Worse still that in seeking some sort of fulfillment away from him, the she-Dragon had been killed. Her life’s blood harnessed for dark magic. The guilt he must feel was bound to be overwhelming. Her heart ached for the man.
Holley murmured a small enchantment for the she-Dragon’s soul, and another that Kingston might forgive himself. There was no hope for them if he could not move on. Her heart stopped at the pessimistic train of thought.
Technically, she was on borrowed time. Holley was only alive because of magic, but her physical body would wither and age rapidly if their matebond was not properly sealed. A bite alone was not capable of that. She was grateful for it, but if Kingston Baldric could not love her, then she would be gone before she ever really lived.
It was easier for her to accept what they were to each other. Truth was, she had fallen in love with him years ago. How could she not?
She knew everything about him. His love for French poetry, war films, and good Scotch. She had the Keep prepare his baths and meals the way he liked them. Knew the telltale signs he gave when he was working out some tough assignment or puzzle. It was all in the way his forehead creased and his smokey scent thickened whenever confronted with something particularly troublesome.
Holley had fallen in love with him in a million different ways. He was their leader, but he was so lonely, so very much alone.
She could save him from that fate, but he had to want it. She needed him to open his heart to her in order for them to truly be together.
If there was one thing she knew from watching for all these years, it was that mating without love was worse than pointless. It was cruel. She would not wish that on either of them.
After Holley introduced herself to the people she’d been watching over for years now, she turned to face the man himself.
“I suppose we have things to discuss. Is there anything you want to say to me before we start?”
“Yes,” Kingston grunted, then proceeded to kiss the breath out of her.
“Mine,” he growled, more beast than man when he finally released her.
Holley swayed on her feet. The man was potent, she would give him that. Her eyebrows rose and she laughed, a short bark of a thing, then covered her mouth quickly with her hands.
“I am sorry, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said and sat down in the chair across from him.
“No, I apologize really,” he tugged on his collar and looked around the room before settling his gaze back on her, “ that was my Dragon. He is pressing hard, but I understand you need time-”
“Yes, time,” she said and wondered if he knew just how precious little she had.
“Tell me about how you became trapped here,” he waved his hand at the room, but she understood his meaning well enough.
“Folks didn’t much like Witches in the time I was born,” she shrugged, “and half-breed Witches even less.”
“Half-breed? Who called you that?” he growled angrily.
“I am sorry, I know it is not, what is it called again? Ah, politically correct, but that is what I was called back then. My father was a Lenape shaman. He fell in love with my mother and together they met in secret. He was killed and the white settlers claimed he had raped my mother. She died while giving birth to me. Sorry, this is a lot of information.”
“No, I am sorry,” he nodded, “you don’t need to apologize for anything. Please, continue.”
“I was raised by my Granny Rose. I learned of my English heritage from her. Magic runs on both sides of my family.”
“And how were you trapped here?”
“This place was like a fairyland to me. When I was young, Granny took me hunting for herbs in the woods and we came across it. I knew it was special then, but it wasn’t until a demented preacher decided I was unfit to breathe the same air as he, that I set foot inside this place.”
“Who was he?”
“Doesn’t matter. It was almost three hundred years ago and he can’t hurt me now,” she offered him comfort with her words, understanding that even if he was reluctant to embrace their relationship, his Dragon would demand justice, “I begged the manetuwak, the spirits of the Keep to help me and they did.”
“I am grateful to them then,” he ran a hand through his dark blonde hair.
Holley loved the look of him. His pale skin and light hair, the color of honey, was intoxicating. That and his golden eyes completely through her for a loop.
“I imagine things are going to feel quite confusing for you.”
“On the contrary, I have been mindful of the goings-on within these walls for three hundred years, Kingston. Though I still don’t trust tofu, and I am not sure why anyone would ‘eat a dick’ as Furio is often stating to others, unless he means spotted dick which I know is an English dessert, though I confess it’s unappetizing to me, I am very much up to date on current events.”
“Uh-”
“I love watching television, and I confess my favorite at the moment are the Jersey Shore reruns everyone binges on in the living room.”
“Um-”
“Paulie’s hair looks like he got caught in a windstorm with superglue and the women, positively scandalous, but deliciously free. Can I ask what exactly is smushing? I think they mean intercourse, but how exactly is it smushed? And is it related to DTF, or was that GTL?”
“What?”
“Oh, did I go too fast for you?”
“No, not at all, uh, I just didn’t know what to expect,” he smirked, and she smiled widely back.
The man was simply stunning when he smiled. Holley suddenly felt self-conscious. She tugged on the sleeves of her dress and winced.
“Well, expectations are tricky things. Do you think? Would it be okay if I took a bath? It has been a long while,” she looked down at her scruffy looking feet and bit her lip.
“Of course,” he stood up, “I should have suggested it first,” he wiped his palms on his trousers.
Was he nervous? She wondered in awe as he took out a small rectangular device and ran his fingers over the screen. It was a cellular phone, she knew, though she had no idea how to use it.
He and the others were always looking at those blasted things. She crept closer to him, inhaling that heavenly smoky scent of his and watched as he used his fingers to send a message.
“I’m asking Fergie and the other women to help get you some things you might need for your, uh, your bath,” he growled and she noted the flare of his nostrils.
“Ah, thank you. That is thoughtful,” she smiled gently and tried not to frown when he backed away from her.
As a Witch, she had a much more defined sense of smell than normals but was nowhere near the level of a Shifter. Unlike other supernaturals, Witches were a classification that could encompass a huge variety of abilities. Reading minds was not one of hers, but how she wished it was right then.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she turned and pointed, “It is this way, correct?”
“Yes, let me show you.”
Kingston crossed the room and opened the door to his overly enormous bathroom. The claw-foot tub she’d seen so many times loomed ahead, and Holley could hardly believe she was there in the flesh.
Her hands skimmed over the cold porcelain and she closed her eyes, thinking of all the times she’d spied on the Diamond Dragon in the clear depths of the large bathing vessel. She’d imagined herself there with him more times than she would like to admit.