by Starla Night
"Mom!"
"I feel sick..."
Darcy knelt beside her, not sure what to do. His dad was on the way. He just had to hold on until his dad arrived.
His mom retched again from her prone position.
Nicole crossed her arms. "And now we have to worry about alcohol poisoning."
He held his youngest sister's gaze. Although she was over-dramatic, emo, and a rebel, she wasn't wrong. "Call an ambulance."
"I'll take her." Amber reached over and picked his mom up, sick spatter and all.
Gratitude washed over him. He hugged her, trying to sandwich his mom between them. "You are an angel."
"No..." Mom moaned and tried to push her hands. "Not...you..."
"I'll be faster. Think of me as your Life Flight."
"Rather...die..."
The women in his family were so dramatic.
Amber lifted the trio into the air and flew to an ER. His mom choked on protests the whole time. He held onto her. Thank goodness Amber was here.
His mom vomited and passed out in front of the first nurse, so they wheeled her right back to get her stomach pumped. Darcy called his dad with an update only to find out that Ed had reached him first, and he was already pulling up in the parking lot.
Darcy strode to meet his dad at the entrance in puke-spattered work clothes. Amber stood beside him, still wearing her halo, his calm and comforting angel.
"They pumped Mom's stomach and are treating her for alcohol poisoning," he told his dad. "Something really wrong."
Dad started to push past Darcy to go to the front desk but he stopped and pulled back. "What happened?"
"She challenged Amber to a drinking contest. But alcohol doesn't affect dragons, and she didn't listen when Amber told her that. She finished half a bottle of Jameson and came back later for more shots."
Dad ran a hand through his gray hair. "And I'm the one who's not allowed to drink."
"Dad, Mom's been off lately."
"Tara's wedding is a huge stress."
"Ever since I introduced Amber as my fiancée, she's been saying out of character things, trying to drive Amber off, and when I talked to her, she insisted that she only has my well-being in mind. She tried to lie to me. I don't know her. You should get her scanned for a medical problem. A brain tumor. Can you talk to her?"
Darcy's dad rested a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Son, that's your mother you're describing."
"But she's never been like this."
"Buddy, she's always been like this. Why do you think I 'work late' so many nights?"
"Because you're trying to save the business?"
"Ha!" He squeezed Darcy's shoulder. "You kids always had a great relationship. She treated you like gold and you worshipped her like the moon and stars. But I made a choice years ago. I can't control Gayle, and I'm not going to turn my back on my wife of forty-three years because one of you kids had a run-in with her being herself."
"This is not how she normally is."
"Trust me, this is how your mom normally is. And I love her. I love all you." His gaze flicked to Amber. "You seem like a nice person."
Amber bobbed her head.
"Now, it's been a long time since she's sent herself to the ER. I think the last time was after her sister died. She got so mad about how your Uncle Ralph handled the funeral. But she's been here before."
"No way."
"Hard truths."
"If she's always like this, how could you abandon us?"
"You're thirty years old, Darcy. If you're not old enough to rescue yourself now, I suggest you join Nicole in therapy."
Darcy's mouth fell open. This couldn't be happening. This honestly couldn't be happening.
His dad gave Darcy's shoulder one more squeeze and released him. "You two clean up and have a good night." He strode to the reception desk.
Darcy teetered back, unmoored.
This wasn't right. His dad worked late because the business was failing. He struggled to save it, not to avoid Mom.
And Mom...how could everyone pretend she was okay after this?
Amber rubbed his back. "I'm sorry you never really knew your mom, Darcy."
"No, this is a mistake." He led her outside. "I have to talk to my sisters."
Amber flew him to the house, but the party was over. Even Nicole's bedroom light was off. The guest cars were gone, leaving his and his mom's alone in the big driveway.
"I don't think anyone's home," Amber noted.
"It's too early for everyone to leave."
"You'll see them tomorrow at the combined Bachelor/ette Party."
The stink of sour throw-up bothered his nose and stuck to his chest. Amber must be stuck with even worse. He gave up. "We can go."
She flew at her usual world-melting speed.
"Did Tara invite you to the party?" he murmured in her ear.
"Yes, but I can't take part in the murder mystery. They tried to help me understand how to play the games, and I was doing it wrong I guess because Kris finally said I can't be anyone but myself. I'll help her with the props instead."
He squeezed her.
In a world where the people he loved morphed into people he didn't recognize, Amber stayed true.
At her familiar lair, they peeled off their clothes and showered away the stress of the day. Amber was extra tender with him, sudsing his chest and back in long, soothing strokes that made his heart tighten. They got clean and made love. He didn't push her to face him, but he convinced her to let him rock back so he was half-sitting on the bed and then, still facing away, she took her pleasure riding him into the long, hot, sweat-soaked, pleasure-tangled night.
Little steps. Delicious, soul-searing little steps.
In the morning, he kicked the pile of still-nasty clothes. "I should have grabbed a change at home."
Amber walked to a wall and rested her hand on the central stone. The wall slid back to reveal a massive rack of clothes in styles and colors he wore: suits, jeans, button-ups, sweaters. Even boxers, socks, and shoes in his size and brands.
"Whoah."
"What did you want me to do with your old clothes?"
"Oh, I don't know. Burn them."
She puffed her cheeks. They turned molten red as her eyes changed color to dark amber. Flame shot out of her mouth in a pure stream and ignited the clothes. They crackled and curled into black ash.
He'd meant it as a joke, but now he didn't have to worry about getting the stains out.
Darcy pulled on a white undershirt and tested a button-up. "Have you been planning this?"
"I asked Jasper to collect things for you after I accepted your proposal. A male dragon acquires treasure for his female when he's stocking the perfect lair. Although there was a risk you would never need these, I had hoped they would be useful."
"Right." He pulled on the trousers and strung the belt. "Now I feel like a jerk."
"Why?"
"All I got you was a negligee."
"And a ring."
"Which hasn't arrived yet." He drew her into his now clad arms. "Please don't realize that you're too good for me."
"Okay." She tilted her head. "Am I in danger of that realization?"
He sucked in a breath and let it out. "No one will ever accuse me of being an entrepreneurial male dragon with a lair of gemstones and furs."
She led him to the landing pad. "Darcy, I love my lair. Thank you for not creating a different place for me and then feeling offended when I refuse to live in it."
"You're welcome." He held on as she lifted into the air. "I'd do it again in an instant."
She smiled, rested her cheek against his, and then flew him to his workplace.
He had the boutique to himself all day.
No customers came in. No former clients returned his calls.
It was dull. And it left way too much time for thinking.
He'd always tried to accommodate everyone. If something required a small sacrifice from him and made a big difference for someone el
se, why not make someone's day? But maybe he'd let that attitude go too far. He'd accidentally chosen the easy path and then worn it into a rut.
Amber worked hard every day to change herself. She'd gone too, in his opinion, and needed to pull back. But her goals were noble and her spirit shone.
Darcy could learn from her uncompromising focus. A few places in his life could benefit by standing his ground.
Texts from his siblings filtered in through the day. Jackie and Tara chased last-minute things for the wedding, and Nicole worked on her own projects. She'd decided to launch her new Etsy store before, in her words, the store went belly-up like a bad fish.
His mom got discharged in the afternoon and his dad took her home to bed.
Darcy had no time to talk to any of his siblings during the Bachelor/ette Party, and although it was fun to spend the evening and night with Amber, he couldn't get the future off his mind.
On Saturday morning, in the early hours before the final wedding rehearsal, Darcy got home and cornered his sisters in the kitchen. "We need to do something about Mom."
"Something like what?" Jackie asked, slicing an apple and slathering on chunky peanut butter.
"Talk to her. Get her to a therapist, or join a support group, or..."
"Or get her committed," Nicole said, crossing her booted feet on the kitchen nook table.
Tara raised her hand. "I have six hours until my rehearsal barbecue and I am not spending them in a mental hospital."
He shrugged, helpless. "What do you think we should do?"
"She's still recovering. We should make sure she gets her rest." Tara kissed Darcy's cheek. "If she's not better after tomorrow then we'll hold a family meeting."
"Before your honeymoon? As in, after your wedding but before you leave for the airport?"
"Oh. Right. Darcy, if you want to cart Mom off to the asylum while I'm gone, I love and support you." Tara skipped out the back door to the backyard where she directed the setup of tables and chairs for the rehearsal.
"But I don't." Jackie dropped her knife and cutting board in the sink. "Mom goes crazy at weddings. As soon as Tara's is over she'll—"
"—go crazy at mine?"
Jackie fist-bumped his shoulder. "Welcome to the club." She carried her apple slices out after Tara.
Darcy gripped the sink. His dad and his sisters didn't find his mother's behavior notable. Was he the one with the problem?
Nicole smirked at him. "It sucks, doesn't it?"
"What does?"
"Not being believed. Not having anyone on your side. No one else agreeing that things have gone too far and Mom might need professional help."
He stepped back. "Well, maybe they're right."
"And maybe you're all in the fog." She stood and walked past him, whistling the "I can see clearly now the rain is gone" song.
Two more days and then he'd marry Amber. She would sweep him away to her lair for their magical happily-ever-after where he'd never have to worry about his parents, their failing health or business, or anything ever again.
He could do this.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Amber couldn't do this.
The second hand on the clock in the Onyx Corporation conference room rotated around the face slower and slower.
Coming in on a Saturday morning was cruel.
"And those," Chrysoberyl concluded a series of arguments she'd tuned out from the wall screen in her office, "are the reasons I must descend to Earth and woo you, Amber."
"That won't happen," Mal snapped.
"You don't control me, low caste."
"Dragon military orders exile you from the planet surface."
"Amber can override those. Anyone can, even a low level human. I just have to show that I am here on business and possess an invitation." Chrysoberyl preened.
Amber rubbed her temples. "You said the dragon inspectors would conclude their investigation if I met with you today."
"They will." His silver piercings gleamed with importance. "If you do not marry me, they will conclude that the company violates dragon organization."
"I don't want to rule the company."
"Because the vicious low caste Malachite suppresses your dragon and makes you remain in human form."
Her hair crackled and her teeth elongated into fangs. "How is that even possible?"
Chrysoberyl jumped up on the screen and pointed. "Ha ha! You, in fact, are a dominant dragon! Malachite has ruled improperly when you are the true CEO!"
Mal bolted to his feet and roared. "Chrysoberyl! I will end you!"
The trio of dragon inspectors burst into the conference room with Chrysoberyl's announcement as though they had been waiting for this moment to catch her in the act. Instead, they saw Mal with green scales shimmering over his human skin, long claws shredding his cuffs, and herself sitting calmly in the chair. They paled and slowed, their triumphant jubilation fading.
She whipped to them, smoldering, but otherwise under control. "What do you want now?"
Serpentine heaved a sigh. "Another cup of coffee."
The dragons dragged themselves to the conference room espresso machine. Graphite carried one of her bags of specialty coffee and dumped it into the machine. Every crunch and bubble grated on her teeth.
This was such a waste of time.
She should be with Darcy. His mom had been ill yesterday and remained cloistered in her room. Darcy thought she would leave it today for the important dress rehearsal of the wedding and family barbecue, and Amber wanted to be the first face she saw so his mom would know just how dedicated she was to Darcy.
Serpentine yanked his coffee mug from the machine, sloshing her precious coffee on the floor. He slurped it moodily while the other dragons used up another of her bags.
"Chrysoberyl, you said this job would only take a day, yet we have been here a week and the female has not once lost her temper."
Chrysoberyl scoffed. "I have seen her lose her temper many times. You must be bad at interrogating her."
Serpentine turned to Amber. "Will you just lose your temper?"
She rested her chin on her palms. "No."
"We could declare you dominant anyway."
"Then it would be very embarrassing for you when I marry my human on Monday."
Chrysoberyl made a strangled noise. "Now, Amber, don't marry so far beneath yourself. What can that human give you that I can't?"
"Well, his sex is intense."
"But—"
"I do not know if all human males are so endowed, but Darcy's cock is shaped to give females maximum pleasure. His confidence in wielding it inspires me to melt and give up control to him, and the orgasms he creates shudder through my whole body with delicious tingles. Every time I see him or smell his scent, even before he removes a single article of clothing, my body turns on. He makes my toes curl."
All the males in the conference room, including Mal, stared at her.
"I could go on," she offered.
"Oh, ah, Amber, I too could offer you the, uh, utmost dragon pleasure worthy of—"
"I would not take off one single sock for you, Chrysoberyl, to say nothing of baring our bodies."
"But that is only because you don't know my charms. Let me list them." He cleared his throat and began to recite, "Ten beryl mines on Andolos Seven, six shares of asteroid belt gravel, an estate on Draconis itself, the companionship of my fierce mother dragon—"
"Can we conclude this?" she begged Mal. "Darcy's mother needs me at the dress rehearsal."
Chrysoberyl leaped from his seat again. "You will bow to me, low castes, or I will destroy your precious human, Darcy!"
Scales shimmered under her skin. Fire heated in her belly. A growl curled under her lips. "Do not touch Darcy or else I will..."
The dragon inspectors leaned close, poised to note her threat.
Mal growled. "Amber."
"...I will be displeased," she finished lamely, retracting her claws into her hands.
Chrysobe
ryl's screen had already faded to black. He had fled from sight.
Graphite scribbled. "A threat."
Her fire boiled. "Oh, that's not a threat. Saying if he dared to set foot near Darcy, I'll rip off his arms and use them to bludgeon him to death would be a threat."
The dragon trio paled.
Ulexite whispered behind his hand. "That was a threat. The so-called CEO Malachite said nothing."
"It wasn't a threat." Her hair crackled and popped as it rose around her face in preparation to loose the fire boiling in her belly. "It wasn't."
The dragons nudged each other and slid toward the espresso machine. "We will let you calm while we take a coffee break."
"Make one more cup of my coffee and I will destroy you."
"Amber," Mal warned.
"They're threatening my male, Mal."
"Darcy's under our protection."
"And mine!"
"Finally, she's asserting dominance." Serpentine gusted out a sigh. "Write it down, and let's finish with this backward planet. A week is too long."
Graphite raised his pen. "What if she marries the human on Monday?"
"She won't marry the human. That was a bluff. Just as she bluffs about not being in charge."
She saw their outlines in red.
"If we leave, we'll have no more coffee," Ulexite noted.
"Take a refill before we go."
Graphite dumped the rest of the bag into the machine. Extra beans fell out and skittered across the dirty floor.
Amber bunched her muscles to leap across the conference table and dismember them.
Mal stopped her. "Go to the rehearsal and calm down."
"But they—"
"Now."
She vibrated with rage. Every muscle tensed to rend the interlopers.
Mal glared.
She stalked into the hall.
Nothing was going right today. She'd wasted time in the meeting only for the dragon inspectors to rule against her. And she was still in trouble with her brothers for her advice to Jasper. They forbade her from giving out love advice ever again. And Pyro was angry because she'd caused a rift between him and Darcy.
She landed in the center of the nicely decorated and lushly landscaped backyard for the rehearsal.
Darcy swooped behind her wrapping her in his own hug. "You're early. Did your meeting go okay?"
