Kiss of the Dragon

by Nicola Claire

  Michel is the dragon and the dragon is Michel. I started to laugh.

  "You both planned this all along." The dragon didn't confirm or deny my suspicions.

  What was it about Michel, that whatever he planned came to fruition? It was like everything he touched could turn to gold.

  No, not just his touch. But his kiss.

  The Ambrosia had said, beware the kiss of the dragon, it's as lethal as its flame. I wasn't so sure about 'lethal', I was going with golden on this.

  All that was left was what the dragon had been hiding, would it be 'golden' too?

  "Well?" I said, knowing the dragon had kept up with my thoughts as easily as Michel could.

  He stepped forward then, his shadow blocking out the sun, but not hiding its warmth. I still felt bathed in its glow, even though the dragon stood over me. He reached up slowly and with the back of a claw stroked gently, affectionately, down my cheek.

  Do you think all that makes up his possessive and protective side is from his vampyre? he asked, his voice low and rough, but somehow still managing to caress. And, I noticed, answering a question with a question again. I raised my eyebrows at him, not getting where he was going with this little side trip.

  Michel the man has reason to protect his mate at a time like this, he added. I held my breath. There was weight to his words. Maybe, because he was all that made Michel a vampire, and words to vampires mean so much. But maybe, also, because I knew he was telling me something important here. Something that would make it all crystal clear.

  Coupled with his vampyre-mate side, as well as what makes me dragon, you really didn't stand a chance, the dragon pointed out dryly.

  I shook my head, frustrated at the delay. "Just tell me already," I demanded.

  Then without warning the dragon sent a barrage of images through my mind. Each one successively magnificent, increasingly beautiful, and entirely out of this world. Tears streamed down my cheeks at what this creature was showing me. Was it truth or fiction? How could he know these things?

  How could he have kept them secret from us?

  I sobbed into his clawed hand, a sense of wonder and bewilderment washing through me. But even as I doubted, I knew the reason for this extraordinary event was true. The Ambrosia, that voice of ancient wisdom, had warned at our recent rejoining that anything was possible, we only had to believe and it would come true.

  I wasn't sure if I had ever truly believed, but I was certain that both Michel and I had wished with all of our hearts.

  As a dragon I will always protect, provide, promote and placate my mate, the dragon said softly as my tears of joy kept trickling down my cheeks. He wiped a few stray drops with the back of his claw, in such an infinitely gentle move it stole my breath away. My initial reaction to your condition created a fierce desire to protect, but soon my role as your mate took over. Protection is only part of the equation, he explained. And had I divulged what was ailing you, Michel would have confined you completely.

  He was right. Michel had reason to be over protective. Perhaps more so than a mystical dragon. Michel had lost his human family before he was turned because of what he was, and he hadn't even known they were in danger. That was a hell of a lot of psychological guilt to carry for five hundred years. What would he do for his family now, if given the chance to protect them?

  I am a magical creature, the dragon murmured. Created by gods. And it was a goddess who made sure I knew how important your role in the battle was to be. Without your aid, Dark would have won. You are the balance. I had to keep counsel or the Light would have been lost.

  Goddess. He meant Nut. Nut had told him to keep the secret, to save Michel from the anguish of desiring my safety above all else. I wasn't entirely sure it had been necessary. Michel is a master politician, a tactician with remarkable success. He would have seen the need to have me present at the final battle despite my 'condition', as the dragon had called it.

  He is also a man, little one.

  Yes. And a man who loved me more than life itself.

  Go to him, the dragon said softly, interrupting my awe-filled thoughts. It is time for him to know. Your well-being is our paramount purpose in life. And the rest of our lives start now.

  I nodded, a little stunned at what the dragon had been hiding, and why, but in light of the secret, eager to get back to my kindred and share the good news. I fell back down through the black nothingness to my body. Sitting up with a gasp and a start.

  I had hoped, because I had Walked directly to the dragon, that Michel would not need the three hours rest he usually required when he used this skill to pull me into the dragon's realm. But he was out cold. Goddess, of all the times to catch a break, now would have been one of them.

  I paced the entire time, too elated to lie beside him and snooze. Thoughts and ecstatic emotions tumbling through my mind and body. Michel had planned for us to move back to Auckland, to centre the new Iunctio, the New Order, there instead of France. And the dragon had told me what awaited us when we settled there. The future was filled with Light and love, and a home filled with both. I couldn't contain my excitement. I danced around the small, spare room we were in and sang every tune I could think of, as though I was floating on air.

  I was still tired, but it didn't matter. I was still nauseated, but now I knew why, so I embraced it. Wrapped my arms around my stomach and rocked my myself lovingly from side to side. Everything made sense now. The nausea, the tiredness, the strange food cravings, the emotional roller-coaster I'd been on, and the increase in arousal. Even the change in my aura and Michel not being able to visit my dreams. It made perfect sense. I had never thought this possible. It was a dream Michel and I had shared that couldn't be ours.

  But it was true. Because the dragon had promised, and deep down I knew he didn't lie. And because of the Ambrosia and everything he had hinted at over the past few days.

  And although it was sudden, Michel and I had been extremely active together since my return from Álfheimr. So, the opportunity for this to eventuate had existed, that was for sure. And even though, what the dragon had shown me meant it was also happening quicker than a human would have expected, isn't that what the Ambrosia had meant? "Things will progress much faster than anticipated. Light is potent when it creates."

  Light. This...miraculous event was happening because of Michel's and my Light.

  This was our future, one we had fought for and battled against insurmountable odds at times to reach. But true love prevails.

  And true kindred joinings can achieve so very much.

  Light shone in the room briefly, my Goddess letting me know she was there. Confirming with her presence that this was really happening. A new beginning. A New Order. A new life.

  I had just managed another full circuit of the room, tunelessly humming some song from an old musical I'd once seen, when he woke. Michel sat bolt upright in the bed, his face telling me he'd heard and seen everything the dragon had shown me and said. I waited for him to shout out with joy, to run to me and crush me to his chest.

  But for a brief moment he looked like every man does when confronted unexpectedly with such happy news. He looked lost and beyond ecstatic and truly unsure whether to believe his luck or not.

  "Tell me," he rasped, needing to hear the words spoken aloud from my lips even though he knew what was running through my mind. "Say it, ma douce," he pleaded, his eyes shining a combination of mauves and violets, Sanguis Vitam thrumming with excited anticipation on the air.

  He crossed to me in a split second, wrapped his arms tenderly around my waist and tipped his face down to look me in the eye.

  "Say the words that change everything," he whispered. "Say the words that mean the beginning of the rest of our lives."

  I smiled up at him, feeling every joyous emotion that he was. I didn't need to sense them though, as he sensed mine. This went beyond even that sort of connection. This was from both of us, shared as only two souls, who live for the other, can share.

&nbs
p; I licked my lips, watched as he sucked in a visible breath in preparation, then said the words that we had longed for, so much, and which meant the start of a brand new world.

  And Goddess, didn't they feel so good to say?

  "We're pregnant."

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