Firestorm Forever: A Dragonfire Novel (11 page)

They’d loved more slowly each time, yet desire still ran like molten honey in his veins. He was marveling at the power of the firestorm and the allure of his mate as he rinsed the bubbles from the tub and watched her brush her hair. He felt fortunate beyond all that he’d not only had a firestorm but been able to satisfy it without the intervention of
Slayers
.

He was thinking about having her again in her own bed, maybe about waking her up with pleasure in the morning. There was no question of him leaving his mate alone, not now.

Veronica had put on a voluminous terrycloth bathroom, though her feet were bare. Drake found it alluring how tiny her waist looked with the belt tugged tight, and the rest of her curves lost in the cloth. He was thinking of unknotting that belt and…

She put down her toothbrush so abruptly that Drake felt the change in her mood like the crack of lightning. She spun to face him, and he realized her mood was not nearly as amorous as his own.

What was wrong? Drake braced himself for the questions that hadn’t yet been asked.

“We didn’t use a condom,” she said, her consternation clear. “I didn’t think of it. I don’t even have any!”

When Drake didn’t reply, she flicked open the medicine cabinet and rummaged in its contents, then closed it. She went through the drawers in the vanity with the same haste, her expression revealing that she knew she wouldn’t find what she sought.

She licked her lips and took a breath, as if trying to remain calm. She looked him in the eye and he knew she wasn’t calm in the least. “I’m not taking any birth control, not any more.”

“It does not matter,” Drake said quietly.

Veronica exhaled, somewhat reassured. “I guess you can’t have any diseases if you haven’t been with anyone since Cassandra.” There was a question in her tone, and Drake could well understand that this might trouble her.

“I have none,” he admitted, seeing her instant relief.

“Neither do I.” She smiled, and Drake had a moment to believe that all was well, then she bit her lip. “I’m not quite in the middle of my cycle, but it would be better to be sure. Maybe I can get one of those morning-after pills…”

Drake was confused by this. “There will be a child,” he said, seeing no reason to deny the truth. Surely she knew this?

Cassandra had known from first spark what the firestorm’s result would be.

Veronica hadn’t asked about the firestorm. He’d assumed that she understood what was happening between them.

She had to be considering the repercussions and the impact on their lives, that was all. He would give her a moment.

Drake wrapped a towel around his hips and rubbed his jaw. He considered his reflection and frowned at the stubble on his jaw. He should shave and ensure he was smooth before he pleasured his mate with his tongue. He wondered if she had a razor.

He found Veronica staring at him, her displeasure clear.

“Excuse me?” she said, her tone a little more strident than it had been.

“There will be a son,” Drake repeated calmly. “It is the result of the firestorm. Do not worry: I will not leave you undefended.”

Veronica folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes snapped, and it was clear that she wasn’t as reassured as he might have expected. Nor had she anticipated this development.

It was perhaps a bad time to ask her for a sharp implement like a razor.

“What’s the firestorm?”

Drake frowned, a sick feeling dawning in his stomach.

He’d been wrong.

Veronica, it was clear, did not fully understand the import of the firestorm, or of what they had done.

Drake hoped he had the necessary diplomacy to explain it well. Talking was not his best skill.

“You will be the mother of my son,” he said, turning to hold her gaze. “We have conceived a child this night.”

Instead of reassuring Veronica, this seemed to alarm her. “That can’t be true,” she whispered, all the color leaving her face. She sat down on the lid of the toilet, as if her legs couldn’t support her. “You can’t know that.” She shook her head, then glared at Drake. “Why are you saying this?”

Drake ran a hand over his hair, considering where to begin, then swallowed as he faced her again. “I am not like other men,” he began.

Veronica’s gaze dropped, then she looked into his eyes again. “I’m guessing you mean in a different way than that.” He was relieved that she seemed to be recovering from the shock, though there was still wariness in her eyes.

“I am
Pyr
,” he said, holding her gaze.

“
Pyr
? What’s that?” Her lips parted in sudden realization before he could answer. “Those guys in the YouTube videos that Timmy watches all the time? Those dragon men?” She stood up, once again alarmed, and began to pace the length of the bathroom like a caged tiger. “But that’s not real!” she protested as he watched her solemnly. “Men can’t really change into fire-breathing dragons! Why would you lie to me about this?”

“I assure you, Veronica, that my nature is no lie.” Drake nodded solemnly. “You saw the sparks of the firestorm.”

“Those sparks! I thought that was an illusion.”

“It is a truth and a hallmark. It means that one of my kind has found his destined mate.”

“Oh.” Veronica was slightly mollified by that. “That sounds romantic.”

Drake shrugged. “It is our nature.”

She was wary again, doubt in her eyes, and he knew he’d missed an opportunity to win her support. “Does that mean you’ll be staying around?”

“It means that now the firestorm has been satisfied, you will bear my son,” Drake said, sticking with the facts. He couldn’t promise to remain with her, not when he knew that he would have to choose between his duties to the
Pyr
and his mate. They were in the last year of the Dragon’s Tail Wars, after all. He had already vowed to defend her.

But that clearly wasn’t enough.

Veronica scrambled to her feet. “You’re sure of this.”

Drake nodded. “The conception of a son is always the result of satisfying the firestorm.” He lifted a hand toward her. “The sparks are gone. The firestorm is sated. You will bear my son.”

Veronica was aghast. “Now? I’m thirty-five, Drake. I’ve just gotten my life sorted out. I have a good job and this townhouse and a car, and I’m building a future for Timmy.”

Drake didn’t know what to say. It had never occurred to him that she would be less than thrilled with this news. “But you have a son already.”

“Yes, and he’s growing up. I need to save enough money for him to go to college. I don’t have time to be pregnant, Drake!”

“Yet you will be so.”

“And you knew this when you came here.” There wasn’t really a question in her tone but Drake nodded agreement anyway. Veronica shook her head with exasperation. “You don’t think we should have talked about this beforehand?”

“Destiny cannot be evaded.”

She glared at him, lost for words for a moment, then she found plenty. She propped her hands on her hips, and her eyes flashed in a most beguiling manner. “So, you’re telling me that you’re a dragon shifter, that you’ve impregnated me without our discussing it first, and that now I’m going to have a little dragon son? Drake! I thought you were a man of honor! I thought you would treat me with dignity!”

“It is my intention to do exactly that.”

“Then what happens next?” She marched toward him, shaking a finger in his face. “You just fly off and disappear for another four years or maybe forever, leaving me with this child to bear and raise? What if I refuse to have it?”

“Veronica!” Drake was shocked by the suggestion. “You could not deny me this son!”

She studied him again, clearly taking note of his horrified reaction. Her lips set. “But I don’t recall being asked about my participation.”

“I thought you knew already.” Drake rubbed his brow, knowing he had failed to fulfill this duty well. “I believed you understood the import of the flames, as Cassandra had done.”

“I am
not
Cassandra,” she snapped and he knew he had said the wrong thing again.

Drake dared to appeal to her. “I confess, Veronica, that our firestorm overwhelmed me with its power. I could not have dreamed for such good fortune, especially as it was with you.”

She smiled a little and he dared to reach for her hand. “It
was
pretty awesome.”

“Indeed.” Drake held her hand and her gaze and hoped for the best.

“Wait a minute. Did this happen with Cassandra? Did you have a firestorm with her? Was Theo another of your kind?”

Drake bowed his head. “Cassandra knew of my kind. She understood the import of the firestorm’s spark when she welcomed me. And yes, she bore my son, and yes, Theo was of my kind.” He was impatient with these details of the ancient past. He was more concerned with the future, and with the son Veronica would bear. “What is of import is that they are lost to me forever.” He could see that Veronica wanted to trust him, but that she also had doubts. This was the price of his failing to tell her of the firestorm in advance of satisfying it.

Drake couldn’t imagine how they could have resisted its power long enough for such a conversation.

“I will tell you all,” he vowed again. “Let us talk first of
our
son.”

“Our son.” Veronica looked around the bathroom as if not really seeing it and exhaled. “I don’t believe it,” she muttered as she marched into the bedroom. “A son. Now! After one night together.” She was tugging on jeans and a sweatshirt when Drake followed her, that towel still slung around his hips. “I can’t believe this. I
won’t
believe this.” She shoved her feet into soft boots, then spun to confront him. There was a light of challenge in her eyes and an enticing flush to her cheeks. “Okay, let’s start at the beginning. If you’re really like those guys in the videos, then prove it. Change into a dragon, right here and right now.”

Drake considered the dimensions of the hallway and reasoned that there just might be space. He regarded Veronica warily. “There is a suggestion that humans may become insane if they witness the change.”

Veronica folded her arms across her chest and scoffed, her spirit encouraging Drake. “Insanity might be an improvement over the last five minutes.”

Drake debated the merit of doing what she asked, then there was no choice. There was a sliding glass door in the bedroom behind Veronica, with a small balcony beyond it. He saw a ruby and brass dragon on the other side of the glass. That dragon swung his tail and the glass panel of the door vibrated before it broke. Veronica spun and screamed as the
Slayer
erupted into her bedroom.

She, of course, only knew that the intruder was a dragon, but Drake could smell the toxicity of his black blood.

Drake shifted shape in a heartbeat and thrust Veronica behind him as he leaped forward to fight. He heard another intruder on floor below and knew it had been a mistake to command the Dragon Legion to leave him alone for his firestorm.

He hoped it would not be a fatal one.

* * *

It all happened so fast.

One minute, Ronnie was arguing with Drake, who seemed unmoved by her protests. His story made a treacherous kind of sense, but also seemed too far-fetched. It had taken her and Mark six months to get pregnant, and the doctor had said that was perfectly normal. He had, though, said that a second conception might happen more quickly. They’d used protection every time after that.

Demanding proof from Drake seemed like the only reasonable thing to do.

Ronnie wasn’t expecting the proof she got.

There was a crash and she’d spun to find a red and gold dragon raging into her bedroom. He was breathing fire and tall enough that his wings brushed the cathedral ceiling. Ronnie might have doubted her eyes, but her bed erupted into flames and the dragon laughed.

Another dragon seized her from behind and pushed her into the corner. He was all shades of grey and black, like dark pearls, his scales far less elaborate and colorful than those of the intruder. For a moment, he shimmered pale blue around his perimeter, just the way the one guy in the video had shimmered before he became a dragon.

There was no sign of Drake.

Ronnie understood that this dragon
was
Drake, both by the level glance he granted her and the way he moved with the same deliberation Drake showed. He was protective of her, putting her out of the path of the intruder’s breath of flame.

What had Drake said? That he would not leave her undefended? Maybe that wasn’t such a small thing.

Ronnie willed her heart to slow its wild pace and backed herself into the wall. She was both afraid to watch and unwilling to close her eyes, lest she miss anything. She’d wanted proof and here it was in living Technicolor.

It defied belief, but it was real.

The two dragons roared at each other. There was a rumble like thunder, then they locked claws and breathed fire simultaneously.

The drapes caught fire, then the carpet. The red dragon swung his tail and broke the mirror on the far wall. The grey dragon bellowed and slashed at the intruder, ripping into his chest with sharp talons. The red dragon screamed as black blood flowed from the wound. It burned a hole in the floor, as if it were acid. The dragons battled each other, tossing each other into the walls and making the whole townhouse shake, even as the bedroom filled with flames and smoke. Ronnie coughed and backed toward the door.