“Yes,” she managed, surprised to discover that even finding her telepathic voice was hard right now. She had never had sex like that. Not just mind-blowingly great but the sheer emotional intimacy within the wild passion. If this was what fated mates felt, sign her up.
But then she clearly was his mate, wasn’t she?
She blinked, swearing she remembered him beyond their connection, but the sensation fled before she could capture it. Instead, she felt something else at the same moment as Rokar based on his actions. He had them on their feet and a blade in hand a blink later.
“Look at the walls,” he said. They backed away from the waterfall and chanted their clothes on. “We’re still on our dragon's home world...still within a memory.”
He was right. The walls glistened strangely as their dragons materialized where they had been in front of the waterfall. By the looks of it, they were doing exactly what Rokar and Tess had just done.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “That’s what I envisioned for a second after we...ya know.”
Rokar nodded, still frowning. He looked from the dragons nuzzling each other, then to who stood silently at the entrance, his teeth bared in menace, his hatred unmistakable. When he realized the other dragon was there, Rokar’s dragon grew equally vicious and took up position in front of Tess.
“My turn now, Brother,” Big Red growled. “Remember, we take turns until the final battle.”
Stunned, Tess glanced at Rokar and frowned. “You and Big Red were brothers? Which means Einnar was your brother too and...”
“Skáld was my father,” he stated blandly, disgust in his eyes as they turned back to the unfolding memory.
“No.” Rokar’s dragon squared off with Big Red. “She is mine and will remain mine.”
“What’s wrong with you?” The enemy dragon scowled, his flippant regard going from Tess’s dragon to Rokar’s. “We have always shared.” His eyes narrowed. “What makes this one different?”
“Father wants her mated with just one of us.”
“And you assume that is you though we have yet to fight?”
“It will be me.” Rokar’s dragon was remarkably confident as it bared its teeth at Big Red. “I will win, and she will belong to me.”
Tess narrowed her eyes at that, watching her former dragon’s response closely.
She clearly wasn’t a timid beast as she sauntered around Rokar and challenged Big Red, looking him up and down, her words bold. “You think you can please me as well as your brother, dragon?” She eyed him, unimpressed. “With what is between your legs?”
“Shit,” Tess muttered under her breath.
Big Red sneered and lunged at her only for Rokar’s dragon to engage him. Roaring mad, they nipped and bit at each other. Meanwhile, her former dragon watched on with demure approval before they faded away and everything returned to normal.
“Doesn’t seem like I was too nice,” Tess said. “It looks like I pitted brother against brother.”
“If we are to trust how things appear.” Rokar's gaze lingered on where the dragons had been, and he speculated. “I believe what I felt...what we just felt when we laid together was the same thing they experienced.” His eyes went to hers. “It was real, Tess. At least what my dragon felt.”
“Mine too.” She was surprised how comfortable she was saying that because generally speaking, she avoided talking about her feelings. Then again, the only way to figure this out was to be honest. “But I could only sense what she felt in the heat of the moment, not afterward.”
“The heat of the moment is what matters,” he replied. “Otherwise, why show it to us? Why have us somewhat reenact it?”
“Somewhat being the key word,” she said. “Because they clearly did it as dragons, but we were forced back into human form.” She shook her head. “I didn’t think that was possible.” She shrugged. “But then I didn’t think anyone could manipulate my personality either.” Which made her wonder. “So is Níðhöggr really behind all this? Or are our dragons involved somehow too?”
“I would say both.”
His eyes lingered on hers as though he was unsure what to say next, and she got that. All of this was more than a little strange. What they had just done? Kind of out there even for her. But in a way, she wouldn’t mind repeating.
“We should probably find another place to rest,” she said, trying to move past the awkward moment.
“Yes,” he agreed. Gesturing that she lead the way, he grabbed a torch. Once they were in another tunnel and away from the roar of the waterfall, he spoke again. “It was not just my dragon...but me as well.”
She stopped and met his eyes over her shoulder, again charmed by how aloof he seemed at times. He was clearly out of practice when it came to flirting with women. Hell, even having a conversation with one. Though she knew what he was referring to, she couldn’t help but play a little and prompt him along. “What was you, Rokar?”
“Back there...between us.” He gestured over his shoulder. “It was not just our dragons, present or former.”
“No,” she said softly, warmed by how hard he was trying. Because the struggle was right there in his eyes. He wanted her to know what was happening between them wasn’t just the result of their past. Or if it were, he was grateful for it. “It wasn’t just our dragons.”
He hesitated a moment before he said what else was on his mind. “And I'm sorry for being so rough.”
She frowned, not expecting that. “Why?”
“Because of your past,” he replied. “What was done to you.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m inclined to treat you like that when I never have another. When I shouldn’t with you above all.”
Ah, he must be referring to what she went through with Axle. Something she needed to clarify evidently.
“That’s thoughtful but unnecessary.” She leaned against the wall, preferring to look him in the eyes for the moment rather than continue walking. “Though I’ve been down some hard roads, you’ve gotta remember that I’m dragon, sweetie. That means by nature, I like it rough.” She sighed, remembering the day Axle’s sexy rough turned to something else. “Sure, there’s a line, but you’re nowhere near crossing it, and I can’t imagine you ever would.” She shook her head. “It’s not in you.”
“But Axle never hit you, no?” he asked, having been in her mind enough already to know the answer to that.
“Not directly, no, but he was heading in that direction.” Her fingers lingered on her neck as she recalled his hand wrapped around it. “It was in other things he did...the look in his eyes.” She swallowed hard, facing the memories rather than shoving them down like she usually did. “There’s rough play then there’s more. A darkness some crave. And with dragons, it’s even worse.” She frowned. “I just wish I’d seen it sooner. Sensed it. Something.”
“He was luring you,” he said softly. “Deceiving you.”
“Was he ever.” She released a choppy breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and recalled telling Axle she was pregnant. “I never would’ve guessed at his upcoming behavior because he seemed happy. But it must’ve triggered something because things started changing several months later.”
“That is...odd.” He frowned. “My son wasn’t even dragon, but the connection I felt with him even in his mother’s womb was undeniable. That is the way of dragons, is it not?”
Tess shrugged. “Dad always said it was a pretty intense feeling for male dragons.” She narrowed her eyes at Rokar, well aware he was trying to keep troubled thoughts from her. “What is it?”
He shook his head and started walking again, but she stopped him and met his eyes. “Tell me. What are you thinking?”
His eyes lingered on hers for a moment before he reluctantly spoke. “Don't you find it odd that Axle’s behavior changed for the worse after you were pregnant when it should have instinctually been for the better?”
“I never really thought about it.” She scowled. “But I should’ve, huh? It might
’ve saved my daughter.”
“Not necessarily.” His tone remained gentle. “I’m starting to wonder at things though, considering the storm that plagued both of our children’s deaths and my wife’s.” He tilted his head in question. “You said Axle died in a motorcycle accident. Do you know the details behind it? Because he is dragon, yes? That alone should have saved him.”
Everything seemed to still around her as their eyes held. She realized what he was alluding to. Something she probably should have taken note of by now but typically avoided thoughts of Axle at all cost.
“He hit bad weather,” she whispered vaguely remembering what one of his buddies had told her. Though she pretty much tuned him out because she didn’t give a shit, she'd caught some of it. “From what he said, the storm came out of nowhere, and Axle had no time to throttle down.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and muttered, “Law or no law, the fucker would never wear a helmet.”
“I don’t think it would have mattered,” Rokar said softly. “I think that storm would have taken his life just like it did our children and my wife.” His eyes met hers. “And I think we need to figure out why before it tries to take more people we love.”
She was about to respond when he buckled forward in pain, and his back began smoking.
As if it knew they were talking about it, the storm that had been outside suddenly raged all around them.
Chapter Twenty
UNABLE TO SHIFT in the tight space, Rokar summoned every bit of energy he could to push past the searing pain and protect Tess when powerful wind blasted down the tunnel. Yet even as he tried to hold onto her, they barely kept their footing when the rainless storm pushed them back the way they came.
“What the hell is this?” she cried into his mind before they were spit out into the cave they had been in and everything stilled.
Or at least it should have been the cave they were in before.
The pain on his back fled as he kept her close, and they gained their bearings in the strange otherworld. The waterfall and Múspellsheimr cave were gone. Instead, though the storm still raged silently in the sky above them, their surroundings were almost majestic. Colors were vivid. Trees sparkled. The air was temperate and light, where based on the murky storm; it should be heavy and oppressive.
“Alfheim.” Tess’s eyes were wide with wonder when she spoke as though she had been here before. “Home of the light elves.”
“You ask for a lot, dragon,” came a gentle, masculine voice. “More than we can give.”
Moments later, a tall undistinguishable golden figure appeared along with Tess’s former dragon who kept her eyes closed to his bright light.
“I should’ve already been blinded.” Tess clearly remembered what they witnessed. “But because of what Shea did for the elves I was given a pass...” She blinked back tears. “I was able to seek them out in another life, after her death.”
Her former dragon stood tall as she spoke to the elf. “I ask that you help my people as my cousin helped yours.”
“And we did,” the elf reminded.
“Then do so again.” The pride in her dragon’s response was unmistakable. “If you care for love as much as you claim.”
“I do,” he replied. “But is such sustainable for your kind?”
“Does it matter?”
“A great deal.”
A guttural challenge edged her voice, not helping her cause. “My cousin protected you against my kind for all time, and you will not give her people a chance now? You will deny us what infects us?”
When Tess perked her brows at Rokar, he shook his head, as clueless as her.
“And that is why I will not help.” The elf's tone was condescending. “How can I when you believe something as great as love is an infection.”
“Is something sprouting up in a species that doesn’t belong not an infection?” she countered. Restless, and aggravated, her dragon paced.
“Infections should be eradicated,” the elf said. “Infections kill off species yet you wish to embrace yours?”
She kept pacing, venom in her voice. “You say that as though I am incapable when it is clearly happening within my tribe. Several times now.”
“To you as well?”
“No,” she growled, shaking her head as though a dog shaking off water. “Not me. Never me.”
Yet even as she said it, there was a strangeness in her voice.
“I was in denial,” Tess murmured to Rokar.
“Were you?” he said, not so sure.
“Obviously,” she replied. “Why else would I be here pleading for help if I wasn’t?”
“Because you are pleading for others.” He frowned as he sensed something just beyond his grasp. A bigger picture.
“What is it?”
Unsure, he shook his head, gesturing that they listen to the other two.
“The demons will help,” her dragon growled. “But you will not?”
“Not as long as you consider your kind infected,” the elf said. “And not as long as you have demons assisting you.” He shook his head. “Love cannot flourish anywhere near those creatures.”
“Any more than it could dragons,” she countered sarcastically, huffing smoke. “All from my world are bad in your eyes.”
“Your cousin was not.”
“No, she was not,” her dragon reminded. “She was infected...” She eyed him and tried again. “She was one of the first dragons ever to feel love with a mate...as if they were fated to be together.”
“Fated mates.” Tess’s eyes shot to Rokar’s. “Hasn’t the concept of fated dragon mates been around forever? You can’t tell me it derived here...as an infection as I called it?”
“And what does your father think of your request, dragon?” the elf asked, returning their attention to the conversation. “What does he think of the love sprouting up in his tribe?”
Tess and Rokar glanced at each other, curious who her father was.
“He thinks it weakens us,” she replied.
“Do you agree?”
“Would I be here if I did?”
“Then you go against your father’s wishes?” the elf said softly.
“Yes.”
“Which means you ask me not just for help when I do not believe your species capable of maintaining love,” the elf said. “But you ask me to go against one of the most powerful dragons on Múspellsheimr.”
Tess's eyes had no sooner shot to Rokar’s in disbelief before the quiet storm overhead suddenly dropped and engulfed them again. The next thing they knew, they were standing outside the main entrance of the cave in Níðhöggr’s Realm.
“Loki’s cock,” came a female exclamation before Halla appeared alongside Pierce, the twenty-first century man who turned out to have elven blood.
“How the hell’d we get here?” Pierce muttered, clearly used to being tossed around in time.
“I’d say my heart led us here.” Halla grinned at them, relishing the adventure as usual. “And about time it did.”
When Halla referred to her heart leading her here, she spoke of the connection she, Rokar, Soren, and Eirik shared. How their hearts beat for the first time at the same time within their mother’s womb. Though the oddity had meant very little outside of a twin-like way of sensing each other, since Níðhöggr’s war began, it had started playing a bigger role. It often led them to each other in times of need.
“Where’s everyone else?” Tess frowned and looked from the cave to Rokar. “Do you think they were hurt in the storm?”
“Actually, Davyn and Shea appeared at the Fortress right before we arrived here,” Halla offered, smiling hello to Soren and Leviathan when they appeared at the cave’s entrance.
“Glad to see you guys are all right,” Tess said to them. “That was some crazy wind.”
Soren shook his head, confused. “What wind?”
“Back in the tunnel and we assume the cave.” She glanced from Rokar to them. “But based on your expressions, you don
’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
They shook their heads as Leviathan spoke. “Shea and Davyn were off on their own when you two returned.”
“More specifically, when you walked right by,” Soren said. “We called out, but you ignored us.”
Rokar and Tess glanced at each other and shook their heads before Rokar filled them in on what happened, concluding with, “So we are being shown quite a bit from our previous lives.”
Halla grinned and glanced between them. “So you have...mated as dragons then?”
“In our past life.” Tess cleared her throat and shook her head. “And maybe a little in this one...hard to know what really happened.”
But they did know what happened. He would never forget it. While he would’ve preferred to spend more time and take her gently, he had enjoyed the experience a great deal. So much so that he wanted to do it again. Right now if he could. Watch as she enjoyed her pleasure. Feel her clamp down on his cock so sweetly.
When Tess’s eyes met his, and she bit her lower lip, he realized she was catching his every thought. More than that, she liked them. Agreed with them.
“So this storm plagues you guys?” Pierce said, obviously trying to get Halla’s mind off of intimacy. Yet her eyes lingered on him despite the presence of overprotective male kin.
The twenty-first century male had his work cut out for him because Halla enjoyed sex more than most and made sure all knew it. Add to the fact she was a fan of things from the future, so Pierce stood little chance against her. Not that he seemed as opposed as he could be, his eyes sliding her way more often than not.
“Yeah, the storm plagues us,” Tess said in answer to Pierce’s question, her gaze on the sky again. “And it’s past time we figure out why.” She fanned herself with her hand, trying to find relief in the oppressive, thick air. A climate far more suited to the sinister weather than what they had just experienced in Alfheim. A storm that only seemed to be sucking them deeper into its mystery. “I say we chat more en route to some cold water.”
Rokar nodded in agreement, aware yet again of how easily they seemed to overheat. More than that, how it disagreed with them when typically such a thing would not bother dragons.
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