Christoff’s eyes darkened to a deep gold as he remembered the other man’s heartfelt thanks as he watched his daughter. He could feel the love the man had for her, and his pain. He remembered the look in his own father’s eyes so long ago.
“She will be alright,” Christoff murmured.
Jack sipped on the hot mug of chocolate that Shelly had handed him a few minutes before. Christoff had chosen the dark amber liquid that Edna had poured into her coffee earlier. Jack had turned it down, explaining that he would be driving and the roads would be hazardous enough without him adding alcohol to it.
“How do you know? Granted, she is like a different girl than the one that was here earlier, but
I worry,” Jack said with a sigh.
“All parents do,” Christoff replied. “I see the same look in your eyes that was in my father and mother’s. I did not want to disappoint them. They believed in me when I did not believe in myself. Crystal will be the same. She will fight at first because she will not disappoint you, but in the end, it will be because she does not want to disappoint herself.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jack said. “I really hope you are right.”
Christoff smiled as he remembered the hug that Crystal had given him before she left. He hadn’t known what to do at first. It was Edna’s nod of encouragement that had him wrapping his arms awkwardly around the young girl.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Christoff leaned back and smiled. “We are given certain tasks in life. It is not the task, but the way we handle them that will guide who we are to become. You are strong and beautiful, just like your mother and grandmother. Never forget the power inside you.”
“Did you ever forget?” Crystal asked softly.
Christoff knew he could lie, but he wouldn’t. He stared into Crystal’s anxious green eyes and nodded. Yes, he had forgotten for a time.
“We all forget at one time or another,” he admitted ruefully.
“Let’s go inside,” Christoff murmured. “I don’t want you getting cold.”
Edna laughed and looked down at the sweater she was wearing. Normally, she would have a pair of thermals, several shirts, her thickest jacket, hat, gloves, scarves, and anything else she could think of to keep warm. Since last night, she felt like a different woman, one with a built-in heater that would make menopause look like a day in the sauna.
Christoff felt her pull away from him so she could see his face. He returned her gaze with a steady one of his own. He knew she wanted to know what happened last night.
Tell her, his dragon snorted. Then I get my mate.
“What happened last night?” Edna asked, confirming his fear. “Ever since we made love – ever since you bit me – I feel different.”
“That is because you are,” he murmured, looking out over the yard. “My dragon wants his mate.”
“Your dragon – how?” Edna asked in confusion. “I mean, there aren’t any girl dragons around and I’m not about to let you….”
Christoff shook his head. “My dragon wants his mate,” he whispered, taking a step closer to her. “In here.”
He watched as she followed his finger down to where it was pointing at her chest. A frown creased her brow. She looked back up at him and shook her head.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
“Do you trust me?” he asked in a husky voice.
She blinked several times before she scowled at him. “Of course I trust you,” she said.
“Then, come to me,” he growled in a deeper, rough tone. “Come to me, my mate.”
Edna gasped when she felt a primitive reaction to his command. Her eyes widened when she heard a whisper echo in her head. She turned to look out at the yard. Everything seemed clearer, more vivid than before. Blinking, she looked down at her hands and saw them shimmering with a pale green light before she blinked again and she saw…
Claws? She squeaked.
Turning, she stumbled when she almost tripped over her tail. Freezing on the porch, she turned around again, slower this time. A hiccup escaped her when she saw her reflection in the window. She swallowed as she looked into the familiar, yet unfamiliar, green eyes staring back at her. The expression in them, she knew, it was the face that went with the eyes that she didn’t.
Christoff, she whispered in terror.
I am here, he murmured.
She turned her head to stare at the ruby and silver dragon standing in the snow just off the porch. He was looking at her with an expression of hope and fear. She opened her mouth to lick her suddenly dry lips and discovered sharp teeth instead.
What am I? She asked, beginning to tremble.
You are beautiful. You are Edna. You are my true mate, he replied, taking a step closer to the porch. Will you come to me?
Edna blinked several times as the shock of what happened washed through her. She looked down at her body again, this time noting the delicate scales and the tiny ruby and silver pattern etched into them. She felt warm, but not unbearably.
It dragon fire, a soft, tentative voice whispered.
What?! Who? What is going on? Edna demanded, turning in a circle and knocking against the swing, causing it to rock wildly back and forth.
I your dragon, the voice replied. My mate call to me. I go.
What? Wait a minute. Your mate? Christoff said his dragon needed his mate. Can I change back? Edna asked desperately.
“Yes,” Christoff said, stepping up onto the porch.
Edna turned her head, surprised to see Christoff in his two-legged form. She trembled when he reached out to tenderly stroke her jaw. A soft purr escaped her and her eyelashes closed for a moment at his touch.
“Think of yourself as Edna,” he whispered.
Edna opened her eyes and stared back at Christoff. She started when she saw her hand lift to touch his chest. Staring at it, she turned it over. It was back to normal. Her head jerked up to stare at him.
“What happened?” she asked in a husky, slightly strained tone.
“It is the dragon fire,” he admitted, touching her jaw with the tips of his fingers. “It can only be given to a true mate. You survived the gift from my dragon. He watched as his mate was born. She lives inside you now. But, just as I need you, he needs her. He is lonely.”
And horny, his dragon interjected.
She watched Christoff wince. “And horny,” he added with a grimace. “He insisted I tell you that.”
“I wonder where he gets that from,” she commented dryly.
Christoff shrugged. “I have centuries to make up for – and so does he,” he muttered.
“Did he tell you that as well?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Christoff gave her that boyish grin that melted her heart. A soft chuckle escaped her. In just two days, he had totally wrapped her around his little finger. For a moment, Edna thought of the beauty of Christoff’s ruby and silver dragon. A wave of heat flashed through her and she could feel her dragon shifting uncomfortably.
Let me guess. You’re horny, too, aren’t you? Edna asked with a sigh.
A soft snort sounded through her head. He very cute, her dragon admitted.
Alright, have fun, Edna replied. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t.
Almost immediately, Edna released a groan. She probably shouldn’t have said that, considering everything she and Christoff had done last night. In a flash, she felt the odd shifting again before the world righted itself. With a snort, she bounded off the porch and turned, waving her tail in the air. A moment later, the loud roar of the male sounded behind her as she ran up the path to the high meadow. She had almost made it when she felt the sting of his teeth as he sank them into her neck. A sudden wave of fire poured through her.
Not again, Edna groaned as the heat built and she felt her body burst into waves of feverish desire.
Yes, mine! Christoff’s dragon roared, pulling her tail to the side so he could mount her from behind. Yes!
Fire exploded
inside the small dragon as the male’s long cock slid between the protective slit until it was embedded deep inside her. Her dragon shuddered with pleasure as her mate took her for the first time. Edna had to admit, it was having a profound effect on her as well.
The male continued to breathe his fire into her bloodstream, letting it spread through her until she was writhing under him. He kept his tail wrapped around hers so that she could not try to escape him. Positioning his larger frame over her, he held her captive beneath his body as he began to rock back and forth in a slow, possessive mating that sent bursts of pleasure coursing through her.
The female groaned when she felt her mate shift his weight. The move pushed him deeper into her, pulling a hoarse cry as he sought her womb. The rough, thick cock stroked her softer channel and she grew slick and hot. As the heat built, she tilted her hips up so that he could push even deeper. A series of low, rough grunts escaped them as they came together in a primitive mating that shook the ground.
Edna gasped when her dragon was suddenly released. The emptiness from where he had been impaled in her left her feeling off balance and desperate. That feeling was quickly swept away when he rolled her over onto her back and sank down until their bellies rubbed as he slid back into her. She snapped at him, desperate to ignite her own fire inside him. It took three tries before she was able to grab the soft underside of his neck.
Biting down, she breathed her own fire into him. A searing triumph soared through her when she heard his roar and his cock thickened and began to pulse inside her. Her own body reacted to the overwhelming heat and fisted him in a tight hold as she pulsed around him, pulling out both of their orgasms until he collapsed on top of her with a soft groan.
Mine, he growled, licking her jaw. Mine.
Chapter Thirteen
Edna rolled over beneath the covers and stared at Christoff’s relaxed face. It had been almost a week since he came unexpectedly into her life and yet, it felt like forever. Lifting her hand, she touched his jaw.
“If you insist on touching me, I might have to sic my dragon on you,” he murmured without opening his eyes.
“Not in the house,” Edna admonished affectionately. “He almost caught his tail on fire last night,” she reminded him.
Christoff’s eyelashes slowly lifted and he smiled at her. She knew he was remembering their unexpected session on the rug in front of the fire. All the living room furniture ended up in the dining room. Poor Bo had finally given up on having any peace and gone into the guest bedroom.
“I need to get up and take Bo out and check on Gloria,” Edna said with a sigh.
“I will do it,” Christoff replied, rolling out of the bed. “You sleep in. It is your Christmas Eve, is it not?”
“Yes,” Edna chuckled. “I need to get up. I’ll take a shower while you take care of the animals.”
Christoff’s eyes darkened and he glanced at the bathroom. That was another place they had made love in. He had been thinking…
“No!” Edna interrupted his thought when she recognized the look that came into his eyes. She laughed and shook her head. “If you join me, I’ll never get Christmas Eve dinner ready in time. We still need to move the furniture back as well.”
She grinned at the scowl on Christoff’s face. He hadn’t been lying when he said he had a century’s worth of lovemaking to catch up on. She just didn’t know if she would survive it. She wouldn’t have been able to move if not for his symbiot’s skill in healing her soreness.
A gasp escaped her when his arms swept around her and he pressed a hot kiss to her shoulder. Damn, but he was incredibly sexy for an old man. The silver in his hair and the lines around his eyes and mouth just sent her body into overload.
He got good butt, too, her dragon whispered.
Shut up or we’ll never get anything done. You, young lady, need to be grounded, Edna said as she pulled away with a look of warning.
Edna ignored the snort of her dragon as she stepped into the bathroom. She had a lot to do before Jack, Shelly, and Crystal came over this afternoon. Spending it in bed was not part of the well-ordered plan that she had written in her head.
She gave the image in the mirror a critical look as she released the braid in her long hair. Wiggling her nose, she decided that she looked and felt younger. Impulsively, her fingers lifted to touch the mark on her neck. If she wasn’t careful, she would forget her resolve and say to hell with Christmas Eve dinner. She had some TV dinners in the freezer. Frozen turkey and dressing might be needed in an emergency.
Christoff patted Gloria as he entered her stall. He quickly set to work cleaning it and giving her fresh straw, water, and feed. It was supposed to snow again today, so she would have to stay inside where it was warmer. He was just hanging up the tools he used when he felt the strange sensation that he wasn’t alone.
Danger? He asked his dragon, trying to sense where the feeling was coming from.
I no smell another. Only beast, his dragon replied.
Turning, he gazed around the small barn. Reaching out, he grabbed the pitchfork and held it tightly in his right hand. With a word of warning to his dragon, he walked along the three stalls. He had just peered into the last one when he felt the presence behind him and turned.
The pitchfork in his hand vanished and he stared in shock at the elegant, golden figure of a woman. She smiled serenely at him as she glided across the floor. He swallowed when she stopped a few feet from him and studied him in silence.
“You!” he choked out. “It was you. I remember now. You were in the cave – right before the mountain erupted. You spoke to me.”
“Yes,” Aikaterina murmured.
“Why?”
“The younglings,” she whispered, looking around her. “They wished to give you the gift of Christmas. They were willing to risk their lives to give it to you.”
“They gave me gifts,” Christoff replied in a soft voice.
“They gave you love, friendship, and acceptance,” Aikaterina agreed with a smile. “I wished to give you a gift of my own. I see that it was the right one, Old Dragon of the Mountain.”
“Yes. Edna… She is my true mate,” Christoff replied in a thick voice.
“She will be a good companion for you back on your world,” Aikaterina said with a smile.
“But, I cannot leave,” Christoff said with a frown. “Edna has a child and grandchild here. She will not want to leave them.”
Aikaterina gazed at him with a sad smile and shook her head. “You cannot stay on this world, Christoff. It is not safe for you, your dragon, or your symbiot. They will die if you try to stay here and so will you,” she whispered sadly. “I can give you until midnight tomorrow night, but then I must return you and your mate to Valdier.”
“No,” Christoff protested, watching as the Goddess started to fade. “Please.”
“Midnight Christmas, Old Dragon, then you must return,” her voice echoed.
Christoff stood in the middle of the barn, his eyes burning with anger and defeat. He knew there was no way he could fight her. Clenching his fists, he stared down at the ground until he felt a measure of calm. He would tell Edna tonight after her family left. She would have one more day with them before she would have to say goodbye to them forever. He just hoped that she didn’t hate him for it.
“Are you alright?” Edna asked for the hundredth time that day.
Christoff looked up from where he was placing the cookies on the round tray. They had moved the furniture back into place and finished wrapping the last of the presents that Edna had hidden throughout the year. She had laughed and shared stories of Christmases past with him throughout the day. Now, they were waiting for Jack, Shelly, and Crystal to arrive.
“I’m fine,” he said with a smile. “This is a lot of food.”
“Part of the tradition is eating leftovers for a week, so you don’t want any more for another year,” Edna laughed as she pulled yet another dish out of the oven.
Christoff’s head tur
ned and he listened. “They are here,” he said, popping the last cookie that wouldn’t fit onto the platter into his mouth.
“You aren’t going to eat any dinner if you keep doing that,” Edna teased as she hurried to the door. “Come on, Bo. Come on, Spark. Go welcome them.”
Christoff watched as Edna hurried to the door. Love and fear battled inside him. A part of him wanted to roar at the Goddess for her interference. How dare she give him his every hope and desire, only to threaten it now? He pushed the feeling away. He would not dampen the time Edna had left with her child. As he had told Crystal, life came with no guarantees. He would do everything he could to make Edna happy back on his world. He only hoped that she would give him and his world a chance.
“Grandma, this one is for you,” Crystal said a couple of hours later.
The house had been filled with laughter as Shelly, Jack, and Crystal brought in colorful wrapped gifts to go under the tree. Shortly after that, they had eaten. Eventually, the kitchen was cleaned and everyone was groaning about having eaten too much.
The festivities moved back into the living room so everyone could stretch out in comfort. Now, they were doing a Christmas Eve exchange as Jack and Shelly would be going to a party tomorrow with friends of theirs.
“This one is for you, Christoff,” the young girl added with a smile.
Christoff looked up in surprise. He had nothing for any of the others. Reaching out, he took the red and green box from her.
“I have nothing for you,” he replied quietly, feeling bad.
Crystal shook her head. “I was thinking about what you said the other day. Mom and I talked as well. I’m going to start school in January and see how it goes. Baby steps. I want to see my friends again and maybe, hopefully, make new ones,” she whispered, glancing at where her parents and grandmother were talking and laughing. “I’ve got something else for you, as well.”