Epilogue
Desmon
Carly’s laughter rang through the hallway, filling my heart with warmth and happiness. These corridors had never felt more like a home, and I couldn’t imagine them devoid of her cheerful and colorful presence ever again.
I followed the sound and found her in the drawing room, enjoying a cup of coffee with her best friend. Dana had just arrived earlier this morning, and they’d been so eager to catch up that they’d opted for coffee and a chat before even bringing Dana’s things up to her room.
I’d thought my mate would be most excited to see her parents, but they’d arrived yesterday and, after a few words and a hug, had left to explore the city. I’d asked if they wanted a tour, but they assured me that they preferred to make discoveries on their own, especially in a new-to-them city.
“It’s nothing against you personally,” Carly had said when they’d left. “They’ve always been roamers. I’m just glad to have them here at all.”
She’d explained that her parents had met on the road, had her, then reluctantly settled down one year at a time just so she could finish each school year before they moved on. She’d gone to a new school every year, but instead of making her feel well traveled, her childhood had felt disjointed, just an endless sea of new faces that never stuck around.
I couldn’t imagine that. It was the exact opposite of how dragons worked. Dragons tended to find a territory and settle down in it; we had strong nesting instincts. Though I wouldn’t mind taking my mate on a few more adventures for our upcoming honeymoon.
Despite the media frenzy surrounding Darlington’s dragon getting hitched, we were keeping our celebration small. For one, Carly only had her parents and one friend who she wanted to attend. Most everyone else was our friends. Carly had originally referred to them as my friends, but Seth had heard about it and acted all hurt, then insisted that they were her friends too.
Carly had been adamant that no press was to be invited, even though they were all salivating to be included. I wholeheartedly agreed with her. It was going to be a special day, and I wanted to spend it with special people. Not reporters.
She was grinning from ear to ear as the two chit chatted and I wanted to stay and watch. I loved looking at her when she was this happy. But the phone in my hand reminded me that I was here for a reason.
I cleared my throat to announce my presence. “Sorry to interrupt. The driver’s here to take you to the dress fitting.”
I had wanted to go too, but Carly made it very clear that I wasn’t supposed to see the dress until the wedding. This, she’d said, was something only for her and Dana. I hated being apart from her, but accepted her need to be a separate person and have her own friends and life.
She’d even insisted on continuing her job at the museum, even though I’d told her she didn’t need to work and that I’d provide for her.
“It’s not about whether you can provide for me or not,” she’d explained. “I know you can. It’s about me having a life. I like doing the tours. I want to encourage the next generation to love history. Besides, you don’t want the next generation of voters not having a clue about what happened in the past, do you?”
That had had me remembering my own past. It had only taken two generations for events to be completely forgotten, or worse, misremembered. Why? Because it wasn’t shared.
So she had a point. We’d compromised and decided she would only go in when there was a tour booked.
“We should probably get your stuff up to your room before we go,” Carly said to her friend. “I put you right next to Q-Tip.”
We’d completely bunny-proofed that particular room, and Q-Tip had free roam of it all the time, though he had been known to follow Carly or Elana around the estate and grounds as well. We’d even built a hawk-proof area in the garden for him, too, and my gardener spent hours planting it with the little rabbit’s favorite fruits and veggies.
It had taken daily visits and offerings of his favorite treats, but the bunny now actually liked me. He hadn’t kicked me in weeks! Maybe he realized that I’d always take care of Carly, and therefore him.
“I’ll take them up,” I said. “It’s just the rolling luggage and the duffle, right?”
Dana nodded. “Yup. Thanks, Desmon.”
Carly picked up her mug of coffee from the side table, and stood. “Let’s get these into the kitchen.”
Elana had told her numerous times just to leave them for her, but Carly insisted on cleaning up after herself.
“Watch out!” I cried.
Too late. Carly’s foot caught on Dana’s wheeled luggage, and the half-finished coffee in her hand went flying straight toward me. I caught my mate with my ultra-fast dragon reflexes before she slammed into the counter. But that didn’t stop the coffee.
Fuck! There goes another pair of pants!
THE END