Dragon Heart

by Amelia Jade

  She shook her head. “You’re not wrong, I did feel it. As soon as you told me you loved me, I just knew. But dammit, a girl likes to be told these things you thick-headed oaf! Like when my jeans make my butt look good, you’re supposed to say it, even though I know it already.”

  He blinked. “You don’t wear jeans though.”

  Linny groaned in irritation. “That’s not the point!”

  “What is the point?” He was thoroughly confused now.

  “The point, you dummy, is that just like you need to tell me you love me, you should probably tell me that you’re taking me as your mate. You know, so that I know for certain that’s what you want?” She swatted at him playfully.

  He didn’t flinch. Spoilsport.

  “I’m sorry, Linny. I didn’t think, I just—”

  Her face split open in a smile. “I know you didn’t think. That’s the point I’m trying to make!”

  “I thought your point was that you wanted me to compliment your ass more?”

  Face scrunched up in irritation she swatted him harder this time, though truthfully it probably did more damage to her than him. “Will you just kiss me already so we can start the show?”

  “Absolutely, my love. My mate.”

  Rokk bent over, running his hand down her back and cupping her ass while he kissed her passionately, thoroughly, and without restraint.

  That’s one way to tell me you like my ass, she thought as he squeezed it tight through her skintight black leotard.

  Linny fell into the kiss, relishing the touch of his lips, their gentle strength and the playful teasing of his tongue as their mouths parted. Kissing him was like a dream, but one that never ended too soon.

  She heard something moving, but ignored it as Rokk grabbed her ass again, squeezing it playfully.

  Then the calls started. Linny turned, realizing in horror that the sound she’d heard was the curtain rising. The entire audience had just seen her kiss Rokk while he squeezed her ass. The shouts rose, and to her surprise they were directed her way, telling her to get some of that dragon ass, to show him who’s boss, and “Way to go, Sergeant Cantor!”

  “Well shit,” she muttered, turning to face them, Rokk’s hand still clasped in hers. “What do we do now?”

  “Uh, take a bow and then start the show?” he asked, sounding just as uncomfortable as she was.

  Linny sighed. “What the hell, sounds good.”

  She curtsied in front of several thousand soldiers, accepting their compliments over her choice of man.

  It was better than getting shot at.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Rokk

  He tossed the gold cup up in the air and caught it. The plastic trophy weighed nothing in his grip, but it was the symbolism of it that made him truly feel good. Inscribed on the side of the cup was lettering that read: 1st Place in Fort Banner Inaugural Talent Show.

  “I told you we’d do it,” he said, needling Linny over their win once more.

  “You know we only won because you were making out with me on stage,” she ground out. “We put on a show slightly different than what was planned.”

  Rokk winked at her. “How do you know it wasn’t planned?”

  Linny didn’t miss a beat. “Because if you embarrassed me in public like that, you’re going to find yourself a very horny and unsatisfied man for the next little bit.”

  Gulp. “Good thing it wasn’t,” he chuckled nervously.

  “It better not have.”

  “You got your leave though. You can go visit your grandfather.”

  She leaned into him. “I know. I’m eternally grateful to you for letting me saw you in half for that.”

  Rokk laughed. “Anytime.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  They were headed back to his quarters—visiting dragon dignitaries were afforded much nicer ones than a mere Staff Sergeant, even if she was personal aide to the base commander—to have a much-needed nap. Rokk wasn’t sure if that was going to include any intimate moments. They were both fairly exhausted, having stuck around for awards and then played socialite for a few hours in celebration of their win. Right now, as much as he might want his mate, the idea of sleep sounded fantastic.

  Rounding the corner he slowed to a halt as his door came into sight. There was a person outside, leaning against the wall. Waiting for him. A person he recognized extremely well.

  “What do you want?” he asked, approaching the door.

  The person waiting for him was a mirror image of himself, except for the lack of stylized hair. Eyes as blue and hard as his own narrowed, and then to his surprise relaxed.

  “I wanted to meet your mate,” Pyne said, eyes guarded while he spoke.

  Rokk realized he was expecting rejection, a subtle acknowledgment of his earlier attitude and screwup during the fight with the Outsider. That was something, and just then, Rokk would do anything to patch things up with his twin.

  “Of course. I forget that you two haven’t met yet. Linny, this is my twin brother Pyne. Brother,” he emphasized that word, “meet Linny.”

  They exchanged handshakes.

  “Rokk’s told me all about you,” she said tentatively, clearly picking up on the tension between the two of them.

  “Has he now? Well then I’m doubly appreciative of you being willing to shake my hand.”

  It was a joke. Rokk’s mouth fell open as his brother and Linny shared a laugh. What the hell was going on here? Was his brother back?

  Linny filled the space that should have been Rokk’s turn to speak. “No, I think he only glossed over the bad parts. With you guys being twins, I suspect he was involved in most of those things himself, so he didn’t want to share too many details.”

  Pyne grinned. “Oh, well I can definitely help fill in the blanks there if you’d like.”

  “I could certainly use some ammunition for if he ever ends up in the doghouse,” she teased, grabbing Rokk’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

  “We’ll talk,” Pyne agreed. “For now though, can I steal my brother for a bit?”

  Linny glanced between the two of them. “Uh, sure. I’ll just meet you inside?” she asked, pointing to the door.

  Rokk nodded, and watched as his mate went inside. The door hissed closed behind her, leaving the two of them alone in the corridor. Silence filled the space. No soldiers went past, no alarms, just the two of them, identical copies of one another, staring back and forth.

  “I’m sorry.” Pyne spoke first.

  Not wanting to make the moment more emotionally awkward than it had to be, Rokk nodded quickly. “Me too. We were both acting like idiots. I should have realized it was bothering you and let it go.”

  To his surprise, Pyne moved his head in the negative. “You couldn’t have known. You still don’t know.”

  Rokk frowned at the unexpected direction of the conversation. “What are you talking about?”

  “My mate, Rokk. I know who she is.”

  He was floored. “You found her? That’s great! I’m so happy. Where is she?”

  Pyne’s eyes lifted from the floor, and Rokk hissed. They were pain-filled. Haunted. “She’s ten years in my past. In a coma.”

  Rokk shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sorry, Rokk. I’m happy for you. I was looking to be mated so badly. I just want someone to want me. I looked and looked, but she wasn’t around. Then I started to think about it. I saw how you and Aric have reacted to your mates, and I realized I’ve only ever reacted to a woman like that once in my life. I just…I didn’t know it then.”

  He stepped forward and embraced his brother. “Okay, let’s just take it easy. We’ll get all the details, take a breather, and then begin the search for her, okay? We’ll find your mate, Pyne. I promise you.”

  His brother shuddered once, and then clasped him tight.

  “Thank you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Linny

  “Are you sure this
is okay?”

  She tugged on Rokk’s hand. “Yes, Rokk, for the thousandth time, it’s perfectly okay.”

  “I just don’t want to intrude. I know the two of you are very close.”

  They paused outside the U-shaped seniors’ residence where her grandfather was staying.

  Rokk looked around critically. “Can I ask you something, Linny?”

  “Always. I’m an open book to you, my love.”

  He leaned in and kissed the top of her head. “Now if only I could learn to read.”

  “Oh stop!” Leaning into him she relished in his presence, and the delay. As anxious as she was to see her grandfather, Linny wasn’t sure she was ready to face the truth of everything. “Now, what did you want to ask?”

  “You know I have money.”

  She snorted. “That’s one way to put it, darling. Sort of like saying the ocean has drops of water.”

  “Stop,” he growled semi-seriously.

  Linny knew he hated to openly brag about it, though he never hesitated to show it off by buying her things. It was an odd dichotomy, but her beautiful new designer purse did feel nice around her shoulder.

  “Go on,” she urged, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “How would you feel if I transferred your grandfather to another center? One where he could get the best possible treatment. Possibly even find a cure.”

  She looked up at him. “You would do that for a man you’ve never met?”

  Rokk stared back, unyielding, his face like granite. “That man gave me the thing most precious to me in the world. I would spend all my treasure if it meant I could find a cure.”

  “Oh, Rokk.” She practically flung herself into his arms. “You never cease to amaze me. I love you.”

  “I love you too, my sweet.” He paused. “But you never answered my question. Would that upset you?”

  Linny frowned. “Why would that upset me?”

  Rokk looked around uneasily.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  “Let me rephrase.” He coughed, a very fake-sounding attempt to clear his throat and buy him time. “Would you be mad if I did that without running it by you first?”

  Linny crossed her arms in front of her again, processing what he was saying. “My grandfather isn’t inside there, is he?”

  Rokk shifted back and forth from foot to foot.

  “Rokk…where is my grandfather?”

  “We have some very good doctors where I’m from. The best in the world…”

  Linny’s mouth dropped open. “You flew my terminally sick grandfather across the ocean to your mountain homeland without talking to me about it first?!”

  Rokk winced. “I ran it by him? He loved the idea. Said he’d missed the last war over there by a few years and would love to see the place his older brother fought for.”

  She sighed. “That sounds like Grandfather. Exactly like Grandfather. I can’t believe you did that without telling me!”

  “I didn’t want to waste time. As soon as we were mated I started making the arrangements. He’s doing much better now, and getting ‘round the clock treatment.” He shrugged. “It’s unlikely they’ll find a cure, but he’s going to be around for several years at this rate, and he won’t be in any pain either. Unlike here, where he would…well, I’ll spare you the details, but even paying exorbitant amounts of money wouldn’t get you the same treatment.”

  “So what do we do now? Why did you wait until we were outside to tell me this?” She was caught in a mix of emotions. Linny was grateful to Rokk for taking care of the only man to matter in her life until he appeared, but she was also ticked he’d done all this behind her back.

  Of course, her grandfather had probably loved the idea of operating in secret. That was just like him. He’d probably cackled and rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the upcoming “covert operation” to get him out of the country undetected.

  “Would you believe cowardice?” Rokk said.

  “You’re damn right I would!” she roared. “You big wuss! Next time don’t make me waste the time traveling across the country if I’m not going to be able to see him.”

  Rokk frowned. “Who said anything about not seeing him?”

  “He’s on another continent, Rokk. That’s kind of difficult.”

  The dragon shifter shrugged. “Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I had another jet sent here from home and that it’s fueled and waiting for us at the airport to take us to see your grandfather?”

  Linny’s jaw dropped open. “You really are full of surprises today, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged. “You still have over three weeks of leave. It only takes a day to fly there. I wasn’t going to let you not see him. What do you take me for?”

  “Come on, let’s go. I want to get in the air.”

  Linny followed after him as they got back in the rental car. “Rokk, I have a question for you.”

  “Sure.”

  “Just how private is this flight going to be?” She slid a hand across the console and up his inner thigh.

  Her mate grinned.

  “You read my mind.”

  ***

  An orderly opened the door and gestured for them to go in.

  “Go on,” Rokk said softly. “I’ll wait out here for a moment.

  She gave him a hug and then entered the room. “Grandfather?”

  An elderly male with a few wispy strands of white hair still encircling his head turned at the sound of her voice. “Linny?” He got up off the bed, his arms shaking slightly with the effort, but he made it nonetheless. “It’s good to see you!”

  Linny wrapped him up in the biggest, gentlest hug she could give. To her surprise he thumped her on the back with several good whacks, proving that he was more energetic than she’d perhaps given him credit for.

  “How are you doing, Grandfather?” she sat down on the edge of the bed, but to her surprise Charles remained standing.

  “I’m doing great! The stuff they give me here is really something fun. I haven’t felt this good in a couple of years, truth be told. Still working on regaining a bit of muscle strength, but I’m more mobile than ever and it’s coming back to me.” He grinned, green eyes sparkling with a life she’d not seen in him in some time either. “The docs say it’s not a cure, but it certainly feels like one. Besides, I’m eighty-eight. If I live to see ninety, I’ll be happy.”

  Linny opened her mouth to protest, but he kept going.

  “Now, I’m not being some morbid sum-bitch, so shut yer pie hole. That’s just the truth. I’ll take ninety-one or two if I can, you best believe me. Feeling this good, I might even have to go find one of them young ladies in the other ward.”

  Linny groaned. The young women he referred to were all in their seventies. “You’re such a lecher.”

  “Ooo-rah!” came the snappy reply. “You’re in the service now, you know what it’s like, Linny. Don’t play games.”

  “Not anymore, Grandfather.”

  Eyes that despite the dulling of life had never lost their intelligence swiveled onto her like a laser-guided missile system. “What do you mean?”

  Linny got up and went over to the door that had closed behind her. “Grandfather, I’d like you to meet someone.”

  She pulled it open.

  “This is Rokk. He’s my…he’s…” She stumbled, unsure what to say. Her grandfather wouldn’t understand the term mate, and she wasn’t about to tell the old loudmouth about dragons either. “He’s very special to me.”

  Her grandfather smiled mischievously. A boy in his “daughter’s” life? He’d waited a long time for this. Linny knew the look exactly.

  She lifted a finger sharply. “So be nice. He’s the one paying for all this.”

  The sly look disappeared immediately.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Rokk

  The helicopter settled on the landing pad in front of him.

  “Here we go.” He spoke quietly, mostly to steel himsel
f from the nerves threading through his body.

  “You’ll be great,” Pyne encouraged from at his side, speaking out of the corner of his mouth.

  In front of them the pilot jumped out and pulled the door open, extending an arm to help the sole passenger down. True to his word when Rokk had bribed him, he’d flown in at an oblique angle to the sloping field at the back of the landing pad, and had gotten Linny to exit on the far side.

  “Okay, pull the cover back,” Aric shouted, waving his arms above his head.

  Behind them battlesuits sprang into action, ripping away camouflage that had been hastily erected to hide the preparations. The suits then formed two straight columns behind Rokk, facing inward with parade-ground precision.

  Inhaling sharply, Rokk fought down the giddiness that threatened to overwhelm him. He was a mighty dragon shifter, dammit. There was no way he was going to let four little words bring him to his knees, try as they might. He stepped forward, letting anger keep him steady.

  Linny was still on the far side of the helicopter. Above the blades spun down as the copilot killed the engine. Silence descended over the landing pad and the scene behind him.

  Everything was perfect, he knew that. Rokk had flown back from his homeland three days early to ensure that he got it right. He felt a little bad lying to Linny, telling her that there was a meeting of the dragons that he had to attend, but he hoped she would forgive him. If everything went well today, then it wouldn’t matter.

  All he had to do was keep his calm.

  He rounded the helicopter and nearly stumbled. After three days away, the sight of his mate brought his entire world to a standstill. She’d heard him rounding the back of the machine and turned to look at him. Eyes of the purest turquoise ocean waters lit up as they saw him.

  “Rokk!” she shouted happily, her hair swinging wildly behind her.

  The entire scene seemed to happen in slow motion for him. She came forward, flinging her arms around his neck, squeezing so tight he could barely breathe. It didn’t matter. His arms came up to hold her, and everything was right in the world.