Fire & Ice (15 page)

'She just seems very distraught!'
Aiden fumed. He could bloody well see that! She was lying across the front of him with her head pillowed on his large chest, crying her eyes out. The sight of her crying was nearly tearing his heart in two, and if Fadri did not step back and give him a moment to figure things out without trying to butt in and insist he knew better; he was going to strangle his dragon!

He leaned down to speak quietly in her ear. “Babe, whatever we did to hurt you, I truly apologize. Fadri is going nuts right now, and is very close to breaking free and taking over, sure he can do a better job of fixing whatever is wrong than we can.”

For some reason, that finally got through to her, and she lifted herself off his chest as she tried to dry up her tears. She assured them it wasn’t anything they had done; it had just been her emotions getting the best of her. When Aiden stopped and thought about it for a moment, he thought he understood why she had let go of the tears. She wasn’t given the time to process, let alone mourn, the loss she suffered from the breakin. Then her car was blown up the very next day, almost taking her life along with the car. That had to have been scary. As far as he knew, she hadn’t processed anything, yet. And then, he and Adrian come waltzing into her life and claim she is their mate. Yeah, probably a bit too much.

As soon as she had lifted off him and stated that she was okay, thankfully, Fadri settled back down after only another grumble or two.
Good, that made it a lot easier in handling their mate who looked to still be a bit emotional.
A final grumble rumbled through the twins from Fadri about how he could have had this whole thing straightened out by now, but then he laid down and curled up for a nap. One problem settled. One more to go.

“Babe, how about laying back down here and talking for a few minutes,” Adrian suggested from behind her.

“Look, guys, I know you don’t want to hear all my baggage. I’m fine, really. It was too many emotions all hitting at once, and I couldn’t process everything.” They were men, she would just wait until she got back to the castle and find Angel. There she could cut loose again if needed, without worrying about scaring the men she was starting to have some deep feelings for.

Aiden turned her so she was looking at him. “I think I do understand what is going on in that pretty head of yours. You’ve had no time to process everything that has happened to you, and basically, your life has been turned upside down in a very short amount of time. You haven’t had time to process the breakin, or the fact you were almost killed.”

Adrian stared at his brother in total disbelief. '
When did you get in touch with your emotional self?'
he asked telepathically with a snarl in his voice. Adrian had always been the one to put the pieces back together that his brother went around destroying. If Aiden broke up with a girl, Adrian was the one who comforted her when she was distraught by the rude way his brother chose to do the breakup.

'
Shut up, bro, can’t you see she is upset? You would be too,
if you had gone through everything she has in the last few days. Besides, she is a female. She is bound to be more emotional than
we are. It is our job to take care of her so she doesn’t get this way very often,'
Aiden replied to his brother while his arms were wrapped around Evangelina.

Adrian sat there silently for a moment, dumbfounded, as he watched his brother compassionately take care of their mate.
It’s about damn time
, he thought. He heard his brother talking softly to their mate, asking her if he could wrap her up in the blanket and take her home, to their bed.

'
Good, that’s where she belongs. We’ll probably need to get up and take cold showers every hour or so from being curled up with her, but it will be worth it
,' he conveyed to his brother silently.

Chapter Ten

Evangelina allowed Aiden to carry her home tucked up against his chest, wrapped in the blanket they had used in the field. About every twenty feet or so he would lean down to kiss her forehead, or the tip of her nose. Never had she felt this…
loved?
Is that what she was feeling? Yeah, sure they had both pledged their love to her while she had an emotional breakdown, but did they mean it? Really
mean
it?

She thought about bringing it up for clarification, but knew she just couldn’t. If they truly hadn’t meant what they said earlier, then she would be embarrassed beyond words. So she spent the time getting back to the castle with her cheek up against Aiden’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, lightly stroking the chest hairs with the tips of her fingers until she fell asleep.

As the brothers neared the castle, their father’s voice came through their heads loud and clear. '
Boys, she doesn’t think you really love her. Evidently, she has had nothing but bad relationships, and she still doesn’t understand our ways. Go slow with her. Remember, she is going to be your mate for the rest of your life.'

Aiden looked down at his sleeping mate. He didn’t like the fact he had to hear what she was thinking from his dad, but at the same time, he knew his father would not sugarcoat anything. His father had telepathic abilities, and could read just about anyone’s mind, where Aiden and his brother were limited to each other.

Adrian cut into his thoughts, using their silent link as not to disturb their mate. '
She is so special. To see her sad tears, tore my heart in two
.”

'
I know, brother, I know. I feel the same way. I never knew true love would feel like this. I’m willing to do whatever we have to in order for her to be happy. If she wants to move back to Earth,
that is where I’ll go. If she wants to stay here, that’s fine too. I’ll do whatever makes her happy.'

While Adrian was happy his brother seemed so smitten over their mate, he also wondered about the quick turnaround in his brother. It was like his old self had been yanked out of his body and replaced with an entirely, and to be honest, new and improved Aiden.

'
Bro, don’t get me wrong, because I agree with everything you just said. But you are starting to sound like me. I am just surprised at your change in attitude.'

'She is our mate. The one special person designed just for us.'
Aiden stopped and shook his head a moment as he peered down at his sleeping mate in his arms. '
I am already in love with her so much I can’t even begin to imagine life without her.'

As they approached the huge double doors leading into the castle, the king’s voice once again sounded in their head. '
Maybe you two should start conveying your feelings to her a bit more.'

'Thanks,
dad, thanks.'

Evangelina woke with a start as she was being placed on a bed. “What….” she exclaimed, her voice still sleepy, her eyes blinking rapidly as she attempted to regain her senses and figure out where she was.

“Shh, sweetness, I’ve got you.” Aiden’s voice was whispering in her ear a heartbeat later, and she visibly relaxed as he finished laying her in the bed. He followed her down, stretching out alongside and bringing her body tucked in next to his. He looked up at his brother, who currently had a smirk on his face.

'
Damn, if I knew finding our mate would have brought out this personality, I would have searched
over the Earth twice by now to find her.'

Aiden glared at his brother. He probably wasn’t helping his own case, because he was sure he was hogging their mate. It was probably the reason his twin was making digs at him. He glanced down to see his mate had shifted and was looking up at him.

“Why are you glaring at Adrian? Are you two fighting?” her voice, although still sleepy, was laced with concern.

Thankfully, Adrian climbed onto the bed and lay down on the other side of her. He chuckled as he gently picked up her hand and placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist.

“No, love, we aren’t fighting. I had been giving Aiden a hard time, and had gone a little too far.”

She turned slightly so she could see him, but still remain in physical contact with Aiden. “I didn’t hear anything.” Her eyebrows were drawn downward, as if her sleep-addled mind was trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together.

'
Oh, shit
.' Adrian sighed deeply as he looked a bit sheepishly over to his brother. '
Well, she is going to find out sooner or later, I guess now is about as good of a time as any.'

He reached over and turned his mate a bit so she was touching his body also. His brother’s body was plastered up against the back of her, and now, she was near enough to place her head on his shoulder. As soon as the contact was made, an inner peace descended upon him. She was their mate. She would understand. She would accept them for who they were.

“Okay, you already know that Aiden and I are dragon shifters and, by the way, Fadri is totally in love with you, honey. It was all we could do to get him to step back so we could take charge, again.” He watched as his twin gave him an arched eyebrow, letting him know he was stalling. “So, you know we are shifters, but there are still a few things we haven’t shared with you, yet.” He stopped for just a moment as he organized his words. “Aiden and I are telepathic, but only to each other. We can open a private link to the other one at any given time, and speak to each other using our mental link.”

Both brothers watched their mate’s eyes get big as she processed the latest news. “Can all of you guys read minds?” she inquired.

This is where the fun begins
, thought Adrian, as he knew he was unable to tell their mate a lie.

“No, there is only one other who has that ability,” he stated slowly.

“Only one other?” Evangelina inquired as she thought about this. If they had the ability, then that would mean… “Wait, your father?”

Adrian nodded his head. “Yes, our dad is able to read most everyone’s mind, but it is not widely known. We have found it useful and beneficial to us in the past, like when one of the servants became disgruntled and started thinking of ways to poison us.”

“Oh my God, that’s awful!” she exclaimed, propelling herself up to a sitting position. “But, your dad…King Thoran prevented anything from going wrong?”

Adrian nodded in affirmation. “Yes, and that hasn’t been the only time his abilities have been useful. We sometimes have visiting officials from other lands. It’s nice to know if they truly possess any threat to us or our people.”

“Well, that is completely understandable. I guess the old Earth saying of ‘Watch what you say’ changes to ‘Watch what you think’ here on Dragonose.”

Both men chuckled at her joke. “Yeah, pretty much,” Aiden replied. Neither brother was going to tell her that they knew for a fact the king had been reading her mind at least part of the time, since he was all too aware of her emotional status.

'
Nope, not going there at all, bro,'
Adrian sent over to his brother regarding his last thought.

That night was spent with the brothers just holding their mate, each talking quietly with one another. The twins told her a bit more about their home, then how they both had already fallen in love with her, and for them, there would be no other. When she drifted to sleep, it was with her head resting on Adrian’s chest, and Aiden’s body curled up tightly behind her. She looked peaceful and content, and both men hoped they had calmed some of her fears.

Now it was morning, and both brothers watched their sleeping mate with hard-ons that could be used in a sport America seemed obsessed with, baseball. While their cocks were hard as bats, their balls hung down heavy enough to be considered for baseballs. Both men ached, but refused to push their mate into anything she wasn’t ready for. They would continue taking cold showers, and jacking off in the shower, for as long as it took. For they knew that once she was ready, it would all be worth it in the end.

They watched as she threw an arm up over her eyes to block out the light coming in. Aiden smiled. He was betting their mate was not a morning person. He leaned over and nibbled on the fingers of the hand she had thrown up a moment earlier. He quickly moved out of reach as her hand reared backwards to swat at whatever was attacking her fingers.