by Amelia Jade
“Rhynne,” he said, touching her shoulder. “Rhynne wake up.”
She didn’t stir.
“Shit,” he swore, looking around, unsure of what to do next.
Nearby, he saw Zeke and Asher forcing the other Fire Dragon to the ground. He shifted and lay sullenly under guard from Zeke, who remained in his dragon form, one claw pinning the man’s chest to the ground.
“Come on, Rhynne, please,” he whispered into her ear.
Taking a chance, he bent down and kissed her on the lips, hoping like the fairy tales he’d been told as a child that she would wake up from the kiss of her mate.
But she didn’t move.
The flapping of wings from above had Dominick on his feet, and he felt his dragon’s energy ready itself within him for whatever it might be called upon to provide.
Out of the darkness came a giant black dragon, escorting a smaller, but no less frail red dragon. There was only one coupling of a red and black dragon that he was aware of. The only question Dominick had is how the hell they knew to come to the Academy.
“What is going on here?” Klara Nova said, as behind them Asher used his Frostfire to douse the flames licking up the side of the Academy building before they could do any further damage.
“Rhynne?” Zoltan spoke, as he noticed the limp form of his daughter lying next to Dominick.
“What have you done?” Klara hissed as she shifted and ran to her daughter’s side.
Zoltan loomed up over Dominick, the Blast Dragon’s fierce, protective glare driving Dominick away from his mate’s side. He grudgingly backed away.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“We got word that you were in town searching for Rhynne. Several people called to ask us if we knew that she was supposedly missing. We didn’t, because she was supposed to be here. But just in case, we decided to come pay a visit to see what the heck was going on. As it turns out, we got here just in time to stop you,” Zoltan said angrily.
Dominick stopped backing up and stood his ground, trying to glance around the matte-black dragon as he did. “I didn’t do anything,” he said firmly, his posture, voice and eyes all but challenging the Blast Dragon.
“He saved your daughter,” Asher said, ambling over, still in his dragon form.
“Garviel tried to kidnap her, and take her back to Fenris,” Dominick explained. “He decided to stop by the Academy, I guess to destroy it as a message to me. Unfortunately for him, we arrived in time to answer.” Dominick pointed to the dead dragon, and the unconscious form of Garviel half-concealed in the long grass.
“Rhynne! Z, she’s awake!” Klara said from behind him.
Dominick, ignoring Zoltan, darted past him, though he stopped short as the large dragon moved past him with ease and curled up around his daughter and mate.
“Dominick?” came the weak, fuzzy question in the unmistaken voice of his mate.
Dominick’s heart soared.
“No dear, it’s your mother and father. We’re here for you.”
And just like that, his spirits plummeted.
“Where’s Dominick?” Rhynne asked again, her voice sounding stronger.
“Shhh,” Klara said.
The bulk of Zoltan’s body was blocking Dominick from view, and he didn’t want to anger her parents any further by shouting over them to make himself heard, but he was getting irritated at their refusal to admit he was right there.
“Is Dominick okay?” Rhynne asked. “Ow, my head.”
“Take it easy, dear. We’re going to take you home now.”
“Mother,” Rhynne said, in the same tone that Dominick had heard her speak to him and the others. It was her command voice, that of an instructor from Top Scale, or a Guardian of Cadia. “Where. Is. Dominick?”
“We’ll get him later, dear. First, let’s get you home and looked at.”
“Mother!” Rhynne’s voice rang out in the night. “Enough.”
“I’m here,” Dominick said, speaking aloud, though he never moved.
“Father,” Rhynne said when Zoltan looked over at Dominick but refused to budge. “Move.”
Grudgingly, the black dragon shuffled out of the way to reveal Dominick in his battered, bruised, and bleeding glory.
He strode forward, and as gently as he could wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear.
“For what?”
“For not getting to you sooner. For letting him do this to you,” he said, his words coming so quickly they began to run together.
“Shh,” Rhynne said, putting a finger to his lips. “You couldn’t have known.” She looked over his shoulder, seeing the carnage that had been wreaked. “What is all this?”
He quickly filled her in on their rescue mission.
“You saved me?” she asked, looking at him with a loving vulnerability he never thought she even possessed.
“Uh, I guess so?” he said sheepishly, not overly comfortable with taking the credit for that. He’d simply done what had to be done for the one he loved.
“Come here,” she said with a wink and a grin, and pulled him close so she could kiss him.
Chapter Fourteen
Rhynne
“Rhynne!”
She heard her mother shout in shock and anger, and something else snapped inside of Rhynne. Pulling back from Dominick, she looked him in the eyes, seeing the worry and depth of his emotion contained within him.
“I’ll be right back,” she promised and turned. It was a slow spin, because her head still throbbed and she didn’t want to make herself dizzy.
“What are you doing, daughter of mine?” Klara said, her eyes filled with disgust.
“Klara Morgan Nova,” Rhynne said, striding forward, letting her mother’s glare slide off her like so much water. “You may be my mother, but you are not my boss,” she said firmly.
“Excuse me?”
“I did not stutter,” she said firmly. “I love you, and always will. But you have got to get with the times. I love this man,” she said, extending a hand behind her to gesture at Dominick. “Do you understand that?”
Klara just shook her head. “Rhynne, you’re not thinking right. Let’s get you home, so you can recover. We’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay?”
The ice in her mother’s tone would normally have cowed Rhynne, forcing her to accept the command. But not anymore.
“No,” she said fiercely. “I will not. I am going to go home with Dominick.”
Her mother reared back as if she’d been slapped. “What are you doing? This man is…is a nobody! He’s not fit to touch my daughter.”
“Mother, you are a miserable person. Just because he wasn’t born into a certain family, does not make him unworthy. Dominick is a good man. Isn’t that what you should be concerned about? I mean, shit, Mother, you tried to set me up with a man who would hurt me, and kidnap me, all because you think his blood is purer than someone else’s. Do you have any idea how crazy that is? You would rather your daughter be abused as long as he has good social status, than be with a man who loves her completely? What kind of mother does that make you?”
Klara’s jaw dropped open.
“How dare you talk to me like that!”
“I dare, Mother,” she snapped, “because you are being a bad parent, and you’re too blind to see it. If you don’t get with the times and accept that I love Dom, and he loves me, then I’m not sure I can continue to have you in my life.”
“Fine!” Klara snapped. “Have your little tryst, dear. We’ve let you before. But when you tire of him, don’t come crying to us anymore.”
Rhynne’s frustration boiled over at the density of her mother’s attitude, and she screamed at her. “It’s not a tryst. We love each other, and I am carrying his child. As soon as I get him alone, we shall be bonded as well.”
“A child?” Klara gasped, her pale face going even whiter. “A grandchild?”
“Not unless y
ou come to terms with the fact that Dominick is a good man,” she shot back.
“Why you—” Klara intervened, coming at her daughter as if she meant to hit her.
A wall of black shot down between the two women.
“Enough,” Zoltan rumbled, his wing forming a barrier between the two. “Rhynne, go on,” he continued.
“What?” Klara shrieked. “You’re taking her side in this?”
“Yes,” Zoltan continued, his voice like an earthen reverberation, so deep it vibrated the rock underneath. “She is our daughter, and you are forgetting that. You’re treating her like some possession who you wish to use so you may gain more power. Leave her alone, Klara. We’re going home.”
Klara made to protest, but Zoltan growled. “Now. We shall talk once we’re there.”
Rhynne listened to her mother rage inarticulately, but there was a rush of heat and a Fire Dragon shot into the sky a moment later.
“I am sorry, daughter,” Zoltan said as he lifted the wing. “I’m not sure what has gotten into her, but I shall speak with her. Hopefully I can knock some sense into her. She does love you, deep down. Remember that, okay?”
“I will,” Rhynne said. “And Dad?”
“Yes dear?”
“Thank you,” she said, reaching out to rest a hand on his scales. “For everything. I know it’s not what you may have wanted, but it’s what I want.”
The big dragon smiled, six-inch long teeth visible as he did. “All I want is for you to be happy,” he said.
“I am,” she assured him as Dominick moved up to her side, his arm snaking around her back to hold her steady. “I promise.”
“Good,” he replied, then shifted his attention to Dominick. “Take good care of her, and your child.” His voice dropped an octave. “She’s still my daughter.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Dominick replied seriously, nodding respectfully to Zoltan.
“I know you will,” he said, and launched himself into the sky, following swiftly after the quickly receding red dragon.
Once he was gone, Rhynne sagged into Dom’s arms.
“Come on, let’s get you inside,” he told her, and they began to walk toward the Academy, which thankfully was still mostly intact. It would need some repairs, but they had gotten the fire put out before too much damage had been done.
Together they walked up the steps. Behind them, she heard another dragon settle to the ground. Pausing, she turned and saw Daxxton land not too far away. The gold dragon looked at her, and she gave him a tired nod. Satisfied, the Wing Commander turned his attention to Asher, as the Frost Dragon began to speak, telling him everything that had happened.
With Dominick by her side, she walked inside, comforted by his presence.
***
“Did you really mean what you said?” Dominick asked the next morning as they landed on a wide flat ledge of Forlorn Peak. They were on the far side of the mountain from the Academy, where they could simply just be alone without risk of interference for the entire day.
They were relaxed now. Garviel was in jail, awaiting trial, meaning they didn’t have to worry about him getting up to any more antics, thankfully. The pair could just focus on themselves and each other, which is what had brought them up there.
“Which part?” she asked. “But yes, I don’t think I said anything I didn’t mean last night.”
“About wanting to bond,” Dom asked, and she sensed his nervousness at what her answer might be.
Rhynne rested her long neck against his. “Completely,” she told him. “Assuming that that’s what you want as well,” she added, suddenly feeling butterflies of her own as she realized that maybe Dominick didn’t want to take part in such a ritual with her.
“I thought you would never ask,” he replied, nuzzling her head with his own, his yellow dragon eyes with their oval pupils staring at her.
“When do you want to do it?” she asked, still nervous.
Bonding with another dragon was a major thing, and not something that could be undone, except by the death of one partner or the other. It was not an agreement to be entered into lightly. Even her parents, together now for nearly seventy years, had never bonded. They loved each other, she was sure, but it wasn’t the same type of love she shared with Dominick. They had been forced together by their stations in life, and had found a way to love each other out of it.
Not so with Rhynne. Bucking that trend, she was going to bond because she loved him from the start. He was her mate, and her dragon wouldn’t accept anything less.
“Right now,” Dom said, surprising her. He moved slightly away from her and in a rush of sparking electrical lightning, shifted back into his human form.
“You’re positive?” she asked seriously.
“Completely,” he said, echoing her earlier response.
“Okay,” she said and curled her tail around, choosing a scale just a little larger than her fist would be. With a sharp talon she peeled it off, ignoring the pain it sent through her.
Holding it up to her snout, Rhynne breathed fire over it, until the scale glowed on the inside.
“Ready?” she asked, and Dominick removed his shirt.
“Ready,” he told her.
He was nervous too, she could tell. His hands were clenched as he prepared himself. Without further hesitation, she gripped the shield awkwardly in her talons, and then reached down and pressed it firmly to his chest.
Dom cried out once, a sharp, barking noise, and then it was over as the heated scale seared itself to his flesh, and suddenly she could feel him in her head.
“Oh Dom,” she said, the feeling of love and adoration, trust, and powerful, overwhelming passion flooding through her new connection with him. “I should never have pushed you away from the start,” she said, nearing tears as she understood, truly understood, just how much he cared for her.
It was a powerful thing, understanding another person’s emotions as they were feeling them. Rhynne had heard from others about how spiritual and uplifting it could be, and she’d scoffed at the glazed-eyed way others who had bonded had spoken of it. But now she understood, and vowed never to doubt someone again.
Her love for Dominick burned brighter almost instantly as she let go of the last of her worries and allowed herself to believe completely and thoroughly that they were meant to be together forever.
“Your turn,” he said, and they reversed places.
Rhynne watched as Dominick picked a tiny scale from his body, perhaps the size of her own palm. He held it to his snout, and a bolt of lightning cracked out and ran over it, imbuing it with the power necessary to bond it to another.
She removed her shirt without a shred of self-conscious doubt, imbued by the slight spark of arousal that ran through Dominick as the curves of her breasts were bared to him, even though they were still covered by her bra.
“Ready?” he asked.
Rhynne nodded, not trusting her voice.
Dominick, like her, didn’t hesitate as he pressed it to her flesh.
She cried out, not at the feeling of his scale bonding with her skin, but at the fact that it was so cold. She’d expected it to be hot, but instead it felt like ice. A jolt of fear burned its way through her mental bridge with him, but it was almost instantly replaced by a sense of astonished wonder.
“What? What is it?” she asked, scared at the power of his emotion.
Dominick disappeared in a cloud of lightning, swiftly returning to his human form. Rhynne ran to him as she realized there were tears in his eyes.
“Dominick?” she asked, shaking him gently. “What is it? Speak to me.”
“Beautiful,” he whispered as tears tracked their way slowly down his cheeks.
She reached up and brushed them away before wrapping her arms around his neck. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she agreed. “I feel like I know you so much better already.”
“Rhynne,” he said, looking at her glassy eyed. “I can feel you.”
“I know,�
� she said with a happy smile. “I can too.”
“No,” he said, his eyes suddenly focusing on her. “I can feel both of you.”
“Wait,” she said, abruptly standing up straight. “You mean you—”
Dominick nodded happily. “Yes! Yes, my love. I can feel you and our child.” His eyes bore into hers. “I can feel our daughter.”
Rhynne’s legs wobbled and Dominick guided her to the ground, where he held her tight. She brushed a hand over her stomach, holding it there as Dominick took her hand in his.
“A daughter?” she whispered, stunned.
He nodded. “Yes, a little girl.”
Rhynne giggled hysterically. “We’re going to have a girl.”
“We’re going to have a girl!” Dom said, picking her up and swinging her—gently—around in a circle.
“We’re having a girl,” Rhynne said, and pulled his head to hers so she could kiss him thoroughly.
When they parted, she knew the silly grin plastered on Dominick’s face was mirrored on her own.
Then he put her down and looked at her seriously.
“You know what we have to do now?” he said happily.
“What?” she asked, sensing his elation through their bond.
“We have to pick out names.”
Rhynne smiled and kissed him again.
***
The End
This concludes Book 3 of the Top Scale Academy series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Although this story is over, there are more adventures to be had. Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know when my next book is available, and for other exclusive’s!
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Want More of These Characters?
Top Scale Academy
Frost Dragon
Fire Dragon
Electro Dragon
The Agency
Bravo Bear (Book 1)
Blackblood Bear (Book 2)
Silver Bullet Bear (Book 3)
Kingpin Bear (Book 4)
Genesis Valley