The Dragon in the Stone (12 page)

A somewhat hysterical laugh bubbled out of her at
that thought, and she flung her hand over her mouth, lest her completely
inappropriate merriment disturbed Geva. With the deep sleep only children we
re
capable o
f
,
the little girl didn’t even stir, and Rhonda walked over to the fireplace to
pull the swath of material that would summon Miriam to help her get dressed.

It was beyond ridiculous really. Back in her time
she carried condoms in case she ever got lucky as it were, and the one time she
truly needed the damn things, they were God only knew where and she was stuck
in a time where she needed a freaking maid to get herself presentable.

Some of her conflicting emotions must have shown on
her face, because Miriam’s expectant smile dropped as she stepped through the
door and looked at her.

“
Is
anything amiss,
m’lady
?”

Arms wrapped around her middle, Rhonda shook her
head and forced a smile on her lips.

“
Nothing,
it’s chilly in here, that’s all, and I need your help to get dressed.”

Miriam curtsied, and throwing two more logs on the
fire, she stirred them about until a good flame was giving out plenty of heat
to warm the great room through.

“
Them
weather’s broken, see,
m’lady
.
Lord Drorgan was only saying there’s snow coming our way, and
t’make
sure
we’s
had plenty of
firewood. Ye’ll be wanting your woolen
surcoat
,
m’lady
, to keep out the draft to them sensitive parts.”

Miriam giggled as she bustled about pulling out
things from the trunks in the anteroom.

“
And
te
think the steward’s
daughter’s wedding is soon. I sure hope the snow holds off for them. It would
be miserable, otherwise, and between you and me,
m’lady
,
I don’t know what the hurry is. His lordship given his permission and
all—unless the rumors are true, of course, and she’s with
bairn
already. Could you imagine the steward’s reaction?”

Rhonda managed to make appropriate noises to keep
up with Miriam’s steady flow of gossip, not at all comfortable with the talk of
unexpected pregnancies. Really, what was wrong with her today? She should have
thought of all that before having sex with her dragon.

Thoughts of Drorgan were enough to make her pussy
clench in need. Still slightly sore from their earlier activities, it seemed
her body didn’t care. Despite the issues they so clearly had to talk about yet,
her wayward hormones craved the touch of her dragon. In truth, Rhonda needed to
see him, to wrap her arms around him and to hear him tell her that everything
was going to be all right. She’d been half out of it, but she did remember
whispering “I love you”, to him before she had to all intents and purposes
passed out on him, but she did recall his surprise. She’d sensed his dragon’s
reaction, and she just couldn’t be sure whether that had been shock or joy.

Drorgan was hard to read at the best of times, let
alone when she was floating in post-orgasmic bliss. Then again, surely he
wouldn’t have said those things to Geva, had he not meant for them to be a
family, and that must mean that he wanted her for more than just the physical
side, surely.

Not that he had outright said that to Geva. The
little minx had admitted that she had been snooping around in his thoughts,
before Drorgan had noticed and pulled the proverbial shutters down.

Miriam’s expectant look on her face, as she turned
Rhonda to face the mirror on the wall, must mean she had missed something.

Fixing a smile on her face, Rhonda took a good,
long, hard look at her reflection, and she pulled in a sharp breath.

Miriam had worked wonders with her hair, twisting
it up in a complicated braid that left only a few tendrils framing her face.
Her brown eyes were too wide and her face flushed as though she had run a
marathon, and the deep purple of her dress, laced into the bodice at the front
showed off her boobs. As per usual they looked massive, and she gratefully
accepted the shawl Miriam handed her.

“
It
gets cold in them corridors, so you best cover the assets,
m’lady
.
I’d lose it when you hit the library, though, ‘
cause
I
reckon his lordship will be eating out of
yer
hand,
when he sees you dressed like that.”

She grinned at Rhonda’s shake of her head.

“
Drorgan
is in the library then?” she asked.

“
Aye,
m’lady
. He’s been back for some time, and engrossed
in some old parchment like that turned up. I don’t understand how that happens,
I tell
ya
. Anyway, he’s asked for
ye
to join him there.”

“
Thank
you, Miriam. I best do that then.”

With one last look at her reflection and the
sleeping child on the bed, Rhonda squared her shoulders, and started the long
trek from the solar to the library. She couldn’t help but feel that each step
brought her closer to either doom or heaven. She guessed their long overdue
talk would determine which one that was, because as much as she loved her
dragon, she couldn’t stay with him, if he didn’t feel the same way about her.

Chapter
Twelve

Legs spread, hands clasped behind his back, Drorgan
stared unseeing out of the stained glass windows that graced this side of the
library. Nothing but churning sea was in view as far the eye could see, and the
sun was struggling to make it through the heavy cloud covering. Snow was
definitely on the way and with it the harsh realities of a long hard winter.

After reading the scroll that had appeared in his
library, Drorgan knew without the shadow of a doubt that there was no hope of
escaping this realm. If his little dragon chose to stay with him, she would
condemn herself to a life steeped in hardship. If she left… He didn’t even want
to contemplate life without her. The mere thought made him feel as though his
very soul tore in half.

The creaking of the doors at the opposite side of
the library brought with it Rhonda’s scent, and Drorgan inhaled sharply to calm
his agitated dragon before he turned around. Rhonda offered him a tentative
smile, but it was the uncertainty that poured off her, which tugged at his
heartstrings. Without thinking about how wise a move to touch her would be,
right now, he opened his arms, and warmth flooded through his entire being when
Rhonda all but ran into his embrace.

She snuggled into him, her soft curves a perfect
counterfoil to the hard planes of his body, and it hit him anew. The rightness
of it all. They fitted together, the perfect puzzle pieces, the other half of
his soul, and he couldn’t bear to lose her.

As though Rhonda, too, had similar thoughts, she
hugged him harder, and snuggled into his chest.

“
I
know we need to talk, but can y
ou
just hold me like this for a little while, please?
”

His dragon hissed and snarled at the turmoil he
sensed in his mate, and Drorgan sighed. Resting his chin on top of her head, he
nodded, closed his eyes, and simply allowed them both this moment of peace. How
long they stood lost in their own thoughts, seeking strength from each other,
he couldn’t determine. Only that the connection between them pulsed and grew
stronger. Like a living entity it wrapped around them, separated them from this
reality, and Drorgan wasn’t entirely surprised to feel the tentative tendrils of
Rhonda’s mind reaching out to his.

Another thing that shouldn’t be possible yet, but
was, with his little human dragon mate.

Drorgan?

Yes, my little dragon?

Her gasp of surprise, both mental and physical
trembled through him, and when she pushed against him, he reluctantly let her
go. He didn’t need the mind meld to read her thoughts right now. Her confusion
was plain to see. Arms wrapped around herself with her fingers entangled in the
tassels on the edge of her shawl, she started pacing. The heel of her shoes
echoed along the marble flooring of the library, as she took several staccato
steps to the right, swung wound sharply, and then paced back again. Eyebrows
drawn together in a frown, her cute little nose wrinkled and teeth worrying her
bottom lip, she seemed deep in thought.

She also looked good enough to eat, and it was a measure
of his own anxiety levels right now, that his cock remained flaccid. Certainly
not the usual state of affairs around his mate. With a wry grin at his
predicament, Drorgan pushed away from the windowsill he was leaning against and
walked over to the writing desk, where Lasiandra’s scroll sat mocking him with
her bold handwriting. Picking the ancient parchment off the polished oak desk,
he held it out for Rhonda, and she skidded to a stop.

“
You
should read this. It arrived this morning, or rather, I found it here.”

He gave a short laugh and ran a wary hand over his
face, when Rhonda glared at it, as though it was a deadly viper ready to strike
out and bite her hand if she came any closer. A reasonable analogy, given the
circumstances.

“
What
is it?” she asked, flicking her gaze from the parchment in his outstretched
hand to his face and back again. “And why did it just appear?”

Drorgan shrugged his shoulders, and when it became clear
that Rhonda seemed not at all inclined to touch the parchment, he threw it back
on the desk, and sat down on the dainty little chair that went with the writing
desk. The damn thing creaked under his weight, but held fast, and Rhonda at
long last smiled. A glance at his reflection in the windows confirmed what he
already knew. He looked utterly ridiculous sitting on that dainty and far too
feminine chair, but at least it had broken the sudden tension between them.

When he waggled his eyebrows and patted his lap to
entice her to take a seat, Rhonda laughed, and threw her hands up in mock
horror. The action exposed the creamy expanse of her bosom, as her shawl fell
off her shoulders, and Drorgan groaned.

His cock roared to life with its usual efficiency,
and Rhonda’s breathing hitched when he adjusted himself.

“
Are
you sure you don’t want to take a seat, little one?”

His dragon strutted at the way she didn’t seem
capable of tearing her eyes away from his groin.

“
No,
thanks, I’ll pass.” Her whispered response only served to make him harder, and
with a rueful grin Drorgan got back to his feet to make himself slightly more
comfortable.

“
Too
bad, I thought having sex in a library was any woman’s fantasy?”

Her sharp intake of breath should have warned him,
really, because in the next instant, she’d picked the paperweight off the desk
and flung it at him. Thanks to his shifter reflexes he ducked it easily enough.
Rhonda winced when it crashed to the floor and shattered into a gazillion
pieces.

“
I’m
not any woman, and besides we really need to talk, not fuck like bunnies.”

The most delightful blush crept into her heaving
cleavage as she bent down to pick up some of the bigger shards that had slid
toward her.

“
Now,
look what you made me do. The servants don’t need more work around here.”

“
Leave
it.” She jumped at his terse command, and bit her lip when he stepped up to
her, and took the shards off of her. “You’ll hurt yourself, and the servants
get paid well.” He softened his voice when she still looked startled, and
forced his gaze away from the way the edge of her nipples was now visible. It
seemed her bending down had made the dress slip, and she was very much in
danger of spilling over the top of it.

She gasped when he took hold of the front of the
bodice, and yanking it up sharply hid those delights from view again.

“
As
much as I want to feast on those ripe tits of yours, you’re right. We do need
to talk, not fuck.” Picking her shawl up off the floor he draped that round her
shoulders, and over her cleavage for good measure.

Putting some distance between them he smiled and
winked at her.

“
Mind
you, I can assure you we wouldn’t fuck like rabid little furry creatures, but
like dragons.”

A shiver went through her, and something
undecipherable crossed her features.

“
No,
because bunnies produce lots of offspring. I take it dragons don’t? And is that
why you only have Geva? And while we’re on the subject, we didn’t … I mean …
oh, fuck it. How likely am I to be carrying your baby right now?”

****

 
Rhonda winced inwardly at the clumsy
delivery of her innermost fears, or was it wishes, and she couldn’t quite bring
herself to look at Drorgan. His dragon’s quietly menacing grumble told her loud
and clear that he hadn’t appreciated that question, and he held himself too
still right now.

“
Rhonda,
I…”

Blinking back tears Rhonda wrapped her arms around
herself and turned away lest he see her cry and make an even bigger fool of
herself than she had already. She wasn’t prepared for Drorgan to drop down to
one knee in front of her, grasp her hips and nuzzle into her abdomen. The jolt
of connection she always felt to him made her gasp. Her knees buckled, and she
grabbed hold of his big shoulders to steady herself. His body heat scorched her
palms, and traveled a heated path of awareness up her arms and into her body,
until every part of her was touched by him.

“
Nothing
would give me greater pleasure to see you heavy with my child, Rhonda.” He
tensed when she couldn’t help the strangled sound of surprise that escaped her
mouth, before she could stop it. “I’m sorry if that’s not what you want. I
understand. What woman would want a beast to be the father of her child?
Cheryladna sure didn’t, but rest assured, I can sense no child growing in your
womb. So you can leave without that worry.”

As quickly as he had grasped hold of her, he
released her, getting to his feet, and turning his back on her. Had it not been
for the white knuckled fists by his side and the way his big shoulders slumped,
she might have believed he wanted rid of her. However, Rhonda knew him well
enough by now to know that he was hiding something, and come what may she would
get to the bottom of it.

“
Is
that what you want me to do? Leave? And if so, how?”

His growl in answer shook the floor. Books tumbled
out their moorings in the ceiling high bookcases that lined the great walls of
this library. So many books that she had only made a dent in cataloguing them
all. It would take a lifetime to get to them all. And Rhonda was all too aware
that she didn’t have that long. As though to mock her thought processes, the
parchment on the writing desk started to glow. It hovered in the air like some
sort of bizarre firefly, calling her to it, and sidestepping a quietly furious
Drorgan, she picked it up.

Instantly she was transported to a different time
in her mind. A great hall, and a slightly younger looking Drorgan, dressed all
in black, mocking a young girl.
 
With a
sudden bout of clarity Rhonda realized she was witnessing the moment of the
curse. This mere slip of a girl was responsible for the curse placed on Drorgan
and his kin, and Rhonda watched in horror as the young girl’s own father turned
to stone. Her desperate chanting to stop what was happening, the whispers of
true love, the need to redeem, to love man and beast alike or to be forever be
doomed to the half existence in this other dimension. Wit
h
sudden clarity she saw the stone figures of that girl’s
family, the whole generation doomed,
the
struggle of
those remaining to make sense of it all. The young witch’s despair mixed in
with her deep hatred for Drorgan, whom she held responsible for it all, her
need for revenge.

Slowly the parchment stopped glowing, became
nothing but old and very fragile paper, which disintegrated in Rhonda’s hands,
and she watched the wisps of it fall to the floor with growing horror.

The very air around them seemed to shimmer, the
walls of the castle no longer solid, and with a screech of horror, Rhonda threw
herself at Drorgan.

“
No,
don’t you dare leave me now. I love you, Drorgan, all of you, and little Geva.
Don’t leave me, please.
 
Don’t you dare
leave
me.
”

Screwing her eyes shut, she willed him to stay with
her, blindly seeking his lips, and her heart resumed beating when she felt him
kiss her back. His arms tightened around her, and she lifted off the floor, as
he yanked her up his body and took the kiss deeper.

I love you, little dragon, so much.

The broken voice in her head made her cry, even as
her soul soared and peace descended upon her.

I was afraid to tell you, in case something
would happen. In case you didn’t feel the same way, and God help me, I should
let you go. You don’t belong in this time with me. You have a life in the
twenty-first century.

Hearing him talk such balderdash made Rhonda wrench
her lips off his, and kick him in the shins for good measure. Not that it
achieved much other than send a blinding stab of pain up her abused big toe.

“
Ow,
dammit, put me down you, big, stupid excuse of a dragon.”

 
Drorgan’s blue eyes flashed in
amusement as she blundered at him, but he did slide her slowly back down to the
floor, making her all too aware of his hard erection. Naturally her body
betrayed her with a rush of hot arousal coating her pussy lips, and Drorgan’s
nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. Keeping one hand on her elbow in a seeming
effort to steady her he gave her one of those sinful smirks that always had the
power to reduce her to nothing more than a pile of feminine mush at his feet.

Damn the man, dragon, love of her freaking life.

I can hear you ranting in your head, my sweet
dragon mate.

His smirk deepened when she glared up at him and
shook her elbow free of his grasp.

Serves you right for snooping about in there.
I’ll have to tell Magda to include you in the lessons of mind meld etiquette
she is giving Geva, won’t I?

She grinned at his affronted growl in her
consciousness. Drorgan held his hands up in mock surrender and took a step
back.

“
Anything
but that. I swear my knuckles still feel the sting of her wrath. That woman can
wield a cane with devastating effect. Not that I didn’t deserve it.” He stopped
head cocked sideways, as he listened to something, and laughed.

“
And
she needs to remember that etiquette herself. Get out of my head, Magda.”

Rhonda brought her hand up to her head to stop
herself from giggling, but seeing the great Drorgan blanch and flinch at
whatever Magda was lecturing him about now, was really too funny.