Princess Lyrian: Dragon Breeze Compilation (Return of the Dragons Book 7)

by Rinelle Grey

  Suddenly, Brad felt at peace with their decision.

  It didn’t lessen the want. Not one bit.

  But it did make it easier to bear.

  It made it possible for him to give Lyrian one gentle kiss, then pull back. It made it possible for him to keep holding her hand, without needing to give into the want and pull her up against him. It made it possible for him to smile at her and say, “What’s our next move? Lisa is a dead end. How else can we look for your brother?”

  Lyrian stared at him for a few moments, as though she was having a harder time moving on than he was.

  Brad smiled encouragingly. If he could do this, he knew she could.

  It seemed to help. She took a deep breath, and a determined look came over her face. “We can’t go back into the town. Not for a few days at least. So we need to look elsewhere.”

  Brad nodded. That made sense. “Where?” he asked.

  Lyrian hesitated, then gave a sigh. “The only place I know for certain is where that Trima dragon came from—my next brother’s Mesmer chamber.”

  Adrenaline hit Brad, half fear about going up against another dragon, half excitement. “Right. If that dragon is gone, is it likely to be unguarded?”

  “I don’t know,” Lyrian said. “It’s possible, but unlikely. Another dragon will probably be there by now. But their presence indicates that there’s a high probability that my brother is still there.”

  Brad hesitated. He didn’t want to burst Lyrian’s bubble, but it had to be said. “He won’t have any more idea where to find the rest of your clan than you do, will he?”

  “No, he won’t. But if we can wake him, then there will be two of us. That makes us safer, and means we’re more likely to survive if another Trima dragon attacks us.”

  It was hard to argue with that logic. Brad nodded. “So how do we wake him then?”

  This was one bit he didn’t really understand. The dragon magic kind of went over his head. He’d have to follow Lyrian’s lead on this one.

  And for some reason, she was hesitating. Not meeting his eyes.

  Brad had asked the question casually, more concerned with how they were going to get past a waiting dragon than anything else. But from the way Lyrian was acting, something else was going on.

  Uneasiness squirmed in Brad’s stomach. “What is it?” he demanded.

  Lyrian hesitated again, then took a deep breath. “I need to be the one to wake him,” she said firmly. “A blood relative is the best option we have. Which means you’re going to have to watch for the dragon.”

  Now Brad’s stomach was squirming for an entirely different reason.

  He wasn’t too sure about facing up to an angry dragon at all. Especially not with only the shotgun for protection. And there was another concern. “What about Anarian?” he asked. “Can you take her with you?”

  Lyrian hesitated, then nodded slowly. “I suppose so. It will certainly be safer inside the Mesmer chamber. The Trima dragons can’t enter.”

  That was news to him. “Maybe it’s safer if we’re all in there then? Then you and your brother can take out the other dragon and we can leave.”

  It seemed like a workable plan to Brad, but Lyrian was shaking her head. “Calrian will be weak when he first wakes. It will take him several weeks to regain enough energy to be able to fight.”

  Brad frowned. That didn’t seem to help them at all.

  In fact, it seemed like a particularly bad process all round. “So dragons can regenerate, but they’re not back to full strength for several weeks anyway? Doesn’t seem like that much benefit.”

  If he operated on someone, they’d be back to normal in a month or two. Maybe not fighting fit, but close to. It was longer, yes, but not as much as he would have expected. And he didn’t know how injured her brother had been in the first place.

  There it was again. Lyrian looked away. Towards Anarian, yes, but the baby hadn’t stirred.

  What was going on?

  Brad took a step towards Lyrian, and lifted her chin towards him. “What is it?”

  Her eyes were haunted. She licked her lips.

  The uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach was back. There was something she wasn’t telling him. What was it? And why?

  “There is a way a dragon can regain their energy much faster after the Mesmer,” she said quietly. “But it would only be possible with an unrelated dragon, so it’s not an option for us.”

  That gave Brad a clue, but he needed to hear it from her. “What is it?” he asked quietly.

  Lyrian took a deep breath. “Sex,” she said flatly.

  For a moment, Brad wasn’t sure why she’d been avoiding telling him. Yes, it was a strange quirk of dragons, but what wasn’t? Surely she wasn’t embarrassed? They’d slept together twice, and from what he’d seen, she certainly wasn’t a prude.

  Then it hit him.

  She wasn’t embarrassed that her brother could recover faster if they could find an unrelated dragon. This wasn’t about her brother at all.

  This was about them.

  “Was that why you slept with me when I first arrived?” he asked roughly.

  He could see it in her eyes even before she spoke. That hesitant, guilty look. “Yes,” she said slowly. “Henry knew I needed someone. He couldn’t do it, he was too old. So he sent for you.”

  But Henry hadn’t sent for Brad. “Actually, he sent for my brother, but he couldn’t come.”

  His words sounded distant, even to his ears. He was surprised he managed to get them out without stammering. His life had been turned upside down when he arrived here and had found out about Anarian, but he thought he’d risen to the occasion reasonably well.

  Now the ground shifted under his feet, a new reality hitting him almost as hard.

  It was only random chance that Brad had been the one to come. If it had been Nate, then he would be the one who Lyrian was with. He’d be Anarian’s father.

  It wasn’t like Lyrian had chosen him because she felt something for him.

  She wasn’t in love with him. She’d used him. First to help her recover, and now to help her escape from the Trima dragon and to find her clan.

  Brad stumbled back, his heart roiling in his chest.

  He’d thought they had something special. Something unlike anything he’d ever experience before.

  He’d been searching for a way to work this out so that they could be together. He’d thought she was too.

  But now he was beginning to wonder if she even cared. Once she found her family, she’d probably be glad to see the last of him.

  Lyrian’s eyes widened at his words. She reached out a hand to him, but Brad backed away.

  “That doesn’t matter though,” she said. “You were the one who came.”

  “But it would it have been any different for you if it had been Nate?” he said bitterly. “You still would have slept with him if he’d arrived instead of me. It was all about healing, and never about me.”

  “It wasn’t like that at all,” Lyrian protested, her face a picture of misery. “It was just that first time. The second time, that was because I wanted to.”

  That should have helped. And it did, a little.

  But not enough.

  It mitigated the pain in his heart, but by such a small fraction it was barely noticeable.

  The practical, sensible part of him was saying that it was irrelevant. That she hadn’t slept with his brother, so what did it matter. That if Nate had come, maybe she would have just moved on. There could still be something special between them.

  But his heart didn’t care. It still hurt too much.

  “You could have at least told me,” Brad said flatly.

  He wasn’t sure why that would have made it better, but it would. If he’d known before it started, it wouldn’t be like a punch to the gut now.

  “Would you have believed me?” Lyrian challenged.

  Brad hesitated. “I’m sure you could have convinced me,” he snapped. Even as he said the
words, he knew he was being unfair. If he were talking to a friend going through this, he’d tell them what mattered was now, not then. But he couldn’t make himself believe it.

  “Even if you didn’t tell me at first, you should have before we slept together the second time. If it meant something, then why didn’t you tell me? At the very least, you could have explained why you refused to talk to me after that.”

  He’d tried so hard. He’d wanted so desperately to understand, both when she refused to talk to him then, and why she’d kept Anarian’s existence a secret from him. Why? Why hadn’t she just told him? All he’d wanted was an answer, a chance to understand what was going on.

  He tried to make excuses for her. She’d been scared and alone, in an impossible situation. She still was. She’d just done what she needed to do to survive.

  But even if his mind could rationalise the situation, his heart continued to insist that this changed everything.

  It changed the situation from them both being swept up in this amazing passion into… well, being just like any other relationship he’d experienced.

  He was used to people lying to him or tricking him. Usually because they wanted something. He’d always been able to see it for what it was, and not let it bother him. He’d let it be their problem, not his.

  This was different.

  This was very much his problem, and he cared far too much.

  “I’m sorry, Brad. I wanted to,” Lyrian said, her voice breaking. “But I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

  An excuse. Almost a painful one. “You didn’t even try.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “Maybe that’s because I was scared to. Scared to admit that I might just care about you more than I should. I knew I couldn’t get involved, Brad. My clan had to come first. Back then I didn’t think it would be anywhere near this hard to find them. I thought all I had to do was show up at the lair...” Her voice trailed off.

  “And now you’re clinging to me because you’re worried you might not be able to find them, aren’t you?” Brad demanded, struggling not to let his voice break. It hurt to even ask, but he had to know the truth.

  “No, it’s not like that…” Lyrian protested. “I’d feel the same way even if I knew exactly how to find my clan.”

  They were the words he wanted to hear, but Brad struggled to truly believe them.

  Oh, she might feel different now. She might even truly care for him. But it hadn’t started out that way for her.

  And it had for him.

  He hadn’t known any of this. He’d slept with her, and fallen in love with her, been swept up in that amazing passion, without anything more than his own feelings.

  This revelation didn’t change his feelings for her in the slightest. He still ached to be close to her, and he was still tempted to sleep with her, despite knowing what it could mean. Even knowing she’d kept the truth from him.

  But he couldn’t possibly let this change his life, knowing that it didn’t mean as much to her as it did to him.

  If he came here, left behind the only life he’d ever known, his job, his apartment, his friends and family, all he would have here was her. That wouldn’t be healthy for either of them. It would destroy any relationship that didn’t have a rock hard foundation. And they just didn’t have that. Their only foundation was built on lies.`

  Despite all that, he couldn’t just walk away. They were tied together. They had a child together.

  Why they’d slept together didn’t matter. Nothing would change the fact that he was now a father. Their daughter would connect them together for the rest of their lives.

  There was no walking away and never seeing her again.

  He had to find a way to spend time with Lyrian and not want to sleep with her. To be able to look at her and smile, without wishing it meant something more.

  And the first step would be finding her brothers. Then he wouldn’t feel as responsible for her safety. Then, much as he didn’t want to leave Anarian, he could get some distance. Being away from her for a few weeks would allow him to clear his head.

  To figure out what he really wanted, and how to make that happen.

  Chapter 21

  For a moment there, Lyrian had thought that maybe, just maybe, there might be some way for her and Brad to work things out. A chance for them to have a real relationship, regardless of whether she found her clan or not.

  She’d wanted to mate with him, despite all the problems that could befall their mating. When she’d looked into his eyes, she’d been sure they could work them out.

  When she’d admitted that she’d slept with him because of the Mesmer bond, everything had changed. She’d watched, helpless, as the love in his eyes had withered up right in front of her. And the worst part was, she couldn’t even really blame him.

  If she’d slept with another dragon as part of the Mesmer ritual, they would have known what it was from the beginning. It had never even occurred to her that she’d be around Brad long enough for them to form a deeper attachment.

  And now, she might have jeopardised that.

  Brad shook his head. “I can’t do this, Lyrian. Not right now.” He stared at her, his face anguished. “I’ll stay and help you find your brothers, like I promised, but then I need to go for a while.”

  Lyrian’s heart cried out at his words, wanting to reach out and pull him back, desperate to fix the connection she’d inadvertently broken. She craved that connection with him as much as she craved food and water.

  But something held her back.

  She couldn’t help remembering how hard it had been to let him go the first time.

  It had taken her weeks to get over him.

  And even if she could convince him to change his mind, convince him that she hadn’t just slept with him because of the Mesmer bond, it wouldn’t make any difference. He still couldn’t stay.

  She was still a princess, and he was still a doctor in America.

  Maybe it was better this way, even if it hurt.

  “I… I understand. But…” her voice trailed off. Her heart refused to give up, wanted to throw in all the objections she could think of.

  It was really hard to make herself stop and take a deep breath instead. “Thank you.”

  Brad nodded shortly. He turned away for a moment and walked back towards the ute, his back to Lyrian and Anarian.

  The sound of every footstep thudded in her heart like a death knell on their relationship. The pain in her heart grew, even though she knew this was the only option. For both of them.

  When he turned back a few moments later, he was all business. “I don’t think we should go after your other brother yet. If he’s going to be weak when woken, he won’t be able to help us, and we can almost guarantee there will be a dragon waiting for us. We need help before we can do anything more.”

  This was the Brad she knew. He had answers. Plans. Solutions for everything.

  Lyrian couldn’t help being a little relieved that Brad was back to normal. That even if he’d banished any possibility of a relationship, he wasn’t going to pull away completely.

  Even though that was what she’d done to him.

  Guilt twisted her heart. He was a better person than she was. When she’d faced this decision, she’d run from it. She hadn’t tried to face up to it like he was.

  Then again, Anarian hadn’t existed then. Their baby daughter changed everything.

  “How are we going to find help?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded as normal as his did.

  “I need my phone. If I have it, everything gets easier. I can keep an eye on the news in case there’s anything more about Lisa or Verrian. And I can call my brother. He’ll help us.”

  The thought of having someone to help them, even if it wasn’t a dragon, somehow made Lyrian feel a whole lot better.

  Except for one thing. “Your phone is back at Henry’s.”

  Brad nodded. “Yes, it is. I know it’s a risk, but I still think it’s the best course of a
ction. We can’t go into town, we face both dragons and police there. At least we shouldn’t run into the police at Henry’s.”

  “There’s every chance we’ll find a dragon though,” Lyrian pointed out.

  Brad shrugged. “If we do, we run. We’ve already out run them twice now. I’m sure we can do it again. But hopefully they’ll assume we won’t come back, and won’t be watching the place at all.”

  Lyrian stared at him for a moment. It almost sounded like something she’d say. She nodded slowly. “All right. We go back to Henry’s and get your phone. When?”

  Brad considered. “Tonight I think. Just before it gets dark. That will give us time to check the area, and if it’s all clear, we can stay there the night. It will be more comfortable than here. And there’s food.”

  Lyrian heard the words he wasn’t saying. At Henry’s, he’d have another bed to sleep in. He’d be able to get distance. To not make this any harder than it was already going to be.

  She forced herself to nod. “That sounds like a good plan.”

  *****

  Lyrian held her breath as they drove up the road towards Henry’s old house. She twisted around in her seat, checking the sky, then straightened up to check the bushland all around.

  She was glad that Henry had kept a clearing between his house and the bush. She hadn’t understood why when she’d first arrived, but now she could see that it made it much easier to see if there were any dangers around.

  But so far, it looked all clear.

  Beside her, Brad was doing the same thing, and coming to the same conclusion she was.

  “We’ll pull up in front,” he said. “You stay in the car with Anarian while I check through the house.”

  “I should be the one checking the house while you stay with Anarian. I can smell a dragon if there is one. And I stand a better chance of dealing with one too.”

  “I have a shotgun,” Brad reminded her. “You’ll be safer in the car.”

  He was still worried about her. The bittersweet knowledge twisted her belly.

  But it didn’t convince her to follow his plan. “If you’re in the car, you can have it started by the time I get back, meaning we can get away faster. It makes more sense, Brad.”