Conn tried not to swallow the dragon blood, but it was impossible. It trickled down his throat and ate at his insides all the way to his stomach, burning like acid. The smell stung his eyes so badly that he was nearly blinded. He never questioned that he was going to die. He knew it. But he was determined that the dragon would die with him.
All he had to do was hang on.
At one point he thought to himself what an odd sensation it was to be hanging from his teeth high above the earth, all four paws dangling in the air.
The dragon flew closer and closer to the earth as she gradually lost both blood and the will to live. Eventually she was forced to land, dragging in ragged breaths through the wound caused by the werewolf’s teeth.
Still, Konochur held onto her throat.
She fell to her side and collapsed into human form.
Still, Konochur held onto her throat.
By the time the werewolves who had been following reached them, Grenhelde was dead, but still, Konochur held onto her throat.
Stalkson Grey took human form and tried to pry Conn’s jaws away from the corpse, but Conn growled a warning that couldn’t be ignored and refused to let go. Grey sent the other two wolves back to the settlement with a message to have Luna prepare a sedative for Conn. One was to bring the potion as fast as possible. The other was to prepare a bison cart with a mattress and bring it to take him home.
While he waited, Grey talked to Conn in soothing tones, assuring him that the dragon was dead, that Lestriv and Lily were both safe, but whenever he moved toward Conn’s jaws, he got a growl and raised hackles for his trouble.
“Not ready to give up yet? Very well. We can wait a bit longer then.”
Half an hour later a wolf came charging toward them with a jar tied around his neck. Grey took the jar and waited for the wolf to shift.
“She says to open the lid and hold it under his nose until he goes to sleep.”
Grey lost no time in doing exactly that.
Conn growled, but was caught in a dilemma. He would have to let go of the dragon shifter’s neck to stop Grey from putting him to sleep. And he wasn’t going to do that. So he growled and threatened as best he could while refusing to let go of the dragon. He snarled his protest and shook the female back and forth, which snapped the neck of Grenhelde’s lifeless body. Without enough energy left to remain standing, he fell over, his big chest heaving from exhaustion and strain.
After another minute of holding Luna’s jar under Conn’s nose his growls became softer and his eyelids were barely staying open. In another minute after that, he was out completely, jaws gone slack.
Grey and the two other wolves hoisted Konochur’s sleeping weight onto the pallet in the back of the wagon.
The alpha shifted and trotted along behind the wagon so that he could watch his nephew all the way home. Luna was standing outside her clinic waiting with a very worried-looking Lestriv by her side. As soon as Grey shifted, he turned to the cart driver.
“Send people out there to burn the body. No ceremony,” he ordered.
The cart driver nodded and hurried away.
In fact, Grenhelde had not been the last dragon. But she had been the last dragon on Lunark. The Black Swan Department of Endangered Species had been alerted that there could be a problem if the dragon shifters were not contained someplace where they would be prevented from causing harm to humans and other shifters. Perhaps they would find a solution before the next critical incident. Perhaps not.
Conn was unharmed except for the fact that he’d swallowed so much of the dragon blood and the fact that dragon blood was poisonous and highly damaging to internal organs.
Luna looked up at Lessie. “There’s really nothing else to be done. The poison has to work its way through his system and he needs to heal internally. I’d say it’s a blessing that he’s sleeping because being awake would be painful.”
“Well, he shouldn’t stay here.” Lessie looked around at the clinic as if it was completely unsuitable.
“Where do you think he should stay?” Luna asked softly.
Lestriv didn’t hesitate. Konochur was a male who had performed a feat so heroic it would be legendary for generations of werewolves to come. She was sure there would come a time in the distant future when descendants would say it was a myth, that no werewolf could bring down a dragon alone. But Conn had done exactly that to save the life of Lessie’s little girl, at great, almost surely fatal, risk to himself.
Then there was also the fact that she loved him.
“He can stay at my cottage. You can treat him there. Whatever you say he needs, that’s what will be done.”
Luna simply nodded. “Of course, Lestriv. That’s a fine solution and one that will certainly please Konochur when he wakes.”
Lessie’s attention jerked to Luna. “So you’re sure he will wake.”
Luna bit her bottom lip and hesitated. “I wish I could promise, but the best I can do is to say that I have firsthand experience that when Conn wants something, he lets nothing stand in his way. And I’m certain he wants to live.”
CHAPTER 9
When Conn’s eyes flew open, he tried to sort through the haze. Where was he and how did he get there? He began to see flashes of a dragon in flight, heading for Lily. He felt adrenaline prick at the nerve endings in his body as he relived a smidgeon of the terror he’d felt.
Just as the monster banked its wings and dipped toward Lily, it had lifted its head and looked at Conn. He could have sworn he saw a cruel smile distort its face. That was followed by the memory of being carried away in the air, the odd sensation of hanging by his teeth, and his determination to keep his jaws locked even if the creature flew him to dragon hell.
He remembered hearing the sounds of death throes coming from the very throat he held in the vice grip of his jaws and the sensation of descending too fast. Falling.
Jerking his gaze to the left he recognized Lessie’s cabin. The fire had died down to hot glowing coals and he was glad of that because he suddenly felt too hot and needed to throw the covers back. He turned his head to the right and was stunned by the sight of Lestriv, her hair looking like a whirl of multicolored ribbons of auburn, chestnut, and amber.
There was only one thing in the world he wanted more than to reach out and touch her and that was to see Lily. He knew she must be fine, but that terror he had felt wouldn’t be appeased until he saw that for himself.
He eased himself out of bed, careful not to wake Lestriv and padded quietly to Lily’s little room. Willing the door not to creak, he opened it slowly, and smiled to himself when he saw her curled on her side hugging three stuffed, fur covered animals to her chest.
Closing the door, he realized there was one other thing he wanted more than to be in bed with Lessie and that was a good long piss. He almost groaned with the sweet relief of draining his bladder. Before going back to bed, he drank water like he’d had none for days. It overflowed his mouth and ran down his chest. That also felt good against his heated skin.
As he walked toward the bed, his erection sprang to full bloom in anticipation of claiming the woman who had been dallying long enough. As he was hanging in the air, jaws latched tight on the throat of a devil in dragon form, believing that he was flying toward his death, he remembered thinking that he had one and only one regret. That he’d never had the pleasure of sinking balls deep into the woman who’d been chosen for him by the whims of fate.
As his knee depressed the mattress he threw the covers to the foot of the bed and slowly began pushing Lestriv’s long nightgown up her body.
She opened her eyes in surprise, then realizing what was happening, opened her eyes wider.
“Conn, you…”
Whatever she was going to say next was smothered by his kiss, and her gasp that took his breath into her body. His hand stopped at the juncture of her thighs to administer some much needed, expert attention. When the delicious sensation made her cry out without warning, her hand flew to her mouth to muf
fle the sound so that she wouldn’t wake Lily.
Lessie’s look of disbelief changed to a look of concern without warning. Her hands grabbed for his face. “Conn. You’re still feverish. We can’t…”
“Aye, we can. And we will.”
“But you’re still sick.”
“I’m well enough.”
Conn’s eyes were sparkling with lust and mischief. The look of his skin, flushed with fever, begged to be touched. After pulling the nightgown over Lessie’s head, he stared at her body as if he’d never seen a woman unclothed. She fought the impulse to cover herself and had an internal debate about arguing the point of his fever further, but instead she said, “You weren’t really assigned to help me. Were you?”
His gaze jerked to her eyes as if he was looking for something. Seeming satisfied with what he saw, he grinned and shook his head no. Then he plumped one breast and ran his tongue around her nipple without taking his eyes from her face. After bringing the other nipple to a peak hard as a pebble, he began worshipping her body with kisses, strokes, and tiny nibbles that caused her to arch away from the straw mattress.
Whenever she tried to urge him to hurry, he just looked at her, grinned, shook his head no, then proceeded to make love to her with a masterfully slow and painstaking deliberation. By the time she felt his cock probe her entrance she was covered in a slick sheen of perspiration that matched his. It caused what Lessie would always remember as the most erotic sound of their bodies slapping together rhythmically.
Like most women who work with their hands, she kept her nails short, but not so short that Conn didn’t revel in the pleasure pain of feeling them digging into his back. When she peaked, her teeth latched onto his neck and bit down in a delicious crescendo of ravishment while the werewolf jerked once, growled deep in his chest, and trembled as his seed spilled inside her.
Lessie felt an inexplicable tear race down her cheek and reached to wipe it away before Conn saw it and misunderstood. It wasn’t a sad tear or a happy tear. It was simply more emotion than her body could contain. She had released much more than an orgasm. She’d let go of her first love and given herself to another, body and soul.
Konochur collapsed beside her, careful not to put his weight on the swell of her abdomen. Turning his head on the pillow he treated Lessie to such a captivating, and very wolfy, smile of male satisfaction that it made her heart flutter.
“Will you be leaving us now?” She blurted it out before she could stop herself.
Conn’s smile turned to a look of confusion. “Leavin’ ye? I do no’ understand ye.”
She looked away. “I mean, you know…”
He raised himself on an elbow so that he could look down at her. With brows drawn together, he said, “No. I do no’ know.”
“I mean, are you done with me since I’ve let you in my bed?”
He continued to stare as if he was uncomprehending right up until he threw himself to his back and nearly howled with laughter.
Lessie sat up, scowling. “What’s so funny?”
When he got himself under control, he said simply, “Humans.”
“Humans?”
“Aye. Humans. Did ye think that I’ve spent all this time givin’ flyin’ lessons to chickens, and carryin’ baskets of potatoes, and mendin’ livestock fences… No’ to mention provin’ that I’m willin’ to give my life for my family. Ye think I’d do these thin’s for a fuck?” Lessie’s mouth dropped open. “In case ye’re tryin’ to think up an answer, that question was rhetorical. That means…”
She narrowed her eyes. “I know what it means.”
“The answer is no. I did no’. I’m no’ a farmer, Lessie. I’m a warrior. For hundreds of years my brothers and I kept a country resplendent with desirable coastline, easily accessed by maraudin’ barbarians intact. But here I am throwin’ chickens and carryin’ corn… I think I’ve shown ye that there’s nothin’ I would no’ do to have ye accept me as yer mate. And nothin’ I would no’ do to keep my family safe.”
Her eyes glazed with mist when he said ‘family’. She took his meaning very well. He was promising to be her husband, but he was also promising to be father to her children. All she could manage to say was, “Mate?”
His face and voice softened as he settled himself over her, “Do no’ behave as if this comes as a surprise to ye.”
“Well…”
“That is no’ the way to begin that sentence.” He rocked his body into her, which was distracting to say the least.
“You cannot possibly be, uh, ready again this soon.”
“Reach down and take hold of the livin’ proof. I’ve been wantin’ this for a long time.” She shifted and squirmed a little, which made proof more than evident without the use of hands. “So?” Conn’s voice dropped to a sexy rumble as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. “Are ye havin’ me to mate then?”
He pulled back so as to better see her face. When her radiant smile appeared he let out the breath he’d been holding and the tiny lines around his eyes smoothed away.
“I’m havin’ ye then.”
“When did ye figure out that the Council did no’ assign me to look after ye?”
“When I noticed that the other two widows didn’t have a gorgeous unmated werewolf regularly calling.”
Conn laid his head back on the pillow for a moment. “Ye think I’m gorgeous?”
And she laughed.
While Lestriv knew that there was a place in her heart that would always belong to Jimmy Clear Eyes, she also knew that Conn was right. Jimmy would want their children to have a strong protector who loved and cherished them. And he would want Lessie to be happy.
Epilogue
Luna and her apprentices had shooed Conn outside when Lessie’s labor began in earnest. And there he had waited in the darkness for hours. Hearing her in such distress was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He walked in circles. A couple of times he’d peeked inside only to have three women yell at him to, “Get out.”
Finally, he decided to change into wolf form for comfort. At least he’d be warm. He lay down in the middle of the passage between buildings that would have been considered a road in Scotia and put his head on his paws. On hearing Lessie’s screams intensify, he rose, turned around, and flopped down with agitation. When she screamed again he lifted his head, which happened to be facing east. As the first sunbeam pierced the blackness of night he heard a baby’s cry.
He changed to human form and burst into the room.
With sweat trickling down the side of her face, Luna looked at him and smiled. “It’s a boy, Conn.”
“A boy.” He whispered it with so much awe that he made it sound like no other male baby had ever been born. “Lessie?”
“She’s fine. Just sleeping. She deserves it. She worked really hard.”
Luna’s two midwife apprentices finished knotting the umbilical cord, wiped the baby off with warm water, wrapped him in a cotton cloth, and handed him to Luna.
She in turn said, “Here’s your son, Conn. Take him.” Conn looked at Luna with a horrified expression and shook his head vigorously. She laughed. “Don’t worry. Look. Put your hand under his head to support his neck and let him rest in the crook of your arm, just like that.”
Feeling the pliant warmth next to his body made Conn feel strange. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“He’s beautiful,” Luna said. “Perfect in every way.”
“Perfect,” Conn repeated as he swayed back and forth with the baby in his arm.
When Lestriv woke, the first thing she saw was Konochur’s smile. The second thing she saw was the bundle in his arms. She reached for the baby. As Conn gingerly placed him in his mother’s arms, he said, “We have a son, Lessie. Perfect in every way. And I know his name.”
Lestriv managed a small smile. She had been part of a werewolf tribe long enough to know that werewolves approached naming like it was a mystic ritual. It could be said that they were superstitious about it, but oddly, they s
eemed to always get it right.
“What will you call him?” she asked as she placed a kiss on the tiny forehead.
“Mac ar Maidin.”
She repeated it twice. “What does it mean?”
“Son of the Mornin’.”
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