BDArc-HiddenDragons

by CSM

  That was about all she was good for before collapsing on the bed. Robert followed soon after. She must have dozed for a while, but she woke when Robert placed her into her second hot bath of the day.

  Growloranth must have come back at some point while she slept. She could just see him through the open door that led to the wallow. She flushed realizing the dragon must have been witness to Robert carrying her naked body across the length of the suite.

  “Are you awake?” Robert asked, his head above hers as he joined her in the bath that was big enough for two—or three.

  “Barely, but yes, I’m awake. Thanks for drawing the bath.”

  “It’s the least I could do since I’m the one who made you dirty.” His words seemed to have more than one meaning and she turned in his arms to look at his face. Sure enough, he was smiling at her in that wicked way he had.

  She leaned in to kiss him and was gratified when he returned her kiss after a slight hesitation. Had she taken him by surprise? Well, good. She needed to have the upper hand in this relationship every once in a while. If they were going to have a relationship.

  More and more it seemed that they were. She was beginning to believe that it might just possibly work. She had bedded both men and enjoyed each occasion immensely. She still wasn’t sure how the whole mating flight triple bonding would work, but she might give it more serious consideration if things kept going like this.

  If Silla and other women in the Lair had such relationships, then maybe Isabelle and her men could make it work too. It was something to think about, at the very least.

  For Robert, life couldn’t get much better than it was at that very moment. He had the woman of his dreams lying naked in his arms, in a tub full of steaming water. His dragon partner lay nearby, in his own wallow, sleeping the sleep of the righteous. They had put in a good night’s work and might just have been able to report things back to their leaders that would save many lives in the coming conflict.

  All in all, it had been a good day.

  The only thing that would be better is if Isabelle was firmly committed to them. If she was already their wife and he knew she would always be with them, waiting for them when they flew home or working at their sides to make the world a better place. She was such a special woman. He prayed to the Mother of All that she would accept them—and everything that entailed.

  Robert yawned loudly, unable to hold it back. It had been a good night, but a long one. He couldn’t really remember the last uninterrupted sleep he’d had.

  “We should go to bed,” Isabelle murmured. He tightened his arms around her.

  “I like the sound of that,” he agreed, kissing her hair.

  “To sleep,” she said firmly, though her tone held a hint of humor. “You were up all night and then making reports all morning. I doubt you even had a single solid hour of rest anywhere in there. You need to get some sleep.” She gestured toward the doorway and the dragons’ wallow beyond. “Your partner has the right idea.”

  Caught, he had to agree. “Yes.” He sighed heavily. “You’re right, of course.” He moved her forward in the water and sat up, preparing to leave the cooling bath. She gasped when he lifted her in his arms and walked up the steps of the recessed tub, placing her on her feet in the doorway of the chamber.

  “A little help, my friend?” Robert spoke in the direction of the snoozing dragon. Growloranth didn’t even stir. He simply breathed a little harder in their direction, sending a warming, cinnamon-scented wind over them, drying their bodies within moments.

  Robert lifted her in his arms again and carried her into the one chamber in their suite that had been empty since they had moved in. It was the one chamber he had dreamed of having filled—by the right woman. It had a massive bed in the center of the chamber, but no one lived in it. Not yet, at least.

  “Where are we?” she asked as he put her down on the bed.

  “This is the mates chamber of our suite. It’s been empty until now, since we didn’t have a mate, but as you can see, it is big enough for the three of us, when needed.” He lay down next to her and pulled a thin blanket over both of them.

  He pulled her back against him so that they were spooned together. He liked the feel of her in his arms. Within a few moments, even though he had a great deal to think about, they were both fast asleep.

  Robert woke a few hours later when he heard the massive door to their suite open and close. Coupled with the sounds of a dragon wading into the sand pit and the slip of scales on scales, and he figured that Bear and Tilly had returned. Finally. The whole family was together in one place.

  “We’re in the mates chamber, Bear,” Robert sent silently to his fighting partner.

  “That was fast work,” came the dry reply. A moment later Robert heard footsteps and then Bear walked through the open portal. “Has she agreed to be our mate?”

  “Not quite yet, but I think she’s warming to the idea.”

  Bear sat on the side of the bed, next to Isabelle. The movement of the mattress woke her.

  “Bear,” she said, still charmingly groggy. “You’re back.”

  Bear dropped down to place a lingering kiss on her lips. “I’m back,” he whispered against her mouth, then drew away. “Am I to understand you’ve been sleeping most of the afternoon?”

  “Well, you kept her up most of the night. It hasn’t been an easy couple of days for any of us,” Robert replied for her, sitting up in the bed and leaning back against the headboard.

  “Much as I would enjoy exploring this giant bed with you, my dear…” Bear whispered near her ear as she hid under the blanket, “…my first duty is to be certain you have all that you need. In this case, I believe dinner is in order.”

  At that moment, her stomach growled delicately and Robert realized Bear was right. They hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was already past dinnertime. She had to be hungry. Robert threw off the blanket and launched himself out of the bed, seeking his clothing. Their woman was hungry. They had to fix that right away.

  With quite a few blushes, Isabelle was persuaded to get out of bed and get dressed. Within a few minutes more, they were on their way to the great hall. There they collected three dinner trays and sat down at an empty table. The prime dinner hour was already past, so there weren’t that many people left in the hall and they had the place mostly to themselves.

  Still, the food was hot and filling. Robert saw to it that Isabelle had all she wanted and a few things she had never tried before. He liked showing her new things—even small things like exotic fruits from afar.

  “I wonder where everyone is?” Robert mused, looking around the deserted hall. “Even at this hour it is usually more crowded here.”

  Bear looked chagrined. “Apologies, my friend. I thought you knew, but then how could you if you’ve been asleep all afternoon? The news from Halley’s Well is not good. We saw troops massing and I believe the invasion is set for tomorrow morning. I suspect they will herd the skiths across the pass at first light. Everyone is preparing for battle.”

  Isabelle gasped, but Robert wasn’t all that surprised. He had been expecting action sooner rather than later.

  “I assume the other dark dragons will be watching over the village and the pass tonight, then, since we haven’t been called,” Robert observed.

  “You’ve got that right,” Bear confirmed. “Jared and Darian wanted us to fight as a pair on the morrow, which means you’ve got the night off.”

  Robert smiled. “I wonder, how ever shall we spend it?”

  Isabelle blushed and he knew she was both embarrassed and excited. He loved her innocent reactions to him and looked forward to seeing if she could be with both he and Bear. If that last barrier could be crossed, it would be a major step forward. If she could take them both and enjoy it, she could finally be their mate. It was all up to her, though Robert prayed silently to the Mother of All that Isabelle could be convinced to be their wife. He wanted her with him—with them—forever and always.


  Tonight might prove to be vital in his and Bear’s campaign to make her theirs.

  Chapter Eight

  When they returned to the suite after dinner, Isabelle knew what the men had in mind. Robert’s subtle teasing and Bear’s molten glances gave away their hopes and excited her senses at the same time. Could she?

  Dare she?

  Isabelle thought more and more that she would at least like to give it a try. She wasn’t sure if she had it in her to be with both of them at the same time, but if she could… If she could…her whole world might change. For the better.

  If she could love them both—physically as well as from the heart—then it was becoming clear that they would welcome her into their life. She knew it was up to her, and she was trying really hard not to let fear hold her back from reaching for something she’d thought would be unattainable. Love was within her grasp. She just had to be brave enough to claim it.

  The dragons were in their wallow, their necks touching as they lay there resting. Little curlicues of cinnamon-scented smoke wafted toward the vents in the ceiling, and heat from the dragons made the entire suite warm. It was a homey atmosphere. Especially when Bear went into the kitchen and came out with three steaming mugs of tea on a tray.

  They sat on the comfortable chairs—a couch and two big easy chairs that had a low table at their center. They were on the edge of the sand pit so the entire family could unwind after the long day—dragons and humans alike—together.

  Isabelle was getting more nervous as time went on. The sweet herbs in her tea calmed her a bit, but the underlying tension was definitely fraying her nerves.

  Were the men not going to make a move? Were they waiting for her to initiate something? If so, she didn’t think she could. She didn’t have that kind of courage about her own femininity yet—if she ever would. Sex was so new. She had enjoyed it immensely, but she was still very much the novice. She had no idea how to initiate a sexual encounter. Especially not one that would involve all three of them.

  “Try to relax, sweetheart,” Robert said quietly. “I can see the tension in your shoulders from here. Nothing is going to happen tonight.”

  “What?” she blurted out, embarrassed a second later by the loud tone of her voice. She’d made the dragons stir. Four jewel-like eyes blinked open and stared at her.

  “The four of us discussed this,” Robert told her. “We are going to war tomorrow. We cannot give you the kind of experience you deserve—that we all deserve—for our first time together as a trio. For one thing, we don’t have the time. It would be irresponsible of Bear and I to stay up all night for our own selfish purposes when our brethren will be expecting us to be sharp and ready to fight tomorrow.”

  Bear picked up the explanation. “Once we start something, we probably won’t want to stop for a good long while. It’s unrealistic to think we could easily turn our passions on and off like a tap. And you deserve better than some rushed joining. You are too special to us, Isabelle. We cannot treat you with such disregard. It goes against our natures, and our need to protect you in every way.”

  Their words impressed her. They overwhelmed her a bit too. And made her a little angry. There was a certain amount of taking things for granted included in their reasoning that annoyed her a bit, but then again, she had given them reason to believe she’d be up for anything they wanted. Hadn’t she been sitting there fully expecting to participate in a trio session only moments before?

  She was honest enough with herself to admit that they had a right to make assumptions about her participation. She was easy for them, as for no other man. Men. Although it still boggled her mind to think that she could have them both, when she didn’t think too hard about it, it was beginning to feel somewhat natural. It’s only when she had time to reflect on normal relationships—how normal was defined in her village—that she still had serious misgivings.

  But everything was different in the Lair. Everything seemed possible here, in this magical place. Her nervous anxiety was being replaced by a sense of both disappointment and warmth that they would give so much thought to her feelings, as well as their own safety.

  “We hope you understand,” Growloranth spoke into their minds. “It was Tildeth and I that first raised our concerns with our knights. As much as my mate and I wish to be together again, we would not see you cheated of the care you deserve.”

  “Even we can see that you are new to all of this,” Tilly put in. “Some things should not be rushed. And we all have work to do on the morrow. This time—as it will be many times in the future—our duty to Draconia must come before our own desires. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Isabelle, but I also believe in my heart that there will be time to complete our family after this battle is over. And I also believe that you will be more secure in your decisions if you have time to think them through. You might also benefit from talking more with Lady Silla. She is one of the most sensible women I know.”

  When put that way, it made a lot of sense. Who was Isabelle to argue with the wisdom of two elder dragons? And their words also brought home the fact that they would be riding into danger tomorrow morning. Without her.

  She had been so worried about the possible encounter that night that she had managed not to think about the danger coming in the morning, when the dragons and their knights would face a herd of angry, venom-spitting skiths. And once they were done with the skiths, there was an enemy army to deal with. Not good.

  “I know this all must sound as if we are taking your agreement for granted.” Robert addressed the bit that had annoyed her at first. “Truly, we are not. We will try our hardest never to take anything for granted if we are granted the blessing of having you as our mate. You must realize by now that we are very serious about the fact that you are the woman we want to complete our circle, to be our mate and join our family. We want that and our dragon partners want it as well.”

  Tilly’s head bobbed up and down in agreement. “I can see you nurturing my offspring as you would your own, and I have the greatest respect for your courage and tenacity, for having survived all by yourself for so long out on the edge of the woods. You are a brave and capable female that I would be proud to call sister. I hope, as we get to know each other better, you will feel the same about me.”

  Now Isabelle was back to being overwhelmed. “You do me a great honor, Lady Tildeth. If the Mother of All wills it, I promise to do my best to be worthy of your faith in me.”

  Tilly nodded deeply as the significant moment passed between them. It brought home to Isabelle again all that she would gain if she joined with these knights. She would be able to live in this incredible place, with these wonderful people, and have dragons as friends. It was almost too much to believe.

  But the crux of the matter was love. She would be loved—although they hadn’t spoken the words yet—by two honorable men. And she would love them in return.

  She was pretty sure about her feelings for both Robert and Bear, but did they love her? Neither of them had said so. Would they? Did men say such things, or was she supposed to figure it out on her own?

  That would have to be the deciding factor. If they could love her, and she was more certain of her love for them, she would say yes. But she wasn’t at that point yet. She needed time to figure a few things out.

  It seemed the men and dragons had been way ahead of her in knowing what she needed.

  “I thank you all for thinking of me. You’re right. I do need time to think and process everything that’s happened. I didn’t quite realize it before, but I see the sense in what you’ve said. I’ll also admit that the thought of you all going off to fight tomorrow morning is now at the forefront of my mind, and I don’t like it one bit.” A little bit of panic bled into her voice near the end of her statement and she saw Robert and Bear get up, coming over to sit on either side of her on the wide couch.

  Robert put an arm around her shoulders while Bear took her hand in his.

  “Take away one worry and another mov
es in to take its place,” Tilly mused from the sand pit.

  “Lady Isabelle,” Growloranth said in a serious but gentle tone. “This is one of the many things you must carefully consider. We are soldiers. Knights and dragons, all of us are sworn to fight on behalf of our country and peoples. If you agree to join our family unit, this will be part of your life. The reality is that we go off to fight and you’ll have to stay here. You can be of help here, as you helped Lady Silla prepare her remedies for when we or our brethren get hurt.”

  “You can bespeak dragons, so you can be of great help to those left behind when knights are unable to interpret for their partners due to injury.” Growloranth added.

  “It is chaotic in the Lair when we are called to fight,” Tilly said. “I know you can be of great help here. Every fighting force needs support. You could be part of our support system, if you so choose. It would help pass the time while waiting for us to come back, and you could talk to returning dragons and knights to learn first-hand what is going on at the battle site.”

  Isabelle hadn’t thought of that, though she had already decided to offer any assistance she could to Lady Silla and whoever else might be willing to let her do something. Doing something—anything—was far preferable to just sitting around, waiting for word.

  “I am more than willing to help in any way that I can,” Isabelle told them. “And I have every confidence in you all, but I cannot help but worry. Forgive me. It is not an indictment of you or your skills, merely my own insecurity. I would not like to lose any of you.”

  “You won’t,” Robert was quick to assure her, squeezing her shoulders. “We are two of the best fighters in the Lair and our partners are seasoned veterans. We have been through many battles together and we are still here to tell the tale. Tomorrow will be no different.”