Chapter 26 #3
Her warmth gave me the courage to say, “Olme told me Pyru wants me to return and wed Aora in place of my brother, as if I would ever let that man make the most important choice of my life for me. The message was forwarded several times between my former employers and labs until it arrived at the Ministry on Nyvor. It just happened to reach me the day you came to Nova Cal.”
“Oh, gods.” Her tears spilled over. “I couldn’t have timed my arrival worse if I’d tried.”
“No, no.” I pressed my forehead to hers.
“That day I thought the same, but I have come to understand what made me think so was my pain and all these memories I buried. In my hearts I know you arrived at precisely the right moment. I am deeply sorry I took so long to understand that and accept the miracle of you.”
Despite her tears, her expression turned wry. She sniffled. “I’m no miracle, dragon. Don’t be ridiculous.”
With her thumbs, she wiped away the wetness under my eyes.
“You would have no way to know this, but I was originally supposed to arrive at Nova Cal two days earlier,” she said.
“There was an accident on Aloris that ended up delaying my departure due to medical reasons.” Her mouth quirked.
“So was I late getting here, or on time?”
“I still say you were on time.” I frowned, recalling her offhand comment from yesterday about a piece of wreckage blown across the ice. “An accident? What kind of accident?”
Elena waved my words away with a casualness that did not match her flinch. “Another time, dragon. We’re talking about you.”
She rested her forehead on mine, took a deep breath, and clasped my hand in of both her much-smaller ones.
“You made the right choice leaving the compound, Ardruc. I can’t imagine how hard that was for you, or how much you suffered there, or how much you’ve suffered since.
But what I do know is you knew then what was right and I am so, so glad you followed that instinct and didn’t let those people take any more from you than they already had. ”
The conviction in her voice and the fierceness of the way she gazed into my eyes told me she meant every word. Elena was brilliant and wise and intuitive, and when I did not trust my own gut, I knew I could trust hers.
“I am so deeply sorry for the loss of your brother.” She reached up to smooth hair out of my eyes and tuck it behind my ear before taking my hand again.
“I know this is something you’ll struggle to accept because I would feel the same, but he made the decision to stay just as you made the choice to leave.
There are many people at fault for his death, but none of them are you. ”
She squeezed my hand again. “You need to let yourself grieve for him and for your parents too. And you are allowed to be angry at them even while you grieve. It’s not one emotion or the other. That’s not how brains work.” She managed a little smile. “Even dragon brains.”
My beautiful, brilliant Elena.
I bowed my head. “I can bear to think about all this now because you are here. You cannot imagine how much that means to me.”
She tilted my chin up with her fingertips so she could look into my eyes.
“You said you know in your hearts I came to Nova Cal at the right time. Well, I believe that too, and not just because I’m your true mate.
I needed to find you too.” Tears welled again in her beautiful blue eyes.
“And we are the right people to help protect this world. The Vorsa know it. So do I, and so do you. That’s why you’ve known all along we would be all right. You had a gut feeling.”
My hearts seemed to swell until they pressed against my ribcage. “Elena…” I tried to pull my hand out of her grasp to touch her face, but she held on with startling strength.
Another frisson passed between us, stronger and more profound than before. Quiet and peace filled my hearts.
“You already claimed my body and my heart,” she said, her voice trembling. “Now you have my soul too. Take care of it, dragon.”
Oh, my Elena. I had no words worthy of such trust.
The few inches between us suddenly felt like too much distance. I sat up and pulled her onto my lap so she was in my arms with her legs around my waist and her chest pressed to mine. I buried my face against the side of her neck and lost myself in the wonder of her.
We stayed like that for a long time. In her arms, in this place, minutes and hours meant little or nothing to me. I was taking time away with my mate.
At Pyru’s bidding, my parents would have denied me this joy.
They would have forced me to wed a woman I did not know, did not love and would never love, who was not my true mate.
And they would have done so happily, secure in their belief they had done the right thing, and ignored my misery—while their leader basked in the power he had over his followers and those he had trapped.
Elena was right; I had made the correct choice to flee. Leaving had been my first step on my long journey to her. That knowledge began to heal hurts that had festered for a very long time.
When Elena stirred, the sun was no longer overhead. “You feel quieter,” she murmured, her lips against my chest. “More at peace. And you smell even more like smoky Bacorian brandy.” She chuckled and rubbed her nose above my hearts. “I may even start to like the stuff.”
“I do not doubt you, but I still do not smell brandy,” I confessed. “All I smell is you.”
“What do I smell like?” she asked curiously.
“From the moment we met, you have smelled of rich soil and lush plants and growing things.” I caressed her silky hair. “That scent has only become stronger during your time here. But now you also smell of contentment…and me.”
“Which makes perfect sense. I’m full of both, and I like it that way.” She kissed my chest. “In fact, I want to be filled some more.”
Her head resting on my shoulder, she found my cock and stroked it gently and evenly. In moments, it swelled, hardened, and beaded with lubrication. My entire body thrummed and rumbled with need.
The straining sensation at the base of my cock and the urge that accompanied it were still new feelings, but unlike last night and earlier today, they were a quiet needs. Patient needs. Needs only Elena could sate.
My hearts, body, and soul belonged to her, and hers to me. And whether we stayed on Vorsa World or left for some other planet or moon, we would be home.
“Dragon,” Elena said softly, still caressing, still gentle. “You said everything I want from you, I can have.”
“Yes, my love.” I puffed smoke against her ear and enjoyed her little shiver. “Anything you want is yours. Tell me what you desire.”
“I want your knot,” she said. She raised her head and met my gaze with her own equally hungry one. “And I want to be claimed like a dragon’s mate—in the sky.”