Dragons Don't Forgive (13 page)

I look between him and
Derrick. “I’ve never wanted anything for you but your
happiness
.
Please
grant me this.”

His head drops and Derrick places his
arms around my brother. My goodbyes are quick after that. Now I’m
fully dressed and flying on a crazy female dragon with a death
wish. She’s breaking all the rules of the realm with no care that
the U.S. military might shoot us down. “Hold on,” she yells into my
head.

A fighter plane comes out of nowhere
as Roxy, as she asked me to call her, rolls to her side and takes
us between two tall buildings. “We’re doing this all the way to
Arizona?” I question softly into her mind because her yelling has
given me a headache.

She replies in a slightly softer
voice. “No, there’s a vortex close to here. It’s where I
crossed.”

“
I thought the only one was
in Arizona.”

“
And we will keep it that
way. Dragons must keep some secrets from Dmitri.”

I laugh for the first time since she
arrived.

She dives low before coming up. She at
least has a saddle and I can hold on as she pulls these
death-defying maneuvers. “This is going to hurt. Are you
ready?”

I’m so ready. “Do I have a choice?” I
ask with humor I’m not really feeling. I want Sarn and there is
nothing on earth that will keep me from him.

“
Bend low over my back and
hold on.”

We hit the realm barrier. This isn’t
pain; it’s heart-stopping agony. I can’t breathe or speak. I think
I’ve died and then we are on the other side and I’m slumped in the
saddle.

“
Are you with me?” Roxy
yells into my mind again. At least her loud voice brings me fully
alert.

“
Is there a reason we had
to bust through so fast? Sarn told me it can be gently done.” I’m
gasping for breath and disoriented. Sarn’s explanation on realms is
actually only a faint memory. At one point during the two months we
spent together, he spoke of bringing me to his lair. I only
remembered the conversation as my oxygen-starved brain began to
panic as I crossed out of earth’s realm.

“
The earth and dragon
realms keep time in different ways. And that way changes regularly.
It could be hours or days since I left. We must hurry.”

Her words shake the rest of the fuzz
from my brain. “Fly like the wind, dragon.”

Chapter Fourteen

Sarn

Even after twenty-four years, life
would be easier with alcohol. If I can say one good thing about my
miserable existence, it’s that I haven’t had a drink in all these
years. Anger, desolation, guilt, and hatred are my drug. They fuel
me to remain an empty man, barely a dragon at all. In the past few
years I’ve rarely left this crumbled mess I call my castle. I don’t
wish to spread my wings. I just want death. And now I will
accomplish what my heart desires most.

I’m not claiming a bride.

The curse can take my worthless life
and be done with it. While the excitement of claiming usually
begins to build in the immediate years before the ceremony, these
years have been the worst for me. I only fly out when the need for
food forces me to hunt. I haven’t seen a single person or dragon in
ten years. Well, except a few weeks ago when Bastian came. I barely
remember the threat that I made so many years before about
considering dragons my enemy and Bastian gave no sign that he
cared. I said little to him during his visit and only half listened
to his boring diatribe. He said something about forgiving myself,
but that will never happen. The last thing I told him before he
left was that I wasn’t attending the claiming.

If my death is as painful as I expect
it to be, it won’t come close to overshadowing all the years spent
without Sierra. I’m done. The curse can take me. Nothing can be a
greater hell than the one I’ve suffered. And once I reached this
decision, my life actually became more bearable. Fighting the need
to go to the claiming was much easier than I thought it would
be.

In a fit of energy the day before, I’d
bathed. At one time water flowed freely in pipes throughout most of
the castle. I actually laughed aloud when I turned the ornate gold
fixture at the tub in my bathing chamber and nothing came out.
Irony at its best. I knew I smelled worse than death so I hauled
cold water up the stairs from the old human quarters and filled the
tub myself. Up until this point I’d soaked occasionally in the lake
but it never helped much. With a surprising determination to feel
clean, I found soap and scrubbed myself raw and washed my overly
long hair too. It took an hour to remove the tangles while thoughts
of Sierra swamped me. Her soft skin and scent while she worked the
comb through my hair. The brush of her body against my naked flesh
and the calming sound of her voice. Usually I pushed thoughts of
her away, but now she’s all I want on my mind. She loved me and I
will always love her.

In another fit of energy, I cleaned my
bedroom. The sheets on my bed hadn’t been replaced in ages. Not
since I ran out of the mountains of clean ones. So I performed the
task of washing and drying some linen that hadn’t been eaten by
mice. It gave me a finer appreciation of the tasks my servants
performed for me. I actually missed them and not because they
served me. I miss the never-ending bustle in the servant’s wing of
the castle. I remember going there and enjoying a piece of
sweetbread on occasion. Their human presence brought comfort
between brides when times were bad. Sending them away was the right
thing to do, though, and I know they’re happier. If I’d hurt one of
them during my many rages, it would have been another stain on my
soul that I’d carry to hell. I don’t need more.

Over the years, I’d destroyed most of
the gold and jewels in my room. With my newfound enthusiasm, I
gathered everything and cleared it all out. I hunted the castle
until I found treasures that I’d somehow missed in my tantrums. I
polished each piece until its beauty gleamed. They now decorated my
bedroom, which was the only livable space within the
castle.

My death chamber.

I stare up at the newly cleaned
ceiling as a sense of peace settles over me. I will die here
tomorrow and escape this never-ending pain. The true punishment was
waiting twenty-four years to do it. Maybe a last flight tonight and
a last meal. Or maybe I’ll just lie here and think of the happy
times with Sierra.

A ripple of energy crosses over my
skin and I know dragons breach my realm. Not one, all of them. I’m
not angry. I need to say goodbye and to beg forgiveness one last
time. Laryn and his mate are with them. I owe him so much. He will
either accept my apology or he won’t. It matters not because I will
die without my own forgiveness.

I stand from the bed, pull on a shirt
and pants that I also washed and dried, and walk out on the large
perch outside my window. It’s early in the day and sun flashes off
the silver of Tahr’s wings. His bride, Meagan, is surely dead now
and grief will be eating away at him. I can only hope the Goddess
will allow him to find his true mate with his next bride. He has
suffered enough.

Five dragons. The sight amazes me. Two
red, two blue, and Tahr’s silver. Ashrac is not with them and I
feel bad that I cannot ask him to forgive me too. He’d be a
teenager now and an even bigger handful for his parents. A smile
curves my lips before it drifts away.

They draw closer and I notice someone
on Roxanne’s back. Maybe Ashrac has come, though it will be hard to
resist teasing him for not flying himself here. The person is small
and sits upon Roxanne like they belong. I admire Roxanne’s beauty.
Her glorious blue is fitting as Laryn’s mate. At a hundred yards
away, the person on her back becomes clear. How did I miss that
wild hair?

My heart stops.

No blood pumps through my
veins.

I stand frozen and no air enters my
lungs.

Roxanne is the only one who lands. The
rest hover, though I barely notice. My eyes stay glued to the woman
I love.

“
No,” I shake my head as
she bounds down off of Roxanne’s back. “You can’t be here. No.” I
want her so bad, I’ve dreamed of seeing her again, holding her,
loving her. But this can’t be happening. She stops a few feet from
me and I glare at the dragons. “Why? Do you hate me so much that
you would have her die?” I yell at them.

Roxanne is the one to speak. “We
forgive you, Sarn, and we love you.” Her wings expand and she
launches herself into the sky. They fly away without looking back.
And Sierra stands before me with tears streaming down her face.
She’s never looked more beautiful. My dreams could never do her
justice.

I’m actually hoping this is another of
my dreams and then she speaks. “I love you, Sarn, and I wish to
stay here and pass to the Summerlands with you.”

My tears fall and she reaches her hand
out and touches me. Her energy flairs and it travels inside of me
and swirls around my heart. It beats again and blood thunders
through my veins.

She’s in my arms and I’m hugging her
so tight that I can only kiss the top of her head. Her scent cleans
my soul and washes away all the pain. She’s here. She came to me
when all was lost.

I push her back enough that I can
grasp her cheeks within the palms of my hands. I need her lips and
I take them. Home. It isn’t my lair or my realm. It’s her. Her lips
are the sweetest. I skim my hands down her sides until I can reach
beneath her shirt and feel her bare flesh. It’s not enough and I
break the kiss to pull the shirt over her head. Mine comes next. I
must have her heartbeat against mine. I lift her slightly and hug
her again.

“
I love you, Sarn. I love
you,” she repeats over and over.

I can’t get a word out. I feel if I
do, this dream will turn into a nightmare. I cannot wake without
her in my arms. I lift her up and cradle her as I walk into my
room. I lay her on the bed and quickly remove her pants. She’s
naked and she lifts her arms. My pants hit the floor in seconds and
I’m in those arms.

My long hair surrounds us and mingles
with hers. I inhale her scent. She is really here; this is no
dream.

“
Take me, Sarn, don’t waste
another second.”

I don’t. My cock finds home too. I
kiss her temple, her cheek, and rediscover her lips. She clenches
me tight within her body and takes everything I give her. I can
feel the energy of her wolf as we mate. It doesn’t matter that she
isn’t a bride, wasn’t a virgin, or has no possibility of
transcending. She. Is. My. Mate.

I want to slow down and cherish this
moment forever, but my body has other ideas. My balls tighten and I
spill my seed before I’m ready. It doesn’t matter because she’s
right there with me. Her inner walls constrict as a soft moan
escapes her lips. We are both too overwhelmed to shout our
pleasure.

I don’t withdraw my cock. I start
kissing her again as her hands explore my back and move down to my
ass. I manage to roll so she’s above me and her hands go to my
chest. I must see her, and now it’s her hair cocooning
us.

“
Kiss me, Sierra.” These
are the first words I speak since bringing her to my
bed.

“
You are a greedy dragon,”
she whispers as her lips meet mine.

She has no idea how truly greedy I am.
My cock is swelling once more and she begins to move in a slow,
rocking motion that burns in the best way.

“
I love you,” she says
again.

“
I love you,” I reply
against her lips. Our eyes are locked together and I drown in the
pools of brown that I’ve missed like no bride I’ve ever had. “I
love you.” I say it again.

She quickens her pace and takes what
she needs. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I gather
her hair so I can see her riding me. Her breasts sway as our bodies
dance. Her inner muscles tighten again as do my balls. We ride the
waves together, as it should be, as only she and I can. Her energy
rolls through me again and I bathe in her light. It might not shine
like a dragon’s, but it’s there. This time we both cry out and the
sound of our release echoes off the walls.

She’s cuddled in my arms a few minutes
later. I move a few strands of hair from her cheek so I can see her
face. Her tears are flowing freely.

I prop myself up on one arm and gaze
into her eyes. “You shouldn’t have come. I only wanted you safe and
happy.”

She stares with watery eyes and shakes
her head just a bit. “I’ve been in hell since the day you left
me.”

Her words kill me. “I’m so sorry.”
More sorry than she can ever know. I left to give her a
chance.

Her hand lifts and one finger presses
to my lips. “No. You could not know how I would feel as I do not
know how you felt. I see the suffering in your eyes, my poor
dragon. We have but a short time and I want no apologies or guilt
or anything negative. I only want love.”

My tears fall over her cheeks and
blend with hers. “Everything I can give you is yours,” I whisper
before kissing her again.

When the kiss finally ends, she
smiles. “I want to fly, dragon.”