I Married a Dragon: Para-Mates, Book 2 Read online

  Kaine checked Jenn, then studied me. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t she survive? What am I missing?” He held me again, this time so he could urge me to answer him.

  “Are you frickin’ kidding me, C? You haven’t told him about the cancer?”

  I cringed at her use of the C-word. Why would she think I’d ever want to tell him? Had she totally missed my warnings? A flash of irritation mixed with the fear twisting me up inside, slightly easing my panic. “I was going to. It’s just that we’ve both been so busy. You know, what with the impromptu marriage, moving…” My lame-ass excuses trailed off at her stop-shitting-me expression.

  “Chrissy-doll, what are you talking about? What cancer?”

  Damn! There’s that damn C-word again. Someone, please make them stop saying it. I closed my eyes, taking the time I needed to gather my courage. No, no, no. I don’t want to do this. Why couldn’t Jenn leave well enough alone? I’ve kept this my secret all this time, why can’t it just stay mine?

  I clasped my hands together to stop them from shaking and desperately tried to come up with a way out. Will they believe me if I faint? No. Can I simply refuse to continue, then walk away? But I knew Kaine would get the truth out of me no matter how long it took him. Had my hope of sparing him finally come to an end?

  “Chrissy-doll, it’s all right.”

  Kaine put both arms around me, but I kept my eyes closed. What if I tell him everything and he no longer wants me to have his baby? What if he suddenly realizes how much of a problem a sickly wife could become? A new fear unleashed its wrath on me and I couldn’t keep a small sob from slipping out. Did I decide at last to give him what he needs only to have him turn me down? Please, please, don’t let him leave me.

  His hand on my chin brought my head up and my eyes opened. His concerned gaze met mine. A soft encouraging smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Chrissy-doll, please hear me.” His face grew determined. “No matter what fear you hold inside you, no matter what horror you think you may face, understand this. I will always be by your side. Together, we can face anything, even the worst you can possibly imagine.”

  I couldn’t breathe. Yet my breath wasn’t stolen from the crush of the rising panic. No, this time my husband had taken my breath away. I stared at him, surprise and hope washing over my dark ache, wanting what he’d said to be real. Wow. The man really does love me. I’m no longer alone in this nightmare. In the instant the realization struck me, became one with me, I released a large breath, then inhaled. I could breathe again because of Kaine. I inhaled another deep breath and exhaled slowly, releasing the pain, the fear, the blackness that had been with me, locked away for safekeeping for so many years. I swallowed, cleared my throat to test my voice, and finally gave in.

  “Cancer runs in my family. On both sides of my family.” I blurted the words out, then waited, certain he’d understand without my having to actually explain further. But no such luck.

  “But don’t all human families have some kind of health problem? Why would this affect the way you think about having children?” He glanced at Jenn, who had suddenly and conveniently gone mute.

  Breathe, Chrissy, breathe. You can do this. You have to do this. There’s no going back now. I kept watching him, drawing power from the strength, the love I saw in his face. “Both my parents died of cancer.”

  If I hadn’t lost him before that, I had now. “But I thought your parents died in a car wreck.”

  My breathing grew easier and, slowly, the tension holding my body ramrod straight lessened its hold on me. I can do this. “They did. But what you don’t understand is how they were basically already dead. They’d been ill with terminal cancer for years and had given up on life.” I choked back a sob, tucked my head down, and fought to stay strong.

  “It’s okay. You’re okay. Go on.”

  Kaine’s strong voice and soft touch gave me the energy I needed to go on. I forced myself to continue. “Sometimes I wonder if the accident was really an accident.”

  I heard Jenn’s gasp. That was one part of the horrible story I’d never told her—or anyone. Hell, I’d always tried not to even think about it. I pulled my head up and bit my lip to stop the tears threatening to fall. “After their deaths, I spent most of my teen years with an aunt who didn’t want me. It was the same as being all alone. Do you understand? The cancer killed them long before their wreck.”

  Nothing had ever felt as good as Kaine’s comforting tones enveloping me with his love. “Oh, Chrissy-doll. My poor Chrissy-doll.”

  I clung to him, unashamed to need his support. “The cancer is why I fear I’ll leave my child alone. But then I found out how much you wanted one, needed one… I want to give you that child, Kaine. No matter what happens later.”

  “I wish you’d told me everything earlier. I could’ve spared you all this torment.”

  I smiled, feeling better, freer than I had in years. “Hey, you weren’t exactly Mr. The-Whole-Truth-And-Nothing-But-The-Truth Delcaluca, you know. I tried to tell you, but I was afraid. And when I found out that’s why you married me, I didn’t know what to do.”

  He cupped my chin, bringing my gaze to his. “We’re a couple of fools, you and I.”

  Okay, not exactly the reaction I’d hoped for. But after everything he’d just given me, I wasn’t about to complain. “Excuse me?”

  “Chrissy-doll, it’s true. I married you because the moment I saw you I knew you’d give me a strong, healthy heir.”

  My heart ripped apart and yet I couldn’t pull away from him. Had I misunderstood what he’d said? Or had he only said those things to get me to open up? Jenn, on the other hand, had no problem standing up for my vital muscle’s bleeding corpse. “Damn, Kaine, don’t sugarcoat it. Tell her straight out, you lousy son-of-a-bitch.”

  His growl rumbled low in his chest. “If you’ll let me continue…” At Jenn’s curt nod, he did. “But what I never expected to happen did. I fell in love with you as we sat by the lake talking about unimportant things. I knew I’d love you even if you never gave me a child.”

  Relief quickly spread through me. “Seriously?” I let a few tears of happiness slide down my face. “But I love you, too, and want you to have your child. I just hope I’ll be around to help you raise him.”

  “You will be, Chrissy-doll. I can promise you that.”

  I smiled at him, appreciating the sentiment and letting him off the hook. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Kaine.”

  “But I can.” His fingers traced my lips. “When a dragon mates with a human, his essence transfers to the human.”

  I looked to Jenn to see if she understood, but she only shrugged. “I don’t get it.”

  “My essence will stay with you, even after the child is born. And with that inside you, all your illnesses will be cured. You can’t get cancer or any other disease, Chrissy-doll, after you get pregnant with a dragon’s child. With my child.”

  I’m not a dummy by any means, but it took awhile for that little jewel to sink in. “Holy shit. Are you saying I can have a child and not have to worry about getting cancer? I won’t die and leave her?”

  “No, my love, you won’t.”

  Resting my head on his shoulder, I wiped another happy tear away and caught Jenn doing the same.

  Her features hardened, however, returning to the tough Protector she was. “C, that’s the best news ever. But before she gets pregnant, Kaine, you owe it to her to show her what you are. She has a right to know what her child will become.”

  I pushed away from him. Oh, wow. I never thought about the child in that way. Am I prepared to have a dragon baby? For a second, I imagined a child inside me not kicking me, but blowing a flame inside my belly. Omigod!

  “Fine, I will.” He laid his hand on top of mine. “But only because Chrissy-doll asked.”

  A zap of excitement raced from my head to my toes. I’m going to see Kaine in his dragon form.

  He stood up and crossed the room. Jenn, ever vigilant, rose and
paced to the other side. Great. Why are they putting me in the middle? Literally this time? And then it hit me. Jenn knew Kaine wouldn’t hurt me. But if he wanted to shoot a gust of fire at her, then he’d have to burn me too. I didn’t blame her, though.

  His eyes were the first to change. The gold I’d seen on previous occasions spread like wildfire from his pupils, then outward, filling every part of his eye. A second later, my husband’s beautiful jade eyes transformed into balls of golden fire.

  I’d barely had time to let that change register when his face morphed, elongating, spreading his mouth wider. Lips disappeared as the face kept transforming. His eyes, glowing brilliant yellow, grew bigger, more oval in shape, losing the eyebrows above them. His ears, one of the cutest parts of him, fell off, disappearing before they hit the floor, and I struggled not to cry out. In their place, pointed ears grew, ears longer and narrower than any human’s. Fangs, long and sharp, edged over the huge mouth, saliva dripping from the two longest ones.

  His body shimmered as though his human body fought to retain control. But the dragon side of him continued its dominance. I gasped to see his skin separate, letting scales slide out to cover him. His clothes strained under the pressure, tearing when muscled animal replaced muscled human. His slacks ripped apart in the rear, exposing a scaly lizard-like tail that whipped around, knocking knick-knacks off the side tables.

  I knew I’d felt something rough on him. But how could I have known it was scales?

  Unable to take my eyes off him, I clapped a hand over my mouth. Then he stuck out his tongue. Thin, long and pointed at the end, his tongue thrust out, lashing around in the air. Mesmerized, I stared and knew I’d seen it before—between my legs. No wonder the man can make me come with one lick.

  A roar—one very familiar to those he’d made in bed—filled the room, shattering one of the priceless vases on the table beside him.

  Sensing the transformation was over, I stepped closer and timidly reached out my hand. “Kaine?” You’re my husband. But just to be sure, please answer me, Kaine. Let me know you’re inside this new body.

  The expression—cold, hard, ready to wage war—I saw on his face rapidly faded away. I looked into his eyes and recognized my husband. “Kaine.” Tilting his head to the side, he sent me what I thought was a dragon smile, and at that moment, I knew what I had to do.

  Turning away from my husband, I beseeched Jenn. “I bet you know about the Scepter of Fire, don’t you?”

  Her features flickered with surprise for a second. “Yes. But I’m surprised you do.”

  “Then you know that it means a great deal to my husband and to the dragons.”

  Jenn’s eyes narrowed, but I saw understanding dawning in them. “And to the Society. Yeah. So?”

  I moved closer, wanting her to see how earnest I was. “Someone—and we think we know who that someone is—stole it from Kaine. We have to get it back. Will you help us?”

  Jennifer Randall-Barrington, my old friend, grinned and nodded. “Sure, why not? Consider it my wedding present to the happy couple.” Her grin quickly faded. “But once it’s in our hot hands, we have to turn it over to the Society for safekeeping.”

  “No way. Not a—” Kaine bristled and Jenn matched him glare for glare.

  I used my position between them. “Let’s worry about getting it back first, okay?”

  If All the World’s a Stage, Where’s My Applause?

  Jenn, Kaine and I sat huddled in my office. While Jenn worked the phones calling the Atlanta Protectors, enlisting their help in locating Sabrina, and hopefully, the Scepter of Fire, Kaine finally filled me in on his activities since we’d returned from our honeymoon.

  “Let me see if I have this straight. The Scepter of Fire went missing the night before we returned home.”

  He thumbed through the contact file on his iPhone. “Right.”

  I frowned and typed another phrase in the search engine on Pam’s screen. “Okay, this is where I get confused. Why didn’t you tell me you were staying up all night, staying away from our bed, trying to find out what had happened?”

  I knew he’d gone over this several times already, but I still didn’t appreciate his heavy sigh. “I told you. I didn’t want to burden my new wife with this problem. You were having a hard enough time adjusting to our rather unique household.”

  “You mean the fact that Fitz eats mice and that one of the mice is now my personal assistant? Sheesh, Kaine, I thought I was going crazy.” I slapped him on the arm. Fairly hard too because I was kind of angry at him. “What the hell is she, anyway? Another type of dragon?”

  “No. Fitz is a special creature, er, individual.”

  I snorted at his attempt to cover his mistake. “Pff. I think you had it right the first time.”

  “Fitz is a witziwilder.”

  “A what’s-a-what?”

  “Seriously?” Jenn spun around in her chair to gape at Kaine. “Get outta here! I’ve heard the rumors, the stories, but I never believed they actually existed.”

  “You didn’t believe?” I was getting used to being the last to know, but that didn’t make me any happier about it. “Never mind. Fill the poor schmuck of a paranormal investigator in.”

  “As I said, she’s a witziwilder. They’re very rare and only a few people know of their existence. Fitz is very old—”

  Ha, I knew she was a cranky old hag.

  “—and has worked for the Delcaluca family for two centuries. Although she makes a wonderful personal assistant, her main duty is to protect me from harm. Her mother gave her life for my father.”

  “So that’s why she’s hangs around you so much. She’s your bodyguard and Girl Friday.” I knew it! I was elated to have gotten at least one thing right.

  “Correct. Unfortunately, she subsists on a diet comprised primarily of mice, which, of course, makes hiring servants—especially mice, who make the best servants—next to impossible.”

  Ya think? Getting eaten had to be a hard sell on the job description. “Missy was going to be one of her dinners, wasn’t she?” I pictured a screaming Missy locked inside Fitz’s mousetrap. No way would I let that happen to any of the other poor animals in her clutches. “We can not allow her to keep eating the mice, Kaine. They’re people like us. Or at least they can be if you change them into people, right?”

  “Correct. However, not all mice make good servants. It’s a very difficult process and I only do so when I’m sure the mouse in question can handle the transformation.”

  “But, Kaine, if you changed them all into people, they wouldn’t end up as dinner for Fitz. Or for a cat.”

  Kaine tossed me a wicked grin. “Even dragons have their limits. I do what I can. Besides, changing too many mice into people would disrupt the natural order of things.”

  Although his answer made sense, I still didn’t like the idea of poor little creatures being gobbled up by a larger, less likable one—namely Fitz. “Can’t she eat anything else?”

  “Well, she can survive on another source of food. But she doesn’t like it much.”

  Jenn and I had the same thought and spoke at the same time. “Too damn bad for her.”

  “Well, boo-hoo for her.”

  We high-fived. “What’s the other source?” As long as it wasn’t dragon’s wives, I was okay with it. Maybe.

  “Spam.”

  I paused, unsure that I’d heard him correctly. “Did you say spam? As in the canned ham-type spam?”

  “That’s right.”

  I couldn’t help it. I roared with laughter. “Then spam she eats from now on.”

  “Now, Chrissy-doll, I can’t ask Fitz to never eat a mouse again. It’s her natural diet.”

  Talk about organic diets! But maybe he was right. Although witziwilder-eating rodent wasn’t listed on any Circle of Life diagram I’d ever seen, I guess he did have a point. “Fine. We’ll compromise. She can eat any mouse she wants—as long as she catches and eats it outside our home. And it isn’t one of our servants.”<
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  “Fine, if you insist.”

  “So if she’s your bodyguard, where is she right now?” Figures. The one time she wasn’t around was the one time I’d like her nearby. I’d love to get another load of her true bad self. I’d been too busy running to get a good look last time.

  “She’s following another lead.” He sent me a knowing look and I diverted my gaze. “Now, let’s get back to the more pressing business at hand.”

  “But why didn’t you trust me with the truth about everything? I mean, I was bound to find out eventually.”

  Kaine ran his palm down my arm. “Think about it, Chrissy-doll. You make your living debunking the existence of people like me. I didn’t want to take that away from you until I had no other choice.”

  We both turned at Jenn’s snicker. “Did we say something funny?” As far as I was concerned, she wasn’t totally off the hook for not telling me that she was a Protector when we were in college.

  “He’s feeding you a load of crap.”

  Kaine’s eyes flashed gold and I reached out to touch his arm. “Easy, boy.”

  “Get real, bub. You didn’t tell her because you were afraid she’d freak out and leave you. Or just think you were nuts and leave you. Either way, you were afraid of losing her.”

  He grumbled and I took that as confirmation. “So? How about you? You haven’t exactly been forthcoming with me.”

  Now it was Jenn’s turn to look contrite. “No-o-o. But let’s not forget that I work for a secret organization. Telling people is kind of frowned on.”

  The tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon” interrupted us, turning our attention to Kaine’s iPhone.

  “Seriously?” Jenn said. “Puff?”

  Kaine managed to look both offended and embarrassed. “I like the song, okay?” He punched a button and turned his chair away from the mocking Jenn, placing his back to us. “Delcaluca here.” A few mumbled words later, he turned back and handed the phone to Jenn. “It’s for you.”

  “Uh, thanks.” Jenn took the phone and morphed into Protector mode. “Jennifer Randall-Barrington here.” She listened for a few moments, exhilaration glowing on her face. “Great work. No, no. My, uh, associates and I will take it from here.” Her calm movement belied the excitement on her face as she handed the phone back to Kaine.