Page 26 of Hidden Dragons

Isabelle thought more and more that she would at least like to give it a try. She wasn’t sure if she had it in her to be with both of them at the same time, but if she could… If she could…her whole world might change. For the better.

If she could love them both—physically as well as from the heart—then it was becoming clear that they would welcome her into their life. She knew it was up to her, and she was trying really hard not to let fear hold her back from reaching for something she’d thought would be unattainable. Love was within her grasp. She just had to be brave enough to claim it.

The dragons were in their wallow, their necks touching as they lay there resting. Little curlicues of cinnamon-scented smoke wafted toward the vents in the ceiling, and heat from the dragons made the entire suite warm. It was a homey atmosphere. Especially when Bear went into the kitchen and came out with three steaming mugs of tea on a tray.

They sat on the comfortable chairs—a couch and two big easy chairs that had a low table at their center. They were on the edge of the sand pit so the entire family could unwind after the long day—dragons and humans alike—together.

Isabelle was getting more nervous as time went on. The sweet herbs in her tea calmed her a bit, but the underlying tension was definitely fraying her nerves.

Were the men not going to make a move? Were they waiting for her to initiate something? If so, she didn’t think she could. She didn’t have that kind of courage about her own femininity yet—if she ever would. Sex was so new. She had enjoyed it immensely, but she was still very much the novice. She had no idea how to initiate a sexual encounter. Especially not one that would involve all three of them.

“Try to relax, sweetheart,” Robert said quietly. “I can see the tension in your shoulders from here. Nothing is going to happen tonight.”

“What?” she blurted out, embarrassed a second later by the loud tone of her voice. She’d made the dragons stir. Four jewel-like eyes blinked open and stared at her.

“The four of us discussed this,” Robert told her. “We are going to war tomorrow. We cannot give you the kind of experience you deserve—that we all deserve—for our first time together as a trio. For one thing, we don’t have the time. It would be irresponsible of Bear and I to stay up all night for our own selfish purposes when our brethren will be expecting us to be sharp and ready to fight tomorrow.”

Bear picked up the explanation. “Once we start something, we probably won’t want to stop for a good long while. It’s unrealistic to think we could easily turn our passions on and off like a tap. And you deserve better than some rushed joining. You are too special to us, Isabelle. We cannot treat you with such disregard. It goes against our natures, and our need to protect you in every way.”

Their words impressed her. They overwhelmed her a bit too. And made her a little angry. There was a certain amount of taking things for granted included in their reasoning that annoyed her a bit, but then again, she had given them reason to believe she’d be up for anything they wanted. Hadn’t she been sitting there fully expecting to participate in a trio session only moments before?

She was honest enough with herself to admit that they had a right to make assumptions about her participation. She was easy for them, as for no other man. Men. Although it still boggled her mind to think that she could have them both, when she didn’t think too hard about it, it was beginning to feel somewhat natural. It’s only when she had time to reflect on normal relationships—hownormalwas defined in her village—that she still had serious misgivings.

But everything was different in the Lair. Everything seemed possible here, in this magical place. Her nervous anxiety was being replaced by a sense of both disappointment and warmth that they would give so much thought to her feelings, as well as their own safety.

“We hope you understand,”Growloranth spoke into their minds.“It was Tildeth and I that first raised our concerns with our knights. As much as my mate and I wish to be together again, we would not see you cheated of the care you deserve.”

“Even we can see that you are new to all of this,”Tilly put in.“Some things should not be rushed. And we all have work to do on the morrow. This time—as it will be many times in the future—our duty to Draconia must come before our own desires. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Isabelle, but I also believe in my heart that there will be time to complete our family after this battle is over. And I also believe that you will be more secure in your decisions if you have time to think them through. You might also benefit from talking more with Lady Silla. She is one of the most sensible women I know.”

When put that way, it made a lot of sense. Who was Isabelle to argue with the wisdom of two elder dragons? And their words also brought home the fact that they would be riding into danger tomorrow morning. Without her.

She had been so worried about the possible encounter that night that she had managed not to think about the danger coming in the morning, when the dragons and their knights would face a herd of angry, venom-spitting skiths. And once they were done with the skiths, there was an enemy army to deal with. Not good.

“I know this all must sound as if we are taking your agreement for granted.” Robert addressed the bit that had annoyed her at first. “Truly, we are not. We will try our hardest never to take anything for granted if we are granted the blessing of having you as our mate. You must realize by now that we are very serious about the fact that you are the woman we want to complete our circle, to be our mate and join our family. We want that and our dragon partners want it as well.”

Tilly’s head bobbed up and down in agreement.“I can see you nurturing my offspring as you would your own, and I have the greatest respect for your courage and tenacity, for having survived all by yourself for so long out on the edge of the woods. You are a brave and capable female that I would be proud to call sister. I hope, as we get to know each other better, you will feel the same about me.”

Now Isabelle was back to being overwhelmed. “You do me a great honor, Lady Tildeth. If the Mother of All wills it, I promise to do my best to be worthy of your faith in me.”

Tilly nodded deeply as the significant moment passed between them. It brought home to Isabelle again all that she would gain if she joined with these knights. She would be able to live in this incredible place, with these wonderful people, and have dragons as friends. It was almost too much to believe.

But the crux of the matter was love. She would be loved—although they hadn’t spoken the words yet—by two honorable men. And she would love them in return.

She was pretty sure about her feelings for both Robert and Bear, but did they love her? Neither of them had said so. Would they? Did men say such things, or was she supposed to figure it out on her own?

That would have to be the deciding factor. If they could love her, and she was more certain of her love for them, she would say yes. But she wasn’t at that point yet. She needed time to figure a few things out.

It seemed the men and dragons had been way ahead of her in knowing what she needed.

“I thank you all for thinking of me. You’re right. I do need time to think and process everything that’s happened. I didn’t quite realize it before, but I see the sense in what you’ve said. I’ll also admit that the thought of you all going off to fight tomorrow morning is now at the forefront of my mind, and I don’t like it one bit.” A little bit of panic bled into her voice near the end of her statement and she saw Robert and Bear get up, coming over to sit on either side of her on the wide couch.

Robert put an arm around her shoulders while Bear took her hand in his.

“Take away one worry and another moves in to take its place,”Tilly mused from the sand pit.

“Lady Isabelle,”Growloranth said in a serious but gentle tone.“This is one of the many things you must carefully consider. We are soldiers. Knights and dragons, all of us are sworn to fight on behalf of our country and peoples. If you agree to join our family unit, this will be part of your life. The reality is that we go off to fight and you’ll have to stay here. You can be of help here, as you helped Lady Silla prepare her remedies for when we or our brethren get hurt.”

“You can bespeak dragons, so you can be of great help to those left behind when knights are unable to interpret for their partners due to injury.”Growloranth added.

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