Page 64 of Thorulf
He knew she meant to say she’d enjoyed lying together but ended up responding to what he’d said earlier when he told her he loved her. He stroked her hair, understanding. The amount of terror that came with rediscovering the love they’d shared, truly embracing it again, left them open to losing it again.
“But as much as I wish it would,” she whispered, following his thoughts, “the terror of losing love hasn’t stopped me from loving you again...because Idolove you, Thorulf...since the moment we met before you were born.”
Reveling in her words, never so happy, he kept stroking her hair when he felt her tears touch his skin. When he felt her heart open up to him the way it once had. The way it always should have remained. And his heart responded, warming, welcoming, needing her close. Never away from him again. Part of him until the end of time if he had his way.
“I feel it,” she whispered, sitting up. “Your heart.”
But it wasn’t his heart. Not exactly. Rather it was her just beneath it, holding it up.
“My God,” she said softly, touching the new tattoo that her tears had left behind. A roaring female dragon who glowed a bright Celtic green before the color faded. “It’s...me.” Her eyes widened a little before her gaze shot to his face. “Is this what I think it is?”
“Ja.” He put his hand over hers on the tattoo. “We’re finally mated.”
A tattoo had appeared on Leviathan and Dagr, too, when they’d mated with their women. Though it typically only happened to Ancient dragons, it was happening to those destined to Forge in Fire as well.
When Jade wiped away more tears, cursing how many were falling lately, he scooped her up, wrapped her in a fur, and sat with her on his lap in front of the fire. He manifested food and drink on a small table by their side, rested her head against his shoulder, and gave her time to work through her emotions.
“This is getting old,” she managed between tears. “I’ve never cried, not once, now it’s never-ending.” She sniffled. “Well, never cried in the twenty-first century, that is.”
“You’re mourning what you lost,” he said. “Your human and dragon halves feel it just as much as my two halves do. Evil stole a lot from us, Jade. Not just our love and the memories we might have had, the life we might be leading now, but our fidelity. Our faithfulness to each other. Something we can never get back.”
And it made him furious. So angry he longed for the moment he could have his revenge.
“It really is a shitty feeling.” Jade drew in a ragged breath and looked at him. “Yet you’re not nearly the mess I am.”
“No, and I think I have you to thank for that.” He brushed her hair back from her wet cheek. “I think you’ve been filtering some of my negativity.” Seeing it clearly enough, he frowned. “Otherwise, I think,” he shook his head, “no, Iknow, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. I wouldn’t be finding my way back to you the way I should but out there, embracing my dragon, foolishly chasing Evil until I undoubtedly met my end.”
A small, wobbly smile curled her lips. “I seem to remember you doing something along those lines anyway.”
“Your sister needed to be saved,” he defended, pouring her some ale. “And Thor wanted us to realize we were growing stronger.”
“Then he should’ve let me go in the first place.” She thanked him for the ale and sipped it. “But I get what you’re saying. We’ve grown as a couple rather than individually. And you more than me, at least at that moment.”
“Without doubt,” he agreed. “Especially if you’re filtering my negativity as well as dealing with your own right now. That would have made you an easier target for Evil.”
“You’re probably right.” She fed him a piece of meat. “I’m going to need to work on that.”
“Which part?” he asked around the meat, amused. “Your need to be at the heart of the action, putting yourself in danger or filtering my negativity?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to steer clear of action,” she said before he popped meat in her mouth as well. She chewed, wiped away the last of her tears, and met his grin. “But I think the filtering-negativity thing is improving.”
When he perked his brows in question, she shrugged.
“I don’t know. Something’s shifting...or already shifted.” She trailed her fingers over his new tattoo. “And I think it has something to do with this. Us. I feel less vulnerable when I feared it would be the opposite. Not just that, but I feel more level somehow. As if filtering negative energy won’t be as taxing anymore.”
“Good.” Great, actually. “You’ll be more protected when we confront Evil again. Less open to him.”
The idea of her going anywhere near that monster didn’t sit well, but he knew better than to say it. More so, that stopping her would be next to impossible.
“Here’s hoping he’ll never get the better of me again.” She poured some ale. “Speaking of getting the better of things, we might want to do some damage control tomorrow.” The corner of her mouth shot up. “Maybe show your people our Celtic magic isn’t best used for attacking our siblings and lobbing fiery clover-balls at each other.”
“Ah, yes.” He chuckled and drank. “I ended up making a mess of things all the way around, didn’t I?”
“Pretty sure I helped.” She snorted. “And here your parents sent me off with you after you went all alpha on Vicar, thinking I’d calm you down, and I did the opposite.”
“Youdiddo the opposite.” He cupped the side of her neck and trailed the pad of his thumb downward ever-so-lightly. “And you did it very, very well.” His gaze dropped to her cleavage. “Almost too well.”
“Almost?” She looked skyward and shook her head. “Who are you kidding? You’ve never had it so good.”
