Chapter Eight
Penny
“Mama!” Lisa pointed out the window with a squeal.
Penny sighed as she finished changing yet another dirty diaper. She’d had to ask the innkeeper for fresh water to clean up Alex three times already. The kids were all full of pent-up energy, from sleeping for longer than usual and then being cooped up inside all day. This was the fifth time in the space of ten minutes that Lisa had asked to go outside.
“Not right now, sweetheart. See, it’s dark out. We need to play inside.”
Her head was starting to throb as her stomach rumbled. The innkeeper had brought up some food for their breakfast but told her that lunch and supper cost extra. Since she had nothing to pay for those meals with, Penny had elected to not eat herself and, instead, save as much food for her twins, to keep them satisfied through the day.
Part of her hoped that Warmund would come back. Even though she knew it was ridiculous, she had felt him lying to her, that sick feeling in her gut and the tingle in the back of her mind leaving no doubt about it, she still hoped. When the hours wore by and she had concentrated instead on keeping the children entertained in this small room, she’d let herself get angry at him over his abandonment.
There were several times when she had thought about asking the innkeeper, a friendly, grey-haired woman, about the women’s shelters Warmund had told her about. She couldn’t stay here indefinitely; her children couldn’t stay here indefinitely. She needed help.
But there was still hope. That traitorous feeling that Warmund might feel a little responsible for her since he got her in this position in the first place. Even though she had yelled and snapped and been overall extremely unpleasant to him.
Maybe he did recognize her as the woman that had shared her car with him a year ago.
Maybe he understood that Alex was his son.
“Aaaaaa!” Mark shrieked, pointing at the window. “Aaaaa!”
A flash of colored light burst in the air, distracting both the twins. They clapped their hands and laughed, staring at the light. Penny stared at it in despair. As if the situation wasn’t crazy enough, now she had these random bursts of magic—that were apparently coming from her—to deal with. She hunched over, arms wrapping around her waist, as Alex kicked her thigh.
In the morning, I’ll ask the innkeeper about the women’s shelters.
For tonight, she would sleep and hope. At least, she would try to sleep. The way the kids were so wound up, she wasn’t certain they’d sleep any time soon.
There was a light rap on the door and she quickly went to answer. The innkeeper stood on the other side, holding a bundle in one hand and a lantern in the other. “Hello, dear. Is everything alright?”
Penny forced herself to smile. “Yes, thank you.”
“You haven’t left your room all day.”
“We’ve been traveling,” she quickly said. Would the innkeeper see through her? “I’ve been tired. Thank you for your concern.”
The innkeeper hummed. “Well, here’s a few buns that I had left over from supper. You can’t just live on breakfast, you know. Where is your young man? Has he run off with all your money?”
“No.” Penny quickly shook her head. “I’m afraid that we don’t have much right now. He was looking for a job today. I’m sure he’ll be back at any moment.”
“Well… if you need anything, just let me know.”
“I will. Thank you.” Penny took the food and lantern, smiling gratefully. As soon as the door was closed, she set the lantern on a short table, fed the children all they’d eat and then finished up the rest herself. If they left food out, she reasoned, mice might get into the room and she didn’t want that.
Time seemed to pass quickly after that. The twins started to yawn, Alex drifted off to sleep, and soon enough she was the only one left awake. She gazed at her three children, tucked away in the small cots that the innkeeper had given her. She might as well face it. Warmund wasn’t coming back. Which was just as well, anyway… how was she meant to tell him that he had a son, without him thinking she was just trying to stop him from completing his mission?
Just as she was spreading the cloth diapers she had washed over the mantle to dry, the door opened. A spark of magic shot from her fingertips, lighting the room as bright as midday.
Warmund groaned as he threw a hand over his eyes. “Put that out, woman!”
“Sorry!” The light went out. Penny stood there, her heart hammering as she took in Warmund’s state.
It was not good. He was covered in blood. A poorly-made bandage was wrapped around his torso, but his pants were soaked in blood. Penny sucked in a deep breath and grabbed a clean bucket of water to fill the kettle, which she then put into the fire. Striding forward, she stripped off Warmund’s cloak and helped him to the fire, where she laid him down and immediately checked on the bandage. The cut under was gruesome but shallow. It was as though he’d been filleted.
“What were you doing?” she asked him, ignoring the blood as she started working.
She was a nurse. She had dealt with worse than this.
Warmund groaned as he tugged a leather bag from his pocket. “Getting you money. So you’d better be grateful.”
“You said you were going to get a job.”
“It was sort of a job.”
Maybe it was the adrenaline of the situation, but Penny actually laughed at that. She quickly pressed the clean diapers to the wound—they apparently had money to buy more now. “Hold that there. I won’t ask any more questions.”
“Good,” he grunted, then gave her a feeble grin. “But hey, I returned triumphantly. Does that mean that the lady fairy will give me a worthy reward?”
Penny rolled her eyes as she hurried to the table, where the thread and needle she had borrowed to fix a tear Mark had made in his shirt sat. She brought it back and stuck the needle in the flames to sterilize it. The water in the kettle was starting to boil, so she pulled it out and poured it back into the bucket, where she put the rest of the clean diapers to make sure they were extra sterilized. They’d have to work as the bandages.
“You’re bleeding all over the floor and thinking of sex. Clearly, you aren’t human.”
Penny threaded the needle; she cleaned the wound the best she could, then reached to start stitching. Warmund let out a shuddering hiss and reached to stop her.
“I’m a dragon. This is nothing. All I need is a good sleep, and I’ll be healed by morning. And to answer your question, no, I’m not human. Sex helps us dragons heal faster. It gets the right hormones or something flowing.”
Penny hesitated, then gently broke his grip. “I’m still stitching you up. You’re losing a lot of blood. If you got an erection right now, you’d probably pass out.”
She started stitching him up. Her hands were covered in blood, making it difficult to hold the needle, but somehow, she managed. Warmund’s dark face was pale by that time. His breathing hitched every time she inserted the needle. She marveled at how strong he was, staying conscious through all this. Once she was done, she cleaned up the blood, rebandaged his torso and shoved all the bloody clothes and cloth in a bucket of cold water.
His trousers included. Penny knew that it was incredibly unprofessional to have sexy thoughts about a patient. She had never had that problem before. Seeing Warmund half-naked, though, brought back the memory of his arms tight around her as he thrust into her wildly, teeth bared and eyes glittering.
Now he gazed at her softly, looking relaxed.
She avoided his eye. “Go to sleep.”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
Warmund chuckled. “Too bad I’m the one in this relationship that gives orders.”
Penny glared at him now. “Go to sleep. Remember, I’ve got magic. Don’t make me try to put you to sleep and accidentally blow your head off.”
Warmund’s eyes widened slightly. He affected a shrug and winced. “Fine. But bring me a pillow and blankets. I’m cold.”
Shit. Of course, he was. Penny quickly grabbed the blanket off the bed and spread it over him, making sure he was covered and warm. Once he was, she made to leave, but his hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I—"
“I’m cold.” Warmund’s voice was little more than a throaty growl. “And isn’t the best way to warm up through body heat?”
Penny let out a choked protest, but her heart wasn’t in it. She glared at him, even as her pulse spiked. The way he held her wrist, he had to feel the effect he had on her. She glanced away, flushing, and slid into the blankets. She settled down against him and found suddenly that she was cold. He felt delightfully warm, and she cuddled in close to him.
“Reminds you of the first time, huh?” he asked.
Her heart jumped to her throat.
“You patched me up when I first came to Earth.”
Her pulse settled. “Oh, that. Right. I almost forgot about that. It didn’t last very long, did it?”
Warmund hummed. “No, it really didn’t. That was when you were still pregnant with your twins, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Penny held her breath. Now would be the perfect time to remind him about their other encounter. The one that had created Alex. But what was she supposed to say? Remember that random stranger you slept with in her car outside a bar? For all she knew, he’d had a dozen such experiences. Theirs wasn’t unique in any way, was it? It was for her because she got Alex from it.
But him?
Warmund’s fingers combed through her hair. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”
“It does for me, too.”
His hand trailed down, caressing her lip. Heat sparked in her core as her skin tingled. Warmund’s eyes glittered in the firelight. “You don’t seem to be as angry and hateful toward me now.”
Penny let out a shuddering breath. “Yeah, well… I was lashing out before. I’m not proud of it,” she added, “but I was just really afraid and confused. You understand…”
“Yeah. I do. And I don’t mind lashing out. I just prefer it happening in other ways.”
He rolled slightly and pressed his mouth to hers. She wanted to protest that he needed to rest and heal. That he was in no condition for this. That they already had a child together and the last thing she wanted right now was four children under the age of three. But as the heat built inside of her, she found she couldn’t think of any of that. She wanted a distraction, she wanted warmth.
She wanted him. And so, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let the sensations sweep her away.