“That’s where you’re wrong.” She yanked a knife out from under the seat of her boat and sawed at the rope, quickly cutting it in two. “I don’t have to deal with it. I’m done. If you think that you don’t have to change because you’re a little older than me—okay, hundreds of years—and because you’re a dragon, that’s fine. You can stay right here and not change all by yourself. I don’t want to be with a dragon, anyway.”
I threw the damned rope down. “You cannot be done with me, Sky! We are mates! You carry my mark! The moment I sank my teeth into you, you became mine. You are tied to me. You will not age, you will not change. Our lives are directly linked now.”
She stopped working the motor of the boat and jerked around to face me. “What did you say?”
“We are linked. Just like I can feel your emotions, I will always be able to find you. I will always be tied to you. You bear my mark.” I swallowed, seeing her anger bubble up. “And you will not age, not as long as I’m still alive.”
“Another choice you made for me.”
“Of course, I made it for you! It is my duty. It is my duty to take charge and care for you.”
“And make the decisions you thought were best for me.”
“Yes! I know what you need. You need me. That’s how it works.”
“Oh, fuck you. It’s not how it works for me.” She turned her back to me and started the engine. “Forever is going to be a long time for us both, if what you say is true, Beast.”
“Sky!”
“Tell Cezar to bring my boys home. We’re done with this. It’s time we got back to our lives. It’s time I went back to living in the world of reality.”
“You can’t just walk away.”
“You can’t just make up your mind and decide for me what I need. You should try a conversation next time, Beast. It might work better for you.”
“Sky, come on! Come back here!”
“Don’t come to my house. I don’t want to see you.”
I roared angrily as she got farther away. “Sky!”
She tossed her hand up in a wave as her boat carried her farther and farther away.
I desperately wanted to chase her and drag her back. I was angry and hurt. She just walked out as though our mating didn’t matter. What the hell was wrong with her? Because she was a human, did she not feel the mate bond like I did?
I stomped back up to my house and slammed the door closed. When that didn’t make me feel any better, I yanked it open and slammed it again and again. Eventually, I ripped the heavy metal from the wall and threw it into the swamp. Still didn’t feel better.
How could she say those things to me? How could she leave?
I told myself that if she did not want me, I was not going to beg her. I was a king among men. I did not grovel and beg on my belly like a starving mongrel. Even as I thought the words, though, I knew that if it would bring her back to me, I would implore her by crawling on my hands and knees over broken glass.
I needed to get drunk on the spirits of the old world with a few males who understood our ways. I called out to the dragons to gather for a rare meeting.
We dragons were solitary creatures, only together because we were forced to be to survive. We still hoarded our treasure and were very suspicious of others stealing it, but I didn’t have anything I cared about guarding anymore. Not after losing my most valuable, most precious treasure. I called them all over and instructed Armand to bring his strongest brew. I needed something hard to make me forget.
20
Sky
By the time I got home, Cezar was waiting for me near the dock with the kids. In some awful way seeing him there, without Beast around making sure he didn’t look at me for too long, was painful. Maybe Beast would come to his senses and realize that I was just a fun romp in the hay and then move on. That we weren’t meant to be together forever, that he was mistaken. He’d simply been crazy with lust. Why that hurt me, I didn’t know. Or like.
“What’s wrong, Sky?” Nick asked as soon as I pulled the boat up next to the dock. “You’re crying.”
I reached up and touched my face. Hell, I was crying. I wiped at the tears angrily and shook my head. “I’m okay. It’s nothing.”
Casey reached for the rope to tie the boat up and frowned when he realized it wasn’t there. “What happened to the rope?”
“I have to get going.” Cezar nodded at me and smiled at the boys. “Come see me, guys. You can help with me with computer.”
Casey groaned. “You need more than help.”
Nick focused on giving me a hand out of the boat before we both dragged it onto the shore. “We already put Bax inside.”
A memory popped into my head of when I awoke from a deep sleep to Beast’s shouting about Bax on his chest and asking me what kind of creature the cat was. More of the stupid tears fell. God, I felt like a mush-face. I rounded on Cezar. “Don’t you dare tell Beast that I was crying.”
“I must. You’re his mate. If I didn’t, he’d have every right to knock my teeth out.”
I scowled at him. “What makes you think I won’t knock your teeth out?”
Casey laughed and grabbed my hand. “Come on, Aunt Sky. You can’t beat up a dragon. Don’t embarrass yourself.”
“I’m going to see him now.” Cezar shrugged. “You two need to work this out.”
I gave him one last scowl before marching towards the house. I found Bax on the kitchen counter and scooped him into my arms before going to my bedroom and climbing into bed. Spooning the big, mangy cat against my chest, I let myself really bawl.
“Aunt Sky…what’s wrong?” Nick came into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “What happened with Beast?”
Casey came in and sat at the foot of the bed. “Why’d you leave there early? We thought you were going to be there for good. We were going to get our stuff ready to move in soon.”
I sat up. “What?”’
“Yeah. Cezar told us all about how you’re mates and that you’re going to be together forever. That’s how mates work. Why are you back here?”
I just stared at them. I thought I’d escaped talk of dragons and mates, but I should’ve known better. The boys were eager and excited with their new found magical world. “It’s difficult.”
Casey sighed. “Come on, Sky. How difficult can it be? We’re poor. Beast is rich. He’s a dragon. He can take care of us in more ways than just with money. Did I mention he’s a freaking dragon? Plus, he can fly and once he lets up on that tough guy image, he’s pretty cool.”
Nick frowned. “I thought you liked him.”
I stared at Casey. “It’s about more than being rich or poor. Or that he’s a dragon. Life doesn’t work that way.”
“It could. You’re just making it difficult. Why do you do this? You could just let us be happy. We like him. We like Cezar. Why do you have to ruin everything?”
I sat up straighter and felt my back stiffen. I knew I was still crying, but I didn’t care. “Stop it. I do everything I can to take care of you and make sure you have everything you need. You’re acting like a spoiled brat. I’m sorry you don’t get to be rich and live with a dragon, but that’s just the way it is.”
“I’m a spoiled brat? You’re a selfish bitch.”
The urge to slap him rose right up to the surface in me, but I remained in control of myself. We’d had enough violence in our family. I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Go to your room.”
“No. You can’t make me!”
Nick stood up and grabbed Casey by the collar of his shirt. “Just go! Why are you like this? Just go to your room and stop acting like a little asshole! Can’t you see that she’s upset? All you think about it yourself and I’m sick of it! We’re all sick of it!”
Casey stumbled backwards and then swung at Nick. I jumped up from the bed and grabbed him. Walking him out of the room while he screamed and fought to get away, I held on, even as his wild punches and kicks landed on me.
Nic
k followed us, screaming back at Casey. “You’re terrible! I always go along with you, but I’m done! You make everyone think that I’m the bad one, but I just want to be here and be quiet. I just want to live in one place! You’re going to ruin everything, not Sky. You’re going to make her hate us. She’s going to go away, too. She’s going to leave us, just like everyone else, and it’s all going to be your fault!”
Casey screamed louder. “She’ll leave anyway! Why can’t you see that? She’ll leave, too! We’re always going to be alone!”
I shook him, harder than I probably needed to, my own anger and helplessness coming out in it. “Stop it! Fucking stop it! Both of you!”
When they were both still and quiet, I pushed Casey down on the couch and marched around in front of them. “I am done with this. I’m done. I’m the adult, and I’m not leaving! I’m here. I’m here for both of you and I’m never going anywhere, and I’m never going to hate you. If you both keep this up, though, I am going to lose my mind and then you’re going to be stuck with a lunatic as your aunt.
“Casey, you have to stop. You have to stop acting out and treating everyone around you like they don’t matter. We’re the only family you have here and you need to stop pushing us away. We’re not going anywhere. We’ll keep taking your abuse, but why do you want to put us through that? We love you. Just let us love you and stop hurting us.”
Nick cried from next to me. “I don’t want to fight. I hate the fighting. I hate it. Dad screamed and fought all the time. I don’t want to be like him.”
Casey’s sobs wracked his small body. He curled in on himself and buried his face in his knees. Nick went to him and wrapped his arm around his little brother, holding him while they both cried.
I knelt in front of them, crying just as hard as Casey. I was exhausted. My heart hurt. I was trying to convince the boys that everything was going to be okay, while I felt like everything was falling apart. It wasn’t okay. I had to put up a brave front for them, though.
I wrapped my arms around them both and held them, repeating the message I needed them to hear. “I love you both. I’m not going anywhere.”
When all the tears had been cried, the room turned silent and awkward. Nick pulled away first, sat back and used his shirt to wipe his eyes. Casey sat back and stared at the wall behind me. I sat back on my heels and let my head hang down. I didn’t have anything left in me.
“Sorry.” Casey still didn’t look at me.
Nick sighed. “Me, too.”
I ran my hands through my hair and sighed, too. “Me, too. We’re stuck together, guys. We have to make it work. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but we’re family.”
They both shrugged, but I hoped to god that maybe there was some kind of compromise we could all reach. We had to. I loved them both and I’d never give up on them.
21
Beast
Flying while drunk was only slightly less dangerous than driving while drunk. I should’ve stayed home and bitched and moaned about everything to the other dragons, but they were hardly sympathetic. I had a mate. They didn’t. It was getting closer to the eclipse and if they didn’t find their mates soon, they would eventually lose their minds. I didn’t have to worry about that. I just had to worry about convincing my mate we belonged together.
I flew too low and hit the swamp behind Sky’s house harder than I meant to. It sent me flipping end over end through the water until I finally stopped rolling and sank to the bottom like a drunken rock. I came up, spitting and sputtering, as a man.
Growling at my clumsiness, I swam over to the dock and pulled myself up on it. I meant to get up right away and stalk over to Sky’s door, but suddenly, the earth felt unsteady under me. I was drunker than I realized.
“Sky!” I bellowed her name out into the night sky and hoped that she’d come to me. I had things to say that she needed to hear. “Sky!”
The other dragons’ words crowded my brain. They thought I was stupid. If Sky just needed me to be less bossy and commanding, then I should be less bossy and demanding. Cezar went on a rant about modern, human Earth women appreciating the right to make their own decisions with their lives. Armand told me how creepy I was for insisting that she was mine for life. I got earfuls of them telling me what a moron I was, how they’d do anything for a mate, how no matter what she needed, they’d provide it.
The thing was, I felt the same. Yet, somehow, I’d messed everything up. It sounded so simple. Just be less demanding. If I could pull that off, would she come back?
“Sky!”
After what felt like a million years, I could smell her coming nearer. I tilted my head back and saw her in a big T-shirt and nothing else. Maybe underwear. If she’d just come closer, I’d be able to tell, but everything was swaying.
“What are you doing here?” She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at me. “Are you drunk? What’s wrong with you?”
“Yes, I’m drunk. My mate left me.” I sighed and let my head fall back onto the dock with a thud. The wood hurt, but I didn’t care. “You’re beautiful. So beautiful.”
“Jesus, Beast. You’re trashed. Why are you here?”
“You left me.”
She sighed. “Yeah.”
“It hurts.”
“Yeah.”
I blinked up at her. “I can change.”
She bit her lip. “Come on, Beast. Go home.”
“No.” I realized what I’d done there and groaned. “I mean, please, no.”
“Go home, Beast.”
“We must talk. Human women like talking, right? Can we talk?” I realized I was begging, and that was fine with me. I would do anything if it meant not losing her.
“If we do talk, it’s not going to be like this. You’re drunk and you’re just saying what you think I want to hear. This isn’t you, anyway. You don’t beg. Go home.” She saw that I was about to argue and held up her hand. “Give me some time and then maybe we’ll talk. I’m not promising anything, Beast.”
I forced myself to sit up and groaned as everything spun. “I will fly home. When this world stops spinning so fast.”
“Son of a bitch.” She ran her fingers through her hair and nodded. “Fine. Get up. Come on. You can sleep here—on the couch. You have to leave in the morning, though.”
I reached for her and felt a shudder go through my body as her mere touch ignited flames of desire inside of me. “With the mutant cat?”
“Don’t call him a mutant.” She wrapped her arm around me. “But, sure. You can sleep with Bax.”
Even when she wanted me to go away from her, she was sweet. That knowledge settled in my sloshing gut as I swayed. If I didn’t fix this, I’d never be okay. She was perfect, sexy, kind, gentle, and wild enough to take me on. She had that stubborn streak, but I was beginning to think it was part of what made her so special. If she just went along with whatever I said, I’d probably be bored. Maybe.
“Cezar told me that human women like to hear their males say certain things.” I looked over at her. “In our world, we didn’t say those things. We knew that if we found our mate, certain things were understood. You didn’t have to say them.”
“Beast…”
“I…love you…Sky...forever.” My voice broke and I cleared my throat and repeated myself. “I love you, forever, Sky. I would do anything for you. I would die for you. That’s love, right? Knowing that I would give anything and everything for you. You mean that much to me.”
Sky stopped walking and blew out a breath. “Stop talking, Beast.”
“Yes, I will stop talking. That is probably best.”
“Yeah.”
I let her help me to her couch and then I settled onto it as well as I could. “I am old, Sky. I am brutish, I am stubborn and I learned my ways a long time ago, in a very different place. Cezar has been learning to be better all these years. He started out a better dragon than me, though. I was never good. I am going to try to be better for you, though.”
I felt the
mutant jump on my chest and sighed. “Cezar said something about teaching a dog tricks. He said I could change.”
Sky laughed gently and pulled a blanket over me. “You can teach an old dog new tricks.”
“I’m the old dog?”
She ran her fingers along my jaw. “I think that’s what he meant, yeah.”
I turned into her touch and then she was gone. I faded into sleep thinking about how I must learn new tricks.
22
Sky
I slept later than I’d meant to, but we’d all decided that we were spending the next day in bed, anyway. That was before Beast had woken me up in the middle of the night. I hurried out of bed and rushed into the living room, not sure of what I would find, not even sure of what I wanted to find.
Surprisingly, true to his word, Beast was gone. There was a very roughly scribbled note left behind, though.
Forever.
His words replayed in my head: I love you, forever, Sky, and I sank onto the couch. He loved me. At least, he thought he did. I clutched the note in my hand and groaned. It didn’t make anything any easier. Just because he thought he loved me and thought he wanted to change didn’t mean that he would change. He could continue to be just as demanding and bossy as ever. Besides, even if he did change, he’d still be a dragon. There was no possible way to have a normal, regular life with a dragon in it. There just wasn’t. It was a fun novelty for a while, some of which left me with a feeling of euphoria, but those types of things weren’t long lasting. Eventually, real life set in, work, bills, car repairs, the search for colleges for the boys. A person needed to make rational decisions about who to include into their lives. Didn’t they?
I looked down at the note in my hand again. Forever. I wouldn’t age. As long as he lived, I’d live. Forever was a long time.
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