Releasing the Dragon: Myths and Legends, Book One (23 page)

I shrugged. "It seems that without any other
explanations they've been listening to Scarlett's version of what
happened. Evidently she told everyone you were so broken up over
your failed relationship with her that you still haven't been able
to move on. Since you haven't been seen in another woman's company,
some people actually believe her story. When I ran into her this
morning she took great pleasure in telling me I was just a passing
interest that you will get tired of in no time. Solomon had warned
me that she wouldn't be happy when she..."

His face had darkened with anger, his eyes
went black, and for the first time I saw the lethal predator he
keeps on a short leash. But this time it wasn't the dragon seething
inside of him, it was the vampire. The viscous fury pulsing through
the bond was overwhelming. It stole my breath and sent my heart
racing. He growled menacingly making my blood run cold with terror.
I reached out to grasp Dragon's hand trying to draw him out of the
darkness before it pulled us both under. Slowly the waves of anger
receded and I was able to take a full breath.

"What was that?" I had never felt anything
like it. I hadn't even known it was possible to feel that kind of
blinding rage.

"Bloodlust, or the beginning of it at least,"
he murmured without looking at me. Then he looked up and met my
eyes, his had returned to their usual chocolate brown. "It's been
too long since I fed. I've been so consumed with the mating bond
that I simply forgot to feed." He shook his head in disgust. "It
was a careless mistake, and one I must rectify immediately. I'm
upset with Scarlett for what she said to you, clearly, but she
doesn't deserve what I wanted to do to her a moment ago. I can't
take the chance that I might lash out at Travali's emissary when he
arrives tonight."

The emotions I felt coming from Dragon were
too confusing to sort through. On one hand he was repulsed by his
need to feed, but on the other he was eager for the rush it would
give him. I supposed he felt much like an addict who wanted to kick
the habit but couldn't quite give it up. Except in Dragon's case it
wasn't weakness that kept him coming back for more - it was his
survival instinct. I knew that since he loathed the necessity of
feeding he wouldn't want me involved but the thought of him
drinking from anyone else was unbearable. I noticed that he was
studying me through narrowed eyes, probably trying to sense how I
felt about his need to feed.

"Who..." I had to clear my throat before I
could continue. I didn't want to trigger another round of bloodlust
by upsetting him but I would not allow him to feed from anyone but
me. "Who will you drink from?"

"Normally I feed from one of the sex demons -
usually Clarissa. Since they can feed off the lust I experience
while taking their blood we both get something out of it." He
shrugged. "It's always made me feel better about having to feed,
knowing that my donors get something they need out of the exchange.
Most vampires and even nightshifters just share the sexual pleasure
they feel with their donors and figure that's payment enough. But
I've never been that accepting of my vampire side. I don't want to
enjoy taking blood and normally I don't want to share the enjoyment
I do feel with anyone." He was uncomfortable discussing this with
me because he didn't want me to see that side of him. Since he
couldn't accept it, he didn't believe that I'd be able to
either.

I took his hands in mine and gave him very
good eye contact so that he would see the sincerity of my words.
"After this morning I would think that you know how I feel about
you. But just in case you need to hear it, I will tell you. I love
you Dragon. I love every part of you, the man, the dragon, and even
the vampire. I have no way of knowing who you were before you were
turned, but I know that you would not be the man you are today if
you hadn't been. It is time you accepted who you are, like I have,
and like all the people who love you have. Being a vampire doesn't
make you evil, being evil to begin with does. It's like any other
form of power. A good man will use it for good and a bad man will
use it for bad. You use your power for good helping your people and
protecting the innocent every day. I want you to feed from me, and
I expect you to share everything you feel with me." I leaned
forward and kissed him letting him feel all the love that was
overflowing inside of me.

He held my head in his hands and rested his
forehead against mine for a moment then he moved back enough to
look me in the eyes. "I love you Serafina. I will do this for you
and I will make every effort to see myself through your eyes. It
may take me some time, but I will try to accept all of myself -
including the vampire within me." He gave me his solemn oath.

"That is all I can ask of you." After a quick
kiss I sat back and asked, "When do you want to do this?"

"Ideally I should feed before Malachi gets
here but if we do this before your shift at Mystique I don't think
you'll make it to work." His eyes moved down to linger on my
breasts for a moment then met mine with a heat that had me voting
for that option. "So, we will have to wait until afterwards. Doyle
is handling the negotiations with Malachi so it should be fine. I
likely won't even see him while he's here."

"It's a date then. It should be interesting,
especially after I spend a few hours swimming through sex demon
pheromones." I grinned when he growled at me. "In the meantime I
think you should avoid Scarlett. I wouldn't want you to do
something you'll regret later. It doesn't matter what she says to
me. I know how you feel about me and very soon she will too."

"That is actually something I need to talk to
you about. I was going to wait until later but in light of the
rumors you've been hearing it sounds like we should discuss it now.
Rook and I have decided that from a security standpoint, it would
be better if everyone knew we're mates."

"But I thought Rook said it would be better
to hide the truth." I wanted nothing more than to go public with
our mating bond, but only if it would be safe to do so.

"That was true. But the bond completed much
faster than we anticipated. Now that the bond is complete many of
the nightshifters are reporting that their beasts are awake even if
they still can't release them. My dragon is the same. It won't be
long before rumors of the beasts waking and rumors of our
relationship reach Travali. When that happens he will understand
what it means and take action against you. If my people know we're
mates, they will protect you with their lives."

"Why would anyone take a bullet for me? They
don't even know me. I do not want anyone hurt because of me." I
wasn't sure I was ready to let everyone know about us if it meant
someone might be hurt because of our decision.

"Serafina, I never want to put our people in
harm’s way but sometimes it is necessary. Take Rook for example. He
is my guardian. His primary job is to take a bullet for me if
needed. If anything ever happens to him it will devastate me, but
that is why he's here. As a king and a queen we must accept that
people may be hurt while protecting us. It's no different than the
secret service working for the president really."

What he said made sense but I had no idea how
I was going to live with the guilt if someone died for me. "I don't
know how to be a queen," I admitted quietly.

"You don't need to worry about that, you're a
natural. You are going to be a magnificent queen. Trust your
instincts. Give our people your love and respect and you will earn
theirs in return." He beamed at me with pride and I hoped I
wouldn't disappoint him. I remembered his mother giving me the same
advice when we had talked in her studio.

"I will do my best," I promised. "If you
think this is the right course of action then we should let
everyone know I'm your mate. Honestly I was just thinking this
morning that I didn't want to cover the marks any more. It will be
a relief to be able to show them to the world."

He gave me his sinful grin. "I was thinking
something along those lines when I was watching you dance a little
while ago."

My body was warming and if he didn't quit
looking at me like that we would end up back in bed. I would've
thought our sex drives would slow down once the mating bond was
complete but that wasn't the case. If anything it seemed to be
picking up speed. Attempting to get us back on track I asked, "So
how do we go about this? Do I show up for work without the ring on
and let the rumor mill do its thing? Or do you want to do some kind
of formal announcement?"

He thought about it for a minute. "I'd like
to make a formal announcement tomorrow night. I would do it tonight
but I think it's best to wait until Malachi has left our
territory."

"Sounds good to me." I couldn't wait until
everyone knew Dragon was mine.

"I'm not sure if you realize this but the
supernatural world is not the only one that will be interested in
our relationship." Why hadn't I thought about that? Dragon
continued, "The human media will be all over us once they get wind
of this. After all, I was named one of the country's most eligible
bachelors last year."

"I remember reading about that in several
magazines." There were just as many rumors about him in the human
world as there were here in the resort. "I've always wanted to be a
famous dancer, so I guess I should get used to the press hounding
me now."

"That is why I know you will make a worthy
queen. You may not like what you have to look forward to, but you
will do your duty anyway." He offered me an affectionate smile.
"Now, I did want to address some of the rumors you heard today.
Obviously something was bothering you, or you wouldn't have brought
them up.

In order to see things in the right light you
should know that shapeshifters tend to be very promiscuous. In
general we don't commit to relationships unless it's with our
mates. One reason being, commitments to anyone else would mean
nothing once our mates entered the picture. I've seen it happen.
Even if I'd been with the same woman for three hundred years before
I met you, I would've left her for you. No matter how much my brain
rebelled, my body and my soul would have eventually won and I
would've mated with you. Most of us don't want to hurt the partners
left behind that much so we avoid emotional attachments. Another
reason we don't like to commit to anyone other than a mate is
procreation. We can't have children until we find and bond with our
mates.

That being said, I lived a normal life for a
shapeshifter. And being the Dragon Prince, I had more than my share
of willing partners. When I was about two hundred thirty or so I
started to feel like something was missing from my life. I had
hoped to find my mate by then but obviously I still had a long time
to wait. I met Scarlett and I allowed myself to find emotional
comfort with her. I was very upfront with her from the beginning. I
told her she would never be my queen, that I would only make that
kind of commitment with a woman who could bear my children. As a
future king I could settle for nothing less. She kept pushing for
me to publicly claim her as my life partner - a term we use when
unmated couples are joined. It would have given her official status
as part of the royal family. When she wouldn't give up I told her
that we couldn't see each other anymore and decided I would not
enter into any more relationships until I met my mate.

Shortly after that The Great War began and
lasted for nearly fifty years. I had little time to think about
anything except battle strategies, troop deployments and creating
strongholds to protect the women and children. It was decades after
the war was over before we recovered from its devastation. In some
ways we still haven't recovered.

When things settled down enough that I might
have wanted to spend time with a woman I realized it would be even
more difficult because I was no longer the prince. I was the king.
What female could be satisfied with being my mistress and not being
acknowledged publicly as my woman? I didn't want to repeat my
mistakes with Scarlett so I've basically had one night stands for
the last three hundred sixty years or so. And most of those have
been with humans that know nothing about me and have no connection
to the supernatural world. I will admit though that occasionally
feeding my bloodlust has led to sex with my donors. Thankfully the
sex demons are very good at keeping that kind of information
confidential."

"I guess that explains why everyone thinks
you've been celibate. You haven't been sleeping with any of them so
they just assumed you haven't been sleeping with anyone. Since
supernaturals don't seem to have a high opinion of humans, it
probably never even occurred to anyone that you might be satisfying
your needs with them." I was actually very pleased to find out he'd
mostly been sleeping with people I would never have to meet.

Dragon checked the time then said, "I need to
go to another meeting in a few minutes, but I'll stop by Mystique
tonight to see how you're doing."

We kissed goodbye and I went to the gym for
some weight training. I was getting plenty of cardio workouts
during rehearsals but I'd been neglecting my strength training
since I arrived at the hotel.

I'd been trying to get over to Mystique all
night but one thing after another kept cropping up needing my
attention. I only allowed the distractions because I could keep an
eye on Serafina through the security monitors in Mystique. I could
pick up their feeds on my phone or on the screens in my office. If
I hadn't been able to see exactly what she was doing at all times I
wouldn't have been able to stay away from her. Through the bond I
could feel her arousal and it was stronger than I'd ever felt from
her, even more intense than it had been during our date in Mystique
last night. I had no idea why she was so aroused, but I knew I had
to get to her soon. But for now, I had to take care of business. I
was in my office with Rook and Doyle who was filling us in on his
meeting with Malachi.