by Leela Ash
“Wait, my illness can be cured?” she asked, sitting up straight in her seat and staring wide-eyed harder.
“Yes. It is only all-consuming so long as you do not allow it to run its course naturally. And, of course, anyone born on this planet will have an issue at. Earthlings are all taught that magic is for children, not for adults. It makes no sense for anybody to distinguish fact from fiction when you are taught that is impossible.”
“My grandmother had the same illness that I do. But she disappeared. How is that possible? Where would she have gone?”
“Well, there are two possibilities,” Carter said. “The first is that she was discovered by men such as those that we just rescued you from. The second is that she met her fated mate and her potential was awakened. From there, it is hard to say what she might have done. But I doubt she would stick around in the same place that condemned her illness her whole life. Would you?”
Amy was dumbfounded. Her family had mentioned rumors of a man that had been courting her grandmother shortly before her disappearance. He kidnapped her or killed her. But if Carter was telling the truth, then perhaps…
“My grandmother embraced her powers,” Amy said slowly. She nodded. It all was beginning to make sense. “But why did you think that I wasn’t your fated mate? You didn’t feel it?”
Carter looked down at the steering wheel, clearly uncomfortable. “I did. I just didn’t know what it meant. I guess I didn’t understand. I thought it would be something different.”
“Did you think that it would be better than me?” Amy asked, slightly stunned by his words.
Carter looked at her quickly, his eyes full of the deep intensity that captured her and made her grow quiet. “Absolutely not. I wanted so badly for it to be you. I just didn’t think that you were a dragon shifter descendant. It didn’t make sense. Now that I know you are, I couldn’t be any happier. I love you, Amy. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. And now I know that I am allowed to love you. It won’t be a betrayal to my people.”
“How would it be a betrayal?” Amy asked. Carter had really left her in the dark about all this dragon shifter stuff. She was doing her best to catch up, but it was still difficult.
“Because we need to carry on the bloodline. It’s important. Without propagating more children from the Sun Dragon and Loni hybrids, the world I come from could crumble. I thought I would be betraying my people to love you. I didn’t realize that you are one of them. I’m sorry that hurt you. It hurt me too. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you more about this. I didn’t think you would believe me. We’ve tried this with humans before, the sacred ones, descendants, and it didn’t go very well first time.”
“I guess I can see why it would be hard for somebody to understand. I would never believe that you were a dragon shifter until you showed me.”
Carter grinned. “I know.”
“So, this is fate, huh?” Amy asked, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes. She was exhausted.
“This is fate,” Carter agreed, his voice low and gentle. It was soothing, and she smiled, nodding silently as she began to drift into a peaceful sleep.
21.
Carter gazed lovingly at Amy. She had fallen asleep halfway back to town, and he had never seen anybody look so beautiful. He parked the van in front of her apartment building, not really knowing what else to do with it. He glanced around the car and found a blanket to wrap around his waist before walking around and opening her door. He had every intention of caring her into the apartment, but she stirred when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled sleepily.
Carter’s heart surged with warmth. She was more beautiful now than he had ever seen her before. Now, she knew that she belonged with him.
“It’s nothing. We made it back to your place. I’m going to walk you inside, if that’s all right with you.
Amy furrowed her brow, sighed and nodded. She allowed Carter to help her out of the van and they walked togetheruntil they made it to her door.
Carter stood awkwardly outside, and Amy searched around for her keys and opened the apartment door. She paused, looking at him with a small, shy smile. “You want to come inside?”
Carter smiled in relief, relaxing immediately. He nodded. He wouldn’t rest if he wasn’t guarding Amy day and night from now on. Especially now that he knew for sure that she was his to protect.
“Come inside then,” Amy said softly, opening the door wider to allow room for Carter to step inside. He studied her, his eyes gentle, and followed Amy’s gaze. She was looking at him strangely now, her face tinted read.
“Do you want something to put on?” she asked, her voice meek.
Carter was confused and glanced down at the blanket he’d had clenched around his waist, realizing suddenly that he was still naked. Undergoing a shape shift left him completely nude, which is another reason that it was not permitted for them to shape shift within city limits unless it was a dire emergency.
“Yes, I would, thank you,” Carter said quietly. “But first, I’m concerned about your wrists and legs. Let’s go wash them out, okay?”
Amy nodded and led Carter to the bathroom. She handed him a towel, which he wrapped around his waist, and then dug through the medicine cabinet until she got some ointment. Carter took it and had her sit down carefully on the railing of the bathtub as he cleaned the wounds gently.
“Thank you,” Amy said softly, taking Carter’s hand as he completed bandaging her, “you saved my life.”
“I would do it one million times over,” Carter replied, his eyes boring seriously into hers. “You are the one I love. And I will love you forever.”
Amy’s eyes filled with an intensity of emotion that brought her close to Carter, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her in a loving embrace. Their lips met suddenly, electrically. Carter’s body responded immediately, and he lifted Amy up from the tub. She held onto him willingly, deepening their kiss with a passionate urgency. The dragon within Carter awakened immediately. He could sense her arousal. Almost taste it. The dragon was fighting with all its strength to be released; going insane to touch her. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anybody in his life. And he was going to take her.
A low growl emanated from his throat as he held Amy close against his bare, broad chest and carried her through the apartment, his purple-hued eyes darting around for her bedroom. When he found it, he stepped inside, suddenly overwhelmed by the delicious scent of his fated mate. This was where she slept. Where she dreamt. Where he was going to claim her, finally, once and for all.
A low moan of desire reverberated in Amy’s throat and Carter responded immediately. She wanted him. Needed him. And he was going to give her exactly what she wanted.
Amy let out a soft gasp when Carter laid her in the bed, swiftly stripping her and climbing on top of her. His loins were ablaze with the depth of his longing, and he pressed his hips down against her, the urgency of his arousal hard and unapologetic against his mate’s body..
Amy responded enthusiastically, her hips arching involuntarily as Carter caressed her hair, her body consumed with fire. She let out a soft sigh as the shifter man’s body brought her to trembling on the bed. He allowed his eyes to roam the ins and outs of her body in an intimate way he hadn’t at the beach. She was beautiful. Perfect. His.
He began to roam his hands up and down the softness of her skin, the gentle but angular slopes of her hips, with a slow tenderness that quickened the woman’s breath and stirred a desire within her so deep that Carter could feel it. He knew it for what it was. He smiled against Amy, kissing her neck gently. It sent a shiver through her body and she gripped him tightly, her face flushed a deep red. Carter’s body responded with an assertive grunt, and he held her close, gripping her waist gently as he dropped his lips against the soft pink mound of her nipple. He tightened them around them, watching her intently for her reaction; his body on fire with pure longing.
The contact of his tongue against it brought a sharp gasp to Amy’s lips and she rolled her hips against him, urging him to fill her. It brought a wildfire to Carter’s core and he inhaled deeply, slowly beginning to push himself inside.
The blissful heat that awaited him there enveloped his member and brought a low moan of satisfaction to Carter’s lips. Amy’s breath caught in her throat as Carter filled her entirely, the delicious friction sending blissful currents of ecstasy through them both until he was hilted inside. She gazed at him, startled briefly, and then smiled slowly.
“Your eyes…”
The dragon was coming out in full force, and its power consumed Carter fully. Amy cried out in rapture as he began to use that power to his own advantage, thrusting his hips to enter her again and again with a slow, steady motion. The act brought the fire within him into a raging inferno. Amy’s fingers dug into his back as he made love to her, their bodies in perfect synchronicity as they found the deep beat pulsing within their bodies. They had entered a place that belonged only to the two of them, the pleasure crashing over them in waves encouraging them to act as one.
Soon, the personal realm of pleasure they had entered became too much and Amy’s body began to tremble. Carter gazed down into her eyes, stroking her soft, gentle cheek lovingly.
“I will always protect you. You are mine.”
Amy was too near her peak to answer and simply nodded her head rigorously, clenching her hands around Carter’s biceps and bracing herself as a powerful orgasm began to sweep over her body. Carter moaned deeply, his member engulfed by the sweet heat of his lover’s middle. It felt better than anything he had ever felt before, and he let out a low, gratified growl as he hurried the pace of his hips. Heat consumed him, and he felt himself tremble just as he began to release himself and join Amy in climax.
Amy arched her back wildly when she felt Carter unload himself within her, the heat filling them both until she was writhing against the sheets, her chest rising and falling heavily with the passion of her release.
“Something’s different,” she said as soon as she could catch her breath. She gazed down at her abdomen curiously. “Something is very different.”
Carter’s heart surged. He had felt it too, but he hadn’t known what it meant until Amy looked down at her stomach. “Amy…”
“What?” she asked, her face contorted in confusion. “What is it? What’s going on?”
Carter could hardly contain his excitement. “You are pregnant. Blessed with the life of a sacred child. We are going to be parents!”
“Parents?” Amy whispered, touching her stomach gingerly. “I thought with my illness I would never be able to have kids. Are you sure…?”
Carter smiled at her, nuzzling her gently with his nose as he slowly pulled out of her and gathered Amy into his strong arms.
“I’m sure. I love you, you know,” he said again. “I mean it. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. Or to our child. Especially now. You have come into your power. And we are going to be able to teach you how to use it. Everything is going to be all right. We will have a family together, and we will protect it. Even if that means I never leave Earth. I will stay wherever you need to be, to be happy.”
Amy’s eyes filled with happy tears, and she buried her face in Carter’s broad chest as he held her. They had found each other at last, and nothing was ever going to get in the way of their happiness again.
Epilogue
“Uncle Rich! Look what I can do!”
Rich watched as the little girl leapt into the air and began to shape shift into a tiny dragon.
“Wow Gina, that’s a great trick! Maybe you can teach me how to do that sometime!”
The child giggled. “You know you can’t. You’re human.”
“Yeah, that’s unfortunate. At least you and your mommy are special.”
Rich turned his eyes to Amy. They twinkled, and she smiled back at him. He was the only one who would ever have believed what had happened to her. She was so grateful that her daughter could have such a great uncle in her life.
“As for you, Dr. Amy, what do you think of this weird lump on my leg. Should you have a look at it?”
“It’s probably just fibrous tissue,” Amy said, examining Rich’s legs carefully. “But it would be good to have it looked at and tested, just in case. I don’t want anything happening to you. You mean the world to us.”
“Ah, shucks,” Richard said, smiling.
“No, she’s right,” Carter said, slapping Richard on the back. He was coming out of the house carrying a plate full of hot dog buns. “Without you, I don’t know how she would’ve gotten by in this world. It’s been very hard on her, and you made it as easy as possible. We owe you a lot.”
“You really don’t. She’s family.”
Richard smiled and grabbed Gina out of the sky, sitting down on the bench beside him. “It’s time to eat, kiddo.”
“Yes, I love hot dog buns,” Gina said, giggling.
“We know you do, honey,” Amy said with a laugh.
“Eric was asking about you, you know,” Richard said. “Everyone is pretty jealous that you were able to get your degree and become a doctor like this. Carol, at the bank, is green with envy. She is starting to match the money.”
Everybody at the table began to laugh. “It’s good that I don’t have to stick around where I’m not wanted anymore,” she said. “Ever since Carter rescued me and they started to help me understand my powers, everything has been going so much more smoothly.”
“Speaking of these powers,” Richard said. “You still haven’t shown them to me yet. How do they work? Are you a dragon?”
Amy and Carter exchanged knowing looks and she smiled at him. “Well, if you really want to know.”
Amy held her hand out, and it was glowing a beautiful white color. Richard gazed at it in wonderment and Amy smiled at him, reaching down to cover her hand over his leg. Little by little, the mass began to shrink, until Rich’s leg was as good as new.
“Usually, this only works on people who are like me. But apparently, one of my unique talents is in healing. I can use it on anybody, but I’m still new at it. Otherwise, I would have offered sooner to help you with your leg. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“That’s incredible, Amy,” Richard said, staring at her. “And your eyes! They look like dragon’s eyes.”
“That’s because she is a Sun Dragon and a Loni hybrid,” Carter said proudly. “They have special powers. Everything they do comes from a magical place. A place that is connected to Gina and the other children like her.”
Richard let out a low whistle. “You guys are blowing my mind. I love it. Anyway, I’m starving, what’s for dinner? Other than hot dog buns?”
Everybody laughed again, and Carter grinned. “Sit tight and I will show you.”
Amy stared proudly at her husband as he disappeared into the house. He had really begun to start getting used to his role as a husband and father on Earth. At first, the adjustment had been difficult. But being together had softened the blow. He was beginning to truly find things to appreciate about her and had actually begun to get quite a fondness for cooking. He was obsessed with trying to achieve the same types of flavors that were available to him on his own planet. Carter told Amy time and again that he was determined that his daughter would know what real food should taste like.
It was a great hobby that kept him busy and helped them to learn more about Carter’s life before Earth. Amy was grateful that he was willing to share that with them.
“All right, again,” Carter said, reappearing again, and setting down a tray of delicious smelling food. There were fruits and vegetables of all kinds, mixed with certain types of meat and spices that filled the air with a delicious aroma.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Richard said, grinning at Gina and handing her a plate full of hot dog buns. “Let’s chow down, little darling.”
Carter sat down beside Amy, lacing his finge
rs into hers. He didn’t have to speak to tell her how happy he was. She could feel it. They were connected. Tied together by the strings of fate. And as they ate and sat with their family and the home they had built together outside of Brookside, Amy knew he was as happy as he was ever going to be. His home planet would always be missed, but he was finding a new home here with her and their child, and that was all either of them would ever need.
They were happy.
The End
Bonus Content
Nanny to the Shifter
Leela Ash
Copyright © 2017 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
“Mommy! I don’t feel so good!”
Riley groaned as her small daughter stared up at her from bed, her round brown eyes staring as if expecting her mother to, somehow, miraculously make her feel better.
“Do you think you can still go to preschool?” Riley asked, hoping to keep the pleading edge out of her voice. If she stayed home with Lily one more time, she was going to get fired from her job with the Lewinsky’s. They were a snobby family who offered her short hours and never allowed her to bring Lily with her. The amount she was paying for preschool was outrageous and almost made it not worth the job anyway.
“Nooo!” Lily exclaimed, her small features contorting in irritation. “I wanna stay with yoooou!”
Riley sighed and placed her hand over Lily’s forehead. She definitely had a fever, and a pretty high one at that.
