The Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lore)

by Eden Ashe

  So he waited for her before he pulled up the text, a bad feeling settling in his gut the second he realized the message was from Micah. Dragan never contacted him, and even now, it was only one word.

  Nothing.

  Shelby let out a strangled sound as Daniel showed her the message. “What are you going to do?”

  “Keep looking.” His arm hooked around her waist, and he pulled her into his lap. “We’ll keep looking until we find him, one way or another. Luca and the others are out searching, and they will continue to scour the city, tearing it apart brick by brick if they need to.”

  She leaned her head against him. “We should go see Seren.”

  He kissed her head. “I know, and we will. Gabriel is with her right now, and she’s more of a daughter to him than anything else. That’s his little girl. He’ll take care of–” his words cut off abruptly. “How did Micah get to you?”

  “Gabriel called him. He said they finally had the weapon to take out Alexi, and Micah needed me to get close to him.”

  Dragon silver. Fuck. If they weren’t careful, this could open up a whole new hell for them if that weapon landed in the wrong hands.

  He shook it off. There was nothing he could do about it at the moment, and there was something else on his mind. He lowered his chin to the top of her head. “Shel, what happened with your father, you know it wasn’t about you, right?”

  She settled against him. “I’m trying, Daniel,” she said quietly. “He traded my life so Alicia could be a star.”

  “He was a bastard and a coward.” He sat up, pulling her with him. “He was a coward in every form of the word. He cheated on his wife instead of working out whatever problems they had, and took the easy way out again by pretending you didn’t exist and getting you out of his way. He used you and he hurt you, but sacrificing your life wasn’t something I would ever risk happening again. You know that, right? Why I killed him?”

  “I get it.” She lowered her gaze to his bare chest, her fingers tracing along the water scars on his damaged arm. “He never loved me.”

  “Hey.” He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. Wrapping his hand around her hair, he tugged her head back so she had to see his eyes. “I doubt he loved anyone more than his own skin. A real man doesn’t cheat on his wife and abandon his child to make his life easier. He had a choice. He always had a choice.”

  She snorted out a pathetic laugh. “My death was the easiest way out.” When he winced, knowing he sounded like a jackass, she leaned up and rested her head against his. “What about Alicia?”

  “There’s a dragon on the Los Angeles police force. I’ll tip him off, and he’ll take care of it.”

  “Of course you will,” she murmured. “You fix everything for me.” Her gaze was steady, even, and despite the pain still in the depths, his mate was rock solid and holding. “I’ve been hiding behind characters for so long because I thought I wasn’t good enough. But you love me. You. The strongest, most amazing man I’ve ever met, loves me. Not a character, not who I pretend to be, but me. You make me strong, Daniel, and I’m real. For the first time in my life, I feel real.” She grinned. “I’m the queen of an entire race of dragons, and I’m more real than I’ve ever been in my life. Who knew?”

  He didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say.

  Instead of trying to find words he knew he’d never be able to say, he decided to show her just how much she meant to him. His grin was pure wickedness as he jerked his head at her. “Come here, mate.”

  She sighed and shook her head sadly at him, enchanted impishness flashing in the depths of her pale green eyes. “Work, work, work, it’s all I do.”

  He growled as she pushed his shoulders, taking him to the bed and fusing her mouth with his.

  * * * *

  It was another hour before she let him come up for air. He had to admit, life with his Shelby was never going to be boring. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she’d find some way to pull the rug out from under him again.

  Because they were both sprawled face down on the bed and gasping for breath, he was surprised he had the energy left to lift a hand to brush a strand of sunshine behind her ear.

  “I love you, Shel.” His heart hammered in his chest at the way her eyes lit up at the words, and it shook him how something so simple could make her so happy. He’d tried so hard to find something of worth to give to her, but he’d had it all along. “I won’t let you change your mind about me.”

  She managed a pathetic-sounding snort. “Not possible, Daniel.” She reached out and twined her fingers with his. “Every time I think I’ve reached the end, that I couldn’t possibly love you more, you do something that has me falling all over again.” His brow must have furrowed in worry and confusion, because she tugged on his hand, forcing him to look at her. “Don’t question it. I love you. You. In all your glorious jackass bastard-ness.”

  “Well, at least I know you have no illusions about me,” he drawled, flashing her a crooked grin. He brought her right hand up to his mouth, pressing his lips against the fingers she’d used to punch Micah. Instead, he kissed her, then pulled them both to their feet. “I’m starving, and we need to get you some clothes.”

  She lifted her arms to stretch, smiling as his eyes moved over her perfect breasts. “Food does sound good.”

  It only took them a few minutes to get dressed and back into the truck. They didn’t speak until they’d been on the road for a few minutes, and then he heard her blow out a shuddering breath. “You are not allowed to die on me, Daniel Ashborne. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah.” Because he’d been thinking about Adrian and Seren, too, he dragged a trembling hand over his face, before hooking his arm around her neck, hauling her over the center console so he could kiss her hard. “Same goes, princess. I love you. I am not brave enough to face this world without you anymore.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she nodded, a strangled sound escaping her. “Pull over, Daniel.”

  He did what she asked. The second they were off the road, she undid her seatbelt. She crawled onto his lap, kissing him. The mark over his heart flared bright as her emotions surged into him, the same love and desperation raging inside of himself. It wasn’t about sex this time–it was purely to feel the connection between them.

  Her hands fisted in his shoulder-length hair when she finally pulled back, her eyes swimming with tears. “I love you. I love you so goddamn much.”

  He ran his hands down her to her waist. This time, for the first time, he let her see everything he had for her–all of it. It left him raw inside, more vulnerable than he’d ever been in all of his long life, but imagining what Seren was going through, he knew he’d never be able to hold back from his Shelby. If something ever happened to him, he needed her to know just how much he’d loved her, how much he’d needed her.

  But he didn’t want to start their forever on a terrified beginning. Instead, he flashed a grin as he leaned in and nipped lightly at her bottom lip. “Oh yeah?” he growled, his eyes darkening with need as his hands slipped around to grip her tight, perfect ass. “Why don’t you show me how much you love me?”

  She snorted, her pale green eyes dancing. “I’m not that easy.”

  His brow winged up as his hands slid over her butt, then up under his shirt she was still wearing, the pads of his thumbs skimming over the tips of her breasts. “You sure?” he murmured.

  Her body gave one long, slow, delicious shiver before she leaned in, her eyes wicked and full of lust as she kissed him. Only when he would have taken them farther, she pulled back with a grin. Before he knew what was happening, she was back in her seat and buckled in.

  “Positive,” she grinned. “Now, since we’re driving back to Los Angeles, we’ve got a ton of stuff to figure out.”

  His jaw worked as he scowled at her, sure he heard her snicker as he adjusted himself before he put the truck back into gear. “Like?” he snapped.

  Her smile went
brighter, and as if to prove she wasn’t as unaffected as she seemed by the hot-as-hell kiss, she reached out to twine her fingers with his free hand as he pulled back onto the road. “Like, where we’re going to live. How we feel about kids. Household chores, that type of thing.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long moment as he thought about it, and then, as if it finally sunk in, everything about him relaxed. He shot her an easy grin. The fog he’d been functioning under his entire existence was suddenly gone and he could see things clearly.

  It was real. They were doing this. A slow grin curved his mouth as he tightened his hand around hers and just murmured quietly, not caring how much of a damn sap he sounded like.

  “Alright, princess, let’s do this. That castle you wanted, anywhere in the world, I’d love children, and we divide chores fifty-fifty.” His grin went wide as he started down the road to their life together. “What’s next?”

  Eden Ashe

  Convinced dragons have gotten a bad rap throughout time, and more than a little addicted to fairy tales and romance novels, Eden Ashe has decided to re-write history. In her version, the dragons are ancient warriors with tarnished armor, who not only deserve the girl in the end, they’ll fight forever for her.

  Lyrical Press books are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2013 Eden Ashe

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

  First Electronic Edition: January 2014

  ISBN-13: 9781616505073