by Rinelle Grey
Brad pulled back for a moment and looked down at her, his eyes dark. “I was so afraid that I wouldn’t see you again.”
The raw need in his voice echoed the need in her heart. “I was too,” she admitted. For a moment, she let herself remember that scared feeling, how powerless it had made her feel. Then she pushed it away and forced a smile. “But we don’t need to be afraid. This, what we have together, it’s stronger than any force that might try to push us apart. We can make it work.”
Brad gave her a lopsided smile. “Yeah, we seem to have. I’m not quite sure how, but somehow, it all seemed to turn out all right in the end.” He shook his head, as though he couldn’t quite figure it out.
“If you trust in our love for each other, then you’ll realise that there is nothing we can’t overcome together,” Lyrian said firmly. “That’s what love is, it’s determination to let nothing stand in the way of being together. A determination so great that there’s nothing it can’t overcome.”
Brad stared at her for a moment, his eyes searching hers. “But what if there’s something out there it can’t overcome?” His voice was doubtful, but Lyrian could hear a note of longing in it. A wish to believe, even if he struggled to. “There are so many things that could come between us, the police nearly did. It was just luck that it all worked out the way it did.”
“Luck, or determination? There’s a fine line between the two.” Lyrian gave him a smile. It was a hard concept for him, she could see that. And it might take him time to realise that it was true. But he already knew in his heart, his actions proved that. “Was there any moment when we were apart when you were prepared to give up on trying to get back to me?”
Brad shook his head immediately, without hesitation. “It wouldn’t have mattered what happened, I would have spent the rest of my life trying to get back to you.”
Lyrian smiled. “See. That’s determination. That’s why you are here. Not luck. We make our own luck.”
Brad caressed her cheek, staring into her eyes, his expression caught between hopeful and disbelieving. “You really think so?”
“I do,” Lyrian said firmly. She kissed him, letting every bit of the way she felt about him, how determined she was to never to let him go, flood through her. Hopefully he could feel her determination. Hopefully it would help tip the scales towards believing.
He kissed her back with a passion that matched her own, something, at least, certain in his mind. Love swelled in Lyrian’s heart.
They fell back onto the furs in a tangle, their lips never parting.
Lyrian ran her hands over his body, unable to get enough of the feel of him, of his abs under her hand, of the strong muscles in his arms as he pulled her hard against him. She could feel the heat of his body through his clothes, warming her in a way she never expected to experience.
Somehow, she wasn’t even quite sure how, they divested each other of their clothes. Lyrian groaned as she pressed herself up against Brad. The lack of clothes was better, closer, but it wasn’t enough.
Luckily, he seemed to feel as impatient as she did. He rolled over on top of her, his weight pinning her to the furs, and Lyrian moaned with need. “Brad,” she whispered. “My mate.”
She still found it hard to believe that he was hers. It had been a long journey, and there had been times when she’d doubted that they would make it to this point, but every struggle, every moment of hardship and doubt, had been worth it.
“My mate,” he returned, the words almost a growl. He kissed her with a fierceness that sent heat flooding through her.
Lyrian shifted her hips under him, bringing her legs up and wrapping them around him. His groan of pleasure only encouraged her. She shifted a little under him, tilting her pelvis to bring them even closer.
He held back for a few moments, saying breathlessly, “I wanted to take things slow, to take my time in pleasuring you.” His protest sounded both disappointed and pleased.
“Later,” Lyrian growled back at him. “Right now, I want to feel you inside me, to know you are mine and always will be.”
That was all the encouragement he needed. He thrust into her with a groan, filling her fully. A moan of pleasure escaped her lips.
“I will always be yours.” Brad’s voice was breathless as he proved his words with his actions. “There is no place I’d rather be, than right here, right now.”
Lyrian clung to him as a whirlwind of desire caught hold of her, swinging her around and around, carrying her higher and higher. But Lyrian knew that Brad would never let her fall. His lips met hers as glorious ecstasy flashed through her, carrying her higher than she’d ever flown, and leaving every cell in her body tingling with pleasure.
Brad groaned at the same moment, thrusting into her and holding, murmuring her name over and over, kissing her passionately.
Lyrian pulled back to gasp for breath, and to stare into his eyes.
He smiled lovingly at her. “Next time, we are going to go a little slower,” he insisted.
“We’ll see,” Lyrian teased, then gasped, as he kissed her again, desire already stirring.
Chapter 52
Brad stared down at Lyrian, her eyes closed in a moment’s rest, still finding it hard to take everything in. The last week had been quite a whirlwind—from finding out he was a father, Lyrian was a dragon, being chased by dragons and police, and giving up everything he’d ever known to become her mate.
He couldn’t find it in him to regret one instant of it.
He’d thought he’d have doubts. That he’d wonder if he’d made the right choice, at least once or twice. But ever since the moment he’d made his decision, he hadn’t questioned it once.
That thought was overwhelming. Every decision he’d ever made in his life, even though they’d all been well planned and thought out, he’d always questioned. He’d thought it was part of making decisions, the constant doubts.
Perhaps, as Lyrian had suggested, it had been a lack of trust. A lack of trust in his own ability to make decisions as much as the decisions themselves.
She’d said earlier that there was nothing they couldn’t overcome together if they were determined enough. That they could find a way to make this work, no matter what happened.
And for the first time in his life, he believed that. He trusted that.
He trusted her.
It was the most peaceful feeling he’d ever known, and he lay there simply enjoying it for several minutes.
Until he heard quiet footsteps in the hallway outside.
Careful not to disturb Lyrian, he stood, searching around for his pants. He found them on his way to the doorway and pulled them on, then slipped out through the fur as quietly as he could.
Karla stood there, holding a wide awake Anarian in her arms, and a smile spread across Brad’s face. The one final piece he needed to make his life complete. He held out his hands for his daughter, and Karla handed her over with a smile.
“Sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to disturb you, but she needed a feed.”
Brad shook his head. “You’re not disturbing me at all. Thank you for looking after her for this long.”
Karla shrugged, a touch uncomfortably, and gave him a wry smile. “It wasn’t so bad. And Taurian was right, getting used to looking after babies is probably a good thing.” Her hand went instinctively to her stomach.
Brad raised an eyebrow. “Any particular reason for that?” he asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
Karla gave an uncertain smile. “Looks like Taurian and I are going to be parents ourselves in another eight months. I only hope we do as good a job as you and Lyrian have.”
“Congratulations,” Brad said quietly, with a genuine smile. He wished he could take credit for raising Anarian, but the reality was, very little of it had been his doing. “I’m not so practiced at being a parent myself, Lyrian raised Anarian alone until last week.”
“But you’ve done a fine job since then,” Karla insiste
d.
Brad opened his mouth to object, then closed it again. Instead, he nodded, and gave Karla a smile. “I’m sure you will too.”
Trust. He needed to trust that he could be the parent Anarian needed, just as he trusted he could be the mate Lyrian needed. This was both harder, and easier, than planning and organising everything.
“I hope so,” Karla said, but she did sound a little better. “For now, you’d better get some sleep while you can. Things won’t be quiet around here for long.”
Brad nodded. He couldn’t disagree with that. He let the curtain fall behind him as he returned to Lyrian.
He’d been trying to be quiet, but apparently not quiet enough. His mate’s eyes were open, and she smiled lovingly at him and Anarian. “I was just starting to miss her,” she said with a smile as she sat up and held out her arms.
Brad kissed Anarian’s forehead, and handed the baby over, then sat down behind Lyrian as she lay down and attached their daughter to the breast. “Did you hear the news?” he asked, rubbing her back.
“Anarian is going to have a cousin.” She sounded pleased.
Brad was pleased too. He wanted his daughter to grow up surrounded by her clan and her family. But he couldn’t help feeling uneasy as well. “It seems so risky, bringing a baby into things now. We don’t know what is going to happen with this meeting with the government. Hopefully it all goes well, but what if it doesn’t? What if we end up on the run, or worse, fighting for our freedom? That doesn’t seem like any place to be raising a baby.”
He was as much concerned for Anarian as for Karla and Taurian’s baby. Not that he’d had any choice in bringing her into the world. He certainly hadn’t planned it.
But he knew, even before Lyrian replied, that it didn’t matter. Even if he could go back in time and change things, he wouldn’t. The love he had in his heart for his family could overcome anything that happened.
He trusted that.
Lyrian smiled up at him, seeing the truth in his face. “We’ll find a way,” she said softly.
Any doubts Brad had faded away because he knew in his heart she was right.
The End
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She's hunting for the princess. He's searching for his brother. Can they help each other, or are they on opposite sides of a dragon war?
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About the Author
If you read a Rinelle Grey story, you can trust in a happy ending. Love will always triumph, even if it seems impossible… Rinelle Grey writes feel-good romance usually in science fiction or fantasy settings. Her heroines are independent and headstrong, and her stories are hard to put down.
She grew up in a remote area of Australia, without power, hot water, or a phone, but now lives with all of those and her (happily ever after) husband, daughter, chooks, ducks and veggie garden.
She also writes fantasy under the name Rin Grey.
She loves to receive e-mails at [email protected], or follow her on facebook or twitter.
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