by H. C. Brown
His words fell over her like a bucket of freezing water and desire vanished. Indignant, she pushed hard on his chest. You have to be sure I am good enough? Goddess help me. She had risked her life for him and protected him from the Lutwych Hag—how much more did she have to do to prove her worth as his mate?
“Oh I understand very well, Lumos, and I thought as much.” She batted his hand away and glared at him. “You say we cannot kiss and yet you have admitted kissing many Faeries and indeed taking them to your bed. You say we cannot make love as a man and woman should until I have accepted your dragon, yet you will not morph in front of me. How can I accept what I cannot see?”
“Thalia, little one—”
She held up a hand to silence him. “You have used me to ease the ache in your groin but make the excuse of the upcoming battle for not mating me and now you are not sure if I am suitable! What kind of a fool do you think I am, Lumos?” She snorted. “Aye, you have given me gratification, so I will not say you are as cruel as Erik but the intent is the same. In truth, you planned all along to use me for your own pleasure.”
“I would never do such a thing, Thalia. Gods know, I have spoken the truth to you.” Lumos gave her a considering gaze. “Although, I admit not the entire truth because I feared if I told you everything you need to know before we became lovers, it would frighten you. I needed your trust, little one, because being a Dragonfae mate is not something to take lightly.” He wrapped a lock of Thalia’s hair around his finger. “Dragonfae may only mate a Fae female. You are a Nomag and if I mate you before you are ready, the act may well kill you.”
Thalia lifted her chin in defiance. “Another excuse! Gods, Lumos, they spill off your tongue in abandon. I assume you tell all the females the same story to lure them into your bed?”
“I do not and have never needed to lure females to my bed, indeed in Drakka they willingly take turns to lie with me. I have never met another Nomag female let alone taken one to my bed and have taken care not to hurt you. I have not lied to you nor will I.” Lumos dashed a hand through his hair and considered her with a hurt expression. “Aye, I want you and I am prepared to have you at any cost and if that is deceit, then I am guilty.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You say I am not ready to be your mate. When will I be ready or must I be approved by the rest of your clan?”
“You have begun to transform already—your skin has the same golden hue as mine. The damage inflicted by Erik, the scar on your face, and even your virginity has been restored.” Lumos stared at her and lowered his voice to a melodic calm. “The reason I wanted to take your sweet ass is because when I release my seed inside you, the second stage will start to occur. One scrape of my fangs will inject my saliva into your bloodstream.” He studied her closely. “Then you will become Fae and we will mate.” He brought the strand of hair to his lips and kissed the auburn silk. “I have already made my choice, sweet butterfly.” He met her gaze. “Now it is your turn to accept me. Trust me, Thalia, for I am yours.”
Transformation? What the gods? Thalia leveled a glare at Lumos. When I become Fae?
“Are you saying that I am changing into a Faerie? Good gods!—Do you mean that every time we make love, your seed is transforming me?”
“Aye, it is true. Cymbeline made me this way so being intimate with me changes you into Fae, it is the only way we can be together as mates.” Lumos shrugged. “You seem to find the idea abhorrent yet being a Faerie has benefits beyond imagination.” He touched her face with a gentle caress. “You will never grow old, Thalia, or suffer disease, and to fly, gods that alone is surely a gift anyone would value highly?”
She stared at him in disbelief. “This is my body, Lumos. Do you think you should have discussed this with me first?”
“I did mention you were not ready to mate with me yet. I did tell you my kiss would bind us forever. If I had wanted to deceive you, little one, I would have kissed you the first day we met and given you no choice in the matter.”
“Aye, I do recall the many excuses and now I see why you hid the truth from me but it is too late now, is it not? What if I do not want to have wings?” She pushed him away from her. “And, goddess, I am sure dragons lay eggs. Very big eggs?” She grimaced at the thought of even considering such a thing. “I will never consider laying eggs—not even for you, Lumos.”
His eyes, gods, held such pain the very sight of him squeezed her heart.
She steeled her resolve. “I need time to think. I want to return to the Singing Forest and I do not expect you to help me. I know you have more pressing things to attend to in Drakka. I will wait here until the King of the Fae returns and then I will ask him for his help. I am sure he will understand if I ask him to change me back.” She tried to calm down. “You should have offered me a choice, Lumos, because, I might have agreed. I thought I could trust you, but now I worry how many more lies have you told me. Will I discover you already have a mate in Drakka?”
“I do not have a mate. Thalia, gods, do you really have such a low opinion of me? When we met, you were in no state to discuss the implications of my love. You needed me … called to me to come to you.” Lumos stared at the floor. “And I wanted you, too. Gods, Thalia, you are acting as if I have hurt you… Do you not understand being Fae means forever? Mating binds us for all eternity—we will remain like this and never age.” He drew a deep breath and met her gaze with liquid green eyes. “Dragonfae have babes, not eggs, little one. We are in our Fae bodies most of the time.” He shook his head slowly. “I am sorry I did not explain things better. Look, I know you are angry with me but please think what you are doing. Do not leave me—not in anger and believing I have deceived you. By the goddess, Thalia—I would perish without you.”
A pang of pain radiated through Thalia—Lumos’s pain. She gazed at his bowed head, the long lashes masking his incredible eyes. The deep feeling of rejection emanating from him, hit her in a wave of anguish. He lifted his dark head and Thalia gasped at the pain trapped inside his eyes. Blue magyck crackled around his hair, the long strands spilling down his back like black water. Thalia touched his cheek—gods, he was the most magnificent male she had ever seen. She ached to hold him, but how many other things had he withheld from her. I must have the truth.
“Will I grow wings?”
“If you leave me now … no. You will require more of my seed to complete the transformation and my venom. After a while, you will return to being a Nomag witch.” Lumos’s voice hardened. “But once you have wings, they will stay forever and the transformation will be complete, then not even Nox can change you.” He glanced toward the open window. “My dragon needs to be free. He is deeply hurt by your rejection and, well, he is angry with me, too.” Lumos slid off the bed. He stood, looking down at Thalia, his face etched with pain. “I will ask Pyro to return you to the Singing Forest if that is your wish. I would accompany you if I could, but, as you know, until this problem with the Magus is resolved, my duty is to Drakka.”
Thalia sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “Do you usually give up so easily? Or do you believe a female has no right to ask questions?”
“No, of course not. I will never give up, little one, and I will follow you in the hope of winning you back.” Lumos’s eyes flashed with anger. “Fae never touch an unwilling female let alone take one for their mate. Damn it! This is not what we do, Thalia. Why would anyone want a hostile mate forever?” He ground his teeth. “If you reject me again then I must accept your refusal without question, no matter if my heart is breaking into a thousand pieces. I will never take another, Thalia. You are my mate and nothing will change that fact.”
“Do you love me?”
“Love is such a simple word for how a Dragonfae feels toward his mate.” Lumos dashed a hand through his hair. “I am consumed by you. My body burns for you. Damn it, Thalia, we are two parts of the same soul. Yes, I do love you but what good is love without trust and you do not trust me, do you?”
Thalia got to her feet. The pain in her heart increased with the thought of losing him. Did she trust him? In truth, he confused her. She cupped his cheeks, wanting to stop the sorrow in his eyes.
“I love you and want to stay with you, but we are very different, Lumos.” She sighed. “I want you to remember there are many things I will not understand about Fae ways and customs. I will always ask questions and expect you to answer them honestly, no matter what the cost.” She rubbed her thumbs over his cheeks. “I do understand this may upset your dragon, but I have been honest with you from the start of our journey, and I expected the same from you. Perhaps you should let the Nightdragon free and explain to him that a witch is very different from a Faerie. Ask him what he expects from me. Set him free, Lumos, and I will wait for you to return before I make my decision.”
“Gods, Thalia, are you ready to meet my dragon?”
She nodded and forced her lips into a smile. “I think it is time, Lumos.”
“Thank you.” He dragged her against him. “I beg you to be patient with me—this mating heat is new to me, too, little one.” He pressed kisses to her face. “I fight a constant battle with my dragon. His desire to mate is strong, yet I know you are fragile in this form and I must take time to prepare you.” He rubbed slow circles over her back “When I mate you my dragon will drive me. Moonfire is the only time I will not be in complete control. The dragon will make me insatiable and I will become aggressive and more demanding. You must trust me to know what is best for you.”
Thalia shrugged but tingled with apprehension. “Men have betrayed me, my father, the soldiers entrusted with my safety, but you are so different. I want so much to trust you.” She closed her eyes, then opened them and examined Lumos’s handsome face. “In truth… Aye, my love, I do trust you but it is a fragile trust. I fear one day you will betray me, too, and cast me aside.”
“Do you need more from me, sweet butterfly? A commitment?” Lumos brushed his finger down her neck.
The heated gaze from Lumos took her breath away. “You would do that?”
He bent his head and his silken hair brushed her bare shoulder. As he pierced the vein in her neck with his sharp fangs, pain then intense pleasure percolated through her. He growled deep in his chest and sucked tenderly at the broken skin. A shot of erotic euphoria spiraled through her. Boneless, she sagged against him.
“There, I have marked you, and now the world will know you are mine.” Lumos rested his forehead against her brow. “Rest now, little one. I will let my beast feed and he will leave us undisturbed for the rest of the night.”
Bereft of the heat of Lumos’s body, she wrapped her arms around her chest and shivered. The Dragonfae unfurled his wings with majestic grace. How strange to see them burst from his back then unfold like rose buds opening to the sun. So wide, the huge, black moth-like wings spread out on each side of him. They were magnificent. Lumos turned, and ran toward the balcony, every muscle in his body flexing. With a graceful leap, he flew into the air. She ran after him and peered into the moonlit night. In a flash of white magyck, the Nightdragon appeared. She gasped at the sight of the beast, so much larger than Pyro’s dragon. The magnificent creature’s wings opened like the sails of a warship and he soared into the midnight sky, only to bank around in a wide circle and dive toward her. She gripped the wooden handrail, mesmerized by the awesome beauty of the Nightdragon. The beast landed on the plateau below the palace in a powerful gust of wind, and lifted its impressive head to meet her gaze. With the dragon’s wide snout not a hand span from the balcony, she trembled. Steam surged from the wide nostrils and curled around her in a swirling mist.
Drawing a deep breath, Thalia focused on the iridescent green eyes and saw Lumos within. She reached out to touch the velvet snout and her fingertips caressed skin with the softness of a horse’s muzzle, not the scaled hardness she had expected. Her gaze traveled over the head. From the bridge of the nose, the great beast had the glossy scales of a black snake and each scalloped edge reflected the moonlight. The shimmering skin replicated Lumos’s clothes exactly. Dragon skin? Above the dragon’s almond eyes, arched, bony brows stood out against a wide forehead. A row of spines protruded between his floppy ears and continued down his back to the tip of his tail. This close, she could see the leathery texture of his wings, a pure white crescent moon glistening on each. The Nightdragon remained motionless as if waiting for her approval. Only the longing in the beast’s eyes betrayed the man within. All fear gone, she smiled and opened her arms wide. She noticed a change in the beast’s expression as the Nightdragon took in her nakedness. Gods, the beast, had raised his brow. With a giggle, she curtsied.
“You are most wonderful Nightdragon, but I crave Lumos. Go now and hunt and then bring him back to me.”
The dragon dropped off the plateau and hovered in a thermal updraft, the glossy wings glistened under the moon’s glow. Thalia stood engrossed with the dragon, admiring the beauty of the beast. With a roar of triumph that shook the palace, followed by a long trail of orange flames, the Nightdragon soared into the indigo twilight sky, and disappeared over the mountains.
She remained on the balcony for some time, her body humming with the thrill of seeing the Nightdragon at last. Oh, Cymbeline, how can I thank you for sending Lumos to me? She turned, chilled by the night air, and went into the bathroom. Hot, bubbly water began to fill the impressive tub the moment she walked inside the room. Fragrant oils and potions filled a small alcove beside the bath. She sighed in delight, stepped into the deliciously hot water, and sank down. Casting a critical eye over the choice of bath oils, she opened each bottle, and sniffed the contents.
“I love honeysuckle.” She poured the contents in the tub and giggled. The liquid inside the bottle replenished at once. Such wonderful magyck—she would enjoy her stay here.
Her thoughts drifted to Lumos. She had hurt him and pangs of regret curled in her conscience. I am sorry, Lumos, but I needed answers. The pangs of uncertainty had started at dinner and blossomed into fear of inadequacy. The beautiful, nay perfect, Fae females had been very attentive to Lumos and, in fact, their open willingness to take him to their beds in front of her had made her angry. Perhaps, this blind devotion was their normal behavior toward visitors—indeed, they were so very different from her. A female who asked questions might be unfamiliar to Lumos. She shook her head. I will never stop asking questions. I will never act like them.
She rubbed the tingling mark on her neck and the moment she touched the two puncture marks, pleasure shot straight to her core. Gods, what would his kiss be like if this was the result of one drop of his aphrodisiac saliva? Her thoughts went to their argument and Lumos’s explanation. Could she blindly trust him? She hardly knew him. I wish I had someone to talk to, another woman, perhaps, someone who knows about the ways of the Dragonfae.
There was no one here she could confide in—the Faeries at the palace had ignored her. After dinner, all had swarmed around both Dragonfae for stories about Pyro’s imprisonment and the upcoming battle at Drakka. One had sat boldly on Lumos’s lap while another had draped herself over his shoulder, yet the infuriating man had acted as if this female attention was normal. She had sat alone and in truth, had wanted to blast them all away from him with black fire. I wish Nell were here. I could talk to her about anything.
* * * *
“The moods, distrust, and the anger, it is all part of the onset of moonfire.” Pyro peered at Lumos over the rim of his goblet. “Although it is obvious to me, there is more to Thalia than meets the eye.”
Lumos leaned back in the chair and lifted his foot to rest one boot on his knee. His gaze traveled around the opulent private sitting room. The Fae had made them welcome, although they had been confused by their refusal of the offered females for the evening. He considered Pyro’s words. What had the man or his dragon discovered about Thalia? He would never divulge Thalia’s agreement with Erik. He shrugged. “I know she had been alone for some time with only the company of th
e cat. The first day we met, she ran from me and hid under a bush. I am afraid Thalia fears all males.”
“What do you know of her background … her bloodline?” Pyro twirled a goblet in his fingers.
“Nothing at all. I do know she was a foundling discovered by King Garro of Broclarre during a hunting expedition.” Lumos lifted his drink from the ornate table beside his chair. “The man brought her up as his own daughter. When the queen died mysteriously, Garro blamed Thalia and banished her to the Singing Forest.”
“Hmm, that is very interesting.” Pyro rubbed his chin. “You know, if Cymbeline had not chosen Thalia for your mate, I would be wary of the girl.” He smiled ruefully. “My dragon warns me that your terrified mate carries the magyck of the fallen, yet somehow the dark force has been altered, I would say by a sacrifice of some kind.”
Dropping his booted foot to the floor, Lumos leaned forward in his chair. “Are you telling me your dragon has the ability to discover the origin of a being’s magyck?”
“Yes, of course. All dragons have that power, but many never use it. Tell me, how many times have you used your dragon’s senses to search for the origin of a spell? It is the same thing … although, after so many battles together, my dragon uses this ability to decipher between friend and foe.” Pyro sipped his wine and let out a sigh of appreciation. “My dragon sees Elf magyck in the girl. I doubt the mother abandoned her as a babe. I know of no Elf who would dare displease the goddess by doing such a foul deed. More likely, she became the love slave of a dark Magus and used her own magyck to protect the child. Look at her name, Lumos—Thalia—the butterfly is a name given for a new beginning—this was the wish of a desperate mother.”
