Page 107 of Dragon Unhinged

“My mate.” I cup her cheek in my hand, fighting against the hot tears filling my eyes. “I’m sorry I let you get taken. I’m sorry for everything.”

She sits up slowly, reaching for me, pulling me in tightly against her chest. “I never stopped believing you’d come for me.”

Her own tears start to bloom wet splotches on my bare chest, and my heart aches to know how badly she needed me.

How badly we needed each other.

“You’re mine, Brianna, for as long as the Fates will grant us. I’m never letting you go again. I’m never letting you out of my sight.”

The pain she suffered is fading with every breath, a sign that she’s healing, that she’s going to be all right. It’s only a matter of time before I know she’ll take wing with me, that we’ll fly through the skies together, teaching our youngling how to soar on her own.

“Our baby.” She jerks away from me, looking around frantically. “Where’s our baby?”

I scoop her into my arms and smile softly. “You’ll have to introduce me.”

Brianna lets out a strangled gasp, and I immediately sit again, settling her on my lap.

“Once you’re healed.” I shake my head, cursing myself for hurting my mate, even unintentionally. “She’s with Finley and Syrena now, she’s safe.”

“And Donna?” Brianna tries to look around, but she doesn’t move much, as if she’s trying to avoid jostling herself anymore.

“I’m here.” The woman who smells of brimstone and death steps a little closer to the SUV, and my dragon lets out a low, rumbling growl.

“Declan, stop. She saved me. She saved our baby.” Brianna swats at my chest, but there’s no real force behind it, like she doesn’t actually want to admonish me.

Or maybe she’s just as happy to be back in my arms as I am to have her in them.

“We need to get her back to Chicago. We need to help her find her sister and keep them both safe from Grey.” Brianna looks out of the SUV at the woman. “It’s the least we can do.”

“You’ve already saved me. I can find Hannah on my own. I can keep her safe. I still don’t know how you did it, but he’s not in my head anymore. My mind, my actions, are all my own.”

“I think that might have something to do with this little one.” Syrena steps up to the SUV, holding a tiny bundle of blankets. “I’m afraid your daughter won’t be doing any flying on her own, Declan. You’ve brought a witch into the world. The new obsidian witch, if I’m not mistaken.”

Brianna immediately extends her arms, and Syrena smiles as she hands over the baby. “Is she okay? I mean…” She chokes back another sob. “Are there any lasting effects from the spell?”

“Only time will tell, but I don’t think so. The way Tabitha described it, you had to keep taking the potion to keep her growing. She should be as normal as a supernatural baby can be, now. She should age like a normal baby. It’ll still be too fast.”

I can’t decide who to look at more, my gaze torn between my mate and my daughter. The Obsidian witch. I couldn’t be prouder. I look over at Brianna again, whose color is coming back to her, a flush in her cheeks, red in her lips, and a sparkle in her dark eyes. Her soft smile curving up as she stares down at our little girl. The way it seems like all her pain melts away, leaving only room for the joy, the love, radiating off of her.

“We shouldn’t stay here much longer. Grey’s still out there, and he still wants to get his disgusting hands on her,” Syrena says. “Not to mention, the police are undoubtedly on their way, possibly with the Canadian army.”

Brianna’s brow furrows as she looks around again. “What the hell happened here?”

Syrena shakes her head. “We can talk about it on the plane. We should get you back to a safe house so that I can do a proper evaluation of you both. Pru will no doubt want to look you over as well.” She walks around to the back of the SUV and comes back a moment later with a duffle bag and thrusts it atme. “You’re going to need some clothes, if you plan on going anywhere in your human form. Which I think is for the best. Don’t make me subdue you again.”

“Again?” Brianna tilts her head at me. “I think we’re both going to need to fill each other in on everything that’s happened.”

I kiss her softly. “As long as part of filling you in involves me stripping you naked and making sure the bloodsucker didn’t leave any lasting marks on you.”

“Right now, I just want to curl up in your arms and sleep for about three weeks. I feel like my whole body needs a break.”

“You can rest for as long as you need, but now that you’re my claimed mate, I have every intention of giving you the dragon’s version of a honeymoon when you’re ready.” One that I fully intend to make last a minimum of a month.

Brianna shakes her head at me. “We have a newborn. You can’t exactly expect me to just leave her with one of your siblings so that you can keep me in bed that long.”

“I can, and I daresay any of my mated brothers would understand having another youngling in the house, in exchange for giving us time to properly explore our bond.” I kiss her again before gently setting her down on the seat next to me and pulling out a pair of jeans from the duffle bag. “You’re my mate, and I fully intend to make good use of my claim.”

The images I send to her as I finish putting on clothes make her cheeks grow pink, and there’s no mistaking the scent of her arousal, even as she buries her face into our daughter’s blankets, as if she’s trying to hide.

---