Leman

by Serena Akeroyd

  “What kind of metabolic change?” she demanded, a little concerned despite herself.

  “Well, a mating mark forms on you soon after the bond takes root. Where that mark forms, you usually go numb.”

  “But that isn’t happening with me. Nowhere’s numb.”

  “Exactly. That’s why I’m curious as to where we’re at.”

  “Is something wrong with us…with me?” she asked, more concerned than ever now. Her hold on his fingers tightened until she knew she had to be hurting him, but he didn’t even flinch.

  “No, sweetling, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that we’re both working to a different routine, that’s all. Nothing wrong with that, it just means we’re in for a few surprises.”

  He hid his worry well, she’d give him that. It was there, but only visible thanks to something he couldn’t control and probably didn’t even realize was happening—that nictitating membrane of his had made an appearance right at that exact moment when he’d spoken.

  Still, she had to give him credit. He was trying to protect her, and considering how strange things had been these last few days, how could she blame him?

  Ordinarily, she would have railed at him. She was a Sanguenna. She ruled her particular roost and had done so for far too long to easily acquiesce to anyone else lording it over her.

  But he wasn’t lording. He was genuine in his desire to keep her safe, to stop her fears from gathering and taking hold.

  And in this, she decided to let him have his way.

  There was no point in worrying over something neither of them understood.

  “Things started a little unorthodoxly, that’s all,” he continued. “Your body is just catching up with the changes.”

  “That reminds me. We need to go back to the other realm, Georgios. I need to take this to the court.”

  He blinked at her, grimaced. “I guess you’re right but first, you must rest, okay?”

  She couldn’t help it; she laughed. She knew his grimace was more because she was willing to walk into a dangerous situation, but she had to laugh because he was registering his own discontent but hadn’t said a peep to try to stop her.

  Jesus, had she struck it lucky or what in this man?

  He was all Alpha. So damn bossy he oozed dominance. And yet, when it came to her, he thought of her protection, her pleasure. Her safety. But that didn’t stop him from letting her have free will.

  He knew this had to be dealt with, and he wasn’t going to treat her like an idiot. She was a Sanguenna. His respect for that, for her position, had never been clearer than it was at that particular moment.

  How this man thought he was in anyway like his father, Lara didn’t know. But she’d willingly spend the rest of her life proving to him that he was the man his father could only ever have wished to be.

  Seven

  The following night, Lara blurted out, “What is that?”

  Georgios held out the strange stone to her. He’d been passing it back and forth between his hands like some kind of happy sack, but it looked both heavy and light, as well as glittery and dense.

  Two bizarre combinations.

  She sat up, lotus-style, on her bed, back in her own bedroom on Earth, and studied the stone a little closer now that it was in her hand.

  “What is it?” she asked, frowning at it as she turned it from side to side.

  “It’s a tear stone.”

  “Explain,” she asked shortly. He was king of that—giving the most abrupt and useless answers ever.

  “A Dragon sheds two tears in their lifetime. Once, when they meet their leman. The other when their Dragonling is born.”

  “Okay,” she murmured, dragging out the syllables. “What does that have to do with this?”

  He shrugged. “They’re pretty important so a whole tradition was born. That’s the tear I shed when I saw you in my other form.”

  Her eyes rounded. “But it’s huge, and it’s a stone. Not liquid.”

  “I know.” His lips twitched at her befuddlement. “It comes out as liquid, like any other tear, but it turns crystalline once it’s formed. Normally, it shatters against the ground, and I’m supposed to collect the pieces to decorate the outfit you wear to court.”

  That answer triggered a dozen more questions but the most prominent was, “Why is it in one piece?”

  “I didn’t have time to follow tradition. It would have taken too long to pick up the shards. I let it fall, quickly shifted back, and luck was on my side.”

  “You caught it.” Did she remember that?

  She thought she did, but it was like a hazy memory. Not concrete. One she could easily have made up… if her imagination was that florid that it could concoct a memory where a crying Dragon was standing before her.

  She could be fanciful at times but that fanciful?

  She highly doubted it.

  “What are we going to do with it?”

  “I’m supposed to shatter it, and, then, take it to the Goblins. They’ll make up your ceremonial dress for court.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back right up there, Ios. What the hell? Goblins? They’re real?”

  He grinned. “I like this nickname.”

  She flushed—she didn’t know where it had come from. She just knew that it felt right on her tongue. It tasted right. “I should have asked first.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t be silly. I love it. My mother used to call me it.”

  She bit her lip. “Are you sure it doesn’t drag up bad memories?”

  “No. Good ones.”

  They shared a smile that had him clearing his throat and admitting, “We share this realm with Goblins and Elven folk.”

  “We do?” She felt her eyes rounding in bewilderment. “They’re real?”

  “Yea. I have a difficult relationship with most.” He pulled a face. “Especially the Goblins. Getting one to craft your garb might be easier said than done.” He wrinkled his nose. “I’m beginning to regret my past mischief.”

  She smirked. “I’m still finding that hard to believe.”

  “Yes. Staid. I haven’t forgotten the word.”

  “You going to hold that against me for the rest of our lives together?”

  He smirked. “Maybe.”

  “That looks good on you,” she teased, watching his lips flatten out as he tried to stop the natural Cupid’s bow of his lips from puckering up.

  Laughter escaped her at the sight.

  “You’re too pretty for your own good, Georgios.” Her words were no lie. He truly was.

  All dark and golden, so strong and sure. He looked like a Greek God from antiquity. So damn fine she couldn’t believe her eyes, because on this realm, he looked even hotter than he did back in hers.

  She wasn’t sure, but it was like this realm’s color spectrum was so much broader. Chestnut hair, back over there, was more than just red, brown, sable, mink here. It was a thousand different shades. Some she couldn’t name. Some she didn’t want to.

  And his eyelashes seemed to glitter. Goddamn glitter.

  It was like Twilight in reverse. She should be the one twinkling, but nope, he was.

  Vampires were a beautiful race. She’d never had to feel lacking in her entire life. Until now.

  Typical.

  Not that it was necessary to feel like that, of course. Georgios looked at her like she’d put the freakin’ moon in the sky and was holding it upright.

  It was kind of cool, actually.

  After a lifetime of her kind, those who knew of her past at any rate, eyeing her as though she were about to turn into her mother, his regard was enchanting. All her life, she’d had no choice but to show a strong front to the world, so much so that she’d found herself promoted to the position of Sanguenna, even though her past made her a less than ideal candidate. But that was how hard she’d worked to present a strong façade, to show how in control she was.

  To not have to do that?

  It was the biggest present in the world, and she knew
Georgios wasn’t even aware of what he was gifting her every time he treated her like she was a normal person.

  “What kind of mischief?” she asked, eventually, when she felt warmth flush through her. It was way too easy to get hot under the collar with Ios. He didn’t even have to do anything. Just sitting there was enough to make her horny.

  “Usually stirring trouble among the factions.”

  She frowned. “Why?”

  “Boredom, mostly. It was something to do.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You need to run a coffee shop. That’ll keep you busy.”

  One thing she’d noticed since she’d come back to ‘normalcy,’ yesterday, was that he was grinning. A lot. He was wearing a constant smile, it seemed. And she loved it.

  She basked in it.

  After weeks of seeing him with nothing more than a serious, somber cast to his face, this was a luxury.

  His ever-present grin widened at her remark. “I’m certain that would keep everybody busy.”

  “It would. It certainly wouldn’t give you time to stir ‘trouble among the factions.’” She wrinkled her nose. “What are factions anyway?”

  “You remember yesterday when I carried you from the palace to the cave?”

  How could she forget being dangled tens of thousands of feet above sea level and transported back to her new home on this realm—a cave.

  “You saw all the little villages, didn’t you?”

  She had. Spindly-roofed homes, which looked like they belonged on a picture postcard, were clustered together on the tops of mountain peaks. The smallest village had around fifty roofs, the largest had maybe two hundred or more.

  “Each one is called a faction.”

  So a village here was a faction?

  She pondered him a second and asked, “You caused wars between the villages?”

  “War is too strong a word, leman. I just stirred trouble. Goblins are deliciously easy to irritate.”

  “Which is why following tradition will be very difficult, I suppose? If you’ve pissed everyone off, who’ll make my dress for the ball?” she teased, knowing he wouldn’t catch the Cinderella reference.

  She peered at the crystal in her hand. It was huge. Larger than a tennis ball and with striations deep inside that glinted in the light. It was a pure ice white that reminded her of top quality diamonds. In fact, it did horrendously seem to look like a diamond. As she stared at the cavern he’d brought her to, where his Dragon’s bed consisted of a heaped pile of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds as well as myriad other semi-precious stones, she had to wonder if it actually was one of Earth’s most expensive jewels.

  She’d come to notice that gems didn’t seem to hold much value here. His ‘bed’ was at least waist-height and had a diameter like a large above-ground pool. She’d stepped on a couple of rubies, and she could vow for the fact they were worse than standing on Legos barefoot. And she knew. Even Vampire children liked the damn building blocks.

  “This is so surreal,” she murmured in a soft voice, looking around the cavern with dazed eyes.

  Upon realizing she was as stable as she could be at the moment, Georgios had spoken to the Queen and brought them back here to his home. According to him, Arista expected to see her at court when the mating mark presented itself and not a moment sooner.

  Lara had been kind of relieved. She’d already made a bit of a splash upon her entry into Dragon society, so going to court and formally presenting herself to the Queen while looking like something from the Exorcist wasn’t exactly on her bucket list of things to do before she died.

  The Queen had seen countless Sanguenna in her years, and Lara refused to be the one who stood out in the woman’s mind for scarecrow hair and a temperament that made a pissed off bat look happy.

  “I know it’s overwhelming,” he said on a sigh, sitting up and making those delicious abs ripple, and all so he could push a few strands of hair behind her ear.

  “It is, but you’re helping,” she told him softly, leaning into his hold by tilting her cheek and letting him take the weight.

  “I’m glad.”

  They were in the part of his cavern he considered his bedroom. The bed was a grand affair, and she knew about grand beds—she’d been of noble birth back in the day. Nobles knew how to rock dynasty-making beds.

  It was at least twice Georgios’s height in width, which meant they had over twelve feet of mattress to play on. The sleigh shape was overlarge and made the dramatic structure even more imposing. The rich redwood gleamed in this realm’s color spectrum. Craggy walls surrounded the mattress, and natural light was cut off making it perfect for her day’s sleep. He had large braziers, which gave off no smoke, burning around the room—Elven magick, he’d informed her when she’d asked after it.

  An enormous Persian rug covered the floor, and opposite the bed, there was a whole gallery’s worth of art.

  She recognized Rembrandt, Titian, even a Michelangelo, for God’s sake.

  It was like sleeping in the Louvre or something.

  And that was just the bedroom. The rest of the cavern was just as huge. It had a hot spring that took up at least a quarter of the cave, and cozy nooks had been created from comfortable chaises and sofas. All of it was centered around the pile of gems in the middle. Even the entire back wall of books seemed to hold second place to the mountain of treasure, and she’d seen more books than a Kindle could store.

  That was how big this fucking place was.

  “Do you like it?” he asked softly, watching her look around the bedroom, taking it all in with a bewildered wonder that kept him amused.

  He’d especially found it funny when she’d made ‘snow angels’ in his treasure pile. Her wings, in point of fact, were still there on the living room floor.

  “I do,” she told him with a smile. “It’s insane, but I really do.”

  “I’m glad. We can change it. When we return to the other realm, we can bring back anything you want. I can certainly afford it.”

  She snorted. “I’d never have guessed considering you have a bed worth millions.” She’d seen an emerald the size of a damn duck egg! “Still, I can afford my own things too.”

  He smiled. “Your independence is worthy of holding onto, dearling, but you need not fear I’d forgotten. I simply wished you to know that what’s mine is yours.”

  Sap that she was, that had her melting on the spot. “Really?”

  “Of course.”

  It was so matter of fact she was stunned in the face of it.

  How had this man gone from rejecting his claim on her to protect Lara, to this benevolent creature laying here tonight?

  She wasn’t stupid enough to question her good fortune, just pressed her hand to his belly, and if she accidentally, on purpose, nudged the sheet covering him, then a leman had certain privileges, didn’t she?

  Exposing a lean, muscular hip and half of his groin, she felt like biting him there, in that thick pad of flesh.

  It would come, one day. But not yet.

  They needed to talk.

  “When will we go back?” she asked softly, trailing her hand along the length of his now bared thigh.

  “When I think you’re stronger.”

  She cocked a brow at that. “Would you believe me if I told you I felt stronger now?”

  “Of course. But I’m looking out for different signs than you. I have to do my duty by you, leman. Don’t let me fail in my responsibilities at the first hurdle.”

  Because she could understand how vigilant he felt he needed to be because of his father, she knew she’d have to be patient. It was imperative she didn’t make him feel bad for being over-protective.

  Even if it rankled more than she could stand.

  She cleared her throat. “What signs are you looking for?”

  “The start of the mating mark for one.” He pursed his lips. “Still no numbness?”

  She snorted. “No. I’d have told you in the ten minutes since you last asked.”


  He winced. “We might have to see a healer.”

  “Why?”

  “It should have manifested by now. It’s important.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Why does night follow day?”

  She huffed at that. “Why do guys always answer like that?”

  “Answer like what?”

  “With more questions. And stupid ones at that.”

  He bowed his head, but she knew it wasn’t from being offended, more like he didn’t want her to see how hard he was laughing at her.

  “Do you know,” she started conversationally, “that my grandmother, my father’s mother, used to say that if you keep on smiling for no reason, they’ll come to take you away?”

  That had him frowning. “Take me away where?”

  “To the asylum.”

  “Asylum?”

  “Where they locked up crazy people.”

  “For smiling?” he asked, sounding aghast. “I mean, I’ve been to one a few times in the past, but never for smiling!”

  “Yup, but then…” She blinked at him. “Huh? You’ve visited an asylum? Why?”

  He cringed. “Well, it was more of a forced visit. It certainly wasn’t fun.” Ios huffed.

  “What did you do?” From the way he cleared his throat, she could only assume it was nothing good. Rolling her eyes at him, she mumbled, “In fact, spare me the details. I’m sure I’ll find out at some point.”

  He snickered. “Undoubtedly.”

  “Anyhoo, moving swiftly on, my grandmother was really old even when I was born.”

  “She no longer lives?”

  “No. She chose to walk into the sun when she hit seven hundred.”

  “Mother, she was an ancient.”

  Sorrow welled in her voice. “I know. She couldn’t take it anymore. My grandfather died about twenty years before, and she said once she saw me make Sanguenna that was it. She had no other reason to live.”

  He blinked at her. “No offense to your grandmother, sweetling, but that’s a bizarre kind of logic. Not that I should be surprised from a female of your line.”

  “Hey!” she squealed, slapping his abs in punishment, but it didn’t stop the deep belly laugh from rolling out of him. Jesus, her dour mate had been replaced with this cheerful as fuck guy. She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or simply confused. “I’ll have you know all the females of my line, on both sides, have been powerful. And Vampires don’t want to live to be so old. They just get grumpy.”