Dragon Redeemed

by Hopkins, Linda K.

  “Favian! You came.”

  “My Master is taking a mate. Of course I came.”

  Aaron grasped Favian’s upper arm and stared at him, smiling. “Good. And since this is your house, welcome!” He turned to the petite woman at his side. “I’m glad you’re here, Cathryn.”

  “So am I,” she said.

  As the guests continued to arrive, Evelyn realized that Keira had grossly underestimated the number of people coming, and she was ready to take a seat when Max stepped up before them.

  “Evelyn, Master, this is my mate, Anna.”

  “Xav – Drægón, you look, well you look quite the same!”

  Drægón tipped his head. “Thank you.”

  Anna grinned, then turned to study Evelyn with a frank, open expression. “Max told me about you. I have a hard time keeping my own dragon under control, so I wish you all the best with this one.” She leaned forward, her voice low. “But the loss of control can be mighty pleasing, let me tell you.”

  There was a laugh behind them as Max dropped his hands onto Anna’s shoulders and pulled her against his chest. “Now, darling, what will Evelyn think of you?”

  “That she is quite undisciplined,” Keira said, but she was smiling.

  “Nothing changes,” Aaron said, joining them. “Still the same Anna, eh Max?”

  Max smiled. “Wouldn’t have her any other way.”

  Aaron turned to Evelyn and Drægón. “Everyone has gathered. I will meet you on the dais.”

  Evelyn smoothed her gown down nervously as she walked to the mounted platform. Drægón’s hands were on her waist as she stepped onto the dais. She turned to face him.

  “Glad didn’t mate before,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Want to remember you like this.”

  She smiled into his eyes. “We have the rest of our lives to make memories.”

  He smiled as he shrugged off his doublet. It was red, with silver embroidery along the hems, and beneath he wore a snow-white shirt. He removed these garments and handed them to Zach, then transformed with a flash of light. Aaron stepped onto the dais and lifted a jeweled dagger into the air.

  “Many of you gathered here remember Drægón from his past life. It was then that he first joined with Evelyn in human marriage, but certain events prevented him from making her his mate. Their love has proven strong enough to withstand many adversities, and so we are gathered here to witness their blood binding.”

  Aaron passed Drægón a dagger, bedecked in jewels.

  “Ready?” Drægón asked Evelyn.

  “Yes.” He took her hand gently and laid the knife against her wrist. In one swift motion he cut into her skin, and blood welled to the surface. Aaron placed a cup beneath the wound, catching the blood. He passed it to Drægón, and he tipped his head back, draining the contents.

  “My mate forever,” he said.

  Aaron pressed the dagger into her hand. “You know what to do,” he said, and she nodded.

  “Hard as you can,” Drægón said. “So small and puny, couldn’t hurt a fly!”

  Evelyn whipped back her hand and drove it into his hard hide, and his eyes widened.

  Golden blood flowed from the wound, and Aaron caught it in the cup, waiting until the flow slowed then stopped altogether. He handed Evelyn the cup and she stared at the liquid. When she looked back at Drægón, she could see the concern in his gaze. Neither of them were certain exactly what his blood would do to her.

  Pushing the thought aside, she brought the cup to her lips and drained the contents. She gasped as the warm liquid rolled over her tongue and slid down her throat, barely aware of the claws clasped around her arm, holding her upright. Her legs trembled and she leaned her weight against Drægón as the liquid flowed into her veins. It thrilled and excited her, and she tingled all over. She looked up to meet Drægón’s gaze and could feel his satisfaction weaving through her.

  “Mine,” he whispered.

  She could not form the word, but whispered it back in her mind. “Mine.” His eyes widened slightly.

  “You speak?”

  She frowned. What was he talking about? “Say more,” he ordered. “In mind.”

  “I love you,” she thought.

  He smiled. “I love you, too.”

  There was a bright flash as he transformed and he pulled her into his arms, then turned to face the dragons. “My mate,” he said.

  “About time,” Zach shouted, and Evelyn laughed. The dragon was her mate, and she loved him more than she had thought possible.

  “Too many. Leave now.”

  “Cave?”

  He kissed her deeply, ignoring the hoots from the people around them. “Cave. Then Storbrook.”

  “Storbrook. I like the sound of that.”

  “Then baby dragons. Lots and lots.”

  She pulled back to see him laughing. “Lots and lots?”

  “Too many to count.” He brought his lips back to her. “I love you, my mate.”

  She smiled. “Love you, too.”

  *

  A Note About Meals

  In the Middle Ages, people typically only ate two meals a day – dinner and supper. Breakfast as we know it did not exist, although farm workers and laborers would usually grab some bread and cold meat to eat as they walked to work in the early morning hours. Dinner was typically served mid-morning and supper late afternoon. An evening meal may have been served by the upper classes in the later evening hours.

  *

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  Please keep reading for a preview of Moondance, a contemporary paranormal romance. Despite an early friendship, Melissa’s boss now keeps her at arm’s length. But Lee has a closely guarded secret. Will Melissa be able to accept Lee for who he truly he?

  Preview of Moondance

  Chapter 1

  Darkness hung over the ground like a pall as Melissa stumbled blindly through the forest, lurching between shadowy trunks and swerving around bushes that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Barbed branches clawed her face and arms, leaving angry welts in their wake. Protruding roots, intent on hindering her escape, sent her to her knees, leaving them scratched and bleeding. She gasped for breath as the blood pounded furiously in her ears, while her chest burned with each breath. Sweat dripped down her forehead, covering her brow. Fear had slickened her palms, and her legs trembled as she careened between the trees. Behind her, her pursuer flew with seeming effortlessness over the ground, its enormous paws making no sound as it closed the gap between them. From the corner of her eye she saw the huge cat drawing alongside her, its bright green eyes shining eerily in the dark. Her foot caught the rough end of a stump, and she flung out her hands as she tumbled to the ground. The panther leaped towards her as her screams tore through the air.

  Melissa jolted upright in her bed, her eyes wide as she searched her room in terror for the beast. Rigid fingers gripped the sheet, straining the fabric until it was close to ripping. Her heart hammered in her chest, the memory of reaching claws and hot breath on her neck still too close to dismiss. She loosened her hold on the sheet one aching finger at a time, until it fell from her grip. A cool breeze blew through an open window, and she shivered as it brushed over her damp skin. Pulling in a deep breath, she willed her heart to slow its racing, and finally, the dream ebbed as the creature slunk back to the edges of her mind. She looked around the room, reassuring herself that nothing lurked in the shadows. A flash of green made her freeze, but it was just the light from her laptop, and she laughed shakily. The sound broke the silence, making her a little bolder. “There’s nothing here,” she said beneath her breath, then said it again, a littl
e louder this time, to make sure that any creatures lurking in her room knew it as well.

  The bright digital clock beside the bed read four-thirty a.m. Fumbling in the darkness, Melissa found the switch for the bedside lamp and turned it on. She blinked in the sudden flare of light as she untangled her feet from the sheet and tentatively placed them on the floor as she pushed away the last tendrils of the dream. The panther had become a recurrent visitor in the nighttime hours – stalking her between the city high-rises in broad daylight, or chasing her over the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains at dusk. Sometimes snow lay thick on the ground, the jet-black fur of the panther a stark contradiction to the bright white, while other times huge drops of rain spat from the sky, sliding down the panther’s sleek pelt as it stalked her through the shadows.

  Melissa headed to the kitchen and flipped on the light. Everything looked exactly as it had the night before, easing away more of the dread that still pooled in her stomach. She took a tin of coffee from the cupboard and spooned some into a filter as she thought about the dreams. They had first started a few years back, but had become more frequent in recent months – in fact, she mused, around the same time she had started on a new project at work. “Repressed fears,” she could hear Dr. Phil saying, and she smiled sardonically as she filled the coffee machine with water and switched it on. But perhaps the fear idea wasn’t that ludicrous, she thought, since the timing of the dreams was strange. Perhaps the panther represented her fear of failure. This project was, after all, her chance to finally prove herself to her company. To Leander Garrett.

  Melissa had started working at Quigley Ramsbottom Consulting, or Quigs, as it was affectionately known among its employees, as a summer intern in her first year of university, then moved into a permanent position after earning her business degree. Her job wasn’t romantic – as a junior analyst she wrote job descriptions, analyzed pay grades and compared benefit programs for Quigs’s client companies, producing data for the consultants who worked directly with the clients. Melissa noticed that when she talked about her job with friends and family, their eyes glazed over and they tended to change the subject, but she didn’t mind the work. Of course, it wasn’t what she wanted to do forever – her ambition was to join the ranks of consultants at Quigs – so when she was asked to join a project team where she would work on a project for a specific client, she thought she was finally moving in the right direction. But things have a habit of not quite working out as expected, and although she’d been working with the team for six months, she had not once met anyone from the client company. As for impressing Leander Garrett – well, he barely even noticed her.

  Melissa sighed as she watched the brewing coffee drip into the pot. Lee Garrett was the wonder child of Quigs. Like Melissa, he had been hired by the company straight out of university, but there the similarities ended. In the ten years he’d worked with the firm, Lee had quickly earned promotion after promotion, and was highly regarded by the partners. So much so that if you wanted to get anywhere at Quigs, it was Lee you needed to impress. And that was the problem. No matter how hard she worked or how many hours she put in, Lee did not pay her the slightest attention. And when he did speak to her, his manner was decidedly abrupt. “I need those numbers by noon, Ms. Hewitt.” “When can I expect the completed analysis, Ms. Hewitt?” “I need a coffee, Ms. Hewitt.” It was frustrating – there was no one else that he addressed so formally. Melissa filled a mug with coffee and returned to her room to open her laptop. Since there was little chance of getting back to sleep, she might as well finish the data analysis report Lee expected for the weekly team meeting that morning. She opened the file and studied a column of numbers.

  Melissa entered the boardroom later that morning to see Lee already seated at the large wooden table that filled most of the room. Papers were spread over the smooth surface, but his attention was on Caro, seated beside him. Her chair was turned toward his, and she smiled as she leaned closer. Several years older than Melissa, Caro had been working at Quigs a few months when Melissa had started as an intern. Single and unattached, she worked hard and played hard, much like Lee.

  They ignored Melissa as she sat down. “Come on, Lee,” Caro was saying, “you know I’m right.” She ran a finger along his forearm. “He’ll listen to me.”

  Lee smiled blandly. “Sleeping with him isn’t the solution,” he said.

  Caro leaned closer with a sultry smile. “You sure about that?” she said softly, staring at him. Melissa quickly looked away. Caro and Lee hadn’t slept together, had they? From the corner of her eye, she saw Lee pull away, and she shot him a quick look. He was staring at her, his green eyes dark and narrowed, his expression grim. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she focused her gaze on the pile of papers in her hands.

  “I have the report you wanted,” she said. She passed him the document and he flipped it open to the first page.

  “These aren’t the numbers I asked for.”

  “I did some extra analysis. The data you want is in the next section.”

  He turned to the next page. “Very well. I’ll have a closer look at this later,”

  Tracy and Kasper, the last two members of the team, entered the room.

  “Let’s get started,” Lee said. “We have a lot to get through.”

  Lee did not look at Melissa again for the rest of the meeting, and her mind wandered as the discussion moved on to points beyond her involvement. Despite Lee’s lack of friendliness, Melissa could not help admiring his good looks. With his dark green eyes and swarthy features, he was regarded by the women in the office as the most handsome man in the company. She studied him now as he talked to Kasper. His black hair was cropped, except for a single strip drawn into a ponytail and twisted into a knot. The style would appear ridiculous on most men, but it gave Lee a sensual, provocative look. Heavy eyebrows covered his deep-set eyes, and although it was still early, a faint five o’clock shadow lined his upper lip. Alluring and a little dangerous, thought Melissa, despite the white collared shirt and silk tie he wore. Clothes that did little to hide his muscular arms, strapping chest and slim waist.

  Melissa turned her attention back to the meeting as it was drawing to a close.

  “So Caro, you and Tracy will review the proposal we’re making about executive benefits, and Kasper, come see me in my office with the notes from your last client meeting, and we’ll review to ensure nothing’s been missed.” Lee looked around the table, waiting for their nods of acquiescence. “I’ll get Mary to post the next meeting in your calendars.” Melissa gathered her papers and headed out the door, careful not to look at Lee as Caro whispered something in his ear.

  Melissa was at her desk later that day when Kasper stopped to peer over her shoulder. “What are you working on?” he asked.

  She groaned. “Lee wants me to rerun some numbers using the average instead of the median.” She turned to face him. “Since when do we use average numbers?”

  “I think Lee likes to give you a hard time. He doesn’t seem particularly fond of you.”

  Melissa snorted. “You think!”

  “Sometimes people act like that to hide their true feelings. Perhaps he’s secretly in love with you!”

  “We’re not in kindergarten, Kasper!”

  He snorted back a laugh, before his expression sobered. “But seriously, I think he likes you even less than he likes me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s clear that Caro’s his favorite. Haven’t you seen how he hangs on her every word?” It was more like the other way around, Melissa thought. There were times when she had the distinct impression Lee merely tolerated Caro’s fawning.

  “I haven’t really noticed.”

  “Of course you haven’t,” Kasper said sourly. “At the next team meeting, see how he gives her all the good work, and leaves me the crappy stuff.”

  She frowned. “O-kay.” She wished Lee would give her half the work he gave Kasper. She watched as he walked away, then pu
shed away from her desk. A coffee was in order.

  Her desk was in a large common work area, next to the window overlooking the river. The space was shared by all the analysts, allowing little chance for privacy. At the far end of the office was a small kitchen, while behind that were consultant and management offices. Ignoring the other analysts, Melissa headed across the room, around the corner and past the reception area where Mary sat answering the phone. The elevators were just through the heavy glass doors, and she pushed them open and pressed the down button. Although there was a coffee machine in the kitchen, she preferred to buy hers from the little coffee shop downstairs. The elevator doors were already sliding closed when a man in his early fifties dashed through, carrying a briefcase slung over his shoulder. He was from out of town, but Melissa recognized him as Patrick Ramsbottom, senior partner in the firm. He gave a self-deprecating shrug at his inelegant entrance.

  “Melissa Hewitt, am I right? I’ve heard some good things about you.” Surprise must have registered on her face, because he continued with a faint smile. “Leander Garrett cannot stop singing your praises.”

  “Really?”

  “He’s very impressed with you. He says you’re a hard worker with a bright future.”

  “Oh,” Melissa said faintly.

  Pat furrowed his brow. “‘Diligent, thorough and personable’ are the words he used.”

  “Personable?”

  “Or maybe he said ‘friendly.’ Whatever it was, he definitely has a high regard for you.” They reached the ground floor and the doors slid open. “Keep up the good work, Melissa,” Pat said, striding out as Melissa followed in bewilderment. Surely Pat must be mistaken – it couldn’t have been Lee who said such things. It must have been someone else. But she couldn’t help smiling as she recalled the conversation. Diligent, thorough and friendly. Someone, whoever it was, had taken notice of her hard work.

  Melissa’s good mood lingered throughout the afternoon, and she was still smiling when she unlocked the door to her apartment that night. She had worked late, taking the last bus out of downtown Calgary, and picked up something to eat on her way. It was a beautiful spring evening, and she’d alighted from the bus early and walked the last few blocks home. She flipped on the lights as she stepped through the door, chasing away the shadows. As apartments went, hers was tiny, with a single bedroom, a compact kitchen and a small living room, but it was all the space she needed. There was a narrow deck off the living room, and if she stood on her toes and peered around the corner, she could just see a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains – the best mountain view she could afford. It only took an hour to drive to the mountains, and on hot summer weekends she drove to Kananaskis or Banff National Park and spent the day hiking, choosing trails away from the throngs of tourists that crowded the sites so popular with postcards and calendars. In the winter, she packed up her skis and made for the ski hills, spending her hard-earned money on outrageously priced passes. Sometimes one of her friends joined her, but as often as not she went to the mountains alone. And it was worth it, she thought, when she stood on top of a peak and looked out over an immense snow-covered landscape. Nothing in the world could compare with the utter stillness at the top of a snowy mountain, where the stresses of city life seemed a million miles away.