Tempting the Dragon

by Karen Whiddon

  And then, as the soldiers carried her over to Breena, she opened her eyes and looked at him. Really looked at him. With a flare of hope, he wondered if she recognized him inside the Drakkor body, even though he knew that would be highly unlikely.

  When she turned away without giving the slightest hint of recognition, he swallowed back his disappointment.

  “A lake monster!” she exclaimed. “With wings!” Though her voice wavered from weakness, she pushed herself to a sitting position and stared, her blue eyes huge in her pale face. “Oh, my gosh! Not just one, but two of them!”

  The excitement in her tone made Rance grin, even though as a dragon it looked more like baring his teeth. Seeing her alive and well, his chest felt about to explode with love.

  And then Eve caught sight of Jade, sitting motionless on Rance’s back. “You can ride them?”

  “Yes.” Jade’s voice clogged with emotion. “Maybe someday you can, too.”

  “Oh, I’d love that!” Sighing happily, Eve’s bright gaze drank both Rance and Libby in before fluttering half-closed. She yawned, and lay back on her stretcher, tugging up her blanket to her chin before falling back asleep.

  “I used a sleeping spell,” Breena told him. “We don’t need her panicking when she goes through the portal. That’s scary enough when you know what’s going on. Plus, once you’re home, her slumber will give you both enough time to shape-shift back.”

  Rance dipped his big head in a nod of agreement.

  Breena strolled around to stand by Libby. With her elegant hand she stroked Libby’s nose. “Once I get things settled here, I’ll come visit you.” She looked up at Jade and smiled. “Don’t forget to call me when your cousin and her friends are ready to deliver.”

  “I won’t,” Jade answered.

  “Now, Rance.” Breena’s voice turned serious. “If you could contact the other Drakkor—or the ones you mentioned who are protecting them—and let them know the queen of the Fae would like to form an alliance, I would appreciate that.”

  Again, Rance nodded. He appreciated that she’d asked instead of attempting to dictate. Breena would make a good queen. The Fae had chosen wisely.

  “Are you ready?” Breena asked.

  “Not yet,” Rance replied. “What about Eve? You agreed to heal her as part of our deal.”

  Breena nodded. “I have kept my agreement. Along with the sleeping spell, I used magic. Her healing has already begun.”

  “Thank you.” Rance swallowed, struggling to keep his composure.

  “Now, are you all ready?”

  Both Rance and Libby nodded.

  “Jade?”

  “I’m ready,” Jade answered.

  “Then here we go. Eve will be sent with you.” She looked at Jade. “Hold out your hand.”

  When Jade did, a tiny crystal bell appeared.

  “Use this,” Breena said. “Whenever you need me, use it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are most welcome.” Smiling, Breena waved her fingers. Everything spun. Rance blinked, and they were back in the woods near the portal.

  * * *

  After climbing off Rance’s back, Jade gave his surprisingly soft hide one more lingering caress before moving away so he could change back into his human form. She crossed to where Eve still slept, though the stretcher had vanished and she lay on a pile of multicolored leaves on the forest floor.

  Moving closer, she studied the little girl, admiring her curly golden hair and delicate chin. Perfect skin, too, which made her wonder what Eve’s mother had looked like.

  She looked up to see Libby watching her and smiled. Libby dipped her huge head, her almond-shaped dragon eyes soft.

  Simultaneously, Libby and Rance initiated the change. Again, Jade watched for the dance of the pinprick of lights, missing their absence. She wondered why the shape-shifting process seemed so different in dragon and wolf.

  And then Rance stood before her, his powerful muscular body completely naked, his mysterious and sexy dragon tattoo emblazoned on his chest. She sucked in her breath, feeling the slow burn of desire low in her gut. Noticing, Rance grinned before turning and scooping up his clothes.

  Jade looked away while he dressed. No reason to torment herself any more than she had to.

  Stepping out from behind a tree, a fully clothed Libby hurried over to inspect the still-sleeping little girl. She placed her hand on Eve’s forehead and closed her eyes.

  “No fever,” she announced. “Let’s get her to my house and I’ll check her out thoroughly.”

  “I really think she needs to go back to the hospital,” Rance began. He stopped when Libby fixed him with one of her patented, no-nonsense looks.

  “Not yet,” Libby told him. “She’s halfling. I honestly believe the human side of her is helping the Drakkor blood overcome the disease.”

  Jade nodded. “I agree.” And if Libby was wrong, Jade had every intention of calling Breena and seeing if Fae magic could help. Honestly, she thought it could.

  “All right,” Rance finally agreed. “We’ll give it a shot. But, Libby, if you can’t help her, I’m taking her straight to the hospital.”

  “Agreed.” Libby’s radiant smile had him smiling back. Heart full, Jade watched the two of them for a moment before turning away. She didn’t want to take the chance that Rance might see her love for him blazing from her eyes. He had enough to worry about right now.

  “Are you ready?” she asked, glancing back over her shoulder in time to see Rance scoop Eve up in his arms.

  “Lead the way,” he said.

  Jade nodded and started forward. “Crud.” She turned and eyed the others. “We don’t have a car. Breena sent us through with her magic. There’s no way we can walk all the way back to Libby’s with you carrying Eve.”

  Jaw tight, Rance considered. “While I’d rather not have to, it can be done. Why don’t you see if you can contact Breena again and have her use her magic to send us back to Libby’s?”

  Hesitantly, Jade rang the crystal bell. It made a tinkling sound, like tiny wind chimes in the breeze.

  No sooner had she done this when Breena appeared. Rance explained what they needed.

  “Just say the word.” Her grin included all of them. “I thought of this issue right after I sent you through.”

  Rance gazed down at the still-slumbering child in his arms. “Will she wake up once she’s there?”

  “I’ll make sure of it. Here we go.” Breena wiggled her elegant fingers again.

  “My back porch,” Libby said, sounding satisfied. “Perfect.”

  A chilly breeze blew, stirring up the leaves. Out on the lake, small whitecaps were pushed toward shore by the wind.

  Jade blinked, still slightly disoriented. She looked for Rance, finding him right behind her. The dazed and worried expression on his face made her heart ache. “Let’s get Eve inside. I don’t want her to get a chill.”

  Once inside, Rance gently lowered Eve onto the couch. Her eyelashes fluttered and she opened her eyes, her forehead wrinkling as she frowned in confusion. “Papa?” She met his gaze and then looked past him. “Where’s Daddy?”

  Jade saw the effort it took Rance to keep his face expressionless. At least her question meant Cai had told the truth and the little girl hadn’t witnessed her father’s death.

  “He’s...” Rance took a deep breath, his big fingers moving the hair away from her tiny face. “He’s in heaven with the angels, sweetie. Just like your mommy.”

  Eve tilted her head, studying him. “Did I make him sick?”

  “Oh, no, baby. Never think that.” A flash of sorrow crossed Rance’s face. “He had something wrong with his heart. It had nothing to do with you.”

  “It didn’t?”

  “Not at all. I promise. And your
daddy wouldn’t want you to feel bad, either. He knows you’ll miss him and be sad, but he’d never want you to think it was your fault.”

  Despite his reassurances, Eve pushed to her elbows in an attempt to sit. “He worked too hard to take care of me. That’s why his heart gave out.” Expression troubled, Eve held Rance’s gaze. “He didn’t know I heard him, but he used to whisper to me all the time. He’d say if I died, his heart would break. He must have thought I’d died if his heart stopped working.”

  Tears streamed down her heart-shaped face. “I want to see my daddy,” she wailed.

  “And you will someday,” Jade interjected. “He will always be with you, watching over you and loving you.”

  “That’s not enough,” the little girl sobbed. “I want him here with me, not up in heaven with Mommy.”

  “You have me,” Rance rasped. “And I promise I will do my best to make sure you’re never alone.”

  “That’s what Daddy said too.” Eve rubbed at her swollen eyes, still sniffling. “How do I know I can believe you?”

  “Because I love you,” Rance answered.

  “Where’s my backpack?” Eve asked, her voice plaintive. “Daddy gave me a letter to give you if anything happened to him and I ever saw you again.”

  Jade located a small pink backpack and brought it to her. She unzipped it, and handed Rance a sealed envelope.

  Hands trembling, he opened it. Withdrawing a paper, he began to read.

  “What is it?” Eve asked.

  “He had an attorney prepare a document granting me legal custody of you.” He handed it to Jade, clearly unable to speak again. Covering his face in his hands, he bowed his head, his shoulders shaking.

  Immediately, Eve reached her thin little arms out and attempted to hug him. “I’m sorry, Papa. Don’t cry.” Looking past him, her teary gaze found Jade. “All I do is make people sad.”

  “No, honey.” Jade moved closer. Giving in to impulse, she wrapped her arms around both Rance and Eve. “Your daddy loved you and so does your papa.” She read the letter. Jim had relinquished custody of his daughter to Rance. The paperwork merely awaited Rance’s signature. The little girl considered her. “How do you know?”

  Wiping at his eyes, Rance turned and gave Jade a quick look of gratitude before turning back to Eve. “She knows because Jade understands love.”

  “She does?”

  “Yes.” Rance leaned into the hug, pulling Jade and Eve closer, though he was careful not to hurt Eve. “She’s been helping me try to find you. So has Libby over there.”

  Libby smiled softly, though she still kept her distance. “Believe me, you are loved, little one. And you are not alone.”

  Eve finally nodded, though her expression still seemed far too grave for one so young. “I know, but I still miss him.”

  “And you always will. That will never change. And I promise, I will not leave you.” Rance exhaled, clearly trying to find the right words to soothe his little girl’s broken heart, even temporarily.

  “You already did, once.” Eve sniffled.

  “When?”

  “You left me at the hospital. When my daddy took me out of there, he said you’d disappeared.”

  “I most certainly did not disappear,” Rance told her, his tone a mixture of hurt and shock. “You’d asked me to find you a lake creature, and I went looking. Your daddy knew that.”

  Apparently he’d found the right words to distract her. She nodded. “Is that why you brought the dragons to see me?”

  Jade noticed she hadn’t called them lake monsters again.

  “Yes.” Rance kissed Eve’s forehead. “You always said you wanted to see a picture of them. So I did one better. I let you see the real thing.”

  “Can I see them again?”

  This time when Rance glanced back at Libby, she laughed. “I imagine that can be arranged,” she said.

  “Now try and get some more rest.” Gently, Rance eased Eve back, cradling her head with a pillow. “Libby’s going to take a look at you and see if you’ve gotten a lot better or a little.”

  Eve’s eyes had already drifted closed. “A lot,” she mumbled. “I think a lot.”

  When Rance straightened, Jade stepped away, not wanting to intrude on the small family. She crossed the room to stand next to Libby, both of them riveted on Rance and his stepdaughter.

  “You love him, don’t you?” Libby murmured. “The question is rhetorical, since I’ve been inside your head, but Rance would have to be blind not to see it.”

  “Blind not to see what?” Rance asked as he moved away from a now-slumbering Eve.

  “Nothing,” Jade answered, her face heating.

  “Darlin’, you just blushed with your entire body.” Rance let his gaze roam over her, clearly intrigued. “Whatever you two were talking about must have been more than nothing.”

  Averting her eyes, Jade shrugged. Chuckling, Libby went to inspect Eve. Both Jade and Rance fell silent as Libby passed her hands over the little girl.

  “There’s nothing...” Libby let her words trail off. “Just a moment. Let me try this again.”

  Just then, in a flash of insight, Jade realized this could be dangerous to Libby. If Eve had the Drakkor illness, Libby could catch it. “Maybe you shouldn’t...” she began. Libby waved her to silence.

  “She’s fine.” Libby raised incredulous eyes to Rance. “No fever, her heart and blood and lungs appear normal. She’s a bit weak and has some minor digestive upset. But all in all, I’d say she’s going to be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” Jade knew Rance didn’t mean to reveal such depths of hope in his voice, but the longing was there nonetheless. The sound of it made her knees go weak.

  “I’m sure,” Libby answered. “Eve is going to be okay.”

  Still, Rance didn’t appear convinced. “Maybe I should get her checked out at the hospital just in case.”

  Shaking her head, Libby shrugged. “That’s up to you, of course. But you’d better come up with an explanation for how a supposedly fatal illness has just disappeared.”

  “Good point.”

  Unable to help herself, Jade hugged him, letting herself revel for a moment in the feel of his rock-hard body. “Let yourself believe. This is something that should be celebrated.”

  “I agree.” Libby flashed a happy smile at the two of them. “I don’t have any champagne, but I have some fresh apple cider. Will that work?”

  “Sure.”

  “Great.” Bustling off to get it, Libby hummed as she disappeared into her kitchen.

  Though every nerve, every fiber of her being, was overly aware of Rance standing next to her, Libby kept her attention focused on Eve. “You’re her family now,” she said softly.

  “Yes, I know. I want to have some kind of service for Jim, even if it’s private. He didn’t have any other family, so I was all he had.”

  She nodded, wondering if Rance had yet realized exactly how much his life was going to change. She hoped to be a part of that life, but Rance had never made any secret of his plans to leave Forestwood.

  While she never could. Not as long as she was Guardian to Libby. Plus, while she had no doubt of her feelings for Rance, she wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about her. They were friends, certainly. But whether or not he felt more for her, she hadn’t a clue.

  “You’re going to make a wonderful father,” Libby said, peeking her head out of the kitchen doorway, her voice soft.

  “Thank you.” Raising his head, Rance smiled at her, before turning back to Jade. “You know Jade, I’ve been a fool. The two of us can do anything. Eve is going to need a mother, too. Do you think you might be up to the task?”

  Stunned, Jade stared. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m asking you to marry me, darlin’.” His smile wi
dened. “You’re such a giving, generous woman. One of a kind. I think you and I would make great parents for Eve.”

  He spoke like he was hiring a nanny.

  Behind him, Jade saw Libby’s eyes widen. Refusing to acknowledge the awful, gut-wrenching hurt, Jade shook her head before slowly backing away. At least now she knew how he felt. “No, thank you,” she said, her tone as impersonal and polite as she could make it. “But I wish you the best of luck in your search.”

  Turning around, she managed to walk to the door. Not run, as her every instinct urged her to do. But a stately and hopefully dignified walk, giving no one a clue how badly her heart was breaking. Once she’d opened the door, she managed to close it quietly rather than slam it like she really wanted to do.

  Giving. Generous. One of a kind. The words echoing in her head, she got in her car, started it and headed home. All the while refusing to even think about what had just happened. What Rance had said. How he apparently really saw her. Once she got home, she intended to head to her bedroom and lock the door. Then, and only then, would she let herself fall to pieces.

  Chapter 19

  Staring after Jade, Rance scratched his head. Genuinely puzzled and hurt, he eyed Libby. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, still feeling fairly confident he could fix things once he understood exactly what had happened. “I know she cares about me. And about Eve. I guess Jade doesn’t believe in marriage? Is that why she has an ex-fiance?”

  Rather than answer him, Libby only eyed him, her unsympathetic expression completely at odds with her usually warm personality. “You don’t get it, do you?” she finally asked. “Think about what you just said, then tell me you don’t understand Jade’s reaction.”

  He did as she’d asked. After all, he’d been happily married before and he thought he had a good understanding about women. Violet had never been one for flowery words, but he knew all women weren’t the same. Jade’s down to earth attitude had clued him in on what he believed she’d want to hear.

  “I complimented her. Called her generous and giving. Both are true.” Though he didn’t want to face the rest of it, he knew he had to. “And then I asked her to become my wife. That alone should tell her how I feel about her.”