She pulled back sharply, all vestiges of her smile wiped clean. “What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything.” It was the truth and should’ve been said more firmly, with conviction and without guilt coloring the edges.
She tilted her head as two little lines between her eyebrows appeared. “You called me ‘Annie’.”
Fuck!
She heard me, half-ling, Ver’gren roared, causing the milling warriors around them to stop and look directly at the couple they’d studiously ignored just moments before. Our Annie can hear me!
Holding his shoulders as well as his eyes, Adri released her legs giving him no choice but to ease his clasp of her well-rounded ass and allow her to slide to her feet. He expected her to step away, to push him back so she could escape but once standing, she thankfully remained pressed against him.
“How come I can hear that voice in my head? The one that sounds like you but is deeper and louder?”
Ti’eron blinked, unable—or more truthfully, unwilling—to understand what she meant. “You hear voices? And they call you Annie?”
She waved a hand as if to dismiss whatever she had going on in her mind. “Yeah. No. Well, maybe.” Her eyes came back to his with a lost look in their depths. “I haven’t used Annie since I was a teenager. My full name is Adrienne, but now I call myself Adri.”
He swallowed thickly at the vulnerability she was offering, the honesty in her face. “When I was younger, I went by Eron.”
The body beneath his fingertips went into statue mode as her eyes flicked over his. It was time, time to either man-up or walk away. “Yeah, baby. I’m the guy who gave you your first kiss, and who let you practice at it until we made it—“
“Perfect.”
The one word she uttered fully encapsulated the whole of a summer of discovery and all the pleasure they’d found in each other’s company.
“You came back.”
“I never went away, Adri. Not really. I got sick when my dragon came out of hibernation, but—“
“They told me you died.”
Seriously? He’d liked the Andersons, thought they’d been good people and better than most of the foster families he’d been around. But to lie to the young girl they knew he’d grown to love?
“I mourned you for years and years, Eron.” Tears filled her beautiful, grief-stricken eyes before spilling down her colorless cheeks.
What could he say to make it better? He used a hand to smooth her wild hair. “I was sick, Adri. So sick when Ver’gren started to awaken. The doctors worked so hard to bring my fever down but even their drugs didn’t help.”
She closed her eyes as if to steel herself for what came next. “You promised you’d never leave me.”
“I know, Adri, but it couldn’t be helped.” Christ! He could feel the depths of her pain along his connection with his dragon but didn’t know what to do or say to heal it.
She dropped her forehead to his chest, her fingers digging into his shoulders. “You swore, Eron, swore I’d never be alone again. But you left.” Her whispered words tore him up inside, bringing back the memory of those early frenzied days when he’d been half out of his mind with the fever and the hole in his heart only she fulfilled.
Please don’t cry, darling one. Ver’gren offered his growl as a warm caress, but Ti’eron remembered how scared he’d been when he’d first heard the dragon’s voice inside. We’re here now and pledge to remain for as long as you’ll have us.
Though she didn’t give any outward indication of Ver’gren’s words, she began to cry in earnest, hugging Ti’eron tightly. Dropping his cheek to the top of her head and squeezing her in return just as fiercely, even his dragon-enhanced hearing struggled to catch her next words.
“I’ve missed you so much, my Eron. So very, very much.”
*.*.*.*.*
I gave myself over to all the emotions welling within me, all that I couldn’t contain or control. Taking ten years, seven months and twenty-nine days of heartbreak out and away with every tear that fell from my leaking eyes onto Ti’eron’s leather vest.
Knowing he was the grown-up version of the boy I’d fallen head over heels with so long ago explained the instant attraction I’d felt the moment we’d first met. Because even though we’d only spent ninety-three days together way back when, our two younger selves had built a relationship stronger than any I’d ever had since.
One that grounded me and gave me hope, making me strive to help him build wishes as well, big dreams of a future we could share together. And, I’d believed it all. That we would be together forever, and nothing would or could tear us apart.
Until everything had gone to hell in the matter of four short hours.
Just after dinner, Eron had complained of a headache and I’d sat by his bed, holding his hand in between rewetting the cold washcloth I’d draped over his eyes. When I felt the burning of his hand in mine and he no longer responded to my voice, I got Mrs. Anderson involved who quickly called the paramedics.
Under the flashing blue and red lights of the ambulance, the boy of my heart, of my soul was shoved into the back of the scarily appointed truck, with its tubes, wires and instruments just waiting to claim the only person I ever loved with every fiber of my being.
I heard unfamiliar male voices bellowing, ‘his fever’s spiking. Oh Christ, we’re losing him. Grab the adrenaline. Got it? Shit, he’s crashing. Crashing. Grab the damn paddles, will you?’ before Mr. Anderson pulled me away.
An hour later my foster-father came to find me, tucked into the same chair I’d pulled to Eron’s bed when I’d tried to soothe his headache, a migraine he’d called it, armed with nothing more than cold cloths to ease his pain. With a gentle hand on my shoulder and even gentler words, my Mr. Anderson shattered my world.
‘I’m so sorry, Annie, but Eron didn’t make it. He died, wee one. But Mrs. Anderson said he left calling out for you. Take comfort in that if you can. Take comfort in knowing that boy loved you with all that he had and left this world with your name on his lips.’
Dragon? Back in the here and now of the moment, smushed up against Ti’eron’s vest, I searched out the source of the voice that’d spoken to me before and continued on even though I couldn’t find it. I don’t know if you can hear me or not. I might be talking to myself. But, if you can hear me, thank you. Thank you for finding me, for bringing Eron back.
It might have been my imagination or even wishful thinking but those kinds of things never made the hair on my arms stand straight up as a long, glowing purr resounded inside me.
I chose to believe Ti’eron’s dragon liked what I said.
Chapter Five
Ti’eron heard what she’d told Ver’gren through their shared connection but he didn’t let on. Frankly the fact she could hear his dragon, could communicate directly was a shock.
That’s because our Annie is—
I need you to shield, Ver’gren. Ti’eron interrupted his dragon firmly before the beast could go any further and dig them a hole too big to escape from.
She stepped out of his arms and snatched a handful of napkins, mopping at her face and then his vest. “So what happens now?”
“What do you mean?”
She paused in her cleanup effort and glanced up at him. “Now that we finally found each other, where do we go from here? I mean, what’s the next step?”
“The next step?”
Adri gave a one-shoulder shrug and looked away. “Yeah. Do we date? Take some time to get to know each other as adults?”
He paused and looked around the crowded bar as if the answer could be found floating in the air. As questions went, it was a good one and deserved a reply. In his mind, he’d only gotten as far as telling her who he was, her happily falling into his arms before he took her to bed to complete the homecoming festivities.
“Because I gotta warn you, I’m not the same sweet, naïve little girl you knew before. And you’re definitely not the skinny boy who used to write bad p
oetry.”
Wasn’t that the truth. Shit, he’d forgotten about that—the way he used to carefully craft some sort of love-sick rhyme and then slip it under her bedroom door to ensure she’d think of him first thing in the morning. He rolled his eyes but at mid-arc, his attention zeroed in on the nearest TV. “Hey, can someone turn that up?”
The bar quieted as Colin used the remote to increase the volume, every warrior focusing on the large screen.
“Yes, yes the dragons have been effective in dealing with the small swarms of Berstats trying to enter Earth’s airspace. But our scans show what we’ve recently seen in our skies is paltry, a drop in the ocean, compared to the horde still making its way to us.” General Brecon, head of the Global Joint Chiefs of Staff and one of Ti’eron’s major pains in the ass, was holding a press conference. “This is why our military and those of the other forces around the globe are immediately taking control of the situation. We’ve established a new branch of the global militia for the WarDrags but make no mistake, they will be only a portion of what we are prepared to launch in the effort to save Earth from the Berstat invasion.”
Nausea rolled through Ti’eron’s stomach as Ver’gren, along with every other dragon in the bar, roared in outrage.
Son of a bitch! The old war-horse had done it, had finally found a way to put the Warrior Dragons under governmental control and, more specifically, under his thumb.
Re’nal suggests we go back to base to discuss this with our brethren.
“I’ve got to go,” Ti’eron told Adri who was staring at him with fear in her eyes. Although he wasn’t sure if she understood the full impact of what ass-hat Brecon was scheming to achieve. “We’ll work on the other stuff later.”
Giving her a brief kiss, he pushed his way through the group of humans and followed his fellow warriors up to the roof. Christ, what a fuck up.
*.*.*.*.*
The bar was the busiest it had ever been and a direct result of the media touting dragonkind as heroes for their work in destroying the Berstats before the bugs ever made it to the ground. Sure there were still the zealots who believed the dragons were demons straight from Hell’s gate but over the last couple of days more and more of the townsfolk came to Toxic to thank the warriors instead.
As I slipped behind the bar though, I wasn’t thinking of how the tide of public opinion had changed for the WarDrags. My thoughts were on Ti’eron, of the anger filling him when that general guy spoke on TV and what this new development would mean to us going forward.
Hours later, after the crowds had left, when Leilani and Colin began to clean up the main rooms I finally got a chance to talk to Vanessa as we ran reports, closed out the cash drawers and cleaned the glassware. “What did Re’nal have to say about the WarDrags now being a part of the military?”
“Nothing but then he never shares anything about that side of his life.” The plaintive tone in her voice made me look her way to see if she looked as sad as she sounded. “I could tell he was pissed, though. He almost tore the door of its hinges when he left for the roof.” Her eyes came to mine. “At least you got a kiss before Ti’eron ran out of here.”
“Yeah, but it was an angry one.” I thought back, trying to give words to the other emotions I’d felt rolling off him. He’d been frustrated along with furious. Impatient, too. Was that because I’d told him we needed to get to know one another as adults instead falling into insta-love or was it because of the broadcast? From the get-go he definitely hadn’t liked my suggestion of us dating. But then, I couldn’t picture us sharing a bucket of popcorn at the local Cineplex in order to view the latest release either.
And he sure as shit didn’t seem to be a ‘go-slow’ kind of guy as evidenced by his snatch and grab style of kissing.
“Uhm, Vanessa?”
“Yeah, honey.”
“What do you and Re’nal do for fun? You know, like in the downtime.” She whipped her face towards me so fast her hair swung. One eyebrow slowly lifted in the universal gesture of ‘are you kidding me?’ and I felt the burn of a blush suffuse my face.
I knew I needed to explain myself but I didn’t want to give her the long story of me and Ti’eron. “It’s just things seem to be going so fast between us and he doesn’t like my ideas of getting to know one another.”
She turned back to the reports she’d been working and shrugged. “To tell the truth, what that hunk of gorgeous dragon-ass and I have is pretty simple. He comes here; we trade a few witticisms, a couple of remarks and a few goofy looks. Then he either comes to my place or lets me ride his dragon’s back in order to get to his—but I try to get out of that one because the man is a freaking slob.”
Vanessa folded a piece of paper in half but I didn’t think she was paying any attention to it. “Then, when we’re alone, he talks about stuff I can’t repeat while I communicate back, mostly in moans.” She looked at me again. “Is that what you want to hear?”
I wasn’t a prude. I’d dated more than my fair share of guys and a couple of them had even evolved into lovers. I didn’t judge a girl for indulging in a brief encounter of the slap-and-tickle kind as long as it wasn’t with the man I was seeing. But something about Vanessa’s description just seemed the tiniest bit…off. Which is probably why I couldn’t keep from asking, “is that enough for you though?”
Her bleak eyes met mine before she shuttered them on a hard blink. “It has to be. According to him, that’s all any girl is gonna get when she ties herself to a WarDrag. Their main focus is on the beast living inside them and they can only spare a few moments or a couple of hours for the puny women who love them.” She sniffed wetly and I looked at the Collins glass I’d been washing for the last few minutes to give her some privacy. “I’ve learned he was right.”
Love. At least she’d used the word ‘love’ while giving me more insight than I actually wanted to know.
Did Ti’eron think the same? Was he only looking for a willing body to slake his sexual thirst?
“Can you hear Re’nal’s dragon in your head, though?” That was the one piece of the puzzle I still couldn’t understand.
She laughed, but to my ears, it sounded bitter. “Oh hell, no. The only time someone human hears a dragon’s voice is when the couple are, or destined to be, mated. My badass guy in blue says that’s nothing but a freaking fairytale girls tell other girls to keep the hope of a proposal alive.”
My stomach clenched and head swam so fast, I gripped the edge of the counter to steady myself. That couldn’t be right. There was no way in hell, Ti’eron and I were…
Oh shit, no wonder he’d been so angry, frustrated and impatient!
*.*.*.*.*
Tension in the compound’s infrequently used conference room was so thick, Ti’eron almost considered it a separate presence. It had only gotten worse during the full seven minute, forty-five seconds view of fucking Stephen D. Brecon’s, general and leader of the Global Joint Chief of Staff’s, press conference. The man was a blow-hole, but a smart and conniving one which is always the most dangerous kind.
“Did anyone receive any communiqué of this in advance?” Re’nal was looking at the split screen of the commanders who led the Black and Green squadrons in the southern hemisphere.
M’dobe, the leader of the green dragons shook his head in the negative. “I didn’t.”
“I’d heard rumors,” Hu’ang said, with a sigh that echoed as it came through the speakers. “But nothing concrete enough for me or my squad to follow up on.”
Ti’eron pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and the large screen changed to one of an email. “This was waiting for me when I arrived. As you can see, it’s from General Brecon and includes an attachment, all forty-seven pages of it, outlining the expectations of the Warrior Dragon role, our responsibilities and how we are expected to cooperate with the other military branches.”
He glanced up at the other warriors in the room, noting their various postures and facial expressions. None of them appeared happy. “
I’ve forwarded this to every warrior registered and cleared to fight. Read it, absorb it—“
“And then shred or delete the fucking thing!” came a bellow from the back of the room but Ti’eron didn’t know which specific warrior yelled. The man only said what was in each of their minds.
A new voice came through the speakers after the laughter died down. “Does the document mention anything about the young trainee’s role in all of this? Specifically, the new orange and red dragons that’ve emerged in the last three years?”
“Excellent question, Dr. Smythe.” Ti’eron had good memories of the man and the time he’d spent at the facility in New Mexico learning to interact with Ver’gren in his early years. “While I only skimmed it, I don’t remember any specific reference to you, your team or the dragonkind under your care.”
Ti’eron wasn’t even sure the good doctor was aware he and his co-commanders hadn’t reported the new squadrons of orange and dark red who had recently come out of hibernation. As each dragon leader had learned—each in their own way—when dealing with the military or any global government official: the less known, the better.
“This doesn’t make sense.” M’dobe’s deep voice stated and Ti’eron switched the screen back so the others could see who was talking. “It says satellites armed with lasers will be the first level of attack in the mesosphere and we, the Warrior Dragons, will share the stratosphere with jet fighters, as needed. The troposphere will be protected by other jets with heat seeking ammunition to perform clean up to ensure no piece of the Berstat exoskeleton reaches Earth.”
Aw, hell. It was gonna be a cluster-fuck up in the sky if dick-head Brecon got his way.
“Does it talk about the punishment for flaming a mother-fucking, sixty million dollar jet that got in my way?” De’von was casually leaning against the wall but his brown eyes spun faster as he spoke, giving lie to his calm demeanor. “I mean, shit. The guys who fly those things have balls and do the best they can with what they’ve got. But we’re faster, able to stop, start and turn on a dime even though while in dragon form, we’re the same size as their planes.”
Bound By Heat - Dragon Shifter Page 18