Dragon's Melody (23 page)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

S
kye worried that it had been too long already. In his own timeframe it had been the blink of an eye, but humans lived their lives much more quickly. Three weeks may have seemed like a lifetime to Melody.

The truth was, every second since he and Garen had read her letter had been another second too long away from her. As Garen flew alongside Skye, carried along by the jet stream over the Rocky Mountains, he could sense the other dragon’s urgency, a mirror to his own.

They hadn’t wasted time after leaving Kol’s office, heading straight to the roof and shifting together the second they realized Alec was alive and would likely have returned to Melody’s mother—exactly where they knew Melody to have gone already.

They’d taken off right way, with the wind off the Pacific carrying them soaring over the city for miles before they had to resort to their own power to keep them aloft. They’d flown through the night, over city lights, small towns, and pitch-dark wilderness of the country as it passed beneath them. The sun had fully risen and they needed to land before they were seen, but Skye could finally sense her energy, the faint tendrils still discernible amid all the other human impressions beneath him

“She is close!”
Garen sent to him, just before diving lower to the ground, searching. They were over a rural area now and the worst he could do was spook some livestock. Skye followed.

Before he knew it they’d found her. Her lush figure stood, face upturned to the morning sky, a straw hat in one hand in the middle of a flower garden. The emotions that reached him were odd, however … subtly more jaded than the Melody he remembered, but happy. Maybe even too happy considering what he and Garen had put her through. He slowed his flight, hesitating, but Garen sped up.

“She will see us for what we are finally.”
Garen’s elation was infectious, but didn’t dampen Skye’s worry. They shouldn’t approach her this way—not after the time they’d had apart. Yet he could sense his friend’s need to reach her after so long. In spite of Skye’s sleeker, quicker form, Garen had more stamina. After the long flight, the Guardian still possessed too much energy for him to overcome.

Melody’s blonde head glimmered in the morning light. She was surrounded by purple daisies and looked completely at home and purely content, just before they came around to hover right before her, wings still flapping to slow them down.

That was when she opened her eyes and he realized they’d both made a huge mistake.

There was no turning around now, however. Not when the woman’s blue eyes, so much like Melody’s, went wide with fear upon seeing the pair of winged monsters that had just landed outside her garden fence. Garen’s dismay hit Skye as swiftly as his own and they both shifted and clothed themselves. But the damage was done, as evidenced by the scream the woman who wasn’t Melody let out before brandishing her gardening spade at them both.

“Get the
fuck
out of my garden!” Her aura flashed dangerously close to panic, and in spite of the vehemence of her yell, Skye could only sense acute fear coming from her.

He held his hands out, palms up and let out a long exhaled breath, sending it toward her to attempt to reason with her from the inside.

“I must apologize, Julia, we didn’t intend to startle you. We came for Melody—and from the air, you looked like her.” He grimaced at the tone of his words, and the mistake—Melody’s energy was so close he could feel it reaching for him, but the threads he should have followed didn’t end in this garden. The woman before them had obviously not been mated yet, in spite of their understanding to the contrary, and was now panicking at being presented with two seemingly alien creatures landing on her property, and Skye essentially telling her, “We come in peace.”

She backed up several paces when he took a step toward her, her eyes widening. The red handle of a shovel jutted out of the earth behind her and he tried to tell her to watch her step, but she sped up, paying no heed to her direction as long as it was away from them. She kept moving back, holding the spade out in front of her. A second too late he saw her foot falter on a clod of dirt and she lost her balance, arms flailing.

“Fuck!” he yelled, surging toward her and barely catching her as her temple grazed the corner of the shovel’s blade just below the end of the handle.

She fell limp as he caught her in his arms, her head lolling back and a thin stream of blood trickling over her cheek. He sent his breath deeper into her mind, testing, and with relief determined she wasn’t badly damaged, but she would have a headache when she woke up.

“Come heal her, quickly,” he called to Garen. His friend approached and with a gentle swipe of his hand, Garen uncovered the gash at the edge of her brow bone.

Garen gazed down at the woman in Skye’s arms. “She’s beautiful. Sweet Mother, Melody is the spitting image of her mother.”

“Melody’s not this fragile,” Skye observed, marveling at the light, delicate weight of the woman in his arms. He could sense every bone, and the depth of emotional stress that had left the woman so light. She was still infused with deep loss. The steady, healthy glow of her aura let him know that she was just coming back from it. Would Melody have wound up in the same state as this woman if they’d stayed away longer?

Garen bent over her, nearly pressing his lips to her skin to let out a concentrated healing breath that closed the wound. He was just pulling back when the blast of wind hit them, a flurry of wings sending them flying and claws simultaneously extracting the limp body from Skye’s grasp.

“What have you done?” the deep, resonant voice boomed.

The unrestrained power in the voice made Skye blink in confusion. He stared up into the eyes of the largest Gold dragon he’d ever met, Melody’s mother gently cradled in his grasp. The dragon shifted her body to one giant claw, caressing her still bloodied cheek delicately with one long, shining claw.

Her lids fluttered, and with a puff of air from his lungs, the Gold shifted into the form of a large, blond, and very naked man.

“Alec?” she whispered. “What happened?”

“Shh, love. You fell and hit your head, that’s all.”

“You haven’t mated her, have you?”
Skye said silently.

Alec ignored him, smiling with such love down at the woman in his arms, oblivious to how naked he was.

“Why have you waited?”
Skye asked, standing up and following when Alec turned to walk away. Garen followed close on his heels, brushing dark dirt off his own backside.

“There was something here …” Julia said, her voice quavering. “Did I hallucinate it all?” Her head turned to look over Alec’s shoulder and her eyes widened at the sight of Garen and Skye still following. She pounded on Alec’s shoulder. “Stop! It was real. They’re still here! Jesus Christ, they’re as big as you.”

Alec glanced over his shoulder, glaring at Skye. “Yes, love. They won’t hurt you. I’ll tell you everything as soon as I make sure you’re all right.” A cloud of gold smoke drifted from his nostrils and settled over Julia’s body.

She sighed when his breath took effect and rested her head against his shoulder. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes, honey?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said in an indulgent tone. His breath trailed over his own body, coalescing into a pair of worn jeans and a white t-shirt. A pair of brown work boots materialized around his feet.

Skye’s impatience finally got away from him and he called after them both. “Where is Melody?”

“I’m right here. And where the fuck have
you
been?”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

S
he knew she was being uncharitable by being pissed at them now. After all, she’d been the one who told them to work out their issues when she left. And the truth was, she’d spent the last three weeks trying to mentally prepare herself for the eventuality that they worked them out so well they never actually came for her.

Hell, for all she knew now, they had merely shown up to tell her she was right—that they really did love each other after all and to thank her for showing them the truth.

She could live with that, couldn’t she?

Garen’s looming shape stepped up behind Skye, a protective glower on his face as he watched Alec disappear into the house with her mother in his arms. When Alec disappeared, Garen’s expression softened and he rested a hand at Skye’s waist, fingers digging in ever so slightly, but Melody didn’t miss the gesture.

Still, their expectant looks confused her. Her irritation subsided in the midst of it. If they’d found each other finally, and for real, who was she to get between them? Her heart ached at the thought of losing them both, but she would survive if she had to. Coming home had made her realize that much, at least. If her mother could last two decades, so could she.

Except goddamn if she didn’t already know who she loved now, just as much as her mother had known she loved Alec all those years ago—enough to wait for him. And waiting out a relationship between two men who clearly loved each other just as much wasn’t something she thought she could do. Especially not when the two of them could outlive her by several centuries.

In a shaky voice, she said, “You guys should come inside so we can talk.”

They both eyed the front porch with some trepidation. Melody sighed in exasperation. “He’s fine. As long as Mom’s fine, anyway. And if she isn’t then Alec’s got nothing on what I’ll do to you. Come on.”

They trailed after her like a pair of puppies … two very large, chastened yellow Labradors, with their shining golden hair and wide shoulders. They all paused just inside the door at the sound of Melody’s mother cursing.

“I’m fine! I don’t need ice. I need to see those two again. Prove to myself they exist! Naked men don’t just appear out of thin air in my garden every day.”

“Naked men, huh?” Melody asked, stepping through the door. “I think you might’ve gotten heat stroke, Mama. They’re right here and they’re definitely not naked.”

“Oh, there you are, honey. And you didn’t see what I saw, either. That one …” she pointed at Garen, “Is hung like an ox, and that one …” she aimed an accusatory finger at Skye, “Had an
erection
when he saw me. It was pretty damn huge, too.”

Skye cleared his throat and Melody heard him mumble, “Thought she was you …” when she glared at him.

“Are you all right, Mama?” She glanced at Alec who was still crouching at the edge of the sofa beside her mother, a kitchen towel filled with lumpy ice cubes held in his hands.

“I’m fine, honey. Are you going to introduce me to your well-endowed friends?”

Melody closed her eyes, wishing for patience and fortitude and maybe to just disappear. After a second of gathering her sanity, she opened her eyes again and smiled. “This is Garen and Skye.”

Her mother directed her gaze to the men standing just behind her and smiled broadly. “I’m so glad you two could make it. We’ve been expecting you. Melody’s told me so much about you both.”

To her surprise, Garen and Skye both stepped forward and one at a time, bowed low, taking her mother’s free hand in theirs and kissing the smooth back of it.

Her mother looked positively delighted at the deferential treatment, her blue eyes lighting up. She sat up a little straighter, looking more like a regal figure in spite of her messy hair and dirt-streaked plaid shirt that was tied in a knot at her waist. “You’re staying for supper. I’m making a rib roast with summer squash. Melody can show you where to clean up.”

“Mama, are you sure you’re feeling all right? They don’t have to stay, and you
don’t
have to cook.”

Her mother glared at her. “Honey, it’s my house. And I’d really love to know how they got here.”

Melody let out a deep breath and shot a beseeching look at Alec. He nodded, resigned understanding clear on his face.

“Julia,” he said. “We need to have a talk—one that’s long overdue. And I’m sure Melody needs some time alone with her friends.”

Melody grimaced inwardly at the conversation that needed to happen the second she did get them alone. Their gazes kept slipping to her. She did her best to keep her focus on her mother while they stood there, both exuding a kind of pent-up need. Not for sex, she didn’t think, but that was precisely where her mind went. Making love to them both within hours of each other had been her tipping point, and seeing them now made her realize how off balance she still was, even after weeks away from them.

The fact that she still wanted them both like crazy didn’t help matters any.

Her mom tried to object to Alec’s insistence that they go to their room to talk. He gave up arguing and her mom let out a yelp of protest when he hoisted her in his arms.

“I’m not waiting another day for this, Julia. Twenty years is long enough.”

“Alec!” Melody’s mother yelled, but her subsequent words were quickly muffled by his mouth over hers.

Melody raised her eyebrows, impressed at the man’s persistence. He carried her mother to the stairs and kept going, kissing her the entire time.

Their intense affection made her heart ache and she was hesitant to turn back and look at the pair of huge men standing in her mother’s living room. She could feel them both there, their expectant blue and gray gazes on her. They’d come as she’d hoped, but why?

“What do you want from me now?” she said softly, refusing to turn around to face them. “You’re together. That’s all I wanted for you when I left. Why are you here? I broke the contract. It’s over.”

They remained silent while her heart pounded hard in her chest and her entire body ached with the need for their touch.

Garen moved first. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him take a step, as if anxious to get to her. Something in his posture made it clear he intended comfort. That was his MO, after all.

Skye grabbed his arm and held him back. “It isn’t over, Melody. We need you. I won’t play games with you anymore. We both love you. And we did as you asked, but neither of us is whole without you.”

She turned finally and looked at them both. The sight struck her dumb. Their hands were clasped tightly as though for mutual comfort, and their gazes were fixed solidly on her, so intense she believed she might burst into flames from the way her skin came to life. Her heart rejected her body’s need in spite of the pained look on Garen’s beautiful face. Skye’s own face was lined with fatigue and worry that made him look even older than the last time she’d seen him—though he’d always looked as though he carried some great burden.

Almost too breathless to speak, she managed to force out more words. “You left me. Both of you rejected me. So in my mind,
you
broke the contract. Maybe not the written one, maybe some unspoken one, but you failed me. Why should I forgive you for that?”

Skye looked up toward the ceiling where the floor creaked above them with Alec’s footsteps moving into the master bedroom. “Because it’s what he wanted for you. You were meant for a dragon. His blessing as good as aimed you right at us.”

“Oh? So what the hell do I do now? The two of you are clearly together. Don’t tell me you’re prepared to give that up so that one of you can have me.”

“We agreed it would be your choice,” Garen said, his voice low and soft. He released Skye’s hand and glanced at the other man. “Whichever one of us you don’t choose will leave.”

“Just like that, huh? What if I don’t want anything to do with either of you?”

“Then we’ll both go,” Skye said. “But I know that isn’t how you feel.”

“I wish you wouldn’t spy on my emotions that way. Can you even help it?”

“I may as well stop breathing. It’s simply another sense for me and not easy to suppress unless I distance myself. I sense your emotions the same way I can smell how aroused you are right now. And I love how you
feel
, Melody. It’s so beautiful it hurts sometimes. I fell in love with that aspect of you.”

Melody’s throat tightened. From the floor above, she heard a muffled cry that was distinctly not distress, followed by Alec’s deep, coaxing voice. Great, now her mother was getting lucky and she was standing here faced with the most impossible decision of her life.

“I can’t do this now,” she said, and turned and ran from the room.

The tears came just as the screen door banged shut behind her. They wanted her to choose? How on God’s green earth could she possibly pick between them? She stumbled down the steps from the back deck and fled down the garden path, her sight blurry, but she moved on autopilot, her legs carrying her toward her personal sanctuary.

The path down to the creek was eroded from lack of use, and she nearly fell twice as the leaf-strewn slope gave way beneath her feet. The sound of the rushing water calmed her the closer she got, as did the cooler air coming off the mountain stream as it burbled over the rocks. She found the large, worn boulder in spite of being nearly blind and breathless from crying and finally fell to her knees on its sun-dappled surface.

Familiar sounds washed over her, the rustling of the trees in the wind and the buzz of the forest reminding her of all the hours she’d spent in this very spot as a young girl, enjoying the solitude. Today it failed to have the same effect, however. She no longer wanted to be alone. By spending the last few years intent on her goal to travel the world with her mother, she had never made room in her life for love—had strove for the opposite, in fact. But now that Alec was back and her mother’s happiness wasn’t in question, Melody had lost her purpose.

Seeing Alec and her mother together again made her heart ache to have what they had. But what Skye and Garen offered would only fulfill half of her need.

She turned her head sharply at the sound of leaves crunching behind her. Wiping her eyes she blinked at Skye, suddenly worried at the stricken look on his face. She followed his progress toward her, yet he avoided meeting her gaze directly until he stood only a few feet away from her resting place on the rock.

He seemed to struggle with words for a second. His lips parted but nothing came out as his throat worked with a harsh swallow.

In a rough voice he said, “It isn’t easy for us, either. We’d be losing something, no matter what choice you make.”

“Why?” she said, beseeching them for some kind of answer. “Why are you making me do this?”

He turned his gaze away from her, staring down at the rushing water of the creek. “You should choose him,” he said. “I don’t deserve you, and you may be the only woman on earth who he can be with—who fulfills him.”

“But you fulfill him, too,” she whispered. “He loves you.”

Skye turned an agonized gaze to her. “I love him, too. And you. The contract was only intended to break Kol’s bond with you, to take advantage of the Blessing Alec gave you in the hope that you’d make a good mate for me. Kol owed me a favor—I was meant to take over the bond, but you and Garen grew so close … When I saw that happen, I knew you had to be for him.”

She stared wide-eyed at his confession, her chest tightening like it was trapped in a vise. “Then why did you make love to me the way you did? Why did you let me fall in love with you?”

“It’s my nature to possess beautiful things, Melody. My instincts took over in spite of my wish for the opposite to happen. I hoped that if I took it too far, it would push you away … push you closer to him. But it was too late for me to back down and it was too late for me to hold my own feelings in check. He made me promise I would let you choose, but I’m here to tell you it has to be him. I can easily find another mate. It won’t be so easy for him, though.”

“I’m glad I’m so easy for you to replace,” she said, shocked at the bitterness in her tone. She hated him a little bit for his suggestion, though.

Skye winced and shook his head. “You are irreplaceable, Melody. You and Garen are the two people I love the most. I would rather see the two of you happy together than to hurt either one of you. I can survive simply knowing you both have someone.”

“No.” The vehemence in her tone made him jerk his head up from staring at the ground.

“What do you mean?”

“I won’t choose. Not today. I need more time.” She really wanted to tell them both to leave, to be together and be happy, but something stopped her. Her heart ached to be near them again, even if it was only for a few days before she sent them away. Even if she didn’t intend to touch either of them, being able to just see them for a little while before they were out of her life for good would be worth it.

“Fine,” Skye said, nodding. “We’ve been allowed leave from our other duties to see this through. We’ll stay until you make a decision. I hope you’ll consider what I told you, though.”