She trusted him to behave himself. And he would behave himself. He wanted to woo her the way TV had taught him human women were wooed.
But no episode had ever told him how hard it would be.
In the truest sense of the word.
He grimaced again as he carefully shifted, just so she wouldn't come into contact with his unfortunate erection.
That was definitely not the way to woo her.
He took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on the ache of his slowly healing body. It wasn't just his leg that hurt. There was still a feeling of soreness deep inside his chest, as if the ash he'd breathed in had irritated his lungs.
No wonder, that's probably exactly what happened. Even shifter healing needs a little more time to fix this.
The seductive smell of the greasy, salty, delicious food Alyx had ordered in was still very tempting. But he wouldn't dislodge Alyx for anything in the world.
The pizza wouldn't run away. And maybe, the next time he woke up, he'd be able to get up and walk without help.
Until then, he had his mate in his arms. And one day soon, he'd get to tell her how he felt...
***
Bright sunlight woke him. Blearily, he glared at it. It took long moments until he remembered where he was and what had happened.
The volcano. Steele. The motel...
Alyx was still asleep by his side. During the night, she'd moved again. She'd turned, now facing away from him, but still close enough that he'd instinctively come to spoon her in his sleep.
For a long moment, he hesitated. Her body was warm, and the scent of her hair filled his senses. He could have rested like this for hours, enjoying the warm glow of joy that filled his body at the sensation of holding his mate in his arms.
But he was ravenous now. And he wanted a shower. She'd done a good job last night wiping the dirt and ash from his body, but there was nothing like a hot shower to get rid of the last memories of their flight.
Tentatively, he moved.
In response, Alyx muttered something into her pillow that sounded suspiciously like bacon. But she didn't wake, and Braeden rose with a grin.
He'd leave her to her dreams of bacon for a while longer. It would give him time to make himself presentable and check on the state of his leg.
He could move easily now, although his leg still felt sore. Alyx had cleaned and bandaged it while he'd been unconscious.
When he carefully pulled the bandage off in the bathroom, he saw that the skin beneath was still pink and raw, like a freshly healed wound. Perhaps it would take another day to completely recover. But what mattered was that he could walk again. He'd be able to shift and fly.
And if worst came to worst, he'd be able to fight.
Not that Steele should be able to find him here. Or at least, Steele shouldn't be able to come after them so quickly.
Braeden knew that the erupting volcano wouldn't have destroyed the fire dragon lair. They were fire dragons, for one thing.
They lacked Braeden’s complete mastery over the element of fire—but they were still naturally attuned to it. They'd be able to shield their home from the erupting magma. But it would take all of their strength and all of them working together.
Which would give him and Alyx a day or two to leave the area far behind.
He relaxed when he turned the shower on and hot water began to fall down onto his shoulders.
The bathroom was small, and the shower curtain might have once been white, but was now a ratty gray. Still, after having been pursued by Steele, and after racing through the tunnels inside an erupting volcano, he couldn't be happier to find himself back in the human world.
There was something comforting about the knowledge that the only enemy he'd have to protect his mate from was a roach or two.
After he'd scrubbed the remaining grime from his body and the particles of ash out of his hair, Braeden sighed in tired satisfaction. He already felt a lot better.