But his attention strayed from thoughts of the gold back to her bonded as she looked back to him with those eyes that seemed to know everything about him, everything that he was thinking about even while she was a mystery to him. A delightful, welcome mystery. There was a smile there for him, before she shifted closer, leaning into his touch. A shiver raced down his spine, made muscles twitch as he realized that the boundaries had been inextricably shifted, written anew. Her touch soothed him as it always did, a strange mix of utter calm and utter awareness.
His muzzle trailed down her neck, a contented rumble vibrating in his chest as he lifted his head just high enough to hook over her crest before drawing her in closer, his chin resting against her far shoulder. That same rumble, his equilvalent of the affectionate croon that his dragon cousins were so effortlessly capable of, intensified as she whispered softly. An ear tilted back to listen, and he smiled. "Would you still want to?" He inquired gently.
Absently he wondered just how well this development would go over with her kin, with Torasin. That painted stallion, he knew, still cared for Mirage even if he had that crazy love connection with the painted Brooke. Rishima, he suspected, would be disapproving at first, but perhaps would come around with come convincing. It was Mirage's brothers that concerned Vikram, the unknowns.