Saberthorn (A Paranormal/Fantasy Dragonshifter Romance): Dragonkind ~ 52 Realms

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  Saber understood, and he ached for his friend. Cass had been so completely broken, not only had he lost Maya, but he also missed out on finding his missing family. Then he grew desperate in his search. Saber joined him as often as possible, when Cass would let him. It was as if finding his family would fix what was broken.

  Saber knew it wouldn’t fix anything, but he didn’t have the heart to stop Cass … no matter how hard he drove himself or how ragged he grew in his quest.

  The rest of the village took up the slack in caring for Cass’s young, still, Saber checked on them as often as possible. Though he wasn’t sure if it was for their benefit or his own peace of mind. It didn’t matter. Skye and Aries helped ground him.

  Between his own quest for the female, his duty to patrol those of his kind threatening to go rogue, and keeping himself semi-sane, it took everything Saber had. Still, it was hard to stay encouraged as the number of dragonkind, in all the fifty-two realms, was at an all-time low and steadily declining, just like his mind.

  It was the same old story, over and over again. The females of their kind somehow held onto their humanity, while the males, if they failed to find their soul mates, did not. As an immortal, a male dragon eventually got to the point where he needed his other half in order to continue. Without a soul mate, and after living a long and mostly solitary life that never ended, a male’s soul began to dry up. Then he fell into depression. All too soon, the lack of a soul drove him from rage to insanity, and finally a screwed up desire to scorch everything in sight.

  Dismay swamped Saber at the knowledge that this was happening to him, and he wondered how much time he had left. If his violent visions were any indication, it may not be long. He should have told Zales.

  His thoughts shifted back to the female who had evaded him all these years. He’d found all the soldiers who were there that day, yet none knew what spell had been used to suck Adarias into the underworld, or how to get him back. After delving into their minds and learning they told the truth, Saber made quick work of them. But the female … Over time he often caught a whiff of her sweet, spicy scent, and his pulse would race at the possibility that he was close. Then she’d up and disappear. Again.

  No longer caring if anyone saw him, Saber shifted into his dragon, then shot into the sky. He flew swiftly to Cass’s village and then landed. As soon as he shifted back into human-form, fourteen-year-old Skye ran up and hugged him, and his heart somewhat eased.

  “Where have you been?” she scolded, light-blue eyes flashing with ire.

  He tugged on her long, wildly tangled brown hair. “Aw, did you miss me, princess?”

  Skye rolled her eyes and punched him, as eleven-year-old Aries shyly stood by. It had been distressing watching these two grow up without their loving parents by their sides. Sure, Cass was around, but never emotionally available. Skye had ended up wild and uncontrollable, while Aries only grew meeker.

  “C’mere.” Saber pulled the boy into their hug and breathed in their unique scents. He let them calm him and savored their closeness.

  Then Skye drew away. “I learned how to fly upside down.”

  Suddenly, a faint tingle of magic echoed through Saber. It was a portal opening somewhere.

  “You did? That’s great.” He started to ignore the strange magic of a gate being activated, when his dragon grew agitated.

  With a frown, Saber let Aries go and drew on his own power. He reached out with all his senses and searched around, only to find nothing of note. Disappointment settled upon him as Skye regaled him with village life.

  “Where is your father?” he asked.

  Skye shrugged and looked away. “You know.”

  “Skye?” Saber waited.

  Skye sighed deeply. “No idea. You know what Cass is like. He’s worse than you, coming and going without telling anyone.”

  “He’s not Cass to you, he’s Pepaw, or Father, or Sire,” Saber reprimanded.

  Skye growled at him, and Saber growled right back. He couldn’t allow this behavior. Then satisfied when she grew quiet, his gut clenched in sympathy for the two. He knew how badly they ached to have their father more involved in their lives, and he wished he could change the situation.

  But if anything, it was growing worse, and he couldn’t help but wonder if either he or Zales would have to one day soon put Cass out of his misery. The very idea was abominable, and besides, how could he take another parent from Skye and Aries?

  Saber pushed the thought from his mind and spent the evening with the two. Their presence soothed his soul just enough to let him relax. At least until the scent of honeysuckle drifted to him on the breeze the next day, making it impossible to concentrate on what Skye was saying. “Sorry, what?”

  Skye explained, but his mind was drawn miles away to a pair of amber eyes that haunted him.

  “I’m sorry, I have to go.” A brutal need suddenly urged him to move.

  Skye just smiled and hugged him. “Don’t stay away so long!”

  Saber drew on his power and shifted, shooting into the sky without thought. Mind buzzing, his dragon was in an unsettled frenzy, and he let his beast dictate the direction. It was as if there were a tether leading him south.

  A short while later, Saber landed and shifted back into his human-form. He frowned as he recognized the town as Vermillion. Why am I here? The same intense need pulsed through him again, only stronger.

  His pulse quickened, and following the burning need, he began to walk. A moment later he halted as pain pierced his skull. Saber sucked in a breath and held still until it cleared, then he continued down the town’s only road.

  Despite the agony of moving, he slowly made his way past all the shops and drinking houses, checking everyone out, until he ended up at the other end of town. He hadn’t spotted anyone he knew, and no one stood out.

  Saber stared at the darkening forest in front of him. Maybe this need was a side effect of turning rogue? If it was, well, that would be a bitch, wouldn’t it? He scanned back the way he’d come, ready to fly away home, when the need pulsed again, beckoning.

  Yeah, okay, not sure he believed it was his mind going, he started back, trying to tell himself that it could just be a severe lack of sleep.

  If I were wise, I’d head home to my lair and get some rest. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to fly away. Well, no one ever said I was wise. He spied a familiar drinking house, and absently made his way over to it. Yet as he found himself in front of the Taverna, suddenly his mood for drink vanished.

  As Saber debated on going inside, the faint scent of honeysuckle set all his senses tingling. He narrowed his eyes and scanned all around. There was no mistaking that sweet aroma. She was here. Somewhere. His breathing picked up as his heart raced even faster in his chest.

  Yet even with his keen eyesight, he didn’t see her anywhere. There weren’t many people out, and the ones who were, appeared to have a purpose. Saber eased silently onto the porch of the drinking house, as the door to the grocer across the street creaked open. Then it closed and his whole body trembled.

  Saber melted back into the shade of the building and called on his power. He drew in the tantalizing smell and sighed. It’s really her. Finally! His dragon waited, tense and eager, while his body thrummed with excitement.

  Saber watched the female he’d been hunting for ten long years. She appeared nervous as she scanned furtively one way down the street, then the other direction. The witch started to walk, then hesitated as she drew alongside where he stood in the shadows of the Taverna.

  Saber inhaled again, reveling in the taste. Then his blood quickened and his cock hardened. He sucked back a groan. The female paused and looked straight at him, and Saber drew on his power. He dove into her mind, only to run smack into a solid steel wall. What the hell?

  Not all dragonkind could read minds, but it was his specialty. Some Supes were a little harder to read, but Humans were generally easy, and while he’d heard that some of them had natural shields, Saber had nev
er run across anyone whose mind he couldn’t breach.

  Until now.

  Saber swallowed. Demons, she is fucking glorious.

  Though the witch who had haunted him for so long couldn’t see him, Saber knew she was uneasy when she picked up her pace and hurried away.

  He itched to shift and fly after her but stopped himself. He needed to wait until she was out of town. Away from prying eyes. He didn’t need any witnesses to what he was going to do with her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Burning Need

  Tirah knew it was him. Dreads. It had to be. No one else had ever affected her in such a way. Her every sense was suddenly alive and tingling. Wicked heat sizzled in her veins. It made her ache for something she could never have, in a way that never failed to shock her. Just as it had that night so long ago. She groaned inwardly, hating the feeling of being so out of control.

  Terrified when she fled her home and world, she’d quickly learned how to survive on her own. Over time, her skill at survival and fending off unwanted advances overcame most of her fear.

  Yet each time Tirah caught the spicy masculine scent of the very dangerous male hunting her, it sent a shot of adrenaline into her system and pissed her the hell off.

  She was tired of this life of running and never having anything. It was time to end it. Yet, as she stared into the shadows of a drinking house, her anger fled. Sudden terror engulfed her, followed by an intense feeling of longing, excitement. You are bloody sadistic. Tirah wanted to kick herself. What in all the realms is wrong with me?

  But she knew all too well what was wrong with her. She was insanely attracted to him, in a way she’d never been with any other male. Some of them had been incredibly handsome and charming, but it didn’t make any difference. She only wanted Dreads, and no matter how often she told herself to forget him, she never could.

  She only needed to think of him to grow hot. Then an ache would start between her legs, an ache to feel him there, inside of her, filling her up and making her scream. And the intensity only grew worse at night.

  Way too often she’d lie in bed, hot and bothered, wishing for something, no someone, that she couldn’t have. Then she’d get up the next morning with very little, or no sleep, and it would piss her off. Why did she have to crave the only male in all the realms who wanted to kill her?

  Tirah swallowed deeply and pushed the burning desire away as she felt him close by. Way too close for her tastes. Then not wanting to attract any attention by running, she walked quickly down the street and away from the small town.

  Could I be so desperate to satiate this need that just being on Tartaria, knowing he lives here, has me imagining things? Yeah, that’s got to be it.

  Then Tirah realized she wasn’t paying attention to her direction. I need to be more careful. She knew better than to stay too long in any populated area here on Tartaria. Even though a number of other supernatural beings inhabited the town, Tirah knew her father’s people lurked everywhere.

  Tirah quickly left the large open road and cut across a purple-and-scarlet, ground-creeping vine field, apologizing to the blossoms she trod on. She needed to get away from where anyone could see her. Finally, she entered a stand of midnight trees with large pale-purple and blue lace canopies. With the canopies as cover, Tirah made her way back to the secondary dirt road, the same one she’d entered the town from.

  She inhaled the tangy aroma of the leafy forest, feeling somewhat safer. Although she knew it was just an illusion of safety, what with Dreads hunting her.

  At the edge of the tree line, she looked at the stretch of road in front of her, and then stared down at the piece of paper clutched in her hand, given to her by the balding shop keeper.

  Hand shaking, Tirah unfolded the note to see a blank page.

  “Forever family,” she whispered, using the secret password she and Mihel had come up with years ago in case something went wrong, and one needed to leave the other a message.

  She smiled when words began to appear. The shop keeper had said a male in his early twenties had delivered the note almost three weeks ago. Tirah wondered if the messenger could have been Wren. If it was, she hoped he didn’t share Casin’s hatred. Though if he did, Mihel wouldn’t have used him to deliver a message.

  Sorry I missed our appointment. The day I was to leave, Father was murdered in his sleep. Casin, as heir, is now commander. He has long suspected that we’ve been in touch. Now he’s ordered a detail to spy on me. I didn’t dare try and slip away. I’m sorry to tell you, he’s also had Mother taken away. I am trying to find out where. If I can get away, I will meet you at the cabin on the first of the month.

  Tirah knew she should feel bad about her father, but she felt nothing at the news, and the tears she blinked back were for her poor mother. Ashara had never asked to be a slave to the Ilyium, nor a whore to their father. A man who used her for breeding and was as cold a male as Tirah had ever come across. Why Casin had been so enamored of the guy, she had never understood.

  Tirah spoke another magic word and watched the note burn up in her hand. Then she blew the ashes away and peered all around. The feeling she was being spied upon wouldn’t leave her and an insatiable heat continued to unfurl inside of her. Bloody stop it, right now.

  She bit her bottom lip hard, glad when the sting helped a bit, then took a deep steadying breath. At least she’d picked up a few supplies from the grocer. Though it was only a few days before she met Mihel at the cabin, it would be best to keep a low profile until she got there.

  As she started to walk, her stomach growled. Tirah opened the woven reed bag of food and debated on what to eat first. The sight of the sweet fruit tacky won. Then, chewing on the treat, she hastened her pace as the skin on her arm’s prickled. Her heart sped up. It’s him! For ten years he had dogged her heels and haunted her dreams, leaving her unfulfilled and burning. Damn, I don’t have time for this.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ass Meet Ground

  Saber needed a moment to calm himself before he went after her. Whoever the witch was, the female sent him into a tailspin, and she was the enemy. An enemy he’d sworn to kill.

  He caught up to her in no time, and using a cloak of invisibility to disguise himself, studied the sorceress from his dreams. She had grown her hair out, and now it reached midway down her back. He smiled at her curves and licked his lips, then frowned. Anger rose at the realization of how thin she’d grown over the last ten years. Though why he cared, he had no idea.

  Saber stalked her, reveling in her honeysuckle sweetness. Then he caught a whiff of anxiety, along with a touch of excitement as she grew aware of being tailed. Could she be wanting this fight as well? She had to be tired of running. Perhaps she was eager to rejoin her family of murderers?

  Though the idea of his prey rejoining her vile Ilyium family filled Saber with rage. Yet, it wasn’t enough to squelch the thrill of the hunt. Her fear only excited him more. Even his dragon was like an eager puppy, practically salivating over her inevitable capture.

  As she started to run, Saber picked up his pace. She was the enemy. The one who sent his brother to the underworld. Right on her heels, he inhaled her scent, drawing it deep into his lungs, and his blood felt like it was suddenly on fire.

  With the worst timing ever, his mind fractured.

  Enraptured by the fiery strands of burnished copper hair flowing behind her like a living flame, Saber didn’t notice when his invisibility dropped away. Like a magical web, it enticed him, and drew him in. Then without conscious thought, Saber reached out. The ache to feel its softness overcame all reasoning, and he was a single thought, emotion, need. He had to touch. To feel.

  Then she slowed, and a roar screamed in Saber’s head as a few strands slipped smoothly, like sizzling silk, between his fingers. She stopped.

  Saber slammed on the brakes, but between his dragon and his heart thundering in his chest, he heard nothing else. It was like he was locked in a dream he couldn’t break away from.
His prey whipped around and her eyes … her eyes, a bright amber full of rage, locked on him. Saber opened his mouth but nothing came out.

  He froze, unable to move as she raised her fist and punched hit him in the face.

  Everything spun and the breath whooshed out of him.

  His ass met the ground, and one part of his splintered mind noted the setting suns, while the other gaped at the sorceress from his dreams. She was … her.

  Saber blinked, and shook his head. She mesmerized him, took his breath, and left him stunned senseless. Then he realized his constant suffering was gone. He wanted to laugh. No one had bested him in years. Not since he and his siblings would play fight.

  His prey opened her mouth, then closed it … and took off again. Saber watched her for a moment, then lay back. Once again the torment closed in, and he had to fight the cobwebs of his mind. Still shocked, but happily so, he touched his jaw where she’d decked him. An unexpected chuckle erupted. Damn. She was good. Who would have thought she’d pack such a punch?

  He stared up at the sky. Everything appeared brighter than it had in a very long time. The power of dragonkind swirled through him, and his arousal pressed against his pants. A pressure began to build in his chest and suddenly his dragon roared with a need so fierce, it almost took his breath away.

  Saber decided he’d given her enough of a head start and climbed to his feet. Adrenaline pumped through him with excitement. This was going to be fun. Fun? He couldn’t remember when he last had fun. Maybe when he’d been young?

  Then his thoughts took a more intense turn. With her curves, he could almost imagine what she’d feel like underneath him, all pliable and willing. She might be a little thinner, though still robust enough to make him eager with anticipation. He wanted to touch, kiss, and taste every succulent inch of her.