Asher: Dragon's Savior (7 page)

“Me. She’s talking about me.” No one said a word when their dad came into the room. He was just suddenly there, and he walked over to Essie and stood by her. “She’s my friend, and when I saw her here a few months ago, I thought she’d be perfect for Asher.”

“Dad?” Simeon was the first to speak, and when their dad nodded at him, he stood up. “Mom? Is Mom here too? I…can we see her too?”

“No. I don’t know what the problem is with her coming to talk to you. I can see her on the other side, talk to her some, but not well. She is trying to tell me something, but I’ve yet to figure it out. But I am glad to see the lot of you.”

Each of the dragons welcomed their dad in much the same way as his brothers did, telling him they were glad he was around and asking after his wife. Their mother had raised the dragons as much as she had the boys. Sally Benson had been a good woman, and the best mom a boy to man could have ever asked for.

It wasn’t as if none of them had seen a woman before, but Asher had never seen them look so uncomfortable as they did around Essie. She wasn’t helping matters by being slightly standoffish. Asher was sure it was because she was overwhelmed. To have fourteen men in the same room, all of them tripping over themselves not to offend her, was almost too funny. Then she put her fingers into her mouth and let out a shrill whistle that made them all grow silent.

“I’m a woman, not a girl. I can curse better than you guys can; I can drink a six pack of beer right along with the best of men. I carry a knife when I can afford one. I’ve been in a lot of bar fights, and I’m pretty sure that I can play a good game of chess. Not perfect, but pretty good.” She looked at Asher before continuing to address the rest of them. “The next one of you that tells me you’re sorry for your language, the fact that you think you might have said the wrong thing, or just generally acting like you’re not from this century, I will knock you on your asses and stomp it while I’m at it. Clear?”

Apparently they all got it, because before dinner was completely on the table, it was as if she were a part of the family and she’d been dining with them since they were kids. Asher fell right over his head in love with her right then and there.

Dinner, as it usually was when they were all together, was loud and full of laughter. Asher kept an eye on Essie, but she seemed to be holding her own. He watched her take Elam to task about something he said, and then she’d hugged Shane tightly when he looked like he was going to leave the table. As they helped clear the table, setting up the dishwasher for it to start, she was right there with them, helping them with that as well.

“We have more to tell you.” Kiaran sat next to him and pulled out the pouch that had been part of what they’d discovered. “We went to the resting place of our mom today. And this…this is why we called you all here.”

As Kiaran dumped the pouch on the table, no one said a word. Asher wasn’t sure if they were stunned by the fact that they’d gone to the tomb or by the items on the table. Either one would have rendered the stoutest of men silent.

“Are those…are those the king and queen?” The small pendants were picked up by Simeon, who held them with reverence. “I’ve never seen anything so detailed before. And look how much Kiaran looks like his father.”

They were passed around to each of them. Asher had seen them and helped Elbert bring in the bottles of wine and the glasses they’d need. When he returned, Essie was telling them how she’d found the tomb.

“I was hiding out in the caves. My mother had been close to where I was staying once or twice, and I was going to see if I could find me a back door out. I moved down deeper into the cave, and was intrigued that instead of getting darker, it seemed to get brighter with each step I took. By the time I made it to the bottom, I was afraid that I’d be trapped.” Asher handed her a glass of wine, and she pushed it away. He’d have to remember that. She didn’t drink at all. “I saw her first… the woman’s body. And the only reason I knew that it was female because of the clothing she had over her. Then I saw the eggs.”

“Six of them.” She nodded at Casdon. “I don’t remember the place. Isn’t that strange? We all spent time there, living and waiting for our other half to be born, and I can’t remember a thing about the place.”

“I was asked recently why it took me so long to come to Asher. I had no idea until today.” Kiaran looked at Asher’s dad as he explained. “She was laying over me. Her hand was curled around my shell as if she were pulling me to her. I think that’s when she marked me. Gave me something to use. It wasn’t until Essie touched it that I was told that it was indeed a sigil and not a remembrance from our father, like I had thought. And she knew that Essie here was coming to help me find these things.”

Along with the pendants, there were jewels. Not a great many of them compared to what was in the locked away room, but enough for them to see the quality of gems that were hidden away. Asher told them of the scrolls that were there. Of the large crates of coins. The gold that lay in large bricks, row after row. He told them of the winged creatures that had been sculpted and of the armor that was there as well.

“You think they were hoarding it?” Asher shook his head at Gideon’s question. “Then what? From what Dad told us there was plenty of money for the village. Whenever anyone needed anything it was there for them. But this room, it sounds like it had more than even the little village could have held.”

“Don’t you understand?” They all looked at Essie when she spoke. “They were dragons that had been here for longer than you guys. You can’t think that they were born only hours before you were conceived, do you? You don’t think that they only became king and queen of the village after only a few short years on this earth? They amassed this fortune from lifetimes. Maybe thousands and thousands of years before anyone even knew that they were around. They were saving for their children.”

When no one said anything, she stood up and pulled the largest item from the pouch. Asher had had no idea that it was in the bag, but looked at it now when she gave it to him. He looked at his dad, then back at the framed picture that had been painted by a good hand, showing it to Jacob before he asked for it. His dad sat down and stared at it before he finally spoke.

“It looks like your mother.” Asher nodded. “I mean, it could be her twin. You think he knew our families? You think…you think he brought us together because of our family ties?”

“I do.” Essie took the framed painting from him and sat it on the table. “I believe that your family and that of the king and queen had been linked for more years than anyone will ever know. They were friends, and that was how he knew that he could trust you with such an undertaking. He knew that you’d watch over his children as well as he would.”

Chapter 6

Essie didn’t have a clue where she was supposed to go. The others were headed to the upper levels of the house, and she thought about going back to the cave. But after today she wanted to be in Asher’s bed more than she wanted to be in the cold cave. How to get there was the problem.

When he came into the kitchen where she was, he leaned against the doorway. He was sexy as hell when he did that, and she was pretty sure he knew it. Crooking his finger at her, she nearly walked to him but shook her head. He grinned when she picked up a pan from the drainer when he came toward her.

“You wait right there.” He stopped, but she had a feeling it wasn’t because he was afraid of her, but more than likely humoring her. “You told them I was your wife. We are not married. I think I would have remembered that.”

“According to my family law, and it dates back longer than you’ve been alive, once a man lays with a woman, they are wed.” Frowning, she wondered what the hell that was supposed to mean. “My parents were laying on my father’s shirt all night their first night together. He told me once that they talked about the stars and the moon, about the life of the king and queen, and the children that they’d have. He said that they even picked out names, trying their best not to think about the burning castle where their friend and king had been killed. She told him that she’d teach him to read, too, that night.”

“So they didn’t have sex, but since they shared a bed, no matter what kind, they were man and wife.” He nodded as he took a few steps toward her and sat at the kitchen table. “That’s not how it works now. There are vows to be said, rings exchanged, as well as some sort of license needs to be filled out and paid for. All the trappings that go with a wedding.”

“Do you need all that?” His question caught her off guard, but before she could answer him, if she could think of one, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a tiny leather pouch. He slipped the string over his finger and let it hang there as he continued. “Kiaran gave this to me. He said that he’d asked his brothers first, and they all agreed that it was perfect. Each of them gave their blessing on our union.”

“I don’t need anything from you. But you can’t go around telling people that we’re married when we’re not. It’s…what if the right woman comes along and she believes that we’re really married and you miss out?” He nodded again and came toward her, the pouch still hanging from his finger. “What are you doing?”

“I’m asking my wife to marry me.” He dropped down on one knee in front of her. “I know that there are trappings, as you called them, that some people find themselves doing when they marry. Promises are made that are broken. Words are said that have no meaning. And love is bantered around like it’s a ball in a court to be used against one another in pain as much as comfort. But I won’t do that. I’ll make you promises that I’ll keep or won’t give them. When I tell you that I love you, it’s coming from my heart, not from my head. I will tell you how profoundly sorry I am if I hurt you, and you’ll know that I mean it. I would never do a thing, not ever, to harm you either physically, verbally, or mentally.”

He put the pouch on her finger like he’d had it on his own. It was heavier than she’d thought, and she wanted to open it to see what was there as much as she was afraid to. When she did nothing, he took it back from her and dumped it into his palm. When he slipped the heavy ring over her finger, all she could do was stare at it.

The beautiful, flawless diamond was on a wide white gold band. The gem was held onto the base by a pair of dragons, their mouths seemingly holding the diamond while their long tails made up a design around the gold. Their wings, spread wide, were almost too beautiful not to be thought of as real, forming a cover around the bottom of the diamond that kept it safe from beneath. It was a ring made for a queen.

“It’s full of magic, this ring. Can you feel it?” She nodded and he smiled up at her. “Good. I was hoping that you would. Kiaran and the rest of them are magical, and have blessed the ring to keep you safe. Safe for me.”

He stood up then and pulled her to him. His mouth was only a breath away from hers, and she wanted him to close the distance and kiss her. But he lifted his head and looked down at her this time. And waited.

“What?” Asher grinned. “You want me to tell you that I’ll marry you? Or are you going to tell me this is a grand joke. That the moment that I think you’re going to marry me they’ll all come in here and laugh.”

“So untrusting.” He kissed her then and lifted his head again. “Say yes, Essie. Tell me you’re going to be my wife, now and forever.” At her nod he sealed his mouth over hers, and she felt it all the way to her toes and back up again. This time when he lifted his head, she was picked up in his arms and taken up the stairs. Essie knew that for the rest of the night, she was going to be well loved.

When he put her on her feet, she wasn’t sure what to do, but he did. Moving behind her, he put his hands at her breasts and cupped them. When he pulled her body to his chest, she moaned when he began to toy with her nipples through her borrowed shirt, and put her hands over his.

“I’m going to strip you down slowly, kissing every part of you that I expose, and tasting you so that I can remember the flavor of you before I begin again.” Her shirt was pulled over her head, and her nipples puckered tightly against the sudden chill. But he warmed them by rolling them in his large hands. “I’m going to eat you while you stand here. Drinking deeply of your pussy while I think of all the ways that I’m going to make you mine.”

“Asher.” He moaned when she reached behind her body and cupped his cock. He rocked into her as he nipped none too gently on her throat. “I want you. I want to feel you inside of me. Taking me slowly until I come over and over.”

He slid his hand into the pants she had on and she nearly came when he touched her clit. As she rode his fingers, they slid in and out of her like she wished his cock was doing. Even as she got closer and closer to coming, he continued to fuck her from behind, his cock hard against her ass.

“Come for me. Come on my fingers so I can taste you.” She came hard, her body trembling with the release. Then she watched, her body responding to his movements like he was fucking her again, as he took his fingers to his mouth. After he sucked them into his mouth, moaning at her taste, he offered her his fingers as well and she licked them as he had. When he came around her, holding her steady as he did, she held his shoulders while he dropped to his knees. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Before she could tell him she was as well, she was naked for him. And when he pulled her to him by cupping her ass, Essie nearly came again. His mouth sucked hard at her nether lips, pulling them into his mouth even as he slid his fingers inside of her. She rode his mouth as she had his fingers, holding onto his head to keep him there. Not that she thought he’d stop any time soon.

He ate her hungrily. Ravenously. Voraciously. She held onto him, not to keep him to her but to keep from falling now. His tongue, his fingers were touching her everywhere, setting off tremors in their wake. And when he stood up, his body covered in sweat, she cried out when he lifted her up and slammed his cock deep inside of her, even as he took her to the wall behind her.

“Come.” She screamed out her release at his command. And when he told her again, and again, she did that as well. It seemed to not matter that she’d come several times already; her body was ready for him each time he told her to come. When he finally took her, his cum filling her, touching her womb, Essie screamed again, her body bowed up from the strength of her climax even as she slipped over the edge of darkness and was swallowed up.

~~~

Asher put her to bed and covered her with the blankets that his mother had made for him so many years ago that he could no longer remember the year. But they smelled of her still. Her scent was in a lot of the things that he treasured here and at the house where they all lived in the city. Dressing again, weak with both the knowledge that he loved her and that she was his, he made his way to the lower levels to see Kiaran. He’d left him the moment they’d come upstairs.

“I’m so sorry.” Kiaran asked him why. “I never thought of you having to be there when we had sex. I mean, I don’t think of anything when she’s with me, but I never thought of you and I being connected and what you must think of me.”

“Honestly, I think of nothing. It’s like when I’m resting. I go dormant when the two of you are in bed. But with everything going on, I decided that I’d come down here until…until…well, until it was safe.” Kiaran laughed. “I take it she said yes.”

“She did. Thank you for the ring. All of you. It is far better than what I would have chosen for her.”

“My brothers want to go to the tomb tomorrow. But we didn’t want to go without Essie. I think they think of her as some sort of keeper of our mother. I do too, as a matter of fact. She found her for us, and it’s only fitting that she be there when the rest of us see her.” Kiaran asked if he minded.

“No. But just so you know, with or without my permission, I’m pretty sure she’d go anyway.” Kiaran nodded and laughed. “What have you found out about the witch? I know her name. It’s Helena, no last name. And even Hahn is not Essie’s real last name. I guess she gave it to herself when she was about six.”

“I don’t think her mother is young.” Asher asked him what he meant. “I mean that she might be as old as, if not older than, us. When Essie told you it was her mother, I thought she was lying, but I’ve since changed my mind. I think that Essie is her daughter, but she had her very late in life. By magic. The same magic that flows through Essie.”

“Magic?” Kiaran nodded. “Are you saying that she didn’t inherit it from her parents, that it’s as natural as...what? You and I? I know that she’s powerful, and yet untapped in it. Why do you think this?”

“She lit the way to the chambers below ground with it. Essie said it was the gems, but the walls are too thick for any light to come through and make them shine. It’s her. And when we entered the vault, it wasn’t until she walked deeper in that the room was bright enough for us to see everything. I think she gets her powers the same way you do, from Mother Earth.”

Asher thought about that as he made his way back up to his bed. He stood over her, staring down until he thought about holding her. Stripping down, he crawled into bed with her and was so glad that she rolled to him and wrapped around him. Asher closed his eyes thinking that he had to be the luckiest man on earth.

The dream—and it took him a few seconds to realize that it was a dream—was hers. He didn’t know any of the people that were surrounding him, and he certainly had never thought about doing what they looked like they were about to do.

Looking around, he stared at the hooded people, if that’s what they were. The hands holding the flowers, dead and dried out, were long, sharpened claws that were dark with age and blood. As he moved about the room, not tied to anyone or anything there, he noticed that the room was a large stone room, much like the one that they had entered just yesterday.

“You will not escape me this time, child of dragons. It is long past time that you gave me what I need.” Turning to see into the circle of hooded people as they had moved to a sort of dais, what he saw there shocked him and scared him.

He was tied to the dais. But when he blinked several times, he could see that he’d been mistaken. It was his Essie there. Her arms and legs were outstretched in a way that it exposed everything. Her naked body had been covered in what appeared to him to be gold dust. She was looking around the room, but he could tell that she was drugged or something. As he pushed his way to her, Kiaran stopped him.

“It’s a dream. Look around and see what you need to know. If this comes to pass, then we will need the advantage of having all this information.” He nodded, but Asher wasn’t so sure. Essie was tied up. “It’s a dream, Asher. Remember that. It’s just a dream.”

When Kiaran was gone, he did as he was told. There were things here that made him think that this room had been used for this for centuries. But it was the woman in the black robe with white lilies on it that drew his attention.

Her hood was pulled over her head. The long robe dragged along the floor as she moved from one person to the next, the dust settling again and again on the hem. The flowers were real, sewn into the trim with red thread. The ribbons that hung from each flower stem were blood red as well. She had a long leather tie at her waist, and at the end of it was a pouch. He couldn’t see what was in it, but the handle of what he thought was a blade was sticking out of the top.

The room was brightly lit by a fire that roared with life in a circle near the head of the dais. An entire wall held wood for it; enough, Asher was sure, to heat a house for several years. There were candles around too, but they did nothing to light the darkness in the corners where they were.

Someone walked to the fire, and Asher thought they were going to stoke it again, but instead they put something it in that flickered up shards of flames to the ceiling. It was then that he could see the markings up there.

He knew most of them…hieroglyphics that he’d seen on the walls of ancient caves; signs of worship of deities and other pagan gods. Asher read them twice, and reeled at the words and their meaning. When the flames died down to where he could no longer see the markings, he went back to the room in general.

There were two openings to the room. One had a large wooden door, the other nothing but a long silken sheet. He moved to that now and looked into the room beyond. Asher was stunned at what he saw.