It had been a week since I’d last seen Willow, and six weeks since I’d taken her to the Amazons. The last week had felt endless. A week of arguments with my father about “that woman”, a week of bears and wolves kidnapping human women, and a week of interrogating those same bears and wolves. We had to find out who was leading this push, because they weren’t doing this on their own. There was a faction in our ranks, a faction that didn’t care about defying the law and it was my job to find out what I could while Malcolm was gone.

I could talk to Willow in our heads, and we’d had a few rather sexy times that would live in my memory forever because of our connection, but that wasn’t enough. I could feel the weakness as it sapped my strength, a little more every day. We agreed to meet in the forest, a good distance from the village at the end of the day. I’d settled what matters I could for the day, and packed a bag. I brought her treats, the things she wanted the most from her world, and a few things I’d picked up to make the evening a little more romantic.

I’d scouted the place the day before and found the cave she’d mentioned. I landed there, unpacked the bag in my human form, and had a bottle of red wine, an assortment of chocolates, and a few other things spread out for her. I’d spread out a foam mattress on the ground, placed some fine cotton sheets on the bed, and a few pillows that had all been sealed in a vacuum bag. That had made the load much easier to carry.

I waited for her in the outfit I’d chosen based on what the women from her world seemed to find sexy for loungewear, as they called it. A loose pair of black pajama pants, a black cotton shirt with embroidered designs on it from India, and my grin. She’d have fun when she tore those buttons loose.

She was just as desperate to see me as I was to see her. I didn’t just love her, I was her, and she was me, and this time apart was about to crush me. I’d never needed the presence of another person as much as I needed her, and this bond only amplified that. I spent long nights, barely asleep, trying to think of ways to please her. I’d even made several trips to check on her mother and to take her things she might need. Her mother was my family now. I’d take care of her as I would my own.

I shied away from thoughts of my own mother. That was a painful subject none of us really discussed anymore. After she’d disappeared from our lives, we all informally agreed that we wouldn’t mention her anymore. It had been hard at the time, but now it was second nature to just change the direction of my thoughts.

Willow came in then, in a long panel of cotton that flowed around her hips and down her legs. It was twisted at her breasts and then tied behind her neck like a halter. The effect was sophisticated but did very little to hide her assets. Assets I wanted in my mouth and my hands.

“Come here, Willow.” She’d hesitated as she came into the cave I’d lit with a few torches of my own. “I’ve missed you so, my darling, don’t tease me now.”

She had her fill of gazing at me, and fell to the bed, her lips finding mine. What followed went well beyond even our combined fantasies. Even the memory of our first time couldn’t prepare us for the reality of being together once again. We made love with the hurried touches of lovers long denied contact, but with the passion and patience of long-term lovers. In the end, we were a tangled mass of legs, hair, and arms barely able to catch our breath.

“You’ve cut your hair,” I said at last, a little sad to have missed the sensation of the silky strands against my thighs. I ran my left hand through it when she stretched out beside me on the bed.

“It kept getting in the way when I was doing the knife training, so I cut some of it off.” She pulled at the length, now somewhere around the lower half of her back. “Do you hate it?”

“No, I just liked it longer. You’re still you and that’s what I need the most. Just you.”

“Good. It will grow back, eventually.” She kissed me and then sat up, her hands going for the wine and chocolate. She gave me the bottle to open and took the plastic off the chocolates.

“They have their own chocolate here, but I’m so used to mine that it tastes odd. It’s good chocolate, don’t get me wrong, it’s just odd.” She popped one of the treats into her mouth and moaned loudly. “That is so good. Orange cream, oh my God.”

I smiled at her delight and watched her eat a few more. She really didn’t need a lot in life to be happy. I’d grown up in splendor and wealth, my needs and desires met with a flick of my hand. She’d known poverty, hard work, and denial of even her basic needs at times. She’d gone without to make sure her mother had enough when she became older, and when she’d become ill, she’d still only thought of her mother. Where Arista had spent a fortune on doctors and insurance deductibles, Willow had seen her local doctor and hadn’t gone to the specialist appointments he’d advised her to take. She couldn’t afford them.

It broke my heart to know what her life had been like, what she’d given up, but in the end, the doctors couldn’t help her anyway, only I could. I ran my finger down her smooth thigh and wondered how greedy she was for me tonight.

“Greedy enough for round two, dragon. Can you handle it?” She gave me a cocky smile as she popped another chocolate into her mouth.

“I can handle whatever you want to give, hunter.” I liked this new aspect of her. She’d always been proud, collected, and calm, but now that edge of mistrust and anger was gone from her, replaced with self-confidence and the knowledge that she was my mate.

“You sure I won’t break you?” She pushed me onto my back and I let her, too eager to feel her hot center over me to protest.

“Break me, baby, it’ll be fun to have you put the pieces back together.” It was a challenge and one it looked like she intended to take me up on.

Willow tested my strength after that and drove me to the brink of madness with her teasing explorations of my body, but I didn’t break. I let her have her way and her fill of me. She slept after, but I stayed vigilant, keenly aware that I was in dragon hunter territory. They would smell me on her when she returned, so I’d have to leave before she did, or they’d come after me.

I knew they wouldn’t punish her, she was my mate, she couldn’t deny herself that, it would be suicide, but that didn’t mean they had to tolerate my being here. They would control themselves, I hoped, because if they killed me, they’d kill her. My death would mean a very slow, agonizing death where she’d waste away as she was when I first met her. The hunters would not do to that to one of their own, or so I hoped.

“Only a few more weeks, I think, Henry. Then I can go home.”

“You’ve learned so much already. Defense, how to control your psychic abilities, how to move objects around you with finesse. It’s amazing really.”

We didn’t talk about the one thing she was here to learn though, how to control her emotions and the killing light she could produce as a weapon. That wasn’t going so well.

“Has your father agreed to let me come back yet?”

“Maybe once you’re done with your training I can talk him into it. Right now, no.” We both sagged together. We’d have to live in her world if she didn’t learn to control her light.

“I like it here, I love the women, the way they live. I mean, who knew you could use goo from tree leaves to wash your hair? They really are one with nature here. I miss my life, though. I miss my piano, my mom, and you.” She paused and bit at her lip and I knew she did that to fight back tears. “I only started to like you and then we had to live apart. It sucks!”

“I know, Willow. It’ll be over soon enough, I promise. You’re strong, you’ll figure this out.” I pulled her face down to mine and kissed away the tears. “I have to leave you again, though. The sun is about to rise.”

We both looked toward the mouth of the cave. There was a glow there now that hadn’t been there before. The sun was coming to spoil our night. With a sigh, we both got up, packed up the bed and the other things I’d brought, and left the cave. I held her to me for the longest time, just absorbing the sensation of her pressed into me. I would miss her, I would miss how the world melted into nothing more than how she felt in my arms.

She pulled away and left quickly. I watched her go for a moment, but she didn’t look back, and I knew she couldn’t. If she did, I’d take her away with me and never bring her back to this place. She had to learn to control herself, so I shifted and took flight. We’d get through this, somehow.

<><>

I flew back to Willow’s land and checked on her mother. I liked it there, in the peaceful quiet on top of a mountain. I could get used to a place like that. I compared her home to mine as I flew back into my own world. Willow’s home was quiet, unobtrusive, meant to be a shelter from the world outside. There was certainly a quiet beauty about the place, but it was a refuge from the world, and from the elements. My home was meant to be a display of power and wealth, though I hadn’t intended it to be that way.

I’d wanted a home where I could see the beauty of my own land and a place that was a defense against any threat. My home was a warning and a threat: don’t fuck with me. I could see those differences now and realized Willow and I had very different mentalities. She lived in a world of peace, where war was something that happened somewhere else. My world was a place of constant vigilance to prevent wars and to be ready if it came despite those efforts.

I flew on to the castle, to find out what news I might have missed in my absence. I landed and shifted at the same time, and strode down to the room we generally used as a family meeting place. I found Arista and Malcolm there with baby Galen.

“Hello, brother, how are you?” Malcolm asked. His face was a portrait of happiness as he watched his son kick tiny legs and fists in the air from a blanket they had all settled on. I felt a pang deep in my guts as I watched them. I think it was envy, I wasn’t sure, I’d never really felt that emotion before.

Malcolm and Arista touched each other often; light brushes against an arm, a face pressed against a shoulder, fingers twined together before they broke apart. That was love then, the constant need to be in contact with each other, the look of happiness they both wore as they looked down at their very own creation. I didn’t want to intrude, but in our world, children were precious, and we nurtured new life together; mother, father, uncles, aunts, and cousins were all part of the village that raised a child. It was important that I spend time with my tiny nephew.

“I don’t think you’ve held him yet, have you, Henry?” Arista pinned me to the spot with eyes that were similar, but different to Willow’s. My lips parted, and my left eyebrow rose to form a protest, but she stopped me when she plucked Galen up and placed him in my hands. I wanted to snatch my hands back and refuse to take him out of fear. I’d never held a baby before.

That’s why we were supposed to nurture new life. I’d never held a baby before because there had been none in my own family for a very long time. What if I broke him with my large, clumsy hands? I wanted to scream at Arista to take her son back, but Galen’s tiny little head cradled into my palm like it was made for his head alone, and his little body fit along my arm perfectly. I breathed out a sigh of wonder as Arista guided my other hand to brace Galen’s body and push him towards my chest.

“That’s it. You won’t break him, Henry. Just be gentle and make sure he’s secure. Not too tight! There you go. Perfect.” She smiled at me happily, but I was too busy with Galen to really notice.

His eyes had gone from that newborn blue to the crystal gray of his father, and he had the perfect blend of his parents’ features. His mother’s nose and high cheeks, his father’s strong chin and the shape of his eyes, and his mother’s brown hair. I could even see a little bit of Willow in his features and wondered if this was what our children might look like.

I ran a finger down his softy, fuzzy cheek and he opened his mouth and eyes wide. Galen’s right cheek crooked just a little and it looked like he wanted to grin at me. His little fists and legs started to kick, and I had to move my hands to hold the baby securely. I turned him to face me and looked down into his little eyes. Dragon eyes. Galen was male, he could not be a hunter, but those eyes were all dragon, anyway. He would be a shifter.

“He’s perfect, isn’t he?” I asked quietly and looked up at the baby’s parents.

“He is, but your children will be too, brother,” Malcolm assured me. “Whatever they are when they are born, hunter, dragon, or both, they will all be perfect, because they are yours.”

I could only hope he was right and that Willow and I had that chance. I knew she could do it. I knew she could gain control of her powers. I just wished it was sooner rather than later.