.

Dante untangled his legs from Bear’s, her nightdress having hitched up to her thighs as they slept, then quietly crept out of the room without waking her, grabbing his pants as he went. He was still pulling them up when he walked into the kitchen to find Marnie and Delle at the table, eating.

“The second you bring a boy home, I’m going to make you regret every cheeky thing you’ve ever said about me,” he said to the girl as he filled a plate and joined them.

Marnie smiled. “That just means you’re admitting she is your girl.”

Delle raised a brow at him, as if he’d been caught. Dante shook his head and began eating.

“Where are we going?” Delle asked, doing him the favor of changing the subject.

Dante had been avoiding this. He just wanted to rest a bit longer, wait until his body wasn’t so sore before thinking about why he was here. But he couldn’t avoid it forever. “Bear and I are going to continue our journey. You two and Tamar need to fly somewhere for a month or two. Just get away from Pregg.”

Marnie continued eating, though her attention remained on him. Delle, however, placed her spoon on the table and straightened, folding her hands. “What have you done, Dante?”

Dante swallowed. “Just get away for a couple months. Use that money. Take her to see another part of the world.”

“Why do the dragons need to be on the lookout for a leopard shifter or royal guards?” she pressed.

Dante glanced at Marnie, who was still watching him. “The shifter has a scenting gift. I was afraid he might be able to find his way here looking for Bear. He is a royal guard.”

Delle’s hands tightened around each other. “And why would a royal guard be looking for her? Is she in trouble or are you?”

“Delle.” It would be the only warning he would give her that she didn’t want to know anymore.

His sister-in-law pursed her lips, but said no more.