Pierce (Dragon Heartbeats Book 1) Page 11

  “And you’ll be alone with him.” Smoke’s jaw tightened until I was sure his teeth would crack under the strain.

  “He would never hurt us,” I jumped in, and Alina shook her head adamantly in agreement. “He’s just not the warm, loving type.”

  “We’re all we have,” she whispered.

  My heart ached until I was sure it would break open. I enfolded her in my arms and held her tight. Would it be the last time I ever hugged my sister?

  Fence and Miles came in, followed by Cash. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they all knew.

  “You realize you can’t tell anybody in your world about what happened here,” Miles explained.

  “I know.”

  “They can’t even know where Jasmine is,” Fence added. “Or that you were with her.”

  “Believe me. I get it.” She let go and ran a hand under both eyes to catch the tears which didn’t get the chance to reach my shoulder. “I’ve already considered what I would have to do once it was time to go. I think it will be best to say I looked for Jasmine and never found her.”

  I shuddered.

  Pierce’s arm slid around my shoulders.

  “I guess that makes the most sense,” I agreed in a soft voice. “Pretend I died. You were staying in the mountains while looking for me, but you eventually had to give up hope. It’s not as if we could call the police to search for me. There wouldn’t be a record anywhere of my accident or disappearance. It’s the easiest solution—if you think you can pull it off.”

  “It’s a matter of life or death for all of us,” she reminded me. “I always perform best under pressure.”

  “That’s true. You saved my life when I was at death’s door.”

  “Don’t remind me.” She hugged me again, and I fought back the grief crushing my chest.

  It was bad enough without me showing how tough it was to lose her. I made it a point to smile when I leaned away from her.

  “It’s all going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.”

  “I know. And so will you.” Her chin quivered just the same.

  So did mine.

  I couldn’t help but look at Pierce again. He was frowning as he watched us.

  He felt sorry for us, I could feel it.

  “Isn’t there any way I could still have her in my life?” I whispered, hoping against hope.

  All he did was look at the rest of his family with a deep sigh.

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Smoke.

  Excerpt

  Alina may have saved the mate of a dragon, but that didn’t make her the friend of any dragons.

  And the feeling is mutual. The dragons have no used for her either.

  Except for Smoke.

  This hunky powerful dragon has decided he has to have the fae healer as his mate. Come hell, high water, dragons, or fae.

  Chapter 1

  Smoke

  I looked around the library at my brother and cousins. All of them looked the same. They believed Alina had to leave us, for our sake as well as Jasmine’s.

  I was almost willing to agree with them on that.

  My dragon, on the other hand, didn’t feel that way at all. To put it mildly.

  He roared and thrashed inside me, unable to understand why any of us would think beyond what was perfectly clear to him. Tell them you want her to stay. Tell them she’s our mate.

  How ridiculous would that sound? Not to mention the way it would look, suddenly deciding I had found my mate right after my brother found his.

  Pathetic.

  Jasmine took Pierce’s hand and went to his side, leaning on him a little.

  He practically glowed with pride, and I could tell his dragon was content. There was peace on his face I had never seen before—not on him, not on any of us.

  And I envied him that look. I couldn’t help it. Maybe it was because of that envy and my ability to see it slinking around the corners of my mind that I held myself back from reaching out and taking what I wanted. Who I wanted.

  I had wanted her from the moment I saw her, standing with her back to me in that tower room of hers, working on a salve or a potion.

  So intent, completely absorbed in her work. It reminded me of how deep I’d fall into a book or a scroll, or a game of chess.

  She moved like water, flowing gracefully the way golden hair flowed gracefully down her back. The linen dress she wore flowed the same way, skimming the curves of her body. I was hooked then and there.

  She wasn’t wearing that dress anymore. The borrowed clothes hid her body and made her look small and fragile inside them. Which only made her more desirable to me, since she looked more in need of protection than ever.

  And if my dragon liked anything, it was feeling like a protector.

  Her impossibly blue eyes searched my face. She wanted to stay. She was desperate to stay.

  With me? I barely dared hope.

  No, with her sister. She wanted to stay with Jasmine.

  Anybody who watched them could see how close they were. Alina didn’t want to leave her—after all, the alternative was leaving her alone with a bunch of dragons, in a cave she would never be able to live outside of. Who wouldn’t want to stay and protect a person they loved?

  It wasn’t for my benefit that she looked so stricken at the thought of leaving. I was only a friend, the ally she had made in the days since she’d come to heal Jasmine’s wounds. That was why she looked at me the way she did. Begging me for help, if only silently.

  My family needed my help, too. All of them looked to me. They knew I was the one she would listen to. I was the one who spoke reason. I was the one she had gravitated toward. I wished more than anything right now that one of them had grown close with her instead of me.

  “This is for the best,” I reminded her.

  I hated myself for it. The dragon hated me even more.

  It was an old story, though, one which I had lived out for ages. He wanted action. He wanted us to take and take until there was nothing left to be taken. And for the most part, I agreed with him. But there were things to consider. Strategies to put in place. Like a chess game—the winner was never the player who barged straight through without a plan.

  He couldn’t understand that, because he couldn’t understand reason. Which meant he usually roared in frustration, agitation, the need to be heard. Somebody had to keep the rest of the family in line. It had to be me.

  I was practiced in denying myself the things I knew would make the dragon happy. Like Alina. She would make him very happy. He might feel the sort of satisfaction Pierce was experiencing as he slid his arm around Jasmine’s waist.

  Tell them. Claim her. You know she’s ours. She’s been ours from the moment we saw her.

  Oh, yes, he had wanted her as we watched her work back there in the tower. He had nearly roared in my head when I first laid eyes on her. He had never sounded like that before.

  I had never worked so hard to keep him in the background—if Pierce hadn’t gotten my attention when he had, I might have shifted in mid-air and broken through the window. And I had never come close to losing control of myself before then, even when we were young and just coming into the fullness of our powers.

  “I guess I need to go tonight?” she asked, chewing her bottom lip.

  Miles was kind enough to step up. “Do you think it would make things easier for you to leave tonight? I mean, versus arriving tomorrow morning?”

  “There’s bound to be questions,” Fence added. “The house might be quieter overnight.”

  “Oh. That’s true.” Alina nodded.

  She and Jasmine looked at each other, having a silent conversation while the rest of us stood and watched. Jasmine shrugged, and Alina nodded.

  “Yes. I guess it would be easier to go back tonight and get myself settled in. I can answer questions in the morning. I don’t need everybody jumping on me the moment I walk through the door.”

  “I’m going to miss you so much.” Jasmine went to her a
gain and held her tight, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears I was sure wanted to flow freely down her cheeks. I wondered how I would react if I knew I’d never see my brother again.

  “I love you. I’m so happy for you.” Alina took Jasmine’s face in her hands and held it close to her own. “I want you to know that. No matter what happens or if I never speak to you again, I want you to always know how happy I am for you right now. I want this for you, because I know it’s what you want.”

  “What about what you want?”

  A ghost of a smile appeared on Alina’s face. “That’s never really mattered, has it? You know what I mean. I’ll be happy knowing you’re happy. Besides, I’ll have my work, and that’s always been my life.”

  “That’s true.” Jasmine didn’t believe her.

  Neither did I.

  Chapter 2

  Smoke

  “I guess this is it.” Alina slung the canvas bag over her shoulder, and I remembered the night we brought her to us. She was wearing the linen dress again, fully herself. She was even barefoot, just as we had found her in the tower.

  “I guess it is. I’m glad you came with us that night. You helped make my brother happy—and nobody wants to be around Pierce when he’s unhappy.” I tried to keep my tone light.

  Her smile was strained. “I’m glad I could do it. Especially since it’s obvious how happy Jasmine is now. She never would’ve been happy if our uncle had married her off. I guess Pierce really did save her life, after all.”

  “A very poetic way of looking at it.”

  “Well, there’s no other way of seeing it, is there? I mean, it’s clear they were meant for each other.”

  “It is.” And we were meant for each other. Tell her we were meant for each other! What are you waiting for?

  The dragon’s roar filled my head. I managed to plaster a fake smile on my face in spite of his protests.

  She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, eyes never leaving my face. Pleading with me.

  I squared my shoulders when I remembered the danger we could all be in if she stayed. There was no way her clan would allow the disappearance of two members without causing an uproar. They would leave no stone unturned until they discovered what happened, and no one could know of our existence.

  It was bad enough Jasmine and Alina knew. They had to remain the only ones.

  When I looked at it that way—the future of our family, the success of our mission to guard the treasure—my personal needs seemed very small. It was a sacrifice, but my life had been built on sacrifice. I was used to it.

  “It was a pleasure getting to know you.” I extended my hand to shake, and she hesitated one more moment before touching her palm to mine.

  Like she couldn’t believe things were ending the way they were, with a handshake.

  I sensed her confusion, her heartbreak, her uncertainty.

  She thought I liked her. She thought there was more between us than a handshake.

  For her sake as well as mine, I had to make her believe she was wrong. I had to ignore the dragon’s command that I pull her to me and crush her under my weight as I pinned her to the wall and claimed her.

  “You, too,” she whispered, withdrawing her hand as soon as possible.

  She backed away without another word, eyes leaving me to take in everything around us. There wasn’t much to see there at the mouth of the cave, but I had the feeling she was taking a mental picture.

  Me, standing there, watching her walk away.

  A tiny smile touched the corners of her mouth. A bitter one.

  That was the mental picture of her which I knew I would review again and again. The bitterness I was responsible for. The way I had broken her heart.

  I should’ve been smarter. Wasn’t I supposed to be the smart one in the family? There was no excuse for letting the girl become as familiar with me as she had. I knew from the start that there could be no future for us.

  “Come on. We’d better get moving.” Miles ushered her into the SUV—the main road was clear by now, so there was no need to take the Jeep down the side of the mountain as we had when we first brought Alina to the cave.

  It was almost a relief when he closed the door behind her. I didn’t have to see the pain on her face once the tinted window was between us.

  “This is for the best,” Pierce murmured, standing at my side.

  “Where did you come from? I thought you’d be back with Jasmine.”

  “She’s taking a shower. I think she used that as an excuse to be alone for a while. And I thought you would need me.”

  “You thought wrong.”

  “Did I?”

  The question hung in the air between us.

  I hated him at that moment. Thinking he knew so much.

  Was that how I made him feel most of the time? It could’ve been. I was always the one with the answers, the one who thought he knew so much more than anybody else.

  The truth was, I usually did. I observed, I listened, I formed conclusions that were right nine times out of ten.

  Hell, if it weren’t for my knowledge of what we kept in the library, I would never have found the loophole which made it possible for Jasmine to stay. I knew my shit.

  What I didn’t know was how to navigate life without Alina—especially when I’d see her sister every day, the sister who looked so much like her.

  I’d never have the chance to forget the one and only time I had ever brushed up against fate. The only chance I’d ever have to find my mate.

  The car pulled away, with Miles and Cash seated up front. I watched until the taillights disappeared into the darkness. She was gone.

  “You coming back in?” Pierce asked after a long, silent stretch.

  “Not just yet, if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind.” He kicked up a little dirt, then took a deep breath. “It’s nice to be outside. I might hang around with you for a little while, if that’s okay.”

  “Yeah. That’s okay.” And so we stood there, side by side, looking out over the valley and the mountains in the distance, while Gate kept watch somewhere above us. Protecting the treasure we were assigned to, just like we did every day and had for a thousand years.

  Chapter 3

  Alina

  I had healed a lot of things over the years.

  Broken bones were my specialty. When a clan of creatures whose nature was to live outside in the trees was forced to live indoors, there were bound to be accidents.

  Mostly the young ones, mostly from daring each other to do stupid things in a desperate attempt to burn off some of their energy.

  Instead of jumping from tree branch to tree branch, which their genetic makeup told them to do, they would jump from the railings of the old staircases to the floor. Or fall while daring each other to climb the mansion walls. Or tumble out of the window of the old, unused barn which sat just beyond the main house. They weren’t supposed to play in there, but they had to do something.

  We weren’t meant to be indoor beings. Sometimes the adolescents would play tricks on each other, the way the fae had been doing since the beginning of time—tripping, shoving from across the room, pulling the rug out from under each other’s feet as soon as they were old enough to start working their magic.

  And so, I would treat them and send them on their way, with orders that they never do anything that stupid ever again. And they would promise, and they would run off, and I would see them again in a few months with another broken bone and another crazy story.

  I had also treated illness. Cuts, bruises. Indigestion more times than I could count—some of the older members of the clan were inclined to overdo it at our many feasts. Insomnia. Nervousness. If there was a symptom, I had a remedy for it. The clan kept me on my toes.

  I had never treated a broken heart.

  There wouldn’t be a remedy for that in any of my books. I was sure of it. If there were, I would’ve come across it by now, since I knew my books backwards and forwards. My wor
k was my life.

  That was a real shame, then, since I was sure my heart was breaking into a million pieces as we drove away from the cave. I could hardly breathe. It felt like a truck was sitting on my chest.

  Or a dragon.

  I never got to see him as the dragon, I thought as a sinking feeling filled my stomach.

  I never got the chance to see that side of him. I never had the opportunity to watch as he flew free and embraced his full nature. I would’ve bet he made a beautiful dragon, too.

  There was no way to go back. I had lost the chance to see him like that, just like I had lost the chance to ever tell him what he meant to me.

  Why didn’t I ever tell him?

  He’s not who you should be thinking about right now.

  My cheeks flushed with guilt when I remembered Jasmine. She was the person I should’ve been missing. She was also the person whose absence would cause the most trouble for me, at least until the rest of the clan accepted that she was dead.

  I had to be convincing when they asked questions about her. I couldn’t waste my time thinking about Smoke when I needed to come up with a believable story to tell them.

  Especially Uncle George. Not to mention Bradley.

  “Are you okay back there?” Miles seemed nice.

  They all did. I wished I had more time to get to know them—but then, I would only miss them more once I was back home.

  “I guess so. As okay as I can be right now.”

  “We’ll make sure to take good care of her,” Cash offered. He glanced back at me in the rearview mirror and tried to smile. I tried to smile back.

  “I know you will. And I trust Pierce with her. It’s obvious he loves her. I’m not worried. I’m more worried about being convincing.”

  “You mean, with your clan?” Miles asked.

  He and Cash exchanged a look.

  “I’ll make sure they know nothing about you guys. You have nothing to worry about. I’m more concerned about the questions my uncle will ask when I tell him I looked for Jasmine.”