Dragon Wish (11 page)

impossible for you to talk to me in a vision. Someone is

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playing with my mind. I don’t like it.” Her words were laced

with venom. She shook with her inability to regain control

over her emotions.

Suddenly peace coursed through her, stronger than

before. Wanting to fight against the calming influence, she

panted for a second, and then cried out. “I don’t want

another child.”

He never moved. His eyes remained calm, serene. “I am

not your lost one.”

Seren froze. His words struck a hard blow to her heart.

She relaxed her hold on her lower belly and stood straighter,

her muscles no longer tender. “I know that. There’ll never be

another like her.”

“No, never. But I am not her. I am myself.”

She tried to suppress a sob, but failed. Her mind refused

to face what this young man demanded she accept. She

didn’t want to experience the torture of her loss any longer.

“Don’t do this to me. I loved her so much. The pain I went

through when I lost her...I don’t ever want to feel that way

again.”

“Do you fear you will love me more than her?”

His question surprised her. She frowned, considering, but

failed to find an answer she wanted to admit. “I don’t know.”

“Yes. You do. You have nothing to fear. I will never leave

you. You have been chosen by the seven great dragons to be

the vessel for my creation.”

Seren frowned in confusion. “What? I don’t understand.

How do you know this? How can you appear to me like this?

This isn’t possible on Earth. I would be declared insane if

anyone knew I was speaking with my unborn child, and he, a

full grown man, was answering me.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners with his unseen smile.

They lit with an internal joy and acceptance. “I am who I am

from the moment of creation, thus my spirit became instilled

within this form which is my body. Through the magic of the

dragons, I have been allowed to release my power sooner

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than a normal dragonseed, thus at this time, I can speak to

you through your ability to see visions.”

Seren frowned while she considered his answer. Speech

in the form of coherent language needed time to learn. Was

the magic he spoke of powerful enough that even an unborn

babe had the knowledge needed to communicate with her?

When she didn’t respond, he continued.

“I am here for a purpose, just like you. The dragon’s

magic opened the door to this place for one purpose. My

creation.”

Seren remained silent for several minutes, mulling over

this new information. “Why would the dragons want you

created? Why are you so important to them?”

“They fear the coming times. With me, all dragons will

unite. They will become one power. Without me, chaos will

reign. This world will end in a firestorm of war and plague as

in the past. History repeated.”

“And your father—me? What will happen to us?”

“My father is expendable. You are not.”

An image of Paladin bleeding, dying, came to her. A sharp

stab of regret sliced through Seren’s chest. She hadn’t

expected this reaction. Only a few days had passed since she

arrived on Avaris. Had she grown to feel more for the tall

captain than she’d realized? She shoved those thoughts away

and caught hold of the last part of his comments.

She laughed, bitterness filling her. “What makes
me
so

unique? My wonderful ability as a mother? I couldn’t save

my child. So why is he expendable and not me?”

“He is the White Dragon King. The one to bring the seven

great and powerful dragons together, but I will rule over

them. Their blood will be one in me, never in him.”

Relief flowed through her for a brief second. His answer

pleased her. For some reason, she didn’t want to examine

why she didn’t want anything to happen to Paladin too

closely. Not right now. “So he won’t die anytime soon?”

“I cannot say. There are other forces plotting Avaris’

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future besides the dragons. If all goes the way the seven

desire it to, my father will live to see me on my throne. I

would have it no other way.”

She nodded, satisfied. “You can talk to me, but can you

read my mind?”

“I am a part of you.”

“I don’t want to love you...please, understand.”

Silence passed between them while his eyes remained

locked on hers, and then he looked down. Sadness edged his

brow. He shook his head. “I understand many things, but

this is one I do not—you are my mother.”

She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes closed, but the

tears still managed to escape. “If I love you, I’ll never want to

lose you. If I do, I know it’ll be a million times worse than

with Mandy. That’s what I fear the most.”

When she finished speaking, thick blackness coated her

vision. She jerked, and Paladin’s quarters reappeared around

her.

A wave of peace washed over her. Her tense muscles

relaxed. He comforted her, sweet baby. Her son. She patted

her lower abdomen and smiled through her tears.

* * * *

either side of the city of Dene. The white strips showed stark

against the gray cast of the sky along with the dark green

foliage further inland. Stone buildings stood in staggered

heights along the slopes and ridges of the coast.

Paladin paced back and forth on the bow, gazing at the

land. His tension increased with the ship’s approach, coming

in low to the churning bluish-green sea, to the pale wooden

docks sticking out into the water.

Lightning illuminated the deep charcoal clouds racing

across the sky. The bolts streaked toward the trees just

beyond the city. Sparks shot out from the smoke rising from

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the spot. The wind increased, bringing a singed odor with it.

Paladin waited for the cool downpour.

Seren worried him. Not her ordeal with their son’s

dragon fire or even her strange beliefs, but how she affected

him. The memory of how she felt under him remained,

teasing, tempting him. Every time he shut his eyes, he saw

the passion on her face when she...

He clenched his jaw. No, he refused to dwell on the

matter. She made her decision. Far be it for him to argue, but

he wanted to. He wanted more from her than she seemed

willing to give. With their departure and her illness, he put

the memories of their night from his mind. Now, they rose

up to haunt him.

The sky roiled, roaring for all to hear the news of the

approaching storm. The turmoil in the air called to the baser

side of him, the part controlled by the beast—his dragon

blood. With the call, his blood warmed with the need for a

woman, but not just any woman. He wanted Seren, desired

the soft curve of her hips, the plushness of her inner thighs,

her lips and tongue driving him wild. He closed his eyes,

remembering how she felt beneath him—her body, small and

slender, cushioning his while her inner muscles clasped him.

He had not wanted to pull out of her. She had created an

unquenchable thirst in him for her which was now multiplied

by the fact that she carried his child.

He tried to understand what she was going through, but

he failed to comprehend the depth of her pain, her fear. He

had lost a child, yet he had no desire to isolate himself from

the world. No matter how he looked at her situation, he was

lost because she gave him no real reason behind her refusal

to have another child.

“Cap’an.” Calis spoke from behind him.

Paladin pivoted to his first mate. Calis stood with his

hands clasped behind his back. The barrel-chested man

nodded toward the door leading below deck. Paladin shifted

his glance and saw Seren, dressed in her boy’s clothes,

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leaning against the doorframe, looking around.

Unobserved, he studied her, watching for any signs of her

recent ordeal. Her eyes rounded with curiosity. The noise

and bustle picked up with several of the sailors calling

greetings to her. She had said there were none like the

Felerians in her world. Now, she surveyed the males with

intensity. Jealousy reared in him.

He took a step toward her before he realized what he’d

done. He stopped, hands balling into fists. She did not

belong to him. They had shared one night with no resulting

bond but their child between them. Seren was well within

her rights to look at other males if she so desired. He

clenched his jaw. She didn’t have to do so in front of him.

“Fetch two cloaks,” Paladin barked at Calis. He stiffened

in frustration over his reaction to the off-worlder. He turned

toward the shore, eyes focused on the wall of rain

approaching the ship.

“Aye, Cap’an” Calis replied, and then his gruff voice

softened. “Uh, should she be up so soon after her illness?”

Paladin refused to allow anyone, even his good friend, to

hear any concern from him about Seren. He responded in a

level tone, “She is fine, besides I do not believe she would

listen should I order her to remain abed. Go now, the storm

draws nearer.”

Thunder boomed, silencing the thud of Calis’ retreating

footsteps. Lightning flashed, illuminating the white-tipped

waves. Paladin waited, confident she would seek him out.

The wind gusted, shoving the loose strands of his hair away

from his face. He breathed deep, his eyelids drooping as the

weather’s power flowed around him.

“Is this the place where the man from Earth lives?”

The question caused him to close his eyes. She had raised

her voice so he would hear her above the storm. Desire to

turn and gather her into his arms threatened to overpower

him, but he managed to stamp the need down. He spurned

the thought of her knowing how much he craved her.

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“It is. Dene, City of Storms. The climate here is unstable,

but the land is rich. The ground fertile to crops. Those who

live here have learned to adapt.” He glanced over his

shoulder toward the doorway leading below. Where was

Calis? The rain wall, dark and thick with ascending moisture,

moved forward at a fast pace.

His first mate stepped from the passageway. He hurried

toward them. When Calis handed the dark cloaks to him,

Paladin nodded.

“Here ye go, Sire.” Calis bobbed his head. Without

another word, he spun on his heels and left them.

“Put this on. The rain here is thick enough to drown a

human,” Paladin said, ignoring Calis’ slip, handing her one of

the bell-sleeved, hooded coats. Silver threads woven into the

black fabrics glinted in the dimming light.

Her eyes rounded and her mouth formed a very enticing

little O, her surprise was extremely becoming. His body

stirred, the tingling beginning of need making him

uncomfortable not being able to touch her.

“Drown? Are you serious?” She slipped her arms into the

long sleeves, pulling the sides together in the front. He cast

an admiring gaze down her slender body. The material clung

to her every curve.

“It has been known to happen.” He slipped his own over

his shoulders, keeping a close eye on her. He watched,

transfixed by the graceful movements of her lifting the hood

over her head and pulling the thin protective veil down

across the opening.

Her hand brushed the material, a frown marring her

smooth brow. “What’s this made of? It’s not velvet.”

“Sea drac scales. The ones that do not survive to become

dragoons wash ashore. The clans of Bae harvest them. They

weave the scales together into a cloth. Their clothing is made

of this.”

Through the veil’s dark tint, her cheeks held a small

measure of dusky pink. He fisted his hands to keep from

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slipping one under the material and touching the satiny skin

there. With his jaw clenched, he faced the shore in time for

the rain.

The sharp sting of the water against his skin helped take

his mind off his raw desire for her. He hesitated to lift the

protective hood. Once certain he controlled his actions, he

flipped the hood forward.

She brushed her fingers over the cloth. Her voice rose