Once Nora hung up, they were all emotionally wrung out, but hungry.
By some miracle, they found a restaurant that would deliver, even thirty minutes away, and the five of them sat down together for dinner. Carolina’s aunt was very honest with Fallon. She didn't try to hide what she was doing. She didn't try to excuse herself.
He told her they’d come up with a plan to make sure she wasn’t left alone. Fallon even offered to take her to their family home in Ireland and let her visit her former tribe, many of whom had changed their ways.
“If Nora thinks we can eradicate Henri’s influence, you can visit Texas with us as well. It’s not at all like the life we had in Ireland in our tribe, but it’s a happy life. Or you can stay in Ireland if the tribe agrees.”
“I can’t fathom being happy,” Lioslaith whispered.
Carolina leapt up and threw her arms around her aunt. “I wish we could kill him all over again.”
Everyone nodded their agreement, and then they all seemed to try to lighten the mood by asking Garrett to describe his recent concerts, which he did with great delight.
After he’d regaled them with many tales from his tours, Garrett spent some time getting to know Fallon and Kellan, then he was ready to go too.
He’d come out to the desert with Davi, but Kellan offered to fly him back to Vegas. He eagerly accepted.
Before Kellan left, he pulled Davi aside. “I haven't missed anything right? I assume I’m going to be getting a wedding announcement pretty soon?”
“I would like that very much.”
“Don't sweat it. You guys have had a rough time of it. I think she'll say yes.”
“I hope you are right,” Davi said.
Kellan chuckled and leaned in close to speak directly in Davi’s ear. “As you already know, I like to get in everyone's business. There are so few of us. If I can make life a little easier for one of us then that helps me sleep at night. Five years ago, you went through something very similar to what the rest of us did. But you were alone. I had my three brothers with me every step of the way. You didn't even have your memories help you get through it. You didn't know what happened. I can't imagine that.”
Davi inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I am learning to deal with it.”
Kellan clapped his hand on Davi’s back, right between his shoulder blades. “When you're ready to propose, please text me. I’ll send my plane.”
“You have already done so much. Flying me to the United States, getting my room at the Bellagio, coming to take care of Lioslaith. I can never return the favor.”
Kellan wrapped his arms around Davi. “You are family now. There are no favors.”
The four of them left, and then Davi and Carolina were finally alone.
“I am glad they were here. We are fortunate to have their help. But holy hell, I was ready for them to leave.” He swept Carolina into his arms. “I need you.”
“What do you need me for,” she teased.
“I think you know.”
“I have an idea,” Davi said as they picked up the mess left behind from having five adult dragon shifters and one Fae in the house he’d rented.
Carolina smiled at him as she dumped bleach in the sink. “So far, most of your ideas have been pretty damned good.”
Davi bagged up the last of the trash. He paused to brush a strand of his mate’s hair back from her face. “Why don't we rent a motorcycle to ride back? You can show me what you love about Vegas.”
Her eyes sparkled with interest. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course. There's no reason you have to give up that part of your life, not if you enjoyed it.” He wanted to see his mate happy. He didn’t want her to have to give up a hobby she loved.
Plus, if they weren’t talking on the way back to Vegas, it would give him some time to collect his thoughts. He needed to plan for their future.
He knew that he was ready to propose. She had been his mate for years, and his friend for his entire life. They had both been living in the human world for five years.
He couldn’t remember if they’d discussed a human ceremony before. He knew from Carolina that they hadn’t had an official mating ceremony yet—they’d planned to wait until they were twenty-one.
But they hadn’t made that far.
Plus, he was certain that his mate would also want a human wedding. They needed a legal piece of paper. But even if she didn't want that, he wanted to share some kind of ceremony with their new family. He would like to invite the four couples from Cedar Lake, Texas. And he would like to invite Niall and Nora from Ireland. And Garrett.
“After our time in Vegas, we will have to decide where we want to live,” he said. “Or we could be nomads.” That would not be his preference. Dragon shifters were most content when they were settled and living in a clan. He wanted the chance to try that again.
“I don’t know where I want to live,” she said.
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “We have plenty of time to decide what to do. Our time in Vegas was cut short, as was our time at the Grand Canyon.”
“It was cut short because of me,” she whispered.
He held his hand up. “And because of me. But we can continue our vacation and explore the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.”
It might be difficult, but after they finished their trip, he was ready to return to Portugal. That's where he wanted to propose. He was hoping the good feelings would outweigh the bad. Davi felt that he and his mate needed to revisit their past before they could move forward. A trip to their home country would do just that.
After the house was restored to order, Davi took Carolina to rent a motorcycle. It was clear that the rentals were inferior to the Harley she’d owned, but she still took the time to show him the pros and cons of the models available.
An hour later, they were on the road.
Carolina gave Davi a short lesson in the mechanics of operating a motorcycle, and Davi offered to drive. Carolina agreed.
“I want you to see what it’s like,” she said.
He found he liked the powerful machine purring under his touch. It really was a good substitute for flying. Carolina sat behind him, with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as they flew through the desert.
They went straight back to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This time they didn’t rent a cabin. They were going to sleep down by the Colorado River, at the bottom of the chasm.
“Oh!” Carolina said right before they started. “We don’t have any bags or gear.”
“We don’t need any.” They could drink water directly from the river, searing heat wouldn’t bother them, and dragons enjoyed sleeping on rocks. Davi looked forward to hunting after dark—there were quite a few animals to choose from, and he relished the thought of pouncing on some wild game. Coyotes, mountain lions, deer, foxes, and birds were all on the menu, as well as any fish they found in the river.
She nudged him in the ribs. “We do. We need to look human. If we stroll down that narrow path to the bottom without one bag, someone will notice.”
“You’re right.” He’d spend five years as a human, but his time had been dictated by the military rules. He always had his pack with him and hadn’t had to make any decisions about keeping up appearances. As a civilian trying to blend in, Carolina was the expert on this topic.
He took her hand and tugged her into the gift shop. “We’ll buy two backpacks in here, and then we’ll have souvenirs.” They added a few bottles of water and a bag of beef jerky just in case anyone was watching.
They spent the daylight hours hiking down the winding path that the humans followed.
On the North Kaibab trail, they stepped aside to let the humans pass them. “I can’t believe some of them are willing to ride a mule down this path.”
The mules were slow, but sure-footed on the downhill paths. “I guess it keeps them from having to carry a heavy bag.”
Now and then a helicopter buzzed overhead, packed with tourists th
at wanted a birds-eye view of the canyon.
“Can you imagine not being able to fly?” Carolina said, looking up at the helicopter.
Davi could. “Yes. I didn’t fly for five years.”
She froze. “I’m sorry. I forgot. That must have been horrible.”
“It was not easy, because I knew something was missing from my life. But I didn’t know what it was.” He shook his head. “It is fine. I was able to drive the Jeeps for the military. Even the other soldiers thought I went too fast.” He smiled at the memory. “There were some very tough, brawny men yelling at me to slow down while I drove through the Belarus countryside.”
“How fast were you going?”
“Sixty-five miles per hour. It was far beyond the top speed for that ancient vehicle. And we were on a dirt road.”
Carolina laughed. “I’m glad you had some good memories of that time.”
“It was not a terrible time. I felt alone, but I had purpose.” Davi inhaled and placed his hand on the red stone of the canyon wall. “It is good to be out in the wild again. Even if it’s not ocean cliffs.”
They walked the rest of the trail hand-in-hand. It only took them three hours, because they didn’t need any rest breaks. At the bottom, Davi eyed the river. “I want to swim in it.”
Carolina pulled him back. “We should wait until after dark. Sadly, it’s dangerous for humans. It’s cold and deep, and they drown because of the currents.”
“You’re right. We can wade in Bright Angel Creek until sunset.”
They had not packed swimsuits, but Davi wasn’t going to let that stop them. He led Carolina to a spot where they’d be alone, and stripped off his shirt and shorts, leaving only his boxers on.
Carolina ran her hands over his chest. “I like where this is headed.”
As soon as her small hands touched his pecs, his cock was rock hard. There would never be a day when his mate’s touch did not excite him.
He kissed her while tugging the hem of her tank top up and tugging it over her head. He unbuttoned her shorts and pushed those down too, until she wore only a red bra and panties. “Much better,” he said, skimming his hands up and down her slender waist.
She jumped into his arms and he caught her. He lay down in the shallow creek, pulling her on top of him. While the cool water rushed over him, they kissed. He licked over her full bottom lip, tugging at it with his teeth.
She moaned, and his cock throbbed. Keeping an ear out for any nearby humans, he ran his hands over her ass, squeezing.
“Making love under the open sky is very good,” he said.
She agreed. “I had forgotten what it was like.”
She rolled her hips against his. “Can we take off our underwear?”
He groaned. “You are going to kill me. On the way down the canyon, you told me you were once shy.” He held onto her hips, grinding her pelvis against him. “What happened? Where is that shy female?”
She laughed, and it was a low, sexy sound. “That girl is gone. She joined a biker gang.”
“A gang? Did you commit crimes?”
“No. No crimes. But people thought we did.”
“I’m sure you were very intimidating,” he said. And he meant that. His mate was tough. And she was so gorgeous that he couldn’t stand it.
She smirked down at him, but didn’t say more. She reached down with one hand, and wiggled out of her panties.
“You are a bad girl,” he said. He pushed his hand between her legs, finding her folds slick with arousal. “But I cannot complain. Because it benefits me.”
She rolled her hips again, and he pressed two fingers into her pussy. She kept her legs together, and it was a tight fit for his fingers.
In a flash, he sat up and pushed his own boxers off. He lifted her by the hips and slid her down on his throbbing cock.
As soon as he was inside her body, she hit her climax. She bit down on his shoulder panting, while her heart pounded. “Davi,” she breathed.
“My mate,” he murmured, thrusting up into her body only once before his own orgasm slammed into him. He wondered if their love-making had been that fast and furious when they were together before. He hated that he could not remember, and he planned to ask her one day.
She rolled their undergarments into a ball and stuffed them into her backpack. They lay back, resting on the smooth pebbles under the water’s surface, letting it rinse them clean.
Hours later, when the sky was finally dark, they tucked their backpacks under a rock and shifted into their dragon forms. They flew in a straight line up, and landed on the edge of the canyon. And then they soared.
They flew from the North Rim to the more touristy South Rim, and then over to the West Rim, which was part of the Hualapai Native Tribal Lands. They ended with the East Rim, and then flew straight down to the river, where they plunged into its cold water.
Exhilarated, Davi caught several fish and ate them, and then surfaced to see his mate swimming next to him.
This was the first time they’d been able to fly together since they had reconnected. Without having planned it, Davi and Carolina both shot straight back to the top of the canyon, and flew the distance all over again.
Their connection—their absolute awareness of each other—came alive that day in the canyon. He knew where she’d fly, and how fast. He knew when she spotted a deer, or a fox. He knew the rapture she felt at being free like this again.
Like their electric love-making, had their connection been this strong before as well? It was another thing he wanted to ask.
Flying through the canyon was fun. It felt like a maze, and he’d never experienced anything quite like it. They didn’t stop until the first light of the sun was peeking over the horizon. They both transformed back and watched vibrant hues light up the sky. Then they found a shady tree, where she laid her head on his chest, and slept all the way until noon.
He awoke first, and nudged Carolina awake. “I hear humans.”
She sat up and stretched. “I guess they might wonder how we slept on the ground with no sleeping bags.”
“We slept rough in the military sometimes, but humans are always stiff when they wake up.”
She kissed him on the nose. “Good thing we're not human.”
“Yes. It is a good thing,” he said. He could not imagine having a different mate. He knew other shifters had human mates, but he had grown to crave the strong connection he shared with Carolina.
They made the trek back up to the surface in about five hours. “Are you ready to go back to Vegas?” Carolina asked
“I am, but there is something I think we need to do very soon, and I do not know how you are going to feel about it.”
“Don't make me wait. Tell me what it is.”
“I think we need to go back to Portugal.”
17
Carolina
Carolina agreed with her mate.
Agreement was not surprising, considering how in sync they had been in the canyon. Their strong ties to each other had existed when they were children, and they continued to grow and change as they got older. They hadn’t always been on the same page in the past, but it was certainly more frequent than not.
They needed to return home and face what happened there. Of course Kellan insisted on flying them there.
“I can't complain about having a friend with a private jet,” Carolina said. She much preferred being able to lie on a couch with her mate and watch a movie, versus having to cram her body into a cramped seat.
Davi ran his fingers through her hair. “It is certainly different from the military jet I’m used to.”
Despite the luxury of the plane, he had been unusually quiet during the flight. As they approached the European continent, his muscles began to grow more tense.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
“I am wary. I am prepared to face our home. I'm prepared to face any memories that might come. But my biggest concern is that I will never get those memories back. I don’t want
to go the rest of our lives without remembering our shared past. You have told me many stories about the two of us as children, and as teenagers. But I want to remember them myself.”
There was not much she could say to comfort him. She felt the same way. She wanted him to get his memory back. She did not want to be the only one who remembered Davi drawing cartoons to help her remember the Latin phrases their primary school teacher had taught.
She did not want to be the only one who remembered the date nights they shared in Lagos, eating on patios under the sun And she sure as hell did not want to be the only one who remembered the attack on their clan.
As their plane began its descent he sat up straighter. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
His face was grave. “I noticed how synchronized we were during our flight in the canyon. And how smooth our love-making was. Were we like that before?”
“More often than not.” she said. “We were unusually well-suited for each other. That's what everyone said. We were rarely bickered, even as children. If one of us got a surprise candy bar or piece of cake, we immediately took half of it to the other.” She smoothed her hand down the back of his neck. “It was a good thing. Don’t be sad.”
“I want to remember.”
She nodded. She wanted that too. “Most mates in our clan did not form an attachment until they were eighteen or so. But we were always friends, even when we were not romantic.”
Their plane hit the runway, and they both braced themselves for an onslaught of difficulty. For her, sadness at the flashbacks of that horrible day. For him, it was likely frustration.
Returning to Portugal was just as emotional for Carolina as she’d expected it would be. It was even worse for Davi because he had the added pressure of being desperate to aid the return of his memory.
Recently he had called Nora.
She had been sweet and kind as always, and she had invited them to stay in Ireland. But she had not been hopeful that she could do much more.
Soldier Dragon's Second Chance Page 10