by Eden Robins
But now, as Eric drove to Sabrina’s parents’ house, he wasn’t so sure. He wanted more. He wanted rainbows and summer days. He was tired of gray skies and destruction. And he finally admitted to himself that the violence and death that surrounded him was slowly eating away at him. It was killing him in ways his immortal status couldn’t stop. He might be able to live forever but what would he become? He foresaw becoming nothing more than the walking dead.
And maybe if he hadn’t met Sabrina, if he hadn’t seen what the other side could be like, he might have been able to live that way. But the time in between him leaving her and now had been so empty. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to lose his soul and become nothing more than a wraith traversing the earth, killing on demand and living for nothing else.
He wanted rainbows and summer days.
He wanted salvation.
He wanted his existence of gray skies, death, destruction and emptiness to end.
He wanted Sabrina.
And he knew she wanted him. But would she accept him once she knew what he really was? Would she let him fully into her life now that he knew she was a dragon, once she found out he was a slayer?
He had to believe that she would.
He refused to face the alternative.
A sense of calm overcame Eric as they arrived at Sabrina’s parents’ house. He had made a decision. There would be no going back now.
He loved Sabrina, and he would make her his, mind, body and soul—forever.
Chapter Fifteen
Sabrina waited for Eric to come around and open the door for her. It hadn’t been a conscious choice. He had always done that kind of thing when they had been together in the past. Like the ultimate gentleman, he would open doors, pull out chairs and frequently ask about her comfort. Sabrina had often wondered why he was this way when so many men she had met were not.
The ride to her parents’ had been strange.
He opened the door and held out his hand to her. Looking up into his face, she saw anticipation. That and something else. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she thought it might be tenderness. But that couldn’t be, could it? Why now, at this moment?
As if suddenly aware of her notice, his expression changed like the wind. His stare became very arrogant and his smile completely male. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Are you getting out, gatita, or have you suddenly developed a fear of your parents and their friends?” he asked mockingly. “And here I thought dragons were supposed to be fearless.”
Sabrina’s eyes narrowed. Undoing the seatbelt, she got out of the car, completely ignoring his hand.
“We are a courageous breed, Eric. Always remember that. But we’re also fallible, like any other creature on this earth. We make mistakes, we feel pain, anger, happiness, sadness and fear. Unfortunately, we are also very passionate beings, so those things we feel can sometimes grow to proportions humans can never understand. And when that happens the consequences aren’t always pleasant or as anticipated.”
Eric nodded his head, understanding clear in his gaze, but he didn’t say a word. He closed the car door behind her and, as was his old-fashioned way, he guided Sabrina with his hand resting lightly on the small of her back as they walked up the path leading to her parents’ front door. It was only after they reached the entranceway that he spoke.
Gently clasping her shoulders in his hands, he turned her toward him and looked deeply into her eyes. “Sabrina, I know about dragons. I understand what you’re saying and I didn’t mean to insult you in any way by my teasing.”
“Thank you, Eric,” she said, giving him a tentative smile. “I appreciate that.”
Sabrina wanted to say so much more. She wanted him to understand why she said what she’d said. It hadn’t just been in defense of dragons. It had been an explanation of her and why she should never fall in love with a human. Especially one who chose to love her and leave her.
Sabrina suddenly felt tears form in her eyes. It just wasn’t fair. None of it. She wanted a mate. Someone who made her feel like Eric made her feel. Looking down, she wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall. She didn’t want him to see her cry. Not now.
She felt his fingers brush her cheek. He gently caressed her skin for a minute before sliding his hand down under her chin and tilting her face up. She met his gaze bravely, fighting to hold back the strong emotions that had suddenly overcome her.
“But at the same time, I want you to understand something, Sabrina. Dragons may be intense in all they feel but many humans are the same. Many of us have strong emotions as well. And remember, we are resilient creatures and often we can give as good as we can get. We can handle whatever may come our way.”
Both of them were talking in generalizations, but they weren’t. Sabrina knew she was talking about herself when she spoke of dragons, and she had a feeling that Eric was talking about himself when he spoke about humans.
His words left her feeling warm and hopeful inside. Could he handle her? Could he deal with the real her, all that she was as both a human and a dragon? Was it possible?
She felt dizzy and confused. No, he didn’t want her, he didn’t care about her. He had left her in the end without warning. His words meant nothing.
Sabrina gave him a noncommittal shrug, flipped her hair over her shoulder nonchalantly and reached around Eric to ring the doorbell.
“Words mean nothing, Eric. It’s actions that are the true indicator. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.”
Eric grasped her hand before she could remove it from the doorbell and brought it to his chest, covering her fingers with his own. She felt his heart beating strong and true. Startled, her gaze swung up to his.
His stare was intense and unyielding.
“I live my words each and every day, Sabrina. Know that. Believe that. Trust that. I may have left you two years ago but I was never dishonest about it,” he said. “And things are different now, we’re different now. Although I can’t speak for you, I can feel you opening up to me in a way you never did before. And it doesn’t scare me, it doesn’t make we want to run, Sabrina. It makes me want to stay and learn everything there is about you. I want you in my life, gatita. Our connection, it’s stronger, deeper, don’t you feel it?”
Sabrina didn’t know what to say. Everything Eric said was true. And she did feel their connection all the way from her head to her toes, and deep in her heart. It was there, strong and true.
She loved him.
And she thought his words were telling her he felt the same. But she needed to hear the words.
“Eric, I—”
Sabrina didn’t get to finish. The front door opened and her father appeared. He noticed her hand on Eric’s chest and immediately frowned with disapproval.
“I expect the utmost decorum tonight. From both of you. Sabrina, you know how important this dinner is to your career and your book. Please keep your priorities in line. And you,” Manuel said, turning his hard gaze to Eric, “you stay only close enough to my daughter to keep her safe. Be a professional.”
Sabrina saw Eric visibly bristle at her father’s words, but before the two of them turned their mutual glares into something more physical, she stepped between them and laid her hand lightly on her father’s chest. Pushing them slightly apart, she tried to break the tension.
“And they say women are high maintenance. Sheesh! You two need to keep that testosterone under control,” she said, first giving her father then Eric a disapproving look. “We will all act like mature adults and use good manners this evening, boys, or I will strangle you both. Put aside your differences for one evening, won’t you? This is important to me.”
And with that Sabrina walked into the house, leaving the two men in her life to their own devices.
Heading straight from the front entranceway to the nearby kitchen, she found her mother there, giving some last-minute instructions to the caterer and her house staff. Although her mother was well-educat
ed and had many talents and hobbies, cooking wasn’t one of them. Growing up, for as long as Sabrina could remember they had always had cooks in the house or her mother brought in caterers.
As soon as Helaina saw her, her face lit up with joy and she gave Sabrina a big hug.
“Querida, I’m so glad you’re here! Our friends are starting to get restless. They’re looking forward to talking to you about your work,” her mother explained, taking her by the hand and leading her from the kitchen. “Come, I’ll start the introductions.”
As Sabrina and her mother left the kitchen, she spotted Eric and her father among her parents’ many dinner guests. She was shocked by the sight of them, heads close together as if they wanted no one else to hear their conversation, adamantly discussing something with such serious expressions she had no doubt the matter was of the utmost importance.
Now what could they be discussing?
Sabrina didn’t have time to ponder that question as her mother approached one of their guests. “Xavier, you remember Sabrina.”
“Of course, mi gusto, Sabrina,” he said with a smile before gently taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. His warm mouth barely brushed against her skin before he began teasing her. “So I hear you wrote a very risqué book that is causing quite a stir. You always were a troublemaker, little one.”
Sabrina laughed at Xavier’s shenanigans. His deep chuckle joined hers.
Her parents had known his parents for many, many years. In fact, the families had hoped that one day she and Xavier would wed. They had dated on and off over the years, but things had never progressed to more than a good friendship. Xavier was tall, broad-shouldered, athletic and toned. He was handsome with midnight black hair, soulful, light brown eyes surrounded by lush dark eyelashes, a strong jaw, a classically Roman nose and wide sensuous lips that broke into a smile that produced dimples in his cheeks that made many a girl’s heart flutter.
He was intelligent, successful, charming and very comfortable with his mixed dragon heritage. Sabrina wasn’t sure why things hadn’t worked out between them. Most likely it was just the fact that the chemistry that was so sharp and so intense with Eric wasn’t present between her and Xavier. They remained friends, flirting and teasing one another when they met at various community functions, but that was the extent of it.
She knew her parents had invited Xavier to help soften the blow of all the guests she would have to meet. Manuel and Helaina had invited over fifty people—enough to keep her busy selling her book for the whole evening.
And she was busy. After chatting with Xavier for a bit, she worked up the steam to stroll from couple to couple. Her father broke away from Eric and he or her mother kept her company as she discussed her book. Every now and again she would catch sight of Eric from the corner of her eye. He managed to stay fairly close to her without being obvious.
Time flew by, as was usually the case when Sabrina talked about her life’s work. She couldn’t help getting excited and carried away when she discussed dragons. It was just in her blood, literally and figuratively. Before she knew it, her mother called everyone to dinner.
Xavier suddenly appeared by her side and walked her into the large, round ballroom her parents had built onto their estate for just these types of functions. With its high, bas relief domed ceilings, each wall painted with scenes from the Sistine Chapel, a stage to one side with an oval-shaped marble dance floor at the foot of it, huge, ornate chandeliers and several large banquet tables, the room was perfect for just such events. As well-respected academics and active board members of the International Dragon Council, National Dragon Council and local Arizona Dragon chapter, her parents often entertained.
Sabrina groaned when she realized her parents had sat her next to two of the most vocal members of the dragon council. MaryAnn and Thomas Smith were never lacking for something to say when it came to dragon policy or procedure. Sabrina had already heard from her parents that the Smiths had formed their own ideas about her new book. And they weren’t positive.
Sitting down, Sabrina gave the couple a polite smile then quickly glanced around the room. Although she didn’t want to admit it, she knew she was searching for Eric. There was a certain comfort she gained just by looking at him that went beyond the bodyguard-client relationship. He had a kind of quiet strength that was unmistakable and despite what had happened, despite how he had broken her heart, something about his presence in the room calmed her.
When she found him, however, she was anything but calm.
He was seated at the far end of the long dining room table, right next to one of the council members’ daughters. Virginia was twenty-eight, very intelligent, an up-and-coming criminal defense attorney and knock-out gorgeous. Her almost white-blonde hair hung perfectly straight around her heart-shaped face. Pouty, full red lips, high cheekbones with the blush of youth still fresh on them, a very delicate nose and striking blue eyes almost aquamarine in color made up her face.
She was laughing at something Eric had said, laying her hand lightly over his. He left it there, joining her in laughter. The deep rumbling sound of it usually made her smile. It had the opposite effect on her now. Tension and jealousy built in her stomach as she watched the two of them getting along so well. She wished she could hear what they were saying.
They both laughed again.
Maybe she didn’t want to know. She shouldn’t even care. But she did! that voice inside her head protested. She did care. And although he was supposed to just be her bodyguard, although theoretically he could flirt with any damn girl he wanted to, she didn’t like it. And she wouldn’t put up with it. Especially not now. In the middle of this affair, when he was supposed to be guarding her. What was he thinking?
Sabrina was just about to stand up and give Eric a piece of her mind when MaryAnn Smith placed a hand lightly on her arm.
“How have you been, Sabrina?”
Tamping down her jealousy and irritation, she calmed herself down and pasted a serene, confident and very polite smile on her face before turning to MaryAnn. “Just fine, Mrs. Smith. Thank you for asking. How have you been?”
“Fine, thank you, dear. But I must confess that Thomas and I were rather surprised your parents invited us this evening.”
Sabrina feigned a surprised expression. “Why is that, Mrs. Smith?”
“Please call me MaryAnn,” the woman said with an insincere smile. “And I think you know full well why. You’re an intelligent, insightful woman, just like your mother. Which is one reason I can’t understand why you don’t see what a mistake publishing your blasphemous book is.”
Blasphemous? That was a very strong word.
Sabrina really looked at MaryAnn for the first time. Despite her very high-pitched little girl voice and pleasant words, she knew the older woman was sharp as a tack and could cut people apart with her words. Sabrina had seen it firsthand at some of the council meetings. Sabrina had admired the woman at one time for the way she spoke her mind, but within the last two years MaryAnn had changed. She had suddenly become ultra-conservative and very closed to new ideas or direction for the dragon community.
Sabrina could see the intelligence in the woman’s eyes, but she also detected a note of fanaticism in her gaze, giving her an almost crazed look. It left her feeling slightly uncomfortable so she sat back in her chair, putting a little space between MaryAnn and herself. There was something familiar in that expression. It nagged at her mind but Sabrina couldn’t remember where she had seen it before.
“You’re right, MaryAnn,” Sabrina said with a nod.
“I am?” MaryAnn said with a shocked look on her face.
“Yes, you are. I am an intelligent woman. That is exactly why I’m sharing this book with the world. It’s time the rest of civilization knows dragons are intelligent, hardworking, contributing members of society.”
MaryAnn shook her head slowly back and forth. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could her husband joined the conversation.
“Why so, Mr. Smith?” Sabrina asked politely. Inside she was seething at the rudeness these two people showed, especially in her parents’ home.
“Please call me Thomas,” the man said with a smile that never reached his coldly calculating eyes. “You see, dear, humans don’t understand dragons. They don’t understand us because they don’t want to understand. They have put us in a little box, as close-minded humans tend to do. And if we were to break out of that, humans would feel threatened by that, by us. And that would lead to misunderstanding, chaos and more than likely the return to dragon slaying from ages gone by. Is that what you want, Sabrina? The destruction of our race? Hmmm? Is that what you want?”
As she watched him speak, Sabrina noticed Thomas become more and more animated and agitated. His face turned red, a vein in his neck started to pulsate and his eyes bulged slightly. He moved closer and closer to her until his nose was only about an inch from hers, and she felt spit on her cheeks as he spoke each word.
Sabrina tried to put a little distance between them but Thomas grabbed her arm, pulling her slightly closer.
“Are you willing to kill off your own race with your stupidity, Sabrina? Because if you are, there will be consequences. Yes, very unpleasant consequences.”
The threat in Thomas’ voice was obvious, as was the glaze of insanity in his eyes. Sabrina could tell he was over the edge of reason. There would be no rational discussion here.
The dragon in her rose at that moment, threatening to spill out into her parents’ very civilized gathering. She didn’t want that. She knew the evening wouldn’t end well if she let herself go. But Thomas gripped her arms tighter and she felt a growl rumble deep in her chest. His eyes started to glow and she knew hers were as well. The dragon fury was almost upon her, and once it took over someone would get hurt. Maybe her, because she was younger and less experienced, but she was also stronger, faster and less blinded by whatever ate away at the councilman’s soul.
