Her Dragon's Fire

by Julia Mills

  He watched as she collected herself and pulled back the emotions his confession had stirred within her. She took a deep breath and gave him what he was sure was her best cross examination voice, “Let’s say for the sake of argument, that I buy your theory about fate and that we belong together. I want it made clear that I’m very skeptical, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. How did you know I was in trouble and then make it there in time to save me last night?”

  No amount of hard fought determination and control could stop the fear he watched creep into her eyes. The shakiness he heard in her voice made him draw her closer to his body, lending her his strength while she battled back the emotions that threatened to overtake her. When he felt her relax and knew she had herself back under control, he started to explain. “I was on my way to see you. I missed you. I wasn’t kidding when I said you mean a lot to me and have from the moment I met you. The two days since I had last seen you seemed like an eternity, so I was coming to find you.” He watched as she unconsciously nodded her head. He held back a smile, his heart soaring that she was experiencing the same feelings as he, even if she wasn’t ready to consciously admit it.

  “Lance, Royce, and I were almost to your office when we heard your car alarm go off.” He left out the part about being able to hear her scream or that they could communicate directly into each other’s minds. It wasn’t the time to reveal any of his enhanced abilities.

  “We followed the sound and when I saw that asshole holding you by your hair, I damn near lost my mind.” He started running his fingers through the ends of her silky mane, rubbing her back at the same time, the touch calming them both. “My brethren and I have worked together for a long time, so it was second nature for us to do just that to save you from those dirt bags. I had to rescue you, Grace. I didn’t have any other choice. I couldn’t lose you.” He had taken her hand sometime during his explanation, so moved by the emotions welling up at his recollection of what he had seen that he had to remind himself not to squeeze her delicate fingers too tightly. He kept a close eye on her expressions, trying to gauge where her thoughts were taking her. He had to be careful not to spook her, or worse yet, make her think he was an escaped mental patient.

  “What happened to the men that attacked me?” she met his gaze head on, demanding he tell her the truth.

  “They were killed in the fight,” he answered, gazing right back at her, letting her see he would always be honest with her.

  She nodded her head and he could see the wheels turning. “Were the police called?” she narrowed her eyes at him, never breaking eye contact.

  “No, they were not.” He kept his voice level, waiting to see where she was going with this line of questioning.

  “I know this is a long shot but I have to ask. Do you know if they were part of the criminal organization run by a douchebag known as ‘The Auctioneer’?”

  “I know that they were career criminals and part of some bigger scheme, but I don’t know what yet,” he answered her, still wondering what was going on in that brilliant mind of hers, “I want you to know that we are certain you were not the target, but just happened to be there, and they wanted to leave no witnesses. Do you think they are associated with this ‘Auctioneer’ guy?”

  She nodded her head, “Before I left the office, I heard the back elevator, that is reserved for only the ADAs and the Prosecutor, ding like someone had come up. It was weird because it was so late, it’s key-operated, and only a very few people have that key. I was in the break room getting a snack so I went back to my office, in case whoever it was came looking for me or had a question to ask.” She paused and fidgeted with the fringe on the blanket covering them. He could tell she was debating about how much to tell him. He held completely still while she worked it out.

  She took a breath, held it to the count of five, speared him with a look that dared him not to believe what she was about to say, and said, “I know what I’m about to tell you might seem crazy, but I promise it is the absolute truth. I’ve never told anyone about this before except Kyndel, so if you laugh at me or try to have me committed, I’ll have to kill you.” She winked and he gave her a grin to show he was right there with her.

  “I’m not even sure what to call it but I have this special intuition, Kyndel calls it my spidey senses, it’s kind of like my own alarm system and lie detector all rolled into one. Anyway, last night when I heard the elevator ding, I got a really bad feeling, the hairs on my arms even stood on end and cold shivers ran down my back,” She shivered at the memory. “I snuck down the hall to see what was going on, but no one was there, so I went back to my office.”

  Aidan was having a hard time keeping his calm knowing that those assholes had been in the same office with her, and offered his thanks to the Universe for keeping her safe until he was close enough to help. He stayed quiet as she moved off of his chest and dislodged his cock from its home; his body tensed at the loss of its mate. She wrapped the blanket around herself and sat on the edge of the couch by his legs. He missed the complete contact they had shared moments ago, and longed to have her body wrapped around his, allowing him to feel what she felt. Even more than that, he wanted to protect her from her own memories; but he respected her need to stay strong. He didn’t like it, but he damn sure respected her need to do it, so he let her move away. It made him feel better that she still kept some contact with him. He shifted his legs, increasing their touch through the blanket she wore like her armor.

  “I sat there a minute and decided there was no way I was going to get anything done, my nerves were shot, and so I packed up and headed out. I noticed Johnny wasn’t at the inside security desk, but it was late and I figured he had rounds or went to the men’s room. It wasn’t until I was a little way from my car that I realized the lights weren’t on in the garage and that I hadn’t seen the security guy at the entrance. Then those awful men appeared.”

  Aidan watched her eyes glaze over and her bottom lip quiver. She fisted the edge of the blanket and tried to look anywhere but at him. He let her battle it out for all of fifteen seconds before he sat up, placed his hands on either side of her face, and made her look at him. “Tell me,” was all he said, and then he waited for her to continue, knowing she needed to finish it. It was the only way she could start to put the horrific event behind her.

  She nodded her head as much as his hands would allow, “It all happened really fast. One was in front of me and the other behind. The only thing I could think of was to dive between two parked cars, but they still caught me and then… you were there.” She collapsed against his chest and he could feel her gulp large breaths while fighting to keep the tears that he had seen filling her eyes from falling.

  Aidan held her close, rubbing her back and whispering words of comfort for a few minutes, but he refused to let her hide from him or the fear she had experienced. She had to face it to conquer it. He leaned back and held her away from him, catching her eyes. Just this once, he ignored the sparks that jumped between them. This was more important than their physical attraction; this was necessary to help her, help his Grace, get past this. “You did the right thing, mo ghra’. You kept them from hurting you worse than they actually did.” He kissed her scraped cheek to emphasize the damage they had done, and to ease the dragon within that wanted to rip out of his body and hunt down anyone that had dared even think of hurting their mate. The touch and smell of their mate pushed the dragon back, chuffing his annoyance.

  “Although you didn’t know it at the time, you gave me and my brethren the time to get to you, and that made all the difference in the world.”

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  She smiled and nodded just a bit. One lone tear rolled down her cheek. Aidan leaned forward and kissed the path that tear took, until his lips touched hers. He placed a chaste kiss upon her lips, and then laid his forehead against hers. They both sighed, relieved it was over.

  Grace just stared at Aidan. She knew every word he had spoken was the complete truth. Her intuit
ion or spidey senses or whatever the hell it was, confirmed everything he said. Now she had to decide what to do with this knowledge. She had already made her mind up earlier to give whatever this thing was between them a chance. The feelings she felt for this man, she had never felt for another, but to know her feelings were reciprocated, turned her world upside down. She had prepared herself for a few good months, maybe even a year and then was sure it would die out, but listening to Aidan, she knew that was not the case. He had said ‘for all of our days’, not just for just a little while, he wanted her forever and she could not stop herself from being happy about it, or for hoping that everything they felt for one another was not just ‘happy endorphins’ running through their system. She reminded herself that there were more questions she needed answered. This was dangerous, unfamiliar territory where her heart was concerned. Trust did not come easily, and she damn sure did not love this quickly. She had to make sure they were on the same page, and protect her heart.

  Grace was the first to break the silence, “So you believe me about the feelings I get?”

  “I’ve learned to never question someone’s ‘special abilities’. Of course I believe you, and I’m happy you chose to confide in me. More importantly, I’m glad that they helped save your life.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

  “I have something else to tell you.” Aidan nodded for her to continue. “The same special intuition that told me about the danger last night is also telling me something about you.” Aidan’s brow furrowed and waited for her to finish.

  Hurrying on before she lost her nerve, with the butterflies in her stomach threatening to overtake her even worse than when she had cross-examined her first client in open court. “They’re telling me that I should see what this thing,” she motioned between them with her hand, “between us, is.”

  She no sooner had the words out of her mouth than Aidan’s lips latched onto hers. He kissed her until her eyes rolled back in her head and then just as quickly as it had started, the kiss was over. She opened her eyes, basking in the glow of his dazzling smile. Her body leaned towards his of its own volition but his strong hold kept their lips from touching. “We’ll be doing a lot more of that, but right now we need to figure out what those assholes were doing in your office last night.”

  She shook her head to clear her thoughts. When her kiss addled brain cleared, Grace asked, “So you think those men had something to do with the case we are building against ‘The Auctioneer’?”

  Aidan slid his arms down her back, picked her up, and shifted his massive body until he was sitting up with her in his lap. She squirmed to get off but he held her tight, “You might want to stop wiggling around, mo chroi. I want to talk about this with you, but I can’t be responsible for what happens when your delectable ass rubs against me like that,” he whispered in her ear.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  She gasped and sat as still as a statue. Aidan threw back his head and laughed. When she giggled and gave a quick little shimmy to stop his laughing, he loved her all the more. Aidan grabbed her hips and kissed the side of her neck. He had just decided talking could wait when Lance’s voice sounded in his head, “’A’, you there?”

  He moved Grace down his lap, breaking the contact of her luscious ass with his ready for action cock, still gripping her hips, “Yea, I’m here. Where else would I be?” he answered, irritated at the interruption.

  “Well hell, I have no clue. Don’t get shitty with me. Max has been trying to get a hold of you for almost an hour. He said he heard from his people in the wizard camp. Something big is happening and you aren’t going to be happy, but they spotted Andrew in the middle of the shit.”

  “Shit! How far out are you?”

  “About an hour from you. We’re still in flight.”

  Lance’s tone sounded off, almost stressed, and stress was not an emotion his joking brethren ever experienced. “Who is with you?” Aidan sensed his hesitation, “The whole force?” He paused, praying for the answer he knew was not coming, “Rayne?”

  “Yea, dude, the Commander is here. Sorry, bro. He was standing right beside me when Max called. There was no way to get away without telling him what was going on?”

  “Fuck!” He wondered how much harder this shit was going to get before he got a break. “Guess Kyndel is pissed, huh?”

  “She said and I quote, ‘Tell ‘A’ if one hair on Grace’s head is harmed, I will kick his ass.’ Then she hugged me and whispered, ‘Tell him to keep her safe and bring her to me.’”

  Aidan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought, Oh hell yea, Spitfire, I’ll keep her safe and get her home as soon as I can. Now that the cat was out of the bag and they all knew, or had figured out she was his mate, he didn’t have to hold back anything. Not that he planned on it any way, but there was something that just felt right about the people he held most dear, knowing about the person who held his heart.

  “See you when you get here. I have to figure out a way to get Grace ready and back to the lair where she will be safe.”

  “Have you told her about us?”

  “No, I was trying to take it slow. Guess that damn ship has sailed.”

  Lance chuckled through their link, “Good luck with that, bro.”

  Aidan cut their connection just as Grace jumped off his lap. From the look on her face, he had missed something important during his chat with Lance.

  “What the hell, Aidan? You had a death grip on my hips and just ignored me when I asked you to let go.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he could feel the daggers shooting from her stormy baby blues, “What are you not telling me?”

  His mate stood in front of him like one of the warrior women from all the tales the Elders told around the fire when he was a young. She was ready for battle, with her hands planted on her hips, hair mussed from their love making, brow furrowed, and her stare so intent her eyes had darkened to an almost gun-metal grey. Damn, if she wasn’t the most magnificent creature he had ever seen, and from the look of things, her patience was wearing thin. He decided it was now or never; time to tell his Grace all of his secrets.

  “Well, what the hell is going on, Aidan?” She tapped her foot, getting angrier by the minute.

  “You remember just a minute ago when you told me about your spidey senses?”

  She nodded once, and if possible, narrowed her gaze even more.

  “Well, I have some special abilities too.” He paused, waiting for her to stop him with questions, “One of them allows my brethren and me to communicate mind to mind. We call it mind speak.”

  She stood there staring at him, as if waiting for more of an explanation, so he rushed on. “There are six of us total. Kyndel’s ma..husband, who you know, is our Commander. We have been fighting together for a long time and share a special bond, part through fealty and the other through the blood we have shared. The bond allows us to more effectively protect the people we must, and fight those that seek to harm us and our way of life.”

  Grace’s hands slid off her hips, her eyes going from little slits of accusation to the size of saucers instantly, and her mouth dropped open. His dragon pushed him to go to her, to comfort her, but knew she had to work this out for herself, without his interference. His poor mate had gotten one shock after the other in the last twelve hours and he knew there were bigger ones to come. Her mouth closed and opened a couple of times before she started to pace in front of him. “So you were talking to one of your ‘brethren’ just now?” She stopped in front of him and waited for his answer.

  Aidan nodded, not wanting to disrupt her thought processes as she wrestled with this new information. She started pacing again, talking as she wore a groove in the carpet, “And from the way you had a hold of my hips, I’m guessing that whatever he told you was not good news?”

  She looked over her shoulder as she passed in front of him. He nodded once, confirming that it was most definitely not good news. She stopped right in front of him, once again taking her warrior stance, “Wha
t are you, Aidan?”

  Stunned by her direct question, it took almost three heartbeats before he could find his voice. He rose from the couch, still completely naked, and walked to her. He opened his heart and mind wide, showing her all that he was. He placed his hand over her heart and lifted hers, placing it in the same spot on his chest. It was now or never. “I’m going need to you trust me, mo ghra’. I’m going to ask you to take a lot of what I say on faith; something I know is not easy for you,” he paused while she unconsciously nodded her head. “I’m going to need for you to trust me.”

  He searched her eyes for any signs of doubt or a hint that she was thinking of running, but all he saw was her need to hear him out and the overriding need to believe in him. She had felt the pull and was looking to him to help her understand what she was feeling. He knew now was the time; he needed her to know all there was to know about him. He needed her to know him. “I already told you I can mind speak with my brethren. There are six of us; Rayne, who you already know, Lance and Royce, who were with me last night, plus Devon and Aaron, who you’ll meet as soon as they get here. Just so you know, Aaron is my twin. And before you ask, no, we are not identical, but it is painfully obvious that we are brothers.” He winked and continued his explanation, “We are descended from an ancient race of warriors charged with protecting our kin from those that would see us exterminated, along with the innocents that know of our existence. They oppose any and all that do not subscribe to ‘their way of thinking’. We have upheld this duty with honor since the time of King Arthur.

  “Our families were chosen above all others. They epitomized the characteristics of the most revered knights, courtesy, honesty, generosity, courage, loyalty, discretion, wisdom, bravery and they were honorable above all others. These men not only possessed these traits, they were these traits, each quality evident in their every action, thought, and deed. In the sixth century, shortly after King Arthur’s disappearance, our brave ancestors took up the fight, and this honor has been passed generation after generation to the male members of our families.”