The Dragon Of Her Dreams: A Paranormal Love & Pregnancy Romance

by Lilly Pink

  ***

  In a way, the next morning was like any other morning. Kian woke first, his arms tightening around Zoe in a sleepy embrace. He nuzzled her neck with his face, breathing in the scent of her before kissing the back of her neck, and she hummed in drowsy contentment, snuggling deeper into his arms. But the more awake he was, the more his last memories fought to make themselves heard, and he gasped everything clicked into place. “Zoe! You are all right! And I also seemed to be relatively well… what has happened? How long have I been asleep?”

  “Nearly a week, love,” she said, turning in his arms to face him and stroking his cheek with a gentle smile. “I’m glad to have you back.”

  She told him everything that had happened in his absence over breakfast. Ameretat came up briefly to make sure he had come out of the spell all right, and then she had ordered him to continue to recover in their rooms for the rest of the day. “I mean it,” she said, waving a croissant threateningly in his direction. “You can run all over the palace tomorrow, giving orders and questioning people, but today, you stay right here and rest. Both of you.” She was still pointing the pastry at them as she left the room.

  Kian sighed as Zoe finally finished her tale, and took her hands in his own. “I am sorry that you had to bear so much alone, my heart, but you handled it fantastically.” He met her eyes with a crooked smile. “I am glad we are already married, or else I think the people might not accept my rule any longer.”

  Zoe laughed and leaned into him, prompting him to take her into his arms. They both needed this reassurance, and for a moment they enjoyed the closeness in silence. “Not so,” she murmured into his chest. “They might have approved of that one decision, but half of them were convinced I had murdered you in my own takeover bid.”

  “Which just proves how little they know you. It would be far more likely that you would murder someone to ensure you would never have to take the throne again,” he said, chuckling softly.

  “I’m sorry, Kian. If I hadn’t run off before, none of this would have happened,” she said, tears springing to her eyes at the memory. “You nearly died because I was being cowardly about my obligations.”

  “You should not blame yourself for this. We had a disagreement, which, I have come to understand, is a completely normal thing for a married couple to do,” he replied, stroking her cheek with a small smile. “And it is not as if you fled without sense. You went for a walk, with Sirius, and someone you had no reason not to trust asked you in to tea.

  That is hardly unreasonable behavior. I should have warned you to be more careful. I knew about the poisoning at the wedding, but Ameretat and I thought it would be better not to worry you until we knew more. That proved to be a near fatal error. As luck would have it, I went looking, concerned about you and intending to apologize, and someone had chanced to see you walking with Faizel.

  Zhubin and Shahin happened to pass me on the way to the archives and when we found Sirius, he was too weak to chase after you, but he did indicate where you had gone. I will never be able to thank Shahin enough for giving you that pup. I am sorry about Zhubin’s death, of course,” he added with a heavy sigh, “But it could have been so much worse.

  Now, Faizel is gone, and you and the children are safe. That is all I can ask for.” Kian tightened his embrace and kissed her hair. “If you are truly uncomfortable with the reunification ritual, we can wait. I will try my best to ease your concerns. I had truly never considered that the humans might be frightened of us, though I should have.”

  Zoe shook her head forcefully. “No. I mean, I think we should plan carefully, but you were right. The Kumari have waited hundreds of years for this. Something could happen to one of us at any time, and then they might have to wait centuries more. Without us, the worlds might never be reunited. If you still think it’s safe to do before the twins are born, then yes, I want to do it as soon as possible. Before someone else comes along to screw it up.”

  After that, planning mode was in overdrive. Though it was Zoe and Kian who would have to complete the ritual, they decided it would be foolish not to bring back up, who, in the worst case, would at least be able to tell people what had happened.

  Shahin and Darya agreed to accompany them. Ameretat would watch over the bodies of the dream warriors, with instructions to wake them if she thought anyone was in danger, particularly if it looked like Zoe was going to go into labor. Surprisingly, Ameretat thought she might go another week or two at least, so she believed that traveling the Dreaming would be perfectly safe.

  Then Kian showed them all what he had discovered regarding the spell that had split the worlds. “My belief is that Jahan and the tree are now inextricably linked; harming one will harm the other, and both must be destroyed to restore the worlds. So, this is my plan…”

  Two days later, they reasoned they were about as prepared as they could be. They decided that they would begin their efforts after the evening meal. Each of them knew that there was a possibility that they could die during the battle, no matter their skills and preparations, and so, they went their separate ways in the afternoon, to say their farewells and put their affairs in order.

  Kian and Zoe walked together in the garden, hand-in-hand, neither of them knowing exactly what to say. In a way, this was their destiny, something they had been heading toward their whole lives, but that didn’t mean it was going to end well. “Now that we have come to the day, I find myself wishing to wait,” Kian said softly, pulling her close against his side.

  “No matter how many days I spend with you, it will never be enough. We should have years and years together. I cannot bear the thought that this night might be our last. Are we being foolish? If we were to wait, then at least the children would have a chance at life even if we failed.”

  Zoe put her arms around his waist, thought it was difficult with the current enormity of her stomach. “Don’t worry, love. We might fail, but Ameretat will keep us safe. You know she will, and you will live to hold our children in your arms.”

  He smiled down at her. “It is good to see you back to your hopeful, confident self, jãné del-am. If you are not afraid, I will try my best not worry.”

  “Of course I’m afraid—I’m terrified,” she said with a peal of shaky laughter. “But if the past few months has taught me anything, it’s that avoiding my fears always leads me into trouble. Better to face them head on, together.”

  “Words of wisdom, indeed,” he said. “We will be together, regardless, and that is the most important part.” He kissed her forehead, and began running his fingers through her hair. Zoe sighed with contentment, before looking up at him with a twinkle in her eye.

  “If I remember correctly, someone once told me that the moments just before a difficult and dangerous mission were best spent in the arms of one’s lover.”

  Kian flushed, drawing in a sudden breath. “I do recall hearing something similar, yes. Are we allowed?”

  “Yes,” Zoe replied, already slipping her hands inside his outer shirt and sliding them up his chest. “Ameretat said so the day before you woke up, but we have been busy and you were still recovering. I was too grateful that you were alive to press for more. There is a small chance that it could start labor, but anything could at this point.”

  “I would not have minded being pressed,” he said, his voice already low and rough. “I have been on my best behavior for your sake, and for the children, but it has been difficult. You are so beautiful, and my baser instincts do not always listen to reason.” Their lips met, and neither of them even tried to conceal how much they had longed for one another, tasting deeply with eager mouths and tongues and teeth while clothing was shed in wild abandon.

  They marveled at the beauty they found in each other. A month was not so long, certainly not in a lifetime that might span millennia, but it felt like it had been forever. Zoe ran her hands of the skin of his chest and shoulders, loving the breadth of them, the smoothness, and the flexing of lean muscles underneath, while Kia
n cradled each of her breasts, heavy and full, in his hands before caressing the great curve of her belly. ‘“I think we may be in for trouble in the future, my heart,” he said, kissing a line down her jaw that made her shiver.

  “Oh, and why is that?” she asked breathlessly, her fingers grazing teasingly over the muscles of his abdomen. Sometimes she wondered if he used magic to keep himself fit, since he did a lot more studying than exercising. It hardly seemed the proper time for that question, however, as she was far more interested in the hardness she felt pressing into her hip.

  “However you may feel about your own current attractiveness, I cannot imagine a more arousing thought than your body with my child growing inside you,” he said before gasping into her neck as her fingers danced along the length of his arousal.

  “Are you afraid we’ll end up with a hundred children?” she inquired in a husky voice, closing her fingers around him so that he shuddered.

  “Afraid, no. At this point, I am looking forward to it,” he answered hoarsely. His legs were shaking as she stroked him, and his fingers flexed around her hips. “Zoe,” he said, plaintive now, and she relented, her smile one of smug satisfaction.

  Leading him by the hand, she took him to a secluded corner of the garden, where a young apple tree stood alone, its fruit fallen weeks ago but its leaves still a riot of color just over their heads. She turned her back to him, wrapping her hand around the smooth bark of the trunk, and looking back to see if he understood.

  She didn’t need to ask after all; he pressed up behind her, his fingers glancing teasingly down her sides while he left lingering kisses on her neck and shoulder before his teeth grazed the nape of her neck, eliciting a quiet gasp. He sank to his knees in the soft earth and guided her hips down to meet him. A slow thrust up at just the right moment had him sliding deep within her; she was slick and ready for him, and he was hard as stone, already trembling with need.

  He held her still when she tried to move against him. “Wait a moment,” he said thickly, breath hot against her ear. “It has been so long. I do not want it to be over too soon.” She couldn’t disagree, in a way this was their wedding night over again, since they had been deprived of traditional newlywed activities through Faizel’s intervention.

  Plus, though Zoe refused to think of it this way, it could be their last time together; it should be taken slowly. But it was difficult to wait, feeling him inside her; her body quivering around him as his breath spilled in warm pants across the back of her neck. It was an exquisite sort of torture that made her whimper with unrepentant want.

  Finally, he moved, rolling his hips back, withdrawing the tiniest amount before pressing into her again. She kept still, giving him a moment to find a rhythm, to regain control, and eventually they did begin to move together. Slow, languid, lingering, every touch, he let her feel the whole length of him within her and she rolled against him like a gentle sea.

  It felt perfect, their union, a blissful completion where pleasure drove higher with every breath. Then his hand slid around her thigh, and a finger brushed the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs. She groaned in mingled surprise and ecstasy, feeling the fire blooming underneath her skin. Now there were so many wonderful sensations she almost couldn’t bear it. His mouth suckled at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his finger gentle but insistent as he filled her again.

  It was a symphony of pleasure that was nearing its crescendo. Her whole body was taut with anticipation as he withdrew almost all the way. She whimpered a needy denial, and he drove back into her, his teeth on her neck a sharp counterpoint that snapped her tension. A moan rose from deep within her being and ecstasy flooded her, her head thrown back in heedless bliss while Kian shuddered against her back. His hips lurched as he spilled himself within her, moaning into her shoulder.

  Zoe panted with her forehead resting on the bark of the tree, feeling Kian’s heart hammering against her back while his hand slid around to cradle her belly once more. There was more room in there for kicking, but she felt the twins move against his touch; they always knew, somehow, when he was there. She laid her hands over his, a moment of quiet with their little family, hopefully not the last. He kissed her hair and sighed as he withdrew, offering her his hand once he was standing.

  “Now, we need a bath,” he grinned, indicating their blackened knees and feet. “Or else the others will wonder why we spent our time together gardening.”

  Zoe laughed at that. “Oh, they’d know exactly what we were doing, and they would tease us relentlessly. But you know I could never turn down a warm bath, especially if it has you in it.”

  CHAPTER 14

  A few hours later, Zoe and Kian were with Shahin and Darya, once again traveling the haunted forest of the Dreaming. This time, they were all armed and armored. Shahin with daggers, Darya with a staff, Zoe with her shining bow, and Kian with his sword and shield.

  “So this World Tree, it connects our world with the human world?” Shahin asked quietly. “But you think, in order to rejoin the worlds, it must be destroyed? It sounds backwards to me. Won’t breaking the tree make the two worlds fly farther apart?”

  “If they were meant to be apart, perhaps that would be true,” Kian answered. “But the worlds belong together, and in a way, the tree is holding them apart. But it is also more than that. The true spell is a complicated sigil, as you might expect, and the tree is actually obscuring it, protecting the magic. The final barrier, if you will.”

  “And where does Jahan come in again?” the hunter asked as he peered down the path. “He is guarding the tree, but he opposed the creation of it?”

  “He cursed the human world with his dying breath, powered by his own blood,” Kian said. “I believe he tied his spirit to the tree, unintentionally. I suppose he thought if he couldn’t have what he wanted, he’d make sure no one else did either.”

  “A powerful combination,” Darya said sagely. “A curse sworn on one’s own lifeblood. If his spirit has been tied to the tree for this long, it may not even remember its original goal.”

  “His thoughts do seem to consist primarily of hatred,” Kian agreed. Zoe shivered at the memory. That had been one of the more frightening episodes of her life, and now she was going to repeat it on purpose. It sounded like an insane idea, but at least this time they had a plan. They were as prepared as they could possibly be.

  They reached the top of the hill. Shahin and Darya gasped when they saw their first sight of the crystal tree soaring into the sky and the massive black dragon curled protectively around the base of it. “You all remember the plan?” Kian asked, looking at each one of them in turn. They all nodded. Zoe felt queasy.

  Kian pulled her a little way away from the others while Shahin and Darya politely pretended to be busy with their own affairs. “Everything is going to be fine, my heart,” he said, pushing one of her constantly unruly locks away from her cheek. “But should something go wrong…” He swallowed. “You must promise me that you will save yourself first.”

  “Kian, I am not going to leave you here to die if I can possibly help it,” she said fiercely. “Don’t ask me to do that. I can’t.”

  “Zoe, this is not about me being self-sacrificing. I have every belief that this will work, but if it doesn’t, you cannot risk your life to save mine. You will have to trust Ameretat to do her job. Because if you die, it is not one life at stake, but three.

  And truthfully, this task could be done by any sufficiently trained mage. Darya could accomplish this with very little training, as long as you are with her. You are the key to the future of the Kumari, whereas I am just one man with a useful set of magical skills.”

  “Not to me,” she replied, throwing her arms around his waist. “To me you are the most important man in all the world. I absolutely forbid you to die, so don’t do anything crazy.”

  He kissed her, hard. “You are the most beautiful and amazing woman in any world, Zoe, and I will have no other. I will swear to do my absolute best not to per
ish if you promise to make your own safety at least a slightly higher priority than mine.”

  She sighed. “Fine. But if you die, I will learn necromancy so I can resurrect you and punch you in the face.”

  “It is a deal,” he agreed with a crooked half-smile. They kissed again, and Shahin loudly cleared his throat in the background. Zoe parted from her husband reluctantly and joined the hunter. They made themselves, physically and magically, as unobtrusive as possible and crept toward the tree. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kian and Darya assume their dragon forms.

  The tree and the dragon were connected; in a sense, they were the same being, and damage to one also harmed the other. So, the plan was to attack on both fronts. Darya and Kian would attack as dragons, with magic, drawing the dragon away from the world tree.

  Zoe and Shahin would damage the tree directly. The hope was that if the dragons could keep Jahan busy for long enough that significant damage was done to the world tree, then the dragon would be weakened enough to be killable.

  Zoe and Shahin waited in the shadows, as near to the tree as they could safely get, and watched the two dragons, looking like babies or toys next to Jahan’s bulk, approach the great back head. Kian flashed his wings at them; that was the signal.

  She nocked an arrow, chanting a quiet spell to guide her aim, and shot the enormous dragon in the face. Jahan awoke with a howl of agony, tail and wings thrashing, “INTRUDERS! KILL! DIE!” That was what Kian and Darya were waiting for.

  They leaped upward, launching themselves aloft and flying right at eye level, making sure he could see them, and then they breathed fire right in his face. The roar of rage was loud enough to shake some of the crystal leaves from the tree, and they fell to the ground with the sound of shattering glass. Kian and Darya were fleeing now, not too fast, they wanted to lure him away.