Only For Her Dragon (Dragon Guard Series Book 6)(27)

He watched as the wings, which started just even with the top of her head and ran the length of her body, stopping behind the back of her knees, got smaller and smaller. They folded in on themselves until they were once again the glyphs on her back. Grinning from ear to ear, he pulled her to him before her eyes were even open all the way and hugged her tight.

“You did it, mo ghra’. You did it!” He cheered.

Looking up, she smiled. “Thank the Lord! I mean they’re pretty and all but…whew! ...I needed a break.”

Snickering at her candor, he steered her to the bed, making sure she was comfortable before dashing to the closet to grab shorts for himself and a T-shirt for her. When he got back, he watched as she pulled the shirt over her head and let the towel fall to the ground. He and his dragon both highly approved of having her in his clothes. It was an overly possessive move and he knew it, but was happier than he could express that she was letting him care for her.

“How about we go down and make some coffee and you can tell me all about your dream. I’m somehow sure we’re up for the day,” he suggested, holding out his hand to her.

“Sounds good. There’s no way I’m going back to sleep until I at least halfway understand what happened here.” Charlie threaded her fingers through his and followed as he led them down the stairs, straight to the kitchen.

He was pleasantly surprised when she went to the counter, grabbed the correct canister on the first try, found the filters in the cabinet, and began making coffee. Turning, she leaned against the counter and stared straight ahead. He could feel her thinking so he simply sat down, giving her whatever time she needed to collect her thoughts.

It didn’t take long before she spoke, “Can you just do that mind linky thing, again? I know it seems like we’ve been doing it a lot lately, but honestly, I’m not sure I can even remember everything Brynna said. Every time I think about it something new pops up.”

He started to respond just as she speared him with a determined look and asked, “It’s okay to keep ‘dragon mind melding’ right? It doesn’t hurt you or me or anything like that, right?”

Aaron wanted to laugh out loud at her Star Trek reference, but thought better of it and instead, answered her questions. “Nope. Not at all. It’s perfectly natural. We’re mates. Looking into each other’s minds is something we’re supposed to do. I’m sure my mom and dad never left one another. I know Aidan and Grace do it more and more. It took them a bit to get the hang of it, but you have serious mojo and I’ve always been above average…” He winked and she snorted.

Definite progress.

“Together we are overachievers, my love.”

Not waiting for her reply, he followed their mating bond and found the memory of her dream right in front. Aaron was shocked at how much the two woman looked alike. The only real difference was that Brynna’s hair was long and curly.

Seeing Charlie as a child, even though it was from her mom’s memory was a gift he’d never expected to receive. He let the memory play out, enjoying every second. It was amazing to him that Brynna’s story was almost verbatim what he’d been told as a child. His mate was already royalty in his eyes so that was no surprise, and completely explained how the one little spark of magic he’d found had grown so quickly and completely.

Aaron could feel Charlie’s relief that her mother was still alive and that she’d not abandoned her, but instead had made special efforts to ensure her child was cared for. He knew that Zachary, their clan’s oldest Elder, had intimate knowledge of the fairies. As the story went, when Zachary was a young man he was injured in battle. Alone and unable to do more than crawl to a cave to recover, he was found by a warrior fairy and his mate. They nursed the injured Dragon Guardsman back to health and made sure he found his Force. His tale was told along with the legend of how the fairies helped the first Guardsmen to show the longstanding friendship between dragons and fairies.

When Brynna disappeared, Aaron stayed in Charlie’s mind to watch the actual transformation. It was just as she’d described…no pain, nothing traumatic, just one minute no wings, next minute wings. For that, he would be eternally grateful.

He’d been watching Charlie’s expressions while her dream replayed, and marveled at her inner strength and complete belief that he would help her get the answers she needed. He and his dragon both puffed up with pride.

Not sure where to begin, Aaron just started rambling as he got up to get their coffee. “It’s uncanny how much you look like your mom. And she is the Keeper of the Hill, which is a very important position. It’s like being one of our Elders. She’s a leader of her clan…your clan.”

He handed her a mug of coffee and set his on the table before getting the cream from the refrigerator. Charlie hadn’t responded but was sitting still, once again deep in thought. Sitting next to her, he waited as long as he could before speaking again.

“And your dad was human, but a hero.” When she still didn’t respond, he asked the question he needed to know the answer to more than any other, but had held off asking.

“How are you? I mean really. All of this has to be overwhelming, to say the least. You seem to be handling it really well…like perfectly. I don’t want to eavesdrop in your brain, but I’m kinda dying over here.”

She laughed aloud. “Eavesdrop away. I’m somehow sure we’ll never have secrets from one another, no matter what we do. We both speak our minds and are nosy to a fault.” Charlie stopped and looked at him. He was relieved to see most of the worry and frustration gone.

Chuckling, she went on, “I’m just thinking about how strange life really is. I thought I knew all there was to know, at least about myself. I mean I’d made peace with the fact that there was no record of my birth so I would never know who gave me life. I accepted that mom and dad were my parents. That the marks on my back were just that…marks. I’ve always known I was supposed to help people, so being a doctor was a logical choice. Hell, I even accepted dragons and witches and was prepared for almost anything. But I will tell you that I never thought about fairies and damn sure never in my wildest dreams imagined I could be one of them.”

“When you said you found magic and Kyra and Siobhan confirmed it, I figured my birth mother was a witch or something like that… but a fairy. I mean that’s crazy even for you, right?”

“Well, no. It’s not really crazy for me. I mean, you heard the story you’re mom told the little version of you. Dragon shifters and fairies have been intertwined since we came to be. But did I think my mate would be one? Not even in my wildest dreams.”

He stood up from his chair, turned hers to the side and knelt, taking her hands in his. “I will tell you one thing that you never, ever have to doubt, something that I will spend every minute of every day of our very long lives together showing you. You, Dr. Charlene Ailsa Gallagher, are absolutely perfect to me in every way.”

She scoffed and tried to look away, so he gently took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, holding her in place. “I mean it, Charlie. I could not have wished for a better match. You are my equal in every way–actually better than me in most. I love you from the top of your amazing brain to the tip of your cute little toes, and everything in between.”

He kissed her for just a moment, keeping her from commenting, using all of his restraint to not let things get out of control, no matter how much he wanted to grab her and run back to bed. There were things they needed to accomplish. Things that unfortunately, were more important than making love.

Only just a little though.

Pulling back, he saw her grin right before saying, “I love you too, dragon man. As crazy as it seems, I really do love you.”

Kissing her again, this time more thoroughly, he spoke directly into her mind, “Thank the Heavens.”

They broke apart, breathless and smiling. It was Aaron that recovered first. Looking out the window at the rising sun, he said, “You want to call Siobhan? Her number’s in my cell phone. And I’ll call Royce.” He tapped his temple. “That way we can get both ladies over here, tell them what you found out, and see if there’s anything else we need to know.”

“Okay. I think your cell is upstairs. I’ll call and then take a shower. Be back in a few.”

Before he could answer, she was padding up the stairs. Aaron watched until she was out of sight, loving how comfortable she was in his house. They hadn’t talked about where they would live after their mating was official, but he really hoped it would be in his home in their lair. Shaking his head, deciding to think about all that later, he called out to his brethren, “Hey gramps, you up?”

“Of course, I’m up. Some of us don’t sleep in all day,” Royce joked. “What’re you doing up already? I thought you didn’t open your eyes until at least ten o’clock.”

“That’s kind of a long story and why I’m calling. Let me start off with everything and everyone is okay. I just wanted to see if you and your lovely mate had time to come over. We found out what kind of magic Charlie has and I think you need to see it to believe it.”