by Honor James
“Much, thank you,” Jackie murmured and felt sleep tugging at her again. “Sleep, Allister. We both need sleep. Come on, darling.” She yawned again and curled up in the bed closer to him and began to pet him again. “Come with me to dreamland,” she whispered and was out cold.
Chuckling softly, he curled around her body and held her as she slept. He loved the quiet moments right after she was asleep, listening to her breathing, the smooth beat of her heart. To him it was absolute perfection, a moment of complete ecstasy. He had his woman in his arms, her love wrapping up his soul, and the world was at absolute peace in that single moment.
Epilogue
One year later
Jackie looked at the room that they had decorated for their sons’ birthday and grinned. Looking at her watch, she knew that it was only a matter of time before others started to show up, so now it was time to track down her husband and the twins. She smiled. Happiness lived and breathed inside of her. Never in a million years would she have believed that she would be so happy to be a stay-at-home mom, but she was. She didn’t even want to go out on missions any more. She still kicked everyone’s asses at video games though, but that wasn’t something she brought up…often.
Walking through their home, she followed the sounds of her sons’ obvious joy and grinned again. “Goodness, I love those boys,” she whispered softly. When she turned the corner, however, she stopped still in her tracks and looked at her husband and children. “What in the ever-loving name of G-O-D are you doing?” she demanded.
Stilling in the act of trying to clean the boys up, Allister flinched at her tone and turned his body ever so slightly so he could see her face. Oh, she didn’t look happy. “Cleaning up the boys for their party?” he said and winced internally. Damn, that came out like a question. He knew how it looked. The room was…well, trashed was a good term for it. The boys looked pleased with their work, and Allister had managed to get the fires out before the alarm system had sounded. Barely. He had to get it adjusted, he realized, making a mental note. “Is everything ready for the guests?” he asked her in a pleasant tone that didn’t sound in the least like he was shaking in his boots. Nope, not at all.
“Yes. What happened?” she asked with a frown and then sniffed. “Fire? Allister, do I smell fire? What the hell?” She looked to her sons then, who looked far too pleased with themselves, and covered her eyes with her hand. “What did they burn?” No panicking. Panicking wasn’t allowed. It would do no good. Nope. She was perfectly calm and in control. Oh, fuck that! “You said that they wouldn’t be able to spit flames or whatever it is until they hit puberty. That’s something I could live with.” She felt tears. “They could have gotten hurt,” she added then. A sob rose in her throat. She didn’t care about the house or the things. Her sons could have gotten hurt and that was why she was so freaked out.
Moving to her side quickly, Allister pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “They are both fine,” he said, rubbing her back. “They don’t even have a singe and, in theory, they shouldn’t have been able to produce a flame yet.” With good reason, Dragons were cocky beings. Add in the brawn and fire that came with their heritage and it was bad news all around. “From what I saw it wasn’t even a full flame, more a small flare that went out quickly. They can’t produce the full stream like Aiden or I can,” he murmured.
Jackie sat down hard on the toilet and dropped her head in her hands. Shaking her head, she looked up to Allister. “Oh lord,” she whispered and nodded. “All right. Finish their bath and, god, I don’t know.” She licked her lips and stood. “I will be finishing their cakes.” She moved to the tub and leaned down at her little fire breathers. “I love you boys. Life is always going to be interesting with the two of you in it.” She squeezed Allister’s shoulder and smiled. “Hurry up, honey. I need hugs.”
Nodding, he rubbed his hand up and down her calf. “We’ll be down in a few minutes. I promise,” he said softly to her. Releasing her, he smiled and turned to the boys once she was gone. “No more of that until you are older,” he said in a firm but soft tone. “Your mother isn’t Dragon. She can’t protect herself naturally like we can. You could hurt her. Until you are older, you can’t be doing the things that make us different, all right?” He watched them closely.
Both boys nodded and smiled their smiles with the two lone teeth in each boy’s head. “Mommy,” they said in unison. “Ours,” the bigger of the two said as if claiming their mother as theirs to protect.
“Damn right, Mommy is ours,” Allister said quietly with a grin. Leaning in, he kissed each of their noses lightly. “All right, eyes closed, one more scrub and then we need to drain and rinse you two off. You have a party about to happen and you need to go and reassure your mother you are fine. Plus a bunch of hugs and kisses for her would not be amiss.” He looked at each of them. “Lots of kisses for your mommy, got it?”
Both boys shared a look and began to giggle. Reaching up, the oldest, by two minutes, pulled his father close and began to give him kisses.
Laughing, Allister kissed him back. “Your mother, you little brat.” He chuckled, sitting him back down. “Eyes closed,” he ordered, grabbing up the sponge and, dunking it in the water, poured some more of the soap onto it. Scrubbing them top to bottom once more, he stood them up. “Keep your eyes closed,” he ordered as he pulled the plug to drain the dirty water. Rinsing them off, he dried them, dressed them, and carried them down to the main floor. “Go and give your momma some love, boys,” he ordered, setting them on their feet before he collapsed on the steps with a groan. Good Gods, they were exhausting.
When the boys began to race for her, well, race as best they could, Jackie grinned and grabbed them up. Hugging both close, she was rewarded with lots of hugs and kisses from two of the most important beings in her entire existence. “I love you, too, darlings.” She nuzzled them. When the door rang, she looked to Allister and smiled. “All right, love, time to get this party started.” It was the first birthday for their boys. It was a new beginning for life. It was…perfect.
THE END
WWW.HONOR-JAMES.NET
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in the midseventies, this thirty-something woman has only been writing for the last six years of her life, faithfully that is. Honor has always been scribbling a phrase, a curious word, or the oddest of thoughts down on anything she could find lying about. Now she piles them up before her, and if one catches her fancy, she further explores it to whatever its end might be.
A lover of books, her reading material spans from Shakespeare to mysteries and all the way to the erotic. Anything and everything she can get her hands on she’ll read. Though, these days, she leans more toward the paranormal than anything else.
Poetry was her first love, lasting about three solid years. Don’t ask. She won’t show many of them to anyone. Then short stories became the focus, and finally she began to write for more than just writing what came to mind. She started to write for pleasure and to tell the story that begged to be told.
Life and family came next. Working full-time as a customer service representative and raising two children got in the way, and the writing that she so loved as a teenager seemed to be pushed off to the back burner of everything.
So several years passed, and her children turned into more than the babies that demanded her attention and into young children and then teenagers with different demands, ones that allowed her to once more spread her imagination to the wind and ask for more, want more.
As with all great things, the door to her notebook-written world might have been closed and placed on hold, but where a door closes another one opens, and in this case it was with the advent of buying a computer.
Honor spends many a sleepless night pounding at the keyboard.
She is a consummate professional in her daytime career. However, at night her visions swing to the fantastical, and in those long hours after the children and husband are in bed, she weaves together words and blends up stories
that not only bring a whole new meaning to romance, but sizzle the pages with a heat that will have the readers begging for more.
For all titles by Honor James, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/honor-james-0
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
