“I will be fine,” he whispered. “I just need to sleep for a bit.”
Dammit. I wasn’t going to let that happen. “Yes!” I blurted out.
His brows lowered in confusion. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, Xandros. I will be your true mate.”
He closed his eyes. “You are just overreacting to me being tired,” he said.
“You told me ‘just’ never applied to me.”
His eyes opened a slit. “I did say that, did I not?” He shook his head. “Let us continue this discussion once I have had a nap.”
I was terrified that he’d lost too much blood, and had internal injuries that he wasn’t confessing to. Ribs, his ribs had been broken… had they punctured a lung? I laid my hand along his jaw. “Can I heal you?”
He turned his head into my hand, which brought his nose along the inside of my wrist. And then, he inhaled. “You cannot always believe what you read,” he whispered.
My heart was pounding. But seized by an impulse, I pulled his head down to me.
And I kissed him.
His lips moved beneath mine, before his hand slid up to cup my head, and his tongue tickled my own.
Unlike his brother, he knew how to kiss.
And then, he chuckled.
I pulled back to look at him. His eyes glimmered with mischief.
Mine narrowed. “You seem to be feeling fine now.”
“My mate just kissed me. I am feeling shaftzing fantastic.”
I slapped his chest, hard, and then shook my hand. Ouch. Bloody Drake was like rock. But I glared at him. “You scared me.”
“No. I am less than healthy at the moment, I was not lying. A nap could be nice. But I have had far worse than this over the years. And if my weakness forced you to examine your misbeliefs, then all the better.”
My emotions careened around and I struggled to sort them. His brother had meant to be honest with me, but I’d blamed him when he’d failed. Xandros, who I had labeled honest, had just played up his pain to deceive me. Yet my anger warred with relief, and relief won. “Are you really okay?”
“I am more than okay,” he rumbled, and then tilted his head. “Damned horny, if I were honest.”
“Honesty, at this point, would be appreciated,” I was going for annoyed, but the words came out rather breathless sounding.
I pushed away from him and rose.
His brows dropped. “Where are you going?”
“I was going to leave you to your nap.”
“Maybe I no longer wish to nap,” he growled. “I am feeling quite a bit better.”
Displaced by my movement, the cloak fell away, leaving his massive shoulders and wings bare. A gust of wind splattered us with random drops, and they steamed where they touched his skin.
As I stepped behind him, he tensed, turning his head. His tailtwitched hard once, and then froze when my fingers traced along one wing.
“Well, you are probably far too unwell to do anything else.” Lowering my lips, I kissed the soft skin over the bone.
He gasped and shuddered. “Jaz?—”
