by Riley Storm
He bit back a reaction. “Now, now. Let’s go. Don’t make me toss you in a prison cell again for misbehaving.”
“Brrr,” Olivia said, sidling up to him and linking her arm. “Those bars were cold.”
He started to open his mouth to speak, but Olivia leaned in closer and kept talking.
“But maybe if you have a pair of regular handcuffs, we could use those.”
Aaric brightened. “I think we can make that work,” he rumbled.
Olivia just squeezed his forearm, looking out with her chin held high, as proper as ever.
If only they knew, he thought with a mental laugh. If only they knew.
He got her to the car and into her side, pulling the door down from above. Sliding into his own seat, he fired up the engine and they left. Aaric didn’t drive fast. He took them on a slow, meandering route through the city while they talked about nonessential things.
The topic of the conversation wasn’t what was important to him. It was who he talked to. She was what mattered, and sometimes just talking, even if about nothing, was enjoyable.
And tonight, he was going to show her.
“Why are we stopping here?” Olivia asked, realizing they’d come to a halt just inside the gates of Drakon Keep.
“I want to show you something. Come on.”
They exited the car. Far off in the distance, a few faint lights from the Keep were visible. Otherwise, the grounds were in perfect darkness.
“I can’t see anything,” she said with a laugh as Aaric came around the car and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“You can, you’re just not looking properly,” he said, caressing the side of her head.
“What do you mean?”
Taking her chin, he tilted it upward to the sky.
Olivia gasped. “Oh, wow.”
Aaric smiled. But instead of speaking, he just joined her in gazing from the heavens. Heavens from which his entire being may have originated. Where, in that vast swathe of space, had the artifact that created his ancestors come from, he wondered? Were there others like him? Others out there? What did it all mean…?
“I always forget to stop and look up,” she whispered, shimmying into him even tighter. “But it’s times like this that remind me just how beautiful it is. How tiny we are among it all.”
“It reminds me of you.”
“Is this where you make some comment about my ass again?” she joked, twisting her hips to remind him of what he referred to.
“No,” he said, ignoring the byplay, staying serious. “It reminds of you because I see beauty. I see infinite possibilities. It reminds me of you because some people gasp when they see it. Others laugh with joy. Still more silently appreciate it. You elicit all those reactions within me, and more. The only difference is, you’re right here. With me. Down here where I can touch you. Hold you.” He took a deep breath. “Where I can be with you.”
Olivia turned in his arms, staring up at him, tears at the corners of her eyes. “Aaric…”
He shook his head. Aaric wasn’t done.
“There’s one other different,” he said softly, both hands slipping from her shoulders.
“What’s that?” Olivia asked, her voice so soft even he had to strain to hear it.
“That if you’ll have me, I can make you mine, and only mine, for all the time we have left together.”
Olivia gasped.
Aaric flicked out his right hand behind her, focusing on the target he’d set up before. Olivia frowned as light blossomed. She must have seen it in my eyes.
Turning, she looked out at the air behind them, where Aaric’s fire was dancing to his control. He frowned, forcing himself to concentrate. Spelling out a letter with fire was one thing. Controlling fifteen different balls of fire, each spinning in their own pattern to form a question, was something else.
But it was worth it. For the reaction, it was worth it.
“Yes,” Olivia said, her eyes tracing the lines of that one all-important question as it danced in the fire.
He dropped to one knee, the fire going out as he opened the box he held in his left hand.
“Olivia Lawton. You make me better in every way. Since you’ve come into my life, I’ve not been happier, or felt more complete and at home. If there is one thing I could wish for, it would be to hold onto that feeling with you for another three hundred years. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” she shrieked, jumping up and down giddily as he placed the ring on her finger.
Aaric barely had a chance to brace himself before she flung herself into his arms, smothering him with kisses.
“You’re such a trickster,” she said when they came up for air.
“What do you mean?” he asked innocently.
“Pretending like you just wanted to come home. Gosh. You had me fooled!” she said with a laugh, hugging him tightly. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
Aaric smiled. “Gotta keep you on your toes somehow,” he chuckled, lifting her from the ground to swing her around. “Oh,” he said, letting a frown slip onto his face.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” she asked, grabbing him by the forearms as he set her down.
“Yeah. Yeah it is. We’re missing something.”
“What? What are we missing? We have each other.”
“That we do,” he said with a grin. “But we need something else.”
“Like what?” Olivia wanted to know, looking up at him.
Aaric grinned and sprung the final part of his trap. “Fireworks.”
A ball of flame shot from his fingertips and landed on a specific spot on the lawns behind them. Something flared where it landed.
Olivia turned just in time to watch as the first few tubes lit off, sending their cargo high into the sky, where they exploded into a slew of colors.
“You had all this planned,” she said slowly. “All of this? You got this all arranged without me finding out?”
Aaric smiled, pulling her into his grip, loving the way her head fit just under his, so they could both watch the lightshow. “Maybe.”
“I love you,” she said, wrapping her hands around his. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head.
I love you too.
***
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Thank you for reading Fire Dragons Bride. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review so that others might enjoy the adventure as well.
Next Book: Mated to the Water Dragon (Sep ’19)
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Other Books by Riley Storm
High House Ursa
Bearing Secrets
Furever Loyal
Mated to the Enemy
Shifting Alliances
Blood Bearon
High House Canis
Savage Love
Blood Mate
Moonlight Bride
Shadow’s Howl
Royal Alpha
High House Draconis
Fire Dragons Bride
Mated to the Water Dragon (Sep ’19)
About the Author
Riley Storm
Riley is one of those early-morning people you love to hate, because she swears she doesn’t need caffeine, even though the coffee-maker is connected to her smartphone. She lives in a three-story townhouse by the good graces of a tabby-cat who rules the house, the couch, the table, well, basically everywhere. When she’s not groveling for forgiveness for neglecting to pet her kitty enough, Riley is strapped in to her writing chair coming up with crazy worlds where she can make her own decisions of when feeding time is and how much coffee can be drank without her friends—of which she has three—holding yet another intervention that they threaten to post on the internet.
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Riley Storm’s Amazon Page
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