Chapter Four

 

 

 

Melanie paced in front of the large tent that had been constructed over Tristan’s dragon-form for surgery. Cassidy—or, as most people seemed to call her, Sid—had finally kicked her out once she’d started cutting into the dragon. Not that Mel could blame her. Her little dragon baby had decided that the sight of blood and knives was not okay, and had thrown her a crippling wave of nausea.

Now that she was back outside in the fresh air, however, her stomach had settled, allowing her mind to whirl through all the possible outcomes. She dismissed half of them because she refused to believe Tristan would die.

At least most of the crowd had been sent home so she could fret in peace. She wasn’t sure if everyone had left because the danger had mostly passed or because the tent blocked them from trying to take a peek. At any rate, she was glad they had left or she would’ve had to think of a way to get rid of them. Human or not, her dragonman was not to be eyed as some freak show accident to provide entertainment.

She had reached one edge of the landing area and was about to head back toward the tent when she heard a familiar deep voice. The words were a little faint and distant, but she could just make out, “We’re nearly there. And see? Just like I told you. Everyone is gone.”

Bram had finally decided to show up.

When he came into view, she marched toward him, about to demand what had taken him so damn long when she noticed Arabella beside him.

Mel blinked and stopped in her tracks. Arabella MacLeod was outside, and in the main living area no less.

Before she could get her mouth working again, Bram approached her and said, “You really should close your jaw or a bug might fly in.”

Not realizing she’d had her mouth hanging open, Mel promptly shut it. Bram’s words had kicked aside her shock and she frowned up at him. “What took you so long? I had a hell of a time of first getting to Tristan and then convincing the healers to let me calm him down. Your words could’ve made everything happen that much faster.”

Rather than looking angry, Bram looked amused. “Your backbone never ceases to amaze me, lass.”

She waved a hand in dismissal. As if she wouldn’t do whatever it took to save Tristan’s life. “Whatever. Tell me what happened.”

Bram shrugged. “The mobile service signal at Ara’s house is less than reliable, so I didn’t hear about Tristan until you had already arrived and allowed the healers to work on him. Since you had things in hand, I decided to focus my energies on getting Ara here to see her brother.”

Mel glanced over to Tristan’s sister and noticed the woman was no longer in the strange trance-like state she’d been in earlier. If anything, the woman was frowning. Mel decided to go easy at first rather than incite the dragonwoman’s temper. She could use Arabella’s help against Sid and her healers if the doctor tried to keep information from her. “It’s nice to see you again, Arabella. Tristan will be pleased.”

She waited to see if Ara would simply ignore her or not. Thankfully, Bram also kept quiet.

After glancing to the tent and back, Tristan’s sister said, “Why aren’t you in there with him? They could be doing anything to my brother right now.”

Mel resisted a smile at the dragonwoman’s censure. “I was, but once the knives came out, little Tristan junior or junioress decided he or she wanted to leave. I figured vomiting on him wasn’t the most sanitary of ways to show support.”

Bram chuckled. She didn’t dare hope for Ara to do the same, but the woman’s frown eased a bit. At least that was something.

Ara said, “Who is operating on him?”

“Cassidy.”

Ara nodded. “Good. Sid has the best reputation in the clan.”

Mel didn’t want to push her luck, but her curiosity pushed her to ask, “How do you know that?”

At first, Arabella said nothing. Since Mel knew how difficult this was for her, being out in the open and not fifteen feet away from a dragon no less, she didn’t mind the woman’s pauses. Hopefully, with time, they would lessen.

Finally Arabella said, “Word of mouth travels in cyberspace just as much as in real life.” She scrutinized Mel from head to toe. “You’re not taking the best care of yourself, let alone my future niece or nephew.

Convinced Arabella was no longer trapped in her memories like before, Mel wasn’t going to tiptoe around Tristan’s sister. That wasn’t her style. “And when did I have the chance to do so? I figured making sure my baby’s father stayed alive was more important than finding something to eat.”

To her surprise, Arabella nodded in approval. “I like your answer.”

She stared. Maybe, just maybe, she and Ara would truly be friends one day.

Bram laid a hand on her elbow and started walking. He guided them toward some rocks lining the landing area and motioned for Mel to sit. “Ara’s right, though. You should sit and I’ll fetch something for you to eat and drink.” He looked to Arabella. “Can you handle keeping Melanie company?”

Bram’s tone had been strong, as if his question had been more an expectation than a request. Even Mel felt compelled to answer in the positive. She was beginning to understand this whole dominance thing.

Arabella dipped her head in the affirmative and Bram said, “Good. Call me if anything happens. Since I’m in the main area, I shouldn’t have any more service interruptions.”

With that, he was gone. Mel looked to Ara and patted the rock next to her. “Come. Sit down. I’ve been pacing for too long and it really doesn’t help Tristan any.”

Ara didn’t sit. Instead, she said, “Thank you for fighting to save my brother’s life.”

Mel blinked. She hadn’t seen that coming.

She shrugged, downplaying her actions. “I’m sure he would’ve done the same for me.” She patted the rock again. “Now, sit down. You’re super tall and looking up at you is giving me a crick in my neck. My little dragon baby might not care, but I do. Sit down, Arabella. I won’t bite.”

The dragonwoman hesitated a few second before gingerly sitting next to Mel. It took everything Mel had not to wrap her arm around the woman’s shoulders for support.

But for now, she was content that Arabella MacLeod would sit next to her.

The two of them sat in silence, staring at the tent and no doubt both hoping Tristan would pull through.

 

~~~

 

Tristan was trying to sleep, but his inner dragon kept repeating, “Wake up” over and over inside his head. Nothing, not even a growl or a threat of not shifting for a week, would make the beast stop.

Finally tired of it, he cracked open an eye and promptly shut it again. He moved his arm over his eyes. The light was too bloody bright.

He heard a breathy, “Tristan,” before a soft, warm hand grabbed his other hand and squeezed. He could scent Melanie Hall.

Suddenly, he remembered everything she’d done for him back in the clearing.

Clearly, he was still alive, and now in human form, which meant he was no longer in danger of dying. Yet he had no bloody idea what had happened between then and now. Maybe Melanie could tell him.

He moved his arm and opened his eyes more slowly this time to adjust to the light. Then he looked up into the face of his beautiful human. The way the light played along her cheeks and highlighted the red glints in her hair took his breath away. “Melanie.”

His voice sounded more like a choke than his usual calm, deep voice. But before he could ask for water, Melanie threw her upper body against his and hugged him tightly.

Pain seared through his shoulder, and despite the surge of joy at her touch and warmth, he couldn’t help but say, “Ouch.”

“Oh, sorry!” She released him and moved away. His dragon growled at that, but Melanie then moved to stroke his forehead and both the man and beast settled down. His female smiled and said, “I would tease you about being a big man baby when it comes to pain, but I’m beyond happy that you’re awake. You’ve been out for nearly a week, Tristan, and everyone was starting to think you wouldn’t wake up.”

The pain in his injured shoulder subsided as she continued to stroke his skin. He leaned into the caress of her fingers on his forehead and said, “But you never gave up, did you?”

A tear rolled down her cheek and he wished he had the strength to reach up and wipe it away.

Melanie shook her head as she rubbed away her tears. “No, of course not. If you haven’t learned by now how stubborn I can be, then you never will.”

His smile ruined his words. “You bloody stubborn ox.”

She laughed and leaned down to kiss his lips. She lingered and he found the strength to raise his hand and cup her cheek. “Melanie.”

“Yes?”

As they stared into one another’s eyes, Tristan wondered what would’ve happened to him if Melanie Hall hadn’t entered his life.

It wasn’t just the fact she was giving him the chance to be a father or that the wound he’d received from the dragon hunters might’ve killed him without her coaxing and calming his dragon enough to let the healers help him.

There was also finding out the truth about Arabella and making him realize his sister needed more help than he’d offered.

And, most of all, Melanie Hall had convinced him that not all humans were bad. Yes, bastards like the Carlisle hunters deserved his hatred and scorn, but the average person deserved a chance. Some, such as his human, were downright amazing.

Before he could stop himself from asking the question burning in his mind, he said, “Why did you put up with me, Melanie? I was a right bastard to you. And as much as I recoil at the thought of another male touching you, I am honest enough to admit that you deserve a man better than me.”

She frowned down at him. “That is your opinion. Do you want to hear mine?”

Yes, his dragon screamed. Let her talk. Don’t try to push her away. We love her.

Rather than think on his dragon’s use of “love” again, he nodded. Melanie sat on the edge of his bed and said, “You’re partially right. You were a bastard.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. “No, it’s my turn to talk.”

He shut his mouth and fought a smile at her bossy tone. The short, fragile human wasn’t afraid to order him around, and both halves of him liked that. A lot.

Seeing that he was keeping quiet, Melanie sat up and continued, “But you were a bastard out of pain. Once I saw you interacting with the children, I knew there was a good man inside of you, buried beneath your animosity and anger. And since we were already tied together because of the baby, I decided it was worth fighting to see if I could help you. Your child will be half human, and I couldn’t—and still can’t—stomach the thought of you hating that part of him or her.”

This time he wasn’t about to allow her to think that of him. He said, “I could never hate our child because it will always be half you.”

Her hand found his and squeezed. “Oh, Tristan.”

He really should say more, but fancy, pretty words were not his forte.

His dragon-half, however, was pushing him to say more. Tell her how we feel. Then we should claim her and never let her go.

Tristan agreed with his beast. He didn’t want Melanie to leave. Even if, for some reason, she didn’t survive childbirth, he didn’t think he could ever care as much for someone again as he did for Melanie Hall. Her stubbornness, determination, and love had won him over. Completely.

But just as he wrestled the nerve to say something, there was a knock on the door. Melanie quickly rubbed her eyes and said, “Come in.”

Tristan had expected a doctor or maybe Bram. But it was neither.

His sister Arabella was standing in the doorway.

 

~~~

 

Over the past week, Melanie had won over Arabella bit by bit, but right now, she wished the dragonwoman would be anywhere but here.

Mel knew it was selfish, but Tristan was finally awake and she wanted to spend time with her dragon-shifter. Especially since the last of his inner walls constructed to keep her out were crumbling. His comment about never hating their baby because it was half hers had proven it.

But Arabella was Tristan’s sister and she had spent a good deal of the last week relieving Melanie of bedside duty and making sure Melanie had food to eat. While Ara still acted self-conscious whenever a dragon-shifter stared at her scars, at least she wasn’t cooped up in her house, locked away from the world.

And she had to be nearly as relieved as Melanie that Tristan was doing better. She smiled at the dragonwoman and said, “Did you hear? He’s awake?”

She frowned. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Mel still had a grip on Tristan’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t look at me like that. It was only a few minutes ago and I think I earned a few minutes alone with my dragonman.”

Tristan tugged at her hand and said, “Your dragonman is awake and can talk for himself. Can we stop pretending that I’m not here?”

She couldn’t help but smile and motioned for Ara to join them before Melanie turned back toward Tristan. “There, now you’re the focus of our attention again. Does that soothe your male ego?”

He frowned and Mel barely resisted laughing. He said, “I’m not awake five minutes and you’re teasing me again. What happened to taking care of me? I think this qualifies as being unwell enough to merit it.”

“If you think I’m going to coddle you and wait on you hand and foot, then you’ll be waiting a long time.”

Tristan smiled and Mel’s heart skipped a beat. The man was beyond handsome when he smiled.

Before he could say a word, Arabella sat down on the other side of Tristan and said, “So I’m guessing that you’re going to keep the human.”

Melanie tried not to hold her breath as she waited for his answer. Every cell in her body screamed that Tristan cared for her and never would toss her aside, but he’d never said anything out loud and she desperately wanted to hear it. She wasn’t a needy person by nature, but she’d like to know what her future held.

Well, at least for the next seven or eight months. She could still die in childbirth.

But she pushed that thought aside. Right now was a happy time. Tristan was awake and teasing her. Arabella didn’t hate her and could stand being in her company. Things were good compared to when she’d first arrived here a few weeks ago. She could worry about dying later.

Tristan glanced at her before looking at his sister. “I’m not sure anyone could ‘keep’ her. You’ve seen what she’s like. A right menace she is.”

Mel’s heart plummeted, but then Tristan looked at her with mischief in his eyes and hope surged again. He said, “But I plan on spending the time we have until our baby is born convincing Melanie to stay with me. Both the man and the dragon want to keep her.”

She wanted to scream, “Yes!”, but decided that would be a little too easy for her dragonman. After all, he’d admitted to being a bastard. She could tease him until he was well enough that she might reward him for not dying with more than words.

She tapped her chin in an overly dramatic fashion and said, “Hmm, well, you’re going to have to work hard at convincing me to stay. You’ve been a bit mean since meeting me.” She removed her finger from her chin and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “But I hope that you spend a good chunk of your time convincing me to stay by being naked in my bed.”

Arabella moved from the bed. “Okay, I really didn’t need to hear that.”

Oops. Mel had forgotten about the super-sensitive hearing of dragon-shifters.

She was about to apologize when there was a knock followed by the door opening to reveal Dr. Sid. “Someone reported hearing a male voice coming from this room despite the lack of male visitors, so I came to check and see if it was Tristan’s.” Her eyes darted to the male dragon-shifter. Then she looked from Melanie to Arabella and back. “And since he’s awake, I need to do a thorough examination and ask some questions. I know he just woke up and you’re happy about it, but I need you to leave me alone with him for fifteen minutes.”

Before she could reply, Tristan spoke up, “Melanie needs to go rest and eat something anyway.” She looked at his face and his eyes flashed to dragon slits. “My inner dragon doesn’t like the circles under your eyes or the fact I can tell you’ve lost some weight this week. Go. Eat, rest, and get well for me.”

“But you just woke up.”

He squeezed her hand and looked to Dr. Sid. “The danger has passed, right, Sid?”

Mel looked over at the doctor and she nodded. “While a complete examination will tell me more, I’m fairly certain you should pull through just fine. We were concerned that you’d never wake up from your coma, but that worry is gone.”

Tristan looked back to her. “See? Now that I’m getting better, I need you to take care of not only yourself, but our baby too.”

Melanie was teetering. Now that she wasn’t constantly worrying about Tristan, her exhaustion and hunger were starting to set it in.

Still, she looked to the doctor and said, “Will the exam be able to tell you when he can come home?” The doctor nodded and she looked back to Tristan. “Okay, then you win this time. But after a nap and some food, I’ll be back.”

Tristan said, “Good. Wake me up if I’m asleep.” She opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head. “No, Melanie. There are things we need to talk about and they can’t wait.”

She sighed. “Great. Now I’m sure that I’ll sleep just fine with that sentence hanging over my head.”

He snorted. “I’m not going to toss you aside or push you away again, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He moved his hand to her thigh and squeezed. “Get some sleep. Then we’ll talk about our baby and the future.”

She moved her hand over his and squeezed. “Okay, okay. If sleeping will ensure that you’ll talk openly later, then I can live with that deal.” She leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips. She stayed a hairbreadth away and said, “Until later, dragonman.”

The look in his eyes turned tender and sent a rush straight to her heart. She could still barely believe Tristan was finally hers.

She reluctantly moved from the bed and went out the door to allow Arabella to say goodbye to her brother. As she made her way to the exit of the building used as Stonefire’s hospital, Melanie couldn’t help but smile. Her dragon-shifter was awake, alive, and wanted to talk to her about their future.

Maybe her stubbornness and ability to see the good in people were about to finally pay off. She hoped so because Melanie couldn’t imagine living on Stonefire’s lands to raise her baby without Tristan by her side.