Chapter 64

MATT

I could feel the cool, soothing fabric of a washcloth across my face.

Slowly the rest of my senses came back to me, seeping in at the corners like ink to water. My head was throbbing, aching like I had banged it pretty hard. The pain traveled down, and in my mind, I followed it until I could feel how every breath stretched and flexed my painful chest.

“Ow, fuck,” I hissed.

Whatever hands were wiping off my face stopped, pulling back away from me.

“Good morning,” my mate’s voice said softly. Oh, thank God she’s here with me.

“Ashley,” my voice cracked. How long had I been laying there? What happened to me? I tried to open my eyes, but the light was blindingly bright. Squinting, I tried again until my eyes got used to it. I didn’t recognize where I was, it wasn’t home.

Starting to sit up, her soft hands guided me back down into the couch. “Shh, don't move," she said quietly. Her voice was so smooth, so sweet.

Every nerve in my body ached to be touched by her, to hold her. "Heather just left, she's going to send up a few healing witches to make sure you're okay," she explained.

“What happened?” I moved to look at her and then had to clench my teeth not to yell at how badly my shoulder hurt.

“I was hoping you’d tell me. I saw you chasing after that dragon," she explained. "You showed up on my doorstep a couple of hours later. We were going to hold out here until the dragon arrived again, but it's been a few days and Heather had to go.”

"A few days?”

My heart was hammering in my chest. So much could have happened.

Brock came to my mind and I could remember the fight. I took a deep bite out of one of his wings at the bend. I felt the joints break and tear against my teeth, there was no way he was flying again unless he paid an incredible amount for it.

He knocked me out after that, bashing me over the head and sending me sprawling.

“Who brought me to you?” I asked.

“You did,” she had a confused frown on her pretty lips. Fuck, I wanted to kiss her. How did I get such an incredible mate? “Your motorcycle was with you when you showed up,” she explained.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I shook my head. It felt like my head kept turning past where I shook it. It made me dizzy and I stopped and closed my eyes for a second. “I love you,” I said softly.

“Now, if you’re just saying that because I helped you …”

“No, no, I never stopped loving you, I missed you so much, it felt like dying,” I shook my head. There was no way in hell I was going to let her get the wrong idea. “I love you so much I chased a fucking dragon!” I laughed.

She went quiet.

I realized that wasn’t really what she needed to hear.

After all I put her through, after being the reason a dragon was on her scent, I couldn’t just play it off like that. She deserved better.

“I’m sorry I did this to you, I’m sorry I dumped you,” I said. “I’m sure there was a better way around this, I should have told you the truth, I’m sorry.”

She was quiet for a moment before she replied.

“Why did you do it? If you didn’t want to break up, why do it?”

I swallowed my pride and got ready, to tell the truth on a five-year lie. It felt like pulling hot coals up from my stomach to show her.

“I didn’t get a great loan from the bank on the house,” I explained. “Nobody would say yes to me, I went all over town and tried everything. I wanted us in a house, then we were going to have pups. I had a plan for us,” I explained. It hurt to think how stupid I was at nineteen.

“Through my club, I found a man who did large loans, but they were for a short period,” I explained. “I was dumb, I thought we could afford it, I thought we’d both get great paying jobs right out of college, and you did! I

…” I sighed, “you know.”

I worked as a general hand in a boat-building business, it wasn't great money.

My psychology degree didn’t get me nearly as far as her nursing degree got her.

"I'm extremely late on the payment because his interest rates are so high, and I thought he was going to attack you to get back at me, which he did, and I thought dumping you would send you back to your parents, to safety.”

“I wouldn’t leave Ember Abyss if my life depended on it,” she chided me. There was slight humor in her voice, and I was so thankful for it.

“I realize that now, but at the time …” I sucked in a breath. “I love you, Ashley, you’re everything to me, and I made a huge ass mistake trying to prove that to you.”

“You never have to prove anything to me,” she shook her head. “We’ll sell the house and sell this cabin to cover whatever extra there is. We can get by in an apartment again for a while,” she explained.

“This was your Aunt Kay’s place, though,” I said as my memory came further back to me.

“Yes, but we need to just start fresh,” she explained. “You need to talk to me when making decisions like that. I’m not weak. I could have helped.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again.

“I can’t forgive you yet,” she admitted. It stung, but I understood it. “I still love you, but don’t ever pull this kind of thing on me again or I will be the one to break it off for good,” she explained. I nodded again, dumbly.

How the hell was I lucky enough to get a girl like this?