“Can I…” Cameron seemed to trip over his words. “Can I feed you?”
She let herself fall back into her plush pillows, feeling, for a moment, like a goddess. “Feed me,” she commanded.
Cameron laughed, that bright sound that reminded her of sunshine. His fingers claimed a cluster of grapes from the board and hung them over her lips so that she had to reach for them. She caught the glint of mischief in his eyes before he snatched them away and popped a grape into his own mouth.
Gwen turned a pout toward him and he broke down, feeding her several grapes by hand before insisting she also eat some protein. The night went on like this, happily teasing one another. It was her last night in this apartment, her last night in this town before she became someone new again.
What name would she choose this time? This time her name was too close to the truth. Next time, she would have to decide upon something wholly new and different. She could become Rose or Delilah. Or, she could become something fresh and new like Teagan. That was a name that she admired. It would make her seem young.
Teagan sounded like a great name.
Chapter Eight
Cameron wondered what his luck was. He had found his mate and secured his mission all at once. It was beyond believable as he looked down at the slim, naked body of his mate. He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in the scent of her and refuse to come up for air.
Her screams of pleasure had driven him into a mad frenzy, a feeling that he’d never known before. Both, he and his beast, swarmed to the forefront while they were inside of her. His scent would soon mingle with hers, warning others that she was mated and claimed.
Somehow, she had allowed him to stay with her for the past week. Their days were spent playing music or basking in the sunlight. Their nights, as soon as the sun even hinted at diving toward the horizon, they retreated to her bedroom. Each morning, he would wake to her staring down at him as if she might bolt at any second. But, she would slowly make her way toward him and their day would start all over again.
The only thing he wished he’d considered sooner was the chance of conceiving a child while in this new stage. It was something his brother and Rhiannon were learning to deal with, but was not one that Cameron wished to risk in this uncertain time.
Feeling his stomach churn with fear and shame at his own stupidity, he pulled open the bathroom mirror. His fingers hovered over the bottles and tubes of cosmetic solutions, wondering why Gwen needed any of them. He wasn’t sure what it looked like, but he wanted to make sure. He needed to know if she was on modern birth control.
He’d left his phone in the bedroom, or else he would use the internet, a wonderful source of information brought about by recent technology. After a long moment of fruitless searching, he closed the bathroom mirror. He couldn’t do what Gareth was doing. Gwen already stirred a bevy of protective emotions that would most likely spin out of control if she became with child too soon.
They couldn’t risk that.
***
When she woke, part of her was alarmed to find the other side of the bed empty. Her hand ran across the still warm sheets and her heart calmed. Frowning, Gwen told herself she cannot get attached to this man. This dragon man that she let stay in her home for nearly a week. Each morning she told herself to run and never look back. Each morning her feet pulled her back toward the bed.
A handful of nights of great sex was not going to change anything. He was still a dangerous dragon and she was still the Witch of Caernarfon, betrayer to some and belonging of others. She swallowed hard as the memories struck her, as the emotions stirring inside of her warred with one another. Cameron had not seemed like the other dragons at all. The only time he seemed in any way vicious was when he expressed anger over what happened to her, over her pain.
That was not like any dragon she knew. Gwen ran her hands down her face.
A muffled vibrating sound came from within her room. Curious, she sought the sound and found it in the pocket of Cameron’s pants. It always amazed her that even while seemingly incarcerated in the Territories, dragons had access to technologies such as cell phones. She dug the vibrating cell phone out of his pants pocket, glancing toward the closed door as her heart rate picked up.
A message flashed across the screen, readable even though she could not unlock his phone.
Have you found the witch? Complete the mission and bring her here soon.
She chucked the phone back toward his pants as though it burned her. In many ways, it had. Her heart was ever so slowly attempting to open up to this dragon man that wandered into her life. She wanted to believe that he was different, that he would be gentle and patient with her.
Truth was, she was nothing more than a mission to him.
Anger roiled through her. It gripped her magic, the kind that she shoved dark and deep, and lashed out in every direction. Her magic was a thorned vine that cracked in the air and dragged across her skin. Cameron’s forgotten clothing disintegrated into nothing more than fiber remnants. His phone screen cracked in several places, spider webbing as though something were crushing it.
The door to her room cracked open to reveal a smiling façade. She threw a dark glare in his direction. A ceramic mug on his tray shattered. Hot tea ran down his arms. His face fell and confusion tumbled through his eyes.
“You didn’t come here on a rutting night,” Gwen hissed. She pulled her sheet up to her bare chest, feeling more vulnerable than she had in years. But, she would not be the victim. Her magic wrapped around her.
“You need to listen to me,” Cameron pleaded. His eyes found the cracked phone.
“I do not have to listen to anything.” Gwen flicked her hand in his direction. He fumbled backward. Her magic slammed into his chest, bearing all of her rage and the weight of her betrayal.
See if she ever lets a dragon into her life again. They were only trouble. His leader wanted her for a weapon against their enemies. He charged Cameron with the task of convincing her to love him so that she would protect them. Nothing they’d done this past week meant anything.
It hadn’t. That was what she wanted from it. It was a release for the both of them, nothing else.. But, but she hadn’t expected the pain that filled her chest when she learned the truth. She hadn’t expected tears to fill the corners of her eyes.
“Get out,” she growled. Angry, she threw the cracked phone at him. Deftly, he snatched it out of the air before it could hit him in the face. Gwen let a small sound of frustration slip past her lips.
“Not until you hear me out!” Cameron calmly stood his ground, even as his voice rose.
“I do not have to hear anything. You lied. You came here with false intentions. Get out of my home.” She flicked her hand at him again and shoved at him. The door flew open behind him and he stumbled back through it. When it slammed shut in front of him, her heart thudded inside her chest.
She quickly closed the space between her and the door, her fingers shakily tracing warding sigils across the cheap wood. They glowed in the dim morning light for a second. Then, they sank into the wood. She would have to do it on every wall of the apartment to keep him out.
But, it locked her inside. She felt tears burn her eyes and a sob shook her chest. She sank to the floor and reached for her cards, willing them to tell her the future. Instead, her fingers flipped the same three cards. Tower. Lovers. Death.
She let her tears consume her. She was going to die in this apartment. The beast outside was undoubtedly going to burn her home down around her for kicking him out. Dragons did not like to be told no.
Chapter Nine
Cameron let himself sink to sit on the stair case. His head fell back and a sigh slipped out from between his lips. He could feel the crawling sensation of wards being wrapped around her apartment. Gwen closed herself up and there was no getting back inside.
His mate had cast him out. The beast inside of him prowled, angry and dejected. It wanted back inside, wanted Cameron to explain their si
de of the story, wanted their mate to forgive them so that they could nestle their head between her breasts once more.
It was almost impossible to think that the Witch of Caernarfon was his mate. She was a legend among not only her own people, but the supernatural community as well. The witch that had leveled towns with her wild magic was his mate. She was wild and beautiful and, also, scared as a rabbit looking in the eyes of a wolf.
That made him angry. He wished to know who had hurt the Witch of Caernarfon, his mate, so badly that she was terrified of his kind. He’d seen the wreckage that her power could cause. What had been done to her to make her afraid?
Sucking in a ragged breath, Cameron forced himself up. He glanced back at the now warded apartment. There had to be a way for him to get back inside.
Better yet, there had to be a way to get her to come out. It had to be on her own terms. She had to approach him with no fear in her heart. Then, she would listen to him. They would come to an understanding. It was his fault for not telling her sooner that they were mated. That truth could have helped her realize he did not bed her for the reasons Drystan asked for.
It was one thing to venture around the Territory in only his underwear, but Gwen had shoved him into the public with nothing more than his skivvies and a cracked phone. With a sigh, he crept down the stairs to her apartment and went in search of a shop that would allow him to replace his lost clothing. Then, he would take up post at the café across the street and wait for her to run. Surely, she would be on the run again, soon. The Witch of Caernarfon had been running for a long time. Now that a dragon knew where she was, he was sure she was going to try again.
His thoughts fell upon the cards she drew for him. It occurred to him that, perhaps, the cards she thought she accidentally drew for herself could apply to the both of them. It made sense considering that she was his mate. Anything that applied to her would, by default, include him, too. He thought back to the images laying before him on that small café table.
The Tower. Not that he knew what it meant. All he could remember was the image of a woman tumbling from a high tower. It did not bode well, but he wondered if it was only a thrust into the unknown that it forebode. The thrust into a mating bond that she was not prepared for.
What had been the second card? An image of two, entwined bodies returned to his memory. The Lovers. Indeed, he wished they would become lovers. A single night was not good enough for him. He needed her in his life then here on out.
People stared at him, women’s eyes drawn downward until their conscience reminded them to look away with red faces. He couldn’t appreciate the glances. Not when he knew his mate had locked herself in her apartment, when she thought he was using her. His stomach rolled. They could barely help themselves the night before, caught in the pull that the new bond had over them. He hoped that she didn’t think the sex was a ploy, too. It had meant something to him, that first touch. He craved more. He needed to be hilt deep in her again.
After an hour of feigning embarrassment in a small shop and struggling to pull up his credit card information on his phone, a technological advancement that he was grateful for the first time ever, Cameron was outfitted with new jeans, boots, and a t-shirt that advertised tourism for the town. It covered his body and that was all he cared about.
Upon returning, he scoped out her apartment for signs of her disappearance. A shadow passed over her bedroom window as though Gwen was inside, pacing. His heart thumped hard, but he didn’t move toward her. Instead, he was smart enough to claim a table near the window of the café across the street and order an espresso.
Behind him, a TV silently displayed a local news station. At first, he paid no attention to it. Things happening in that small town were of little consequence to him at that moment. But, then he caught a glimpse of red scales across the screen and it suddenly had his full attention.
The fight between a red dragon and white dragon played out across the screen. The camera shook and swayed as though it was filmed by a phone in the crowd of bystanders. For a moment, Cameron’s heart surged. Then he realized that the dragon he was seeing on the screen was Wesley. It was the fight after GOE kidnapped his mate. Cameron’s brows sloped together in confusion.
He called out to the barista behind the counter to turn on the sound. She frowned, but did as he asked, raising a small remote and pointing it at the TV mounted in the corner. A reporter’s baritone voice filled the space and Cameron’s stomach turned as the scene shifted. A portly man wearing a GOE badge on his chest stood beside a figure Cameron recognized as another dragon shifter. The man was tall and his chest was wide and flat. A charismatic smile full of white teeth was plastered across his face, but didn’t quite meet his eyes as he looked out over the crowd at the press conference. His nearly white hair was combed back into a respectable style, the whole package looking like it belonged in a movie. Not on the news.
“The Guardians of Existence are proud to announce the head of our newest department, the Dragon Shifter Embassy. Please welcome Malcom Whittaker to GOE!”
A round of hesitant applause rang out through the crowd, the microphone capturing the murmur of whispers that circled around the podium. The white dragon stepped forward, his charismatic smile nearly glowing. Cameron already didn’t like him. The façade that this dragon held was blinding those around him.
“I am happy to become a part of the Guardians of Existence and to help protect this city from the threat of dragon shifters. My family and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe from the reckless red dragon family as well as any other dragons that dare set foot on our streets. All that we ask from you in return is a slice of home for ourselves. We will not take space from you, but, instead, carve out a small holding for my family in the territory already set aside for dragons.”
There was another moment of stone still silence before the crowd erupted into cheers. It seemed the white dragon had presence. Enough to win over the hearts of a city absolutely terrified of dragons. Then again, he wasn’t a red dragon. They didn’t see a need to fear him.
Not yet.
Present at the press conference were his brother and Rhiannon. Gareth’s grip on Rhiannon’s shoulders were tight. He guessed that his brother was ready to run at a moment’s notice. His mate was determined to rescue the image of the red dragons, but she was also pregnant. Gareth had to be going crazy. It was a wonder that he kept control over himself while the crowd threw words of hatred at them.
Cameron’s fist tightened atop the table. His home was threatened and he was not there to protect it. He cut a sideways glance out the window. Gwen’s apartment was still. He wanted nothing more than to break down the wards she’d placed around the apartment and carry her back to the territory so that he could protect his home and his mate all at once. He knew that would not win her heart. It would terrify her more than anything. He couldn’t risk that. Not with his mate.
He looked back at the television, hoping that he had not given himself away as one of the red dragons vilified on the screen.
***
Gwen sat on the floor of her bedroom for a long time. She stared at the floor, trying to sort through the mess that tumbled through her mind. Once again, she’d made the mistake of letting a dragon into her life. She could barely believe that she’d done more than let him into her apartment. She’d let him into her body and… she loved it.
She half expected Cameron to stand outside her door, stubbornly pushing through the wards that she’d woven. Given time and persistence, a dragon’s magic could do exactly that. Instead, she heard silence. His clothing lay on the floor beside her in shreds. She’d kicked him out in his underwear and nothing else. It brought a snicker to her lips.
Packing should have been the first thing on her mind. Her bag was already half packed and her cards were back in her possession, returned by the odd dragon man. Gwen found herself rising from where she sat. Calmly, much calmer than she thought she would be, Gwen prepared herself a mug of lavender and honey
tea before sitting in front of her cards.
One more draw. They would reveal the path she would follow. She needed to understand this tether that she felt connecting her to Cameron, a dragon she’d only known for a night. It was impossible that she was his mate, but perhaps she was meant to help them in their time of need.
Feeling a compulsion, she reached for the remote on the table beside her card deck. The television flared to life, the faint sound of static ringing in her ears. A local news station greeted her. A portly man stood alone on a podium, his booming voice promising the crowd that measures would be taken to eradicate the red dragons from Snowdonia. She felt her chest tighten. From Cameron’s red hair, she could easily assume that he was one of the red dragons in question.
News traveled fast these days. She heard of the turmoil the red dragons were causing in Bangor, but had waved it off. The first red dragon to cause trouble had been protecting his mate, a sacred bond that bound him to a human woman. The second dragon to stir the pot claimed to have been stolen as a child and implanted with silver. She claimed to have been framed by GOE. Terrible things were happening, but Gwen felt the need to believe the red dragons in their claims.
“Snowdonia no longer belongs to our red dragon neighbors,” the portly man announced, his fist in the air. “They are no longer neighbors of Bangor!”
Gwen pulled her gaze from the television to draw a card. Her long fingers flipped over The Lovers once again. She felt a hand grip her heart. With trembling fingers, she pulled the next. Death. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth as she regarded the card. If she hadn’t drawn The Tower, it most likely meant that she’d moved past that stage in her life already. Change came and went already.
There was one more card to draw. She looked at the deck out of the corner of her eye, wondering what other news it held for her. She feared what it might try to tell her for what could possibly come after death?
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