by Denise Lynn
“I can do that.” Caitlin offered, “I can even be upset over it if that’ll help.”
“That’s up to you. But right before I get ready to go, I could use your help gathering together everything I’ll need.”
“The pendants, grimoire and cube?”
“And Ascalon.”
Certain she’d misheard, she asked, “I beg your pardon?”
“He wants Ascalon.”
“For what?” It’d be a cold day in hell before she’d turn over her weapon.
“But it’s fine if I turn over all my family’s charms?”
She would never get used to having her thoughts read—invaded—so easily.
“Then shut me out.”
“I’ve tried. It doesn’t work anymore.”
She wasn’t sure if his dragon snorted or if he did. What she did know was that they were now dropping beneath the clouds. Except for a tiny speck of green below, only the sea was visible for as far as she could see.
“Where are we?”
“You’ll see.”
He was headed straight for the speck of green in the middle of nowhere. Once they got closer, she could see that the island wasn’t as small as she’d first thought. It wasn’t as large as Mirabilus, but she wouldn’t feel like she was on a desolate rock in the middle of the ocean, either.
There was no shore to speak of, just rocky cliffs that dropped off to the water. Only evergreen trees and other fir-type bushes covered the ground, so they hadn’t flown south. But she hadn’t noticed any distinct drop in temperature, so they hadn’t gone too far north.
Sean touched down in a small clearing where he released her and changed into his misty form. “There’s a cabin right at the end of the path.”
Caitlin followed his foggy trail. He led her along a flagstone path that wound through a stand of trees and bushes that were probably mistletoe.
To her surprise there was a cabin in the next clearing. A very nice log cabin with a huge porch that looked as if it probably went all the way around. The swing near the front door looked inviting enough to sleep on comfortably.
The door opened, and he drifted inside. By the time she entered, he had shifted to human form, dressed, and was tucking a shirt into a pair of jeans.
She looked around, wondering if the owners were nearby. “Where are we?”
“This is mine.” He walked over to the fireplace to get a fire going.
He owned an island? She shook her head. Of course he did. His brothers were into property, so why wouldn’t he carry on the tradition?
“Why are we here?”
“It’s time you learn how to be a Drake.”
Chapter 14
Sean didn’t have to turn around to see her face to know what she thought of that statement. Her shocked disagreement threatened to burn the back of his neck. He was surprised that it took her a few seconds before she finally sputtered a reply.
“I am not a Drake. I am not going to be a Drake. So there’s no reason for me to learn how to be one.”
He silently finished building a fire then rose and turned around. She was still staring at him. Displeasure furrowed her brow, and her lips were drawn into a flat line.
“If you plan on raising one, you should know how to be one.” It made sense to him, even if she didn’t see it. While she mulled that over, he went and retrieved a tray of supplies to make coffee. It would only be instant since he didn’t have any utilities here yet. But it would be warm, so it would do.
“What exactly is this going to entail?”
He glanced at her, wondering why she sounded so wary of the idea. “It’s not like I’m going to teach you how to change into a dragon or anything.”
After hanging the kettle of water from the tripod over the fire, he sat down on the cedar-frame cushioned sofa and patted the space next to him. “Sit down.”
She dropped down onto the chair across the coffee table from him. “I’m quite capable of raising my son. I didn’t have any problem taking care of him before.”
“I noticed.” If he remembered correctly, their son was in her care when the Learned kidnapped him.
“You can’t blame me for what happened.”
“For the record, he’s our son, not yours. And I don’t blame you for what happened, but yes, actually, I can. If you had known how to defend yourself, or protect Sean against Nathan, this never would have happened, would it?”
She didn’t say anything, just looked away. But he caught a glimpse of firelight shimmering off the suspicious moisture in her eyes. “Don’t you dare start crying, Caitlin.”
The last thing he needed or wanted was for her to get emotional, because that would only make his dragon go goofy on him. He needed everyone to remain calm and focused.
“I’m not blaming you. I never have. I simply stated a fact. You need to know how to protect yourself and our son when I’m not around.”
She took a deep breath then looked back at him. “Where do we start?”
Instead of saying anything, Sean had his dragon croon to her. It was obvious she heard the beast, because she visibly relaxed. The frown softened, her lips grew less tight and the tears that had been building in her eyes disappeared.
“That’s better.” He suggested, “How about we start right there?”
Caitlin nodded in agreement.
“Do you have the pendant?”
She lifted the chain from around her neck. Firelight danced off the amethyst dragon. “Always.”
“Good, because that’s your key to Drakedom.”
Although she tried, Caitlin was unable to maintain a straight face and burst out laughing.
As simple as it was, or as it should be, he liked her laugh, her smile. The way her eyes sparkled like gemstones and the dimples alongside her mouth. Those were little things that she should do often.
Focus, he was supposed to be focusing. In his mind, he asked her, “Can you hear me?”
“Yes.” She answered in the same manner. “But I’m sitting right across from you, so of course I can.”
“That’s fine. Now try to stop me from entering your thoughts. Nod when you’re ready.”
“I was able to block you easily enough before.”
“You’ve concentrated so much on hearing me lately, that it’s not as easy anymore.” He added, “And since we’ve bonded more, my getting access to your thoughts is like breathing for me.”
“You do realize this is how I live, right?”
“You’re a succubus, not an empath. You should choose who and what enters your mind and body.”
Thankfully, she didn’t argue. She took a few moments to collect herself and then nodded.
He started with simple things like images of food, places and animals. Detecting no response, Sean moved on to images of their families.
Again he sensed nothing but a blank wall. He got up, walked around the room, made coffee for both of them while sending her visions of little Sean, the Learned, Hoffel and scenes from the grimoire. When he recreated the scene of Hoffel attacking her, she flinched.
He sat back down and handed her a cup of coffee. “You’ve got the pendant, use it.”
“Use it how?”
“Caitlin, you used it to call to my dragon when you couldn’t reach him. I knew then it was your talisman, your charm.”
“I thought it was responding to you.”
“What about in my office?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Again, I thought it was letting me use it to respond to you.”
“No. I don’t think so.” He reminded her, “It doesn’t glow for me. When I hold it, it’s just a stone.”
She turned it over in her hand. The more attention she paid to it, the brighter the pendant glowed. “How much power do you think it has?”
“One way to find out.” Without warning, he picked up a spoon and tossed it at her, only to have it bounce off an unseen wall, sending it right back toward him.
Caitlin’s eyes grew wide. “I’ll be damne
d.”
“Don’t say that, even in jest.”
“I wonder if it would let me defeat Nathan.”
“I doubt if it makes you invincible. So I wouldn’t advise jumping off a cliff to test it or anything.” He slammed her mind with an unexpected vision of the Learned taking their son.
“No!” She dropped the pendant and covered her face with her hands.
Sean cursed his own bungling stupidity and pulled her from the chair over to the couch, scooping up the pendant at the same time. He slung an arm around her trembling shoulder to hold her against his chest.
“That was callous. I’m sorry.”
Putting the amethyst dragon in her palm, he closed her fingers around it. “Let your mind think of this.”
“Why are you doing this?”
What would be the harm in just telling her the truth? It wouldn’t sway her either way, nor would it change anything. “The dragon and I want nothing more than for you to stay so we can take care of you and the baby.”
She lifted her head and gave him a strained look filled with pain. “Sean...”
“Shhh.” He put a finger over her lips to stop her words then brushed the hair from her face. “I know you’re going to take our son and leave. I’m not going to stop you, but I need to know you’ll both be okay. Is it too much to ask that you show us you can take care of yourself and a dragon changeling?”
“I was doing fine until I met you.”
“Yeah, you did handle those thugs pretty well. But they were human. I’m not concerned about your dealings with humans.”
“Seems to me the only other preternatural besides the Learned who I have any trouble dealing with is you.”
If she was trying to get a rise out of his temper, it was working. And he’d sworn that wasn’t going to happen. He took a minute then asked, “And why do you think that is?”
“Haven’t you noticed? Something has been...off...since the day we met. In the alley that night, when I drained the one thug, he was so unhealthy that I knew I’d be sick. But it hit me instantly, completely catching me off guard, and that had never happened before. And for me—me of all people—to wake up, not able to remember taking you to my home and spending three days in bed with you? How does that happen?”
She immediately answered her own question. “It doesn’t. Ever.” Then she added, “And to end up pregnant? By someone not of my own kind?” She took a breath. “And now it’s like we’re either ready to jump down each other’s throat or fall into bed. There’s nothing in between. It’s hate or lust with us, no middle ground whatsoever. You can’t tell me that’s normal.”
“Define normal. You’re a succubus. I’m a dragon changeling—a cursed dragon changeling. How does normal even work into our vocabulary?”
“You know what I mean. Normal for us. Yes, I’m a succubus and there’s nothing I enjoy more than sex. It feeds me, it gives me energy the fastest way possible and I don’t deny I love a man’s body. But I can’t get enough of you. No matter what we do, it’s not enough. You can fill me to the brim, give me life for months in one night’s romp and I still want more.”
He was supposed to have a problem with that?
She rolled her eyes. Either she’d read his thought, or correctly interpreted his expression. “Never before have I wanted anything else from a man than just sex.”
“And that scares you?”
“Scares me? No! It outrages me. I need to be in control of my life. Me. Not my desires or some craving I can’t define. Me.”
“I haven’t tried to control you.” The instant the words left his mouth he knew them for a lie.
And she proved that by leaning away to look at him as if he’d just tried to tell her the grass was purple. “No, not at all.”
“The dragon and I were in shock from learning I had a son.” He tried to defend his actions upon her arrival at Dragon’s Lair.
“Oh, is that what you’re going to call that whole bit about mating for life, not seeing my son crap?”
“It wasn’t crap. Letting you leave with our son goes against every instinct I have.”
“Letting me leave? Letting me? You don’t own me.”
This was not going well at all. “That isn’t what I meant.”
She scooted away from him on the couch. “Then explain what you did mean.”
“I meant that I’d realized it would be a mistake to try forcing you to stay, so I wasn’t going to fight you on it.”
“That’s generous of you. Especially considering it’s not your decision to make. At all.”
Sean stood up to poke absently at the fire. If he kept up at this rate he’d never see her or his son again. “One day, Caitlin, you’re going to want someone so badly that you need them. Are you going to walk away because being alone is far more important than anything else?”
“Being alone? No, it’s about being independent. People have had control of me and my life since the day I was conceived. Even now they’re telling me who to marry, where to live, whether or not I can keep my child. No more. Once little Sean is back in my arms, nobody is going to tell me anything. I’m done following orders. Done having anyone else tell me how to live my life.”
Why did it feel as though she’d just kicked him in the gut? Why was his dragon’s heart beating so hard and fast? He didn’t understand what was going on inside him. If he didn’t know better, he’d say that he and dragon were in love. But they hadn’t known her long enough for any lasting attachment to have formed. Yes, they were mated, but so what? Throughout the history of man, couples had married without having any feelings for each other. Besides, he was certain that love wasn’t this difficult or painful.
Without turning around, Sean asked, “And it doesn’t matter what you do to anyone else?”
“Such as who?”
“Our son, for one.” Me, for another. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. It was an admission he wasn’t ready to put into words.
“He’ll be with me, so it’s not like I’m going to be causing him pain or strife.”
“Are you going to teach him how to be a dragon changeling? Will you be able to explain the wild emotions rushing through him and how to control them? Or help him cope with the pain during the first few shifts?”
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and it was all he could do not to jump in surprise. “Sean, I’m not going to keep you from our son. I understand that you need to imprint with him so that he’ll trust you when the time comes to teach him what he needs to know. If that time ever comes. We don’t even know if he’s a changeling or not. I promise that you’ll have plenty of visits.”
Visits. He clenched his jaw. He didn’t want visits. He wanted more. He wanted to be a full-time father. His stomach churned. They needed to get off this topic. This was not the reason he brought her here.
He placed the poker back in the bucket on the hearth, turned around to grasp her wrist and headed for the door. “Do you have your pendant?”
“Yes, but why?”
She sounded confused at the abrupt change in the conversation. Right now he didn’t much care. “Let’s see how powerful it is.”
Once outside he said, “Go stand at the other side of the clearing and focus on that pendant.”
As she walked away he heard her mutter, “This should be loads of fun.”
For him, maybe.
Sean collected a pile of good-sized rocks then shouted, “If this doesn’t work, it’s going to hurt.”
The amethyst dragon hanging around her neck glowed. She shouted back, “Bring it.”
He threw the rocks, one right after another, as hard as he could. To his relief the magic surrounding her held fast. The rocks bounced off the invisible shield, protecting her from danger.
Quickly, before he could change his mind, he shifted to solid dragon form. The beast drew in a large breath and let it out as a stream of fire aimed at her.
Caitlin’s eyes grew large, but the pendant around her neck glowed brighter.
> His breath expelled, he started to draw in another, only to notice she held a fireball in her hand. Smiling at him, she arched an eyebrow right before she threw the fiery ball at him.
To his surprise, not only did the ball make it all the way across the clearing, but her aim was also accurate enough that he had to lean to one side to avoid getting hit. Thankfully, he wasn’t standing directly in front of the cabin. Otherwise it’d be a pile of charcoal.
He shifted back to human form. “Not bad. Hang on a second.” Sean went back into the cabin and came out with two swords.
“Up for a little swordplay?” He motioned her forward.
Halfway across the clearing, she held out her hand. Ascalon slammed into her ready palm. The spine already glowed, ready for battling a dragon.
“No.” Sean stopped and shook his head. “Not on your life.”
“Afraid?”
“No.” He wasn’t. However, his trembling beast felt sick. “I’m just not that stupid.”
“You don’t trust me.” She gave him a mock pout.
“I wouldn’t trust anyone with that weapon.” He pointed to the ground. “Put it down.”
She tossed the sword in the air and it disappeared. Then she reached out to take the blade he offered her. “Fine. Be that way. We’ll play with your toys.”
They faced off. Back and forth across the clearing, neither of them getting the better of the other. Although Sean quickly realized that she was quite a bit more experienced than he was. The only way he kept up with her faster pace was to have a stronger swing. He essentially wore her down by making her fight with all of her strength to hold back his blade.
“Damn.” He swore after mistakenly taking his eyes off her for a split second. She’d lunged in, nicking his arm. Had that been Ascalon, he’d be dead in minutes.
She backed off, gasping. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Sean motioned her to continue, laughing. “I’ve cut myself worse with a razor.”
When she didn’t come back at him, he lunged forward and slapped her hip with the side of his blade. “Don’t just stand there.”
The next thing he knew, Caitlin screamed and raised her sword toward his face. He flinched and then heard the sound of another blade slamming against hers before it bounced away onto the ground.