“You’ll wake your sister,” Myst warned the baby. But her voice was tender. “And then you’ll hear a real hullabaloo, Iliana. Hilde is always hungry!”
Elsa pulled away from the nipple and her green eyes closed. Iliana tickled her feet until she opened them and took the bottle again. “I see what you mean. Elsa is a sleepy one!”
“She is. Oh, Iliana, it is so good to see you again. How I have longed for you. But you have not told me how you came to weep diamonds, as dragons do. Or why we are so changed in appearance.”
Iliana blushed. But after all, this was her sister. The person who knew all her secrets and with whom she had shared so many years of confidences. She lowered her voice and began to tell Myst how Jareth had claimed her on the tundra.
The door opened and Jareth poked his head in. He was beaming. Behind him a brisk female voice urged him to enter. Myst shrank in on herself. She seemed almost to use Gerta as a shield. Everyone spoke at once.
“I see you found your sister.”
“I don’t wish to be inhospitable, but my brother lies at death’s door. It is time you took these nixies away.”
“Hush, Elsa.”
“Gerta took all her bottle.”
“We won’t stay the night.”
Myst looked imploringly between Iliana and Jareth. The third infant began to wail and wave her plump limbs around. Elsa caught sight of her mother and set up a determined shout. Gerta responded to Myst’s tension by bursting into tears. Chaos reigned.
Darius strode in. “Give me Gerta,” he said to Myst. “Freya, you may as well take Elsa. Hilde will cry until she’s fed, but she has to learn to wait until her diaper is changed.”
It took several minutes before they were all taken care of. Iliana kept tight hold of Myst. “Say thank you, and good bye,” she said to her sister. “You are coming home with us.”
“Am I?” Myst asked.
“Yes,” said Darius. “Get your stuff.”
“I have nothing I wish to take,” said Myst. “Except Iliana’s tears.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Darius~
The sound of Jareth’s helicopter died away in the distance. Darius coaxed Elsa to finish her bottle. Freya fed Hilde. On a blanket at her mother’s feet, Gerta practiced flipping from her belly to her back. A certain measure of peace descended on their home.
“Now that Myst is gone, will you allow Brand to awaken?” Darius inquired dryly.
“You know?” gasped Freya.
“That you enchanted your brother? Yes. And why. But is it fair to Valdar?”
“He could have killed Brand,” said Freya sternly. “He deserves to suffer a little.”
“Perhaps. But he is almost mad with grief.” His brother-in-law was now as violently remorseful as he had been violently jealous. Darius liked Valdar, but a little moderation in his temperament would be easier on everyone.
“As soon as Hilde has drunk her fill, we will check on Brand,” Freya promised. “But even if I wake him, he will still have a concussion and need to lie still for many days.”
Her warning surprised Darius. “I see. But he will recover?”
“Probably. If he remains quiet and does not get into any more fights.” Freya’s voice was tart with exasperation. “Thank Thor that the nixie is gone and is now someone else’s problem.”
“Hmm. I think we need to find Brand and Valdar wives of their own.”
“Why don’t you find them brides, husband?”
“Me? I know many bachelors, Freya. Single women? Not so much.”
“They need not be virgins,” she said.
He rolled his eyes. “Just females who are willing to submit to a couple of unreconstructed Viking males for the rest of their natural lives. Sure. Piece of cake. The world is teeming with such women. Sweden in particular. We’ll advertise on the internet.”
“If there are no such women, then they will just have to change,” she said decisively.
Brand and Valdar would become metrosexual men when Hel froze over. Oh, right. Hel was frozen. Darius began to turn ideas over in his mind.
CHAPTER FORTY
Iliana~
“You don’t mind that Myst will live with us?” Iliana asked anxiously as she and Jareth prepared for bed.
He held the sides of her thin cherry-colored nightgown away from her body and leered at her.“ Where else would she live?” he asked. “This gown is even better than I thought it would be.”
“What?”
“I like you in this nightgown even more than I thought I would. Your breasts and hips look totally luscious.”
Good to know. “And you don’t mind about Myst?”
“Consider your sister both betrothal gift and wedding present in one, sweetheart. Besides, I don’t think Myst will live with us for long.” He kissed Iliana and she forgot about her newly-found sister.
But when he raised his head to strip off his shirt and pants, she remembered her worry about Myst. “What do you mean she won’t live long? Is she dying?”
“Myst will live a long time, I hope. At least as long as you and I. I only meant that she will probably want to marry and live with her husband.”
“I don’t think she wants a husband. She doesn’t want to be bound to anyone. Particularly after what happened on Bradur.” Iliana turned out the ceiling light and slipped under the bedcovers.
“Brand will be along to claim his bride,” Jareth said calmly.
“What? I thought he was dying! Besides Myst says he only wanted her to be his bed slave.”
“She’s in love with him, isn’t she?” He removed his socks and joined her in the bed.
“She says not.” But in her heart, Iliana doubted her sister’s words. “Jareth, have you had another vision?”
“I think so. In Darius and Freya’s kitchen. Brand will not die. And he will come seeking Myst.”
“Oh. Shouldn’t we tell my sister?”
“Whatever for? We’ll let them find their destiny while we enjoy ours. Now come here and let’s try to make a baby before we go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow – the Eldest wishes to meet you.”
It was hard not to be anxious about that magic celfone of Jareth’s. He had explained it to her, more than once, but it still seemed like pure sorcery to carry a seeing-stone in your pocket. And although Jareth loved him, his uncle sounded stern and fierce. “I only hope your uncle likes me.”
“He will. Particularly if you are pregnant.”
“You’re teasing me!”
“A little. Uncle Thor will love you. He mainly wishes to thank you for saving my life from the countess – and helping me to gain the use of my talent. I would never have guessed that he has always expected me to be a seer – as he is.”
“Is he?”
“It was not chance that brought me to Severn Island, Iliana, but the Eldest’s command. I believe he sent me to find you. Or my talent. Which comes to the same thing.”
“Really?”
“Really. Also he believed I was in particular peril after I was waylaid by sharks while attempting a night swim for the Navy.”
“Sharks!” Her heart almost stopped. “Why weren’t you eaten?”
“I don’t really know. But I survived. Although I doubt the countess expected me to.”
“She wished to kill you and prevent your talent from maturing. I think that is why she stunted your growth.”
“The Eldest agrees with you,” he said. “So when he had a vision, he dispatched me to Severn Island.”
“To me,” she said happily.
“To you. Not that I think Uncle Thorvald foresaw everything that has happened to us. Certainly not our trip to Hel. But that is the trouble with visions. They do not speak plainly.” He kissed her soundly. “You have no idea what a relief it is to me to know that I am not going insane.”
“Of course you’re not.” She stroked his arm gently. “Whatever gave you such an idea?”
“A lifetime of hallucinations,” he returned dry
ly.
“Not hallucinations, Jareth, visions corrupted by the evil countess. There is no madness in you, my love.” She was very certain. Had her soul not soared with his? If it had been tainted with insanity, she would have sensed it.
“I’m glad you think so. However, tonight I am mad with lust.”
“Be serious,” she scolded.
“Come kiss me and see if you can make me serious.”
She caught his mood and laughed too. “What if I prefer you full of jokes?”
“Do you?”
“Before you would smile, but underneath you were always sad. Now you are always merry, even when you are most serious. No, that isn’t quite right. That makes you sound foolish. Yet I don’t know how to put it better.”
He pulled her into his arms. “I know what you mean, dear heart. I have always feared every moment that something terrible would happen. And now that weight is lifted from my heart, and I have the incomparable joy of loving you. For the first time since my parents died, I am truly happy and confident my happiness will last.”
“I’m glad.”
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“I have my soul and my sister back. I belong to you, and you to me. You are going to give me a baby and a warm house. I have my heart’s desire,” she assured him. It was true. She had everything she had wished for and more. Because before she had not known that such a feeling as all-encompassing love existed.
“But do you love me?”
“Of course. Did I not tell you so this morning?”
“In the throes of climax.”
“I do not know what this climax is, but I threw nothing,” she assured him solemnly. “But I know that I told you that I loved you, and I will never lie to you.”
But she was talking to a happy fool, for her fated mate was laughing so hard he could scarcely have heard her words. She felt his merriment vibrating through her whole body when he claimed her mouth with his kiss.
Their love enveloped them both in a lasting warmth. She had found her home at last, and tonight they would make a child. A family. “I love you,” she whispered.
“Me too.”
And then she was too busy to think about anything but pleasure.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Jareth~
Organ music swelled. The doors of the old chapel on Lind Island opened. Iliana walked in on the arm of his cousin Theo and began her walk along the blue runner. Örlogskapten Theodor Lindorm looked more dazzling than the bride in his dress uniform and the light blue sash of a Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim. The glittering star of the order blazed on the bow on his right hip.
No, that wasn’t true. Theo might look magnificent and outshine the groom. But even veiled, Iliana dazzled his eyes and made his heart beat like a wild thing.
Despite her growing waist, she looked gorgeous in her long white gown and lacy veil. Aunt Inge had lent her the one she had worn to her own wedding. Lexi had designed the wedding dress to go with the cascading veil. The lights of the chapel made the thousands of diamond chips sewn into the dress and veil twinkle like stars.
Myst walked behind her sister wearing a long gown of Lindorm blue. The bachelors in the small congregation caught their breath. She was adorable with her hair piled up and studded with diamonds. Lexi followed, looking just as breathtaking. They both carried bouquets of spring flowers.
Cousin Darius was sitting at the back with his wife and daughters. His brothers-in-law each dandled an infant in their arms, as he did. He spoke out of the corner of his mouth and poked an elbow into Brand’s ribcage. Brand subsided onto their pew so hard the oak rattled. Good. Myst was not to be won without wooing.
At Iliana’s earnest entreaty, they had dispensed with a large wedding. Which meant only a hundred or so guests. Compared to five or six hundred, that was a small wedding by Lindorm standards, but it meant the chapel was stuffed to the rafters.
He had asked his squad mate Leif to be his best man. It was one of the joys of being free of his demon that he was now unafraid to form close friendships with his cousins. Sensing his impatience to claim his bride, Leif winked at him.
The music reached a crescendo. At signal from an unseen hand, the congregation rose and began to sing a rousing dragon anthem to the bride. He and Leif joined in.
“Myst is a virgin, isn’t she?” Leif asked under cover of the singing.
Jareth nodded.
Iliana and Theo walked together to the altar. Theo placed her hand in his and stood beside Leif. Iliana squeezed his hand three times. He squeezed back. It was their private code for, ‘I love you.’
The officiant beamed and waited for Lexi and Myst to arrange themselves.
He opened his book. Iliana turned her veiled face to Jareth’s. Love swelled his heart. The officiant began the service.
Jareth vowed to love Iliana always. She vowed to love him. They exchanged rings. He lifted her veil as the officiant instructed and gazed into the beguiling hazel eyes of his beloved.
“Gotcha,” she whispered as their lips met.
She was right. They were both well and truly snared– for both their lifetimes.
<<<<>>>>
Dragon’s Confession
Lords of the Dragon Islands Book 0
When Victor Lindorm met gorgeous curvy Ingrid at his Uncle’s house party, he was smitten. So he bespelled her. Big mistake. Next morning, even though she was now a dragoness, his beautiful no-longer-virginal mate wept tears of diamonds because she didn’t want to get married. So he did the only thing he could do: He let her go.
Six years later, now Kapten Lindorm of the Swedish Royal Navy, he has permission from his billionaire dragon clan to resume his interrupted courtship. Victor is honor bound not to claim Ingrid by right of capture. But his dragoness bride has charms that appeal to many mateless dragons. And one is stalking her.
Can Alpha Male Victor keep his dominant dragon in check long enough to win a second chance at this passionate champion skier’s love? He knows he can satisfy Ingrid in bed, but her heart is the prize he’s after. How can he explain his feelings when so many misunderstanding lie between them?
Spice alert: Dragon and dragoness set the sheet alight. The earthy love of these two shifters will fulfill all your emotional and sensual needs.
This 25k novella reintroduces the Lords of the Dragon Islands series. It is a standalone and has a HEA and no cliffhangers.
Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
* * *
CHAPTER ONE
Six years earlier, Chateau Lind, Loire du Bois
He pulled her behind the door where no one could see them and planted an inexpert kiss on her lips. Ingrid von Schwalm wound her arms around Victor’s neck and kissed him back. When his tongue asked for entrance, she opened her mouth and tasted him.
It wasn’t her first kiss. Not even her first French kiss. But apparently it was Victor Lindorm’s first. But he made up for his lack of skill with husky murmurs and brute enthusiasm. When he raised his head his eyes were unfocused. She wasn’t a giggler, but she giggled.
He placed her hand over his heart. “You are the one,” he declared.
Ingrid peeked up at him through her lashes. He was so intense. In the last two days this blond giant had tugged her into a dozen of the alcoves and niches that formed part of this sixteenth century castle. Each time he had uttered versions of the same desperate phrase.
Her trouble was that she was beginning to believe him. Could fate intend her to find her one true love already? Was she destined to marry a dragon after all? To become a dragoness? Her father would be ecstatic. She needed to be careful of this handsome boy.
Victor’s phone beeped. He turned scarlet and answered it promptly. He spoke rapidly and respectfully into it before turning it off. “I’m sorry, Ingrid. I have duties. Forgive me. Do you know the way to where you were going?”
She nodded. “The Chateau Lind is a big place, but no larger than the Schloss Schwalm. I’ll be fine.”
He bowed as if she were a princess. Pressed a hard kiss on her lips. “Later.” He was gone before she had her eyes open.
That evening after dinner when the house guests were gathered in Lady Lindorm’s music room for an impromptu recital, Victor sang a credible accompaniment to one of his aunts’ piano playing. He executed the lyrics in flawless German. It was an old love song, but he sang it for her, in the language of her homeland. At least that’s what her heart thought.
Vater nudged her when the song was over and a laughing group of giant Lindorms were arranging themselves into a chorus. “Would you fetch my reading glasses, please?” he asked.
“Of course.” She glanced at the front of the room. Victor was already gone. He kept telling her that he had duties. And it seemed to be true. He was always vanishing. She smiled as she slipped past the rest of the audience and went for her father’s glasses.
Victor followed her up the curving staircase. “Where are you headed? This isn’t the way to your room.”
“My father needs his glasses.”
“I will come with you.”
“Don’t you have duties?”
He shrugged. “I have to play the violin later. Do you know where your father’s room is?”
She grinned at him. “Lady Lindorm put him in the Chinese room.”
His brows rose. Obviously he had recognized that the Graf von Schwalm was a highly honored guest. “I know a shortcut.”
Of course he did. “Why would I want to rush?” she teased.
He let her pick up Vater’s spectacle case and start back to the music room. On the second floor landing, he tugged her behind the drawn curtains of the bay windows. The gold satin lining enclosed a tiny space with the windowpanes forming the three other walls. Victor’s big hands pulled her against him. He brushed kisses all over her face. Tender, exploratory, reverent kisses.
He stopped with a huge sigh of regret. “We need to get you back, before they notice.”
“Who?”
Dragon Ensnared_A Viking Dragon Fairy Tale Page 14
