by C. D. Gorri
Sure, it hurt when he told her he was leaving in the morning. Heck. The quiet statement he’d made practically ripped her heart out of her chest. As it was, the wound still gaped open.
She’d wished for someone to love her entire life. Every birthday and Christmas wish, since it was the same day for her, was spent on the same thing. Send me someone of my own, someone to love, who will love me back. A love like mom and dad had.
Well, she’d found it alright. Only to lose it just as quickly. Her body trembled as he stepped nearer to her. She wasn’t sure she could handle being this close and not touching him. Her fingers itched for his skin.
She’d never known desire or pleasure like she’d found in his arms. His beautiful, strong embrace that had taken her to heights she’d never dreamed about. She took a step back, knowing that if he came any closer nothing would stop her form throwing herself at him. Be strong. Don’t make a fool of yourself, Noelle. But was it too late for that?
“I don’t know if it’s Christmas or if it’s you,” Sander said closing in on her, “but I swear on everything I am that what I am about to say I mean with every part of me.”
“Sander, please, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do,” he smiled at her, his eyes glowing teal in the dark room, he reached out with his good hand and took one of hers, holding it tightly in his warm grip.
“I love you, Noelle,” she swayed as the word reached her ears, but he wasn’t finished, “I truly do love you, and I need you, my sweet little minx. I want you, now, and always.”
“Oh Sander!” She gasped and walked into his embrace, confused when he pulled back and looked into her eyes once more.
“I must know if you can love me, maimed hand and all?”
“Sander, how can you ask me that? Of course, I love you! You are perfect to me,” she cradled his imperfect hand and kissed the digits there, holding it to her chest. She felt him tremble and her heart swelled even more.
“I have a question, love.”
“What question?” Noelle gulped, tears brimming in her big, blue eyes.
“Can I have you?” His whispered plea was more growl than anything.
The words he uttered sent ripples of emotion through her frame. The question echoed in her ears and made her heart pound. Could this really be happening? She gasped and laughed as tears fell from her eyes.
“Can I have you? My little minx, please say yes,” he begged.
Noelle could only respond in one way. She jumped into his arms and locked her mouth against his in a kiss that sizzled through them both.
“Noelle, I must have an answer,” he groaned into her mouth. She hated breaking that kiss, but Sander trembled under her hands and she loved him for all his vulnerability. She reached down and ran her hand along the long, hard length of him moaning in anticipation as he grew under her searching fingers.
“Sander, you’ve got me. I’m yours,” she breathed the words into his mouth, her tongue swirling around his as her heart threatened to explode.
“I must mark you, love, now, es meus,” he growled against her lips.
Noelle could practically read his thoughts and her body practically begged to be marked by his. She panted and moaned as they rubbed against each other. She reached up and moved her hair to one side, pulling down the front of her dress to reveal the long lines of her throat and the ripe swell of her breast.
“Here, I will make you mine,” his gravelly voice was deep. The vibrations sent waves of pleasure down her body to the slick heat between her thighs. She looked up at him.
His gorgeous face hovered just above hers, his beast shining through his eyes. They glowed an intense teal color as he growled and without warning, bit down on the soft flesh just above her right breast. Noelle groaned out loud. The sound echoing in the confines of his bedroom. It quickly turned into a sigh as the pain rapidly exceeded to white, hot pleasure.
In seconds, he had her skirt hiked up around her waist, his fingers gripping her hips. He tore the panties off her body with a harsh sound and found her wet and ready for him. Noelle moaned and flung open the buttons of his tailored shirt. She needed to touch his skin.
Her fingers skimmed over the smooth muscles there. Stopping at the sapphire rose on his chest. Under her fingers the marking hummed and vibrated, heat so strong it burned underneath her fingers. She bit her lip as she watched in wonder at the magic that caused his rose to open and bloom. Sander gasped with the pain of it.
“Ah, Noelle, yes, my mate, my true mate,” he growled and flung his head back as the mark grew and sizzled on his perfect skin.
It was as if his heart had been frozen for the last five-hundred years and was thawing out all at once. Noelle bit back a moan as the place where he bit her began to grow warm and tingly.
“That’s it, love, es meus,” he growled and thrust inside of her.
She tensed as her pleasure came riding over her in great waves, rocking them both to ecstasy. He tensed and groaned his completion, pouring his seed into her welcoming heat.
“Es meus,” he said at her ear.
CHAPTER 13
When they were utterly spent, Sander lifted his mate and carried her to the bed righting her clothing as he did. He watched as Noelle’s pleasure glazed eyes found his mating mark on her body. The identical, though smaller, marking on her chest was the same teal blue color.
She ran her hands over the delicate blue rose and sighed, “Oh Sander, it’s beautiful.”
“You are beautiful, my love. And I do love you, Noelle, you’re my one true mate. My first Christmas gift. My sapphire rose is yours.”
“I love you too.”
“I’ve another, more traditional gift for you, my Noelle,” he helped her stand and straighten her dress, dropping soft kisses on her neck and lips. He reached in to his pocket and pulled out a velvet box.
“We’re not like normals, you’ve been raised by Werewolves, and I’m a Dragon. I don’t need to tell you that I’ve marked you, my love and that you’re mine forever as I am yours. This symbol of our bond is for you. Es meus, we say in our language,” he opened the box.
Inside was a beautiful ring. A platinum band that resembled rose vines. It opened into beautiful petals with a deep blue sapphire in the middle.
“Sander, it’s beautiful.”
“I want you forever, Noelle. This as with my marking, is a symbol that we are one, for eternity.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“I am a Dragon, darling, forever is a very long time for us.”
“But I’m not a shifter?”
“True, but when I opened my gift to you and gave you my rose, I also gave you access to some of my gifts, longevity is one of them.”
“Really?”
“Yes. My Dragon has chosen you as well, Noelle, and he will not let you go any more than I will. I need you, sweet little minx.”
He could not get enough of her. This woman. His mate. He took her beautiful face in his hands, ruined and whole alike, and kissed her with everything he had inside of him.
He still could not believe the miracle that he held in his arms. In the span of one magical Christmas Eve he’d gone from being alone and defeated to having everything. And she was his everything.
He’d spend every single day from then until eternity showing her just how much she meant to him. her blue eyes smiled at him as she held out her hand and took his maimed one in it. Together they walked down the stairs to their guests. An overwhelming sensation of contentment hit him. He tugged his mate to him and kissed her one more time before they joined the others.
Later that evening, surrounded by dozens of guests, Sander stood with his arm around his mate and looked up at the three-foot white dragon that sat curled on the top of their Christmas tree.
The inanimate beast was almost identical to his own Dragon, with three horns spiraling at the top and translucent white scales covering its skin. It even had thin membrane like white wings sprouting from its back. Bea
utiful, like her.
“You never told me if you liked your gift?” Noelle nodded at the tree and smiled up at him. She was breathtaking when she smiled.
Sander’s gaze dropped to her lips and he pulled her to him gently. He growled as he leaned down and fixed his mouth over hers, kissing the breath out of her in front of everyone there. He ignored the giggles and wolf whistles, his every focus on his mate and her alone.
When he finished the sensual assault on her mouth, he placed a finger under her chin and lifted until her eyes met his. She was so open and trusting, so in love with him it took his breath away, humbling him and completing him all at the same time.
“You are my true gift, Noelle Gifford. I love you.”
Epilogue
Christmas Day was a big day at the Gifford house. Sander looked skeptical as he pulled up to the two-story colonial that sat on a cul de sac off Broadway.
“Come on, Sander, they don’t bite,” Noelle teased as she unlocked her door.
Sander was out of the car and helping her from her seat before she had the chance to do so for herself. Not that she minded, he was such a gentleman with her.
Spending the night with him had been scandalous enough, but after a long phone call home and explaining to her mom that she’d found her true mate, her romantically inclined mother insisted she bring him over immediately.
Sander walked slowly beside her, stopping only to pick up the rare bottle of wine and the carefully wrapped tapestry, one of his own, that he’d brought as gifts for Mrs. Gifford.
“Hello Alexsander, I’m Crystal, Noelle’s mother,” the small, cheerful woman who’d opened the door had embraced Sander in a fierce hug and then Noelle.
He entered the small abode to the delightful smells of roast turkey and all the fixings. A handful of other people were there. An uncle, a cousin, and of course her friend, Joselyn.
“So, when are you going to make an honest woman of my friend there, fly boy?”
The entire room stilled, and Joss’ words seemed to echo throughout the house. Noelle paled, and Sander wanted to growl at her obvious distress.
“Well, augura, how does Valentine’s Day suit everyone here?”
Noelle’s face broke out into a huge grin and her mother clasped a hand to her heart. His mate stood up and walked around the table only to jump in his lap and hug him tightly to her chest.
“Well done, fly boy, well done,” Joselyn said.
“Are you sure?” Noelle whispered in his ear.
“I’ve never been surer of anything, my love. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, my darling little minx.”
“Merry Christmas, Sander.”
“Es meus,” he murmured and took her lips with his.
She was his. Now. Forever. His first and best Christmas gift. His Noelle.
The end.
The Dragon’s Heart:
A Falk Clan Tale
by C.D. Gorri
For the men and women who make us crazy! Don’t ever stop!
Copyright 2018 C.D. Gorri
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either part of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights are reserved. No part of this book is to be reproduced, scanned, downloaded, printed, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of any materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Tagline:
“Some wounds run deep, can a Dragon’s heart be unbroken?”
Synopsis:
Edric Falk vowed long ago to never fall in love again. With two of his brother’s having fallen into that trap, he’s more determined than ever to remain alone.
When he’s asked to be best man at his youngest brother’s Valentine’s Day wedding, the Dragon shifter has no choice. He is all set to go through the motions until he meets his partner for the event! Sparks fly, and this Dragon isn’t sure he can control himself!
Joselyn Coracao is the maid-of-honor for her best friend’s wedding. She also happens to be a clairvoyant Witch! When the universe sends her a message that she’s about to meet her destiny, what else can she do but fight tooth and nail?
Edric an Joss both agree the Fates have messed up! They make a deal to put aside their differences for the sake of the wedding, but some things are beyond their control!
PROLOGUE
Edric Falk tossed his cell phone onto the glass-topped, wrought-iron, side table that sat next to his bed. The clinging sound rang through his head. It had been a very long drive in.
He’d been in upstate New York picking up the latest model, supercharged Range Rover that he’d purchased as a wedding gift for his new sister-in-law. The luxury SUV was the best in its class with all the perks and bonuses.
He’d had it custom painted in a metallic white with silver accents that was reminiscent of his brother’s IceDragon. Tailor made teal colored leather seats graced the interior of the vehicle. It was gorgeous, not to mention safe and sturdy. Overall, he approved of the quality of the vehicle.
Sander was not his closest brother, but he was a favorite of the other three as he was the youngest. The baby, his mother had called him. He could still recall his sweet Ama’s face the day she introduced them to the youngest Falk.
The pale bundle had been tightly wrapped in the same gold blanket Edric and the others had used upon their births. He recalled not being all that impressed with the squalling dragonling, but after time, Sander had grown on all of them. Edric wondered how his baby brother had managed to do what he could never accomplish. Mated for life.
Sander was always the stubborn one, and now he was getting married! He’d found his one true mate against all odds and Edric was pleased for him. A Dragon could not hope for a more blissful state or, so he’d been told by both Sander and Callius, his oldest and closest brother.
The two of them mated. It was almost impossible for Edric to conceive of the notion. He stretched his muscles, stiff from the six-hour drive. He shook his head and sat down heavily on one of two brocade chairs that graced his bedroom.
The hours of driving had done nothing to expel the energy pent up inside of him. He wished he could have flown, but he didn’t trust the car to anyone else. Besides, he wanted to test it in the wintry conditions they were experiencing this February in South Jersey.
The SUV handled well in the extreme weather. He was satisfied with the purchase. Sander would be pleased that the car was safe and sound. Good protection for his fragile mate. As a normal, Sander’s Dragon would be driven to keep her safe. She was precious to him, even though his rose would have offered her some of the benefits of Sander’s Dragon, he would still feel the need to protect.
Yes, the Range Rover was a good choice. Edric parked the vehicle in the multi-car garage and fastened an enormous teal colored bow on the top of it. Noelle would go mad for the color, if what he knew about the woman was true.
As for Sander, Edric had only one gift for the last of the Falk brothers. A wish. That was the only thing he could give him that his brother could possibly need. A simple wish for Sander to live a truly happy existence with his mate as long as the Fates allowed. A life fulfilled with meaning and love. One that Edric himself would never experience.
Fuck it, he exhaled. He looked around his rooms and felt a nagging restlessness come over him. His section of Castle Falk was just as fine and large as his brothers’, decorated with only the best. Edric loved his creature comforts. He was a Dragon, after all.
He’d shipped pieces he’d collected from all over the world to the castle. Callius and his wife, Winifred, had seen to them being set up. He had a wondrous collection of vintage tables, bookcases, and a uni
que rolled desk in his sitting room. The dark mahogany wood had been stained a blood red color and outfitted with silver fixtures. Edric thought it mesmerizing upon first glance and had to have it, and yet he found no peace in the wooden ensemble right then.
He couldn’t just sit around all day. After the long drive, he needed to move around some, get rid of his excess energy. Edric grabbed his sneakers and headed downstairs to work off his foul mood.
He spent the next three hours punishing himself in the state-of-the-art gym and dojo that they’d built inside of Castle Falk. His body was a machine, perfectly honed for combat.
As a warrior, he’d fought many battles for the Dragomir Clan before and during his servitude. Though he’d tired of the fighting, he enjoyed the release of endorphins that he usually felt after a hard workout. He lifted weights, ran as hard as he could on the treadmill, free climbed the three-story rock wall, and did deadlifts until he thought he couldn’t stand anymore, but even after all that he still felt on edge.
He returned to his room and sat down hard on the edge of his bed. The red patterned coverlet reminded him of his Dragon’s scales. He’d purchased it on a whim, drawn to the color red, as was his nature.
He ran a hand through his longish auburn locks and grimaced as he peeled off his sneakers and tossed them in the small trash can. He’d ripped the damn things again. Thank the Gods he had a dozen more pairs in his closet.
The bed was monstrous in size. A double king specially made as per his instructions. Extravagant with its two dozen or more pillows and hand-tailored, Egyptian cotton sheets. After five hundred years of sleeping on cold stone floors, he figured he was entitled to a little luxury.
He stripped off his clothes and stretched his sore muscles, catching a glimpse of his body in the long mirror opposite his bed. Edric was not vain, but he kept in top shape.
Being a Dragon shifter didn’t mean you were guaranteed to have an athletic physique. As with anything, it took work. He had an enormous appetite and spent hours every day in training or in the air to spend the extra calories. He’d learned long ago to keep his body perfectly honed and ready for battle. Just in case.