by Sadie Sears
At the bottom of the pantry was a cast-iron cauldron. Any other day, I would’ve made a snarky comment about witches, but my mood was dropping. I filled it as full as I could with snow from the packed back door, which would hopefully make it easier to dig our way out later, then lugged it back to the fireplace and hung it over the flames. I put a couple more logs on and stoked the fire higher, but it would still take some time to heat.
The whole time, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I’d been desperately in love with her for years and could barely function after she’d left the first time. It was disappointing to hear that she was still in their grip. I’d hoped—no, I’d longed for the day when she’d gain her independence and find me again. It was frustrating to see that she hadn’t changed much in that regard.
Damini had pulled her bag into her lap and rifled through it. After a couple of moments of cursing under her breath, she pulled out a cell phone. She powered it on, then held it up high over her head, trying to pick up a signal. When that didn’t work, she kicked the ice pack off her foot and stood.
“Hey, off that foot,” I told her.
“Don’t tell me what to do, Vince,” she snapped. “I need to get a signal on this stupid thing so I can tell my parents that I’m okay. I’m sure they think I’ve been kidnapped or something. They’re probably worried sick!”
My patience disappeared. “And then you’ll just run back home so Mommy and Daddy can tell you what to do instead, right?”
“What?” She whirled toward me. “What are you talking about?”
I got to my feet and set the fire poker back in its holder. “How can you care so much about those awful people?”
She looked at me, outraged by my words. “They’re my parents! Why wouldn’t I care about them?”
“Because they’re horrible, manipulative jerks who are holding you back from everything you could’ve been in life.”
She laughed dryly. “Yeah, they’re the manipulative ones. They’re not the ones who put a price tag on my affection, Vince.”
It was my turn to be confused. “What?”
Her volume increased steadily. “My mom told me all about what happened in North Carolina. About how she approached you with a bribe and you lit up like a kid on Christmas. You took the money and ran, and I never saw you again.” A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. “She said you didn’t even try to negotiate. You saw the zeroes on her check and never looked back. You left me behind.”
I was stunned into a brief silence. Her mom had told her—well, I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. I’d referred to them as horrible, manipulative jerks for a reason, after all.
With a dark chuckle, I rubbed my jaw and fought the anger. “I never took the bribe.”
Damini inhaled slowly, trying to regain her composure. “She showed me the bank transaction where the check came out. You cashed it and vanished.”
“I never took that bribe, Damini.” I held my hands up and walked to where she’d stopped in front of the door. “Your mom did approach me, and she told me that you’d sent her to break things off. When I called her bluff, she tried to bribe me with money and the potential for a military promotion, but I turned it down because I loved you and nothing would’ve been good enough to make me give that up. She increased the offer a couple of times, actually, and I told her no.”
She shook her head, her breaths puffing out unevenly. “But… Why would she… Vince, why would she lie about that?”
“She told me that your family wanted me gone. They didn’t want a dragon anywhere near you or the family reputation.” I took a deep breath, burying my fingers into my hair. “Then she threatened to frame me for something that would’ve gotten me locked up for life to keep me away from you that way, and I backed down. I relented. She gave me no other choice. I knew that I had to have faith that I’d find you again one day.”
The air whooshed from her lungs, and I rushed forward to catch her before she fell to her knees. Damini clung to me hard as I got her back to the couch. Tears fell freely now, and I wiped her cheeks delicately.
“Why would they lie about something like that to me?” She grabbed me before I could move away from her on the couch. “Vince, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for all the awful things I’ve said about you over the years. I didn’t know—” She cut off with a sob.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, too. I thought that one strict word from your parents made you run away with your tail between your legs. I had no idea they’d lie to you to get what they wanted.”
“God, I loved you so much,” she whispered. “I was broken after that, and my parents played like they were sympathetic to the whole thing. How was I so stupid? Even Jessica told me you wouldn’t have done that, but I didn’t listen to her!”
“They’re your parents.” I curled my arm around her, and my chest loosened. I could breathe with her right there. “It’s not stupid to want to believe in them.”
She wrapped her arm across my stomach. “I’ve never felt about anyone the way I felt about you back then. I made attempts to appease my parents, but I could never maintain it for long. Nothing else felt right like you did.”
“Can I tell you why?” I tightened my hold on her.
She laughed weakly into my chest. “I wish you would just so I can say that I’m not crazy.”
“It’s because you’re my destined mate,” I said. “You’re the one my soul, my dragon, longs for above all others. There is no other heart for me like your heart in the whole world.”
Damini lifted her head and peered up at me with watery brown eyes. “Did you just quote Maya Angelou at me?”
“Paraphrased, my dear,” I replied with a wink. “I paraphrased Maya Angelou at you. Would you like more literary explanations?”
“No, I think I got it.” Her smile wobbled, but it was there, and I’d take what I could get. “I always assumed it was just some line that dragon shifters used. Talking about destiny and soulmates is the quickest way to a romantic’s heart, but now I understand. Even after all this time, after all the anger I’d felt toward you these past nine years, I’m still drawn to you.”
I cupped her cheek, wanting nothing more than to lean forward and kiss her. “If we did it all over again, knowing what we know now, would you still do it? Would you still leave?”
She lowered her eyes and pulled her face away from my touch. That broke my heart almost as much as her next words. “I wouldn’t have much of a choice, Vince. My family basically owns me. I’m sorry.”
5
Damini
Vince went totally quiet. I leaned back a little, slipping my arm off of him. I couldn’t believe everything I was hearing. He never took the bribe. “If you didn’t take it, why’d you leave?” I asked. What could’ve made him walk away from his fated mate?
“She told me she’d frame me for a murder,” he whispered, and my heart stuttered in my chest. “I knew your family had enough money to make it happen, too. Staying meant heartache and pain for both of us, except with me in jail. Leaving seemed like the better option. I told her I would break it off with you the next day.”
That explained why he came to me that night. My mother had told me he’d taken the money, and all these years, I’d believed he’d come home and made love to me with my parents’ check in his wallet.
Telling him my parents owned me wasn’t the right thing to say, but it didn’t make it less true. I couldn’t have denied them for long.
Settling back further on the couch, I pulled my knees to my chest, ignoring my ankle as it protested being bent with the wrap on it, and tried not to let my whole world rock on its axis.
This was a big lie. Huge, even. They’d changed the course of my entire life. I wasn’t able to have a relationship because of them. Not just with Vince, but at all. I’d left college because of this lie. No career, no direction. All I’d done for nine years was float along.
“I can’t believe this,” I whispered. Now that I was this far down
the road, I relied almost entirely on their money, too. Even now, if I tried to defy them, they could cut me off.
What the hell did I know about supporting myself?
Not a damn thing. I’d never had a real job. Not one day in my whole life.
“The water is ready,” Vince whispered. “I’ll be right back.” He picked up the kettle and disappeared into the bedroom as I watched in confusion.
“What are you doing with all that water?” I asked. The pot he’d put on to boil was enormous.
“Making you a bath,” he called.
Oh, that sweet man. That sounded wonderful.
But I couldn’t get my mind off of my family. They were almost definitely worried sick. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they came to Maine to find me, and when we got back to civilization, we’d find them there, making the whole town go crazy looking for me.
I was beyond hurt by what they’d done. I wasn’t sure we would ever recover from this, that our relationship would ever be the same. But I still didn’t want them to think I was dead, buried under the snow.
Bitterly, I pushed the thought away that it would serve them right to worry for a few days. They would answer to me for their lies, but this wasn’t the way. I still wished I could get word to them that I was safe.
If they knew I was learning the truth, what would they do then? I chuckled internally. They might want to leave me out here.
I sat back and assessed my life with a new outlook. My parents were controlling, but I thought about the way they spoke to me.
Like I was a child, even now, even with me being thirty damn years old, a grown woman, they treated me like a wayward teen.
They controlled where I went and how I spent my time, encouraging me to go on dates and on frivolous trips to explore and hike. I loved going, so I hadn’t thought about it, but they planned these excursions for me. With guides and friends, sometimes even paying the way for people they approved of to go with me.
It wasn’t generosity. It was control.
My world continued rocking as my thoughts raced. How had I not seen this?
How had I believed that Vince would’ve taken a bribe?
Looking around the cabin, I couldn’t help but wonder what my life would be like now if I hadn’t believed my mother. If I’d gotten the whole story from Vince, then stood up to her and told her that if she framed him, she’d never see me again?
Would we have had children? I might’ve finished college and gone on to be a successful journalist. Traveling for stories instead of traveling to hike the next trail. Making a difference in the world.
And coming home to a family. Or better yet, taking them with me when I could. I would’ve been a dragon. I’d known Vince was a dragon back then. In the time since, I’d researched them thoroughly. If he bit me, I would turn into a dragon myself.
How cool that would’ve been.
Instead, I was a thirty-year-old woman living under the control and scrutiny of my strict parents, and I’d let it happen with a big, stupid smile on my face.
Vince walked out of the bedroom. “Hey, no, don’t cry.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d begun to cry, but once he pointed it out, sobs erupted and rolled up my throat. “I can’t help it. I made so many mistakes.”
He put his arm around me. “I did, too. I should’ve followed you and told you what happened. We should’ve communicated.”
I stood when he put a little pressure on my elbows.
“Come on,” he said. “I got a bath going for you.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and helped me walk. “Listen, Damini, I know you feel like they own you, but if it’s a financial thing, don’t worry about it. I make plenty of money. We won’t be wealthy like your parents, but you’ll never want for anything.” He paused when we crossed the threshold to the bedroom. “Anything reasonable, anyway.”
I chuckled and the small bit of laughter helped stop the tears. “Vince, I’m not going to just let you take care of me. But yes, that’s a big part of why I’m worried. Money.”
“We’ll figure it out, okay?” He put his hands on my shoulders. “Money isn’t enough reason to make this not work. And I’m long past being worried about them trying to pin a crime on me. I know some pretty powerful people myself now.”
I ducked my head and let my forehead rest on his chest. “Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s just see where things go. I’ve got a lot to work out with my family.”
“Well, none of that can be done here now, so I suggest you enjoy this luxurious bubble bath instead.” He pushed the bathroom door open.
The claw-footed tub, which took up most of the space in the tiny room, had candles along the back side of it.
I stepped in and peered into the tub, which was not quite half full of water and… “Is that bubbles?” I sniffed the air. “They smell like dish soap.”
Vince shrugged and gave me a sheepish grin. “It would’ve taken so long to heat another round of water that the first part would’ve cooled. I put a bunch of snow in there, which melted quite a bit while I heated a bunch more snow, so the combination should be about perfect. And I wanted you to have bubbles, so I had to improvise with dish soap.”
I burst out laughing. “It’s lovely and so sweet.” His attempt at romance was one of the best things anyone had ever done for me. And it hadn’t cost him a dime. Leaning forward, I lifted my head and rose onto tiptoe on my good foot, balancing as I pressed my lips to Vince’s. “Thank you,” I whispered against his mouth.
He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off my feet with his hands on my ass. I gasped with my lips on his as a bolt of desire shot through me.
Wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, I pulled myself tight against my mate and tried to let the regrets wash away. “I would do it all differently,” I whispered. “I wish I could take it back.”
With a heavy heart, I pressed my lips to his again. He moved, and my back pressed against the rough wooden wall. Vince claimed my mouth this time, pushing past my lips with his tongue as his fingers dug into the cheeks of my ass.
Moaning, I tried to give as good as I got, my tongue warring with his, my core pressed against his lower stomach. I flexed my hips, trying to create even a modicum of friction between us.
Vince broke our kiss with a gasp. “The water’s getting cold,” he whispered.
“Let me down.” When my feet touched the floor, I lifted my shirt over my head, watching his reaction.
It was all he needed. He helped me undress, and his fingers trailed my body, dancing over every curve, while he alternated between kissing me and bending to trail kisses over my collarbone, inching closer to my exposed breasts before coming back up for more kisses, then returning to tease me more.
“Vince,” I gasped. “The water.”
He burst out laughing before kicking off his shoes. I leaned back and set my naked ass on the corner of the tub to unwrap my foot, but he caught it and held my leg up while he unwound the bandage. When my foot was exposed, he placed a soft kiss on my arch. “There. Kiss it and make it better.”
I wiggled my toes in his face. “I think it worked.”
As a result of the exchange, he lifted me into the tub while both of us laughed. But then, he turned to leave. I’d figured when he took his shirt and shoes off that he’d intended to get in the tub with me. “Take your pants off and join me,” I said, not letting go of his hand.
He turned back in surprise. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Never been surer of anything in my life.”
Vince grinned and stepped into the tub. “I’d hoped so but didn’t want to assume.” We’d done this many, many times, albeit a long time ago, but it was like no time had passed. I took his hands, and we pulled on each other to create leverage with my feet inside his.
Lowering ourselves slowly, we fit perfectly into the tub, and with both of our bodies in it, the water level was perfect.
“It’s warm,” I said.
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“My body heat will keep it that way.” He grinned. “And you’ll keep me warm.”
Leaning forward, he claimed my lips again, kissing me with his hands cupping my cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he said after a few moments of fevered kisses. “I can’t believe you’re real.”
Feeling bold, I reached through the bubbles and found exactly what I’d expected to find. He was hard as a rock. “Does this feel real?” I whispered.
Vince gasped and rested his forehead on mine. “Careful,” he warned. “It’s been a long time.”
I wrapped my fingers around his length. “I don’t suppose you have a condom?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “No.”
Sighing in frustration, I stroked Vince’s long, hard length under the water. “I was afraid of that.”
He shuddered. “Damini,” he whispered.
I grinned. “I missed a lot of things about you, Vince, but this was the only thing I’d let myself think about when I was alone in my room with nothing but a vibrator to keep me company. I thought about your dick.”
The crude word sounded wrong on my lips but saying it made me feel powerful and risqué. A nice feeling. Vince reached over and cupped my breasts, sliding his thumbs over my nipples. “I thought about you. About these.” He reached under the water and cupped me. “About this.”
He slipped his middle finger between my folds, finding my clitoris with his palm and pressing inside me with his finger.
Moaning, I scooted forward in the water to change the angle and give him more room to insert his fingers. At the same time, I stroked faster, causing the water to slosh and move around us.
“Damini,” he whispered. “That’s…”
I shushed him, then decided to change tactics, because this wasn’t cutting it. “Okay.” I let go of him and scooted back. “Let’s wash. I want to go to bed.”
He grinned wickedly. “It’s midmorning.”
Shrugging, I cupped water in my hands and sloshed it over my shoulders. “Got somewhere to be?”