by Zoe Chant
“Are you all right?” Morgan asked. “Miranda's husband swore up and down you were, and I saw you from a distance as we dealt with the rogue, but –“
“Fine, fine, I'm utterly fine, and you will be the first to know if I'm not, I promise.”
Morgan nodded, and she could feel him relax against her. Suddenly, it was as if whatever steel he had been using to get himself through the day gave out, and he fell back into the bed, taking her with him. She pressed her head against his heart, just listening to it beat for a moment.
“So it was a rogue after all,” she said, her voice as neutral as she could make it. “What happened?”
Morgan shook his head.
“We don't know. The moment we got him into his human form, he looked up at us and wanted to know what in the hell we were doing.”
“Really? He's pleading amnesia?” Harper had never thought that she was someone with a suspicious bent of mind, but apparently when Morgan was the one that was attacked, her faith in people went right out the window.
“Something like that. He claims he's from one of the clans up north on the border. I've never heard of them, but Cai has. He says he remembers falling from the sky. He remembers snow and ice, and then when he opened his eyes, the next thing he saw was us looking down at him like we wanted to kill him.”
“And you believe him?”
Morgan laughed at her frankly suspicious tone.
“You are feeling protective, my love.”
A part of Harper thrilled at being called Morgan's love, but she lifted her chin defiantly.
“He attacked you three times!”
Morgan shrugged.
“It's a thing that happens. And you didn't see the way he looked at us. He wasn't angry. He wasn't afraid. He was only curious why we were so tense, and then he asked us what we needed. He didn't act like a guilty man.”
Harper threw her hands up in the air.
“It's just unbelievable.”
“It sounds unbelievable, but…I do believe him. Strange things can happen to us when we're in our dragon forms. The way he looked at us was not the way that a guilty man looks at his persecutors. Cai has that big house up on the coast. He'll watch him and get to the bottom of this if anyone will.”
“It is now Cai's problem?” Harper guessed, and Morgan smiled, nuzzling the top of her head.
“It is. He likes being in charge. Tomorrow, when we've all rested, I'll go to him with the matter of my sunstone, and -”
“Why?”
Morgan frowned at her.
“I like to think you have been listening to me when I talk –“
Harper snorted and smacked his arm lightly before rolling up on her stomach to look at him.
“Look at yourself.”
When he raised a curious eyebrow at her, she shook her head.
“Pay attention, my love,” she said softly. “Be in your skin. Think about what you've done.”
“I protected my clan. I did as best I could.”
“You did. And you didn't collapse afterward. You didn't hit the ground as soon as the adrenaline let up.”
Morgan frowned at her, reaching up one hand to rub at his shoulder. Her heart ached for him, for how afraid he was to hope.
“It still aches.”
“You didn't collapse. You didn't fall unconscious. It's better.”
“It's better,” Morgan echoed, as if he were trying it out. “It…may be.”
Harper considered for a moment, and then she smiled.
“Hold me,” she whispered, and she put all the love and affection and adoration she felt for Morgan into her voice. As she suspected he would, he took her immediately into his arms, and then she laughed at the startled look on his face.
“See?”
“There's some pain, but far, far less than there should be,” Morgan said, and then he buried his face in her hair, dragging her close. She clung to him just as fiercely, unable to keep happy tears from pricking at the corners of her eyes.
“What have you done?” he asked, almost in awe, and she shook her head.
“I think Reese was right.”
“Why in the world would you bring up Reese at a time like this?”
“Because he said something about you and your dragon form. Use it or lose it.”
Morgan winced, but she cupped the side of his face in her hand, refusing to let him look away.
“And you stayed human for a long time. Because -”
“Because I was a coward,” Morgan said, and she shook her head.
“Like hell if I'm going to let that take root in your mind,” she said quietly. “Because you were worried. Because it hurt. Because I have to assume that there are just not that many opportunities to change into an enormous gorgeous dragon in the modern world.”
“More than you might think,” Morgan said with a frown.
He flexed his arm speculatively, and she could see what looked like a half-dozen conflicting emotions on his face.
“Would I have been fine this whole time if I had just forced myself back into my dragon form sooner?”
Harper could only shrug.
“I think that everyone who deals with this kind of stuff wonders what-if. I wonder that kind of stuff about my wrist all the time. In the end, you can only be glad that you are better than you were, that today is better than yesterday and hopefully that tomorrow is better still. Honestly, if you ask me, it was probably a mix of things. Your body hurts. Your mind told you it would hurt, and you believed it.”
“So stop believing my mind.”
Harper reached up to stroke a strand of dark hair back from his brow.
“Your mind's great. I love it just like I love your body and your heart. Just...maybe get a second opinion sometimes.”
Morgan's lips twitched into a reluctant smile.
“More importantly, do you love my body too?”
“I think it's beyond gorgeous,” she promised. “But I also think that being in your dragon form when you slept last night…well, maybe it started to heal you.”
“Or you did.”
Harper gave him a skeptical look.
“I know the true mate thing -”
“No, it's not about you being my true mate, or not just about it, anyway. No. It's about…”
Morgan hesitated.
“I would never have thought I deserved to be in my dragon form without you last night. Princess, never in all the world would I have changed into that form for myself alone. But for you...”
Harper felt something in her melt, go soft and warm and so loving that it ached.
“Morgan…I love you. You think there's anything I wouldn't do for you?”
Morgan's copper eyes burned brighter than she had ever seen, and he took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips for an awed and fervent kiss.
“I love you, princess. Thank you for what you have done for me. Thank you, and I swear, I will love you until I die and after.”
Harper, usually so good with words, only sank into his arms. She could feel the promise burn over her heart, and she knew that it was burning into his as well. It would live there as long as they lived, and perhaps after, it would be burning still.
Chapter Twenty
∞∞∞
“Okay, baby, how are we feeling? Feeling good?”
The little girl, whose name turned out to be Anna, gave her a mutinous look, but Harper only pulled a face at her, crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue. Anna laughed in surprise, and Harper nodded.
“Here, can you show me everything in the tent that's red?”
Anna considered for a moment. Then, taking Harper by the hand, she pointed out her parents' blankets, her own red ball, and the red of their cooler. Harper listened with half an ear as she watched Anna's movements carefully. She wasn't pulling at her clothes, she wasn't getting that frustrated frown on her face; instead she was concentrating on the task at hand, and Harper decided to declare it a qualified success.
Mira
nda watched wide-eyed, and then lifted her daughter up on her hip.
“How are you doing, pet?” she asked. “You feel good?”
Anna nodded vigorously, and Miranda laughed out loud, setting her down again.
“How did you do that?” she asked Harper. “She normally can't stand shirts and leggings like this.”
“Flipped the seams out, sewed them like that, and then sewed them flat. Took out the tags with extreme prejudice,” Harper said cheerfully. “Lots of little kids can't stand to have anything scratchy on their skin. Anna may have some other problems with her clothes, but this is a start.”
“I can't think you enough. She's a joy – only sometimes it is that she is a naked joy.”
Harper laughed, accepting Miranda's quick hug. She had been hugged more at the convocation than she had in the last few years. She could get used to being part of a family of huggers.
She started to respond, but then she heard Morgan call her name. She turned quickly, and then blushed at how eager she must look. Miranda, however, only gave her a fond look and a light shove to the door.
“I remember how it was. Go on.”
Harper flashed her a thankful smile, and then she made her way out of the tent. It was almost dusk, but there was a balminess to the air, something that told her that summer was on the way. She took a deep breath, and then she stared at Morgan, who came to offer her his arm.
“Are you ready to go to the meeting grounds?” he asked, and then he paused self-consciously. “What?”
“God, you look...”
Amazing. Perfect. So handsome I could cry.
She had finished the suit a few nights ago, even as she knew that as Morgan got his strength and his bulk back that she would need to let it out or start afresh. It didn't matter. He was hers, and she always said that the clothes should suit the person, not the other way around.
In the dark suit that fit him like a second skin, there was something at once sharp and powerful about him. His dark hair had been slicked back with water and a little bit of old-fashioned pomade, and she stroked her hand down the wool sleeve of his jacket.
“Harper,” said Morgan patiently. “You need to say something.”
“You look like you're mine,” she said softly, and his face softened into the sweetest smile.
“Good,” he said, dropping a kiss on her lips. Then his mouth drifted closer to her ear, and she shivered as she felt the sharp nip of his teeth on her earlobe.
“Maybe later you can help me take it off...”
“Oh, no, please, leave it on,” Harper said before she thought about it, and then she blushed bright red as Morgan gave her a surprised look.
“So that's a thing?” he asked.
“It is. If you don't mind. If you -”
“Like it. Love it. Love you. Would do anything for you,” he murmured, and as he led her through the dusk, she knew in her heart that it was completely and utterly true.
Epilogue
∞∞∞
Mr. Mercks had arrived at his appointment in a small car that allowed him to roll his wheelchair straight into the driver's seat, and he entered her shop with all the self-possession of a visiting foreign dignitary. His hair was as white as snow and perfectly combed, and his eyes were as sharp as winter as she explained what she had done.
He examined the suit that she had prepared for him, running his fingers along the seams and inspecting the slit along the back that would let the jacket rest gracefully on his body as he was seated.
“I see what you are doing here,” he mused. “Of course I will not know for sure until I have tried the garments on.”
As Harper guessed he might, he refused her help, and she went back beyond the screen after laying his clothes on a chair for him next to the mirror.
Tough customer, she thought with amusement, but underneath it, there was a thrum of excitement as well. Had she given him what he wanted? Had she done a good job?
She was just nibbling on her thumbnail and wondering if it had been a while since she had heard Mr. Mercks moving in the dressing area when the shop door opened, and Morgan walked in.
For just a moment, it felt as if she had been sent back in time by five months to the day Morgan first appeared in her life. She remembered with an almost aching clarity the cagey look on his face and how thin he had been.
Then Harper's vision sharpened, and instead she saw Morgan as he was now, more weight on him, his face easy and more apt to smile. The pain from his old injury wasn't gone and perhaps it never would be, but regular flights high up in the mountains and over the local lakes at night were getting easier. He was gaining his strength back in leaps and bounds, and more importantly, he was happy.
“Hello sweetheart,” he said. “I brought you lunch.”
“I love lunch,” she said, and from the way he grinned at her, she knew he understood she meant I love you.
They spread the meal on the counter between them, sushi today, and she popped one of the pieces of salmon sashimi in her mouth.
“I'm going to miss Ryoko's when we leave town,” she said mournfully, and Morgan smiled at her, piling the ginger from his meal onto her container. He always remembered that she liked the ginger best.
“I'll take you to the best sushi place I've ever been,” he promised her. “It's got amazing sashimi.”
“In Japan?”
“No. Detroit. Detroit is Japan's travel hub in the United States, and there's a lot of good sushi there because of it.”
He paused.
“Would you…that is, would you like to go to Japan? I've never been.”
She stifled a laugh at how shy Morgan was sometimes. The man could turn into a fire-breathing war machine, and he still got shy about what they had.
“I dunno,” she said. “We're already planning a trip to Germany and France so you can do some treasure hunting…Should we be trying to fit Japan in too?”
“Well, not so much as fit Japan in...”
There was something about Morgan's voice that made her look up.
“What're you talking about, sweetheart? You can just say.”
“How would you feel about seeing the world?”
Harper blinked.
“Which parts of it?”
“Whatever you want to see. I'm easy-going. Germany and France first for a few months so I can bulk up my hoard a bit. Japan. China. Australia. Anywhere. I've missed out on a lot over the last eighty years or so, and I think you wouldn't mind.”
She bit her lip, one hand stealing up to her wrist. It was good today, had been for a while, but she knew that it wasn't going to heal like Morgan's. She had been steeling herself for the flight to Europe, but more than that might see her wrist an aching misery for weeks.
“Er…the airplanes...”
He gave her a quizzical look.
“There are ships and ferries. I've been driving since cars were available. Buses. Trains. We never have to set foot on a plane unless you want to.”
Harper felt her throat close up, and she realized, standing in her mostlypacked-up shop, eating sushi with the love of her life, how much the world had changed, how much bigger it was and how much more was possible.
“Harper?”
“Mm, just give me a minute...”
She wiped hastily at her tears, and Morgan came around the counter towards her, making a worried sound.
“We don't have to go anywhere,” he said. “Not unless you want to. I want to be with you, I love you, nothing else matters -”
“Oh sweetheart, I want to go everywhere with you,” she said, laughing, and she threw her arms around him, planting a kiss on his lips. One kiss never just stayed one kiss with them, and they just barely managed to split apart when Mr. Mercks appeared in the doorway, neat as a pin in his new suit.
“Mr. Mercks!” Harper said, aware of how red she was. “How does it feel? How is it fitting?”
He beamed at her, the pleasure on his face a joy to see.
“Very handsome
, just as I asked,” he said. “You have done exceptional work. It will be perfect for my birthday next month. It is a very good suit, and I see it will be good for many things.”
Harper started to thank him for his compliments, but then Mr. Mercks got a sly look on his face.
“Yes, it will be good for a birthday party, a reunion, a graduation…perhaps even a wedding?”
Harper laughed, but Morgan nodded seriously.
“Would you honor us with your presence at our wedding, Mr. Mercks?” asked Morgan. “Harper was working on your suit the day we met. It would mean a lot to us.”
“Hey!” Harper said with a laugh. “You can't go asking people to a wedding when you haven't even asked me to marry you.”
“Oh, right,” Morgan said, and then he pulled a small box out of his pocket.
Harper stared.
“You're kidding me.”
“I mean, I think you knew this was coming, and I have a real proposal planned soon. But this has been burning a hole in my pocket.”
He hesitated, and then to Harper's shock, he dropped to his knee in the middle of the shop, Mr. Mercks filming the whole thing on his phone and a delighted expression on his face.
“Harper, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
The diamond was flawless, a deep gold surrounded by smaller clear stones. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry, but all Harper could see was Morgan's eyes, bright and copper and longing and loving.
She said yes. She was sure she said yes, and then she was in his arms as he kissed her breathless, all the love in her heart swelling up until she was shocked she didn't simply explode with it. At the same time, she knew that this was only the beginning, and the love that lay before they glowed bright as the sun, clear as diamonds, hot as dragonfire.
A Note From Zoe Chant
Thank you so much for reading Dragon's Tailor! Over the year I took to write it, Morgan and Harper have won a very special place in my heart, and of course it was such a pleasure to run into Reese and Tara of Dragon's Thief again. Someday soon, I'm looking forward to introducing you to the rest of the family!
