Page 5 of Emerald Waves
My first kiss.
“Are you alright?” Caro gently turned my head to the side. “You’ll be bruised for a while. Hitting that concrete as hard as you did, you’re lucky you didn’t crack your skull.”
“I’ve been told I have a hard head.” There they were, I knew my words weren’t too far away.
Caro smiled. A real, not forced, reached all the way to his eyes one. “No denying that.” Did he just lightly stroke my jaw? Did I just lean into it and purr?
I don’t purr.
I do.
“Eeep!” Who’s voice was that? “Ouch!”
“Emerson, careful. What spooked you?”
“I-I heard another voice.” Was it possible?
Yes, and you know who this is. You’ve ignored me long enough.
“My-my?” I couldn’t get the words out. All my life I’d done everything I could to find my dragon. Now suddenly it stirs and then speaks to me.
Mate.
“Mate,” I repeated.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you. Remember what happened with Alex after he and Ionus mated?”
My foggy brain ran through their whirlwind romance. Alex tried to leave, Alex got hurt, Ionus and the brothers rescued him. Alex went into heat.
Oh my.
Those two words appeared to be at the top of my vocabulary today.
“I see the realization hit you. Deep breath, Emerson. Nothing, and I do mean nothing happens without your consent. But you know better than anyone once a dragon finds its mate we go from zero to DEFCON 1 in a matter of seconds. My dragon has claimed you and given the fact you’re hearing from yours for the first time, that says the same for you.”
Mate.
Caro had no idea what hearing that voice inside me did, though the uncontrollable tears may have alluded to it.
“I hope those are happy tears, Em.”
Em. A nickname. Many a story revolved around just that. Nicknames were seen as a sign of caring, unless they were used by schoolyard bullies. This one felt…real, genuine even, and kinda sweet coming from a big, grouchy dragon.
“You’re bruises are fading already. The more your dragon emerges, the quicker you’ll heal.”
“I don’t understand how this is happening, and so quickly. To go from nothing to suddenly everything.” Things like this don’t happen to people like me.
The lonely. The forgotten. The broken.
“I feel what you feel. It’s not as strong as it will become, but I feel sadness emanating within you. Emerson, I’m not always going to say or do the right thing. I’ve been on my own for a long time and gave up searching for my mate centuries ago. It will take time to curb and mold this old dragon into the mate you deserve. Please, be patient with me.”
“Y-you? You think you said something wrong?”
“Why else would you be sad? I know how much it means to you to find your dragon and now here I am, fucking this up.”
No, no don’t say anything. Too many cards. Yes, too many glimpses into your soul.
Mate.
