Drake sat next to Savanna and chewed on his pork chop, mincing it between his teeth, trying to draw out any of the blood in it. If he was by himself, he would have broken the bone and sucked the marrow out. Uncomfortable silence blanketed the room. He tried to work out how Savanna had tapped into his dragon fire. The best he could come up with was that her psychic abilities had tapped into his emotions, and she had channeled the magic. Maybe his fire had reacted to it, because she was the closest thing to a spellcaster this world had. A powerful spellcaster had contacted Savanna, so it was obvious that she had some gifts. When it came to why he was attracted to her, even he couldn’t answer it, because he wasn’t lured to Wyeth. He’d had his share of sleeping with human males, but they were not what he desired most.
Although Savanna was right, the longer they were together, the likelier it was they would be together. Drake hadn’t planned on interrupting their dinner plans. When he sensed Savanna was close, then he was compelled to see her. She was his beacon, just as the ships relied on the light from the lighthouse. The last three days being away from her had given him a chance to think. And yet he obsessed on how sweet her lips had been. How wonderful her body molded to his. Drake wanted more of her, and knowing Wyeth was in the mix infuriated him. Whenever he tried to push the thought of her away, the dragon inside of him roared. It desired her. No human female had ever made his dragon claw at his insides the way she did. He had given up the idea of escaping to his mountain retreat. The dragon made him stay, no matter if he wanted to leave.
They ate in silence. Savanna picked at her meal.
“Everything okay?” Wyeth asked.
The concern in the other man’s eyes was genuine. Wyeth wanted to be sure she was taken care of. It wasn’t about upping him in front of this woman. And the question remained, could he share himself with another human?
“It’s fine. It’s been a long day. That’s all. I’m tired. The food is wonderful. Did you cook it yourself or do you have a live-in chef?”
Wyeth chuckled. “No live-in chef or butler. This is my cooking. I cooked for me and my father. I could only eat so many burned scrambled eggs before I knew I had to cook for myself. Mom was the better cook, and she loved to teach me. You would’ve liked her. Drake, did my mother know what you are?”
He set the fork down and met Wyeth’s eyes. “No. She didn’t know about me. Your father never revealed what I was. Our bond bound them not to reveal it to anyone. Now you are the only one left to inherit the fortune. And there is nothing of the stuck-up, conceited youth left within you that I had seen as you were growing up. You changed.”
Wyeth rose from the table and collected the plates. “It was true. I was an ass as a teenager. Then mother was killed, and it was just me and my father. Nothing else was left but us. I had a reality check. My father started to lose himself in his carpentry work. I joined him, and we got closer. I appreciated crafting things with my hands. I saw how my father knew all of his workers and how they respected him. Not because he had money, but because he earned it. He worked alongside of them. He was there when they had parties, weddings, or funerals. I wanted to be just like that.”
“You’ve done well for yourself,” Drake said.
“Thank you.” Wyeth took the plates into the kitchen, leaving him alone with Savanna.
Drake was overcome by a craving for raw meat that took his breath away. He hadn’t had anything really raw in a long time. Raw and bloody. Something he had just killed would work best, but he hadn’t had the opportunity in a very long time. Right now he wanted to feel the hot blood sliding down his throat to sate the need within him. A sliver of dread hit him. He understood now what had him caught up. He recalled all the things his father had told him, and it was all falling into place now.
“Shit,” he muttered.
“What?” Savanna asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He threw his napkin down on the table. How could I have been so stupid?
“Try me,” she said. He hadn’t realized Savanna stood next to him now. “I believed that you’re from another world, and for some strange reason I can throw fire when I’m around you or at least when we are both pissed off.”
“Do you believe in...” he tried to think about it in human terms. “In love at first sight, or soul mates?”
“Of course. Sometimes certain people are meant to be together. And sometimes people just fall for one another. I’ve seen a few things in my line of work. I’ve sensed when others are destined for one another even if they’re complete opposites.” Savanna patted his shoulder. Her touch was so light he barely felt it, and yet she reverberated into every fiber of his being. The dragon roared within him, because it ached for her touch. Drake caught her arm and studied her.
Here was a woman who had been tossed aside by other men. She didn’t trust others much because she had been ridiculed for her weight, but she had also grown because of it. It had made her fearless and fierce, even if she hid all of that underneath a calm smile of someone who cared for others. She rarely got angry enough to explode the way she did outside. Savanna had to keep her cool so she could read the energies of the world around her. Her beauty was ethereal. Her cheeks were flushed. Wisdom drowned in her eyes and floated in her soul. Drake hadn’t noticed it before because he wasn’t looking for it.
“Why do you ask?”
“In my world, dragonkin know their mates. They have this undeniable connection. It forces them to acknowledge the other, even if they don’t think the other is their mate. It can drive people crazy if they don’t come together. It has to be that draw that we’re feeling. I didn’t think much of it until just now when I got this hankering.”
“What was this dead giveaway?”
“This will sound odd.”
“Not really. I’ve heard a lot of odd coming from you lately.”
Drake chuckled. “True. All through dinner tonight, I’ve had an intense craving for raw meat. I know it sounds strange, but I’ve wanted to tear into something and share it. And it also means that I want to fuck you at the same time. For my kind it means that we are in the vicinity of our mate. It’s part of the mating ritual of the dragon. When females are pregnant or have laid eggs, the males bring back food for them. It’s the basic instincts leftover from when we were only dragons and not dragonkin. I hope it doesn’t disgust you.” Drake stepped away from her.
The longer he was with her, the more his instincts to protect her from harm were overpowering him. He didn’t know if he could fight it. Part of him fought to deny he was experiencing this for a human, but the dragon signaled it needed her. Savanna had roused it from its long slumber under his flesh. He fought the impulses, because he hadn’t recognized it until now. Drake had thought he was incapable of ever finding a mate, because he was no longer among his own kind.
“It doesn’t disgust me. Although the notion of raw meat isn’t exactly appetizing.”
Drake saw how her dress was torn and her hair mussed from when she had fallen. Savanna seemed so delicate, and yet the inner strength that emanated from her nearly blinded him. He was noticing things as though his blindfold had been removed, and he saw the light for the first time.
“What about Wyeth? I won’t have you two throwing any more punches over me. I’m not sure I can handle it.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Wyeth called behind her.
“How long have you been there?” Drake couldn’t fight the snarl that came out. The hair on the back of his neck bristled. He was on edge. He knew of no dragons that shared a mate, but if it was true the three of them were connected, then he couldn’t deny Savanna. She would be the most important one in the relationship. She was the one he had to think about. Although sharing their bed with another male rubbed his dragon the wrong way. They shouldn’t have to share her.
“Long enough to hear what you told her about this mate bond. Isn’t there any way for her to choose who she wants to be with?” Wyeth asked. His tone was tinged with anger.
Drake started toward him, but Savanna slipped between them. Fury bubbled inside of him. He curled his fingers into a fist, feeling his nails extend so they were sharp claws ready to render and tear flesh from Wyeth. If he struck him, Drake would shatter all oaths he had ever sworn with the Blackmores about not harming them. He was not about to renege on his word.
“Guys. Guys. You have to stop doing this.” Savanna touched him and Wyeth.
A surge of energy flashed through him that shook him to the core. Wyeth groaned something, and Savanna wilted to the floor. Drake recovered quick enough to catch her. He brought her to the nearest couch he could find. It took her a moment, but she began to come around.
“Savanna, are you okay?” Wyeth implored her.
Her eyes fluttered open, but there was no recognition in them. Wyeth wanted to say something else, but Drake shot him a look. Savanna sat up and moved away, taking in her surroundings.
“Kestrel, is that who you are?” Drake inquired.
Her lips turned up into a smile. “Meruke, yes. Don’t worry. Savanna is okay. Your mother sends her regards. Although she was skeptical when we told her you were alive and in another realm.”
“Y-you’ve seen my mother? What of my father?” Drake could hardly believe what this other presence said about his mother. Orlana would have died many centuries ago.
“I have. The queen resides in a spelled cave far from Blaze Mountain so that she remains eternal. Your father, sadly, his body lays in the crypt in the mountain along with the rest of your family.”
“Who are you then?” Wyeth probed. “Why do you take over Savanna the way that you do? If you harm her...”
Savanna turned her gaze on Wyeth and studied him. “Well... you are not something I expected. You’re connected to her the same way Meruke is. I am not harming her. She has stepped aside, given a look into my world, so that she can see I am truthful. Those in our realm are giving her information on how to open the gateway so Meruke can return home.”
“I-is that even possible?” Drake asked. He had prayed for a way for him to return, but after so many eons had given up hope. “There’s no magic here, and all mine is about used up.”
“I know. Listen. Time is short. This is taxing on both of us. In a month, there will be a full moon. With this moon will come a great storm. When the eye hits you’re going to have to...” her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes once more and passed out.
“But—wait. You can’t do this now. I need to know.” Drake shook her shoulders, but she remained limp as though she was no longer in her body. Nothing could rouse her, and he had no idea how to bring her back.
* * * *
Savanna opened her eyes. Before her was a large mirror, and she could see the reflection of a woman with long brown hair that hung in waves around her shoulders. She was dressed in blue velvet trimmed with gold, and she was pregnant. There was also a power that she felt inside of her, similar and yet unfamiliar, all in the same way. She was in a great library lit by candles, and not in Wyeth’s house. Panic took hold and she started to struggle, but strong arms held her down.
“Calm yourself. You don’t want to hurt the one you have come into. We are not going to hurt you, Savanna.”
She looked to the left and saw the one who held her down. His pale blue eyes bored into her and had a flash of a beast within him. Almost what she had sensed with Drake, but this was caged. It didn’t seem to have an outlet like Drake’s had. “Who are you?”
“My name is Ralag. You have traded places with Kestrel. If these tradeoffs were more predictable, then things would be easier.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. We haven’t much time. I need you to listen. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
He touched her arm. “Good. You have to be a powerful witch to breach the void that connects our two worlds.”
“I’m not a witch or a spellcaster. I’m a psychic.”
“I see Meruke has told you some about us. Whatever a psychic is, then you must be a strong one because no one has been able to reach across the abyss since the last sorceress who cast the spell and sent the king into the storm.”
“Is there a way to bring him back?” she asked, hearing the voice that was alien to her. Kestrel’s voice was deeper than hers and her body was stranger. Feeling the baby inside of her was unfamiliar. When it kicked it lit her up and made her complete in a way she had never known before.
“There is. In a month, there will be a full moon in this world, and I suspect in yours, too. On the second night of the full moon a great storm will rise. Meruke must fly into the center of the storm. When he is there, a spell must be said to open the doorways. And all those who will pass through it must shed blood. It will be the only way he come home for another ten thousand years. This is his only chance.”
“What are the words?” Savanna asked. Something tugged on her consciousness. She struggled to stay as Ralag whispered in her ear. The words echoed within her mind even as she was snapped back to her body.
She opened her eyes with Drake and Wyeth peering down at her with an intense stare. She took a quick breath and sat up. “Pen. I need a pen and paper.”
“You should rest,” Drake suggested.
“Now,” she snapped.
Wyeth scrambled as he rushed off to fulfill her request. Drake started to say something. She put her hand up and held onto the words that Ralag had told her. Wyeth returned and she scribbled the words on the paper. Then she recorded what he said about the storm. Her head throbbed when she finished. Drake ran his fingers along her temple. His small caress eased the pounding within her head so she could concentrate again. Another weight added to the sofa, and Wyeth held her hand. His lips slid along the back of her hand. Savanna lingered in the joy of their attention before reminding herself this was all too good to be true. How have two such handsome and slightly crazy men found me? Right, I fell off a boat.
“What happened?” Wyeth asked gently.
Savanna trailed her free hand over her stomach, feeling the emptiness there. She looked at Wyeth, and looking into his eyes she saw his feelings for her were not imagined. She took his hand between hers and closed her eyes again so that she could focus on him. Clearing her mind was challenging, because she was between the two of them.
“What?”
“Shh...” she shushed him. She cocked her head to the side and listened for her guides. They were there, but they weren’t speaking to her in words. Instead, they listened. Savanna stretched out her mind and sensed the link tightly wound around the three of them. What Drake had said was true. They were bound together. All of them were learning to understand and accept it. She wasn’t sure if it was love or if it would bloom into that. Whatever Wyeth felt for her, it was genuine.
“Savanna, please tell me what you saw?” Drake begged her. He moved a piece of her hair from her shoulder. The small movement of his fingers along her flesh made her nearly moan. “You touched the both of us and then you were gone. This other came through. She had your voice, but it wasn’t you. I sensed the change. Kestrel was telling us there was a way for me to go home, and then she left.”
“It’s taxing on both of us to switch back and forth. Kestrel told you the truth. There is a spell to get you home.” It would be selfish of Savanna to want to keep Drake after all of the extraordinary things that had happened. She didn’t want to find herself away from him. It was tough to admit that she would lose him and probably Wyeth. Savanna was just getting used to the idea of both sexy men being attracted to her. She looked down at the words she had written and told the two men what happened while she left her body.
Drake read the spell. He asked her questions until her head hurt. Savanna stopped them and walked away. Savanna stood on the balcony staring out at the sea. The dark waters swirled beneath her, and a cool wind drifted off the ocean. The song the sea sang was one of loneliness and desolation. Within it, she heard the wails of the souls who had perished along the rocks. On the rocks below, their transparent forms winked in and out as the wind blew. She had never seen them this strongly before. It had to be something to do with what was happening between the three of them. Savanna tried to rationalize her developing feelings for the two men. True, she believed in love at first sight and soul mates, but she never thought it would befall her.
It’s easy to think they want me. It’s another thing to blame it on this link. And yet the more I’m around the both of them, the more I can’t stop fantasizing how they would be. I want to fall into their arms and forget the world. Love? The last time I allowed that I was screwed. I can’t say it’s love, but definitely lust. Can we base a relationship off that? Could I be this dragon mate that Drake was talking about? Yet, she had been to a different world. In her wildest dreams as a child she had always thought a world of magic existed. Her abilities to tell the future and communicate with the dead were seen as otherworldly. She’d always felt out of place, even within her family. If she could help return Drake back home, then she would do it. Her emotions shouldn’t get the better of her. She had to harden herself against her growing feelings.
Savanna ran her hands over the gooseflesh on her arms. “What am I going to do?” She sent the silent plea to her guides. Sometimes they answered her directly, as though she was hearing someone talk inside her head, and other times it was just images or feelings. It all depended on how the supernatural higher beings wanted to respond. The conversations kept her sane, because with them she knew she wasn’t alone. With the growing connection between the two men, she wondered if she was ever going to feel alone again.
“What does your heart tell you?” The answer came into her consciousness. A small weight settled on her right shoulder to inform her the advice came from her otherworldly guardians and not her imagination.
Savanna rolled her eyes at the question. “I don’t know what it tells me. That’s why I’m asking you. None of this makes any sense. There shouldn’t be dragons or another world.”
“Really? What do you call us? We’re from a different reality, and yet you are able to perceive us. How do you know that we’re not from the same world that Drake hails from?” another guide posed to her.
“Because you’ve been talking to me all my life, and I can feel when you’re close. I know your energy. I know that you used to be from this world. It’s just inherent that you don’t have to tell me.”
“You know all of this because you have gotten used to it. As you said, you’ve grown up with it, knowing who and what we are, but we could always be lying to you.”
“You’re not. Stop trying to throw this all back in my face.”
“Stop being so analytical. You know the answer deep down, no matter how much you throw the rationale away. How many times do you tell your clients they have to believe in the impossible, and that’s the most probable answer? You humans sometimes lose sight of what’s there in the most basic of forms. You need the world to stop so you can listen. You’re good at listening, Savanna. So just listen. If that means reacting to what your body’s telling you, then react to it. Make your decisions as they occur, because this is a unique situation that’s never going to happen to you again. Do you understand?”
“Hey, why don’t you come back inside?” Wyeth asked.
Savanna opened her eyes and stopped the conversation with her guides. Wyeth stood behind her, and she saw the unspoken invitation in his eyes. He wanted to have her in his arms once more. She wanted to be there as well, and Drake’s. “Do you believe it all? Honestly? How do you feel about me?”
“Drake and I were talking about that. We know we have to work this whole attraction thing out between us. Two alpha males adoring the same woman is difficult. Makes one a little jealous. He doesn’t know if any other dragons have had two mates before. You know I’ve never had anything like this happen to me, either. It’s not normal. You’re right, I never would’ve looked at you. I planned on coming to check on you after I brought you home. You were cute, in a way, but definitely not my type. I do want to pursue something with you. My head keeps telling me this isn’t possible, but my heart tells me it’s possible. That anything can be possible. It’s the strangest thing. I can sense Drake in a way I haven’t been able to before. Growing up, I had always heard stories. I thought they were crazy until I saw him at my father’s funeral. I resented him, because his family was there whenever we made these decisions. Now I understand. Part of me wants what he wants. It’s very creepy. There is me, and then when I think about him, I have this other sense tied to you. I can feel you like an echo of my heartbeat. I’m babbling. And then an overwhelming rage erupts when I see him going toward you. Those are my feelings, and it’s not a simple answer. “
“It sounds as though you’re as conflicted as me when it comes to this thing that is winding tighter and tighter around us. Maybe it’s best for me to stay away and not bother with either of you. Then you can return to your lives. When I’m away from you, I’m not obsessed with the two of you. I can think clearly.” Savanna could distance herself from the two men and get back to business as usual.
“You know as well as I do, that isn’t happening. The longer and the further you run from this the more painful it will be for us. Besides, we’ll find you and bring you back. I know that from other dragons. They run from it, and it drives them insane until the other comes back or they are found. I wouldn’t want to see that happen to you. Come on, Savanna. Listen to your heart. It’s the best mode of communication. Don’t fight it.” Drake stood in the living room by the balcony, but giving her and Wyeth enough space so she would not be overwhelmed.
Listen to her heart, the very advice her guides had imparted. The very same she had always given her clients came out of the mouth of this man. If what Drake said was true, they would find her if she ran. Was it possible she could find love with these two men and get past the lust?
“Even if all that’s true, in a month you’re going home. There is no reason for us to get involved in any kind of relationship. I’m not going to stand in your way. You will have others of your kind there. Whatever you’re feeling for me, for us, it will fade. You can’t say you haven’t thought of that?”
“Of course I have, but this bond is not something I will form with another woman or dragonkin. There is only one soul mate for a dragonkin. I can’t say how it is between dragons and their spellcasters. We were always considered wild dragons, and there were others who never had the ability to shift between the forms.”
“How does that happen, anyway?” Wyeth asked.
Drake shot him a harsh look. “Do you really want to talk about that now?”
He shrugged. “I’m just trying to change the subject, because the three of us are all asking, or at least thinking, the same question. We don’t want to address it.”
“Which is what?” Drake questioned her.
“Are we going to end up in bed together?” Wyeth inquired.