by Julia Mills
“Well, it looks as if things have changed. We felt your feelings of loss and devastation a few hours ago and feared the worst, but it looks like you have things well in hand.” His old friend and Commander smiled as he joked.
“Yes, thank God. Now move your ass and get my best friend out of that water and up here where I can hug her, ‘A’.” His Commander’s very pregnant, very demanding, fiery red-headed mate demanded.
“Yes, ma’am, Spitfire,” he chuckled.
He turned around and looked at the mate that he thought he had lost and pure joy filled his being. “I love you, Grace, with all my heart, and I will do everything within my power to never let anything happen to you again.” He took a deep breath, “I have a very important question to ask you. Grace Kensington, will you be my mate? It is not our custom to ask, but I am learning quickly that you are like no other.”
He held his breath as her eyes filled with tears. When she opened her pouty pink lips to speak, it was all he could do not to beg that she say yes. “I love you more than I ever imagined possible, Aidan. I will be your mate on one condition. You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened right this minute.” He saw her signature determination envelope her whole face, and decided this was a discussion for another time.
He nodded his head, doubting he could speak past the lump in his throat. Then burst out laughing when Kyndel yelled from the deck of the lagoon. “All right you two, that’s enough of the lovey dovey crap. Congrats and all that shit, but if you don’t get up here right now, Grace Elizabeth Kensington, I swear I’m coming in there after you!” Aidan could feel his Commander’s mate’s happiness at finding her friend alive, while the sadness she had experienced when she thought she had lost her continued to drift away.
“You will not go into that water. Not after I watched you fight to keep your balance under the weight of our child while walking here, Mate,” Rayne commanded.
Aidan heard the slap he knew was coming and grinned at his mate. “Don’t you ‘mate’ me Rayne MacLendon,” Kyndel growled back. Pregnancy was definitely wearing thin on her already fragile patience.
“I’m bringing her to you now, Kyndel,” Aidan called over his shoulder as he reached to pick up his mate. “Rayne, can you light of few of the candles so Grace can see, please?”
He walked out of the healing waters with his mate in his arms, grabbed a towel and wrapped around her shoulders for modesty, then set her on her feet, facing her best friend. Kyndel had tears running down her cheeks and he knew if he turned Grace around he would see the same thing on her lovely face. By his next breath, the women were wound up in the most hilarious hug he had ever seen. Grace was bent and twisted in an effort to get as close as possible to her best friend, in spite of the bundle of joy protruding from Kyndel’s midsection. He watched as the women embraced, and felt another piece of what his life would be like for all time fall into place. He was reminded of a passage from their holy book describing the exact feeling thrumming through his veins. “When the two halves of the same whole are truly aligned, every part of their world is in harmony.” Nothing better explained what he was feeling.
He knew the women needed time to reconnect, but he could not keep his hands off his mate, the feeling that he had almost lost her still very fresh in his mind. He moved forward and placed both his hands on her shoulders, lightly massaging, soaking up the essence that was his Grace. He saw that even after almost seven months of mated bliss, his Commander was feeling the same thing, and smiled at one of his oldest and closest friends.
The women finally broke apart and Aidan pulled Grace back until her back rested against his front. He kissed the top of her head as Kyndel began to speak, “We need to get you out of those wet clothes and have Siobhan check you out. I know you look ok and definitely act ok,” she wiggled her eyebrows and Aidan knew she was referring to the kiss she and Rayne had interrupted, “but I want to make sure you’re 100%.”
“Yes, mother,” Grace teased as she turned in his arms. “I guess we better listen to her because she’s even bossier now that she’s pregnant.” The mischief in Grace’s eyes made him laugh out loud.
He winked at Kyndel over her head. “Yes, mo chroi, we better do as she says,” and with that, he lifted his beautiful and thankfully very much alive mate into his arms and headed toward the mouth of the healing caves.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Siobhan gave her a clean bill of health. Aidan and Kyndel refused to leave during her examination, which took almost four hours, and that meant that Kyndel’s very large, very protective husband/mate stayed too. She could also hear the other men of their Force outside. Her spidey senses were all over the place as they discussed the spell and the talisman that Andrew had used on her. She found out that not only had she been the recipient of his depravity, but he had used several other spells to cause the explosions in the woods in the hopes of trapping Aidan and any other of the Dragon Guardsmen that he could. The son of a bitch also basically vanished into thin air just as Rayne was about to catch him. She could tell that the men were gearing up to go after him, and wondered if they had thought about also trying to capture ‘The Auctioneer’, aka the State Prosecutor, at the same time. Something told her they were all connected and the setup at the warehouse had not been a coincidence, no matter what Andrew had told her in that cabin.
“What are you thinking so hard about, mo ghra’?” Aidan asked.
“Something your brother said when he was spouting his crap in the cabin.” She watched as Aidan’s brow furrowed, Kyndel frowned, and Rayne began to pace. “He said he had no idea who ‘The Auctioneer’ was and that he was only there with the wizards to perform some ritual. He did seem very interested in exactly who ‘The Auctioneer’ was, and even more so once I said he was my former boss, the State Prosecutor.” She paused for a minute to think.
“So here is what I think happened. After listening to all of you talk about magic and spells and rituals, I’m thinking that the wizards needed young women for whatever they were planning to do, which, by the way, I’m not even going to think about right now. I think they contacted ‘The Auctioneer’, and his crew rounded up the girls. But somewhere between kidnapping them and delivering them to that damn warehouse he got a better offer, or maybe wasn’t ever going to let the wizards have them. I’m not sure about that, but I’m sure money is involved somewhere. Whatever he planned, he double crossed the wizards. He thought he would get away with it, but had no clue that you big bad Dragon Guard’s would be there.” She winked at Aidan and loved the fact that he grinned back at her.
“I really believe if we find ‘The Auctioneer’, we’ll find Andrew or the other way around. And if things go really well for us, we’ll get the wizards too.” She stopped talking and looked around the room at four very stony faces.
Before she could ask what was the matter with everyone, Aidan and Kyndel spoke at the same time, “YOU are not going anywhere or catching anyone.”
She looked up at Rayne to back her up, but he was nodding in agreement with the other two. She looked to her side and saw Siobhan smiling. Before she could ask the Elder Healer for her opinion, the woman turned on her heels and left the room. “Coward,” she chuckled to herself.
She took just a second to look at the best friend she had ever had and the man she loved more than life itself, remembering that they were being overprotective because they loved her as much as she loved them. ”OK you guys, I know you’re trying to protect me, but I have all the files that will help put ‘The Auctioneer’ away.” She grabbed both of Aidan’s hands in her own and looked him right in the eyes, “I’m not asking to be right in the middle of all the fighting that I’m sure is going to happen when you catch that idiot brother of yours, but what I am asking you, Aidan O’Brien, is to not keep things from me and use the information that I have when you need to, please?”
She watched his internal debate, knowing when he had made his decision before he started to talk, “As long as I can keep you safe, you
can be involved. But Grace, my love,” she watched him struggle with emotions, “I’ll die if anything happens to you again; my true death. My heart cannot take it.” He leaned forward and laid his forehead on their combined hands.
She looked over her amazing mate and saw her best friend, smiling a knowing smile as she held her mate’s hands that were laid upon her shoulders. Kyndel winked at her and Grace had to hold back a laugh. Who the hell could have ever thought all those years ago when she bumped into a sullen red-headed teenager that they would be here, in love, happy? Aidan sat up straight, looking her directly in the eyes again. It was her turn to demand a compromise. “And the same goes for you; no getting hurt. Deal?”
He smiled the smile that made her panties wet and her toes curl, “Deal , mo ghra’.” He leaned forward and kissed her slow and deep, until the sound of the door bursting open had them jumping apart. She wondered if she was ever going to get to be alone with her mate again. She immediately started laughing when she caught sight of Aidan’s brethren, all lined up just inside the door, looking from Aidan to Rayne like children looking to their parents to see who was in the most trouble.
Grace wasn’t surprised at all when it was Lance that spoke first. “Hey Hellcat, glad to see you up and kiss…I mean kicking.” He laughed at his own joke, and in the next second, the entire room was filled with the sounds of laughter. She once again caught Aidan’s eye, basking in all the love and commitment she felt mirrored in their beautiful amber depths.
It was Kyndel that spoke up and ended the frivolity. “OK you ruffians, I need to have some girl time with my best friend, so go do whatever it is you need to be doing and we’ll see you all later.”
The entire group grumbled. Aidan and Rayne tried to argue with the red-headed fury, stating that they should be able to stay, but in the end it was obvious that Kyndel had all these guys wrapped around her little finger. As soon as the door shut, her best friend turned her expressive emerald eyes on her. She saw a whole lot of trouble brewing there. The grin that spread across her friend’s face confirmed her suspicions; this was going to be an interesting bit of girl talk.
They spent the rest of the day and well into the night talking about anything and everything. They laughed, they cried, they even yelled at each other, but in the end they completely caught up, like the separation they had experienced over the last six months had never happened. They even discussed baby names. She couldn’t stop laughing when Kyndel explained the arguments she and Rayne were having, pretty much daily, about the sex of their child. She had to agree with Kyndel; she also thought it was a boy. Her special intuition was definitely on board with her thoughts.
One of the sweetest stories Kyndel told her was about the beautiful bracelet that tinkled and sparkled on her wrist. It was her wedding present from Rayne, and even though that made it very special, it was the story that went with the gorgeous piece of jewelry that made goose bumps rise on Grace’s arms. When Kyndel told her that the dragon shifters believed that every time the bells rang, mates were kissing, all she could imagine were Aidan’s lips on hers. They both laughed until they cried when Kyndel smacked her on the arm to bring her out of her daydream. They laughed even harder when Kyndel admitted to having her own visions of her mate.
Sometime after their laughing spree and her second or third yawn, there was a knock on the door. Before she could say, “Come in”, Rayne was kneeling next to Kyndel, telling her it was time to come home. The look on her friend’s face was absolutely priceless. It was a mix between dreamy and adoration. Kyndel had told her, and she picked up on the buzzing in her head during their conversation, that Rayne and Kyndel were able to mind speak. She had even guessed what some of the conversations were about by the looks on her best friend’s face. It was a totally different side to her bestie than she had seen before and it fit her well.
“Go on home, Kyn. Get some rest.” She winked. “I’m sure Aidan is not far behind.” But as her friend and her mate started to leave, it was Siobhan that came into the room.
“I’m afraid Aidan will not be coming to get you tonight. After you have had a few hours to rest and recuperate, I have the pleasure of answering any questions you may have about our clan, and preparing you for your formal mating ceremony.” The older woman motioned for her to follow.
She spent the next four hours tossing and turning, trying to get some rest, but sleep eluded her. She got up to see if Siobhan happened to be awake and found her hostess in the kitchen having a cup of tea. “Couldn’t sleep?” the Elder Healer asked.
“No, I think I rested enough for a lifetime while I was under that spell.” She chuckled. “I tried, but I cannot sleep at all.”
“Sit down and have some tea. We can have our chat and then if you want to rest before your handsome mate shows up, I’m sure there will be time.”
“Thank you so much. A cup of tea sounds great.” She turned toward the counter. It seemed as though Siobhan had expected her; there was a delicate tea service awaiting her arrival. She sat down at the table opposite the Healer, poured her cup of tea, and added a spoonful of honey. As they enjoyed their beverage in companionable silence, Grace took in the beautiful décor of Siobhan’s home. There were antiques tastefully arranged. A beautiful bouquet of lavenders, pinks, and yellows, could be seen everywhere. She began to fidget, not sure what the proper protocol was in situations like these. She held out as long as she could, just as she was about to speak, Siobhan started to snicker. Grace looked up and could not help laughing right along with her.
“Let me guess, you know I’m about to crawl out of my skin, right?” She asked as the giggling continued.
“My dear, you are no more nervous than most, you just make the cutest faces to go along with your anxiety.” Grace saw her work hard to control her laughing. “Let me put your fears to rest. Nothing crazy is going to happen, I promise. The main purpose of our time together is for you to ask any questions you may have and for me to make sure you are ready for the lifelong commitment you are about to make. So, Grace, are there any questions you have that I can answer for you?”
Grace thought long and hard about what she should ask, then she blurted out the one thing that continued to rattle around in her mind, “Will I be able to turn into a dragon and fly too?”
The Elder Healer started to laugh again while shaking her head. “No, my darling, you will not be able to transform and fly. It is one of the few things that you will not share with your mate, but you will be able to feel what his dragon feels, along with being able to mind speak with Aidan, and after a time, the others of his Force also. You will have enhanced abilities and senses and share a bond with the other half of your soul. Our holy book says it better than I can. It is written that “when the two halves of the same whole meet, there will be instant recognition. Their souls will merge and only then will the dragon shifter know complete peace; they will have found their true home. It will be as if the time before they met does not exist. All that matters is that they become one in body, mind, and soul.’”
As they talked, Grace asked question after question, and Siobhan answered them all, putting all her worries to rest. When she was all talked out and her brain was full of so many facts she felt like she was going into court, she excused herself, went back to the room she was using, and immediately fell into a deep restful sleep.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
He had waited as long as he could; been patient while Grace spent time with Kyndel. He knew it was necessary for both of them and was happy with anything that made his mate happy. He had bidden his time while Siobhan answered all her questions and made sure she was ready for the mating ceremony. He had even spent time making sure all the preparations for their special celebration were ready, but now he could wait no longer. He was going to see his mate and show her around the lair before their mating ceremony.
He knocked on Siobhan’s front door, barely stopping himself from bouncing from foot to foot while he waited. When the Healer he had known his whole lif
e answered the door with a knowing smile, she simply said, “Grace is in the last guestroom on the right.”
It took a considerable amount of his waning control not to run down the hall right after he thanked Siobhan. He walked as slow as he could, his heart beating double time and his cock rising to the occasion. He reminded his wayward appendage that they were in the home of the woman he considered his second mother, and then assured his rampaging body that he would do everything within his power to get Grace out of there and somewhere more private. With thoughts of cutting the tour of their lair short, he entered the room Siobhan had indicated. There she lay, on her side with her hands folded together under her chin, looking very much like the angel she was. He remembered the first night they had spent together. She had looked exactly the same after she had fallen asleep on the couch in Kyndel’s old apartment. He stood, just staring, offering all his thanks to the Universe. Never in all of history had a more perfect being been made than his Grace. He moved to the side of the bed, leaned down, and pushed her silken locks behind her ear. She moved her face into his touch and his heart swelled with the perfect love he felt for her. He could not resist the pull of her delectable lips. He would never tire of the electric current that jumped between them every time they touched. Her quick intake of breath and the movement of her lips against his, let him know she was awake and had missed him as much as he had missed her.