Fire & Ice

by Alice Brown

  “Come on, beautiful. Open those gorgeous eyes for me.”

  Was that Aiden? Or was it Adrian? She attempted to open one eye and immediately wished she hadn’t. Just to get one eyelid to lift up the tiniest bit had her fighting back a groan.

  “Are you in pain, sweetheart?” She tried to nod her head, but she was sure she had failed miserably when a strangled sound gurgled up through her throat. She stuck her tongue out to lick her very parched lips in preparation to respond to whoever was there, but was quickly stopped from even doing that meager task.

  “Baby, no.” She felt a finger lightly press on her tongue. “Your lips are still pretty badly burnt. We are going to give you something for pain, sweetheart. Try to go back to sleep.” She still couldn’t tell whether it was Aiden or Adrian that was speaking. Her head felt like it was full of cotton and nothing made any sense. What the hell had happened to her?

  The last thing she remembered was Angel telling her she only had a few minutes before they had to leave so Evangelina could pick up her car still sitting at her apartment.

  “Okay, baby, some pain medication was just put into your IV, so just relax and go back to sleep. You will feel better when you wake up.” By the time the voice had finished his sentence, Evangelina could feel the medicine pulling her further and further back into the blackness.

  Both Aiden and Adrian looked down at their mate, lying completely still. Quinn walked over and stopped next to Aiden, placing his hand on his shoulder. “I believe she will end up just fine, but she still has a fair amount of healing to do. Why don’t you and your brother go get some rest? I’ll call you if anything changes. She will probably sleep for the next four to six hours anyway.”

  Aiden glanced over to his brother as he opened up their telepathic line. 'Rest, my ass! I am not going anywhere until we know our mate is fine!'

  Adrian felt the same. Glancing over at his friend, he replied, “Thanks, but I don’t think either of us could rest until we know she is completely out of the woods.”

  Quinn shook his head. “Somehow, your answer doesn’t surprise me. Okay, just remember, I tried giving you a way out.” When Aiden gave him a questioning look, he continued, “I was going to sneak both of you out the back door, so you would not have to speak with the king. He is waiting for both of you out in the waiting area. I’ll show him back, and if there is anything left of the two of you after, then we will make arrangements to bring in a cot for one of you to get some much-needed sleep.”

  Chapter Six

  Angel had been forced to remain in the waiting room with the king of this foreign land for what felt like hours now. Surely, the brothers or someone would come out and keep them updated, wouldn’t they? Then again, she suspected they were hiding from their father for as long as they could. They had mentioned accepting punishment for breaking the rules by bringing her along, although she had told them not to. Why would they do that knowing there would be consequences?

  She had curled herself up in a ball in the very corner of the room, resting her chin on her knees, trying to appear as small as possible. The king paced back and forth, from one end of the room to the other, until she was sure he would wear out the floor. A few of his guards had followed them here, and one man now sat uncomfortably close to her, while the others stayed near their king, while giving him the space he seemed to need. Not a word was spoken, until finally, the door they had taken Evangelina through opened, and the man she now knew to be their dragon doctor, came out to speak with the king in hushed tones.

  She was irritated that no one was speaking to her, but knew better than to say anything. She placed her forehead on her drawn-up knees, and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Everything here was foreign to her, and from the looks of it, the king was not one bit happy that his sons had brought back a human who was not their mate.

  The guard who had been sitting close by her suddenly moved closer, and reached across to stroke his hand down her back in a soothing gesture. “Hey, little female, what is your name?” Even though the question had come out quietly, Angel still jumped when she realized he was so near.

  “An-n-n-g-gel Thom-m-mas,” she stuttered. The king swiveled around to look at both his guard and her and then threw his head back and laughed. He quickly marched over to his guard and gave him a hearty handshake, pulling him up from his sitting position and in for a man hug.

  “Congratulations, Zen!” The king slapped the guard on the back as he grinned, then turned to Angel.

  “Zen is one of my most trustworthy guards, and you have my word he is a complete gentleman.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned on his heel and walked away, disappearing through the door that her best friend was behind.

  Angel looked up at the guard, completely clueless and wondering what had just transpired. She watched as the two other guards followed their king past the closed door. “Umm, shouldn’t you be with your king?” she asked the guard beside her.

  He stood only to turn and face her, kneeling down on one knee. “Beautiful Angel. I know we must all appear very scary right now, but you have my word that I will not allow anything to happen to you. And as for following King Thoran, usually the answer would be yes, but since I have just discovered my mate, she comes first.”

  Angel sat wide eyed, staring at him for a moment, trying to figure out if this was all just a bad dream. “Wha…a…at?” she finally managed to force out of her mouth. “What do you mean, you have just found your mate? Is Evangelina your mate also?” She took a good hard look at the man kneeling in front of her. If he answered her yes, she was going to cry. She loved Evangelina like a sister, but the girl already had two drop-dead gorgeous hunks, so why would she need a third?

  The man in front of her looked like she had just insulted him. “I would never try to come between the princes and their mate! Why would you think such a thing?” His eyes had turned so dark they were an almost midnight black, and she was sure she could catch a glimpse of his dragon trying to fight its way to the surface.

  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Look, I know we don’t know one another, but you have my word. I will not cheat on you!”

  Angel was still trying to wrap her head around what he was saying. “What do you mean, me? We aren’t having an affair!”

  She heard a loud sigh escape as he hung his head down and then chuckled. “Okay, obviously we are not communicating on the same level here. You. Are. My. Mate.” There, he could not get any clearer than that.

  Angel’s mouth fell open at his announcement. Okay, so it turned out that she really was stuck in the dragon version of Alice in Wonderland. Maybe if she found a white rabbit in a waistcoat she could talk him into helping her get out of this neverending nightmare! Honestly, how else would you explain some boring puny human like herself, landing in a strange land of dragon shifters, and then being told she was the mate of one of those shifters? And to top everything else, her mate could easily pass for a male model! And he was the one telling her she was his mate? This sort of thing just didn’t happen to ordinary wallflowers like herself. This story was just not writing itself, right? It was all insanely crazy; she just wanted to start pinching herself until she woke back up in her own reality.

  “Wait, what? No, that can’t be. Besides, I’m already in enough trouble for coming here in the first place. I don’t want to piss your king off any more than I already have. You know, I’m really not on a suicide mission here, though it keeps looking that way.” Her head was spinning with the knowledge of everything that had transpired within the past forty-eight hours, and things just seemed to be growing with every passing minute. When would this rollercoaster end for her? I think I need a drink, she thought.

  Zen watched her with curiosity. He had never met a female quite like his little mate. And little she was. She was still all curled into herself in the chair in front of him, but he guessed she would barely come up to his chest when they both stood.

  However, she had an inner fire that drew
his dragon closer to her. From what little he could piece together, she had been dragged along on this adventure, and taken away from her home all because of her concern for her friend. He had little doubt she knew next to nothing about their homeland. That caused a frown to form on his handsome face. Did she want to return to her planet? Numerous countrymen had left Dragonose over the recent years in search of their mates, the twin princes included. Zen had never had the urge to leave the one and only land he had ever known. He loved Dragonose, and loved serving his king. He started young as one of the king’s guards, working his way up the ranks. Now, he was one of the three most trusted guards in the palace.

  Suddenly remembering that she had not been shown very much hospitality since arriving, he asked, “Are you hungry, little mate? I could take you to get food or drink. I promise if there is any news on your friend, I will be alerted immediately.”

  Angel looked over at the man still kneeling before her. “Um, is the king okay with this? I really don’t think he likes me too much.”

  “King Thoran is more than okay with me feeding and caring for my mate. I would likely get called out if he were to find out I was not taking proper care of you.” He slowly raised his hand and placed it on hers, loving how soft and smooth her skin was. “Come, please, Angel. Let me take care of you.”

  Under normal circumstances, Angel would have told any male that she didn’t need to be taken care of, thank you very much; she had been taking care of herself for years and would continue to do so quite nicely. But something about this man was drawing her to him in ways she couldn’t even begin to understand. And it had been a long, long day.

  Her stomach took that particular moment to announce itself, and Zen chuckled as he stood. “Come, let us get you some food and drink.”

  He led her outside of the building. The sun was setting, but everything she could see was breathtakingly beautiful. As he started to walk down the cobbled street, he pointed to small shops that were closing up for the evening.

  “Hey, Zen! Who have you got there?” one of the shopkeepers called out.

  Zen glanced down to Angel. “Would you mind meeting an old friend of mine? I promise to make it quick.”

  The gentlemanly manners this man was displaying with her was making her feel off-balance. Never before had a man cared one way or another about what she thought or wanted. No, her previous boyfriends simply expected her to go along with whatever they decided to do.

  “Umm, sure. I don’t mind.”

  He quickly turned them and headed over to his friend. “Blackmore, old friend, I’d like you to meet Angel Thomas.” The elderly shop owner wore a huge grin on his face as he quickly snatched her out of Zen’s hands and enveloped her in a bear hug. Or was that a dragon hug? Angel didn’t know, all she knew was he was cutting off her breath by squeezing her so tightly.

  “Ah, son, I am so happy for you! And she is a beauty! I wish the two of you many, many, happy moons! It is closing time, and if I do not get home the wife will be serving my dinner flaming and a bit charcoaled, if you know what I mean.” He stopped and winked at Angel. “But you two are to come back first thing in the morning. I will take care of anything you need. Now you two young ones run along and have fun this evening!”

  Angel soon found herself next to Zen, holding his hand as he guided her through the market area. They continued walking for a few minutes when some noise up ahead caught her attention. There was a small building with a rustic sign of a large ale mug hanging above the door.

  The sun was almost completely set by this time, but Angel could clearly see tables and chairs set up off to the side of the building where a few people looked to be enjoying an evening meal. With the sun setting fast, the air had a chill to it, and she shivered. Zen noticed immediately and looked down at her as he raised his hand and rubbed it up and down her arm a few times. “I shall get us a table inside so you are not cold, mate.”

  Even though she knew next to nothing about this man, this dragon shifter, she assumed, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. He clearly thought she was his mate, and taking a quick peek at his profile she couldn’t help feeling he was getting the short end of the stick. The man was gorgeous. Standing well over six feet, muscles on top of muscles and a face that looked as if it had come straight off the cover of a magazine, he did not have the cocky attitude that most good looking men on Earth had. From the way he handled himself, it was easy to see he thought of himself as no one special. But then again, she hadn’t seen an ugly male, or even a plain one, since they touched down on this foreign land. It seemed that whatever was in the water, this country produced nothing but drop-dead gorgeous men.

  On the other hand, from only seeing a small part of their surroundings, it was easy to see they had a problem. There were men a-plenty, but she had only seen one other female since arriving.

  Zen confidently ushered her inside the quaint little building and headed straight for the bar area. He leaned over the counter and said something to the bartender. The man grinned at him and pointed to an empty table in the back.

  Zen led them over to the table and pulled out her chair for her. Wow, why couldn’t there be more men on Earth like him? She allowed him to push her chair in after she sat down. He sat across from her, and she picked up what looked like a menu in front of her. The bartender himself walked over to the table. “May I offer you two some refreshment?”

  Angel glanced over to Zen and then up to the bartender. “I am sorry, but I am new here. I don’t know what all you have. What would you suggest?”

  Zen spoke up, “Francis, I think the lady would enjoy a Flying Dragon and I’ll have a Dragon’s Breath.”

  The bartender turned to Angel. “If ye’ find ye’ don’t like the drink, my lady, feel free to say so. I am sure we have something that will tickle your taste buds.”

  After the bartender walked away, Angel turned to Zen. “They serve food here also, right?” There was no way she could begin to put alcohol in her system without adding food as well.

  “Oh yes, my love,” he was quick to assure her. “Would you like for me to order for the two of us?”

  Angel looked down at the menu in front of her and didn’t recognize a single thing on it. It looked as if she was going to have to trust this man to order her food. She sighed. “Well, since I can’t even read this, yes, if you don’t mind.”

  Zen studied her for a moment and then gently placed his hand back on top of hers. He couldn’t get enough of feeling her soft, smooth skin, and touching her helped calm his dragon immensely. “Have no fear, my mate. I shall take care of you.”

  The bartender walked up with their drinks and a basket full of something that looked like bread, only it was an extremely large loaf. There was a butter knife sticking out of the top of it. After setting everything down, he turned to Zen.

  “Since the lady is new, will you allow me to prepare her a sample plate; that way she has much to choose from and can learn a bit about our culinary delights?”

  Zen grinned up at the man. “Make it an extra-large platter, and we will both just share it.”

  The bartender hurried off and Angel was so hungry, she didn’t hesitate to cut off a piece of the bread looking substance and pop it into her mouth. As soon as the food hit her taste buds, her eyes bulged. This had to be the best darn bread she had ever eaten in her life! Soft, buttery, and with a hint of sweetness to it. She wondered if all the food was this good.

  Zen watched her pop the Wheadirskon into her mouth and saw her eyes widen, but he didn’t know if she liked it or not. “Do you like it?” he inquired softly.

  Angel was already helping herself to a second slice of heaven. “Oh, yes!” she breathed as she popped it into her mouth.

  She chewed the second piece a bit slower, trying to savor and enjoy the unique flavor. Realizing she was thirsty, she grabbed her drink to take a swallow, when Zen’s hand stopped her. “You might want to drink that slowly. It tends to catch up with you rather quickly.”

>   She nodded to show she understood, and then took her first sip. She could just imagine how it caught up with you quickly, since she could hardly taste any alcohol in it whatsoever. Still, she took Zen’s advice and took slow sips.

  She sat back in her seat and admired the eye candy in front of her. “Okay, you said I was your mate. While I admit I am flattered that someone like myself would catch the eye of a hunk like you, maybe you should explain exactly what you mean by that statement.”

  Zen reached over once again to touch the soft skin of her hand. He ran his thumb back and forth over her skin. It was so amazingly soft, and he wondered just how soft the rest of her was. His dragon was already giving him pictures of what he thought she would look like naked, which was doing nothing for the raging hard-on he had been sporting since he first glimpsed her.

  “We search our entire lives for our true mate, the one that was made just for us. Actually, our dragon is the one that has the ability of scenting and picking our mate out. You may have noticed that we do not have very many females on our world. The male gene is very strong, and so even when a female dragon mates with a male dragon, the chances of them having a male youngling is high. Almost ninety percent of our young are male. We have had our best researchers work on this problem for years, but have not been able to fix the problem.

  “So, several years ago, many of our males started leaving Dragonose in search of their mate. Some have returned and settled here, others have stayed on the foreign land, and others are still out there searching. The hope is that by bringing in new blood, such as humans, we may be able to turn things around and start producing more female dragons.”

  His mate gave him a very sour look. “So, what you are telling me is that you basically want human broodmares?”

  “What? No, no, you have it all wrong. Once our dragon recognizes you as our mate, that is it for us. I have heard that your country has some sort of ceremony that ties you and your mate together. Is this not true?”