Ever Mine (Dragon Lore)

by Eden Ashe

  A breeze, carrying the distinct scent of roses and madness, brushed over his skin. He kicked at the back door until the wood splintered, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Give me the fairy slut, Nathan, and come home with me. Then this will all be over.”

  He gritted his teeth against the disembodied voice, full of softness and promises, floating across the air. He lifted his head. “Call her a slut again and I promise you will beg me for death before the end of this.”

  Katenia’s finger drilled into his ribcage as he slammed his shoulder against the door. “Stop antagonizing the crazy woman, Nathan!”

  The storm picked up again until the rain bit against their skin, lashing down to the bone. Katenia screamed against the pain.

  “Enough!” Nathan bellowed. He let go of his fairy’s hand and stepped forward into the heart of the torrential downpour. “You want me, Rhiannon, come face me, bitch. Come and get me.”

  He kept his face calm, his demeanor and personality hardening into sheer ice. With his need to keep the woman he loved safe, the beast he’d fought his entire life to keep chained deep inside was tearing free of its walls. If he had to destroy Rhiannon to do it…

  So be it.

  “You were supposed to love me! Me!” she screeched. “I gave you everything, and you were supposed to be mine!”

  “I tried. It just didn’t work, Rhi.” He straightened and ran up the back porch stairs, throwing his shoulder into the door. It shattered a big enough hole in the middle for him to shove Katenia inside. “Run,” he ordered. “Don’t stop until you get to the red door across the kitchen. It leads to the basement. Get in there and bolt yourself in. Don’t open it for anyone but me.”

  She shook her head at him. “Nathan—”

  “Go!” he roared.

  She ran, Rhiannon’s howl of fury following her. “Do you think I won’t be able to find her?” she asked in a scream.

  Nathan barked out a mocking laugh. “You’re too afraid to even show your face. I’m not worried about you finding her.”

  “You lie!” She hissed. “Thad will find her and bring her to me. Drop the knife and come willingly, Nathan, and I promise to make her death quick.”

  “You know,” he started conversationally, leaning against the porch railing and flipping the wicked knife, catching it perfectly each time. “I’m getting really tired of being threatened. You know me, Rhiannon. You know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep someone I love safe.”

  Thunder rattled the earth, shaking the house to its foundation. “You were supposed to love me!”

  “Gee,” he drawled, “with this temper, I can’t imagine why I don’t.” He straightened, all pretense of easiness gone. “Show yourself!”

  His heart clenched as she stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the wide back yard. She was dressed in blood-red from head-to-foot, the full-length gown clinging to her torso like skin, then flaring at the hips. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head. There was fear glittering in her eyes, but it was overshadowed by a madness he’d somehow overlooked for more than a decade. Had she always been this insane? How had he missed it? He shook his head because no matter his regrets, it was too late. He could handle her threatening him, but Katenia was off-limits.

  “Me.” She said it simply as her hand flicked out, a brush of power hitting him in the chest and sending him crashing through the doorway into the kitchen. “How dare you reject me!”

  She advanced, throwing another bolt of power at him before he could get to his feet, this one throwing him into the cabinets. He felt the crack in his ribs, and had to grit his teeth against the sharp pain. It wasn’t the first time his ribs had been broken, but damn if the pain didn’t threaten to knock his knees out from under him as he struggled to his feet.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He tightened his grip on his knife as he pulled himself up and leaned against the counter. She stepped over the threshold and into the kitchen. “You never did fight fair.”

  With a swipe of her hand, she sent the table and chairs in her path flying out of her way. “Why do that, when I can make you kneel?” she asked, putting her hand out, palm down. Excruciating pressure built in his skull, until he was on his knees and doubled over. “Beg,” she snapped. “Beg, and I won’t keep you caged for my enjoyment.”

  “Please.” The word gritted out through clenched teeth, the pain in his head threatening to shatter his skull. Still, he got to his feet again, and summoning all the strength he possessed, he staggered toward her, acknowledging the triumph in her eyes with the barest nod of his head. He reached out for her, hooking his arm around her waist and yanking her into his chest. The victory that shone in her eyes turned to utter confusion when he shoved the knife into her belly. She tried to jerk away from him, but he sliced upward, the knife cutting through bone and tissue and organs as easily as moving through water. He shoved her away from him. “If you loved me, Rhi, you’d have known I don’t beg anyone.”

  “What did you do?!” Thad screeched, running from the direction of the basement, Katenia’s arm clutched in one hand. He crashed to the floor next to Rhiannon, tears streaming down his face as he stared into lifeless eyes. “It was all supposed to be mine.”

  With his focus on the bruise forming on Katenia’s jaw, Nathan wrapped an arm around his waist and moved forward slowly, using his uncle’s distraught distraction against him. “What was supposed to be yours?”

  “The power of the fairy,” Thad sobbed. He yanked the knife out of Rhiannon’s chest and got to his feet, turning on Nathan, stopping him in his tracks. “You did this!”

  Nathan couldn’t help it. He laughed, despite the staggering pain in his ribs. “That seems to be the theme of the day. Let her go, Thad. I killed Rhiannon. I will kill you, too.”

  But his uncle was beyond reason. He lifted the knife to Katenia’s throat, the serrated edge biting into the tender flesh. “I want what I was promised!”

  With his heart in his throat, Nathan dared a glance at Katenia, and nearly smiled at the fury flashing in her eyes as she glared at him. There was fear in her, but she was damn furious with Thad.

  “Can I?” she asked.

  He didn’t have to ask what she meant. He nodded as he barked out a laugh. “Go for it, babe.”

  Her temper lashed out of her, coursing into Thad, who still gripped her arm. He screamed at the current boiling through his bloodstream, and Nathan was on him the next moment, wrenching the knife away. Without hesitation, he plunged the knife into his uncle’s heart, anchoring him to the hardwood floor next to Rhiannon.

  He barely managed to get to his feet when a small fury of motion hit him, the slight body slamming into him with so much force he stumbled backward. Pain radiated from his ribs to every extremity, and he couldn’t give a shit less. His hand dove into her hair, and he leaned up, his mouth fusing to hers, greedy and desperate as relief and horror washed over him.

  “I love you,” he murmured. “I love you.” It was the pulse in his heart, the intensity too much for him to keep inside, until it had no choice but to escape him on a desperate chant. “I love you, Katenia.”

  “I know.” She straddled over him, shoving his shirt up as she kissed his face, his throat, his abs. “I need you, Nathan.”

  He groaned when she unzipped his pants, freeing his aching cock. “Gentle, baby, I’m hurt.”

  “I’ll do all the work,” she promised and lifted the skirt of her dress to slide him in. The tears welled up in her eyes as she leaned down to kiss him again, her hands splaying against his ribcage. His moan of pleasure turned to a hiss when the pain in his ribs intensified for a single heartbeat, before dulling to a vague ache. The second he could move, he reared up into her, delighting in the arch of her body as she accepted him, urging him on faster, harder, until they came together, her scream mixing with his roar.

  He’d barely collapsed against the floor, with her curled on top of him, when the presence of another prickled along Nathan’s skin. He was sn
arling as he sat up, the knife clenched in his hand, only to go still at the fairies fanned out in front of him. “Ah, Katenia, I think you have visitors.”

  She stilled, her mouth dropping open. With a blush staining her cheeks and fear in her eyes, she climbed off him. When he’d covered himself, she scrambled to her feet. Her arms flew to the sides to shield him again. “You cannot have him.”

  Her father floated forward, amusement glinting in eyes as silver as his wings. “Calm down, we’re not here to hurt him.”

  Nathan tucked himself into his jeans and stood up, defiantly wrapping his arm around Katenia’s waist, hauling her to his chest as he stared down her entire smiling family, from the regal woman with the silver hair on one end, to the skinnier version of Katenia on the other. Though he knew the kind of havoc they could wreak even in their small size, he was finding it hard to be intimidated at the moment. “What do you want?”

  “We come with a gift,” her father said.

  It was on the tip of Nathan’s tongue to tell him to shove it, but the last gift the fairy had given him had kept his Katenia safe. Still… “What is it?” he asked, warily.

  “I have decided I will not watch my daughter wither and die in the human world.” Even as Nathan’s heart dropped, the man continued on. “So I am granting you the gift of immortality.”

  Nathan staggered back a step, a weird buzzing in his head. “Wait. What? You can’t just do that.” He looked down at Katenia, not sure if he would handle it well if her dad was messing with him. The thought of something happening to him and leaving her alone in his world… He’d take immortality. “Can he?”

  In answer, a slow, beautiful smile lit Katenia up from the inside. “Father, I—”

  “Hush,” he ordered. “I am not done yet.” He nodded when she snapped her mouth shut. “Now, I would like to know my grandchildren and their children. So, since your aunt Mellie protected my daughter at her most vulnerable and used her spell to send you home with her, the Council has decided to make her garden neutral territory. She has the spell to turn my daughter and her offspring into their fairy sizes, so they can learn their heritage.”

  Katenia tore out of his arms and darted forward, gently grasping her father in her cupped palm. It surprised Nathan to see the tears in his eyes as he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.

  The smile on Nathan’s face died at the shimmer of magic spinning around his fairy and her father, but before he could give voice to the terror, the magic faded, and his heart slammed violently into his chest. For the first time in his life, tears of gratitude stung his eyes when he saw the final gift her father had granted her, peeking out from the top of her sundress. He’d tattooed her beautiful wings onto her back, so she’d never have to be without them again.

  Her father bowed his head as he let his daughter go and flittered backward. “Now go start your life. We will be here whenever you have need of us.” He hesitated. “Oh, Mellie is upstairs in her bedroom. The magic she performed to turn you into a fairy is beyond anything she’d ever done and has drained her. She used a protection ward to keep herself safe, so when you go talk to her, make sure you say the phrase ‘apple pie’. Otherwise, she won’t let you in.”

  Then they were gone as quickly as they’d appeared. Katenia stood where her father had left her, staring straight ahead.

  “Hey.” He moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Are you okay?”

  “No.” She turned in his arms and went on her toes, cupping his face with her hands, tears shining in her eyes. “I’m wonderful. They’re letting me keep you.”

  He winked at her, because the love shining on her face was undoing him. “In all fairness, I probably wasn’t going to give them a choice.”

  She dropped her head against his chest and laughed. “Gods, I love you, Nathan.”

  “I know.” With a quick wink, he slipped his arm under her perfect bottom and lifted her until they were at eye level. He needed to get her out of there so he could clean up the mess and check on his aunt, but right now, he needed to hold her more. “I’m stupid in love with you, Katen.”

  She giggled and grinned up at him as she hooked her legs around his waist, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “That sounds about right.” She kissed his nose, then closed her eyes and rested her brow against his. The sigh that escaped her was one of contentment and joy, and Nathan smiled. “Mine,” she whispered.

  He nodded, and held onto the fairy who owned his soul. “Mine.”

  Eden Ashe

  Convinced dragons have gotten a bad rep throughout time, and more than a little addicted to fairy tales and romance novels, Eden Ashe has decided to re-write history. In her version, the dragons are ancient warriors in tarnished armor, who not only deserve the girl in the end, but will fight forever for her.

  Also By Eden Ashe

  Dragon Lore

  The Dragon’s Heart

  Ever Mine

  Lyrical Press books are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2014 Eden Ashe

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

  First Electronic Edition: June 2014

  ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-532-5

  The Dragon’s Heart

  Dragon Lore, Book One

  Eden Ashe

  Excerpt from Chapter One

  “In entertainment news, Shelby Kincade is expected to make her first public appearance tonight at the premiere for her new romantic comedy, Love Games. It’s been almost a year since the night that still baffles police, when two men were found torn apart and bloody inside the A-list star’s bedroom…”

  A low catcall came from the end of the bar, droning out the rest of the talking head’s voice.

  “Look at her.” A man whistled. Shelby Kincade’s face filled the flat-screen television set high on the wall above the dozens of bottles of alcohol.

  “I’d rather not.” Daniel Ashborne downed the beer he’d been nursing for the last hour. Just her name made him want to get plastered. “Can you turn this shit off?” he asked.

  The brawny bartender braced his stocky arms across his chest. “Fuck off. I’m watching this.” He grabbed the remote, cranking the volume as he turned his full attention back to the television. “I like Shelby.”

  “Of course you do,” Daniel drawled as he got to his feet, scooping his change off the bar. He dragged a hand over his face. So much for a biker bar being a nice, quiet place to get drunk. The task didn’t require all of his attention, but there was no way in hell he was looking at the television screen. He knew from experience the second he let his focus waver, he’d get sucked in to whatever story was running on the woman, be it on the television or in a magazine or newspaper. No matter how toxic it was, she was an addiction he didn’t know how to kick.

  It didn’t surprise him to see her face splattered all over the night’s news. It was why he’d decided to get sloppy drunk. After a year outside the Hollywood spotlight, the woman still demanded attention. And she got it in spades.

  “Isn’t she the pertiest thang you’ve ever seen?” the biker asked, his gaze riveted to the television.

  Daniel made the mistake of glancing up. She stared back at him through dark sunglasses, pale blonde waves framing a perfect, flawless face. He knew the photograph was taken soon after his last encounter with her. He knew it because her smile, the beautiful, radiant smile of hers that made everyone near her want to smile, too, strained around the edges. Too forced to be real.

  He snorted on his way to the door. “Don’t let her fool you,” he murmured as he passed the biker. “She’s a shark. She’d eat you alive.”

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