“How?”
“The nanites in my body made it possible,” she said, her hand caressing her soft belly.
Dragon found himself at her side before he even knew what he was doing. Despite his hurt, he couldn’t help but desire her touch and to touch her in return.
“It’s true.” Her black eyes that had filled his dreams night after night stared into his. “I’m carrying your child.” She looked down at his hand as it reached for her stomach.
He wasn’t in control of his body any longer and didn’t even try to retract his hand. When Jade slightly nodded her assent, he pressed his fingers against her soft bump. It was small under his large hand. “Jade,” he whispered, choking on her name. All of a sudden, he was on his knees in front of her.
“At first, I didn’t believe I was pregnant myself.” Her hand tentatively landed on his. “Assassins can’t have children. Or so I thought. Everybody thought… But our bodies are genetically altered to the point that we are no longer human—”
While listening to her, Dragon looked at their hands, resting atop her stomach.
“A medicus explained to me that I could only conceive with a shifter,” she finished, her breath hot on his lips.
“A child,” he said in wonder.
Dragon had just found her, and now this. His heart threatened to explode from the intense emotions overwhelming his senses. “You are here, with me. I’ll make you remember me again. I’ll make you remember us.” The words came out of his mouth all at once. Many thoughts fought for attention in his mind, and he needed to vocalize them.
“We’re going to be a family.” Shaking, he leaned his forehead against hers.
Jade tensed. “I—” she started saying but didn’t finish her sentence.
Dragon hated the emotional distance between them. “I need you so much, it’s driving me insane.” If only things were easy, and he could act on his desire. If only he could forget Jade had made a decision that affected both of them. “You had an erasion.” The idea that she had gotten rid of his memory pained him greatly and it kept coming back, like a festering wound he couldn’t leave alone. To him, that was the ultimate betrayal.
Surprise, joy, anger, shock, elation, fury, and then again happiness filled Dragon’s heart and mind, chasing each other as he tried to make sense of his sentiments.
We are going to have a child. The thought played in a loop alongside her choosing to forget him.
Jade stepped back, away from him. “If you can’t accept what I did, I have no reason to remain here. The Academy is after me—”
“I won’t let them kill you. I’ll consign myself to them to spare your life, if there’s no other option.”
“Thank you, but there’s no need.”
“Things have obviously changed now since we’re going to have a child, but I agreed when Master Eon told me that was the price to pay to keep you alive,” he said. “I wasn’t going to make it easy for them, and I still needed proof the Academy would comply—”
She paled. “Why?”
“Why what exactly? I’ve said several things—”
“Why would you die for me?” She visibly trembled.
“Because you are my soulmate, and I just can’t live without you.”
Jade’s breath quickened, and she took another step back. “I don’t even know you.”
“I pledged my love to you on Solaria.” He slowly walked to her. “I renew my pledge of love now on Celestia.” Sensing she was about to bolt, he stopped before he got too close. “I was ready to die for you, and that hasn’t changed. But there’s a life growing inside you, and that does change everything. Let me be a part of it.” He stepped closer. “Please, I’ve had more surprises today than I can bear but having you here with me is my dream come true, and my brain can’t process anything else.” His hand reached out. “Please.”
Jade’s arm timidly left her side. “I—” Her eyes rolled back as she collapsed in front of him.
40
Jade heard her name called from a distance.
“Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes, she only needs to rest and eat.”
“I felt like I was fainting all the time when I was expecting Valemir. She’s going to be fine.”
“Why isn’t she waking?”
Strong arms cradled her against a firm chest, and she knew right away that Dragon held her. His heart beat strong against her ear, and it made her feel safe.
After running and fearing for her life for so long, this man’s embrace had the power to calm her. She had tried to fight the feeling, but when they were escaping from the Citadel, he kept her alive. She hadn’t wanted to trust him, to place her life in his hands, and yet he saved her, his assassin.
Jade opened her eyes and moved in his arms. They were still in the basement.
“Jade,” he whispered. “How do you feel?”
“Dizzy.” She tried to lift her head, but he shushed her and brushed her forehead.
“You’ll feel better as soon as you fill your stomach with some food,” a petite woman said, entering Jade’s line of sight. Valentine Lobo stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder. So, this was the famous Mirella, the Blessed Bride who had changed rules and remained alive against all odds. “I know I can’t go an hour without eating something, now that the nausea has finally stopped.” She caressed her big, round belly.
“It stops?” Jade couldn’t help but ask. Although now that she thought about it, since waking in her Academy’s cell, she hadn’t had any nausea. Things had been too hectic for her to notice.
“It does, thank the Goddess! With this second one, it lasted forever, but now, I could eat for three werewolves, all day long.” Mirella laughed.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Martelli entering the room, followed by two servants carrying trays. The aroma of roasted meat and spices wafted in the air, and Jade’s stomach growled.
“I’ll come back later to see if you need anything or if you just want to talk,” Mirella said, waving her hand as she walked away with her husband shadowing her.
“We need to talk, too,” the vampire said, looking at Dragon before lowering his eyes to Jade. “Congratulations.” His voice was softer than a moment ago.
The servants placed the trays on two low tables they moved closer to the couch. They bowed and left alongside Martelli who gave Jade and Dragon one last glance before turning.
Once they were alone, Dragon’s proximity felt too close, and Jade slid onto the couch to create some distance between them.
Her gesture clearly displeased him, but he tilted his head and nodded. “It’s okay. I’ll conquer your heart again.” Dragon didn’t reach out for her but remained with his hands splayed on the couch. “Let’s eat.” He turned and removed the lid from one of the trays, uncovering a feast for the senses.
A riot of colors and smells hit Jade at once, and the rest of the room swayed all around her. When did she last eat? She couldn’t remember.
Dragon fixed a plate for her, but didn’t hand it over. Instead, his bright eyes bored into hers, darkening as his chest rose and fell slowly. She looked at him, caught by the spell of his unwavering, all-consuming gaze. Without a word, he tore a chunk from a golden-brown fritter and soaked it in the meat gravy. His hand reached over, closing the gap between them, aiming for her mouth. The gesture was at the same time frightening and all too-familiar. As if it had happened already.
Jade couldn’t remember, but her body did, prompting her lips to part and accept his offering. The food slid into her mouth, resting for a moment on her tongue before she swallowed the gravy and chewed the doughy morsel. As she ate, Dragon devoured her with his eyes, following each of her gestures with a focus that made her feel as she had never felt before. As if she were the only woman in the universe.
Deep inside her, in some recess of her mind, Jade knew she shouldn’t lower her defenses and let him close, but she couldn’t muster the strength to push him away. Whatever they’d had in the past, i
t must have been strong if an erasion hadn’t cured her of this insanity.
When he poured an amber beverage in a goblet and pressed the cold crystal against her lips, he whispered, “This is the Goddess Nectar, a juice extracted from the jonquil flowers that grow only here on Celestia, in the Elysian Fields.”
The rich tenor of his voice sent hot shivers down her body, burning her as she opened her mouth for him and drank. The sparkling beverage filled her throat with a sweet yet citrusy aftertaste, leaving her thirsty for more. She licked her lower lip, chasing a drop of the nectar, and his eyes became the color of a stormy sea.
Before she could say or do anything, Dragon leaned forward, taking possession of her mouth.
His lips moved against hers, demanding acceptance. His hands, now suddenly free, roamed across her back before pulling Jade closer to him. She knew what it felt like, breathing through those lips, but it had been a matter of life and death before. Now, it seemed so much more.
Survival wasn’t at stake any longer, but her soul was.
Her arms moved by their own volition, finding their way around his large frame, pulling him toward her, needing the contact more than the food. She opened her mouth then, accepting his invasion, cherishing the feeling of his tongue caressing hers. The kiss was frantic, born of need and desperation, and she welcomed its roughness, matching Dragon’s movement with her own need. A need she hadn’t known she had, but it was there, demanding satisfaction at last.
All rational thinking discarded, Jade found herself in Dragon’s lap, her hands clutching at the hem of his shirt as he lowered her shirtsleeves, uncovering her shoulders. He dipped his head, covering her skin with a trail of kisses until his lips brushed the swell of her breasts.
“I missed you,” he whispered, his voice rough and low.
The words doused Jade’s lust like a cold shower. She pushed away from him, raising her shirt to cover her shivering flesh.
It took a moment for Dragon to realize what was happening, but when he did, the ache in his eyes was impossible to miss.
“I’m not the same person you knew,” Jade said, moving on the couch until she sat at the opposite end from him. “You miss someone else.”
“I can’t help but want you.” He shook his head. “Even if you don’t remember any of it. I made love to you and promised I would fix my marital status so that we could be together. I only let you go because it was safer for you. Since the moment we parted, I’ve only thought of getting you back to start our life together. I went to the Academy to offer them a bargain they couldn’t refuse—”
“But they refused it.”
“They did, and I guess your state is the reason for it.”
“The Academy has already sold our child to the highest bidder. And they intend to use me as a breeding machine of super soldiers. So there’s no need for you to sacrifice your life for me. Master Eon has just played you for a fool, making you pay for my life when he has no intention to kill me anymore.”
Dragon’s face betrayed his sentiments, his handsome traits changing into a mask of fury. “I’ll kill every last one of them before they touch you again.”
41
Dragon couldn’t keep his hand from reaching for her. Being close to Jade and not being able to touch her was madness. He didn’t know how long he could bear the torture of restraining his body.
One moment she had been fire under his hands, the next moment, the cold assassin had come back. He could see the first cracks in her armor, but she resisted him, them, and it was driving him crazy.
She looked at his hand, tentatively stretching to touch her stomach. His gesture made her move away from him. “I can’t think when you touch me,” she said.
“We shouldn’t be thinking at all.” He lowered his hand to his thigh. “Lovers only feel.”
“I can’t be your lover.”
“I love you,” he said, breaking inside.
“I don’t love you.” She shook her head. “My body wants you, but it’s not enough.” Her hand went to her stomach. It was an automatic gesture. Even after spending so little time with this new version of her, he recognized it as such.
“Your body recognizes me because you are part of me as I am part of you.” He wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. “I can’t live without you. You are my soulmate—”
Jade gave him a cold stare. “I know nothing of it. What I know is that my child deserves more from me. I can’t make mistakes now.”
It was too much to bear. Dragon stood, needing to put as much distance as he could between them. “It feels like the gods have decided to punish me.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Promise me you’ll give us a chance. If not for you, for our child.” His voice shook as he uttered the words.
Their child.
He had suppressed his desire to be a father because he wanted this woman more than anything else in the world, but now, they could have it all.
He had fought the notion at first because it was too much to hope for. Two dreams came true on the same day. Now, the only thing he wanted was for Jade to let him cradle her in his arms. He would whisper against her soft bump how much he loved their child already. Jade had erected a barrier between them, though, and he would respect her wishes. Even if it felt like dying inside.
“Give us a chance,” he said again.
Jade’s stiff posture relaxed, and a new light shone in her eyes. “Give me time,” she finally said, breathing some hope into Dragon’s battered heart.
Afterward, they ate in silence, separated only by a few feet. To Dragon, it felt like there was a gulf between them. He had thought the intimacy of feeding each other would help them regain some of the familiarity that had been lost. It tortured him instead, and it infuriated her.
Unlike Jade, his memories of their past together were intact, and they were tormenting him with vivid clarity as she ate a few meters from him.
Still, Dragon couldn’t bear the idea of not being in her presence and suffered through the ordeal.
Only after the servants came back to retrieve the trays did he talk again.
He took a long breath, then turned on his seat to face her. “From now on, you’ll stay with me. I won’t let you out of my sight ever again—”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“It’s not up for discussion.” He raised his hand to stop her from interrupting him. “I won’t ever touch you again unless you ask me to. We’ll sleep in separate beds, here, in this basement where there are no rooms, and I can check on you at all times. This is a temporary arrangement. It’s my intention to leave for Solaria as soon as possible.”
“And you expect me to go with you.”
Dragon inwardly sighed. “If you don’t want to go to Solaria, say the destination you have in mind, and we’ll go there instead.”
Jade tilted her head, her expression guarded again, but he caught a glimpse of something that looked a lot like a timid smile. It was brief, and had he blinked, he would have missed it altogether, but it had been there.
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“It’s all I ask of you.”
Loud steps resonated from the staircase. Since both Valentine and Gabriel had surprised their enemies more than once by sneaking silently on them, it was clear they wanted to announce their presence. In a perfect world, their thoughtfulness would have been much appreciated. At the moment, it only increased Dragon’s frustration.
“Can we have a word?” Gabriel asked, walking toward them. The vampire’s face was dark, as was Valentine’s.
The werewolf’s eyes cut toward Jade.
“She stays,” Dragon said, gesturing for them to sit. “How did your missions go?” As he asked it, he suddenly noticed Valerian’s prolonged absence. Since finding Jade, Dragon’s focus had been solely on her. Not once had he thought of his lieutenant until now. His heart dropped into his stomach. “Has anything happened to Valerian?”
“He’s just returned,” Valentine said,
but he couldn’t hide the wretched tone in his voice.
Neither Valentine nor Gabriel would have disturbed Dragon’s reunion with Jade for anything less than critical.
“Tell me he’s alive,” Dragon demanded, standing at once.
“He is.” Valentine looked over his shoulder. “You might want to see him.”
Dragon’s mind raced through several scenarios, and he was glad when Jade stood and followed them upstairs without him having to ask. The somber procession ended at Gilda’s internal chamber. The number of guards protecting the apartments had grown to a small army. A sorrowful expression marred the stoic faces of the soldiers.
Gabriel opened the door and held it for Dragon and Jade. When he crossed the threshold, the smell of blood hit his nostrils, making him recoil even before he took a look inside the room.
Valerian’s large dragon lay on the floor, his maimed body taking all the space available, his long tail coiled tight against his hind leg. Gilda was at his side, her arms thrown over his dark hide. The princess’s face was stricken with tears, but she wasn’t crying any longer. Instead, she rocked against Valerian’s dragon, kissing his feathers, whispering for him to come back to her.
It was a heartbreaking sight, and Dragon felt responsible for it. Valerian wouldn’t be fighting for his life if Dragon had gone to the appointment with the rebels. Instead, he had sent Valerian disguised as the High Lord. They were of similar build and height; a wig was all it took to make Valerian look like him.
“What happened?” Dragon asked, unable to step into the room.
From behind him, Gabriel answered, “It was an ambush. The rebels never had any interest in negotiating for Lauren’s release. As soon as our lookalikes arrived at our locations, they were attacked. Of course, we’d expected violence and planned accordingly so we could save our men.” He hesitated a moment before resuming, “But we don’t know what happened at Valerian’s meeting. He’s the only one of his crew who came back.”
“There’s nothing we can do for Valerian. His dragon is healing him,” Dragon said.
The Fifth Moon's Assassin (The Fifth Moon's Tales Book 5) Page 17