Chapter 22 Raven #2
I step into the hidden cavern beyond the egg chamber.
The first thing to go are my shoes—I kick them off with relief, my feet aching from hours of desperate flight.
I’m still wearing the formal gown from that cursed diplomatic mission, now torn and stained and a reminder of how close I came to losing everything.
I extend my silver talons with deliberate slowness and slice the ruined fabric off my body in quick, efficient movements.
The gown falls away in pieces, and I don’t care about modesty or propriety.
I need the water, need to wash away the fear and exhaustion and poison.
I spread my wings wide and use them to fly the short distance across the cavern.
Three powerful flaps of my wings, and I dive into the center of the hot spring with a splash that sends water droplets flying everywhere.
The warmth of the mineral-rich water soaks immediately into my stiff, aching muscles like a blessing from the goddess herself.
I sigh with profound relief and shift back into my skull dragoness form, needing to be myself—my true self—with him.
The transformation happens almost instantly; my body recognizing this as home, as safe.
Our mate is handsome... my dragoness observes with obvious pleasure and barely contained excitement.
His human form isn’t bad either... He’s finally here.
Finally, real. Finally, ours. She purrs in my head, the sound vibrating through our shared consciousness with joy and satisfaction and desperate longing.
I rise slowly out of the water, letting my white, skull-like face and silver horns—curved like scythes and wickedly sharp—breach the surface first. Water streams off my bone plates and down my neck in rivulets.
Slowly, deliberately, I lower my massive head toward Solaris, where he stands at the edge of the spring.
He looks up at me with what I can only describe as awe, his amber eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears. His lips part slightly, and I can see his chest rising and falling rapidly with emotion he’s struggling to contain.
“Ye look absolutely beautiful, my mate,” Solaris breathes, his voice rough with emotion.
He reaches out with a hand that trembles and gently strokes my maw with reverent fingers, like he’s touching something sacred.
“A thousand years I waited. A thousand years of darkness and silence, and ye’re more magnificent than any dream I had. ”
The touch sends pleasant shivers racing down my spine and makes my heart clench with overwhelming emotion. He’s here. He’s really here. He saved me. He caught me when I fell.
He shifts his hands with visible effort, his own black talons extending, and uses them to carefully preen my face—removing dirt and debris from between my scales with practiced precision.
The gesture is so intimate and caring that I feel tears prick at my dragon’s eyes.
His hands are shaking as he works, and I can feel waves of love and devotion and desperate relief pouring through our bond.
I rumble with deep contentment; the sound vibrating through the cavern. I lay down in the shallow area, keeping most of my body submerged in the steaming water, making myself vulnerable and open to him in a way I’ve never been with anyone except my other mates.
“Tha skull dragonesses of tha past preferred places exactly like this fer their lairs,” Solaris explains as he works, his accent thick with emotion that makes his words rough.
“Hot springs, deep caverns, places where they could soak and heal and be themselves without fear. It does my heart good—goddess, it makes me want tae weep—tae see how much yer dragoness knows from ancestral memory. Ye’re perfect, lass.
Absolutely perfect.” His voice cracks on the last word, and I can smell the salt of tears on him.
I rumble questioningly, asking without words what he means by ancestral memory, needing to hear his voice, needing the connection.
“Tha older bloodlines were able tae access tha memories of tha dragons that came before them,” he explains, moving to the other side of my face and continuing his careful preening with hands that are steadier now.
“Yer father's being of tha oldest bloodlines, I’m not shocked yer dragoness’s instincts are so strong and sure.
Ye know things ye’ve never been taught because yer ancestors knew them. Ye’re everything they were and more.”
I rumble softly in understanding, pressing my face more firmly into his touch. They told you I’m a chimera; I state rather than ask, opening one sapphire eye to stare at Solaris, suddenly vulnerable and uncertain. Does he care? Does it matter to him I’m not pure-blooded?
“They did, aye,” he confirms immediately, meeting my gaze without even a flicker of hesitation or disgust. His amber eyes burn with fierce pride and love.
“Chimeras are born when a species is in trouble—when tha bloodlines need strengthenin’ or when somethin’ threatens dragon kind.
Ye’re not an accident or a mistake, lass.
Ye’re a gift. Remember, I could hear everything when ye took me everywhere in that carrier.
I know more about yer family than ye might think.
I know yer heart. I know yer soul. And I’ve loved ye since tha first moment I felt yer presence. ”
He reaches up and cups my massive jaw with both hands, his expression so tender it makes my chest ache. “I’ve waited a thousand years fer ye, Raven. A thousand years of darkness and silence. And I’d wait a thousand more if I had tae. Ye’re worth every second of suffering.”
Tears—actual tears—slide down my scaled face and drip into the water below.
He smiles warmly, looking at me and then at the expansive hot spring with obvious longing that he’s trying to contain out of politeness. I can feel through our bond how desperately he wants to be close to me, to be in the water with me, but he’s holding back, waiting for permission.
I scoot to the side immediately, my massive form displacing water that sloshes against the cavern walls with urgency, making more room for him. I believe it’s deep enough for you to fit too, if you would like. Orange dragons prefer hot springs and marshes, just like black dragons do.
I rumble the offer to him, and I can hear the pleading in my voice, the desperate hope. Please. Please join me. I need you close.
“Ye would share yer hot spring with me?” His hands move to the fancy dinner jacket he’s still wearing and start unbuttoning it with fingers that tremble with emotion and barely restrained desire. “Yer personal sanctuary? Yer most private place?”
His voice carries awe and disbelief, and desperate hope, all mixed together.
You’re my mate, I rumble, and my mental voice cracks with emotion. You caught me when I fell. You held me safe. You hatched and flew through the night to find me. How could I not share everything I have with you?
I move further to the side to give him more space, water sloshing with my movements. Your species loves the heat and minerals of hot springs. It heals us and settles the beast within. I need... I need you close, Solaris. I need to know you’re real and safe and mine.
I rumble once more and back deeper into the water, submerging myself until only my nostrils and eyes are above the surface, watching him with desperate anticipation. Steam rises from the water in lazy curls, creating an almost mystical atmosphere in the dimly lit cavern.
My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
After almost two years of carrying him, of talking to him, of dreaming about him—he’s here.
He’s real. And I’m terrified and elated and so grateful I can barely breathe.
He can join me or not. It’s his choice, and I won’t pressure him either way.
But goddess, I hope he chooses to stay. I hope he wants this—wants me—as much as I want him.
Solaris’s hands freeze on the buttons of his jacket, and he looks at me with such raw emotion that it takes my breath away.
“Lass,” he says, his voice breaking. “I’ve dreamed of this moment.
Of ye. Of being close tae ye without tha shell between us.
” His hands resume their work with renewed purpose, fingers flying over buttons.
“I’m comin’, my heart. I’m comin’.” He sheds the jacket, then his shirt, revealing a broad, scarred chest that speaks of battles fought and survived.
His hands move to his trousers, and he strips with efficient speed, clearly done with waiting, done with hesitation.
When he’s finally bare, I can see the full extent of the scars covering his body—centuries of fighting, of surviving, of enduring. He’s beautiful and broken and perfect.
He shifts without warning, and his orange drake explodes into existence—massive and powerful, and magnificent. He’s larger than me, ancient and scarred and absolutely stunning. Without hesitation, he slides into the hot spring with a sigh that sounds like a prayer being answered.
The water rises dramatically as his bulk displaces it, and then he’s moving toward me with purpose. He curves his body around mine protectively, and I feel his warmth seeping into me from all sides.
Finally, he rumbles, pressing his maw against my neck. Finally, I can hold ye properly. Finally, ye’re safe in my arms where ye belong.
I turn my head and press my face against his, purring so loudly that the water vibrates with it.
We’re together. All five of my mates are finally in my nest. My family is complete.
And I’ve never felt more safe, more loved, or more whole in my entire life.