by Rinelle Grey
“And you have an idea on that, don’t you?” Ostrian’s voice wasn’t any less smarmy. “The little human has hung out with dragons for a week, and now she thinks she knows all about us.”
Karla put her hands on her hips. The openly defiant expression on her face just made her look more beautiful. “You’re not so different to us, no matter how much you think you are.”
Ostrian opened his mouth to answer back, but Taurian put up his hand. “Enough,” he said firmly. “I will not have anyone disagree with my mate.”
Karla was the one who glared at him this time. “I do not need you to protect me, Taurian. If I’m to be your mate, let my comments stand on their own merit. Ultrima spoke to me as a leader and treated me with respect. I don’t need to be patronised—by you or your clan.”
Taurian’s heart swelled with pride at her response. She was right, she wasn’t so different from a dragon at all. If only his clan could see that. Well, she had a far better chance of showing them than he did. He nodded. “Carry on then.”
Karla turned to Ostrian and raised an eyebrow.
With his prince stepping back, the elder let her have it with all his supressed anger. “You don’t know the first thing about dragons, or what we believe in. If our prince mates with you, then you will bring our whole clan down. First, you brought humans into our lair and let them know where we are so they can hunt us, and now you want to prevent us from creating a dragon that could save the clan. Finally, you put us at risk by letting Ultrima think he can convince us of anything. If Prince Taurian mates with you, it is the beginning of the end.”
A few dragons looked worried at Ostrian’s speech. It took all Taurian’s willpower not to step in and make them all believe as he did, that Karla wouldn’t destroy them, she would save them.
But even though he could force them to appear to agree with him, Karla was the one who had to convince them.
He made himself sit back and watch.
“I know that change is scary,” Karla said quietly. There was a hint of uncertainty in her own face as she looked around the clan, including them all in her speech. “It will be hard for me to learn your ways and learn how to fit in here, but I intend to try. But I will also remain who I am. I believe I can do both.
“I believe humans have something to offer dragons too,” she continued. “If you can get over your fear, then we can share food, and equipment, and even weapons, if they are needed. Don’t forget, humans saved you today.”
“We wouldn’t have needed saving if you hadn’t been here,” Ostrian said flatly.
“Wouldn’t you?” Karla demanded. “If it weren’t for me, Taurian would still be asleep, or worse yet, dead. You might not have had Ultrima on your front door, but you would still be stuck in the same rut you’ve been in for the last three hundred years. With my help, with my people’s help, you have a chance to move forwards.”
“Not that far,” Ostrian pointed out. “Even if Ultrima keeps his word, and I have my doubts he will, then we’re still no closer to waking the rest of the princes and princesses. A human won’t fool Ultrima this time. He’ll be waiting for that.”
“So we go in with weapons and we hold him off,” Karla said firmly. “We can do it.”
Her certainty was still a surprise to Taurian. She’d been so against killing and fighting, she’d even seemed to think she was above all that. Now she was endorsing it. Then again, he’d watched her in that battle, directing her humans without reservations. So had his people.
She was starting to win them over. He could see the looks dragons were exchanging in the crowd. If she could convince Ostrian, she’d have them all.
“Are your people prepared to risk their lives for us? Because even with weapons, some might die.”
Karla looked over at the humans, who stood by themselves on the edge of the dragons. Bruce now stood next to them, his arm in a makeshift sling. “Who will stand with me to free the rest of the dragons?” Karla asked.
“I will!” Lisa called out immediately, “especially if I can wake one of them!”
The others added their ascent just as readily. They were a rag-tag bunch. The young man with his explosive fire tubes, the wizened old farmers with their guns, and the strange woman with her handbag, who surprised Taurian the most. Even Karla’s pasty ex-lifemate nodded, despite the fact that he’d been wounded.
Taurian had expected a little hesitation from the frail, delicate humans. But they didn’t seem to have any idea how fragile their human bodies were.
No matter how weak they seemed, they had heart. That, surely, would win his people over?
Ostrian just stared at Karla. Had she beaten all his arguments?
Was this over, and he could get on with the important business of mating?
No, of course not.
“How can we trust any of you? Those of you mated to dragons maybe, if we die, you do, but these others? How do we know they won’t use their weapons on us? We should leave this lair, and choose a new one, far away from humans and dragons alike.”
Ostrian’s voice sounded tired, as though his arguments were weakening.
Taurian hoped Karla didn’t mind him stepping in now. This was about his leadership as much as her acceptance.
“We will leave this lair,” he said firmly. He looked at Karla hoping she didn’t mind the interrupting, her smile telling him she didn’t. “But not to hide. It is time the Rian clan stopped hiding. We will return to our rightful lair, where I was born. We will make it our own again.”
Mesrian gasped and her face paled. “But what if Ultrima is lying? What if he comes after us there?” She clutched her hands together in front of her, making Taurian realise how old she was becoming. As though all this had aged her even further.
“Then we will be waiting for him,” Karla said firmly. “Ultrima gave in now because he fears us, and he will leave us alone for the same reason.”
Her certainty eased a few of the lines around Mesrian’s face. “Could we really do that? Could we really have the chance to go home?”
“We can,” Taurian said firmly. “And we will.” He looked at Karla. “So long as you don’t mind waiting to complete our mating ceremony?”
There was a flash of disappointment on her face, the expression sending heat down to his groin. He understood instantly. Waiting would be hard. All he wanted to do was tear all her clothes off and make her his. Now.
He also wanted this moment to be special. And he couldn’t imagine anything more special that making her his in his family’s ancestral home.
Karla’s expression changed with his. She smiled warmly, and nodded. “I think our mating will be all the sweeter for being in your home. Let’s do it.”
Taurian looked at Ostrian, but any resistance he’d had was gone.
It was done. Settled.
Time to go home.
*****
Since everyone had packed earlier, the move was simple. It took only a few hours to get everyone over to their new home. Or old home.
The breeze ruffled Taurian’s hair through the wide opening that that rose above the surrounding scrub. He looked around the cavern, enjoying the wide open space, so different from the underground lair. This was where he was meant to be, up high, able to survey the land and feel the wind on his skin, even when he wasn’t flying.
Their belongings, such as they were, were scant and barely noticeable in the huge space. That would change. He intended to see that Rian clan rose to their former glory. A task that would be all the easier with Karla at his side.
He smiled over at her. “What do you think? Do you like our new home?”
“I think it will be great, with a few modifications.” Her eyes twinkled. “One thing being we need a way for humans to get up here.”
Taurian frowned. One of the reasons for choosing this lair had been for its inaccessibility by humans. But then again, that was a long time ago and things had changed. And the time it had taken for grumbling dragons to carry the humans up wa
sn’t ideal. “What do you have in mind?” he asked.
Karla frowned. “A ladder would be simple, but not particularly safe. How about some sort of tunnel with stairs, like Ultrima has in his lair?”
Taurian frowned at the mention of his enemy. And he was a little surprised. “Ultrima has a way for humans to enter his lair? Why would he do that?”
“How do you think I got in there?” Karla shrugged. “No idea why he does, but he clearly does. Maybe he’s not as concerned about humans as you are? Maybe he works with them sometimes.”
Her answers didn’t make much sense. Then again, none of the things Ultrima had done recently made much sense. Taurian puzzled over it for a moment, then gave up. He would worry about Ultrima later. Right now, he had more important things on his mind.
“Shall we hold our mating ceremony tomorrow?” He smiled suggestively at Karla. The instant he thought about the ceremony, he grew hard. He wanted her so much, he wasn’t sure if he could wait even that long.
To his surprise, Karla blushed. “Do we need a mating ceremony? You said it lasts a whole week, and I’m not sure I can wait that long. Unless, wouldn’t the bond be completed when we sleep together on the first night anyway? Since we’ve already slept together twice? If that’s the case, I suppose I could handle it.”
The teasing grin Karla gave him at the end of her words was almost enough to tempt him. He wanted her right now. Skipping the mating ceremony would mean they could complete their mating tonight. She would be his that much sooner. Even waiting until tomorrow was torture.
But there were a few major reasons not to. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to make you mine right now,” he promised, “but it would be better for the long term if my clan sees and participates in the mating ceremony. It will make it more real for them, and harder for them to ignore. But,” he promised, his voice lowering, “we don’t need a full week’s ceremony. That actually rarely happens, since most dragons have slept together at least once before making that commitment. There’s a truncated ceremony, for just this occasion. Only one day, I promise.”
Karla tilted her head to one side and considered, a half smile on her face. “I suppose I can concede that,” she agreed. “Since you make such a convincing argument. But we do still have one issue.”
Her words struck fear into Taurian’s heart, despite the fact that she was smiling. What possible issue could there still be? “What?” he asked.
Karla smiled. “I don’t have a mating costume.”
Taurian smiled with relief. “That’s not a problem. Given the circumstances, I’m sure our clan will accept your normal clothes. In fact, it is better if you wear human clothes, to remind them that’s still who you are, despite mating with a dragon.”
Karla looked at him thoughtfully. “That’s true,” she said slowly. “And it gives me an idea. What time would the mating ceremony start tomorrow?”
What was she thinking? Taurian was intrigued. But a woman’s mating costume was technically none of her mate’s business. “Midday usually. Is there something I can help with?”
“Yes,” Karla said with a grin. “I need to go into town.”
Chapter 11
Karla stared around the bridal gown store. It was the only one in town, and the selection wasn’t huge. Given that she needed something off the rack, without alterations, she wasn’t convinced she was going to find it here.
“Come on, we don’t have much time.” Gretchen moved to the nearest rack, and started flipping through dresses.
Lisa though, took a different tack. “When you imagine your wedding, what do you look like?”
Karla stared at Lisa for a few moments, then shrugged and closed her eyes. When she imagined walking down the aisle to Taurian, what would she be wearing? The picture in her mind was momentarily diverted as she tried to take it out of a hall and put it in a sandy cave. Dragons probably didn’t walk down the aisle either.
Focus Karla, she told herself. The surroundings didn’t matter. What was she wearing?
This was a fairy tale wedding, she needed a fairy tale dress.
Big, she could imagine that. A huge skirt. None of those slim fitting dresses that seemed so popular lately. She wanted to be noticed. “One like that.” Karla pointed to a dress on a mannequin.
“That gives us a starting place,” Lisa said. “Let’s start looking.”
Lisa and Gretchen pulled out several dresses, and ushered Karla into the dressing room.
For a small shop, there were way too many choices. Karla tried on dress after dress. Some she liked, but they weren’t in her size, so they had to rule them out. Others caused some severe laughing amongst her and her friends.
“Here, try this one.”
Lisa handed her a dress, and Karla frowned. It looked plain and uninteresting. None of the beading and embellishments the others had. But by this point, she didn’t have the energy to argue. She pulled the dress on and Lisa zipped it up.
Karla turned around, the dress swinging against her ankles, and stared.
The plain bodice fitted perfectly, accentuating her figure, and the long skirt wasn’t plain at all. It was covered in three layers of a floaty, semi-transparent, shimmery fabric, that looked like a cloud. Karla felt like she was floating down a rainbow.
Lisa’s eyes were round too, and she looked up at Karla and raised an eyebrow.
“This is the one,” Karla said with certainty, and a huge helping of relief. Dress shopping was over.
But it wasn’t. They still had to pay for the dress, find some underwear and shoes, and dresses for Lisa and Gretchen.
It was nearly eleven thirty by the time they arrived back at the cliff. Karla stared up at it, wondering how they were going to let Taurian know they’d arrived. She was going to need to get that dragon a phone!
They hadn’t stood there for more than a minute before he appeared at the edge. He looked over at them, waved, then disappeared again.
The next time they saw him, he was in dragon form. Karla watched, her heart swelling with love and excitement, as he launched himself into the air and glided down to them.
“I was beginning to wonder if you’d decided not to come back.”
His dragon voice, in her head, was lower and slightly concerned. Karla put a hand on the side of his neck and leaned in to kiss his scales.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I just needed to find the perfect thing to wear.”
“You’re already perfect. Clothes are irrelevant. They’re probably not going to survive the night anyway.”
Karla felt her face burn, glad that her friends couldn’t hear his voice. If only she could talk back to him, that would be pretty awesome.
Jayrian and another dragon landed next to Gretchen and Lisa, and they all climbed on and were carried up the cliff to the lair.
With time running out, Karla and the girls headed into the room they had shared last night, and began to get dressed. There were no mirrors here, so Karla had to remember what she’d looked like back in the store. “Here, I’ll take a picture,” Gretchen offered, and pulled out her phone.
Karla looked at the photo, eagerness welling up in her. She expected to feel some sort of doubts, or at least a little uncertainty, but there was no hesitation at all. Only pure excitement and anticipation.
“Are you decent in there?” her father’s voice called from outside the room.
“Yes, come on in,” Karla called back.
Her father’s eyes misted up when he saw her. “You look beautiful,” he said softly. “If only your mother was here to see you.”
Karla’s eyes filled with tears too. “I wish she was, Dad. But I’m very, very glad that you are.” She came across the room and gave him a hug, the huge skirt almost swallowing him.
After giving her a tight hug, her father held her at arms-length, to have a look. “You look beautiful. Are you ready to go?”
Karla nodded, suddenly unable to speak around the lump in her throat.
Her father held out his arm and Karla took it, glad of the support as they walked down the sandy hallway. At least she’d had the sense to wear flat sandals, not high heels. That would never have worked in this sand.
When they walked out into the main room, Taurian’s face lit up in a smile. He straightened up from where he’d been talking to some dragon children and crossed the room towards her.
He’d changed clothes too. His leather pants covered his full leg, with criss-cross laces down the side showing an inch of skin through them. That was probably how they’d managed to get them on, since they were even tighter than his shorts had been.
Not that she was objecting.
A leather tunic with an etched image of a dragon breathing fire on the front covered his chest and his black hair was slicked back.
Karla’s blood quickened at the sight. Soon he would be her mate. Forever.
She released her father’s arm and half walked, half ran towards Taurian.
There was a cheer from the surrounding dragons. The sound warmed Karla, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Taurian to look at them.
As soon as his hands touched hers, his fire ran through her, as though her skin had just been waiting for him to set it alight. Karla began to wonder how long this ceremony took, and whether she could keep her hands off Taurian until it was complete.
Apparently though, hands off wasn’t necessary. Taurian tucked her in close to his body, his hand around her waist, and whispered in her ear, “That is a beautiful dress. I can’t wait to rip it off you.”
Karla’s face burned, half from embarrassment, half from desire. “Why are we waiting then?” she whispered back.
Taurian gave a laugh, and looked down at her, his eyes dancing. “I have no idea. Something about including the clan I believe?”
Karla gave a giggle, and her breath hitched. “Well, let’s get it over and done with then.”
She wasn’t really too sure what was involved. The little bit of the ceremony she’d seen with Wayrian and Taurian indicated it was pretty low key. Eat some food, chat with the clan members, then go to bed. She was pretty sure she could handle that.
