by Kira Nyte
“And you were stubborn to sacrifice your future to stay by his side.”
“He’s my father. My only surviving parent. Watching him destroy himself tore me apart. I pulled through the rest of the year at school. Not valedictorian. My grades slipped. My focus had turned from school to wondering what would be our next meal if I didn’t work an extra hour or two. Child labor laws were tricky to skate around until I turned eighteen toward the end of the school year. As soon as I graduated, I picked up a full-time job at a diner because I couldn’t get anything else.
“Shortly after that, our house went into foreclosure. My father hadn’t paid the mortgage in months, and I was unaware of how dire our situation had become. We lost everything. For years, I worked two, three, sometimes four jobs, scrounging for each dime to make rent wherever we ended up. We were half a step above homeless. There were nights we slept in the car because I didn’t make enough…money for another night in a…motel.”
Her chin quivered uncontrollably and her eyes blurred with tears. A softball-sized knot swelled in her throat and refused to go down when she swallowed. She started to press her forehead to Alazar’s chest in hopes of hiding from the devastation that was her life, but he caught her face in his hands and lifted her head, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
He brushed tears away with his thumbs. A quiet cuss spat from his lips. “Show me. Project into my mind. You don’t have to speak. I’m here, Ariah. I will not let anything happen to you.”
She did as he suggested, cutting through the cords that held the story of her sad, pathetic life and let the last ten years pour into Alazar’s mind. Everything, from the derogatory treatment she received from customers to suffering excruciating hunger pangs and eating a meal tossed in a garbage can just so she could stand up straight without pain. Her frail body was due to the effects of months of surviving on scraps.
She couldn’t slow the memory of the night before it hit Alazar. The memory of her father holding a gun to her head, threatening to kill her if people didn’t do what he demanded. Her escape. Finding the box in her purse. Calling her uncle.
Arriving in the town next to Nocturne Falls, where her childhood hopes, dreams, and imagination sparked to life once more.
Alazar gathered her in his arms and pulled her into his body, holding her close as she sobbed quietly. He said nothing, but the turmoil he battled impressed her.
Several minutes rolled by before she gained enough control to wipe the tears from her face with the back of her sleeves and sit up.
“Ariah, look at me.”
Ariah hesitated, wishing she hadn’t lost control. She had made her choices and lived with the consequences. She didn’t want pity. She didn’t want coddling, although having a rock of a man to support her was definitely a nice change.
At last, she composed herself enough to meet Alazar’s open and brutally honest gaze. He held her hands in her lap.
“You are incredible. Never believe anything less than that. You are strong and beautiful, a true fighter, an honest soul. You are everything I could have ever hoped and dreamed for a future Keeper. For a lifemate. You’ve learned valuable lessons during your hardships. Keep those close to your heart and never forget them, but from now on, you will never have to worry about anything. I hope you choose to accept me. Even if you don’t, I will provide you with any monetary needs, protection, and safety. Your life will change. Has changed. A new start.”
“Hope.”
Alazar nodded. “All your hopes and dreams will become your reality, sweetheart. I promise you.”
Ariah reached for a grin, but the faint quiver still attacking her chin wouldn’t allow it to come. “Thank…you.”
Alazar leaned down and kissed her forehead, then her cheek. “I will do anything for you, Ariah. Anything. Don’t ever forget that.”
Chapter Thirteen
Alazar could sit like this for the next ten years, Ariah curled and tucked against his body, her voice softening as exhaustion finally settled in. As the night progressed, the moist chill bit deeper. He turned up his internal furnace and provided extra warmth for his Ace when his jacket couldn’t do the job. Shortly after her heartbreaking crying jag, he made the decision to hold off on revealing his past, his skeleton, for another day. Although the burden on Ariah’s shoulders had eased, he really didn’t want to bring more devastation to their night.
Besides, the sweet gem under his arm had begun yawning consecutively, managing just a few words before another yawn battled past her lips. Those few words that did escape were slurred at best.
He glanced at his watch and blinked when he realized the time.
“I think the night’s gotten away from us,” he said during another one of her yawns. She curled tighter against him, slinking her arm around his waist. Way to make this an easy parting, Ace. “Ariah, sweetheart. You’re falling asleep.”
“Hmm?”
Why couldn’t this be happening, say, on his living room sofa?
Alazar shifted, regretfully disturbing Ariah’s balled-up form. She groaned and rubbed her hands over her face, mumbling something into her palms. Alazar shook his head.
“I don’t think you need coffee. I think you need a bed.” He caught Ariah’s chin and lifted her rosy face, noticing her sleepy eyes. His dragon protested the very idea of letting her drive home. Even as he watched her, her eyelids drooped until she blinked several times, opened them again, only to have them slide lower and lower. “I can’t let you drive home like this. You’ll fall asleep at the wheel.”
“I’m okay.” She lifted a hand to her mouth and yawned. Her head grew heavy in his hold. “Once I…walk.”
“Why don’t you stay at my place? There’s a spare room you can have for the night. I’ll call Mark and let him know so he’s not worried about you. We’ll get your car in the morning and you can go home then.” Alazar scooted to the edge of the bench and adjusted his hold on Ariah. “Unless, of course, you’d prefer to hang out with me.”
The darling woman tried to laugh, but the sound that left her lips was anything but humorous and everything sexy. Alazar grunted, weaving an arm beneath Ariah’s and hoisting her to her feet. He happened to glance toward the fountain, quiet and free of tourists at this late hour, and received a curious tilt of Nick’s stone head. He simply flashed his friend a smile, focused on Ariah’s jellied legs, and started moving them back toward Main Street. By the time they made it down the first block, Ariah had woken up enough to appear sober, which was a good thing when a police cruiser slowed down alongside them.
Sheriff Merrow rolled down the passenger window and leaned over the console. The werewolf jutted his chin toward Ariah. “Damsel?”
Ariah’s sleepy switch shut off. She scowled. “Far from a damsel.” When she picked her head off Alazar’s chest and saw who she had snapped at, her eyes went wide. Alazar chuckled when Merrow’s brows arched at her meekly added, “Sir.”
“Yeah. She’s anything but,” Alazar concurred.
“Apparently.” Sheriff Merrow settled back in his seat. “Things going good?”
“For the time being. You know how things can change at the flip of a coin.” Alazar adjusted his arm around Ariah’s waist when she swayed on her feet. Sheriff Merrow’s eyes narrowed. “She’s tired.”
“Huh.”
“I’m tired,” Ariah said, and yawned the proof.
Sheriff Merrow chuckled. “I’ll let you go. Take care.”
As the cruiser pulled away, Alazar steered Ariah across the street. She tripped over the curb.
“They need to stop jumping out at people,” she muttered.
“I can’t imagine it jumped on purpose.”
Ariah smiled. “I like you.”
Alazar wasn’t certain what to make of that. “Like” could go one of two ways. Like as in friend or like as in attracted.
He knew his idea of “like” went the way of the latter.
“I think I might like you a bit myself.”
“Probabl
y a good thing we like each other if we’re spending time together, huh?”
“Definitely makes the time together more pleasurable.”
Alazar cursed himself when Ariah tipped her face up to him. Her gaze lingered over his mouth for an excruciating moment before she lay her head back on his chest. Alazar rolled his eyes to the sky.
Hey, whoever up there thinks this is a joke, it’s really not that funny.
He wasn’t sure how much longer Ariah would have lasted on her own two feet. Arriving at his car couldn’t have happened fast enough. He unlocked the doors and eased his half-sleeping woman into the passenger seat, buckled her in, and closed her door. The parking lot was empty except for stragglers and staff from the bar, and Ariah’s beat-up car in the far corner.
He climbed behind the wheel, started the car, and headed to his house. He warred with the idea of driving her home, knowing it would have been the honorable thing to do. He couldn’t bring himself to place her anywhere near Miriam. Not after hearing and feeling the extent of her hatred for the woman. Ariah had suffered enough over the last decade. Even if it was for a few hours, he wouldn’t let her suffer in the same house as the witch.
By the time he pulled into the driveway, Ariah was slumped against the door, breathing steadily in sleep. The soft waves of her hair obscured her face from his sight, and his jacket drowned her smaller frame. His heart thumped with emotion.
Only a couple of months ago, he wondered if his lifemate was out in the world somewhere. Zareh discovering Kaylae had given Alazar hope that he, too, had a treasure that measured more than all the gold in his hoard. He once told Zareh he would give up his hoard for a lifemate.
His lifemate.
Sitting in his car, trusting him enough to protect her in this vulnerable state.
“I would give up everything,” he murmured.
After a long moment of watching Ariah sleep, Alazar unfastened her belt before he rounded the car to her side and gathered her in his arms. The neighborhood was quiet, the only sounds coming from the chirping of crickets and the occasional howl of a werewolf on a run. The houses along Crossbones Drive sat in darkness, lit only by the street lamps with a muted yellow glow.
Alazar locked up his car and carried Ariah into the house, keeping quiet. His honed hearing picked up the deep breathing of sleep from Zareh’s room—a surprise, since there was seldom a night that silence came from that direction. Maybe Ariah wouldn’t be disturbed, if luck held out.
Alazar delivered Ariah to the guest room without so much as a stir from her. He had to lay her on one side of the full-sized bed in order to pull the covers down. He moved her over, shucked her boots off and rested them on the floor beside the bed, then pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Her eyelids fluttered open to slits. “Alazar.”
He lowered himself to the edge of the bed and brushed her hair from her face. “Yes, Ace?”
“Thank you. For today. For tonight.”
Alazar smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Tipping his mouth to her ear, he whispered, “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Get some rest.”
Deep down, part of him hoped she’d ask him to stay. If she extended that invitation, he’d be helpless to reject it. As much as he wanted to have her in his arms, he knew she wasn’t ready. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day. But not today. Not tonight.
Only when he was assured she had fallen back asleep did he take his leave, moving stealthily to his room. This internal battle was wearing him to the bone. He wondered how the heck Zareh was able to leave Kaylae at that dead-and-breakfast the first night.
Alazar wasn’t sure he’d be able to let Ariah go come morning.
* * *
For the first time in months, Ariah woke from a dreamless sleep feeling refreshed and renewed. No aches poked at her body. No dread settled in her chest. Despite the overcast sky that hid the sunlight from the world outside the window, her soul burst with light.
“Wow.”
She stretched her arms over her head, arched her back off the soft mattress, and sighed with a smile. As her senses rose from slumber, the faint aroma of something delicious teased her nostrils, making her stomach grumble. Instead of hopping out of bed and following the scent trail, she remained tucked under the blanket, still ensconced in Alazar’s leather jacket, and observed the guestroom. It was the size of her last motel room, but furnished far more palatably. The décor was simple, essential, with a couple of general pictures of forests and flowers. The gold-and-cream color scheme absorbed the little light from beyond the window.
It exuded warmth and comfort, a similar warmth and comfort to what she found curled up in Alazar’s arms.
“Time to face the day.”
Ariah climbed out of bed and checked the time on her cell phone, which was on the bedside table. Alazar must have taken it out of her jeans pocket.
“Holy crap.” She flipped the phone open to double check she was seeing the time correctly. Yep. It was almost one in the afternoon. There were three text messages from her uncle, asking her to call when she woke up. “Crap.”
She sent a quick text back, promising to call in the next ten minutes, that she had just woken up, and scrambled to find Alazar. When she pulled the bedroom door open, she dodged a fist to her head from the woman she’d seen with Zareh at the credit union.
About to knock on the door, the woman laughed in surprise. “Sorry about that. Alazar thought you were awake. I see that he was right.” She held out her hand. “I’m Kaylae.”
“Ariah,” she said, shaking the woman’s hand. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but where’s the bathroom?”
“Follow me.” Kaylae led her down the hallway. “I ran out to the store this morning to pick up some things I thought you might want to hold you over.”
“I, um, thanks.”
Kaylae tossed her a friendly smile. “Whenever you’re ready, join us in the kitchen.” She pointed toward the archway a little farther down the hallway. “Right through there. You won’t miss us. If you need anything, just call.”
Ariah opened the bathroom door and saw a small plastic basket filled with toiletries sitting on a dark marble vanity. Her lips twitched, an overwhelming gratefulness swelling in her chest.
“I don’t know your past, Ariah, but I can see it’s been hard on you,” Kaylae said, sympathy clear in her voice. “Mine was hard, too, but I’m certain for different reasons. It will get better from now on, I promise you.”
Kaylae folded her hands in front of her, the smile and the glow in her pretty blue eyes shredding any reservations Ariah may have held toward the stranger. It was her mind’s automatic defense mechanism, but it failed with this woman. For a split moment, she felt like she was standing face-to-face with a sister she had never met. In that moment, she realized that even if Kaylae was a stranger, something powerful connected them.
They were both lifemates to dragons.
“Maybe we can commiserate,” Kaylae suggested. “Share our stories. It’ll be nice to have another woman around who understands.”
Ariah nodded, her grin quivering. Okay, these overwhelming emotions were so not like her. With a deep breath, she said, “I’d like that.” Hitching her thumb to the bathroom, she slipped through the door. “Thanks for the things.”
Kaylae left. Ariah packed away the sudden flood of emotions and went through her morning routine without burning eyes or a shaky chin. She wished she had something else to wear, something that may have hidden a little more of her body. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking when she chose the outfit last night.
“Yeah, you do,” she whispered to the reflection in the mirror. The cautious smile on her lips did wonders to lighting up her eyes. The dark circles that had become a permanent feature beneath her eyes had faded. Even her cheeks had a healthy brush of color she hadn’t seen in years. “I think he’s good for you, Ari.”
More than the reflection agreed with that. The heat that swirled to life in her belly and made her all weak and drea
my reminded her of the potent reaction she had to Alazar.
“He still has a secret,” she reminded her glowing reflection. A secret she would ask about today. The relief she experienced after unloading her past to Alazar was indescribable. When she feared what he might think of her for the choices she made, he showed her the fear was sown in futile soil. “Thankfully.”
Freshened up and ready to face what was left of the day, she followed Kaylae’s directions to the kitchen, which wasn’t hard to find at all.
Kaylae and Zareh, seated at the counter, laughed over something. Alazar leaned against the counter beside the stove, which had pans and pots sitting on live burners.
Ariah swallowed, hard. Could the guy tamp down the degree of gorgeousness a tad? Her poor body couldn’t handle this.
Alazar’s gaze shifted from the couple to her and his smile widened. He pushed off the counter and held out his hand. “Good afternoon, beautiful lady. Come here. We were just discussing adventures in house-building and new ways to torture Zareh.”
Ariah rounded the island and accepted his hand. She gasped when he tugged her close and graced her with a signature kiss on the top of her head. If one thing grew in the last twenty-four hours, it was definitely her appreciation toward this guy for being a gentleman. He hadn’t tried to take advantage of her when she was at her most vulnerable. That alone made her heart flutter.
“I couldn’t hold off breakfast. There was a hungry dragon threatening to burn the house down if I did. However, there is lunch,” Alazar said, loosening his arm around her waist so she could peek at the pots and pans. To her, it all looked like a mess of ingredients scattered over the stove. “What would you like? Meatball hoagie? Pasta primavera? Chicken Milanese with salad?”
“Is there a lunch party you didn’t tell me about?” Ariah asked. Zareh chuckled behind her. Alazar shrugged. “Geez, did you seriously make all of this?”
“Alazar loves cooking,” Kaylae said. “He cooks up some mean cuisine from scratch. I still don’t know how he does it.”
