by S. E. Smith
“Did you just purr?” Sandy asked.
Jarak scowled. “Warriors don’t purr,” he replied.
Sandy pressed her hand against his chest and giggled. She tilted her head back. Her lips curved into a wide grin.
“Honey, I know what a purr is, I’ve got a cat with a defective one that never stops. You just purred,” she retorted, patting his chest.
“It is my dragon. He is… content,” Jarak muttered.
Sandy slid her arms up his chest to his shoulders and held them. His hands tightened on her hips and he pulled her against his body. Another rumbling purr escaped him.
“Well, I think it is sexy as hell,” Sandy murmured before pressing a kiss to his lips.
Jarak groaned, deepening the kiss when her lips parted. He’d seen the dragon lords with their mates and knew the females enjoyed this – it was impossible to be anywhere near them and not witness it. He had studied it, wondering what they found so enjoyable about it. Now, he knew.
For the first time in his life, he understood the connection that happened when a warrior found his true mate. The pure joy of his dragon and symbiot threatened to overwhelm him. His hands slid up her body and his fingers tangled in her hair. Dark brown scales rippled under his shirt and up along his neck. His dragon was pressing against him, wanting to be near his mate. Deep inside, he felt the dragon fire ignite and spread through his veins.
A soft moan escaped him and he broke the kiss, breathing deeply. “I want you,” he murmured.
Sandy drew in a shuddering breath. He could feel her body stiffen for a moment before she relaxed. Her arms moved down to wrap around his waist.
“How about we get to know each other a little better first?” she suggested.
How long that take? Minutes? Hours? his dragon demanded.
Jarak could feel the same inquiry from his symbiot. He shot his symbiot an exasperated glare when it rolled over and put it feet up in the air while its tongue rolled out of the side of its mouth like it was dying. He hadn’t seen this playful side of it since he was a youngling.
“What is it?” Sandy asked.
Jarak sighed. “My dragon wants to know how long it will take for you to get to know us. We are very simple. I’m a male, he is a dragon, we are both…. Well, you can feel the effect you have on me,” he ruefully admitted.
Sandy was silent for a moment before her head fell back and she released a delighted laugh. The glow of her face told him that she wasn’t upset about his confession. In fact, from the way she moved against him, she wasn’t immune to him either.
“Let’s go for a walk, talk a little, and see how it goes,” she suggested with a playful grin.
“Will it be a long walk?” Jarak asked, bending to brush a kiss along her neck where he envisioned his mark.
A shiver ran through her body. “Not if you keep doing that,” she murmured with a moan.
“Then I think we will have to stop frequently,” Jarak replied.
I add dragon fire, his dragon suggested. She no walk far at all.
Only when she says yes, Jarak warned.
You kiss, she say yes, I bite, mate born, we all happy, his dragon agreed.
“I wish it were that simple,” he murmured, pressing one more kiss to her neck before he stepped back. “Take my arm, my mate, and we will walk, talk, and kiss.”
A happy sigh escaped her. “Mm, I like the sound of that,” she replied, running her hand across his hard stomach before she wrapped it around his arm. “Wow… just… wow!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I needs more sparkles,” Alice said, looking at her heart with a critical eye.
“I think you have enough sparkles on it, Alice,” Ha’ven gently replied.
Alice studied it for a few more seconds before she shook her head. “No, it needs more. Mommy needs lots of sparkles,” she said.
“Here you go, Ha’ven. Emma will love you even more,” Vox chuckled.
Ha’ven growled when Vox sprinkled a handful of white glitter in his hair as he walked behind him and around the table, coating Ha’ven in the sparkling white dust. The other men at the table snorted. Ha’ven glared at Vox, shaking his hair and sending white flakes over Alice on his right and Zoran on his left. With a flick of his wrist, he formed one of Alice’s glitter balloons over Vox’s head and popped it.
“Hey!” Vox hissed.
“Wow! Can you do that to me?” Roam asked in awe. “I’s thought only Alice could do that!”
“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get that da… stuff out of my hair from the last time?” Vox groaned, shaking and sending the multi-color flakes over half the table.
“You’s getting your sprinkles mixed up with mines,” Amber growled, covering her heart.
Jade nodded in agreement. “Yeah, this is our mom’s Valentine,” she added.
Mandra lifted his hand and shook it. He grumbled in frustration when the pieces of paper he was trying to glue stuck to his fingers. Every time he tried to pull it off, it stuck to his other hand.
“Paul, how do you get this stuff off?” Mandra demanded.
Paul leaned against the doorframe, smiling in amusement. Chad and Mason stood next to him while Ann Marie moved around the table, helping the children with their different projects. She had put her foot down at helping the grown men.
“They’re big. They’ll figure it out,” she had told him.
Personally, Paul wasn’t so sure. Over the last three days, the Grove Ranch had become Cupid’s lair. The first morning after they had arrived, the men had discovered that if they typed in the word Valentine’s Day on certain websites, it brought up a bountiful supply of gift ideas. Two-day delivery had sealed the deal and the day had disappeared into a buying frenzy that had Mason grumbling about budgets and cash flow.
The following day, the men had cleaned out the attic while Paul, Mason, and Chad took the kids horseback riding. He had come back to find the men lost in a pile of romance movies. According to Ann Marie, they were doing ‘research’.
Yesterday, the packages had started arriving by the truckloads. Boxes in all shapes and sizes cluttered the living room until they could barely walk through it. How the men expected to transport it all back, he had no idea. For that matter, where they expected to put all the stuff they had bought if they were successful was going to be interesting to see.
Today, they were making the Valentine’s Day cards. Three hours into it, Paul was glad he had purchased the ones he had gotten for Trisha, Morah, and Morian.
“I think they have enough stuff for the next fifty Valentine’s Days,” Mason said.
Chad held up his coffee cup. “It will take that long for us to clean up the mess. That magical balloon…. It’s a strange world, Paul,” he drawled before sipping his drink.
Paul chuckled. “You have no idea, Chad,” he replied.
Chad was quiet before he spoke again. “Will he be good to her?” he asked. “I don’t want to see her hurt again. That prick, Wayne….”
Paul glanced over at Chad, noticing the worried expression in his friend’s eyes. His gaze returned to the table. Huge alien warriors sat next to small children, laughing, joking, and making a mess. These fierce men could kill in a heartbeat – and would to protect those they loved – but could be tender and compassionate. They could laugh while trying to get glue off their fingers or toss glitter at each other in fun.
Paul realized that both Chad and Mason were waiting for his reply. He nodded. He had no doubts that Jarak would be good for Sandy.
“Sandy will be his world. She also won’t be alone. Morian, Trisha and the others will be there as well,” Paul promised.
Chad’s lips tightened. Paul could tell the other man had another concern that he was reluctant to voice. Chad turned to look at him.
“Will he be okay with the fact that she is legally blind?” Chad demanded. “Wayne…”
“Wayne was an ass,” Paul said.
“I’ll second that opinion,” Mason mu
ttered under his breath.
“Her blindness won’t matter to him. If anything, he, and his dragon and symbiot, will be more protective. The symbiots can heal most wounds, but a disorder such as this, they can’t. Jarak will love Sandy for being who she is,” Paul reassured.
It took several minutes, but Chad finally nodded and relaxed back against the wall. Paul continued to watch the antics going on in front of him. No, he had absolutely no doubt at all that Sandy would be loved.
Epilogue
“What is taking them so long?” Riley groaned, leaning her head back against the cushions. “My cat and I are about to go nuts without Vox and Roam.”
Morian gave Riley a sympathetic look. “How are Sacha and Pearl doing?” she asked, glancing at the sleeping twins.
Riley flung her arm over her eyes and groaned again. “They are doing great! In fact, they have slept through the night the last three nights now that Vox isn’t constantly waking them up to make sure they are okay,” she said.
“It probably doesn’t help, but the rest of us feel the same way,” Carmen replied from where she was sitting out on the balcony, gazing down at the garden.
She had been sitting there for the last four days, either on Paul and Morian’s balcony or on the one in their living quarters. Her heart ached to feel Creon’s arms around her, and her arms ached to hold Phoenix and Spring. She glanced up when Trisha and Emma came to sit down next to her.
“I miss them,” Emma said in a soft voice.
Trisha nodded in agreement. “All I’ve got to say is there had better be a damn good reason it is taking them so long to come back. I’m just glad Daddy is with them. He’ll keep them out of mischief,” she said.
Carmen felt her sister’s compassionate squeeze to her shoulder before she released a gasp. Carmen sat forward, seeing a swirling light form down in the garden. It grew larger and larger… and larger…
“What the hell did they do? Find a dinosaur?” Ariel muttered before she squealed in delight. “Jabir! They’re back! Riley! Morian! They're back!”
“Cara is already a step ahead of us,” Carmen laughed, brushing a tear from her face as she stood up.
“She’s been sleeping in the garden since Trelon and the twins left,” Trisha said, grinning when she saw Bálint fly through the portal. “Bálint!”
The small dragons flapped their wings furiously, trying to gain altitude. Bio and Precious swept through the portal and swooped up under them to give them a boost. Trisha’s arms opened and she caught Bálint in her arms, hugging him tightly against her and pressing kisses to his face. Ariel did the same, sinking back in one of the chairs when Jabir started frantically licking her face.
“Mommy! I’m back and so is Daddy! We’s broughts you presents,” Alice exclaimed, suddenly appearing in front of Emma.
Emma pulled Alice into her arms, crying. “You’ve grown!” she half laughed, half sobbed. “I missed you so much!”
Riley’s startled exclamation drew all their attention. “Oh my! What on earth…?!” she breathed out in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?! They went shopping for three days?!!”
Carmen wiped at her cheeks with impatient hands and laughed. “It looks like it,” she said.
They all watched as four of the men in their dragon forms flew through the portal. They each held the corner of a massive tarp ladened with packages of all different shapes and sizes.
A moment later, a huge tiger with a small white cub hanging from his mouth leaped into view. Once he landed, the large male lowered the cub to the ground. Riley’s squeal of happiness drew both of their attention and they shifted.
“I’ve got to get the girls in their stroller,” Riley said, frantically turning. “Emma… Please… I need….”
A second later, Riley, complete with Sacha and Pearl snuggled in a double stroller, were in the garden. Alice clapped her hands and gave her mother a huge hug. Carmen’s heart melted when she saw the massive Sarafin Warrior sweep Riley off her feet and swing her around while Roam peered into the stroller, making faces at his baby sisters.
“Oh, Paul,” Morian murmured, pressing her hands together when her mate swooped through the portal and up to the balcony. “I missed you.”
“Dada,” Morah cried out, rushing forward.
Paul bent and scooped his tiny daughter up into his arms before wrapping an arm around Morian and pulling her to him. He captured her lips, ignoring everyone else while Morah giggled in delight. Several breathless seconds later, he ended the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.
“Never again,” Paul murmured.
Morian caressed his cheek, seeing the lines of fatigue on his face. “You missed us that much?” she teased with a tearful smile.
Paul gave her a wry grin. “Yes, but never again will I be trapped with that many of them at one time,” he vowed.
Morian’s laughter echoed across the garden. Guards and attendants to the palace lined the garden area, watching in fascination. Morian peered over Paul’s shoulder and gasped.
“You found the missing dragon warrior?” she asked, glancing up at him before watching a large, dark brown dragon land, a delicate, human woman cradled against his chest.
“Yes, the missing Chief of Security from the V’ager. The woman is Sandy Morrison,” Paul explained.
Morian nodded. “I remember you telling me about her and Chad.”
“It would appear there was a lonely woman living in the yellow house with the white shutters,” Paul chuckled.
They both watched Jarak shift back into his two-legged form. The warrior carefully lowered Sandy to her feet. She, in turn, bent to release a small, furry creature.
“Mommy, I wants a cat,” Jabir stated. “We’s don’t have any cats. Well, we’s have Roam, but I don’t thinks his mommy and daddy will lets me keep him.”
Paul grinned down at Morian before they both walked over as Symba and Harvey appeared from out of the portal. A moment later, Creon’s black dragon leaped through the opening with Spring clinging to his shoulders. He clutched several large bags in his claws.
Carmen pressed her fist to her lips and waited, watching as the portal window, or ‘mirror’ as Phoenix called it, began to shrink. Her hand instinctively reached out to Creon in a silent plea.
The black dragon placed the large bags down on the ground and twisted, shifting at the same time as a midnight colored, tiny, feathered dragon swept through the opening and into his open arms. Carmen wasn’t even aware of Emma turning in her direction. Within a blink of an eye, Carmen was standing in the garden next to Creon. Her gaze locked on him and her two beautiful, very special daughters.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mommy,” Phoenix and Spring both said at the same time.
Creon lowered the girls to the ground and stepped closer to Carmen. He gazed down at her, losing himself in her liquid brown eyes. They reached for each other at the same time and wrapped their arms tightly around each other.
“I love you, Carmen Reykill. Happy Valentine’s Day,” Creon murmured against her neck as he hugged her close.
*.*.*
Later that evening, the group was once again in Morian’s and Paul’s living quarters. All around them the sound of laughter and astonished exclamations rang out as the men shared their adventure. Carmen wasn’t sure if they were more excited about their shopping excursions or the experience of making Valentine’s Day cards.
Poor Ha’ven, Vox, and Trelon were once again covered in glitter. Alice had decided that she needed to make exploding glitter Valentine’s Day cards. Roam, Jade, and Amber had thought it was such a neat idea, they had to have them too. The moment the men opened the cards to show the women, a puff of glitter had shot out.
Carmen’s gaze moved to the newest addition to the family. Sandy was nodding to something Abby was saying while Jarak chatted off to one side with Kelan and Zoran. Paul and Morian sat on the floor, playing with Morah. Poor Mandra was shaking his head at Ariel while Jabir held Sandy’s cat, Coco, in a death grip, a
fraid his dad would take the purring cat away from him.
“I have something for you,” Creon murmured, slipping his hand into Carmen’s and pulling her out onto the balcony.
“Something else? I don’t think we’ll have enough room for all the other things you’ve given me,” Carmen laughed.
“This is something special,” Creon promised.
Carmen followed him over to the railing and leaned back against it. She waited when he turned and picked up a bag that was in the corner. Her hand rose when he held it out to her.
“I thought you might like to have this,” Creon said.
Carmen frowned and pulled the tissue wrapped gift out of the bag. Creon took the empty bag from her and set it on the table before turning back to watch her as she unwrapped the gift. Carmen’s fingers trembled when she caught a glimpse of the corner. She paused, recognizing the frame. Her lips parted and she had trouble catching her breath.
“It will be alright. I’m here to catch you,” Creon promised, stepping closer.
Tears filled her eyes. “Creon…,” Carmen whispered.
“I don’t want you to forget him. I saw how happy he made you before we were together. He loved you, Carmen. I will always be grateful for that,” Creon encouraged, laying his hand over hers.
Carmen pulled the tissue away, staring down at the picture of her wedding day so long ago. A shuddering sob escaped her and she clutched the frame to her chest. Creon drew her into his arms and held her close.
“Are they kissings?” a voice whispered in the dark.
“Not yets. She’s gots to finishing crying first,” another one answered.
“Why’s she crying? You’s not supposed to cry when you gets a present.”
“You does if it makes you really happy,” Spring said in exasperation.
“Boys don’t know much, Spring,” Jade replied.
“Well, at least if they ain’t kissing, his pants are staying down,” Jabir reasoned.
“You kids come back inside,” Ariel admonished, sensing her sister and Creon needed some time alone.