by S. E. Smith
“Spark appears to have found a friend,” Edna observed, handing Christoff a cup of hot chocolate and the plate with the pie.
“Spark?” Christoff frowned and looked over to where his symbiot lay contently next to Edna’s furry creature.
She raised an eyebrow at Christoff. “I could hardly keep calling it your symbiot and I don’t recall you calling it by a different name,” she replied.
“I’ve never thought of naming it,” he said, lifting the drink in his hands to his lips. His eyes widened in delight when the rich chocolate washed over his tongue. “This is very good. What is it?”
“Hot chocolate with whipped cream,” she chuckled, watching as he licked the sweet, white cream off his upper lip. “Tell me about yourself, Christoff. Tell me where you come from,” she asked in a husky voice.
“There is not much to tell,” he replied.
Edna watched as Christoff’s eyes dimmed. He took another sip of his chocolate, remaining silent. It was as if he was afraid to share his life. Deciding that maybe if she told him a little bit about her life that he might relax, she released a sigh and sat back on the couch. Taking another sip of her drink, she set it on the small side table before leaning forward to pick up her own plate as she tried to think of what to tell him.
“Mm, I’ve always had a soft spot for hot apple pie and whipped cream,” she reflected. “Of course, anything goes well with whipped cream, if you ask me.”
“Anything?” he asked, looking at the white, fluffy cream, then at her.
Edna waved her fork at him and laughed. “You have a very one track mind, my darling alien,” she replied dryly before taking a bite of the pie.
“It’s not that hard to have when I am near you,” he muttered before bending his head to focus on his own dessert.
“You are amazingly good for my self-esteem,” she replied. “Hanson was too in his own way. We met at a Hollywood party. Back then, it was all glitter, glitz, and an insane amount of money. The big studios held the world in the palms of their hands and musicals were still very popular. I had been hired as a singer in one of the new ones being produced with some of Hollywood’s biggest names at the time. Abby’s grandparents were working on the choreography and music while Hanson was one of the producers.” She smiled as she remembered the days. “I don’t miss it, but it was nice to have been a part of that era. He came to me and that was it. We spent the rest of the evening dancing and talking. We did that for almost forty years before he fell asleep one night and never woke up.”
No longer hungry, she set the plate down on the small table next to her drink. She hated it when she got melancholic. Even though the memories were happy, they still hurt when she thought that Hanson was no longer there to share them with her. So many of her friends had either moved away, lost contact or passed away that she sometimes felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness inside her and she wondered what the future would hold for her. The one bright spot in her life was Shelly, Crystal, and Jack.
Christoff leaned forward and set his empty plate down on the table in front of him. Sitting back, he turned to look at her. She had that sad smile on her face again and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“You are lucky to have had someone,” he murmured, reaching out to touch her hand. “I have spent centuries alone. Until today, I never really knew just how alone I was.”
Edna looked at him in confusion. “Centuries? How is that possible?” she asked.
Christoff turned her hand over to stare down at her palm. He ran his thumb along the sensitive skin, noting how soft and delicate it looked against his own rough, scarred hand. He wondered how much to tell her, before deciding she deserved to know the truth about him before he claimed her.
No, after! His dragon roared, fighting inside him. She not want me.
She might… want us if she knows, Christoff replied in a hesitant whisper to his dragon.
She not, his dragon snarled with a shudder. You see other girls in village. They make fun, laugh at us.
She didn’t laugh at me for being smaller than other males, he argued. She said she liked my size.
She not see little wings, his dragon mourned. Her dragon no want me.
“Christoff,” Edna said in a gentle voice, touching his cheek. “What is it? I see… I see something running across your skin.”
“My dragon, he is afraid,” Christoff admitted in a soft voice. He released her hand and stood up to stand by the fireplace. He stared down at it for several long minutes before he turned to look at her again. “I was born premature. I should have died. I would have, if not for my mother and father’s determination. Because of that, I was… different from the other younglings in the village. I was smaller, not as strong, and….”
He stopped and glanced at where Spark was on the bed next to Bo. His symbiot lifted its head and looked at him with sad eyes. He glanced at Edna before turning back to stare at the fire.
“And…,” Edna asked, rising from the dark brown leather sofa.
Christoff swallowed and straightened his shoulders. He ignored the howl of his dragon as it circled inside him before lying down and burying its head in sorrow. Edna deserved the truth about him.
“My symbiot and dragon were smaller as well,” he said, turning to gaze at her. “I was considered unfit to be a warrior, unworthy to be a true mate to a female. My dragon cannot fly. His wings never developed the way they should and cannot support our weight. I am… defective as a warrior.”
Edna shook her head and reached up to touch his face. He turned his cheek into her palm and closed his eyes. It felt so good to be touched. He was terrified now that he had experienced what it was like to be with someone else, someone that made him feel whole, that it would be impossible for him to go back to the solitude that had filled his life before.
“I’ve already told you that I like you just the way you are,” she said, gazing up at him. “Not too tall, not too short, just right, as Goldilocks would say. I’ve never seen a dragon, so I wouldn’t know what to think in the first place.”
“Would you… Would you like to see him? My dragon?” Christoff asked with an expression of uncertainty. “This way you will know what I am.”
Edna blinked several times in surprise. He could see her hesitation and a mixture of fear and uncertainty. He braced himself for her answer even as his dragon roared at him in rage. He winced when he felt the sharp claws raking at his insides.
“Can you change… in here?” she asked, waving her hand at the living room. “I mean, aren’t dragons supposed to be huge? Even small ones?”
Christoff frowned as he glanced around the living room. He would have to move the furniture, but his dragon would fit in the large, open room.
“I will move the furniture back, but I can fit,” he assured her.
Edna released a soft breath and chuckled as she shook her head in disbelief. With a wave of her hand, she grinned up at him. He could see that she was scared, but she didn’t say no.
No yet, his dragon growled in frustration. She no want me. She no like me when she see me.
We have to do this, Christoff ordered. She deserves to have a choice.
I no like you no more, his dragon snapped.
Christoff remained silent. He nodded to Edna and began moving the furniture while she picked up the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen. He could hear the water running as she washed them. Glancing at his symbiot, he released a deep breath and called to his dragon. It took several tries before his dragon finally responded. His eyes closed as he felt the familiar change sweep over him.
He remained frozen, his eyes closed against the rejection he and his dragon were positive they would get. He would not blame Edna if she did. None of his own kind accepted him except his mother and father.
An image of the dragonlings flowed through his mind, as well as their parents. Surprise flooded him when he realized that they had accepted him. Another image, this time of the small black dragon with the beautiful feath
ers surfaced and the face of her father holding her. All of the other dragonlings and their two companions had also looked beneath her differences to the soul captured inside.
His eyes slowly opened and he stared at Edna. She stood gazing at him in awe. His eyes followed her trembling hand as she raised it to brush a strand of gray and silver hair back from her face. His dragon trembled as well when she took a step closer to him.
“Can I touch you?” she asked in a faint voice.
Christoff snorted and slowly nodded his head. He lowered it when she reached up to touch his snout. While he was smaller than the typical dragon, he was still taller than her. He started when his dragon blew a puff of warm air around her hand.
Edna’s soft giggle pulled at him. He rubbed his nose affectionately against her palm before swiping it with his tongue. Another burst of laughter echoed in the room. That was something he was learning about Edna; she liked to laugh.
“You are so beautiful,” she whispered, stroking his head and jaw.
His eyes drooped when she carefully traced several scales along his jaw. Releasing a playful sniff, a pleased moan escaped him when she ran her fingers along his left nostril and up his snout to his brow. The pleasure turned to an uncomfortable rumble of unease when she ran her hand down along his neck to his shoulder. She would see his deformed wings. Turning his head, he studied her expression as she looked at them.
A low growl of warning escaped him when she started to reach out to touch them. Her hand froze and she turned to look at him. Licking her lips, she drew in a deep breath and continued to reach out.
She going to touch them, his dragon groaned in despair. She see them.
Yes, Christoff whispered. She sees them.
Deep down, he braced himself for her rejection while another part of him rejoiced that she hadn’t shunned him – yet. Excitement began to build when he felt her hands stroking his small wings. He tilted his head when she carefully lifted one.
“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life,” she whispered, shaking her head in astonishment. “Why you would be worried about whether I would accept you in this form is beyond me. You are incredible.”
Christoff swung his tail around, wrapping it around Edna and twisting so that he could run his tongue up her cheek. Her choked laughter filled his soul with wonder as she wrapped her arms around his head and pressed a kiss between his eyes. Unable to stop, he shifted back into his two legged form, catching her when she swayed.
“You are definitely mine,” he whispered in a dark, husky voice filled with emotion.
Chapter Eight
Later that evening, Christoff stepped out of the shower in the guest bedroom. He stared moodily at the large bed. The large, empty bed, he thought with regret.
“I’m not happy about it either,” he grumbled when his dragon snorted in disgust.
“Christoff, I thought you might like to wear… Oh, my,” Edna whispered, standing in the doorway staring at Christoff’s nearly naked body. A soft groan escaped her. “There ought to be a law against men your age looking this good.”
Christoff turned when he heard Edna. A slow, sexy grin curled his lips. He raised an eyebrow and his fingers moved to the towel wrapped around his waist. He wasn’t above playing dirty if it would keep him from having to spend one more day in his long life alone.
“Are those for me?” he asked innocently as he started to loosen the towel where it was tucked in against his flat stomach.
“Don’t… Don’t you dare!” Edna hissed in a slightly hoarse voice. “Christoff, you wouldn’t… Oh, damn, you would!”
Christoff let the towel he was wearing fall to the floor. He was so turned on that the towel wouldn’t have covered his desire anyway. Besides, Edna might as well know the effect she was having on him.
“It is warm in here,” he replied, stepping closer to her. “The only thing that would keep me warmer was if I had you next to me.”
He saw Edna swallow, her gaze glued to his arousal. A wicked grin curved his lips when he felt his cock react to her appraisal and jerk upward. The low hiss that escaped her showed that she wasn’t immune to his body.
“You are very…,” she started to say, forcing her eyes up his body until they collided with his dark gold ones. “You did that on purpose.”
Christoff chuckled and stepped closer. “Yes, I have decided I’ve spent enough of my life alone. I do not wish to be alone ever again.” His voice softened and he grew serious as he reached up to touch her cheek. “A true mate is a gift from the Goddess, Edna. A warrior knows when he has found his.”
“How? How can you be sure?” she asked, staring up at him.
He ran his hand down her arm and lifted her wrist so she could see one of the gold bracelets wrapped around her wrists. He leaned down and pressed a kiss along the edge of it. His eyes darkened when he felt her pulse jump.
“All three parts of a Valdier warrior must accept a female for her to be his true mate. My symbiot has claimed you. It would not have given you these if it had not. My dragon claws at me to bite you. And, I… Since you fell into my arms early this morning, I have not been able to resist touching you. This is a gift, Edna, one that I will fight for.”
Edna’s eyes closed for a moment before she opened them. Pulling away, she turned and walked over to the dresser, setting the sweat pants that she had found down on the dresser. Turning back around, she stared at Christoff with a small smile.
“I’m not as slim and trim as I was in my youth. My breasts aren’t perky, my stomach isn’t flat, and my hips a bit wider than they used to be,” she said with a self-conscious laugh. “I haven’t been with a man in over five years, but if you don’t care that I’m not as young as I used to be, I’d love to have you next to me tonight – and every night after.”
Christoff released a deep sigh and nodded. He stepped forward and gripped the hand she held out to him. Together, they walked through the living room and back to her room. He forced down the wave of panic building inside him, wondering if he should tell her that he had never been with a female before.
NO! His dragon snapped. You leave this to me. I know what to do.
You haven’t been with another dragon before, so how are you supposed to know? Christoff grumbled silently as Edna released his hand and pulled at the tie wrapped around her waist.
You be quiet! His dragon insisted. I no want to scare her off.
“Edna,” Christoff whispered in a hoarse voice as she shrugged her robe off and tossed it onto a nearby chair.
She turned to look at him. He could see the uncertainty in her face and knew she was thinking he was having second thoughts. He could never let her think it was her.
“I understand if you’ve changed your mind,” she said with a slightly embarrassed laugh.
“You said it had been five years since you had been with a man,” Christoff started to say, cupping her cheek so that he could force her to look at him.
“Yes,” she replied.
“I have never been with a female before,” he admitted in a gruff voice. “Will you teach me?”
For a moment, Edna didn’t think she had heard Christoff correctly. Tilting her head, she stared at him with a frown. Did he just say he had never been with a woman before? Surely, she must have heard him wrong.
“I beg your pardon? Did you just say you’ve never been with a woman before?” Edna asked in a slightly higher voice than she intended.
Even in the dim light cast by her bedside lamp, she could see his cheeks turn darker. She blinked several times, trying to understand what he’d really just said. She must have misunderstood him. There was no way he could be a – virgin, could he?
“Yes,” he admitted with a wince. “My dragon said I should not have told you that.”
A wild giggle escaped Edna and she had to cover her mouth to keep it in. She was a sixty-five year old woman standing in the middle of her bedroom talking to an alien male who was not only a virgin, but arguing with hi
s dragon about whether or not he should have admitted it. To top it off, he wanted her to teach him how to make love. This was almost as bad as her honeymoon, only in reverse.
“I… I’m sorry,” she whispered as another nervous giggle escaped her. “It’s just… This is a first for me.”
Christoff scowled and folded his arms across his chest. “It is for me as well, which is why I told you,” he said, lifting his chin.
“Yes, of course,” Edna muttered, fanning herself and wondering if she was about to start having hot flashes again. “I… need a moment.”
She needed more than a moment, she needed a stiff drink. A virgin. Hell, the only virgin she had ever known was her! Well, and Shelly. She hadn’t exactly handled that discussion very well either. Hanson had to come in and take over. If she remembered correctly, that discussion had involved a bottle of wine and a lot of embarrassed giggles.
“How long of a moment do you need?” Christoff asked curiously. “My dragon wants to know.”
A slightly hysterical laugh escaped Edna. “Is he… Is he going to be with us the entire time?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face.
“Of course,” Christoff replied. “He is a part of me and he will be part of our mating.”
“Great, a ménage,” she whispered. “The night is just full of firsts for all of us.”
Christoff gazed down at her in confusion. “That is a good thing?” he asked, tilting his head when she laughed again. “It is something you will enjoy, yes?”
Edna blew out a loud breath and smiled. “As you so eloquently said this is a night for firsts. I’m sure we’ll have a wonderful time together – all three of us. Spark isn’t going to be joining us, is he?” she asked faintly, lifting one hand to her throat.
Christoff frowned. “I can ask, if you would like,” he said.
“No! No, that is alright,” Edna whispered, shaking her head. “I think the bed will be crowded enough as it is.”