Epilogue
Zsekhet
Soaring on Sesethul across the mountains, we caught a thermal down toward Ahoshaga Peak. “Almost home,” Cosima murmured in my arms, her body dressed in her riding leathers, her hands pressed against Ses’s scales.
She was starting to look healthy and fit again, the last signs of exhaustion had faded from her face only yesterday.
Right on time, because I was pretty sure the ladies at Haven would have my hide if they discovered how hard Cosima had driven herself over the last couple of weeks.
She’d gone back to heal Ses or me, over and over again, until I’d finally put a stop to it and confiscated the device.
Untrained as she was, it sapped so much of her energy that she was risking her own life by doing what she did, I couldn’t have that.
“Almost home,” I agreed with her, my eyes taking in the sight of the finished wall and gate, the carved entrance into the mountain, and the sight of activity.
Males were crawling all over the greenhouse structure beneath Krashe’s supervision, already a very different sight from when we’d left.
Several more drying huts had also been built, for skins and meat curing.
Along the wall, several wooden barracks had gone up to house the aspirants still waiting for their chance to join Haven.
I glanced at my mentor, flying alongside Ses on Salais.
Arakash had insisted on making the journey with us so that Sesenthul’s recently healed wing and body would not be taxed too much.
The pink dragon was big and sturdy, wider across the chest than Ses was, he had no trouble carrying the greenhouse part for us which had remained unscathed despite the aerial battle.
Merish was sitting behind Arakash with an eager expression on her face.
Her eyes were on the Naga on the mountainside below.
She’d insisted on coming and seeing my new home for herself, and once my sister made up her mind, there was no stopping her.
When I appraised the Naga she was looking at, I was suddenly struck with the worry that she might find her own mate among them.
“What?” Cosima asked, “Why did you stiffen like that?” Ah, my mate, I could hide nothing from her. Curling my arms more tightly around her middle, I nuzzled my head against her cheek, loving the softness of her skin.
“What if Merish’s mate is down there?” I asked, and laughed when that made Cosima stiffen and then hurriedly glance down Ses’s side as if she could pick the male out of the crowd just like that.
They’d seen our approach and were waving at us, hurriedly making space for not one, but two dragons, near the entrance.
When we landed, the humans were eagerly rushing forward, shouting Cosima’s name and waving their arms. “You’re home! How was it? Was it awesome? What did you see? Is that the missing greenhouse part?” The questions fell like water from their mouths, one after the other.
With a soft smile, Cosima slipped from my coils as soon as I had put her feet on the ground. She was swallowed up by hugs and laughter, and one very loudly crying Charlie as she cradled her round belly with one arm. I squinted at the sight, I didn’t recall that bump being there when we left…
“I see you had your hands full,” Zathar said in greeting. The tip of his tail raised to indicate some of the dents along my scales. In a few places, they’d cracked from the pressure and the force of the fall. I was healed, but my scales would bear those marks until I molted again.
I shrugged, “I’ll tell you all about it in a minute.
Did Bitter Storm give you any trouble while we were gone?
” Zathar shook his head in response and glanced at Sesethul, his bright azure eyes gleaming as he gazed at my dragon.
No trouble, but he was glad to have the dragon back home.
Ses had made an impression on Bitter Storm, hopefully, his presence was enough to deter them from any further hostility.
Then I went around and made introductions, laughing at the sight of Krashe already trying to eagerly get his hands on the greenhouse part we’d brought.
The building looked much improved, already many panels had been sourced and attached to the metal bones, but they were not ready for this piece yet.
“You weren’t kidding,” Merish said later that evening when we had a moment.
“It’s a beautiful place, and it’s inspiring to see all these Naga from different Clans work together.
And the humans, they are so fascinating.
” Her eyes strayed from where Cosima was relaying our aerial battle for the third time to a crowd of Naga and humans alike.
They darted to Reid with a hint of curiosity, and my stomach flipped.
“Oh no, don’t even think about it! Seriously Merish.
” She laughed at me and flipped her long black and gold braid over her shoulder, then she got up from her seat and slithered gracefully around the campfire, her sinuous moves drew the eyes of several unmated males but no one approached.
When she reached Reid, he grinned in welcome, and patted the log next to him in invitation.
Growling, I was about to get up and tell him to back off from my sister but Cosima planted herself in my lap at right that moment.
“No, let them be. You should not begrudge your sister a mate if that’s what that is, and even if it’s just fun, it’s none of your business.
” I closed my hands around her hips and yanked her close for a kiss, she was right, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Come on, I think it’s time I moved the last of my things into your apartment,” she said when she pulled back from our tongue-tangling. I rose with her in my arms in an instant, my sister and her flirtation with the human male all but forgotten.
Under the sound of whistling and laughter, the two of us headed into Ahoshaga. I glanced over my shoulder once to check on Ses, who’d sprawled out on his favorite cliff spot, Salais next to him. Both dragons appeared sound asleep but when I looked, Ses slid open one golden eye and blinked at me.
Inside Cosima’s place, only a small pile of clothing remained, along with some furs and sewing supplies.
She hadn’t really made this place her own in the three months she’d lived at Haven, while my little apartment had already gathered clutter from projects, knickknacks I’d collected, and a desk piled with papers from her blueprint drawings.
In the ‘living’ room area, she paused as she glanced at three sticks with notches carved into them.
They were lined up along the wall and I instantly knew what they represented for her.
She’d carved a notch to mark each day, just like she’d done when she’d been locked up in a tiny prison cell for nearly a year.
She’d marked each day as if she was still locked up, but she had not carved a single notch since the first time I’d offered her my tail.
“I think those should go in the fire,” she declared, smiling at me as she shed that piece of baggage. I was so proud of her for doing that. Tossing away that last symbol of captivity, freeing herself completely.
Picking her, and her last things up in my arms, I had her out of her former rooms and into mine in seconds.
And then I tossed her down in our nest and crawled on top of her, already coiling along her legs, spreading them.
The first hints of her arousal perfuming the air.
“You are perfect in our nest, beautiful. I love you, Cosima,” I said to her as I stared pulling her clothing from her pale, freckled skin.
I planned to lick every single dot that marked her sexy body.
She dug her fingers through my hair, her blunt nails scraping along my flesh, and then she tugged on my horns. “And I love you, Zsekhet. I know I didn’t want to have a mate when I first got here, but I’m really glad you persisted. You’re amazing, and I know we’ll be happy together.”
I agreed, and then I spent the next several hours showing her just how happy I’d be making her for the rest of our lives.
***
Cosima
I woke up warm and sated, my body was tired but in a good way.
I was so damn happy that I could hardly believe it.
When I glanced around Zsekhet’s apartment, our apartment, I was filled with ideas on how to make it pretty; make it a home.
Realizing how much I looked forward to living here with him almost made me choke up; I’d made it, I’d found myself again, and it was all thanks to Zsekhet.
Rolling on my side, I had to push a coil of tail away to get a better look at his face.
He was belly down, sprawled half over me with several loops, but his tail had curled up above his head and half over his face.
He was usually a morning person, but he was still more tired than he wanted to admit after healing from those terrible injuries, and we’d been up until very late last night.
His alien, Naga features had become so familiar and loved.
Sharp cheekbones made his face look sharper, a little more feral.
His brows were nubbed, spiky little ridges that weren’t quite as mobile as mine, but his hair was long, black, and luscious.
As I stared, his eyelids flickered open and his golden gaze met mine with this warm, tender look that made my toes curl and my chest feel full.
“Morning, my flame-haired one,” he murmured, his mouth quirking into a smile, the grin exposing the sharper fangs in the corners of his mouth. I leaned up and kissed him, but when he started to roll us, I wriggled away.
“No, I want another proper shower, and then I want breakfast. I’m starving!
” I laughed when that just made his eyes grow even more heated.
He liked the warm water showers here as much as I did, the bath was huge, to fit his body, and the water fell from several areas to cover all of him too.
It was like having my own private spa, and we’d already discovered that coiling and cuddling together when we were both soapy was amazing.
It wasn’t until several hours later that I was finally dressed and stumbling out of our apartment for that breakfast I’d wanted. Not that I regretted that delay for a minute, though the cheeky eyebrow Min-Ji gave me when I sat down at the campfire did make me blush.
I opened my mouth to say something, maybe warn her that she wouldn’t make such jokes once she had her own mate. A sound interrupted me, a kind of commotion near the palisade gate. We all rose to our feet to look, but I couldn’t tell from here if it was Bitter Storm attacking or something else.
Kalani darted into Haven and almost immediately returned again with her strange, alien laser rifle.
I didn’t wait for her but started striding down the hillside to get a better look.
Zsekhet had left me at the campfire to go talk with his sister earlier, but he caught up immediately, flinging his arm around my shoulders.
We weren’t the only ones rushing to the gate to get a look, but Zsekhet shouldered a path for me.
I was excited but not scared I realized as we got closer.
I wasn’t hanging back, too afraid to confront what was going on, I was doing as Vera did that day Zsekhet arrived.
Confidently facing this possible threat at my mate’s side.
And then we were there and I drew in a surprised breath.
That wasn’t Bitter Storm. It was just a lone Naga male, covered in blood from head to tail, jagged gashes open and bleeding along his entire body.
Where the red hadn’t stained them, his scales shimmered a luscious, emerald green. A Water Weaver male.
“Please,” he begged hoarsely. “My mate. She’s been stolen…” Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed.
THE END