by Julia Milla
Tears for Her Dragon
Dragon Guard Series #16
by
Julia Mills
There Are No Coincidences.
The Universe Does Not Make Mistakes.
Fate Will Not Be Denied
Copyright © 2017 Julia Mills
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictional manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
NOTICE: This is an adult erotic paranormal romance with love scenes and mature situations. It is only intended for adult readers over the age of 18.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Edited by Lisa Miller, Angel Editing Services
Edited by Amy Pro
Proofread by Tammy Payne with Book Nook Nuts
Cover Designed by Linda Boulanger with Tell Tale Book Covers
Formatted by Charlene Bauer with Wickedly Bold Creations
DEDICATION
Dare to Dream! Find the Strength to Act! Never Look Back!
Thank you, God.
To my girls, Liz and Em, I Love You. Every day, every way, always.
Index of the Original Language of the Dragon Kin
Tears for Her Dragon
Mo chroi’………. My heart
Mo ghra’………. My love
Ta’ mo chroi istigh ionat………. My heart is within you
Mo stór………. My treasure
Mo maité………. My mate
Mo Dragon………. My dragon
An radharc na beatha agus bás………. The Sight of Life and Death
Mo mBean………. My banshee
Mar mo orduithe Dragon, mo ghrá………. As my dragon commands, my love
Codladh sámh………. Sweet dreams
Mo chara………. My friend
Index of Romanian
Tears for Her Dragon
Arde………. Burn
Rău..........Evil
Bunătate..........Goodness
Blestemul Mortii..........Curse of Death
Moarte prin foc..........Death by Fire
Proteja..........Protect
Also by Julia Mills
*****
The Dragon Guard Series
Her Dragon to Slay, Dragon Guard #1
Her Dragon’s Fire, Dragon Guard #2
Haunted by Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #3
For the Love of Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #4
Saved by Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #5
Only for Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #6
Fighting for Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #7
Her Dragon’s Heart, Dragon Guard #8
Her Dragon’s Soul, Dragon Guard #9
The Fate of Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #10
Her Dragon’s No Angel, Dragon Guard #11
Her Dragon, His Demon, Dragon Guard #12
Resurrecting Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #13
The Scars of Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #14
Her Mad Dragon, Dragon Guard #15
Tears for Her Dragon, Dragon Guard #16
Her Love, Her Dragon: The Saga Begins, A Dragon Guard Prequel
*****
The ‘Not-Quite’ Love Story Series
Vidalia: A ‘Not-Quite Vampire Love Story
Phoebe” A ‘Not-Quite’ Phoenix Love Story
Zoey: A ‘Not-Quite’ Zombie Love Story
Jax: A ‘Not-Quite’ Puma Love Story
Heidi: A ‘Not-Quite’ Hellhound Love Story (Magic & Mayhem Kindle World)
*****
Kings of the Blood
VIKTOR: Heart of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book 1
ROMAN: Fury of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book2
ACHILLES: Soul of Her King ~ Kings of the Blood ~ Book 3
The Dragon Guard
We soar the skies
Free to a certain extent,
As long as we stay hidden
From prying human eyes.
Our scales differ in color
Our defensive weapons,
Tails, horns, talons and all,
Are never the same.
We are one with nature
We blend in with nature
The wind helps us soar high in the heavens
While the earth grant us healing strength in our hour of need.
We are one with the world
We are the guardians of our kin
When evil conspire to maim and hurt
We are protectors of this human race.
As majestic animals of fairytales
We share our beings with great men
They walk in honor and the grace of Fate,
Fate that we cannot deny.
Copyright © 2016 Melanie Williams
- This Poem is based on the Series, The Dragon Guard by Author Julia Mills.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EPILOGUE
COMING IN MARCH
HER DRAGON TO SLAY
CAUGHT
ACHILLES
ABOUT JULIA
Prologue
Caitlin knew he was there. Had felt his presence the moment he sat down on the ridge behind her home. She’d known even before Duke, her German shepherd and the only companion she’d trusted since the night of the fire. It was also as clear as the nose on her face that her ‘visitor’ meant her no harm. She’d even started to think of him as her Guardian. She knew he was perched beneath the low hanging branches of the weeping willow tree that had been there longer than she’d been alive and that he stayed long after she turned out the lights and lay in bed waiting for sleep to take her from the doldrums of her endless days.
He intrigued her so much that when Duke had scratched on the door, begging to be let out and investigate what he saw as an intrusion into his territory, Caitlin hadn’t hesitated. She’d even walked out on her tiny deck and sat talking to the dog while he sniffed and peed on every blade of grass he could find.
It was now the sixth night her Guardian had appeared and Caitlin Bridges had had enough. She was tired of waiting, tired of wandering, and most of all, tired of not living her life. It had been so long since she’s spoken to anyone other than Duke or Marcie, the home health nurse who came three times a week to bring groceries and dog food and to make sure everything was okay, that the once vital, outgoing young woman wasn’t sure if she remembered how to have a conversation not involving, “No, hamburgers are fine for dinner” or “Thank you, that’ll be all for today. Drive safely”.
When the clock struck five in the afternoon, Caitlin made her way into her room, put on her favorite sweater, the one Marcie always said highlighted the green ‘sparkles’ in her hazel eyes, and brushed her long dark hair. She walked back to the kitchen, made a cup of tea, and sat at the table by the window to wait to feel her Guardian’s arrival. Duke whined and began to pace between where she sat and the door as the clock chimed seven. She knew the sun should have almost disappeared behind the mountains and took several
deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating from her excitement.
Patting Duke’s head, she asked, “You ready for this, big guy? I want you to be on your best behavior.” Her companion’s yip was less than convincing but nonetheless, made her smile. She knew he’d protect her, even if it was from herself.
“I know, I know,” she cooed. “But you have to trust me. He’s a friend. I can feel it.” The young woman touched her chest just over her heart at the same time she rubbed under Duke’s chin.
The chime indicating it was quarter past seven startled both Caitlin and Duke. She chuckled and the dog growled. “It’s okay, silly boy. It’s just the clock.” She took another deep breath, stood, and added, “Time to go meet our Destiny.”
She stopped with her foot in midair, asking Duke, “Destiny? Really?” Then chuckled to herself as she put her foot down, “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Opening the door, Caitlin Bridges walked out on her deck, breathed in the cool night air, repeated her mantra of ‘Today is the first day of the rest of my life’, and called to the man she only knew as her Guardian.
“You might as well come on in. Duke and I know you’re there. I think it’s time we’ve formally met, don’t you?”
Chapter One
He sat on the ridge behind the small white cottage hidden by the low limbs of the weeping willow as the cicadas sang their song with no idea who she was or why she meant so much to him. All the black dragon was sure of was that this was the sixth night in a row he’d been drawn to this spot to watch the raven-haired beauty through the dimly lit windows of her home. The pull was so strong it overrode even his need for vengeance, and for the first time that he could remember, it filled him with something other than rage. Something light and warm and beautiful…if that was possible after so many years in the darkness.
The first night, the large German Shepherd that never left her side had barked and scratched at the back door until the young woman finally relented and let him out. It was then Kyran heard her voice. It was then his fate was sealed. The melodic tone was mesmerizing, penetrating the hard wall he’d built around his heart, leaving its imprint indelibly etched upon his soul. Hours later, long after she’d turned out the lights and presumably retired for the evening, the black dragon begrudgingly gave up his vigil and walked back to his cave in the woods, longing to instead be resting with her in his arms.
That night, images of the raven-haired beauty haunted his every dream. He heard her speak his name, felt her touch upon his face. The tips of her fingers memorized every nuance of his now tattered visage, weaving a web of desire he never wanted to escape. It had been so real that upon awakening, he was shocked to find himself cold and alone, wishing for the object of his infatuation. So here he was again, sitting in the shadows, hiding like a thief, waiting for just one fleeting glance.
Heart racing, hands clenching and unclenching, he saw her shadow through the kitchen window a second before the loud click of the lock on the back door echoed through the night. Unlike all the other evenings, this time her dog did not run toward him barking with teeth bared, warning the black dragon to back off. Instead, the large German Shepherd stayed glued to his mistress’ side, giving only a low growl as she looked out into the yard.
Scooting even farther into the shadows, he whispered to himself while shaking his head, “Kin she see me? Tis nae possible.”
Holding his breath, waiting for her ritual from the nights before to resume, Kyran nearly fell face first into the wet grass as she called to him, “You might as well come on in. Duke and I know you’re there.” He could see the playful grin on her face and actually shocked himself by smiling in return. Then she continued making his heart race. “I think it’s time we formally met, don’t you?”
Tense seconds passed. Torn between running away or continuing to hide, the black dragon finally gave into his soul’s need to be near the beautiful creature and stood. The canine she called Duke bared his teeth and snarled at Kyran’s first step forward from under the dense willow branches, but the young woman quickly corrected him. “No, Duke. He’s our friend.”
Oor friend? She thinks Ah'm her friend??
Unsure what to make of her words but unable to stop his forward motion, Kyran continued his slow approach; the scent of daffodils and sunshine filling his senses. This woman, the one whose very essence called to something deep, something primal within him, was the one he knew could repair not only his broken soul, but his shattered heart too. It made no sense. It was the antithesis of everything he’d been forced to become in the last century. To seek help from anyone only led to pain and anguish. But from the moment of his first vision of her, the past ceased to matter. She was the glorious sun and he merely the cold, dark moon hovering in the magnetism of her presence, thirsting for the warmth and light only she could provide.
The closer he got, the faster his heart beat, the more his dragon stirred within his mind, and the quicker he stepped. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been more excited to see another person. During his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Hunter’s Alliance for Humanity’s Sake, people equaled torture, torture equaled pain, pain always led to Kyran’s total loss of control. Something he’d been taught was unacceptable from a very young age. Being the son of the most powerful banshee to be born in a millennium and the grandson of an original Dragon King for a father, the incredible strength of the black dragon’s magic had been no surprise, but his immediate ability to control it had been nothing less than miraculous.
Then came the evil wizards and the hunters who bartered him off to Tariq O’Baoill and his evil twin offspring. From that point forward, Kyran’s life had been mere flashes of the memories of an illustrious career as a Guardsman in between the endless bouts of pain and torture. He’d held onto his power with an iron fist, had been able to keep both his magic and dragon on a tight leash, but then came the day he’d experienced true torture. Strapped to a table with silver chains eating through every inch of flesh on his body, sedated with a horrible concoction that burned through his veins like a wild fire out of control, and his beast set ablaze by the acrid black magic the wizards forced into his dragon marking, the steel bonds of his control were obliterated.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Kyran smacked his hand to his chest. The feel of grit and dirt on his skin coated the palm of his hand as he touched the still raised glyphs, a punishment that had come later during his stay in the O’Baoill’s Hotel Hell. Looking down at his legs, his stolen and tattered jeans looked even worse than when he’d washed the blood and mud from them in the grotto he now called home. The only reason he still wore them was because they were ‘borrowed’ from one of his brethren after his recent visit to the lair. He would forever be indebted to them for facilitating the removal of the trackers the hunters had embedded in his neck and arm. He would repay them as soon as he could. Until then, the ragged, ill-fitting pants served as his symbolic link with his clan; the one he would make a reality once Eve O’Baoill was dining in hell with her father and brother.
Continuing his perusal, he groaned at the mud caked on his bare feet. At least it covered the scrapes and scars, which was more than he could say for the rest of his body. He hadn’t thought about shoes or a shirt when pilfering clothes from the other Guardsmen. He’d been on the run with little time to outrun the only others able to stop him from completing his mission of vengeance.
“She cannae see me lik’ this,” he mumbled, turning tail and all but running back to the cover of the woods.
“Wait! Don’t go.” Her words stopped the black dragon mid-stride. Standing as still as a statue, unwilling to believe his ears, he waited. Her deep inhale echoed through the silence. Her intense desire to meet him joined with his need to be near her, forming a living, breathing entity within him that was pushing Kyran to turn back and go to her. But it was what she said next that nearly broke his heart.
“I’ve waited so very long for someone I could trust, someone who wanted to know me…for
me.” She paused, and in the utter silence he felt her sadness, her bone-deep loneliness, the incredible loss she kept buried beneath a hard shell of strength and determination. He and this raven-haired beauty were kindred spirits. Two souls searching for respite. Two souls indelibly intertwined by shared experience. Unable to deny her or himself the kinship of someone who understood even the words he would never be able to speak, Kyran slowly turned back.
Noone o' this mak's any sense…
But it didn’t matter. Nothing in his world had made sense in so very long; the black dragon couldn’t actually remember what normal felt like or if he’d ever really known. The only thing he was absolutely sure of was that this woman, this beautiful creature all alone in the world, was somehow his salvation.
Taking one step and then another, he painstakingly made his way to her, watching her furrowed brow relax and her frown evolve into a smile so sweet…so bright, it stole the breath from his lungs. Stopping just short of the wooden deck, ignoring the low growl rumbling from her dog, Kyran took a deep breath and asked, “Are ye sure, lass?” He looked at his clothes again and shook his head, “A'm a mess. Mabbee we should just chat oot 'ere.”
“I’m sure you look fine. Now, come on in, have some tea, maybe even something to eat.” Not waiting for his answer, she turned and, with a snap of her finger, ordered, “Duke, stop growling and come.”
He watched as she opened the door, walked inside, then turned and looked in his direction with a grin. “Are you coming?” She chuckled then immediately furrowed her brow in an obvious mock scowl. “Or do I need to send Duke out to get you?” Snickering again, she added, “Where are my manners? My name is Caitlin Brookes, but you can call me Cait if you like.”