He fished one of his cards out of his pocket. His name and number were printed on heavy, expensive paper, which was embossed with a stylized design of waves in the lightest of blues.
“Ooh, yours looks so important!” Liana beamed at him, then pulled her own card out of her purse, handing it to him with a laugh. “Don’t you dare laugh.”
Liana Robinson, it read. Junior Programmer, Dragon Heights. A-Soft Games.
The card was white as well, but that was where the resemblance ended. There was a dragon printed on it—a dragon Timothy immediately recognized. The dragon was covered all over with blue-green scales, and although they’d gotten a few things wrong, the resemblance was uncanny.
“Your Ocean Dragon,” he murmured.
Liana gave him an impressed look. “You remembered! Most people are bored out of their mind when I start on our dragons.”
“No—it’s interesting,” he said softly. “You are interesting. And the dragon is gorgeous. Thanks.”
He slid her card into his pocket, then leaned forward for one final kiss goodnight.
She gasped softly against his lips, and he breathed in her scent, his entire body filled with a warmth he had never experienced before.
He couldn’t believe that it had finally happened. The chimera would be pleased—and the fire dragon would be pissed off.
But most importantly, he had stopped caring about the chimera, the council and even the threat the fire dragons posed.
All he could think about was Liana. He wanted to shower her in his pearls and sapphires. He wanted to claim her and make her his. And mostly, he wanted to show her the home he had built—an entire peninsula just for shifters, with the air filled by the salt of the sea and the sound of the waves.
But not tonight, he told his dragon. Not yet. Be patient.
“Good night.” She bit her lip as she gave him a look that sent a wave of pure desire through him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” he said huskily.
When the door closed behind her, he leaned back in his seat.
“Holy shit,” he murmured. “I did it. I really did it. I found her!”
He fumbled for his phone to text the storm and earth dragons. The other two members of the council of elements were already mated and had teased him endlessly about his genius plan to party his way through every club in the country until he ran into his mate.
“Worked out, didn’t it?” he said to no one in particular, unable to keep from grinning.
He hadn’t had much to drink—only the champagne they’d shared. But he still felt drunk on the feeling of her gorgeous, soft curves in his arms, her intoxicating scent still lingering in the car.
“Wow.” He laughed, out of breath and amazed at the feeling of elation that still ran through his veins. She was gorgeous, and she was his, and starting tomorrow, he’d woo her like no human woman had ever been wooed by her mate.
It would be perfect.
“Back to the club, please,” he told the driver. Then he leaned back in his seat, pulling out her card again to look at her ocean dragon art.
What could possibly go wrong now?
***
“About time,” Braeden muttered when Timothy finally collected him from the club. Liana’s sister had already left, but three of her friends had kept Braeden company.
“Sorry, ladies,” Timothy said with a cheerful wink. “It’s bedtime for this one.”
“Fuck you too,” Braeden muttered when he led him away to the car, even though he followed without protest.
“Language,” Timothy grinned. “What will your new friends think about you?”
Braeden gave him an affronted look. “Did you even listen to the music they played in that club?”