To Have & to Hold (15 page)

Hours later, in her bed, sheets wound around their entwined bodies and finally sated, they lay quiet, exhausted, and drifting on that post-coital haze right before sleep tugged them under. She lay with her back pressed to his chest, nestled against him. He caressed her baby bump in lazy, slow circles.

“
Cate
?”

“
Mmmm
.”
It
’
s all she could manage.

“We need to talk.”

“Not now.” She closed her eyes. “No energy to fight.”

“I
don’t think I should live here
. If what David says is true-- Maybe I need to stay away from you and the baby.”

She turned in his arms. The fear was back, haunting his eyes, shadowing his sensual mouth. Her strong, rugged warrior, her rough dragon mage trembled at the possible cost of the war.
Her and the baby.
She cupped his stubble-darkened jaw, her thumbs soothing the tightness around his mouth.
Cate
kissed him.

“No,” she said. “I need you. Here with me. You can
’
t go back to England.”

“No. I didn
’
t mean that.
Never without you, babe.
Not that far. I bought the property next door.
There’s still a threat.
Someone within the Dignity targeting hoards.
I need to stay nearby to protect you both.
”

“That
’
s
even
too far for me. Besides, the baby and I are already part of your hoard and you ours. So if someone plans to steal your hoard, they
’
ll steal ours, too. I can
’
t allow it.”

“
Cate
, you mean too much to me. I can
’
t-- What if I
--
?” His voice broke with the pain that she read in the tightness of his jaw and in the brightness of his eyes. The dragon stirred, ready to protect and yet afraid he
’
d
destroy them
.

Cate
caressed the dragon tattoo with one hand, still holding Grayson
’
s face with the other. He closed his eyes and nuzzled into the comfort of her touch. He pressed his lips to her palm, stealing her breath. “Have no
fear,
I can handle one big bad dragon. I think I
’
ve proved that time and again,” she assured him. “And only together can we fight aga
inst some elusive hoard thief. Grayson, can’t you see it? T
ogether we are invincible.”

His eyes snapped open, hope kindled in their
green
-colored depths. She could see he so badly wanted to believe her, but he still fought the silent war inside--did he stay to protect them from the outside force wrecking hoards only to jeopardize them with his own dragon?

“Grayson, come on. I trapped you in the attic for a year and I faced you, to your no
se, when you confronted Michael
--s
harp teeth, rapier claws and all. You didn
’
t eat me. And I can
’
t count how many times I soothed the beast in the past few hours during our love-making. So, believe me when I say I can handle you and your dragon.
No matter what you bring to the fight.”

He kissed her.
A soft press of his lips to hers.
Gentle.
Careful.
Poignant and yet sad.
When he pulled back, the stubborn set to his jaw and his narrowed eyes told her he planned to reject her offer. He thought he was protecting her, saving her and the baby from himself.

Not in a million years. Before he could utter the words, she stopped him with a finger to his lips. “However, it
’
s the unseen threat I struggle with--I never saw Michael
’
s capacity for evil. I need you. We make a great team. Together, we will find this thief. The bigger question is
,
can you handle a pregnant wife? That
’
s really the problem isn
’
t it?” She chuckled. “You don
’
t want to deal with a bitchy, moody, fat pregnant woman.”

He laughed in response. The sound rich and
deep,
wormed into her soul and wound around it
,
comforting her own fears that he would walk away.

“I can handle you
. And when--” He paused and started over. “And if I can
’
t deal with your harpy ways, I will work on the property next door to get it ready for the school. Consider it a safety valve for both of us.”

Cate
stilled. “You
’
ve agreed to build and run the academy. Here?
In Mystic Springs?”

“Yes, but only if you
’
ll help me.
It
’
s one of the ways I hope to discover who is stealing hoards. An academy is the perfect front. Plus, I have you. You
’
re a great teacher.”
He traced a finger down her bare shoulder.

“Y
ou
’
re
a
better
one
. E
xperience has honed you. You understand what
’
s at stake for new dragon mages.”

She considered him long and hard. Starting a school wasn
’
t a venture anyone entered lightly. There
’
d be tough days, maybe even tough weeks and semesters, depending on the students
enrolled. But she believed in him. Believed he, better than anyone, knew the importance of instructing dragon mages, of informing the Dignity, and raising responsible citizens and dragons who could live and th
rive alongside humans. S
he could totally envision
a dragon academy
here in these mountains, along the river, near the lake, across the meadows. Young dragons training, growing, blossoming into the creatures God had created them to be.

“I
’
d be honored to help you run
Derkesthai
. And hunt the hoard thief.”

“
Derkesthai
?”

“Yes, the name for the academy. It means to see or the one with the deadly glance, the word dragon is derived from the same word. What do you think?”

“
Derkesthai
is perfect. Just like you.”

She leaned in to kiss him. He ended the kiss before she was ready.

“Then there
’
s only one more thing I need to ask you,” he said.

“What
’
s that?”

Grayson
reached over his head to retrieve something from the shelf in
the
headboard.
He
opened his palm and there, winking up at her like the perfect flaming dragon
’
s eye was a fire opal ring. “Will you marry me again?
This time, knowing that I am a dragon mage and a fully turned dragon.”

Cate
laid her palm over his, the ring trapped between them. Heat and magic flared against both their palms, gloriously painful. “I thought you
’
d never ask. Yes, Grayson Cooper, I do take you to have and to hold from this moment forward as fully turned dragon mage and as my husband. I love you.”

Grayson
slipped the ring on her finger. And she immediately felt the power of the
magic
k
surround her.
He
kissed her again, deep and
thorough, pouring all his love into that one action. He grew hard against her thigh. Then, he showed her in every way possible how much he cherished and adored her
,
body and soul.

Life with a dragon would never be boring. She
’
d be challenged and tried. But she had no doubt she
’
d also never feel more alive or fulfilled. A dragon
’
s life was the only life for her. And she kind of liked the idea of becoming a dragon whisperer, because it would take her the rest of her life to explore the intricacies of being married to a dragon mage. A thrill of anticipation pulsed through her.

She couldn
’
t wait for the adventure ahead.

Beware,
there be dragons here
never sounded more like a promise
.

***

COMING SOON by Mackenzie Lucas Page

January 2013 – The Megiddo Mark: A Serialized Novel in Four Parts

February 2013 – Pompeii Reawakened

March 2013 – From This Day Forward: A
Derkesthai
Mage Novella

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It takes a village to write a novel or a novella. So I raise my glass to my community and support network in a heartfelt salute to all you’ve done for me.
Thank you to my critique partners at the R8, present and past, who read this manuscript—Yvonne,
Keely
, Lisa, Shellie, Christa,
Marjanna
, Michelle, and Mary.
You are the best readers a writer could ever want. Keep writing, reading, and laughing!
To my SHU WPF grad school critique partners, Diane and
Nik
, thanks for your diligence and commitment to me over the years.
Your talent and dedication never cease to inspire me. A special thanks to
Timons
Esaias
, mentor and editor extraordinaire. I could never have gotten this far without your
encouragment
and attention to detail. To my husband who has always been the champion of my dreams, thank you, honey. And, finally, to my boys, who
goodnaturedly
eat way too much frozen food for my liking because Mom is working in her office—you’ll never know what a support you’ve been. Thank you all. I couldn’t have done it without you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mackenzie Lucas graduated with her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton
Hill
University and she earned a BA in Literature from Dickinson College too many moons ago to count. By day, she’s a part-time proposal writer for a small woman-owned business in the D.C. area and by night, and at all other times, she
eeks
out time to write sexy contemporary paranormal romance novels and novellas where her heroines are just as likely to save
their Alpha hero partners as themselves
.
In her perfect world, the girl always gets the guy and the couple always finds their happy ending . . . but only after they’ve faced down the big bad and kicked some serious villainy to the curb. She lives in suburban Maryland with her husband, three
teenaged
boys, and two adorable
schnoodles
.

Watch for new titles by Mackenzie Lucas coming in 2013. Visit her website at
[email protected]
in January 2013 to find out more about Mackenzie and her work.