by Donna Grant
She was so shocked, she couldn’t speak.
They continued to the stairs, and as she put her hand on the rail, she looked down at the large, wooden dragon that made up the banister and smiled.
V didn’t stop at the second floor. He continued up to the third and then walked her down the hallway to a door on the left. He opened it and motioned her inside.
Claire poked her head in before walking through the entrance. The room was good-sized with a large bed, a fireplace, a table with two chairs, and a small sofa. There was nothing out of place, and the brown and other earthy tones were a good match for V.
“What do you think?” he asked.
She turned to face him. “It suits you.”
He closed the door and slowly walked toward her. “I thought to show you more of Dreagan, but having you near me without tasting you is too much.”
“You can show me the rest later,” Claire said with a smile.
V paused in pulling her against him. “Are you sure?”
“Ummmhmmm.”
“Lass, you’re a woman after my own heart.”
“Right now, I just want your body.”
A moan fell from his lips. “It’s yours. Take it.”
“Do the clothes thing,” she said as she rose up to kiss him.
He chuckled while kissing her but did as she asked. Cool air touched her skin, but it was soon forgotten as she felt the heat of V’s body.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as he held her tightly against him. Their kiss deepened as he spun her and pushed her against the wall.
He pulled his head away, keeping his lips just out of reach of hers as he grasped the backs of her thighs and lifted her. The moment the blunt head of his cock touched her sex, she held her breath, waiting for him to sink into her.
CRAZY DATING WORLD
Have you ever had one of those days where you woke up with a smile and nothing could get you down? Well, I almost hate to admit it, but that has been me.
So … I had a second date. And a third. There will also be a fourth.
What does this mean? Actually, I have no idea. LOL. I’ve so rarely been in this part of dating that I feel like a baby just learning how to walk.
There is also the issue that I don’t want to mess this up. I haven’t figured out how things went right, so the last thing I want is to royally screw things. Which, as we all know from my numerous posts, happens.
Well. I take some of the blame. There is more than one person involved, so it’s only fair that I share the burden of being a failure.
I honestly don’t want to talk too much about this great feeling. I’m afraid of jinxing it. Yes, I actually said that. As many of you know, when we struggle through numerous dates to find someone we’re compatible with, we really want things to work out.
And anyone who doesn’t meet someone and hope it goes well or tells you they don’t look ahead, imagining themselves with the person a month later, a year later, five years later, or forever, is lying.
We all do it.
We’re human. We aren’t meant to be alone. We’re meant to find someone who shares—or at least understands—our quirks, someone who loves us, someone who will be there through the ups and downs of life. Someone we can count on.
Someone we love.
Who loves us in return.
For anyone who says all of that is BS, I tell them to look at the billion-dollar dating industry. Look through any magazine—women’s or men’s—and you’ll see there is something inside about dating. In every issue.
So, call BS all you want. I know the truth. Millions of other men and women know the truth. For those who don’t mind being alone, my hat’s off to you.
For the rest of us, we’re all hanging onto each other to stay afloat in this crazy world of dating!
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The beams of moonlight coming through the windows broke the shadows of the room. V wasn’t sure what had woken him.
His body was wrapped around Claire’s, one hand resting on her hip while his other arm was beneath her pillow. A strange sensation went through him, starting from his head and moving downward.
He tried to close his eyes again, but whatever woke him wouldn’t let him return to sleep. V slowly pulled his arm from under the pillow so as not to wake Claire. Then he carefully rose from the bed and stood next to it, looking around his room.
The … strange … sensation unsettled V. He couldn’t name it, but it refused to be ignored. It was almost as if something were calling to him.
He walked to the window and looked outside, his gaze going to his mountain. In an instant, he knew what it was—his sword. He had to get to it.
V opened the window with his magic. Then he walked to it and jumped to the ground. The grass was damp with dew against his bare feet. He spotted the dragons on patrol in the distance. There was no way he could get to his mountain without being seen, so there was no use trying.
He ran toward a hill nearest him, pumping his arms faster. When he reached the peak, he jumped and shifted, letting his wings grasp the current and take him higher. He did his best to avoid others while making the quickest line to his mountain.
Finally, he was inside. He returned to mortal form and went to stand before the sword. Through rock and miles of land, it had called to him. He knew the sword like a part of himself, and yet, it felt strange. Too many years apart made him look at it like a stranger.
His fingers touched the cool metal. The moment his skin came in contact with it, something sizzled. V jerked in surprise.
He grasped the weapon between his hands to look at it from hilt to tip. It was still as beautiful as the first day he held it. He’d felt the power of it from their initial contact, which is why it devastated him to have it taken.
And why it was like a punch in the gut when it hadn’t responded to him when he finally got it back.
His heart thumped wildly against his ribs. The sword had called him. Perhaps it was time he found out what the weapon wanted. V wrapped his hand around the pommel and let the blade drop.
The power he remembered rushed through him once more. It wasn’t the spark of a day ago. It was a flood, surrounding him so that he knew he was whole again. The feeling was heady, and the joy was … exhilarating.
He couldn’t help but think of Claire. A mortal shouldn’t be able to cause any such happenings with his weapon, and yet there was no denying that’s exactly what had happened. V didn’t know how or why Claire was a part of it, but he would figure it out.
A part of him wanted to call the dragons home right then, but he knew it would be disastrous. Yet he feared to search for them. He was terrified that he would discover that they were all dead.
It was bad enough that the dragons were gone from their home. If V looked and discovered that the dragons had been wiped out, it would destroy him and every other Dragon King. Even Con.
* * *
Now that his control over the sword had returned, V still couldn’t do what the others wanted. While he knew there was a chance the dragons were thriving somewhere, he also knew there was a very good possibility they weren’t.
Kings had ruled the dragons for a reason. When the clans were sent away, no one knew what might happen to them. The Kings just wanted to make sure they lived.
And, in fact, the Kings might very well have sealed the dragons’ fate.
V looked up, imagining the sky through the rock, one empty of his dragons. A world that no longer heard the magnificent roars of his kind. Instead, the realm was filled with loud noises from planes and other vehicles, war, and the incessant scream for more from the mortals.
For the first time in his life, V wasn’t sure what to do. Did he continue lying to Con about being able to use his sword? What if the dragons were out there? He still couldn’t bring them home.
What was worse?
Not knowing the fate of the dragons?
Knowing they were all dead?
Or knowing they were fine, but t
hat the Kings couldn’t bring them home?
Each scenario had its own pain, but the one the Kings had dealt with the longest was the first. With the Others attacking, this thing between Con, Usaeil, and Rhi, and whatever else might come at them, V knew the Kings didn’t need anything else weighing them down right now.
He closed his eyes and thought of the night sky filled with stars, wondering which of them the dragons had been sent to. His heart clutched when he thought about his clan. In all the countless years, he hadn’t allowed himself to think about them.
Now, he couldn’t stop. Was the world they went to welcoming? Did it have magic? Was food plentiful? Were there other species on it? Who took over as the leader? Or was it a group of leaders?
Every question was like a knife to his heart. He could have answers. All he had to do was use his sword. All his fears could be wiped away in an instant.
Or, he could be doubled over with anguish.
V opened his eyes and took a step back from the weight of the decision. Though, if Con knew V could use the sword, the King of Kings would order him to do it. So, in fact, the decision would be Con’s.
But that was unacceptable. V would be the one to see the outcome, not Con or any other King. Only V. Then, he would relay what he discovered.
He shifted, keeping hold of the sword. He shook his head and flapped his wings a few times. Then he made his way out of the large tunnel until he found the opening and leapt into the sky.
The moment he felt the wind whoosh over his scales, some of his anxiety faded. He glided over the tops of the trees before flying higher. This was the only freedom the Kings had. They could be themselves for a few hours a night, covered by darkness and the fact that few mortals cared about looking upward in the dark.
It was the only time V could say that he was glad the humans were so self-absorbed. Otherwise, the Kings might not have even this little bit of freedom.
No doubt it would be taken away one day. V was sure that Con had already thought ahead to that. Constantine always seemed to have an answer for them, a way to continue on their realm.
But V suspected that, eventually, the Kings would have to leave Earth to find a new home. Would the mates go with them? V wasn’t sure.
His thought immediately turned to Claire. He dipped a wing and swung around so that he flew toward the manor. His gaze went to his window, but she wasn’t standing there.
Had he made a mistake in being with her? His concern was about his own feelings. His own … heart. Because he couldn’t get enough of her.
He liked her in his bed at Dreagan. In fact, he liked her a lot. So much, that she constantly occupied his thoughts. All those weeks of watching her, he could have been with her, discovering her body, learning every facet of her life.
Normally, all V had to do to clear his thoughts was fly. But it wasn’t helping tonight. There was too much clouding his mind. He flew into the back of Dreagan Mountain and shifted. He gripped his sword tighter and strode through the manor naked.
He walked into his room and pushed the sword under the bed, then he climbed beneath the covers and slid against Claire. She didn’t wake even as she moved back to be closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Just where he wanted her.
The future was more uncertain than ever, but for just a moment, he basked in the happiness of the beautiful woman in his arms and the peace she gave him.
Tomorrow, he would face the rest.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Waking up at Dreagan was never something Claire thought she would do. Yet, that’s exactly what happened. She opened her eyes to see that it was already morning. The light tapping of rain on the window made her want to snuggle under the covers and spend the day in bed.
She rolled over to look for V, and when she didn’t find him, she clutched the sheet against her nakedness and sat up. Just a few seconds ago, she’d been feeling confident and secure. Now, only awkwardness and unease filled her.
Her head snapped toward the door when the knob turned, then it opened to reveal her lover carrying a large tray of food. He smiled when he saw her.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
Damn. But a girl could get used to hearing that. She grinned while eying the tray. “I got a little worried when I woke to find you gone.”
“Your stomach growled all night while you slept,” he said after setting the tray on the table and facing her.
Claire closed her eyes while shaking her head and laughing. “Of course, it did. Because, apparently, it’s too much to be sexy when I’m sleeping.” She looked at him. “At least tell me I didn’t drool.”
“A wee bit.” He held up two fingers barely apart.
“Lovely.” She fell back on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
The next thing she knew, he was on his hands and knees over her. “Everything about you is sexy.”
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck to tug him down atop her. “That is a perfect reply.”
“If you doona let me up, the food is going to get cold,” he warned.
Claire rolled him onto his back and smiled. “I just wanted to make sure I get to the food first.”
She jumped off him and raced to the table while he laughed from the bed. Claire had only taken one bite of bacon before his strong arms slid around her from behind, and he kissed along the top of her shoulder.
“The food is all yours, lass.”
She gaped at the tray then shifted to look at him. “I could never eat all of that. It would feed me for days.”
He shrugged. “Eat what you want. I’ll finish the rest.”
Claire saw the way he looked at her, so she decided to remain nude as she sank into a chair and took a long drink of orange juice.
“I like this,” V stated with a smile as he took the other chair.
“The whole time you were in the mountain sleeping, you didn’t eat?”
He shook his head. “Immortal, remember?”
“Right,” she said with a nod.
“I think I might have left a few things out with my stories.”
Claire chose a waffle, slathering it with butter and then putting some syrup on the side of it to dip each bite into it before putting it into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before she said, “You shared a lot that night.”
“What did Sophie tell you?”
Claire licked the syrup from her lips. “That dragons mate for life.”
“Aye. We do.”
“I like that. I know that some people don’t believe in monogamy, but I do.”
V folded his hands over his stomach. “Did Sophie tell you anything else?”
“She might have mentioned the mating ceremony, a tattoo, and the fact that she’s now immortal, as well.”
V drew in a breath and released it. “It’s all true.”
“What’s the longest a human has been, well, immortal?” She made a face. “That didn’t come out right.”
“I know what you mean,” V said with a chuckle. “There are some that have been alive about a thousand years.”
Claire lowered the fork with her next on it. “Here? At Dreagan?”
“Nay, lass. The Warriors and Druids from MacLeod Castle. We Kings only started to marry humans a few years ago.”
She blinked. “Warriors and Druids?”
“I thought that might interest you. The Warriors are ancient Celts who have primeval gods inside them. They can be killed, but it isna easy to do. So, essentially, they’re immortal. They have powers and are verra good allies in battle. And the Druids are mortals with magic.”
“Here I thought all this time I had a leg up on so many others because I knew about the Dragon Kings,” she mumbled, more to herself than him.
V jerked his chin to her food. “Eat. You need it since we skipped dinner last night.”
That brought a smile to her face. They had been so wrapped up in each other that they had forgotten about food. It was something Claire had always hoped to ex
perience, and she had. And with the perfect man.
She took a bite of waffle before munching on another piece of bacon.
“Is there anything else you want to know?” V asked.
Claire started to shake her head, then she stopped and frowned. “You mentioned the fact there were no children between dragons and humans, that all the babies died.”
“Aye.” V looked out the window then. “It is a rare thing for a King to impregnate a human,” he finally said after a bit of silence. “I suspect it’s because our species are so different, despite the fact we can shift, but we really doona have an answer.”
Claire finished her orange juice. “You said rare. So, it does happen.”
“It’s kinder if it doesna.” He slid his ice blue eyes back to her. “Most women lose the babies within weeks of becoming pregnant. There have been a handful who brought the bairns to term, which is even harder because none of them was born alive.”
“Oh.” Claire wiped at her mouth with a napkin. “I guess that’s good for some, like Sophie, who haven’t really had time for children with her work. But then there are others.…”
V nodded. “Aye.”
That one word said so very much. Without him going into detail, she knew that he wanted children. As if it weren’t bad enough that the dragons were gone, the Kings were also fated to never have children. It just didn’t seem fair.
Claire ate the rest of her waffle and half of another while V returned his attention to the window. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. She worried what he was thinking, but she was also keenly aware that his troubles were magnified a million times over.
The simple fact that she was with him was enough. She didn’t feel the need to bombard him with more questions or pry into his thoughts. If he wanted to share, he would.
After all, she had told him that everyone had secrets.
Suddenly, V looked at her. “Tell me something I doona know about you.”
She laughed and sat back in the chair. “First, I’m done. So, have at the food. And second, really? I’ve lived a rather boring life.”
“I doubt that.”
