The Dragon Legion Collection(75)

The firestorm was perfect.

Thad didn’t even know his mate’s name and he didn’t care. The firestorm was right. The Great Wyvern had found the perfect woman for him, and he was going to satisfy the firestorm. Even his first glimpse of her had been enticing. She’d stood on the hilltop waiting for him, her white tunic blowing slightly. He’d been able see her slim curves through the sheer fabric. Her hair was a rich brown and cascaded in loose curls to her hips. It blew behind her, as well. Her lips were rosy and her eyes dark, her lashes thick. She was smooth and feminine and luscious.

Thad wanted her as he’d never wanted a woman before.

He saw her look at him and realized she wasn’t surprised when he shifted shape. He thrilled that there would be no secrets between them, then touched her chin and felt the heat of desire race through his body. When he touched his lips to hers, it seemed to Thad that the firestorm exploded. He saw white light and was aware only of the feel of her soft lips beneath his own. He smelled that sweet perfume and knew he’d be able to find her anywhere.

She gave a little gasp of surprise and he swallowed the sound, gathering her in his arms as he deepened his kiss. In one way, he wanted to make the satisfaction of the firestorm last as long as possible; in another, he couldn’t stand it. He wanted her and he wanted her now. He felt her hand on his shoulder, and her fingers slide up his neck to tangle in his hair. Her kiss was sweet and intoxicating, and he loved how she opened her mouth to him, inviting him closer. The touch of her tongue made him catch his breath. He liked that she was honest about her desire.

Their thoughts were as one, as they would be from this day forward. He had one arm around her waist and let the other hand slide over her cheek, to her nape, then down her back. He cupped her breast, convinced it was the most perfect size and shape, then broke their kiss. He bent to take her taut nipple in his mouth, and she moaned.

“I don’t even know your name,” she whispered, her fingers winding into his hair.

“It doesn’t matter,” Thad said, lifting the front of her tunic to bare her breast to his gaze. He flicked a glance at her and smiled. “We have to satisfy the firestorm, first.”

“The firestorm,” she echoed, then caught her breath when he flicked his tongue over her nipple. He caressed her breast even as he closed his mouth over the tight peak, suckling and licking as she arched back in his embrace. He felt her fingers lock into his hair and felt her heart racing.

His own heart matched its pace to hers, a sensation that made Thad dizzy. He was snared in a glowing orb of light, a slave to sensation and pleasure, wanting only to savor his mate and please her completely.

She tugged his hair. “What’s the firestorm?”

“This!” Thad straightened and caught her shoulders in his grasp. He watched the flames grow and spread from his hands, their golden light burnishing her skin. Of course, she would be the finest treasure in his hoard. His mate. His love. His partner. “This heat, this fire, this blaze! It’s all the firestorm.”

“And it goes away?” She pursed her lips, pouting a little, even as her eyes sparkled.

Thad smiled. “When we create a son, the sparks will die.”

“A son?”

“That’s what the firestorm’s about.”

Her eyes flashed then, but Thad didn’t think it was with passion. She stepped out of his embrace, putting distance between them.

“No,” she said with such force that he wondered who she was trying to convince. “There can’t be a son.”

“When we satisfy the firestorm, there will be.” Thad had no opportunity to present his plan, because she simply disappeared. He saw a shimmer of silver and felt a breath of wind, and then he was alone on a high mountain peak. The land fell away before him, and the clouds below had cleared enough that he could see fields and a coastline far below.

But there were no caves or trees. There was no place his mate could hide.

Thad turned in place, confused. Where had she gone? How had she vanished into thin air? Why had she gone?

He held up his hand, but the firestorm had died to a faint glimmer emanating from the tip of one finger. He held his hand before himself, turning, but the light didn’t brighten no matter which way he was facing. Thad felt a ripple of panic. How would he find her again? How would he fulfill their destiny together?

Why had she left?

Then he took a deep breath and smelled her perfume. A triumphant sense of his own power rolled through him and Thad used it to shift his shape. In dragon form, he took flight and soared over the mountain, seeking the trail of perfume.

When he found it, he found the spark of the firestorm, too. The light brightened as the scent grew stronger. Encouraged, Thad flew in pursuit of his mate, knowing it was fate that she would bear his son.

All he had to do was convince her of that.

* * *

There was a spring in a glade, high on Mount Olympus, shielded from the view of the gods by a hovering mist. The glade was protected from the curiosity of mortals by location: it nestled within a circle of jagged peaks filled with dangerous precipices and was prone to bursts of wind. The mist was perpetual between the peaks and an abundance of alpine flowers grew on the slopes. The spring flowed constantly from a crack in the rocks and flowed into a pool with a surface as smooth as a mirror.

The nymphs gathered here, lingering as their responsibilities and whims demanded. The glade was subjected to fleeting breezes, periods of light rain, fog and rainbows, as the nymphs came and went in their alternate forms. It wasn’t the Garden of the Hesperides, but it was much closer. Aura, in the form of a breeze, blew toward the glade with purpose.