Dragon's Heart Read online

  Something changed in her eyes. Something, that looked like anger.

  “Well, get off that bloody high horse of yours, William. You are stuck with me for the foreseeable future, and if we aren’t careful we will be stuck together forever.”

  “I still don’t understand…”

  “Let me put this into words you just might understand! The feeling that passed between us when I touched your heart is the most soul shattering feeling for our kind. Even now, I can feel your essence seeping into my heart, and my blood. If we ever, ever happen to connect again, I won’t be able to stop it.”

  “Stop it?”

  “I won’t be able to control the mating fire.”

  Chapter Three

  “The mating fire? I don’t know what that is, but it can’t be good. It actually sounds as if it comes with strings attached.” She watched as the blood gradually drained from his face. The pompous smugness he’d worn with such unmitigated pride, no longer gave him an air of invulnerability. His barriers were down, and the flustered way he looked made her heart lighten. At least she wasn’t the only one deeply disturbed by the revelation.

  Her palms tingled from the force of their connection. She flexed her fingers, trying to still the odd sensations the echo of his touch left on her skin. Already, she could feel the edge of his mind lightly pressing against hers. Already, she could hear the beating of his heart. She dragged in a heavy breath, slowly putting herself into a state where she could drown out and protect herself from the building blocks of the bonding. Within a few days, they would both be drowning in the effects—they would not be able to avoid the call to mate no matter how hard they tried.

  “This mating fire,” his voice halted on each word. “It won’t happen when you are in your dragon form will it? I ask because even though I’m open to some kink, I don’t think I’d be open to that.”

  Her patience finally snapped. “No.” She turned away from him. “We do not make love in our dragon skins. As dragon shifters we hold keenly to our humanity.”

  “And yet, you live part of your life as a dragon.”

  “You know not of what you speak.” She gazed down at the floor—suddenly, staring right into his eyes made her feel vulnerable. She never felt so close, and yet so estranged from a person. Mustering her courage, she looked up briefly at him.

  “I know enough. You have given me a sickness. Thanks for that. You were supposed to protect me. Fat lot of good, that was. Instead of protecting me from the fire—you’ve thrown me into the bloody pot!”

  She whirled back on him. “You just don’t get it, do you?” Looking to the ceiling she gave a frustrated sigh. “The Fates mock me! They have given me a man like you to spend the rest of eternity with! If we aren’t cautious, we will end up destroying each other!”

  “Eternity? Now don’t go jumping to any conclusions. Steady on, there.”

  “You are an immortal wizard, are you not?”

  “My family has been blessed with long lives. We aren’t immortal in the sense that you might think…we can be killed, our bodies are frail. If death claims us, we can’t resurrect ourselves. When we die, we pass from the living world into the world that lies beyond this one. We can forsake our immortality and live normal lives—but as long as we embrace the gift that has been bestowed upon my bloodline—I am immortal. Understand, there are witches and wizards that are quite mortal—my line is special—we have been blessed to roam this Earth for as long as our hearts beat—as long as we wish to.

  Some in my family have decided to give up—to pass from this world to see what adventures await us in the next world. Ironic as it sounds most in my line are not blessed with the ability to see the dead. It seems our immortality restricts us from doing so.”

  “Then, when we finally give in to the mating fire you will be mine forever.”

  “I don’t like the way you word that—you’ve put it like I’m going to be your first course.”

  She laughed. “Well, I tell you, you’ll enjoy the afters. You are the most irritating, most obnoxious man I’ve ever met. You put some of my friends from back home to shame.”

  “I take that as a compliment.”

  “Good.” She closed her eyes, trying to curtail the rioting emotions battling inside of her. She had to breathe before she set something afire.

  “Those candles over there just lit on their own. I swear I didn’t do it.” He raised his hands up in a gesture of submission.

  “That’s me. I’m overheating.”

  “Oh, cheers on that. Well, maybe you should make a fast getaway out the back door…there isn’t room for you to transform in here…I’ll be squished.”

  She resisted the temptation to smile. Sweat beaded on her forehead. “Aren’t you feeling it?”

  “I’m randy most of the time—so don’t worry, I can deal with it. A good cold shower should just do the trick for both of us.”

  “As our bond forges more and intensifies, I guarantee you won’t be able to deal with it. You shall be trying to rip my clothes off just as much as I’ll want to tear your clothes off.”

  “And on that note…where are your baked beans? I’m starving—I need to eat something soon, unless you’d like me to conjure some food up.”

  “No. You don’t need to use magic. My world doesn’t revolve around calling upon dragon magic—I know how to live like a human—it would seem far better than you do.”

  “Hey, don’t go pissing on my living like a mortal skills. We wizards and witches are given strict schooling in the ways of the humans. In order for us to blend in—we have to fit in. I love rugby, football and crisps. I hang out in the pub and have a pint now and then, and I go to the cinema fortnightly.”

  “Well, I stand corrected. Come with me, I have everything you need in the kitchen.” She stared at him, he hadn’t budged an inch. “I promise not to bite you. Follow me.”

  “I have no problems with that, this way I can admire the view being behind you affords me.”

  “I know you don’t like me—could we just call a truce, and try to get through the next few months?” she asked wearily.

  “Months?” He stopped in his tracks. “I’ll be able to finish the spell in a fortnight at the most.”

  Her heart fell. “Only a fortnight? You are a fast worker.” Her voice dropped to the merest of whispers.

  “Only when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. I’ve lost countless nights of sleep trying to perfect the incantation—I’m not going to drag it out if I can help it. I can say though that in bed, I like to make the most of it.”

  “Your kind must view you as their savior.”

  “Half of your kind views me as their savior—so I’m just a hero on all fronts. The only ones that are living in blissful ignorance are the humans we’re both fighting so damn hard to save.”

  “Oh, please. I’m sure the wizards and witches are only supporting you because they want to save their own skins. They know that if we fall—if my father—if Lord Draco wins, he’ll finish off the mortals of this realm and then, then, he’ll go for the blood of the magic kind. He still holds a severe grudge against your people.”

  “Well, he shouldn’t. He was on the winning side. We lost many good witches and wizards during that particular conflict—making many of us dragon shifter shy. Besides, you dragon shifters wield a kind of magic as well—I don’t know why you always classify us as the lowly magic folk.”

  “I try not to—I’ll be especially vigilant in my prejudice from now on—I’m going to be mating with a magic kind soon.”

  “I don’t think so. It would kill my mother if I brought you home. She’d keel over from the pure shock of it!”

  “Nonetheless, you can’t fight the call. You will be mine.”

  “We’ve known each other for what—two hours, and already you’re talking about until death do us part. It’s kind of creepy, you know. You are going to get a stalker complex.”

  She rummaged in the cupboards looking for a small pot. Sl
amming it onto the hob, she reached for a can of baked beans.

  He turned his attention to the window leading out onto her lands. “Is all of that land yours?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow. And I thought we had an Estate. Yours is probably a little bit smaller than ours, though. However, I think your views are far superior.”

  “The medieval castle up on the hill belongs to me as well. I have it closed up most of the year now, but there was a time when my family lived there part of the year. My mother liked having her feet in the Earthly realm, from time to time—she never was comfortable leaving after the war, but she, like many others, didn’t want to destroy your kind.”

  “And, yet your father wants to destroy it.”

  “He doesn’t want to destroy Earth. He wishes to kill off the mortals that won’t bow to him, and then, he wants to take it back from our human oppressors. For many years, when the dragon slayers were slowly killing us off, we struggled with our dragon natures.

  We knew to fight back would go against all of our ideals, but in not retaliating we almost lost everything. We were almost driven to extinction, and then when we retreated instead of standing our ground, many lost a little of themselves. Dragonia is a beautiful world—but there are still some that long for Earth. We were created here on Earth…and our blood longs to roam the land and make it ours again.”

  “So, your father thinks the only way of righting the wrongs of the past—a past that I must say is one thousand years old, is to stoop as low as the humans were when they hunted you. Didn’t anyone point out the fact that humans were less developed as a culture than both of our kinds?”

  “We are superior, this is true—but that makes no difference to Draco.”

  “Well, all I can say is that I’m quite happy I have a way of stopping it. My uncle was the first one that started working on this spell—he hasn’t been the same man since he had it wrenched from him and destroyed by dragon fire.”

  “Great. Your family really has it out for my kind. That’s so nice to know. I guess when we have children…”

  She put the plate of beans and toast she’d prepared for him on the table. He walked toward her, a look of exasperation written across his features.

  “Whoa—there you go again—building castles in the air once more. We aren’t going to become lovers, and I’m not having children with you. Truth be told, I have my eyes on a hot little witch with rainbow coloured hair that I met last week.”

  Jealousy flamed within her. Her hand grew warm. She forgot she still had a hold of the plate. The beans on the plate started to bubble. “Forget her.” Her teeth gritted together.

  “No.”

  The extent of her jealousy surprised and frightened her. Was this how it was for someone feeling the mating call? She could only imagine how lost her father felt—she could at least sympathize with him when it came to his feelings of losing her mother.

  Her emotions for William were raw. She couldn’t help herself—not in any way. She usually prided herself on her self-control but in this instance, she was powerless.

  “I guess I don’t have to worry about eating cold food when you’re around.”

  She looked down at the plate she still held. The beans bubbled and the toast was getting black around the edges.

  Before she could do any further damage, she placed the plate on the table. “You should eat and get to bed. It’s late.”

  “Are we staying here for the time being?”

  “This cottage is safe, it has been magically blessed. It is on sacred land…we will not be attacked here.”

  “What exactly do you mean by sacred land?”

  “Our kind cherishes this land.”

  She sat with him while he ate. Scrutinizing his face, she committed each feature to her memory. His features were well defined from the cleft in his chin, to the dimple in his left cheek.

  He kept his eyes on his plate. “Are you going to stare at me all night?” He raised his head to meet and hold her gaze.

  “I am attempting to come to terms with having you as my mate.”

  “I don’t look like a troll.”

  “You can say that again.”

  Redness started to creep up his neck to flood his face. “I didn’t sign up for this sort of thing. I never dreamt I’d find someone as horny as you. To make matters worse, you are my bloody protector. How do I contact your king and queen?”

  “You don’t need to know that. You have me as your constant companion. If you need to talk to my leaders, I can relay the message. Besides, I contact their advisors before directly speaking to the monarchs. They have other more important matters that need their attention.”

  “I would have thought I topped their list of concerns right now. They need me.”

  “Indeed. But their people need them as well. Do you know how many of us have died already?”

  “Can’t say I’m privy to the casualty reports, in fact, seems like I am privy to precious little.”

  She took offense to the tone of his voice.

  “Ten thousand, ten thousand of us have died already.” Her hands shook. She fought to control her breathing.

  “Ten thousand, I hadn’t imagined, I didn’t think…” The hand holding his fork trembled for one brief moment. “I didn’t think there was that many of you to…”

  “Sacrifice themselves for the humans that condemned them?”

  “Yes.”

  “There are…and thousands more are willing to put their lives on the line.”

  “I didn’t realize. I am sorry. I’ve been making light of the entire situation when it is no laughing matter.”

  “You should have realized that when Denys showed up in your shop hell bent on killing you!”

  “I was doing all right before you showed up! I could have handled the situation. I was just about to slam him with a spell to finish him off and you went and ruined everything!”

  “I think you’re being a tad melodramatic. Everything you had thrown at him seemed to bounce right off him.”

  “I told you, the blood on me wasn’t my own.”

  “It would have been. He would have killed you.” She took a deep breath. “I think he knows.”

  “Knows what? Everyone knows I am the one trying to come up with the forbidden spell.”

  “He knows what you are to me. He must have gotten a seer to read my life destiny, so that’s only made him even more determined to see you dead.”

  “Well, then, he should already know he’s going to lose.”

  “The future is scaled into different sections. One wrong move could tip the fate of us all into another splintered destiny. I have no way of knowing who will win this war—neither do any of our seers—nothing is absolute, except for my mate—there is only one man meant for me—and it is you.”

  “That is ridiculous. What if you had never met me?”

  “We would have ultimately been drawn to each other.”

  “How sure are you of that?”

  “Quite. All dragon shifters have found their mates, even if their lives were headed in different directions, something would always happen to lead them into each other's arms.”

  “So what happens if you dragon shifters tempt fate? What happens if you go rogue and marry someone that isn’t destined to be yours?”

  “Sheer madness and dark oblivion. We lose ourselves, and become something that is almost unrecognizable.”

  “Interesting consequence.” He finished off the rest of his brown beans and toast. “I’m stuffed. I think I’ll retire for the night. It’s been one hell of a long day.”

  She drained the last drop of tea out of her cup and stood up with him. “It has. Your bedroom has an adjoining bathroom as does mine. You should get cleaned up. You have a sooty mark on your cheek. Your self-cleaning spell dealt with Denys’s blood—but you missed a few spots.” She reached over and gingerly touched his cheek. He pulled back as if her touch burned him.

  “Thanks for the advice.” He stood u
p and strode out of the room.

  Walking to her sitting room, she moved to the safe she’d had installed in the wall. Opening it, she reached in for her crystal globe. Setting it on her table, she touched the top of it.

  Mists and fire swirled in the globe. When it cleared, her contact was revealed.

  “Blaze…how goes the war?” she asked as softly as possible, in case William had good hearing.

  “It’s not good, Grania. We lost another one hundred warriors today alone. The front lines are crumbling. We’ve asked the king and queen to retreat to Earth, but they remain steadfast in their resolve to not leave their people.”

  “As their son, why are you so surprised by their reaction?”

  “I’m not. I’m just disappointed. I wish they’d see sense.”

  “Even if Draco does win the war—they won’t be safe on Earth. Draco will turn his attention to Earth when he’s done with Dragonia. That was his original intent when he started the war. The only reason he’s fighting this Civil War is so that he can crown himself the rightful ruler of all Dragonia.”

  “Then, he’ll have to kill us all.”

  Fear stabbed her heart. “Blaze, don’t do anything foolish. You know he will eat you for breakfast, if you stand directly in his path.”

  “If you weren’t guarding that bloody wizard, you’d be here with me—you are one of the few that can keep my frightful temper in check.”

  “Just keep thinking of what I would do if I were there and don’t forget to count to ten before you do anything rash.”

  “Well, why don’t you keep me from doing something rash by lighting a fire under Lightfoot’s ass? We need that spell soon. If Draco gets into the Capital…”

  “I know. It will be akin to Rome burning.”

  “Indeed.”

  The sound of a chair being knocked over caught her attention. Urgency pulled at her being. “I hate to cut this chat short, Blaze. But I think I have a situation on my hands.”

  “What sort of a situation?”

  “A great escape, Houdini style.”

  “Oh, crap. If you lose him, there’s no telling if we’ll ever be able to track him down. Our resources are spread dreadfully thin.”