Twin Dragons: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 7 (30 page)

“You are our miracle,” he whispered in her
ear as he pressed against her. “I love you, Melina.”

*.*.*

A shudder swept through Melina as his rough
words washed over her. She would never get enough of them. They had
opened her heart and filled it with their love.

Never again would she have to be alone. She
gasped as she felt her body tighten. The tingling that always
started before she came hit her hard. Loud pants filled the
interior before she bowed back into Cree’s arms as her body
splintered around Calo’s. The force of her orgasm rocked Calo as he
pushed up and released his tightly held control.

“Now, Cree,” Calo gasped as he pulled out so
Cree could take her. “Goddess, I’m weak as a Werecat kitten.”

Calo’s hands tightened on Melina’s thighs
when she started to close them. Tilting her toward him, he angled
her body for Cree who pushed through her tight, pulsing channel. He
swallowed his own cry as Melina sank her teeth into his shoulder.
He gulped when she released her Dragon’s Fire into him.

“Goddess, Cree,” Calo choked out as Cree
grunted as he held Melina’s hips. “She is going to burn me up.”

Cree’s heavy breathing combined with Calo
and Melina’s moans as he watched his cock disappearing into her
body over and over. Each thrust becoming more difficult as she
swelled around him. The last time he tried to pull out, she refused
to release him. The sensitive skin of his cock, trapped against the
heated walls of her slick channel, swelled deep inside her before
his orgasm exploded washing her womb with his seed. The seed of the
Twin Dragons.

“Yesssss,” he hissed, closing his eyes as he
pulsed. “Yes!”

*.*.*

Melina swatted at Calo when he tried to wrap
his arm around her waist. Her face was burning as she stepped
carefully down from the golden symbiot transport. Even though they
had stopped in one of the isolated mountain valleys to bathe in a
stream, she was still mortified that they had taken her the way
they had.

Well, not the way they did it, but the
timing,
she thought crossly.
My legs are so shaky I’ll be
lucky I don’t fall flat on my face.

“You are beautiful,” Calo said, successfully
sliding his arm around her when she stumbled. “You have nothing to
fear. Our parents will love you as much as we do.”

“I hope not!” She muttered.

“I love you, my beautiful mate,” Cree
murmured as he stepped ahead of them on the narrow stone bridge
that curved over a small creek.

“Cree! Calo!” A woman’s voice called out
from the end of a long garden near a beautiful stone cottage.
“Creja!”

Melina could hear the fear in the woman’s
voice. Her fingers tightened on the arm around her waist. She
wondered how the woman would feel about her. She was a human, not a
Valdier female. What if they didn’t like her?

“She will love you,” Calo assured her when
he felt her tremble.

“I hope so,” Melina whispered, staring at
Cree’s tall back. “I really, really hope so.”

Creja froze when he heard his mate’s
terrified cry. The names of their sons on her lips. His hands shook
as he walked across the floor to the large hearth. Above it stood
the sword that had been used to kill the last Twin Dragons.

“Goddess, give me the strength to do what
needs to be done,” he whispered as he reached up and lifted it
down.

He straightened his shoulders and tightened
his grip on the sword. He would strike swiftly and cleanly. His
sons would not suffer.

They had sworn that they would come back one
last time before… Creja refused to think of the difficult task
ahead. Throughout the centuries, he and Lyla had prayed to the
Goddess’ to find it in their hearts to find a true mate for their
sons.

As the time passed, their hope began to fade
until it was almost gone. The last report he had on them had not
been promising. Cree had warned him that they would be returning
soon… for the last time.

“Oh Goddess!” Lyla soft cry echoed through
the walls to his sensitive ears.

Creja rushed outside, rotating the blade in
his hand as he stepped through the door. His arm held the blade
ready, but he could not strike yet. His beloved mate stood in the
circle of his oldest son’s arms, weeping.

“Release her,” Creja growled in a low
voice.

“Father,” Cree said, his eyes on the sword.
“There is no need to fear.”

“I said, release her!” Creja commanded.
“Now!”

“Father,” Calo said, stepping to the side so
he was standing next to Cree.

“Calo,” Creja’s strong voice quivered as he
looked into Calo’s worried face. “Goddess help me.”

“Father, Mother,” Cree said, releasing his
mother from where she had thrown herself into his arms. “We would
like you to meet someone.”

“Cree?” Lyla voice trembled as she looked up
into his smiling face.

“Melina,” Cree said quietly, turning and
holding his hand out.

Creja watched as a slender, pale hand
reached out with trembling fingers and grasped Cree’s outstretched
hand. A moment later, a delicate face appeared between his two
sons.

His eyes widened as Calo’s arm slid around
the small female who was staring at him with huge green eyes. A shy
smile played across her lips before her eyes moved to the sword he
had forgotten he held above his head. Her eyes moved back to his
and they darkened as her pupils dilated in warning.

A smile pulled at Creja’s lips as he lowered
the sword. The female’s eyes following the movement until it was
down by his side. Only when it was obvious he would not be using it
against Cree nor Calo, did her eyes return to normal.

“I am Creja, father of Cree and Calo,” Creja
said formally.

“Hi,” the female replied in a low voice.
“I’m Melina Franklin.”

“Cree? Calo?” Lyla asked, her hands
fluttering in the air toward Melina while her eyes searched her two
sons’ faces.

“She is our true mate, Mother,” Cree
acknowledged with a satisfied smile. “The Goddess has blessed
us.”

“Melina,” Lyla whispered, turning
tear-filled eyes to the delicate woman. “Welcome. Welcome to our
home, my daughter.”

Creja watched as his mate gathered Melina in
her arms and held her close. It was only when Calo grumbled about
her keeping Melina all to herself, that Lyla released Melina with a
laugh, teasing him about hiding her behind them so she couldn’t be
seen.

Melina’s giggles, as Calo tried to get back
into his mother’s good graces, warmed Creja’s heart. The light had
returned to his mate’s eyes with the knowledge that her sons had
returned home with a mate.

“She is a miracle to us, Father,” Cree said,
coming to stand next to the male who had guided him and his brother
and given them hope. “It is like the stories you used to tell
us.”

Creja turned to his oldest son. “Where did
you find her? She is not a Valdier, Curizan or Sarafin.”

“No, she is a human from a planet called
Earth,” Cree said, following Melina and his mother as they walked
toward the cottage. “She was kidnapped by a trader and sold to the
Antrox.”

Creja’s inhaled breath showed his dismay as
he watched his new daughter nod at whatever Lyla was telling her.
His eyes ran over her slender form. How could she have survived
such an experience?

“She pretended to be a boy who had lost his
mind,” Cree replied, answering his father’s softly muttered
question. “She is incredibly beautiful inside and out.”

“Come,” Creja said, throwing his arm around
Cree’s shoulder. “Come inside and tell us about how you discovered
your miracle. And I will tell you of the one you have just given to
us.”

*.*.*

Melina lay snuggled between Cree and Calo
later that night. Her head lay on Cree’s shoulder while her feet
were tucked up against Calo, who was lying on his side facing her.
A giggle escaped her as she thought of one of the stories that Lyla
had told her.

“What is so funny?” Calo asked, running his
thumb over the soft skin of her stomach.

“You,” she whispered into the darkness. “Did
you really tell your mom that cleaning the kitchen was woman’s
work?”

Calo groaned and buried his face in Melina’s
hair as Cree laughed. “I told you that you shouldn’t have said
that,” Cree reminded his brother.

“I didn’t mean it the way it came out,” Calo
complained, leaning up on his elbow to glare down at Cree. “We
were, but younglings. Surely I can be forgiven for saying it one
time!”

“It was the day the other Twins died, wasn’t
it?” Melina murmured.

“How did you know about that?” Cree asked as
his arm tightened around her.

“Your symbiots showed it to me,” Melina
whispered, as her fingers fluttered to the pendent hanging around
her neck. “Just like the lady in gold showed me that we were meant
to be together.”

“The lady in gold?” Cree and Calo asked in a
quiet voice at the same time. “What… lady in gold?”

*.*.*

The next day, Melina laughed as she watched
the three male dragons fly overhead. She shaded her eyes admiring
the beauty of them. Cree and Calo had selected an area not too far
from their parent's home where they were going to build a
house.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing
them as a dragons,” Melina murmured, looking at Lyla, who was
gathering some berries from the vines strung up along one side of
the garden area. “Do you grow all your own food?”

Lyla laughed in delight. “Not all, but most
now. I go to the village a few times a week to take some of what I
grow to the traders who come and to pick up the items we do not
produce ourselves.”

“A village? Can I go with you the next time
you go? I haven’t been to one before. I did see the city, but from
a distance,” Melina exclaimed in excitement.

“They did not take you to the markets?” Lyla
asked, a slight tone of disapproval and exasperation in her voice
as she glanced up at the fading figures of her sons. “Why?”

“They were afraid something would happen to
me,” Melina replied. “You heard about the battle, didn’t you?”

Lyla’s mouth tightened and she nodded. “I am
glad Raffvin is dead. His greed for power hurt too many, including
my sons.”

Melina nodded, not saying anything else. She
picked some of the berries and placed them in the small basket she
carried. The sun broke out from behind a cloud and she closed her
eyes and tilted her face toward it.

“Lady Lyla,” a deep voice called out from
behind them.

Melina’s eyes snapped opened and she blinked
to clear her vision as she turned. Three men stood on the other
side of the line of vines staring at her in curiosity. At least two
were curious, the other’s eyes had narrowed and was more appraising
than curious.

“Good day, warriors,” Lyla greeted.

“Mother asked if you might have more of the
jam you made,” one of the men asked with a grimace. “She is
expecting again and has a craving. Father asked if I would come to
you. She is being most… difficult.”

Lyla laughed as she set the basket down on
the ground and wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing. She
waved her hand to him to follow her. Melina watched as they walked
away. It was only when they were almost to the house that she
noticed that the ‘man’ was really a teenager. His loping walk and
animated features were just a part of what made her realize
that.

“Greetings, my lady,” the deep voiced male
who originally called out said, stepping closer to the vine. “I am
called Merck.”

Melina turned back to face the man. She
stumbled half a step back when she realized he was much closer than
before. Giving him a shy, uneasy smile, Melina dipped her head.

“My name is Melina Franklin,” she responded
politely.

“An unusual name for an unusual woman,”
Merck replied with an easy, assessing grin. “I do not recognize
your accent, or your species.”

Melina blushed and raised her hand to tuck a
strand of hair away from her face as a light breeze blew it across.
A shiver went through her when Merck’s eyes narrowed in on the
golden wrist cuff she was wearing. She dropped her hand back down
and stiffened her shoulders.

“I’m not from around here,” she replied,
turning her attention back to the vine and berries. “I’d better get
this done. Lyla was wanting to get another batch ready for canning
this afternoon.”

“Canning?” Merck asked with a frown,
unfamiliar with the term. “What is that?”

Melina glanced over at him, noticing that he
was following her as she moved down the row. Her eyes flickered to
the house. Lyla and the boy were still inside.

“It is a term we used back home when we were
putting up the food we would harvest. I used to help my mom and
Nana before they died and took over when it was just Gramps and
me,” she said, biting her lip as she remembered her family.

“You are sad,” Merck murmured. “Why?”

Melina shrugged and remained quiet. She
reached for another berry. A light gasp escaped her when Merck’s
hand covered hers. Jerking her head up, she stared at him in
surprise.

“Why are you sad?” Merck asked again in a
soft voice.

“Stand back, boy,” Cree’s voice growled
menacingly.

Melina’s eyes widened as she watched Calo
transform behind Cree. She hadn’t even heard them approach!
Blinking, she stared in dismay as she realized that both men had
the knives they wore at all times in their hands.

“Twins!” Merck said in surprise, taking a
step closer to Melina instead of away. “I thought you were
dead.”

“You thought wrong,” Calo snarled as he
stepped along the row where Melina stood. “Melina, come to me.”

Melina frowned at Calo, not liking the tone
in his voice, but realizing now was not the time to argue the
point. She started to walk toward him, but was stopped by the hand
gripping her forearm. Startled, she looked at it before looking
into Merck’s concerned eyes.