Chapter Eight

 

Slowly opening her eyes, Dani squinted against the rays of the early morning sunlight shining through the dense leaves of the trees overhead. Stretching, she felt the sweet sting in spots that hadn’t been sore in a very, very long time. The warm arm wrapped around her middle held her tight as the low rumble of the man who’d managed to wiggle his way past her defenses rumbled, “Good morning, beautiful.”

Rolling over, she could only smile as she saw the spark of fresh new love growing in the depths of Wolfe’s deep blue eyes. Raising her hand, she ran just the tip of her finger along his bottom lip before touching the stubble covering his jaw.

As he spoke, the rumbling of his voice tickled her fingers. “Woman, I could wake up every morning just like this and never need another thing for the rest of my life.”

“Is that so?” she teased, lifting her head until her lips hovered just below his. “And how about this?” She closed the scant distance between them, pouring all the emotions this incredible man stirred within her into that one kiss.

Pulling back, breathless and awash in the bliss of what she was sure was the beginning of true love, Dani looked up at Wolfe surprised to see the clouds of doubt filling his expression. Suddenly, alarmingly aware of her nudity and feeling like she needed to defend herself, Dani grabbed his shirt and jerked it over her head. Jumping to her feet, the dragoness crossed her arms over her chest and braced herself as she said, “Just ask. Ask anything you want. I refuse to spend another minute with you looking at me like I’ve done something wrong.” She straightened her shoulders. “Not after what we just shared.”

Slowly getting to his feet, Wolfe put on his jeans, not even bothering to button them, and walked towards her. With his hands on her arms, he bent his knees, so he was looking her in the eyes and said, “Yes, you’re right. I’m a stubborn asshole.”

Tapping his temple while Dani tried to hide her surprise at him voicing her exact thoughts, Wolfe gave her a half-grin and snickered, “We’re linked. Can’t get much by me now.”

Staring, refusing to react while wanting to slam her palm to her forehead for forgetting that they had indeed shattered each other’s mental blocks the night before, Dani nodded, “So, come on, let’s get this over with.”

Shaking his head, Wolfe explained, “I know what you see in my eyes and the doubt you feel coming from me, but please don’t take it personally…”

“Yeah, okay,” Dani snorted sarcastically. “I’ll try not to take it personally that the guy I just had the most intense physical, emotional and spiritual experience of my entire life with, doubts me and my intentions.” She threw her arms in the air, dislodging his hands and began pacing. “What we did,” she pointed to the exact spot where they had made love, “was not something I do at the drop of a hat…or all the time…or with just any Tom, Dick, or Wolfe that happens to come along.”

She stopped in front of him and slammed her clenched fists to her hips. “And I have never felt anything like what I felt with you. So, excuse me if I’m a little pissed that the first thing I’m hit with the morning after our…our…our tryst is this crap.” Dani spat the word tryst, almost feeling bad when Wolfe looked shocked but pushing that guilt aside and railing on, “I’m not used to having my intentions questioned, especially in…matters of the heart…” Her words trailed off as Wolfe closed the distance between them and once again placed his hands on her upper arms.

Putting his index finger under her chin, he gently lifted until she was looking up into his smiling face. “First of all, if you’d let me finish, you would know that I do not question your motives. But, let me stop right there.”

His smile brightened, and he lowered his head. “Let me make something very clear. I’m glad you don’t take what we did lightly or that you have never experienced it with anyone else.”

Leaning even closer, he went on, “Because when I said you were mine, I meant it.” Wolfe moved his right hand to her chest, covering her heart. The heat of his touch and the strength of their bond made the dragoness weak in the knees. “We are Destined to be together.”

Taking her right hand, he placed it over his heart with his hand over hers. “I think I knew it from the first time I saw you, but like I said, I’m a stubborn SOB. I only believe what I can see and even then, I admit to waiting for it all to fall apart.”

Moving a bit closer, he added, “But this is real. There’s no running away or fighting it any longer. I just have to know why you are hiding and why I’m the only one who can tell who and what you really are, for my own piece of mind and to know that I can keep you safe.”

Feeling the sincerity of his words and the blossoming love he felt for her convinced Dani that she had to tell him about her past, but there was one thing she needed to make clear first. “I understand what you’re saying, but, and you better be listening Wolfe McCallum,” she pulled her hand out from under his and poked him in the chest. “No more Neanderthal BS. I am not a damsel in distress that needs saving. I want a partner. Someone I can stand beside, who will stand beside me. Not a hero, or a savior. Got it?”

She waited as he struggled with what to say next and then finally said, “I’ll do my best, but I can’t change who I am.”

Giving him a single nod, Dani stepped to the side and motioned for him to follow. Sitting down under the same tree where they had consummated their union, the dragoness was thankful for Wolfe’s size and the length of his shirt. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with her hiney hanging out.

Patting the ground in front of her, Dani added, “You have to sit down, I’m getting a crick in my neck looking all the way up at you.”

Barking out a laugh that eased some of her tension, Wolfe sat down beside her and faster than she could track, pulled Dani into his lap before leaving back against the trunk of the tree. “Now, that’s better,” he sighed.

“Wolfe,” She grumbled. “This is not the way to have a serious conversation.”

“Who says?”

“Well…I do.” She thought for a second and then added, “And I said no more of your macho, he-man crap.”

“This is not macho or he-man,” he grinned. “This is my compromise.”

“Compromise?”

“Yes, compromise, mo réalta maidin.” Dani felt her eyes get wide at the use of the name only her parents called her in the language of the Ancient Dragon Kings, as Wolfe continued as if he hadn’t noticed. “You are absolutely gorgeous every moment of every day, but wearing my mark, my scent and my shirt is driving both myself and my dragon wild. So, I either have to have you in my lap or I will be forced to ravish you again and again and… you get the idea.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And then I might never get the answers I need.”

Feeling the heat of her blush and trying hard not to swoon at his lovely words, Dani cleared her throat and nodded, quickly beginning to tell her tale. “Okay, here it is in a nutshell because while I appreciate that you haven’t gone poking around in my brain like we both know you could have, please feel free as there are parts too painful to recount.”

She took a deep breath and after slowly letting it out told Wolfe what had happened to her parents and how she had come to be with the MacTavish’s. “So, you see, I was told to hide my dragoness and use only my powers of Healing and Prophecy until my mate,” Dani looked up at her Guardsman, “You, came into my life.”

Wolfe nodded his head while she felt him pulling out of the memories she’d been keeping hidden for nearly a century. It took a moment, but he finally asked, “Only Joshua and Jennifer knew? You didn’t think to tell Daire and Darragh after the death of their parents?”

“Joshua told me not to.” She looked down at her hands. “He believed I was going to find my mate when I was still very young.”

Looking back up at Wolfe as he winked and snickered, “Well, you are still pretty young, all things considered.”

Swatting his shoulder, Dani rolled her eyes, “You know what I mean. Anyway, between the promise I made to my parents and then to Joshua, I just kept my mouth shut. Besides, I’d been hiding who I was for so long, it had become second nature.”

“Why am I the only one who can sense who you are?”

Shrugging, she answered, “I’m guessing it’s all part and parcel of the whole ‘Great Prophecy’ gig.” She added air quotes for effect.

“What did your mother mean by ‘Not until you have met the man created by the Universe to stand by your side will you reveal your true nature and that of the blessed beast with whom you share your soul.’?”

“Now, that you are here and we have marked each other,” she blew out a long-suffering breath, “I guess I get to tell my brothers my whole sordid past.”

Pulling her close, Wolfe wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll do it together. They can’t…”

The words were stolen from his mouth as he shouted in agony a mere heartbeat before Dani was doing the same. Pain, like white hot pokers, assaulted her every nerve ending. Her vision blurred then turned to black as she fell from Wolfe’s lap, writhing and convulsing while listening to her mate’s howls of torture, unable to help him… or herself.

Long moments later, the pain ended just as suddenly as it had begun. Dani shakily rolled onto her knees, blinking her eyes trying to restore her vision. Patting the ground, she searched for Wolfe, her fingers finally touching his outstretched arms.

“Wolfe?” She croaked, the burn in her throat excruciating from all her screaming. “Wolfe, are you okay?”

A faint groan followed by a bit louder one reassured he was still alive. Opening her eyes once again, Dani’s vision was assaulted by a bright orb of light that floated just out of her reach and grew in size the longer she looked at it. Colors, like that of a prism when held up to the sun, swirled like a kaleidoscope as the sphere took the form of a brilliant crystal dragoness.   

Pushing herself upright, Dani sat back on her legs in awe, whispering, “But how? Are you…?”

A voice, resonating from the Heavens, filled her mind. “Yes, mo stór, it is I, Queen Eistir, mate of King Astraeus, the first Leader of the Crystal Dragons. This is only a vision, Morning Star, of things to come. You have found your mate and have been marked. Now, the time of your Awakening, and his is at hand.”

“But…” She tried to ask, stopping short as the dragoness shook her large head.

 “The answers to all your questions will be revealed. The great Darkness prophesied before your birth is near. There is no time to waste. Sleep my child, and when you wake, both you and your Guardsman will have the knowledge, magic and power to defeat the evil threatening all you hold dear.” She spread her glistening wings then slowly laid them to her sides. “You must work together. It is your bond that makes you strong. You were made for one another by the Universe. Let the spark of love he has ignited within you flourish and burn bright. It is that affection and commitment that will strengthen the ties that bind you and give you the forte you will both need to conquer a centuries-old enemy with a taste for blood and a thirst for vengeance.”

“But…”

“Sleep, Morning Star. Sleep and become the Warrior Queen you were always meant to be.”