by Mina Carter
She blinked in shock. To be invited to communicate directly with another’s dragon was a rare honor and, since the beasts themselves couldn’t lie, the only way to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Sawyer was telling the truth.
“Are you sure?” she asked softly.
He nodded and added a smile. The sight of him in front of her, dirty and bruised, made her heart ache. He’d obviously already been in a hard fight and all she wanted to do was pull him close and hold him, but his gaze held hers steadily. She lifted her hand to touch her fingertips to his forehead and reached for his dragon.
Instantly, she sank into a warm, welcoming presence. There was no hesitation, no delay. Just acceptance and a swell of… love? Opening her eyes, she found him watching her, the corners of his eyes crinkled just slightly as she read everything. Read his memories of the attack in the corridor, of Henrick coming to visit him, of the truths he’d revealed. They were bad enough… then her heart almost stopped at the memories of the fight in the cell where he’d almost died.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, but as soon as his dragon sensed her sadness, it reached for her. And then, she felt it. The truth behind all his actions. Love. Pure, true, love.
She was his mate.
Tilting her head, she allowed the question to fill her eyes and, when he nodded, her dragon caroled with happiness. Pushing up against her skin, it peered out of her eyes at the male in front of them and, despite the fact she’d thought she knew everything there was to know about herself and the nature of white dragons, it revealed something it had been keeping to itself since they’d been born.
Sometimes, if they were lucky…White dragons got to choose their mates.
Something inside her clicked and her soul realigned with his. Linking them, bonding them for life. As mates. He gasped, feeling it and reached for her hands as she dropped them.
“Was that what I thought it was?”
She nodded, drawing him to his feet. She had so much to tell him, but it would have to wait for a while.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the court,” she announced, her voice growing stronger as she walked forward to address them. Sawyer wasn’t more than half a step behind her, his hand on the back of her waist as she looked around. “I’d like to thank you all for coming today. However, as you have probably guessed, the wedding is off!”
The loud cheers and catcalls that erupted made her smile, gratitude and relief at their caring. When they’d quietened down, the smile fell from her face as she looked at Henrick. The prince moaned where he lay on the floor, surrounded by four of her blacks: Calan, Nikolai, Adra and Damian. The four dragons’ expressions were hard and without mercy.
“Lock him up,” she ordered, her face impassive as they hauled him to his feet. He screamed, incoherent rants about them obeying him, but no one paid him any notice. Finally, the doors shut behind his ranting and she turned to Lord Geranfall.
“Please open communications with the prince’s father,” she ordered. “Inform him of the situation and extend the offer for him to deal with his wayward child in Lithandea. But, please, make it clear that as far as we are concerned he is under the international equivalent of house arrest. He is never to leave Lithandea’s borders again, or I will have the twelve hunt him and put him down. Understood?”
Lord Geranfall grinned broadly. “Of course, Your Majesty. It will be my utmost pleasure.”
She turned to the sorcerer, who was prostrate before her, babbling softly. “…So, so sorry, Your Majesty… threatened to kill my family… my entire village… no choice…”
“There is always a choice.” Cadeyra nodded to Saul and Alex to pick the guy up. They did but he refused to look at Cadie, his face white with fear. “But you are not a dragon, so we will be turning you over to the warlock elders to deal with. With a recommendation that you be dealt with to the fullest extent of their laws.”
“Nooo…” he sobbed as, at another nod from her, the two blacks hauled him away as well.
“Well,” she smiled, looking around at the assembled court. “It appears we have no occasion to celebrate anymo—”
“If I could just stop you there, Your Majesty.”
Sawyer’s deep voice cut her off and she turned in surprise. Taking her hand, he turned her to face him and then, where everyone could see him, he went down on one knee. She gasped as he held his hand out, palm up. A swirl of dragon magic disturbed the air and a second later there was a small box in his hand. The lid popped open to reveal a glittering band to match the ring he’d given her before.
“Little bug,” he murmured. “Would you do me the honor of agreeing to become my wife?”
“Why little bug?” Cadeyra asked, nestled safely in Sawyer’s arms as they sat on the comfortable couch in her sitting room. The wedding reception had been hastily turned into an engagement party, for a real betrothal this time, which had gone on well into the early hours. She’d been on her feet for so long that Sawyer had threatened to carry her out over his shoulder. They hadn’t made it past the big couch in her suite, dropping into it in near exhaustion.
“Because every time I came in here and saw you cuddled up here, I thought of you as a little cuddlebug,” he admitted, a smile on his handsome face. “And all I wanted to do was cuddle up with you. Claim you as my own. You have no idea how hard it was for me to not touch you… not claim you for my own.”
She sighed as he kissed her temple, closing her eyes as her dragon purred in pleasure.
Ours, it rumbled, now and forever.
She smiled, turning her head to claim his lips in a kiss.
“Then I’ll just have to insist on cuddles every day.”
“Little bug,” he broke away to murmur against her lips, “your wish is my command.”
The End
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About the Author
Mina Carter is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of romance in many genres. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and a bossy cat.
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