Page 113 of Destined By Dragonblood
“Thank God,” I muttered, rubbing at the goose bumps on my arms that had nothing to do with cold.
Ten minutes later, matches in Vanni’s back pocket and oil lamp lit, we descended into the bowels of the cavern.
“Which way?” he questioned at the first fork, and I pointed left since we already had been to the right and library beyond.
“Let’s explore down there. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find the pantry.”
“Fuck, what I wouldn’t do for a juicy steak right now.”
I giggled even as my heart ached.
“What’s so funny?”
“We won’t need a grill with a dragon for our mate.”
Vanni snorted. “Hopefully he gets his fine ass back here soon.”
“What if he doesn’t return, Vanni? Seriously—what are we going to do?”
He tugged me into his side and kissed the top of my head. “I don’t know, Ash. One hour, one day at a time, alright? Primrose said something about being stocked up for the winter, so there’s got to be a dragon hoard of food around here someplace.”
I smiled but couldn’t find the ability to laugh over his intended pun.
If Dolyn stayed away from his ancestral home as long as he’d done after last he’d visited, according to Primrose, we were doomed.
Shivering, I followed Vanni down the hallway, my throat tight and aching.
We searched the endless cavern high and low, exploring countless rooms hewn out of stone, the masonry areas so well-made not a lick of mortar showed in the cracks. The first and most important finding was a large pantry-type room below the kitchen. Primrose had stocked up for the winter like a true prepper, so at least we wouldn’t starve. There were boxes of matches, candles, and batteries, so we wouldn’t go without light either. Off the back of the pantry lay a decently stocked wine cellar that held dusty bottles, and we enjoyed two of them while eating canned beef stew we heated over an open fire Vanni managed to start.
We never found the source of heat, but the air did get warmer the deeper into the endless caverns we’d gone.
Tiggy had laid by the entryway all day except for when we let him outside to do his business, and his sad puppy-dog eyes felt like what Vanni and I experienced deep inside.
A yearning for what we didn’t have, a desperation that grew with every hour.
Darkness fell outside, and rather than wasting oil or candles, we crawled into Dolyn’s huge bed and held each other close, desire swirling between us—and reaching out for our third both our hearts ached for.
At least Tiggy had followed us down the hallway and curled up at the foot of the bed so he wasn’t alone in the main living area.
I told Vanni all I knew about Elijah and how he and Dolyn had been together before meeting us. Vanni worried he’d pushed Dolyn too hard to submit and that he’d gone back to his ex.
A hard knot grew in Vanni’s stomach, causing my own to tighten, but on the heels of his hurt came a sense of comfort.
I slid my leg between his and smoothed my hand over his brow in the darkness, the cloud-covered sky outside the window not allowing a single moonbeam to illuminate the bedroom. “Your emotions just jumped from pain to pleased. What’s going on?” I asked, my voice no more than a hushed whisper in the stillness.
“I was envisioning another man touching Dolyn. Tasting him. Fucking him.” Vanni shifted, repeating his thoughts intensifying the unease in his guts. “Then I realized I can see you better than I could this morning while finding our way back the hallway to get the matches. Can you see me at all?”
I huffed the annoyance he probably already felt, considering how the bond between us had strengthened even in Dolyn’s absence. “Not a damned bit.”
“Maybe I’ve got more dragonblood than Dolyn believes.”
I heaved a sigh and snuggled closer against Vanni’s chest, head tucked beneath his chin.
He ran his hand over my hip and back up, tugging me so we pressed tight from chest to thigh. “Do you believe he at least misses us?”
“He’d better,” I grumbled.
“He must, I mean, he’s our fated mate, right?” Vanni hadn’t really asked a question but spoke to assure himself. “He’s got to feel what we are. That goddamn energy between us isn’t imagined.”
