Abducting Abby (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 1) (22 page)

“It is so beautiful.” Abby murmured in awe.

Morian smiled as she sat back in her own chair and sipped her drink. “It is. I love it here. I can spend the day in the gardens working with the soil and never tire of it. I can feel the life in it.” She glanced under her eyelashes at Abby. “You are in your first heat.”

Abby blushed. “So Zoran says. I don’t understand any of this.”

Morian chuckled. “You have had your first transformation.” She said it more as a statement than a question. “This is most unusual since you are not of our world. It appears the stories are true.”

“Stories?” Zoran said as he walked into the room. He walked over to where Abby was sitting and without saying a word, lifted her as if she weighed no more than a small doll and settled her in his lap ignoring her squeak of surprise. He wrapped one arm around Abby’s waist making sure she could not move and used the other hand to guide the hot drink she was holding to his lips.

Abby’s eyes glittered with humor as she watched him take a sip. “You are so bad.” She whispered.

Morian watched her oldest son with a satisfied smile before replying. “Yes, stories, legends, tales, prophecy, whatever. It is said that long ago the first king traveled to a far off world. The king discovered a primitive world where there were many people. During his time on this planet he was welcomed into a village. While a guest of this village, he was drawn to one of the

females, the daughter of the chief. He was so taken with her, as was his dragon and his symbiosis, that he wanted to make her his queen and returned to our world with her. His people were horrified. They feared the female would give him weak offspring as she was much smaller than them; and, because she was not a true Valdier, she could never have the power of a true mate, the ability to transform and mate as a dragon and accept the power of the symbiosis. It was thought this would weaken the king’s lineage and bring death and destruction to the people by angering the gods and goddesses. They demanded the king sacrifice her to the gods and goddesses to show his remorse. When he refused the people, determined to show the king how weak his off-world mate was, stole her and took her to the cliffs high above where the city now sits to offer her as a sacrifice. The king, furious over having his mate stolen from him, flew to defend her.”

Abby was gripping Zoran’s arm tightly, her fingernails digging into his flesh as Morian told her story. Abby’s eyes grew wide at how much of the story sounded like hers and Zoran’s. Of course, the people didn’t offer her up as a sacrifice but she had been stolen.

“What happened to her? Was the king able to save her?” Abby asked breathlessly.

Morian lips curved, “The elder council members had already taken the king’s mate to the cliffs and cast her to the ocean below by the time the king arrived. The king, beside himself with grief, swore he would never take another as his, and in his grief, cursed the people of Valdier. Only those who were of royal blood or had found their true mate would be able to give the gift of bearing offspring who would be accepted by the three parts of themselves.”

A tear slid down Abby’s cheek as if she felt the awful grief of losing her true mate. “What happened to the king?” Abby whispered.

Morian shook her head gently, “Do not cry for the king, Abby. The story did not end there. It is said that the king, in his grief fell to his knees begging the gods and goddesses to let him join his mate in death. The gods and goddesses, so moved by the great love and grief the king felt for someone not of their world, took pity on him. They realized it was not only his grief, but the grief of his dragon and his symbiosis calling to them as one entity. They had also felt the grief of the female as she offered herself in exchange for the safety of her mate, begging them to protect him and to forgive his people for their lack of understanding her love for their king. As the king knelt, a great white dragon appeared out of the waves below. As the great dragon landed next to the king, it transformed into the king’s mate before the king and his people. The gods and goddesses had given birth to the transformation, the gift of the heat of a dragon’s fire to transform a mate into a true mate, one accepted by a Valdier warrior, his dragon, and his symbiosis giving her the strength and power of a true Valdier.”

Abby sat back in Zoran’s arms pulling his arm tighter around her. “Just like what happened to me.” Abby said softly, her face softening.

Zoran wrapped his other arm around Abby to pull her closer. His gaze met his mother’s over Abby’s head and he gave her a small smile in thanks. He could feel Abby’s total acceptance of him and his world as a peace settled around him. Morian smiled back softly at her son. It was the first time since her own mate died that she felt like she had made the right decision not to join him in death. She could sense the new life in Abby’s womb, even as small as it was. She would be needed for many more years to come.

Chapter 24

Abby and Zoran spent the next two weeks relaxing. Zoran showed Abby many of the places where he and his brothers used to play as children. He helped her get used to her dragon’s needs and desires, and showed her how to communicate with her symbiosis. Abby taught Zoran how to sing and was teaching him how to play the guitar which he replicated for her. They spent hours walking through the forests surrounding the mountain estate or swimming in the huge basin in the garden. Abby’s favorite time was when they would transform into their dragon form and fly through the tops of the forest playing chase and capture and making love in both forms.

Zoran came up under the water and wrapped his arms around Abby. They had just returned from another trip of exploring and were enjoying the clear, cool waters of the garden pool. Abby shivered as his warm body pressed against her cooler skin.

Zoran splayed his hand over Abby’s stomach. “My son grows in your womb. I can sense him.” He whispered as he pressed a kiss to her damp shoulder.

Abby’s breath caught in her throat. “How can you know? Are you sure?” Abby pressed her hands over Zoran’s larger one turning to look him in the eye.

“I knew the moment we made him. I felt your womb accept my seed and hold it tight.”

Abby’s eyes filled with tears. A child. Their child. She closed her eyes trying to use the senses Zoran had shown her over the past two weeks. She focused inward, seeking. She sucked in a surprised breath as she sensed the new life deep inside her. Her dragon was curled protectively around it.

Abby turned in Zoran’s arms and wound her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. “I can sense it.” She whispered softly. She had never felt such a surge of love, or fear, as she did at that moment.

Zoran smelling her fear pulled her closer to his body. “Never fear,
elila,
I would give my life to protect you and our son. I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing happens to either of you.”

Abby looked up. “I know. I love you so much, Zoran.”

“I love you more,
elila.

Abby waved a tearful goodbye to Morian, getting Zoran’s mom to promise to come visit soon. She had so many questions. They shared their news last night with Morian. She did not seemed surprised at all. In fact, she looked very satisfied. She promised to visit the following next month.

The flight back to the city seemed much shorter on the way back. Abby would miss the quietness of the mountain retreat which reminded her so much of her own mountain but she was looking forward to seeing Cara, Ariel, Trisha, and Carmen again. She couldn’t wait to share her news with them. She realized she no longer thought of her life before meeting Zoran. She missed Edna, Bo, and Gloria but she felt at home here. Abby looked at Zoran through her eyelashes studying his strong features. Her heart seemed to swell, as if there was too much love in her to contain it all. Zoran was telling her about his plans to change the spare room into a nursery. Abby sat back and listened to all his plans for the baby trying not to laugh as he talked about making the baby’s first sword.

Zoran gently laid Abby’s sleeping form in their bed. It was late and she had fallen asleep not long before they arrived. He tucked the covers up around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead before heading out to meet with his brothers. He hadn’t wanted to worry Abby. He received a message late this morning before they left from Creon. Raffvin had been sighted by one of Ha’ven’s informants heading off-world.

Closing the door to their apartments quietly, he ordered the two guards standing outside of it to guard it with their life. Silently, he called to his symbiosis to guard the outside balconies. Confident Abby was safe, Zoran moved determinedly towards his office where his brothers waited for him.

“Zoran.” Creon greeted him as he entered the room. Mandra handed Zoran a stiff drink as he moved toward the table where they had a holograph image of the planet on display.

“What have you learned?” Zoran asked in a hard voice.

“A signal from off-world was received two days ago. From what we have learned, it came from the Sarafin Galaxy.” Creon said bringing up the holograph of the neighboring galaxy.

“Sarafin?” Zoran asked with a frown. They had not had problems with the warrior people in that galaxy for nearly a century.

“Ha’ven believes Raffvin has traveled there to gather supporters to attack our world. The Sarafin are renowned mercenaries.” Mandra said. “Our peace with them came at a price; the first born daughter of the King of Valdier to wed the first born son of the king of Sarafin. Shame we forgot to tell them we usually only have males. Unfortunately, the bastards have a very long memory. It seems a son has been born and they expect you, as the king, to produce the daughter immediately. In the meantime, Raffvin has decided to ‘enlighten’ them about how unlikely that is to happen and try to get them to believe we have slighted them in some way.”

“On top of that, Ha’ven said he still has support on Curizan from the militant group there who wants us to get into a battle with the Curizan warriors. It looks like he is trying to stir up enough conflicts with rival warriors to stretch us thin enough to max out our resources and inflict the maximum amount of damage.” Trelon said.

“The question is why?” Kelan said. “Why is he so willing to destroy his own people? What advantage does he have?”

“Luckily, Ha’ven and his brothers seem to be containing the problem on their planet. Now, all we need is for you to produce a daughter and that will defuse the situation with the Sarafin.” Mandra said with a grin lifting his eyebrows up and down at Zoran.

Zoran bit back a curse. He knew Mandra was just joking but the idea of him offering up his daughter as a sacrifice for peace did not sit well with him and he could only imagine the problems he would have convincing Abby he had no choice if their child did, in fact, turn out to be a female.

“Abby carries my child.” Zoran said quietly. He sat down heavily in the chair.

Mandra let out a curse. “Zoran, forgive me. I would not have made that comment if I had known.”

Zoran waved his hand in dismissal of the apology. “Right now, I need to focus on keeping Abby and the baby safe.” Zoran grimaced. “…And happy. No one says a word about the agreement with the Sarafin. It will be a mute point if Abby gives birth to a son. Understood?”

All four of his brothers nodded in silent agreement. “For now, we continue gathering what information we can about what Raffvin is up too. Creon, do you still have an informant inside Raffvin’s personal elite force?”

“Yes.” Creon replied quietly. “Ha’ven has a least two inside the Curizan. They do not know about each other for safety. Raffvin has tightened his security since one of the spies we had was discovered.”

“Then, we wait, listen, and plan for any possible scenario. Mandra, you and Creon continue with overseeing the training of the warriors. Kelan, you and Trelon work on making sure all our warships are ready and ground shields are ready in case of an invasion.” Zoran said gazing at the maps before him.

Creon smiled grimly before replying, “You just concentrate on protecting your mate and making sure the council understands the seriousness of the situation.”

Zoran smiled. “I think it is time to meet with the royal house of Sarafin. Two can play at the game Raffvin is trying to play. I am, after all, the King of Valdier. Perhaps an invitation is in accord to show our commitment to peace between our two worlds.”

Trelon growled low. “You just make sure those horny bastards stay away from the human females. I’ll rip every one of their damn throats out if they try anything with my Cara.”

Mandra, Kelan, and Creon nodded in response. Kelan added, “I agree. It would not be a good way to establish peace if we have to kill the royal bastards. Maybe we can hide the females.”

Mandra and Trelon laughed. “Good luck with that.”

Creon just stared down at the table with a fierce frown on his face. His lips tightened with determination. He’d be damned if he’d let another man near Carmen. He’d kill anyone who tried. Of course, knowing Carmen, she would probably beat him to the killing part.

Zoran pushed himself up. Walking towards the door, he had an overwhelming urge to hold Abby close. “We keep a secured open line between us. Trust no one. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chapter 25

Zoran nodded to the guards at the door as he let himself into the apartment quietly. Stripping off his clothes as he moved towards the bedroom, he was naked by the time he made it to the bed. Standing next to it, he gazed down on Abby’s beautiful face feeling love and wonder rush through him. Pulling the covers back, he eased down next to her trying not to disturb her. He gently pulled her into his arms sliding one of his large hands down to lay it possessively over her still flat stomach.

“You’re back. I missed you.” Abby said sleepily.

Zoran rubbed his chin against the top of Abby’s head. “You should not have even realized I was gone. You should have been asleep,
elila.
”

Abby sighed moving her bare leg up between Zoran’s muscular ones. “I love it when you call me that.”