TheWaterDragon (6 page)

Adrian heard Emily say that in the hospital, but he wasn’t sure how that was possible. Even witches aged like humans until mated to a dragon. “I’m not sure how that can be unless…” He shook his head. Had her dragon mated her and left when she rejected him? Had he decided to age, and along with him, she would age, as well? If that were the case, her dragon could still reverse both of their aging, but would she recognize him if he looked older than she remembered? Would she want to?

Waverly brought the limo to a stop at the end of her driveway. Summer didn’t wait, but rather, opened the door and bound from the vehicle, no doubt in a hurry to get her friend to see that what she did wasn’t a good thing.

“Emily!” Summer called as the old woman set another case on the front porch. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to go find Declan. I need to tell him goodbye and I don’t give a darn if he still looks thirty-five.” She sighed, a dreamy look on her face. “You know, he was the tallest, most handsome man I had ever seen. He was also the gentlest.”

“Then why did you tell him
no
?”

Adrian could answer that question. Like most other witches, she had been brainwashed into thinking that dragons would kill her. Even Summer and her sisters thought that when they met Drake.

Summer waved her hand when Emily would have answered. “I know that everyone thought dragons were mean, bloodthirsty creatures out to kill witches, but he could have killed you without telling you what he was.” She rested her hands on her hips. “You can’t tell me that he didn’t know you were a witch. He would have known the moment you kissed and shared memories.”

“
That
was when he told me. I didn’t know what was going on. He kissed me, pulling me into his arms. His mind melded with mine and I saw the most fantastic things. I didn’t realize what he was. We almost…” she let her words trail off as a blush crept up her neck to cover her face. She shrugged with a sigh. “We almost made love, then and there.” She pressed her lips together. “A part of me wishes we had, but he had to be honorable and tell me of his intentions first.” She shook her head. “I was an idiot. I called him a monster and a murderer and he left. I haven’t seen him since.” Tears filled her eyes and her lips trembled. “I can’t leave this world without seeing him again to apologize. I-I just can’t.”

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that.” Summer gave her a quick hug. “We thought you left the hospital because you didn’t want to see him and wanted to run.”

“Are you kidding? Honey, he’s the reason why I never married. I’ve been so in love with him no one else could compare.”

It was a relief to hear her say that, especially if what he told Summer was correct and Declan hadn’t found a mate. He could think of worse things than having her old friend gradually get younger and living out her life with her dragon mate.

Summer turned to Adrian with a smile. “So she wasn’t running away after all.”

“No she wasn’t running.” That was a good thing as far as he was concerned. Bending, he picked up Emily’s bags and headed for the limo.

“Then what are we waiting for?” He handed Emily’s luggage to Waverly and pulled out his phone. “Damek,” he barked into the phone as soon as his brother answered. “Summer and I need clothing packed—something appropriate for Scotland. We are about to embark on a quest.”

Chapter Eleven

The next day, Summer sat down in Damek’s private jet with Emily next to her. She tried not to grin at Adrian’s dark expression as he took a seat across the aisle from them. “My first full day with my mate and I’m consigned to sit across a plane from her.” He shook his head before turning to look through the window.

She fell for him a little bit more when he didn’t press her to sit with him. He knew how much Emily needed her now and gave Summer space. How could she ever have thought him anything but a gentleman? She smiled at him when their gazes met. Adrian smiled back at her, then turned to look through his window.

“Where do you think we should look first?” May asked as she dropped her carry-on on the floor and took the seat in front of Adrian. Spinning the seat around with a grin, she said, “I love these seats. They even recline to make you comfortable on long trips.” She leaned back and brought the footrest up. “See?”

Damek smiled at her, his expression indulgent as he lowered himself into the seat next to his wife. “Declan was always fond of the highlands. I think we should start near where his family once lived. They had a castle there.”

“They had a
castle
?” Emily twisted her fingers together.

“Yes. Did he tell you that one of his great great nephews was Robert the Bruce?” Damek leaned over and pressed a kiss to May’s forehead. “Of course Robert was more human than dragon. Which would explain his desire for power, I suppose.”

“Good Lord! Not only is the man a dragon, but he’s related to royalty as well?”

“What are you worried about, Em?” Summer asked. “Look at my sister April. She’s basically married to the dragon king and May is married to the dragon elder.” Summer sighed. “I knew Daisy’s wish for a normal life would never come true for any of us.”

Adrian shot her a wounded glance and Summer immediately felt bad.

“Did you really want normal, Summer?”

Summer felt bad for saying that. She looked at the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and shook her head. She had never wanted normal. Ever since April found Drake, she had wanted to find a dragon of her own. She wanted what her sisters had.
More than anything.

“Attention, passengers. Please fasten your seatbelts for take-off.” The pilot’s announcement saved her from having to answer right away, thank goodness. It would give her the opportunity to think about what she wanted to say first.

The only problem with that was she didn’t know what to say. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt his feelings. Should she tell him that the last couple of days were the most exciting, the most exhilarating of her life? Did she tell him that she had never dreamt of normal, but envisioned a very unconventional and exciting life with a dragon? Or should she just tell him that she wanted to take this new life one day at a time and get to know him before she jumped into a lifelong commitment?

She knew what she wanted to say, but was it the smart thing to say? Summer turned to look at her sister and smiled as she watched May and Damek share a few kisses. That was all the answer she needed. Summer sat staring at her sister as May laughed at something Damek said and realized she wanted that for herself.

She wouldn’t necessarily get that with a human male. Not forever, at any rate. Plus, Adrian could promise her that—and while a human male would mean it in the now, there was no mystical force to hold him to her forever. More than anything, Summer
needed
forever.

After a mentally exhausting eight-hour flight, they landed at Heathrow airport in London. Summer stayed in her seat as they taxied to a stop and looked out over the tarmac, wondering at the circumstances that brought her to this point.

If April hadn’t met Drake behind her shop, and Damek hadn’t seen May in a car headed for a strip bar, Summer could very well still be in her little cottage wishing for a man and a family of her own. Meanwhile, her biological clock ticked steadily away. Instead of being alone, as she had been, she was now sitting here with a man who could promise her forever and mean it. The center of her chest ached when she looked at Adrian. Every minute they spent together brought them closer. Every time he met her gaze, her heart nearly stopped. He was hers. All she had to do was hold on to him and never let him go.

“There should be a car waiting for us. I had Waverly call ahead and talk to my man here in Great Britain,” Damek said, interrupting her thoughts.

May leaned over. “My baby thinks of everything.” She snaked her arm around her husband’s waist. Summer almost teased her older sister over her choice of husband, but chose to leave her alone, instead. So what if May had always claimed that she wouldn’t look twice at a muscle-bound man, like her husband, Damek? It wasn’t as though a person could help who they fell in love with or whom the fates chose to make their mate.

The way Summer understood it, May tried to keep herself from falling in love with the large dragon male—especially after he kidnapped her, carried her to this very plane and took her to Alaska. If she knew one thing about May, it was that she had feared large men. She never said why, but Summer had always assumed it had to do with something that happened before the Flowers family adopted her.

Of course, Summer could only be glad that Damek had kidnapped her sister. It wasn’t as though he intended to harm her. In fact, he’d had saving her life on his mind when he did it. Plus, it was while on that very trip that they found Damek’s brother Adrian, who just happened to be Summer’s mate.

Her face burned when she glanced at Adrian through the corner of her eye and he winked at her when their gazes met. She couldn’t help but look at him. What red-blooded female wouldn’t stare at those blond good looks?

If what she felt for Adrian when she looked at him with his high cheekbones and straight nose was anything like May felt, she could see why her sister had so thoroughly changed her mind about Damek.

Standing, Summer followed the others from the plane, watching as Adrian carried Emily’s things. She knew she could do much worse. Adrian was kind, generous to a fault and took his responsibilities seriously. So what if he had the tendency to be a male chauvinist pig on occasion? Weren’t his redeeming qualities enough to make up for that?

Closing her eyes, Summer pictured him a few years from now after he’d been in the modern world a while. Sun kissed his blond hair, giving it a golden glow. Water glistened behind him as blue waves struck the shore and he smiled at something she said before handing her a cold drink. Maybe the years would soften his demeanor. She looked at his brother. After all, hadn’t Damek been just like him at one time?

Yes, but Damek has had a few thousand years to sand down his rough edges.
Taking a deep breath, Summer started down the boarding ladder. How could she blame him for being a product of his time any more than she would want him to blame her for being a product of hers? Summer found she couldn’t.

She would have to have patience. She would just have to wear down his rough edges like water over a mountain. If water could soften stone,
she
could soften the water dragon.

Her mind made up, Summer relaxed. Now that she knew what she wanted, it was time to plan. She didn’t want a huge wedding. She never cared about things like that. She had her sister here as a witness and her best friend. She glanced at him again. Once they got to Scotland, she would suggest that she and Adrian tie the knot. Why wait and give him the chance to change his mind? She smiled softly. Strike while the iron is hot, like her father had always said.

After all, what could be more romantic than a wedding-slash-handfasting atop some craggy Scottish mountain? If they got lucky, they might even find some old castle ruins where they could pledge themselves to each other while they were about it as well.

Whatever happened between Adrian and herself, Summer knew it would be nothing less than an adventure.

Chapter Twelve

Holy hell! I don’t remember it taking so long to get to Inverness from London
. Adrian glared out through the window at the darkness. “How long have we been traveling in this irritating conveyance? I don’t recall it ever taking this long to get to Glasgow.”

Glasgow was the first stop on this leg of their journey. After eight hours in the plane and approximately six and a half hours in the car, he was about to go mad. He needed to stretch his legs and he wanted to be alone with his mate. He was tired of sharing her, damn it all.

“It’s most likely because you always shifted and flew. Besides, it wasn’t London and Glasgow the last time you made the trip. As I recall there weren’t enough humans about to name the place, the last time
you
were around.”

“Perhaps not, but I utilized the internet on your plane and got an aerial view from one of those GPS websites you’re always looking at. I might not recognize names, but I recognized the rivers and most of the landscape between the two.” Adrian snorted. Did Damek think him an imbecile?

After staring through his window for a few minutes, Damek turned to him. “We should arrive in Glasgow in a few minutes.” He checked his watch. “I would guess about thirty. We’ll get dinner and some rooms for the night after we arrive. We’ll spend the night and head out first thing in the morning. The last leg of this trip is the most beautiful and I want May to see it.”

Adrian didn’t remember anything being beautiful about the trip, but then he had been flying and, for the most part, he’d been looking for his next meal. There was really nothing beautiful about hairy cows unless they were skinned and roasted.

He glanced at his mate who, as usual, seemed preoccupied with whatever it was that Emily taught her. He had to admit that the exercise made her appear more domesticated than she had seemed at Drake Delfavaro’s home.

Frowning at the thought, he wondered what it was about him that had made her so angry. Was it the fact that he expected her to act like a female when most of the women he’d come into contact with were so independent, needing no males in their lives, or was it something else?

Crossing his arms, Adrian reached up to rub his finger over the bridge of his nose. It was likely that she just didn’t like the way he looked. If so, that could pose a problem. Character faults they could get around. However, if she wasn’t attracted to him physically, she might not wish to mate with him.

Whatever the reason for her actions, he needed to find out what she was about before she could get away. Come hell or high water—and he had been in both and survived—Adrian planned to make Summer Flowers his mate.