“Are you frightened, darling?”
She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t even know why the whole thing scares me. This is supposed to be easy for shifters, right? That the universe decides for us and we don’t have to worry about it. But, it’s all so … so big, and sometimes I feel like I’m being swallowed whole. And I’m afraid that when it’s all said and done there won’t be anything left of me.”
“Oh darling, if there’s something I’ve learned, love and relationships are never easy, mates or not.” Riva took a deep sigh. “I need to tell you something. Something about me and your father that no one knows. Well, no one except Uncle James and Aunt Laura.”
“What is it?”
“Well …” Riva hesitated, but continued. “Most people assumed your father and I started dating because he had business with Sinclair Construction. That’s partly true.” She paused, then straightened her shoulders. “Our marriage was part of an arrangement. Your father bailed the company out when we were in trouble and in turn I had to marry him to produce an heir. I didn’t meet him until our wedding day.”
Sybil was so taken aback she shot to her feet. “What? Why didn’t you tell us? Was it a secret? What …” Oh God, was everything she knew a lie?
“Sybil, please sit down. We didn’t mean to keep this from you or your brothers. None of you asked, after all. And it just wasn’t important anymore.”
“Not important?” Sybil voice raised. “Dad … he really is your mate, right?”
Riva laughed. “Of course, he is. I didn’t understand it myself since I’m human. But he said, the moment he saw me, he knew. Or his dragon knew, though he was denying it for a while. But, we couldn’t stop it. We fell in love along the way.”
Sybil stared at her mother, speechless. “Why are you telling me this now?”
Riva took her hand and pulled her down to sit next to her. “Darling, if you don’t want Aleksei or if he does something to hurt you, you just call me and I’ll do whatever it takes to bring you back home.”
Sybil had no doubt her mother was serious.
Riva continued, “But, I hope you keep yourself open to the possibilities. I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s like, to have a mate and experience love together. It feels big and scary, yes. But I promise you, if Aleksei is even half the man your father is, you’ll come out of it whole. He won’t let you be swallowed up.”
Sybil bit the inside of her cheek. “But, I’ve only known him for a few days.”
“I know it’s quick, but it’s not about how fast you fall.”
There was another thing that was bothering her. “Mom, I haven’t … I mean, I’ve never … I haven’t … been with anyone. Ever.” Her face felt like it was on fire. She couldn’t believe she was telling her mom this.
Riva must have sensed what she was trying to say, as her face lit up. “Oh. Darling, it’s all right. Don’t be embarrassed. Sex is a beautiful thing, especially with your mate.”
Sybil wanted the earth to swallow her up. At least Dad wasn’t here. “I know the mechanics. But what if I do something wrong?”
“Darling, just do what feels right. Aleksei knows, right?”
She nodded. “And we’ve uhm, kissed. And stuff.”
“How was it?” Riva asked in a teasing voice. “Is he a good kisser?”
“Mom!”
Riva chuckled. “I don’t know him very well, but he’s your mate and I’ve seen how he looks at you.”
She frowned. “How do you mean?”
“He wants you. But also like you’re the most precious thing in the world. As if no one else was in the room when you’re around. Why do you think I want you to go with him?”
Sybil sucked in a breath. “All right. I’ll keep myself open to the possibilities. But what if it turns out we want different things?”
“Then, my darling,” Riva began with a smile. “You negotiate.”
“Negotiate?”
“Men call it compromise, but you’re my daughter and we negotiate.” Riva winked at her.
“Everything okay in here?”
Sybil and Riva both looked up. Hank was standing in the doorway.
“You guys are taking a long time,” he said. “Anything I should know about?”
Well, Mom thinks I should lose my virginity on this trip so … “Sorry, we just couldn’t decide what I should bring.”
“Aleksei is arranging transportation now,” Hank said. “You should be able to leave this afternoon.”
“Darling, why don’t I go ahead and pack for you?” Riva said. “You go and spend some time with your dad and your brothers. I’ll have Meg make you a batch of her chocolate chip cookies.”
“She’s not going away to camp.” Hank’s brows were furrowed together and it was obvious he was not happy with the arrangements, but had no choice.
“Shoo!” Riva waved them away. “Just go, okay? I’ll join you as soon as I’m done.”
Hank sighed. “C’mon, Sybil, let’s leave your mom alone. She’s obviously making plans.” He muttered something about “weddings” and “over my dead body” under his breath, but Sybil didn’t quite hear all of it. When she looked back before she left, she saw her mother’s expression and she groaned. Riva was definitely planning something.
A few hours later, Sybil and Aleksei were on their way, with Luke driving them in his truck. Hank and her brothers had stayed behind as they were about to meet with the other alphas. They, along with Aleksei, had agreed it might be best to wait until Sybil was gone from Blackstone before they told the other alphas and the council what had happened.
“They won’t be happy about it,” Aleksei had warned.
“Do you care?” Hank had asked.
“Not really,” Aleksei said smugly. “The Dragon Council is a necessary burden, but I owe them no loyalty.”
Sybil sat in the back of the truck, watching the scenery go by. It had all been so fast, and she wasn’t even sure where they were going. At first, she thought they would be shifting and flying together, but that wasn’t exactly safe. Besides, Aleksei said they would have to fly or swim for at least eight hours straight, and while he could do that portion of the trip, Sybil wasn’t used to being in dragon form that long.
So, where the heck are we going?
“We’re here,” Luke announced in a gruff voice.
Sybil looked outside. “And here is …?”
“A private air strip,” her brother said, as if that explained everything.
“Private …” She peered out the window. A jet was standing on the tarmac. “Aleksei, you didn’t have to rent a private jet. We could have flown commercial.”
“There are no flights to the Northern Isles.” He slipped out of the front passenger-side seat, and then opened her door. He helped her out of the truck. “And I didn’t have to rent a jet.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.” He nodded his head at the plane. “This is my private plane.”
“Your … what?” She turned toward the jet. Up close, it was much larger than she had thought; even larger than the Lennox jet, which she’d only flown in a handful of times. The plane was white, sleek and shiny, and bore a large gold emblem on the front. “You … your … you own a plane?”
“Well, the Royal Family of the Northern Isles does,” he said. “This is one of three planes we own, and the one I usually take.”
“Wait. A. Minute.” Her jaw practically dropped to the ground. “You’re rich?”
“I never said we were poor,” he said nonchalantly. “Anyway, does it matter? You too are the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the world.”
“I … I mean, I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Oh dear. What had she gotten herself into?
“Ahem.” Luke was standing beside them, an inscrutable look on his face. “Everything okay, Sybbie?”
“Yeah.” She stepped forward and Luke opened his arms, drawing her in for a hug.
“It’s not too late,” Luke whispered in her ear. “You k
now I’ll protect you if you stay here.”
Her throat tightened. “I don’t doubt that. But I’m doing this to protect you. And Georgina and Grayson and everyone.” She had a target on her back and The Knights had already proven that they didn’t care who got hurt in their pursuit of her.
He huffed. “I don’t like the idea of you being in a foreign place by yourself.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sybil assured him. “We’ll take down The Knights and then I’ll be back.”
“Of course.” But Luke’s didn’t sound confident in his own words. In fact, now that she was staring at his face, he looked almost wistful.
“I’ll see you soon, Luke.”
“See you, Sybbie.” He gave her one last hug. “You better take care of her,” he warned Aleksei. “And treat her right.”
“I shall treat her with the utmost respect,” Aleksei vowed. “Thank you for trusting her with me.”
“I don’t trust you,” Luke said. “But I know you’ll keep her safe.” He turned and began to walk back to his truck.
Aleksei steered her toward the stairs, placing a hand on her lower back. Her heart began to pound, realizing that she would be alone with him for the next few hours. Her dragon, on the other hand, seemed to relish it, as if saying, finally. It was encouraging her to kiss him again as soon as the door to the jet closed.
Ninny, she told it. There’s going to be other people in there.
He guided her up the stairs and into the jet, where a tall, handsome man was waiting for them, his back ramrod straight. The man was dressed in an immaculate white uniform suit that had the same gold emblem over the pocket of his jacket that was on the side of the plane.
“Your Highness, Miss Lennox. Welcome aboard.” He gave a deep bow. “My name is Oskar, I’ll be your steward for the flight. It is my pleasure to serve you.”
“Thank you, Oskar.”
“Please, come this way.”
Sybil had hoped she could contain the shocked expression on her face, but she doubted that now. She couldn’t help but look around. If she thought the outside was impressive, then the inside was even more opulent, though very tasteful. There were six leather seats in the front, and behind them was a couch and two love seats. A set of stairs were installed in the back, probably to the private bedroom. And everything looked lavish, done in white and gold with touches of blue green. As she sat down on the first chair on the right side, she nearly groaned at how buttery soft the leather felt. She glanced over at Aleksei, who, despite being dressed in his usual worn leather pants and white shirt, looked absolutely comfortable in his surroundings. In fact, he seemed almost downright bored, while she probably looked like a country bumpkin on her first trip to the city.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m sorry, I just can’t get over … I mean. You swam and flew all the way to Colorado! Why didn’t you just take your jet here?”
He sighed. “Well, first of all, all the alphas agreed it would be best to come in without being detected. It was necessary for safety, in case The Knights were monitoring our movements using our passports or scanning passenger manifests on planes.”
“Oh.” That made sense. She already knew that the influence of The Organization was far reaching. “But why hide that your country is prosperous?”
“The Water Dragons have always preferred to keep our wealth a secret. That way, no one will bother us. Ever since the kingdom was established hundreds of years ago, secrecy has always been the best way to ward off invaders and others who would harm us. We are self-sufficient and do not need to trade with others, which has made it easy for most large countries to ignore us. Most people who do know about us think we’re some backwater country with limited resources and we just don’t bother to correct them.”
“I see.” She could understand that. After all, she and her family were private people as well.
“I apologize if you felt you were deceived,” he said. “It was a necessary ploy.”
She smirked at him. “And now that I know your secret, am I going to have to ‘sleep the fishes?’”
He laughed. “I have always enjoyed The Godfather. I thought Marlon Brando was a great actor. My American roommate at Oxford showed it to me one night after we'd finished studying for finals.”
Her jaw dropped. “You went to Oxford?!” What other secrets did Aleksei hide? She wasn’t sure she was ready to find out.
Chapter Eleven
As Aleksei sat on the plush leather seat in the front of the plane, his thoughts turned to what would be awaiting him back in the Northern Isles. There was much work to be done and he knew that everyone would have a lot of questions about his trip and the progress with The Knights. Still, it would be good to be home. Even though he had only been gone a few days, it felt like forever. So many things had happened since the time he left, after all.
He had spoken only briefly to his father, and explained the situation. King Harald had been surprised, and of course when he learned his son and only heir’s mate was in danger, he immediately gave his permission for her to come. In any case, the jet was actually already on standby, ready to whisk Aleksei away should the need arise. His father was also excited at the prospect of meeting Sybil.
“Your mate? You are certain, my boy?” King Harald had said.
“Absolutely, Father.”
“This is … exciting news indeed. Although I wish it had been under better circumstances. But tell me, what is she like?”
He wished he had the time to tell his father about Sybil. It would have taken hours, but instead he simply said, “She’s perfect.”
“I cannot wait to meet her then.” King Harald sounded positively giddy. Aleksei was sure he was already planning a royal wedding and having the nurseries cleaned and redecorated. After all, Sybil being a dragon meant that dragon children were a guarantee, and being mates meant that the chances of having children would be even higher. Of course, he knew that possibility was not far off, though there were other things he had to do first. Mainly, get Sybil’s consent.
“Your Highness?” Oskar said in a polite tone. “We are almost home. Shall I fetch Miss Lennox?”
“No.” He stood up. “I shall go.”
He walked toward the guest bedroom, which was located just under his. Having Sybil so close, yet unable to be with her was torture. His dragon urged him to make her theirs, but he had to control himself.
Knowing that she was a virgin had changed things. Not his feelings for her, which only grew stronger each day. No, he knew he had to handle her with care, and not just physically. He wanted her to be sure, because once he made love to her, there would be no one else—for either of them.
Clearing his throat, he knocked softly on the door. “Sybil. Are you awake? We are about to land.”
There was movement inside the room, then a few seconds later, the door opened. Sybil stood in front of him, wearing a long gray sweater, dark trousers, and boots. Her hair was swept to one side and her face wore only the barest of makeup. “You look lovely,” he said. His voice was controlled, despite the desire threatening to spill over as his eyes roamed over the curves of her generous breasts straining against the sweater. What he wouldn’t do to push her down on the bed behind her and have his way with her.
“Thank you.” A blush crept into her cheeks. “I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate to wear. I hope this is okay.”
“It’s fine.” It was more than fine, and he felt an unreasonable surge of jealousy, knowing other men might be looking at her. “No one knows we are arriving and there won’t be any formalities. And, you won’t be meeting the king until later. We’ll be dining with him and a few guests tonight.”
“Oh.” Her eyes grew wide. “I didn’t bring … I mean, I’m not sure I have anything to wear to any formal gatherings.”
He cursed to himself. He hadn’t thought of that. “Do not fret, as I will have someone assist you. Ursula will be able to find you something.”
“Ursula?”
“I didn’t know. About your mother. I’m sorry.”
He looked at her somberly. “It’s quite all right.” It had been a decade since she passed. Still, the pain of her death hadn’t lessened. “She would have liked you.”
“Oh? Tell me more. If you don’t mind.”
“If you wish, but,” he offered his arm. “We are nearly there. We should take our seats.”
“Right.” She slipped her arm into his and allowed him to lead her to the front of the plane. “So, your mother … did she grow up in the Northern Isles?”
As Sybil sat down, he took the chair next to hers. “Actually, no. She was a princess from a small, but now-defunct country in the Baltic region. She doesn’t remember much about it, as she and her family always lived in exile.”
“How did she and your father meet?”
“It was an arranged marriage.” He frowned when he saw Sybil’s eyes shift and the pulse in her delicate neck jump. “Don’t worry. She and my father grew to love each other. He never did remarry after her death, claiming that my mother was the love of his life.”
“Sounds romantic.” Her eyes lowered and another blush deepened the color in her cheeks.
Sensing her discomfort, he tipped her chin up with his finger. “What’s the matter, lyubimaya?”
“I just … I was thinking … everyone will know who I am. That I’m related to Anastasia Lennox.” She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “The war … they might not like me.”
Aleksei had never thought of this possibility. “Only fools would not see what a good person you are. As you said, that was the past. There may be some traditionalists who might not take it kindly that you are here, but they will have to get over it.” Sybil was going to be his wife and their queen, after all. “But, for safety’s sake, my father and I have agreed it would be best not to tell anyone who you are. Only my father and the Dragon Guard know your true identity.”
She seemed relieved. “Thank you.”
The Blackstone She-Dragon: Blackstone Mountain Book 8 Page 12
