Chapter Fifteen
Sigurd waited until night, spreading his wings out wide to glide between the mountain peaks, and dove into the opening of the haven’s sky entrance. He circled several times, slowing his speed, preparing for landing. His eyes zooming in on the best place to touch down feet first as his arms cradled his precious cargo.
He didn’t know who he feared more, Edmund’s mate, Cassandra, if he cracked one of these unhatched fiú, or his own mate, Ashlyn. He hoped she’d had time to cool off and by the steady beat of his heart, come to terms with their bonding. He’d also accepted, he would never shift into a dragon again, if it meant keeping his bond with her.
He landed near the mountain entrance into the caverns. He growled low, a warning signal to anyone around him to stay clear.
Ashlyn stepped out from the shadows of the cavern entrance. He almost shifted and ran to her, but remembered the fiú cradled in his arms. He blew out steam from his nostrils as Ashlyn approached him.
Shadows danced through the moon light beams between the trees. She smelled of damp earth and smoldered ash. She’d braided her hair down her back. A smudge of dirt graced her cheek. Her eyes glowed emerald green and he wanted to hold her.
“I thought it was you I heard. Father wasn’t sure when you’d arrive.” She reached out and ran her hand down the side of his face. He let out a shaky breath and she shivered.
“You’ve been waiting for me?”
“Someone needed to be here to receive the delivery.”
“Is that the only reason?” He closed his eyes, tried to ignore the heat of her touch arousing him.
She leaned against his face. Her small warm cheek pressed to his cool dragon skin. “I missed you.”
“I’m still a dragon, baby.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Let me help you with these eggs. I’ve clean and prepared a hatching nest for them near the core where it’s warmest.” She pressed her lips to his leathery skin. “And I’ve prepared one for us to share this night, too.”
“You know what will happen if you take me into the caverns?”
“It’ll be alright. The hatching nests are away from the other areas of the cavern. I’ve seen to the scents. Please, Sigurd, I want to sleep with you. I want to sleep with you as a dragon.” He could not deny her the stars if she’d ask for them, let alone this simple request.
“Where are the others?” He followed her through the entrance, careful of his cargo.
“I sent Quintin away. He helped me clear and prepare the nest where we will sleep, but I promised to ensure the eggs are safe, so I prepared a different place for them that Quintin isn’t aware of.”
“I don’t have to tell you then; these eggs are more valuable than the lives of those who have sworn to protect them.”
Together, Ashlyn and Sigurd deposited the rare dragon eggs into the hidden nest she’d prepared. It rested near the core inside the mountain, where the heated rock from the volcanic core within warmed the enclosed cave. She nestled each egg in furs and feathers.
“I know of this one.” She turned to Sigurd, still in his dragon form. “Emily found it at an estate sale. The owner had it stashed in a furnace room. I recognize the smudge where the heat damaged the shell.”
“I believe Cassandra calls that one Bob.”
“Cassandra? As in cousin Cassandra? How did Cassandra get a hold of it? Margaret told Emily the egg had been stolen and she needed to retrieve the egg to return it to its rightful guardian.” Ashlyn smoothed her hand back over the fur. She’d helped Dr. Kovak clean the egg and examine it to make sure the fiú inside lived.
“Cassandra has become Edmund’s mate. My pendragon, Blake, sent Edmund to follow Margaret when she retreated to the island. It led Edmund to Cassandra and these fiú.”
“Edmund is part of your merry band then?” She took his muzzle, directed it in the way she wished him to follow her.
“We’re playing in Stonehenge soon. You can meet them all when we go, if not before the wedding.”
“Wedding?” She paused looking at the narrow passage to the next cavern, but Sigurd bumped her ahead.
“Ours. Unless you want my head mounted in Dr. Kovak’s office.”
“You’ve spoken to him?”
“Before I left. He gave his blessing, by the way.”
“I know.” She looked back, watched him scratch his scales against the walls and groaned. “Too tight?”
“Just right.” He pushed her forward, the rough rock on the side of the tunnels rubbed his scales like a full body massage. He kept his wings close to his body. These passages had been made for lesser sized dragons.
She hooked to the right where the tunnel dipped low and turned another sharp right, where the cavern opened to a large den. In the center, a dip in the floor where a female had once circled and laid to cover her eggs for the decades of incubation required to hatch them.
A soft glow came from the rock, illuminating the space in a flush of orange, pink, and red from the live core inside the mountain.
“We’re on the other side of the mountain.”
“Below the nest we left the eggs, yes?” He moved inside the den, left his wings relax after holding them so tight against this back. He curled his tail back from her and started to shift.
“No.” She touched him. “Stay a dragon.”
Her eyes had changed. Those beautiful green orbs blinked back at him with narrow pupil slits. He curled himself and gathered her against his side. He turned his head to watch her. “I’m not at all soft like a bed or cuddly like a cat.”
She laid with her head resting on his dragon arm and snuggled against the smooth scales of his side. “I love the feel of you.”
He noted the huskiness in her voice. He purred, a rumbling sound in his throat, and she stroked her hand over his arm.
“You will marry me, won’t you?”
Exhausted, he heard her sigh. “We are mated are we not?”
He’d take it for a yes and curled himself around to cradle her tighter. His back muscles ached from carrying the extra weight of the five dragon eggs across the oceans to reach here. In the morning, he’d show her how much he had missed her.