“I feel a tremendous pressure,” Jade said in a choked whisper. “I need to push—” She moved in his arms, hoisting her trembling body on her haunches as she squatted between Dragon’s legs. “Hold me,” she grunted.
Raising on his knees, he hurried to obey her order, passing his arms under her shoulders to support her. She weighed next to nothing, and he inwardly cursed himself once again for his part in her present condition. Enhanced physiology or not, Jade hadn’t been modified to carry his progeny. The terrifying notion that he might lose her had been circling his thoughts since she announced her water had broken, but now it looked like a realistic possibility. Like a malicious illness, the idea took form and spread until he could think of nothing else. Tears welled in his eyes, but he was able to repress his sobs lest Jade hear him.
Several minutes later, her anguished scream brought Dragon back. Her bent knees buckled, and he held her up, resting the backs of her legs on his thighs. He kissed her temple and caressed her arms.
“Ahhh!” Jade shouted, her body hunching. She took a hard breath before screaming louder and longer.
Dragon breathed with her and felt his world shattering with each of her pained cries.
Jade let out one final yell and abruptly slumped against Dragon’s chest.
Except for their breathing, the room was eerily quiet.
A soft cry broke the silence. Jade reached between her legs, and when she straightened, a small baby lay in her arms. She tipped her chin up, leaning her head against Dragon’s shoulder. “Look what we did,” she said, her voice broken. “It’s a baby girl.”
Speechless, Dragon stared at the minuscule form. Covered in blood and squirming, their child was crying at the top of her lungs. He reached around Jade, but when he saw that his hand was as big as the baby, he immediately dropped it, worried he would harm her.
“Isn’t she the most beautiful baby in the whole universe?” Jade said as their daughter’s small head moved against her mother’s breast.
“She’s perfection,” Dragon finally said, watching mesmerized as their baby girl latched to her mother’s nipple and greedily fed. “You are perfection.” He gently moved Jade in his arms until he could brush her lips with his. “I love you.”
He still felt like fainting but couldn’t desert his soulmate and their child and resolved to be strong for them. He could always have a meltdown when Jade finally rested.
“I want to name her Estrella,” Jade said after a while. “Like my mother.”
“I can’t think of a more beautiful name for our little star.” He hugged her and rocked her softly until mother and daughter fell asleep, and he realized that his meltdown would have to wait after all.
Epilogue
Jade looked at her reflection in the Chevalier mirror.
“You look beautiful,” Mirella said, holding her baby daughter against her cocked hip. They were in Mirella and Valentine’s apartments, where the minute woman had spirited Jade away several hours ago.
“I look different.” Jade couldn’t help but marvel at her change. Her hair reached her shoulders. It had never been so long in the last—well, she couldn’t remember when it had been so long, probably when she was an urchin roaming the streets of Celestia. How things had changed since then.
Crea, Mirella’s lady’s maid, gently brushed Jade’s soft curls. “You have beautiful hair, Lady Jade.”
Jade had already told the girl that she could call her by her given name—which would soon change—but it didn’t seem like Crea would ever bring herself to sound too familiar with her lady’s friend.
“More pearls,” Mirella said, pointing at Jade’s hair.
“Yes,” Crea nodded. “I was thinking the same.” With expert hands, she added a strand of perfectly round, white pearls in Jade’s hair.
Jade turned to the left and then to the right to admire the jewels against the backdrop of her glossy, black hair. She couldn’t help but think that the hairdo was pretty.
“You are stunning,” Mirella said with a smile.
“Thank you,” Jade whispered, slightly blushing and hoping nobody was the wiser.
Even though Dragon complimented her often, Jade still wasn’t used to thinking of herself as a beautiful woman. All her life, she had only seen herself as an assassin. Beauty wasn’t part of her upbringing. Being lethal and emotionless was, but that had changed when she met Dragon for the second time. Now, her days were filled with so much beauty and love that she was terrified she would wake from a dream and discover she was back at the Academy, waiting for her orders to kill Dragon.
“Time to shed those pants of yours and wear your gown.” Mirella handed Myrenne to Crea and turned to pick up the ivory dress draped over the back of the vanity chair. “Genevieve outdid herself this time.”
Jade eyed the elegant fabric with a wary expression.
“What are you worried about?” Mirella asked, stopping in front of Jade.
“You were born to wear a dress like that,” Jade said, her eyes downcast. “It’s too fine a piece for me.”
“Nonsense.” Mirella’s laugh echoed in the room. “Your bearing is regal, and your beauty is beyond compare.”
“How much did Dragon pay you?” Jade asked with a chuckle, deeply touched by Mirella’s compliment.
Shaking her head with laughter, Mirella pointed at the carved screen in the corner. “Go ahead and change. Your man is waiting out there, and I don’t know how long we can hold him off.”
Jade accepted the dress and went to change. As she shed her old clothes, it felt like she was getting rid of her past, one item at a time. It was strangely liberating, and when she slid into Genevieve Lafrette’s creation, she realized with sudden certainty that a transformation had taken place.
The pink light of Coral warmed the afternoon, and the light breeze ruffled the curtains of the gazebo. Five people had gathered in the isolated corner of Lobo Mansion’s gardens, but Dragon didn’t have eyes for anyone but the assassin who had stolen his heart almost a year ago. So much had changed in his life in so little time, and he still thanked the Goddess daily for Jade and their daughter.
“Do you, Drake, take this woman as your bride?” Valentine recited, calling Dragon with the name he had chosen for his new life. “To respect and care for the rest of your life?”
“I do,” Dragon answered, gently squeezing Jade’s trembling hand in his. He wasn’t less affected but had sworn to himself to keep his wits about him.
“Do you, Jewel, take this man as your husband? To respect and care for the rest of your life?” Valentine asked Jade.
When Dragon had asked Jade which new name she wanted to use, she had immediately answered, “Jewel.”
“I do,” Jade answered, looking at him with her beautiful black eyes shining with so much love, it hurt.
The wedding gown he had commissioned from Genevieve draped Jade’s slender body, accentuating her long legs and small waist. It was hard to believe she had given birth less than a month ago. A delicate pattern of lace and pearls decorated the ivory fabric and continued in Jade’s understated hairdo.
His soulmate was heartbreakingly beautiful, and he couldn’t wait to spend the night alone with her. Among the many wedding gifts Valentine and Mirella had given them, the one Dragon was looking forward to the most was the couple’s promise to babysit little Estrella until the next day.
“I solemnly declare you soulmates,” Valentine said, smiling first at Jade, then at Dragon. “Congratulations, my friends.”
Amidst loud sniffles, Mirella and her lady’s maid came forward to hug Jade. Dragon conceded the women a moment to properly tear up before spiriting his bride away.
“Dragon!” Jade cried, laughing.
“It’s Drake now, my beautiful Jewel,” he reminded her.
Without breaking his pace, he leaned to wind one arm behind her knees and the other around her back. Cradling her tightly, he sprinted to the airbike he had anchored at the edge of the floating gardens. After a long rid
e over the Great Plains that only stoked his need for her, they finally reached their destination. The cottage sitting at the edge of a rocky formation overlooking an ancient canyon would be the house of the newly-formed family of farmers for the time being.
The large shadows of Carellian and Contessa darkened the ground as the two draglets flew over the cottage. Their unexpected arrival had been Valerian’s wedding gift.
Dragon parked the airbike near the porch of the small building, and, still cradling Jade in his arms, carried her across the threshold. Fueled by his maddening longing, his hands went to work, and Jade was out of her gown before they entered their bedroom. Helped by Jade, he too was naked a moment after.
“I love you,” Jade whispered to his mouth, pulling him forward as she backed up and fell onto the bed.
She landed on top of a layer of red petals, and her eyes widened. “Dragon—”
“I love you,” he said, leaning away and leaving the bed.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
The passion in her eyes was a burning fire that would soon consume him. But he had something to do first, and it couldn’t wait a moment longer.
Dragon walked to the small closet adjacent to the bedroom and removed the wooden box he had carried with him since before leaving for Celestia.
“What is it?” Jade’s curiosity showed in her gaze.
“Stand up for me,” he said, stretching his hand for her to take.
She unfurled and stood in front of him, her small breasts brushing his chest as she smiled at him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist her lure.
“It’s important,” he said, taking a step back to put the necessary distance between them. With shaking hands, he fingered the lid of the box. “I wish I could claim you before my people because I couldn’t be prouder to have you at my side, and I would like the whole of Solaria to see how happy we are and how perfect our little Estrella is.”
Jade’s eyes shone brighter, moisture pooling at the corners. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be.” Freeing one hand, he tenderly caressed her cheek. “You’ve made me incredibly happy.”
“But one day you might regret—”
“I regret nothing. The Academy won’t always breathe down our necks. I’ll see to that.” Dragon’s gaze became serious. “If necessary, I’ll bring down the universe for you and our daughter. One day, it will be safe for you and Estrella to leave Lupine, and we’ll go back to Solaria. Until then, we raise her here, among people who love us. Now, let me finish what I started.” His hand left her face to resume the task of opening the box.
Jade’s expression darkened when she saw the two large golden bands inside. One nested inside the other.
“I don’t understand,” she said, stepping backward.
Dragon picked up the two bands and discarded the box onto the bed. “It was my intention to claim you on Solaria and have a dragon wedding, because I wanted everyone to know exactly how much I love you.” He took her hand and brought her closer to him. “I commissioned these two wedding collars soon after you left me.”
Jade’s eyes became stormy, and he couldn’t help but kiss her soundly.
When he leaned back, he saw both passion and anger boiling under Jade’s surface and knew he must hurry his explanation before his carefully arranged plan backfired.
“I’m yours,” he said, bringing the larger band closer to his throat.
After a moment, understanding dawned on her face, and Jade gasped.
“I want you to collar me,” he said.
Jade brought both hands to her mouth, tears falling down her cheek. “Oh, Dragon,” she cried softly.
“I wanted the whole of Solaria to see my collar, to see what you mean to me. But it doesn’t matter because one day they will,” he whispered, taking her in his arms and rocking her slowly. “I would like to mark you and collar you, but only if you want.”
“Yes,” she said in between sobs. “Yes, I’d love that.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Dragon took her in his arms and gently deposited her in the middle of their bed. He placed the bands on the mattress and kissed her. His body ached with need that had only grown deeper in the last few minutes.
“Forever yours,” he whispered against her mouth, then repeated his promise against her breasts, and lower still, inhaling the scent of his soulmate.
Dragon had fantasized about their collaring night since he had met Jade, but now that it was finally happening, the experience was more profound than he could have ever imagined. The emotions she made him experience went beyond the mere physical plane and bordered on divine.
He would have liked to take more time and drag the moment out until they couldn’t wait any longer to be united, but his body had a mind of its own. The moment he entered her warmth, Dragon’s beast roared in triumph, commanding him to mark her.
Jade must have felt it too because she arched beneath him and moaned, “Mark me.”
He thrust into her repeatedly, and when her channel started squeezing him, he lowered his mouth to her neck.
“Dragon!” she cried, convulsing in pleasure.
Following his dragon’s command, he latched to her skin and let his teeth pierce her flesh. Jade moaned, her release prolonged by his bite, spurring his senses into overdrive. His dragon united them in the sacred way of their species, altering their perceptions until they both could feel what the other felt. He thrust into her again and again, their pleasure mixing and multiplying, lasting for hours as they mated.
Much later, he trailed his finger over the collar he had put on her as Jade did the same to his. The metal was warm against his skin, and it felt like it belonged there.
“Forever yours,” she whispered.
“Forever and ever, yours,” he whispered back.
Afterword
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Thank you very much,
Monica
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Acknowledgments
As usual, I must thank my kids and my dad for just being the wonderful people they are.
Ava, Chris, and Vered, because they are exceptional authors and great human beings. Without their unwavering support writing my stories would not be the same.
Katie, Kory, and Angela from my critique group, for their keen eyes in catching typos and their insightful comments.
My readers' group for their words of encouragement and their invaluable feedback on covers, plots, and characters.
All my friends, who are always very supportive and don't complain when I disappear for days.
Roberto, because he is the true inspiration behind my heroes.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Monica La Porta landed in Seattle several years ago, where she lives with her family. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to concoct new universes. When Monica isn’t writing or reading, she can be found painting on her digital tablet or sculpting. Whenever the sun shines, she comes out of her cave and treats her beloved beagle, Nero, to long walks into the Washington wild.
You can find Monica La Porta here:
Blog: http://www.monicalaporta.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monicalaportaauthor/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MonicaLaPorta
Twitter: https://twitter.com/momilp
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ monica-la-porta
wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/momilp
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