Dragons Need Love, Too (I Like Big Dragons Series Book 2)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  The only thing not black were the wood floors, and those were such a dark brown that they could’ve passed for black.

  “What the fuck?” I asked. “What’s with all the black?”

  He let my hand go and walked to the bank of computer monitors, picking up a leather bound book from about fifteen books that were lined against the back of the desk, and turned to me.

  “Sit down,” he gestured towards his bed.

  My brows rose, but I followed directions and walked to his bed, raising a knee once I reached the huge thing, and slid along the slick sheets until I was safely ensconced in the very middle.

  When I finally looked at him expectantly, it was to see Nikolai’s eyes dilated, and his breathing picked up.

  I hid my smile as I held out my hands.

  “Gimme,” I ordered.

  He handed me the book so fast it looked like he’d been cattle prodded.

  I took it from him, and watched as he walked to the other room. I could see him at the computer monitors, where he took a seat, then immersed himself in the World Wide Web.

  Or whatever it was.

  I wasn’t sure.

  The computer had one of those black screens on it that didn’t allow anyone but him to see what he was doing.

  And I wondered idly why he had that.

  Was he that private that he had to hide what was on his computer screen?

  After I studied his profile for long moments, I finally cracked open the book that he’d given me.

  MATING.

  All dragon riders have a predestined mate.

  Some riders will never find that mate and will forever stay single, never to marry or fall in love.

  Others, though, will find their mate. And their mate will become immortal, matching in life spans with their rider.

  My heart started to pound, and I looked up at Nikolai, studying him avidly.

  “We’re mated?” I squeaked.

  He turned only his head to survey me, and narrowed his eyes. “I told you to read it all; once you’re done I’ll answer your questions.”

  Duly chastised, I looked down at the book and continued reading.

  With the first touch of mates, skin to skin, the process begins. It takes up to three full days for the process to be complete, and the two mates will be forever bound. Unconditionally and irrevocably.

  My mind started to whirl.

  Had he been the one to save me? To rescue me from my uncle’s harming hands?

  Page after page I read, and the more I read, the more I started to understand.

  Was I afraid?

  No.

  Not even a little bit.

  The female is fed by the male’s connection to the dragon. The two mates will forever have to be within the vicinity of the other, or they start to grow weak, and eventually die if the separation goes on too long. Never stay apart for more than twenty-four hours. Trust me, it doesn’t go away. I know.

  Was I now immortal? Was that what he was trying to tell me?

  The last words on the page were a dedication of sorts.

  And I looked up with a burning question on the tip of my tongue.

  “Who wrote this?” I whispered, finally looking up from the book.

  He was facing me…and had been for a while.

  Studying my face as I read, gauging my reaction to the words on the page.

  “My father.”

  I blinked.

  “Your father’s dead?” I gulped.

  He nodded.

  “He died hours after writing that.” He indicated the book.

  My eyes started to well with hot tears.

  “He really loved you,” I whispered. “You will forever live on in my heart,” I quoted from the last page.

  He smiled sadly. “I think that was for my mother; although, she’s never read it to this day.”

  “Your mother’s still alive?” I asked worriedly. “But there was a page in there talking about the mate losing the ability to talk once…”

  He nodded.

  “My father breathed his last breath down my mother’s throat, just like the book says,” he admitted. “She hasn’t said a word since the day my father died.”

  A ball of sadness formed in the pit of my belly.

  “That sounds so awful that I want to cry, and I don’t even know them,” I whispered.

  Nikolai shrugged.

  “So, do you have any more questions?” he asked softly, placing both of his elbows on his knees and leaning forward.

  “Were you the one to save me? Were you the one who brought me here?” I whispered.

  Nikolai nodded.

  “Yes. Perdita and I brought you here,” he confirmed.

  “It says the minute a dragon rider touches his mate’s skin, that the bond starts forming,” I hesitated. “But I wasn’t awake for that part, which I assume is what happened.” I licked my lips. “Can you tell me how?”

  He nodded.

  “I will start from the beginning and tell you everything, okay?” he offered.

  At my nod, he started to tell me how he came to find me.

  “Did I look bad?” I asked hoarsely once he got to how he’d found me.

  He nodded.

  No sugarcoating for Nikolai.

  “Was I…was I wearing clothes?” I asked.

  It was something I’d meant to ask…yet couldn’t find the courage until now.

  I didn’t really want to hear the answer; although, I knew I needed to know, if only for my peace of mind.

  “Yes. Skylar, my sister, said that you had no internal injuries. She looked when I was out of the room,” he said hastily when my eyes went wide.

  I nodded.

  “She also said that your injuries were life threatening, and you probably wouldn’t make it through the night,” he said softly.

  My eyes widened even further.

  “Then how am I alive right now?” I asked bluntly.

  He turned to the side, then pointed down at the tattoo.

  “Our bond,” he said simply.

  “So our bond has healing abilities?” I asked carefully.

  He shrugged.

  “I guess. I don’t really know,” he hesitated. “All I know is what you know from that book in your hands. There are a few things I learned from Keifer; but, to be honest, he’s just about as clueless in that department as I am. No one even realized this was possible until he mated with Blythe.”

  I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

  “So we’re mated for life?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “And there’s no way to break this bond?”

  That last question was met with a narrowing of his eyes.

  “Death,” he barked.

  I held my hands up.

  “Whoa there, dragon slayer. I was only wondering. You know you wondered the same thing. You’ve had two months longer than me to come to terms with this. I’ve had a little over an hour,” I growled.

  He looked down at his hand, opening and closing it into a tight fist.

  When he didn’t say anything more, I continued onto my list of questions.

  “It also said that I would share your powers,” I said.

  He nodded. “You do.”

  “I do?” I asked. “Which ones?”

  He grinned.

  “I have a little bit of telepathy. I can make some damn fine illusions.” He ticked the numbers off on his fingers. “I can detect heat by infrared. I can move things with a thought of my mind. And there are times that I can channel another dragon’s powers if I am touching a bonded dragon rider or dragon. Make zones of protection around myself. Just different things.”

  I blinked.

  “That’s it?” I asked.

  “What else were you expecting?” he challenged.

  I held my hands up.

  “I just mean I thought you might have super strength…or contro
l fire,” I teased.

  His face relaxed.

  “I can do that if I’m touching my brother’s dragon, Declan,” he said. “But a dragon rider gets their powers from their dragon. And Perdita is a shadow dragon. She is originally from the caves that line a certain mountain ridge in the old world. She does her best stuff in the dark, which is where I excel,” he continued to explain. “Whereas Declan, Keifer’s bonded dragon, is a fire dragon. He does the more obvious things that you would expect a dragon to do, such as breathe fire.”

  “And you think I’ll be able to control these powers?” I bit my lip.

  He nodded. “You already exhibited ‘the bubble’, as Keifer likes to call it, when you were out in the rain. It’s pretty good for protection.”

  “Sound protection, or protection against arrows?” I asked.

  He laughed.

  “Arrows?” he snorted.

  I nodded. “Y’all don’t get shot with arrows?”

  He shook his head.

  “Not for a very long time…if ever. I haven’t…Perdita might’ve, though,” he paused thoughtfully.

  I have. I don’t like arrows. And no, the shield doesn’t protect against them, Perdita offered lightly.

  I smiled at Nikolai.

  “So, what now?” I asked once it’d been silent in the room for a couple of long minutes.

  Nikolai sat back in his chair.

  “I guess we date,” he finally offered.

  I nodded.

  “How long are we supposed to date?” I asked curiously.

  He raised a brow at him.

  “I guess until you decide it’s time to move to the next step,” he supplied.

  My brows lowered. “And when will I know what that is?”

  He snorted.

  “You’ll know. And when you know, you’ll let me know,” he quipped cryptically, offering me his hand.

  I took it, and he led me to the shower, turning the knobs until it was at a good temperature.

  “Now, get in here and get dried off before I have to call my sister and ask her what I’m supposed to do for someone that has pneumonia,” he ordered.

  I was cold, now that he mentioned it.

  It was fairly close to freezing outside, but in all this time, I hadn’t felt one single shiver until he’d mentioned it.

  I guess your mind is on other things.

  He left the room without another word, and I slipped my still slightly damp clothes off, and traveled into the massive bathroom that looked like it was fit for a king.

  Or a prince, I thought to myself.

  He hadn’t said he was…but he hadn’t said he wasn’t, either.

  Perdita had let it slip during one of the many back and forth conversations I’d had with her that day, and I knew that Nikolai had heard every word said between the two of us.

  But he hasn’t said a word, and I had to wonder why.

  That would be one of the many questions I’d asked him about once I got out.

  And I had every intention of asking him…but the moment I got out of the shower, my eyes lit on the cotton t-shirt that I’d seen him wearing earlier in the day.

  He must’ve put it there for me to slip on, and I did.

  But the moment I had it over my shoulders, all the tension that’d built up in my body from the moment I’d realized we were mates, slipped away as if it’d never been.

  It its place was a sort of peace.

  I was surrounded by his scent.

  And the moment I sat down on his bed, a strange sort of lethargy poured through my body, and I laid down completely on the bed.

  My head hit the pillow, and I took an even deeper breath, filling my lungs with all that was Nikolai.

  And, unsurprisingly, I fell asleep.

  I was gifted like that.

  Chapter 6

  If a woman pulls out a knife during an argument, it is not recommended to pull out some bread, mayo, and cheese. Why? Because she will fucking kill you, not make you a goddamned sandwich.

  -Word to the Wise

  Brooklyn

  I don’t know why I never expected Nikolai to be able to fight.

  He had the muscles.

  He worked out.

  He was aware.

  But he never struck me as fierce.

  I wasn’t thinking that anymore, though, as I watched him beat the ever loving shit out of his opponent.

  He never used a single one of his powers to accomplish it, either.

  He did it all with sheer strength, force of will, and knowledge.

  He was divine.

  All we were supposed to be doing was buying some supplies for the house.

  It’d been over two months since I’d woken from my coma, six weeks since he’d told me I was his mate and even longer since the housekeeper had stocked the kitchens.

  I’d never been so happy to leave the confines of a house.

  I would’ve been happy with going in a plain old car; but, today, Nikolai had taken me on a motorcycle, of all things.

  I’d always wanted to ride on one but had never had the courage to ask for a ride.

  Today, though, I’d practically begged Nikolai for us to take it.

  He’d argued that a truck would hold more groceries, but I’d been adamant.

  I didn’t even know why, either.

  Just the thought of being in the open air, outside the confines of the sanctuary, turned me into a giggling mass of excitement.

  And I was sure that nothing would ruin this day…but I’d been wrong.

  Since I was now watching my man get ganged up on by five men.

  My uncle’s cronies could ruin my day, as evidenced by the stupid goon trying to slash Nikolai’s face off with a fuckin’ saber sword.

  I’d at first tried to help Nikolai, but his insistence that I back up and stay the hell out of it had been loud and clear, even when he hadn’t actually said any of those words out loud.

  But he’d been awesome at screaming them inside my head like I was a disobeying three-year-old, rather than a twenty-six-year-old grown ass adult who knew how to wipe her own butt.

  I watched with the brick wall of a convenience store at my back.

  Nikolai’s bike was on its side where he’d dumped it.

  My arm was scratched, and a strange throbbing sensation was going on with my ribs.

  Funny enough, I hadn’t remembered ever hitting my ribs. Nikolai had been extremely careful about laying his bike down as we slid.

  He’d also made me wear protective clothing, such as a brand new pair of motorcycle boots. A leather jacket with padding in the elbows and back, as well as a pair of pants that were supposedly flame proof.

  I was glad he’d forced me to wear them now; but a scant hour before, as I’d been getting dressed, I’d been reluctant.

  “Duck!” Nikolai screamed.

  Then, I was seeing nothing but black. Everything around me was black.

  “Nikolai!” I whispered frantically. “I can’t see!”

  Strong arms, the arms that I was coming to care for in the short few days that we’d officially started to ‘date,’ wrapped around me.

  “Shh,” he breathed, so low that I couldn’t be sure that he said anything at all.

  Grab the bike, he whispered through my brain.

  I moved my arms forward and grabbed on to the bike, feeling him shift as he got on. Then he pulled me on behind him and a loud roar sounded as he turned over the engine.

  “Hold on,” he rushed.

  I held on.

  It felt like we’d been released from a sling shot as he blasted forward.

  One second everything was dark, and the next, I could see again.

  “Eeek,” I said as I watched the end of an alley loom ahead of us.

  “There’s a turn. It’ll be tight, though; steady yourself,” Nikolai ordered.

  I steadied myself as best as I could, mostly by wrapping my
arms so tight around his waist that I knew it had to be uncomfortable.

  He didn’t complain, though.

  The turn was tight, and I hadn’t even realized there was one there until we were taking it.

  We moved down an alley behind buildings that was so narrow that I could easily reach out and touch the two buildings that were back to back.

  Nikolai didn’t seem to notice…or care…because he just kept riding forward so fast that I could barely breathe.

  We made it to the end of the alleyway and pulled straight into traffic, cutting off a white police car in our efforts.

  “Oh, shit,” I breathed.

  He pushed us forward even faster, completely ignoring the police car’s red and blue lights; instead weaving in and out of traffic like his life depended on it.

  And maybe it did.

  I didn’t know.

  I turned to see if I could spot anyone behind us, but saw nothing but the red and blue lights, and the traffic trying to part for the police officer to get through.

  “You’re gonna have to go faster if you want to get away from that cop,” I said.

  I couldn’t believe those words had left my lips, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

  “Hold on to your titties,” he called over the roar of the wind and the engine.

  I looked forward, wondering how he was going to get out of the traffic jam I saw in front of us, but once again my vision went warped, and I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

  Traffic was moving.

  There was no police car behind us.

  Everything felt…normal.

  But it wasn’t.

  Because I could still feel my hair flying backwards.

  Could still feel the adrenaline as it coursed through my veins.

  Everything was still the same, but it wasn’t.

  “Don’t you think you could warn me when you’re going to just throw me into an illusion?” I yelled.

  I felt the rumble of Nikolai’s chest as it vibrated through his rough chuckle.

  “I did,” he informed me.

  I snorted.

  “Hold on to your titties,” I said, “isn’t a warning.”

  “Toe-may-toe, to-mah-toe,” he drawled.

  I snickered and leaned my head against his back, enjoying the ride as much as I could.

  He rode for what felt like forever, but ended up being mere minutes.

  He stopped abruptly when we pulled in beneath an overpass.