He was trying to think of what to say to her when the world around him changed and he was suddenly in the cave they’d left earlier. He swayed and lifted a hand to his head. A slender arm wrapped around his waist when his knees almost gave out.
“I’m sorry. I used a little too much power. I’m not used to carrying others,” she said in an apologetic tone.
He shook his head and immediately regretted it. A low moan slipped from him, and he sat down heavily on the bed that appeared under him. He dropped his hand to the royal blue silk covers.
“This… is a little out of place, don’t you think?” he asked with a wry smile.
“Is it? I suppose it is,” she ruefully replied, sitting down beside him.
He breathed deeply to calm his wildly beating heart and looked around. Arosa had indeed taken them back to the cave. It was the same—except for the bed.
He brushed his hand against hers and she glanced at him shyly, covertly brushing her fingers against his. He turned her hand over and caressed her palm with his thumb. She had taken the shape of the Fairy Queen.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you really were?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“I wanted to, but I was afraid,” she confessed.
He quickly looked up at her face and frowned. “You—afraid? Did you see how those huge aliens reacted to you? You made one dissolve with a snap of your fingers,” he said in an incredulous tone.
She gave him a crooked smile. “Disappear—I sent him back to his ship in space. I wouldn’t actually hurt him. Well, I could, but I would rather not if possible. Several Valdier warships have arrived, and they are searching the ships. I thought it would be good for him to have to face them,” she confessed.
Tamblin considered Arosa’s contrite expression and shook his head. “Why were you afraid?” he asked.
“How was I supposed to tell the man I fell in love with that I’m considered a Goddess on many worlds? How do I tell him that I’m older than the moon he calls home and as old as the star system he lives in? What was I supposed to tell him—” she said before he cut her off by capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.
She parted her lips, and he deepened the kiss. He slid his arms around her and pulled her down until she was lying on top of him. She wrapped her hands around his neck, her mouth moving against his.
When she rolled her hips against him, he broke the kiss, breathing heavily. Her swollen lips beckoned him for more. She looked nothing like the Goddess and everything like the woman he had fallen in love with, yet, he could see power in her unguarded eyes—the reflection of the universe… and love.
“You tell him just the way you did. I love you for you, Arosa. I love that you are kind and loving—and can scare away the bad guys with the snap of your fingers. I love you for who you are—here,” he said, lifting his hand and laying it over her heart. “I hope you can love me the same way. I am but a simple King of a very small but proud species living in a cave on an isolated moon in a vast universe.”
“You’re perfect, Tamblin,” she replied, bowing her head and capturing his lips again.
Epilogue
Valdier Scientific Research Ship, Harmony:
Orbit: Minor Moon of Leviathan
Mandra Reykill absently listened to the list of items the Harmony’s Science Officer, Bale, was relaying to him. His attention was focused on his mate, who was growling—literally—at some unfortunate soul. He stepped through the door into the cargo hold and stopped.
She beautiful when she angry, his dragon growled with delight.
Yes, she is, Mandra agreed with a sigh.
Cages, stacked from floor to ceiling in rows of twenty, filled the cargo hold. Frightened, squeaking Tasiers filled nearly half of the units. However, it wasn’t the Tasiers that captured his full attention; it was the beautiful rose and gold dragon snarling at a group of four Qualin poachers who had their hands high in the air. Given the guns on the floor, they seemed to have made the right decision to surrender. Leave it to his mate to find the poachers’ stash before the rest of his men did. Two of his guards standing on each side of Ariel bowed their heads in his direction.
“What have you found out so far, mi elila?” Mandra asked, walking over to her.
Ariel’s dragon form shimmered and she shifted back into her two-legged form. “I found out that these pieces of trash violated the restrictions regarding this moon and poached a protected species,” she replied with a glare at the men.
“Hel… p. Please, someone hel…p me!” a pitiful voice called from one of the cages.
Mandra frowned and scanned the cages. Inside one was a shivering Qualin with ice crystals hanging from his nose. His knees were pressed to his chin in the narrow confines of the metal box, and his clothing was stiff as if frozen.
“He looks like he just came out of the freezer!” Ariel exclaimed.
“Get him out,” Mandra ordered with a wave of his hand to Bale and another Valdier warrior.
The two men climbed the cages to the one on top. It took them several minutes, and a cutting tool, to open the cage. When they did, they had to pull the half-frozen man out by his legs and carefully bring him down to the deck with the help of two of the Qualin crew.
“What is your name and explain what happened,” Mandra demanded.
The man tried to lift his chin, but he couldn’t, so he just looked up. “M-Ma… cron, my… Lord. The G-God…d-dess,” Macron stuttered.
Surprise swept through Mandra before he began to chuckle. Ariel and Bale looked at him with a curious expression. He shook his head. He knew exactly how mischievous the Goddesses could be. The last time, they had shrunk him, his brothers, and his extended family while on a camping trip–all so the kids could go on an adventure to find the King of the Leprechauns!
“Yes, well, by the order of the Valdier, this moon is a protected habitat. We allow no one to harvest, sell, or harm any of the Tasiers or other inhabitants,” Mandra stated.
“You… you don’t have… to worry about me… ever coming back, my Lord. That… the Goddess threatened… to dissolve my… anyone if we did,” Macron said with a low groan as he slowly stretched out his legs.
“Put him with the others until I decide what to do with them,” Mandra instructed to Bale.
“Yes, sir,” Bale replied.
He wrapped his arm around Ariel and guided her to the exit. She worriedly looked over his shoulder. He chuckled and kissed her temple.
“We’ll safely release all of them,” he promised.
She kissed him and smiled. “I know. I’m just a worrywart about having a bunch of Tasier-loving dragons releasing them,” she confessed.
He threw his head back and laughed, then lifted her off her feet. Several warriors grinned with amusement as they passed by.
“Trust me when I say there isn’t a dragon on any ship who would harm one of your precious animals with you around. Besides, after the last incident with those damn creatures, I think the little furballs have lost their appeal,” he said.
Lucky me, he thought, thinking of all the trouble the furry creatures had caused.
Lucky us, his dragon purred, thinking how happy his mate would be when the tiny creatures were safely released.