Dragos Takes A Holiday [6.50] Elder Races (4 page)

Toward the end of the flight, Pia watched out a window. Her excitement surged again as land came into view in the limitless expanse of blue water. Liam woke up as the plane started to descend. The change in altitude didn’t seem to affect him at all. The baby dragon joined her in staring out the window.

Pia divided her attention between the scenery outside and studying her son’s triangular head with the slender, graceful snout. He was perfectly formed, with every detail that Dragos’s dragon form had, only in miniature.

She might have given birth to him, but he was such a mystery to her. His midnight-dark, violet, jewel-like eyes had gone wide with fascination. As a raptor, he probably already had the capacity to see minute details a mile or two away, but she wondered what he really comprehended of the scenery spread out below them. Right now the lines of his body were delicate rather than powerful, but if Dragos was right and Liam did reach his father’s size, he would be a juggernaut.

The magic in him burned fiercely. While Liam’s Wyr form was a dragon, her blood ran in his veins as much as his father’s did. Liam’s Power felt cooler to her than the molten corona of Power that boiled out of Dragos. How would that combination manifest in Liam’s talents and abilities? All they knew at this point was that he had some of her ability to heal, for he had saved her life before he had ever been born.

She pressed her lips to the top of his head and whispered telepathically,
I love you.

He closed his eyes and leaned against her cheek with a sigh.

“Come here, little man.” Dragos held his hands out to Liam.

Liam’s body tightened in protest around Pia’s neck. She patted his leg while she bit back a smile. As much as he loved his father, at this stage in his young life he was definitely a mama’s boy.

When Dragos spoke again, his dark, rich voice was soothing. “I will give you back to your mother soon enough. For now you must come to me.”

While he talked to his son in a low murmur, Liam’s body relaxed and his sharp, slender talons slipped out of her T-shirt. He offered no protest when Dragos gathered him up in gentle hands.

Pia stuck fingers in the new holes in her shirt. She muttered, “If this keeps up, I’m going to need a new wardrobe.”

She watched Dragos cradle Liam against his chest. As the small, white dragon looked up, Dragos bent his dark head and whispered in Liam’s ear for several minutes. Liam rested his head on Dragos’s chest as he listened. She couldn’t make out specific words, but she felt the effect of Dragos’s words in snatches. Reassurance, praise and encouragement radiated from him.

The sight of father and son together never failed to affect her. Dragos was the most lethal and efficient fighter she had ever seen. He had a killing speed along with his immense size, and he had once pulled the crumpled metal of a wrecked car away from her body.

As Dragos held Liam, his hands seemed even more massive on the baby’s small body. He had positioned his long, powerful fingers with utmost care at the base of the lacy wings.

The small dragon’s body shimmered and changed, and the baby Dragos cradled against his chest had turned human again.

Pia’s sigh of relief mingled with a sense of awe. Her father had been human, and she had only learned how to shapeshift into her Wyr form the previous year. Even then she had needed Dragos’s help. It had taken Liam less than four months.

Dragos patted Liam’s round, diapered bottom. “Well done. Now that you’ve learned how to shapeshift, you can change back again whenever you need to.” He lifted his head and handed the baby back to her.

As she took Liam, she whispered to Dragos, “You win all the good Daddy points.”

His eyes glinted with wicked sensuality, and his eyelids lowered to conceal it. Ever the opportunist, he murmured, “And what will that get me?”

“If you play your cards right, it might get you lucky later.”

He traced the line of her jaw with his forefinger. “How about if I throw in dinner by the ocean?”

It was a good thing they were both sitting, because that slight caress made her go weak at the knees.

As their gazes connected, all the light banter fell away, leaving something pure and naked, a shock of connection that reverberated through both mind and body. As she stared into his intent gold eyes, the rest of the world fell away. She was caught in a beguilement that would never end, and she would go anywhere with him, do anything for him. She loved him so much, she couldn’t breathe.

She fumbled for a good reply. After all, she didn’t want him to get too cocky. “Dinner by the ocean might increase your chances a bit.”

The sexy, cruel line of his mouth tilted up. He slid one hand to the back of her neck, his fingers pressing lightly. The rasp of calluses against her sensitive skin caused a ripple of sensation to cascade down her body. She licked her lower lip and watched as his gaze fell to track the movement.

Her unsteady lips shaped his name, as she said without sound or air, “Dragos.”

Heat flashed out of his tense body, invisible and volcanic. Slowly his fingers curled around the hair at her nape and clenched into a fist. He held her trapped in a possessive, barbaric hold, but everything he did was possessive and barbaric, and she wouldn’t change him for the world.

On her lap, Liam burbled companionably and tugged at her shirt. It broke the molten spell burning the air between her and Dragos. She blinked down at the baby. For a moment she couldn’t remember why they were on the plane, or where they were going.

Dragos hadn’t loosened his hold on the hair at her nape. He growled very softly, “Tonight.”

She managed a shaken nod. She was going to get so lucky tonight.

No, she meant he was.

Sooo lucky.

The plane’s angle of descent grew steeper, and nearby land magic began to tickle at her senses. Dragos gently disengaged his fingers from her hair as she turned her attention to the peanut. Liam remained sublimely unaffected by the change in air pressure in the cabin, so she nursed him and changed his diaper while Dragos walked toward the front of the plane to talk with Eva and Hugh.

The last few minutes of their flight raced by, and they touched down at the L. F. Wade International Airport. The airport was small and the runways short, so the plane braked hard and taxied briefly until it rolled to a stop. Within moments the ground crew had the mobile stairway wheeled into place, and they disembarked into hot, bright sunshine.

A Mercedes SUV rental waited for them in the parking lot. They brought their car seat and fitted it to one of the bucket seats. Once Liam had been securely strapped in, Eva drove while Hugh rode shotgun, and Dragos, Liam and Pia rode in the back.

The airport was located on St. David’s Island, at the northeast tip of Bermuda. Their house was located on the northwestern tip of the main island, so they drove across the causeway and along S Road. Even though they were on the opposite side of the island, Bermuda was not a large place, and the trip went quickly.

Pia couldn’t see everything fast enough and craned her neck to look around at the intense green foliage and palm trees, the colorful variety of buildings and the glimpses of ocean and sandy beaches as they threaded through the streets.

Dragos lounged at her side, watching the passing scenery too. “Did you know that Bermuda has more than five hundred shipwrecks in the shallow reefs that circle the islands, dating from the 1500s?”

Pia turned to stare at him. “Five
hundred
?”

He nodded. “And those are only the ones that have been identified. Some are even popular scuba diving sites.”

“The ocean floor must be like a pile of cars in a junkyard. How on earth could you hope to find the
Sebille
in all of that?”

He rubbed his jaw. “Well, if the
Sebille
had wrecked in shallow waters, it would have been discovered a long time ago. If it’s out there, it’s going to be deep.”

She blinked. If it had sunk in deep water, it was no wonder nobody had located the ship yet. “Does that mean you won’t be able to find it?”

He shook his head. “There’s no way to know. It does mean finding it will be a challenge.”

She studied his hard features. The frown that had been a part of his visage for so many months had eased, and he looked relaxed, alert and interested in life. She didn’t care about treasure hunting for its own sake, but she was delighted that it had caught Dragos’s interest, and the history of the
Sebille
had begun to engage her attention almost in spite of herself.

“How are you going to try to find it?” Most professional shipwreck hunters and maritime archaeologists had highly sophisticated and expensive equipment, and a single expedition could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “The first step will be to quarter off the area surrounding the islands. Then I’ll search it systematically by flying low over the water. My magic sense is highly developed. In isolated circumstances, I can sense magic from a couple of miles away. The
Sebille
might not have been carrying treasure, but with a voyage that important, it would have carried magic items—at the very least an enchanted sextant for navigating in deep water under heavy cloud cover. And if I sense a spark of magic, I can dive for it.”

She tried to imagine diving so deep with all of that water between her and the open air. A shudder tried to take over her limbs. She sternly pushed it down. “Could you dive as deep as the ocean floor?”

He never bothered with machismo swagger, because he didn’t need it. He said simply, “Yes.”

“What will you do if you don’t find anything in the flyovers?”

He shrugged. “Dive anyway until I’ve thoroughly explored each area. I’ll concentrate first on the most likely routes ships sailed from Ireland and expand my radius from there. At that point, if I get serious, I’ll look for primary sources in local records. It would help to talk to Tatiana, but she may not be willing to talk about details of the voyage. There might have been secrets on the ship that she would rather leave unfound.”

“It sounds like a lot of grueling physical work.”

“It is.” He sounded pleased at the thought. “It’s a lot of flying and swimming, and time spent outdoors in the open air and sun.”

She pursed her lips. Maybe while Dragos conducted the physical search, she could do some digging for local sources.

Eva slowed the Mercedes on the narrow paved road, until she pulled to a stop beside a thick, recently trimmed hedge in front of the large, peach-colored villa. A flagstone path cut through an opening in the hedge.

The peanut had fallen asleep in her arms, so Eva opened the car door for her to step out. While Eva and Hugh pulled out the luggage, Dragos joined Pia and they walked up the path.

The house was two stories high and built into a hill. Steps led up to a wraparound porch on the upper level and the main front entrance. As they started up the steps, an attractive human woman in her forties opened the front door. She wore a summer linen suit and ballet flats, her dark hair pulled back in a chignon.

“Welcome, Lord and Lady Cuelebre.” She spoke with a crisp British accent and smiled at them. “I’m Leanne Chambers, the property manager. We’re so honored that you’ve come to visit.”

“Hello.” Pia returned her smile. “This is a beautiful place. I’m in love with it already.”

“Isn’t it lovely? This is my favorite of all the rentals I manage.” Leanne’s dark gaze dropped to Liam, and her smile turned indulgent. “If you like, I can show you straight to the bedroom where I’ve put the crib.”

“Thank you, but if I try to put him down in a strange place, he’ll only wake up and fuss.”

The other woman inclined her head. “If you’ll allow me, I’ll give you a quick tour and get out of your way.”

She handed two sets of keys to Dragos and led the way through the house, keeping up a light patter of conversation. The house had been built in the late nineteenth century and used as a vacation home ever since. The windows were high and elegant in spacious rooms with hardwood floors, and decorated with simple, comfortable furniture.

Pia could easily picture people in Victorian and Edwardian dress gracing the large parlor room and the living room with the immense fireplace, or playing cards and board games on the veranda. The front lawn was just large enough to contain a croquet set. Pia caught a glimpse of the beach through the trees down the terraced path.

Despite its age, the house had been updated with every modern convenience. An outside shower had been installed so people could rinse off from the beach before stepping inside. The large kitchen had new stainless-steel appliances, and two of the five bathrooms had Jacuzzi tubs. There was only one bedroom that had an
en suite
bathroom, and Pia was pleased to see that it still had the original enameled tiles and claw-foot tub.

Leanne paused in the doorway of the master suite. “I took the liberty of setting the crib in the room beside this one. And because the house is so large, I bought a baby monitor to go with it. Along with filling the grocery order, I’ve stocked the fridge with four complimentary bottles of white wine, and a fruit-and-candies tray.”

Pia smiled at the other woman. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. Is there anything else that you need?”

“I can’t think of anything,” she replied. “I love this place. Everything is wonderful.”

She glanced at Dragos. He had turned on his phone and his head was bent as he studied the screen. Her shoulders drooped. He glanced at her and frowned.

He pocketed his phone and told the manager, “Thank you, that will be all.”

“Very good.” This time the inclination of Leanne’s head was deferential. “I’ll see myself out. Enjoy your stay.”

Pia moved to look out the window at the sparkling water. The baby snored slightly. He sounded like a squeaky toy. Sleeping soundly had turned him into a dead weight, and her back ached from carrying him around.

Disappointment tried to darken her earlier excitement and pleasure. She had dangled Dragos’s favorite hobby in front of him, and they had just arrived in a literal paradise, but he still couldn’t keep his phone turned off. When she’d started a relationship with him, she knew she was going to have to share his time and attention, but she never realized how much of a problem that would be, or how much it might grow to bother her at times like this.