by J. K Harper
He grabbed her hand and hugged her to his side. “Let’s go. I have something special for you.”
“Oooh. More special stuff. You’re going to spoil me, and I’ll want special days all the time.”
“You should be treated to special days often, sweetheart. I’ll make sure of it.”
They had the most amazing lunch at a small restaurant where he knew the owner. The guy even gave her wine and told her because she was a shifter, it was okay to have a few glasses. She was on top of the world.
When they got in his car, she turned to look at him and grabbed his hand. “I don’t know what could make today any better. Thank you. I didn’t realize how much I needed to just do something for me.” She leaned back in the car seat and sighed. “I have been so preoccupied with baby stuff and work, I am exhausted.”
“We’ve got one more place to go, love. I just don’t want you to feel this is final.”
His words worried her for the first time that day. What did that mean?
She found out once they got to his cabin. He helped her walk through the foot-deep snow and into the cabin. Then he took her to the second story, down the hallway to his bedroom.
If he wanted her in his bed, he only had to tell her. After the day she’d had, she’d happily give him anything he asked for. Who was she kidding? She’d do that anyway. They stopped a door before his room. She saw how nervous he was by the stiff way he held himself now. He had been so relaxed just moments before.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, sweetheart. I just want you to know that whatever I do, I’m doing because I care.”
Didn’t people say that when they did something to piss off someone?
He opened the door and air rushed out of her lungs. Her jaw worked but words didn’t come out of her mouth. Slowly, she walked into the giant suite and glanced around in awe.
“Oh my god, Thane,” she finally got out. “What did you do?”
But she already knew what he’d done. Somehow, he’d found out exactly how she wanted her daughter’s nursery to look and made it happen in the cabin. The room was decorated in soft browns and greens that brought the outside in. Dark wood furniture had been placed throughout the room, the colors blending with those of the natural wood in the cabin.
The crib, changing table, dresser, rocker, and other furniture matched in color. There were stuffed animals of all kinds around the room and a mural of a flying dragon carrying a little girl on its back painted on the single sheetrock wall that gave way to the bathroom. He must have had that wall put in because she knew the rest of the cabin was all natural wood. The cabin itself had been built forever ago.
Everything a child could need was in that room. An opening led to a second room with enough clothes to last the baby a year.
“Thane―”
“I’m not asking you to decide to live here, baby. But I want you to have the nursery you envisioned. So I made sure you got it.”
She turned to look at him. “This nursery here. It means you expect me to move in here, no?”
He shook his head. “I had the same thing done to your house.”
She gasped and widened her eyes. “Are you insane? That must have cost a fortune!”
He shrugged. “I don’t care how much it costs. Money means nothing if I can’t use it give you what you want.”
God. The man had a way with words. If she had any doubt before that she needed to give him a chance and see what their life together would be like, that doubt was now dead. Her heart filled with love for him. She couldn’t even fathom a man doing all he’d done that day, just to make her happy.
“Give me some time to decide things, Thane. This is a bit rushed and I want to make the best decision for our baby.”
“Whatever you need, love. I just want to make things easier.”
“Let’s go to my home. I want to see that nursery, too!” She smiled and grabbed his hand. That act alone made her realize she wasn’t doing this alone. She had a partner, one who cared and loved her and their baby.
When they got to his car, he realized he’d left the car keys on the kitchen table and remembered he wanted to take some papers back to her place to sign. She was waiting for him to return when she heard the sound of flapping wings. She glanced up and saw a massive black dragon coming right for her.
A loud scream for Thane left her lips before she had a chance to think about what she was doing.
Chapter 21
Thane heard Lily’s scream from his office. Blood froze in his veins. He ran for the back door and saw Ramoth trying to grab her with his claws.
He let out a loud roar and let his dragon loose. It took precious seconds before he was in the air, ready to tackle his brother away from his mate.
“You found a mate,” Ramoth spat through their dragon bond.
“What are you doing here, Ramoth?” He sent a line of fire directly where Ramoth flew, but he moved too quickly for it to get him.
“I came to kill you, finally. I didn’t expect you to be mated, or having a child.”
“Stay away from my mate, Ramoth. I’ll fucking tear you apart.” He circled his brother, forcing Ramoth to move away from the cabin Lily had fled into.
Ramoth laughed and blew a plume of smoke at Thane. “Don’t worry, brother,” he said. “I’ll make sure to kill you all as a family.”
Thane’s anger rose. His dragon flapped his wings and flicked his tail to puncture a hole into one of Ramoth’s wings. His half-brother tried to move but hadn’t been fast enough.
Thane chased him. They flew over the mountains and rivers, past the city, and to empty fields. Ramoth turned, directing another bellow of fire at Thane. Thane pulled back, but quickly increased speed once the fire dissipated to slam his tail into Ramoth’s side.
He flew after Ramoth, following him between large trees and sending another fire cloud at him, catching Ramoth’s tail.
Ramoth roared and dove, turning to shoot upward toward Thane. Thane skidded between trees, did a U-turn and slammed the side of his body into Ramoth’s wing. Another hole tore through it. Ramoth took off and Thane chased. They raced to the area of Thane’s cabin.
Ramoth blew a cloud of fire at Thane’s cabin but only managed to get the car. It lit up, burning so fast, Thane’s heart almost exploded out of his chest. The image of Lily in that car, waiting for him, made him want to kill his brother.
Thane shoved him from behind. The dragon hit a massive tree and one of his wings broke. He landed on the grass, heading back to the cabin. Thane didn’t wait, he couldn’t. He shot another cloud of fire at Ramoth.
“I’m going to kill your mate and your offspring,” Ramoth taunted. “It’s my time to rule.”
Thane roared and sent more fire at his brother. He swooped down and bit behind Ramoth’s neck, taking a massive chunk as he pulled into the air. He spit the charred flesh out and did it again, each time waiting to see if Ramoth would stop, but with every bite, the other dragon continued toward the cabin. Thane couldn’t risk it.
He gave Ramoth the deadly blow with his tail and a fatal chomp to his neck.
After he shifted, he rushed into the cabin and checked on Lily. She’d gotten the shotgun in the cabin and held it to her chest, her eyes wide with concern.
“Are you okay?”
He pulled her into his arms, uncaring he was naked. He needed to hold her and make sure she was okay. It was then he realized he’d die if something happened to her. She was his reason for living now. Her and their baby.
Chapter 22
Lily glanced up from the papers on her desk and stared at her mate.
“There’s somewhere I want to take you,” Thane said.
He stripped out of his clothes and walked toward the backdoor.
She tried to keep up with him, but with a huge dragon baby in her belly, it was hard to do. “Thane, what are you doing? It’s cold.”
He turned and winked at her. Damn sexy man. This was how he’d gotten her to agree to everythi
ng lately. All he did was give her one of those ‘I’m going to fuck your brains out’ looks and she turned stupid.
“Put your coat on, love,” he said and grabbed a bag as he walked out.
She grabbed the massive blanket he’d gotten her which he called her coat and threw it on. Quickly buttoning it up, the thing was so long, it landed at her ankles, but fit roomy like a dress.
Once they were outside, he put the bag down and shifted into his dragon. She never tired of the iridescent blue scales and his gorgeous wings. She’d never seen a sapphire dragon and knowing she was mated to one was almost too much to believe.
The dragon lowered to the ground and motioned with his head. “Get on, sweetheart.”
She frowned, still getting used to the idea they could communicate telepathically. She picked up his bag, slipped it across her body and climbed on his neck. “Is this safe?”
“Would you rather I carry you in my claw?”
She thought about it. “If you promise to go slow, I will ride your back.”
“Sweetheart, I’d never allow you to get hurt.”
She curled her arms around his neck and held on. Then they were off. Flying over the mountains, she got a chance to see the rivers and sunset as he soared farther from their home and to land she didn’t recognize. After an hour, which felt like an eternity when she had a baby pressing on her bladder, they landed in an open forest patch.
She wasn’t sure where they were, but it wasn’t as cold as their mountain. She got down and watched him shift into his too sexy human body. He took the bag from her and threw on the jeans and T-shirt in it, not bothering with shoes.
Arm in arm, he guided her through the trees. In the distance, she saw a big Victorian house. It was massive. Almost mansion-like.
“Whose house?”
“You’ll see,” he said and helped her inside. They went in the back door. There was a note on the kitchen island from someone who said they left food in the fridge and the pantry stocked.
“I’m getting the feeling you know this place,” she said and followed him into what looked like a huge parlor.
He continued holding her hand. They stopped in front of a massive fireplace that could fit ten people standing inside. He pointed up and she gasped.
“This was my family home for a while. My parents, sister, brother, and I lived here when we came to America.” He squeezed her hand. She glanced away from the huge family portrait to his stony face. “Father had it made to resemble our homes in Norway and England.”
She blinked. Shit, how many homes did he have?
“Who’s that?” she asked, seeing the smiling family.
“My father and mother, sister and brother Saxon.”
“Wow, you all look so much alike.”
When he didn’t respond, she glanced at his face and saw him staring at the image of his sister. “I’m sorry about your sister. What was her name?”
“Anna. She was the nicest girl. But she fell in love with a human and he mistreated her. She died of a broken heart.”
She hugged herself to his side and wished she could take the pain she felt drifting from him. “That’s horrible. For a man to do that to someone who loves him.”
He turned to face her, not really looking at her, more looking through her. “I would never do that to you. I treasure your love. I’d give my life for you.”
Lifting a hand to his heart, she smiled at him. “I know. I trust you.”
“There’s something I want to show you.”
They walked through the first level of the house. She realized the place was a lot bigger than she anticipated. When he said left wing and right wing, she knew she would get lost without him.
He took her through a solarium filled with plants and a marble fountain with baby angels in the center. It was kind of creepy.
They reached a set of double doors that opened to a spiral staircase, and for a second, she hesitated going down. She wasn’t afraid or anything. Okay, she’d seen enough movies to know there wasn’t anything good in a basement.
“Thane…I don’t know about this.”
Chapter 23
Lily’s stomach flipped. He turned to face her and grinned. “Trust me, love.”
Great. She was a sucker for love. He helped her down the stairs. At the bottom, they were inside what appeared to be a deep cave. He guided her down a long hallway until they reached another set of doors. Older metal doors. They cranked open with an eerie hiss. It took a second to realize the doors were a foot thick. Holy shit! What the hell did they keep in there?
He flipped on a set of lights and she gasped. “Oh my god!”
Cases of jewels sat scattered over the giant room. Gold. Diamonds. So many precious stones of all colors, shapes, and sizes. She took a step forward and stopped, glancing around the cavernous room. “It’s like every missing treasure from every pirate ship in history found its way in here.”
He barked a laugh and moved to the other end of the room. “You have a very creative mind, sweetheart.”
The whole place was surreal. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was like being inside Tiffany’s. “What is this place?”
“This is my lair. Every dragon has one. I moved my treasures down here when I inherited the house.”
“But how did you get so many jewels? I mean,” she did a full circle, “there must be like billions of dollars in this room alone.”
“There is,” he said in a serious tone. “I’m close to a thousand years old, Lily. I’ve had many jobs and got paid for a lot of them with jewels.” He opened a giant safe in the far wall. “Plus, I’ve found a lot of things in my travels across the sea.”
She opened her eyes wide. “Oh my god! Were you a pirate?”
He shook his head, grabbed something from the safe, and closed the heavy metal door. “No. Nothing like that. I’ve just defended a lot of castles in my time and been repaid with jewelry and gold.”
She walked to one of the clear glass cases. There were earrings and necklaces made with every colored stone known to man. Lots of diamonds and gold. So much gold. “Tell me this stuff is insured.”
“Yes, but it was a lot more expensive to get insurance when I refused to take it all to a bank vault.” He stopped in front of her and grabbed her hand. “Why would I shove my treasure in a bank vault? The point is for me to enjoy looking at it.”
She laughed at his words. The glass on the display appeared to be thick, which at least seemed safer than regular store displays. “I’d heard dragons liked to collect things and jewels, but I didn’t realize how true that was.”
He opened his hand. On his palm lay a ring bigger than any she’d ever seen. Her gaze shot up to his.
“This was the first payment for my first job. The blue diamond is very old and my mother got it in her head it would make a beautiful ring,” he lifted the halo, cushion-cut blue diamond ring to the light. It sparkled like nothing else in that room. “Before she died, she made it her business to get it changed to a platinum band, saying it would go better than with yellow gold.”
Small white diamonds surrounded the giant rock and made the blue diamond stand out even more.
“It’s beautiful.” She gulped.
“I’ve held on to it, because it was my first payment. I never really thought it would one day go to someone special,” he said and got down on one knee. “But I’ve found someone who deserves to wear it.”
Her heartbeat thrummed hard in her ears. It wasn’t happening. Nope. No way. She closed her eyes, squeezed them tightly, and then opened them again. He was still on his knee. “Oh god, Thane.”
“Will you marry me, Lily?” he asked softly.
She gasped, unsure she’d heard the words. “What?”
“Marry me, love. I can’t live without you. We’re already mated. I want you to be mine in every way possible.”
Her knees started shaking and for a second she swore she might pass out. Excitement bloomed in her chest. He wanted to marry her. Her. The ide
a of marriage to him didn’t scare her. She didn’t think she’d want to marry anyone else again, but here she was, already visualizing herself as his wife.
“I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t say no,” she sputtered, her eyes filling with tears. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He slipped the beautiful ring on her finger and it fit. She took that as a sign this was exactly the way they should be: together.
He stood and pulled her into his arms.
“You won’t regret it, love. I’ll make sure of it,” he said with conviction.
For the first time, they kissed and it was more than just heat and want. It was the feeling of coming home. He was her home, the home she never thought she’d find.
Chapter 24
Lily hadn’t been bothered by Louis or his men in a while. She thought he might have gotten a clue but it seemed not. She’d left the restaurant where she’d been having lunch with Tina and waited for Thane outside when she saw Louis and his friends coming out of the office building across the street from where she stood.
She glanced down the street but didn’t see Thane’s car anywhere. Tina had already left. She considered going back into the restaurant, but Louis had already seen her.
An evil sneer took over his face as he crossed the street to her side. “So, you finally stopped hiding, huh?”
She glared at him, fear never an issue with him. “I’ve never been hiding. I have a life.”
He glanced down at her belly, a hateful look on his face. “What did you do? Get some pathetic bastard to make you pregnant after all this time? Aren’t you too fucking old for this shit? Or did you get one of those artificial donors instead?”
She’d never wanted to punch someone in the face like she did at that moment. Her feline wanted to protect her dragon baby and if he gave her belly one more dirty look, she would shred his face to ribbons. “What I do is none of your business.”
He came a step closer. “It is when it involves my money.”
