He stepped closer to the bed, carefully sitting down on the edge so he wouldn’t disturb her. Gently lifting a strand of her soft hair, he tucked it behind her ear marveling at the soft texture of it. She shifted in her sleep, tilting her head until her cheek rested against the palm of his hand. Creon clenched his other hand in an effort to control the feelings bombarding him. It was as if his entire body was suddenly alive and tuned into this beautiful creature.
Unable to stop himself, he ran his thumb over her jaw until it rest
ed
on her lower lip. Her lips parted in a soft sigh. A small smile pulled on her bottom lip. Creon leaned down to brush his lips against hers. Need unlike anything he had ever felt before overwhelmed his senses. He wanted her, needed her in a way that pulled at the very essence of
his
soul. He pulled back slightly, determined to wake her when she suddenly whispered in a soft husky voice.
“Oh Scott, I’ve missed you,” Carmen murmured in her sleep. She turned over restlessly before sighing out. “I love you. Coming home soon.”
Creon’s eyes darkened until they burned fiercely. The name of another man on his mate’s lips sent shafts of jealousy through him. He pulled away quickly as he felt the change sweeping through him. Unable to prevent his dragon from taking control, Creon rushed to the open doors leading out onto the balcony and launched himself over the railing. He shifted as his body fell
toward
the ground. Large wings unfolded and caught the air under them allowing him to glide just a few feet off the ground before he pushed off and lifted higher
,
soaring over the walls of the palace. He remained invisible to everyone, including the guards. The only one who could see him was his symbiot which had divided. One part laid curled up next to his mate while the other part flew up until it dissolved around him in midair, forming armor around his dragon.
He flew for miles trying to escape the burning heat erupting inside him. He had passed the thick forest and headed upward into the mountainous regions. He often flew long distances at night. Normally
,
it was to escape
the dark
thoughts
that plagued him during the long, lonely hours
. Tonight he did it to cope with the burning anger that his mate wanted, loved another.
We take her anyway. She learn to love us. She is ours,
his dragon roared out in anger.
We keep. Man from her world not keep her safe. He not deserve her.
Do you think I don’t know that?
Creon growled back.
Zoran, Kelan, and Trelon brought the women back against their will. Our mate was mortally wounded and would have died back on her planet. But that does not mean she could not have belonged to another.
She here now! She is ours. I no give back,
his dragon said determinedly.
I want my mate! She mine. You not send her away.
No, I will not send her away,
Creon said tiredly
,
pulling his dragon in enough so that he could guide him to a small ledge on the side of a mountain.
She has been accepted by all of us. My symbiot is very protective of her, you want her, I need her.
Creon’s dragon landed on the narrow ledge and turned with a shiver, looking out over the vast terrain. The darkness did not interfere with his vision. He saw as good in the dark as he did during the day. A light breeze blew over the tall trees, most of which were over a thousand years old. In the distance, he could make out the shimmering of moonlight reflecting off the water of a nearby river. He was above the tree line and little
tufts
of snow still lingered on the rock face he had landed on. The cold did not bother him either. His body ran warm and in dragon form, his scales helped to insulate his body from the outside elements.
Creon moved in a circle on the narrow ledge before lying down and tucking his wings up tightly against his sides. He was slightly smaller than his brothers in dragon form but in some ways he was more lethal because of that. He could move in areas they couldn’t and his unique black scales reflected his surrounding environment until he was practically invisible.
He laid his head down on his front
cl
aws and stared blindly out at the surrounding darkness. It matched his soul right now. For a brief glimpse, he thought he had found the shimmer of light that would make him feel complete again. It had been a false hope. His true mate loved another. He had never heard of such a thing before. In all his life, in all the archives he had secretly read, never had he heard of the Gods and Goddesses gifting a Valdier with a true mate that loved and hoped for another.
He would have to look at the archives again. He refused to believe it was possible. Even the Gods and Goddesses could not wish to punish him for things he had no choice in. His thoughts turned darker as he thought back to the Great Wars. He had killed many during the wars. On all three sides, Sarafin, Curizan and Valdier. He had done what he had to in order to protect his people. When he found traitors within the Valdier who were working with a small group of Curizan and Sarafin royalty in order to bring down all three governments of their respective star systems he, Ha’ven, and Vox had worked together to eradicate them. One of the traitors had been his lover, Aria. He had thought he loved her. He knew she was not his true mate. He knew it would have been a difficult life trying to balance the three parts of who he was to be with her but he had been willing to try.
He would never forget when Vox had approached him with his suspicions. Ha’ven had been wounded, almost killed, in an assassination attempt shortly before he had been captured by an unknown group. The only ones who knew where he was going to be and when was Creon, Vox, and Ha’ven. Creon had rescued Ha’ven and dragged his ass out of the dungeons of hell, literally. Ha’ven had been taken to Hell, an abandon mining asteroid on the outer regions of the Curizan star system. There he was being tortured in the hopes of discovering information about the Curizan, Valdier and Sarafin warship movements.
It wasn’t until Vox had mentioned that there had to be a leak somewhere within their inter groups that a sense of dread swept through him. Vox learned a short time later that one of his warriors had betrayed them. Vox tortured the man until he revealed he had given the information to a female named Aria whom he had taken as a lover. She was one of the top operatives for the group behind starting the war. Only she knew where Ha’ven had been taken.
Creon did not confront Aria with the information at first, unwilling to believe she could betray him like that. Instead, he and Vox set up a bogus mission and set a trap. Only the two of them and Aria had the information. He told Aria of his plans to transport a Curizan royal they had captured to a new holding facility. A small group of hired mercenaries appeared at the planned transfer. Before the last one died, Creon had his proof that his lover was the one giving out the orders. He felt like he had betrayed his people. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Valdier, Curizan, and Sarafin Warriors had died because of the greed for power by a few members of the royal houses. He had fallen in love with one of them and unknowingly given them inside information. Creon felt the death of each warrior who had died during battle as a mark against his soul.
It had been a clear night when Aria came to him
that last time
. It had not been much different than the night he was staring out into. The moons had risen several hours before and she lay across their bed draped in nothing but the moonlight. She had been beautiful. Her dark hair spread out around her and her full breasts were taut and inviting. But looking at her for what she was in that pale light, he was able to see the coldness in her eyes and the cruel twist to her mouth as she talked of her love for him. He had killed her slowly, extracting every bit of information from her before he gave her the peace of death. His dragon had burned her remains. He would leave nothing of her to remind him of her treachery. The next morning, he and Vox had gone after Ha’ven. They had killed everyone on the asteroid. It took a long time before Creon could
even begin to
forgive himself for what happened to his best friend. While Creon could never truly forgive himself, Ha’ven had never held it against him.
Carmen jerked awake startled. It was the first time in over three years that she had slept through an entire night without having a nightmare. Even when she had been on pain medication and anti-depressants, she had still been plagued with them. Her hand reached out to steady herself only to find she wasn’t alone in the bed. A smaller version of Harvey lay next to her.
“Where did you come from?” Carmen asked puzzled
,
looking around in confusion as she tried to remember where she was.
She blew out a puff of air. “Oh, that fink! He better plan on taking me home today!” She said
,
scooting off the bed. “I need to find my sister and make sure
she
and Trisha are alright, not to mention poor Cara.”
Carmen swayed for a moment. “First I need a shower. I feel like my head is full of cotton balls. Then, caffeine. God, I hope they have coffee here,” she muttered as she opened several panels in the wall looking for anything she could wear.
She gave a sigh of relief when she found several large shirts. They would swallow her but she didn’t care. As long as she was covered that was all that matter
ed
. She reached in and pulled out a pair of leather pants. They were way
too
big, both in the hips and in length. She would have to fashion a belt and roll them up but they would work in a pinch. No underwear but it wasn’t like she hadn’t gone without them a time or two when she and …
Carmen bit her lip to stop her thoughts. She would not go there this morning. She was feeling too vulnerable as it was without bringing up memories. She walked into the large room located on the far wall. She had found the bathroom after her failed attempt to break every dish in the place. Truthfully, she had gotten tired of throwing the dishes at an inanimate object. After she had explored for a little while she had finally decided she needed to clean up the mess she had made. It went against everything inside her and the way she was raised to leave the mess. Her mom would have taken a switch to her backside if she ever saw Carmen breaking dishes the way she had in her fit of rage at being locked in the room yesterday.
Carmen walked into the bathroom admiring the beautiful colors in the stone. A huge pool that reminded her of some of the ancient Roman baths sat in the center of the room. There was a toilet, what looked like a long, shallow sink, and a shower area that was big enough to fit a compact car in it. On the back side of the shower was a garden. It really only consisted of the two end walls and the ceiling. The two
long
sides were open. Why anyone would need such large areas for bathing was beyond Carmen. She had been happy with her little shower stall. It was a hell of a lot easier to clean.
She set the clothes she had gathered down on a small table and began undressing. She didn’t look in the mirror that covered one whole wall. She knew what she would see. She was losing weight again. It was hard to force herself to eat. She just didn’t have any appetite anymore.
Well,
she thought with a twisted grin,
I do but not for food.
The grin faded as a new image popped into her mind and it wasn’t Javier Cuello. The image was of the tall, dark haired man who had fought with her and locked her in these rooms without saying a word. Of course, she didn’t give him much of a chance.
Her face burned with embarrassment as she remembered some of the things she had said, not to mention her language. She had been in rare form yesterday. Between the fear, the anger, and feeling like her life was out of control, she had let it all out in one big temper tantrum that would have made any two year old proud, minus the inventive language.
Carmen let her clothes fall into a nice neat pile on the floor. She would wash them out and hang them to dry when she was
done. She stepped into the huge
shower area and turned in a circle. There were no doors to it. There wasn’t even a shower curtain. She looked up at the ceiling that had to be at least twelve feet high. She could see a series of holes where the water could come out. She was about to give up and just jump in the Roman bath when a soft, warm mist started then became slightly heavier. A startled giggle escaped her as it surrounded her in a light rain. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm spray as it fell over her.
*.*.*
Creon was still tired. He had not slept much the night before
.
H
is mind and his dragon refus
ed
to believe his mate could belong to someone else. He was determined to confront her. He would let her know that she would have to accept that she would never return to the male from her old world. Her place was now on Valdier at his side. Once the transformation was complete, she would not have a choice. Her body would be too different for her to be able to safely return to her world.
We die without our mate,
his dragon added.
That good reason not to let mate go.
Like you think I haven’t already thought of that,
Creon bit out sarcastically before he let out a puff of hot breath.
I’m sorry. I should not take my frustration out on you.