"Hum." Obediently, I did my best to mimic a model's graceful turn. Drake nodded. "Yes. I was correct in the choice of that gown. Come. The sept awaits."

"Hey!" I said, dropping my arms from my model spin. "Less congratulating yourself on your fashion sense and more complimenting me would be a good thing right now."

"I should not have to compliment you. You are my mate. You will always look the part."

"Yeah, but it would be nice if you could break down and tell me that I look nice in this admittedly gorgeous dress you found."

Istvan snickered. Drake gave me an impassive look. "Wyverns treat their mates with respect at all times. They do not give effusive praise."

"You remember that rule that says you can't kiss me in public? That's not the only one that's going to be changed," I said as I gathered up tny evening bag and the thin black silk wrap I'd brought.

Pal grinned as he and Istvan went out the door. Drake stood by the open door, waiting for me. As I neared him, he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. "Kincsem, do you know what I would do if we did not have to leave tonight?"

"Compliment me? Fork your tongue and kiss me the way I deserve to be kissed?"

His breath was hot on my ear, his lips even hotter as he pressed a wet, steaming kiss licked with fire to the spot behind my ear that never failed to make me shiver. "No. I would press you against the wall, slide that expensive dress up, part your soft, delectable thighs, and plunge deep inside you."

My entire body quivered as a result of his heated words. I had to lick my lips in order to get them to work, and I noticed with dismay that my voice cracked when I spoke. "I bet if we tried we could work that into our schedules."

Drake chuckled, his eyes leaving me in no doubt that although his wyvernly code of honor might forbid him from pursuing those activities that my body ached to pursue, he would satisfy both our desires later.

I glanced at him as we went downstairs. "I love the dress, not that you were in any doubt of it, I'm sure, but I thought you said to wear something washable?"

"I changed my mind. I like you in this better."

"So do I. Where is this party being held?" I asked once we had settled into the Hmo. Istvan and Pal were up front again, leaving Drake and me in sole possession of the back. "And is it far enough away that I can molest you before we get there?"

"I thought you had something important to tell me," he said, his arm solid where it rested next to me,

"I do, but I think if I put my mind to it I can fit in both telling you about the important stuff and kissing you until your dragon eyes cross."

He didn't laugh, as I thought he would. He didn't even give me the patented Drake sexy look. He just stroked my arm and remained silent.

"Drake?" I touched his leg. "I've been selfish, haven't I? I'm sorry I haven't asked you about your day. How did the negotiations go?"

"They are at an impasse for the moment, but I hope things will move forward again tomorrow."

"Ah. I hope so, too." I fell silent, waiting to see if he would say more, but Drake at his most relaxed was never a chatty soul, and now, with the weighty concerns of dragon politics, he was even less verbose. But things had changed. He had me now. While I might be no great shakes at being a mate, at least I could listen, giving him an opportunity to vent if he needed it. "We've had kind of a rocky beginning, Drake, but I want you to know that I'm here for you if you want to talk about things. Is there something that's bothering you?"

He looked downright nervous, his eyes shuttered, his jaw as tense as the fingers that gripped my arm. "I suppose it would be best if you were prepared."

"Prepared for what?" Why was I suddenly suspicious? Why did I have a feeling that something was coming up that Drake didn't want to tell me about, something to do with me? Something unpleasant. "Just what exactly is this party we're going to?"

"I wouldn't particularly call the gathering a party," Drake said, evading the question just as he always did, but I haven't tangled with demons and doppelgangers and assorted other strange beings without learning a thing or two, especially about a certain dragon and the way he liked to dodge giving answers.

I plopped myself onto his lap (carefully, so as to avoid unduly wrinkling the gorgeous dress) and pushed him back so he couldn't escape looking at me. "Right, let's have it. What's going on? You said we were going to a green dragon function. You said it was to introduce me to the sept."

"I said you would be introduced to the members of the sept in residence in this area. And so you will be." His eyes didn't blink once as I peered into them. With Drake, the usual signs that someone was lying were useless. What was, however, a dead giveaway was the way his pupils reacted. Whenever he was at his most dragonish, his most evasive, his pupils got very, very narrow. At that moment, his eyes looked like they were set with clear emeralds. They had almost no visible pupil.

"And?" I poked him in the shoulder to let him know I wasn't going to be satisfied with half an answer.

He sighed, his fingers digging into my hips as if to hold me down. "Do you recall last month when you challenged me for control of the sept?"

"That's not something I'm likely to forget."

"Nor I. According to the terms of the challenge, if I lost, I had to turn myself in to the police for murders I did not commit."

"Right. But you didn't lose, because I knew you didn't murder the Venediger and Mme Deauxville."

"Which means you did lose the challenge."

I frowned. His pupils were still thin vertical lines. Why wasn't he relaxing? "I planned it that way, if you remember."

His breath ruffled little tendrils of hair that escaped the couple of jeweled combs with which I'd pinned it. "Aisling, part of the terms of the challenge was that if you lost, you would be subject to punishment meted out by the sept."

Oh, crap. I'd forgotten all about that.

"Punishment?" I asked for the second time that night. Only this time I was much, much more worried. The dragons took their oaths very seriously. "I remember. But I kind of thought that since I'm now officially your mate, that whole punishment thing would be forgotten."

"It isn't," he said dryly.