Twin Dragons: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 7 (14 page)

*.*.*

The muscle in Cree’s cheek throbbed as he
watched Mel disappear between the crates. Mel couldn’t even stand
being in the same room with him. Instead of things getting better,
something told him that they were getting worse. That he was slowly
losing the thin thread of connection they had begun to develop with
Mel. He searched the darkness between the huge metal boxes before
he turned and escorted Carmen out of the repair bay.

Pain radiated through him at the rejection.
This time, not even his dragon rose up to complain or threaten him.
It appeared that it too realize the hopelessness of the situation
at last.

He stiffened when Carmen laid a gentle hand
on his arm to stop him. He was surprised at the compassion he saw
in her eyes. It was like she wanted to tell him something, but was
unsure if she should.

“We Earthlings are not always what we appear
to be,” she said compassionately. “We don’t give up our hope of
returning home easily. Cal and Mel want to return to Earth.”

“Why should I or Calo care if the old man
and the boy want to return? It would be better off for all if they
did,” he replied stiffly before turning away.

Want mate,
his dragon muttered
quietly.

Just as I do, but some things are not
meant to be,
Cree replied cruelly.
It is time to accept that
we were not meant to have a mate.

“What are we going to do?” Calo asked as he
leaned back from the blow aimed at his jaw. “We can’t just let Mel
go.”

“What else can we do?” Cree snapped as he
lunged again, wrapping his arms around his brother’s waist. “Kidnap
him?”

Cree grunted when Calo suddenly rolled and
pinned him on the floor. He stared up into his brother’s dark gold
eyes. The thoughtful expression and determination in them made his
stomach clench in anticipation. Calo was getting another hair-brain
idea.

“No,” Cree started to argue.

“Why not?” Calo asked as he shifted to sit
next to where Cree was lying. “It is perfect.”

“What about the old man?” Cree asked. “He
isn’t going to allow us to just take Mel without a fight.”

“We’ll approach him, explain the situation,”
Calo said.

Cree sat up and ran his hands through his
hair. “What makes you think he would agree to it?”

“Cree, we’ve done everything we can to get
close to Mel,” Calo said quietly. “We’ve talked with Cal. He is
worried about Mel, too. You know that they don’t have any other
family and that he knows he won’t live forever.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll agree with us
taking Mel,” Cree argued, looking at Calo in frustration.

“But it doesn’t mean he won’t either,” Calo
pointed out. “I think… I think we should talk to him again, Cree.
I’ve talked to him more, but he needs to know how you feel as well.
The last six weeks you haven’t tried to spend any time with either
one of them.”

“What was the use?” Cree muttered, looking
away. “Mel hides every time I walk through the door.”

Calo nodded. “He does the same with me, but
I know he is close. He never retreats all the way. You know that.
Our symbiots stay at the entrance to the crates. Something is
bothering him. He wants to come out, but it is as if he is…
afraid.”

“I know,” Cree sighed. “I want to connect
with our symbiot on him, but… I’m afraid too. After what happened
when he brushed a kiss against it. Goddess, Calo. I almost came in
my pants! I haven’t done that since my first time with a
female.”

Calo gave a dry laugh. “I know what you
mean. I haven’t connected with them since I first realized that
they had claimed him as well. I don’t think I could stand it if…
well, if he didn’t accept us. It is the one hope that has kept my
dragon from losing control.”

“Mine as well,” Cree agreed. “But even that
hope is not helping anymore.”

*.*.*

Cree couldn’t contain the snicker that
escaped him as he followed Carmen down to the repair bay later that
morning. She was beginning to waddle and he couldn’t help, but
tease her. He silently admitted that he had come to truly respect
and care about Carmen over the past few months.

She was an extraordinary female. Slowly,
small pieces of her life had been revealed as they talked, joked
and sparred with each other. She had also been surprisingly
supportive of his and his brother’s desire to understand and get
closer to Mel.

He didn’t understand some of her comments
sometimes. Her favorite seemed to be for him to look beyond the
outer clothing Mel wore to the person underneath. He still wasn’t
comfortable with the idea of doing that.

It was bad enough that every time he thought
of Mel or even got a whiff of his scent, his body would develop a
raging hard-on. He refused to think of the number of times he had
to relieve the ache. That was another reason why he had started
staying away from the repair bay. In fact, it had been almost four
weeks since he had last been inside.

“I’ll wait for you outside the door should
you need me,” Cree said quietly as they came to a stop outside the
doors.

“Cree,” Carmen started to say.

“I will wait here, Lady Carmen,” Cree
replied in a clipped voice.

“Fine!” She said, but he heard her muttered
addition. “Hard-headed male! Can’t see the forest for the trees.
Cal?” Carmen called out as she entered the repair bay.

“I’m in here, Carmen,” Cal responded.

Cree listened as the two started talking
before their voices were cut off by the thick doors. He leaned back
against the wall with a sigh. His mind ran through his and Calo’s
conversation earlier. They would reach Earth in a little over a
week. Time was running out with a vengeance.

He clenched his hands as he thought of his
options.

“There really aren’t any,” he whispered,
studying the scales rippling over the back of his hands. “Either
Mel accepts us or we end this once and for all. It is time for Cal…
and Mel, to understand the situation.”

Finally,
his dragon groaned.
Look
beneath.

“You’re beginning to sound as bad as Carmen.
What the hell does that mean?” Cree growled, before Carmen’s
muffled shout reached him.

Spinning, he slapped his palm against the
control panel. He squeezed through the opening in the doors as soon
as there was enough room. His hand clenched the knife at his waist
as he scanned the room, stopping on Carmen and Mel’s bent figures
as they knelt next to Cal’s body.

*.*.*

Melina straightened when she heard the doors
open. She looked wearily through the door of the
office-slash-bedroom. She had been cleaning up some. Now that
Hobbler was no longer on board for her to take care of, she didn’t
have much to do.

She desperately missed the Pactor. She knew
it was important to get it moved. With the steady supply of food,
Hobbler had outgrown the bay they were in. She had cried for two
days after the baby Pactor was shipped off to the
D’stroyer
and to her new home.

A sad smile curved her lips when she
remembered the exchange. She had met Ariel Hamm and knew
immediately that Hobbler was going to be totally spoiled
rotten.

“Oh my God, she’s so cute!” Ariel had
breathed loudly when she first came into the repair bay. “Mandra is
going to love her… eventually.”

Melina had giggled. Carmen had made a point
of bringing her sister into the repair bay alone. Creon, Ha’ven,
and Vox had gone over to the
D’stroyer
to see Mandra who was
still recovering from his wounds.

“She is very affectionate,” Melina had told
Ariel. “She loves to play with anything she can get her trunk on.
Oh, and she likes to touch you or be touched. It has been hard on
her being cooped up.”

“We have a huge place with lots of room up
in the mountains. Asim, an older warrior, helps take care of the
place. We have all kinds of animals there now,” Ariel assured her.
“Hobbler will have a huge area and lots and lots of toys and
attention.”

They had talked for a while longer before
Ha’ven notified them that the modified transport for Hobbler was
ready. Melina had hugged Ariel and thanked her for giving the
growing Pactor a chance to live a happy and healthy life. It wasn’t
until the doors closed behind them and she realized just how empty
the repair seemed that it sunk in that another thing she loved had
been taken away from her. That was when the tears came.

She had eventually sunk so low that she had
moved back into the office area just so she could hear her
granddad’s snores to help remind her that she wasn’t totally
alone.

All the extra time on her hands had also
given her more time to think about the differences between her,
Cree and Calo. She bit her lip as the familiar pain that rushed
through her whenever she thought of them pierced her. She wished
she was brave enough to ask Carmen questions like how to fix her
hair and how to make herself more attractive so that maybe, just
maybe, she could feel like a woman instead of the boy everyone else
thought she was.

She listened as Carmen spoke to her
grandfather. They were heading back toward Earth now. There had
been another battle and she knew Ariel’s mate had been hurt. Carmen
assured her that he would survive. Carmen also mentioned that they
were returning to Earth for several reasons.

“I have some unfinished business there,”
Carmen had explained quietly. “Also, several of the warriors had
remained behind in the hopes of finding their mates.”

“That’s… good,” Melina had muttered.

“Melina, sometimes going back helps you
realize that home is truly where the heart is,” Carmen said softly,
placing her hand on Melina’s arm when she started to turn away.

“My grandfather wants to return home to the
farm,” Melina replied in a choked voice. “My heart will be in
Georgia, with him and our friends there. It is time I focused on my
future.”

Melina looked through the door at her
Gramps. Worry darkened her eyes and creased her brow. He hadn’t
been feeling well the last couple of weeks. He actually seemed
worse the closer they got to Earth.

She had tried to talk him into going to see
Doc Tandor, but he refused, saying he just had a little bug and
would be fine in a few days. Personally, she thought he wouldn’t go
because he worried about what would happen to her if he left her
alone for too long. She smoothed the covers over his bed before she
stepped out of the office.

“Hi, Carmen,” Melina said quietly, glancing
at the doors with a haunted expression darkening her eyes. “How are
you doing? Have you talked to the girls that took you back at the
spaceport?”

Evette and her sister, Hanine, were two
Marastin Dow women that had kidnapped Carmen the day they met for
lunch on the Spaceport. Zuk had told them what happened a few days
after the incident when he came to visit.

Melina had wondered what happened to the two
women and the two human men, Ben and Aaron Cooper, which had been
with them. It turned out that Hanine’s ‘husband’ Aaron Cooper had
been severely injured when they escaped the warship they had been
on. Evette and Hanine were looking for a doctor when they saw
Carmen. They thought since she was a human like their husbands, she
would know how to heal Aaron.

Melina walked over to sit near her
grandfather. She hoped that Carmen didn’t notice the dark shadows
under her eyes. Ever since she found out they were only days away
from returning to Earth, she hadn’t been able to sleep very
well.

“Yes, I stopped on my way down here,” Carmen
replied with a worried smile, glancing from Melina to Cal.

“That’s wonderful,” Melina commented after
Carmen related what the women were up to. “I was able to listen in
to some of their conversations. Ben and Aaron were from Kansas.
They worked on one of the big farms out there,” she added with a
tight smile before turning her attention to her grandfather.
“Gramps, why don’t you go lie down for a while? I think you should
get the doc to come look at you. You weren’t feeling good last
night either.”

“I don’t need no doctor, but I think I will
go lie down for a while,” Cal said with a grimace as he slowly rose
to his feet. “Carmen, you stay and take care of my granddaughter.
She needs some girl time.”

“I will, Cal,” Carmen said. “I hope you feel
better.”

“Thanks.” He paused as he turned to look
down at Melina. “I love you, girl. Don’t you ever forget that,” he
said, brushing his fingers over her hair.

“I won’t, Gramps,” Melina promised as she
stood up to help him when he swayed.

As she took a step toward him, he suddenly
stiffened and grabbed at his chest. Melina barely had time to grab
him before he collapsed to the floor. Her cry of fear echoed loudly
in the repair bay.

“Gramps!” Melina cried out as she
frantically rolled him over onto his back and pressed her shaking
fingers to his neck. “Carmen, he’s not breathing! Gramps!”

Melina’s heart thundered as she tried to
think of the CPR course that she took when she started babysitting
years ago. She looked up in panic when she couldn’t remember! It
has been so long ago and she had never used it. She watched as
Carmen took over.

“Breathe when I tell you,” Carmen ordered as
she began doing chest compressions.

Melina vaguely heard the doors to the repair
bay open and Cree’s deep, melodious tone as he spoke in a quick,
calm voice to someone. Her eyes remained glued on her grandfather’s
face. The shaking grew worse when his eyes opened to stare
sightlessly up at the ceiling.

She leaned over and whispered frantically in
his ear. She didn’t care who heard her. Panic and grief were
tearing her apart.

“Please, Gramps, don’t leave me,” she
desperately begged. “Please don’t leave me here alone. We’re going
to be home soon. We’ll go back to the farm. I’ll do the cooking and
cleaning, and we can go visit mommy, daddy, and grandma’s graves on
Sundays after church. It will be just like before. I bet that old
hound dog is still coming around looking for scraps. Please,
please, please, don’t leave me.”