Read Online Kiss of Darkness (The Dragon Legion Novellas) by Deborah Cooke - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Deborah Cooke
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lips. “It’s never to late to ask,” she whispered. The look in her eyes pierced Damien’s heart like an arrow, and he took a step closer without even realizing what he’d done. “It’s never too late to forgive, and it’s never too late to try again.”
Damien smiled. “That sounds like part of a story.”
Petra smiled and the sight of her pleasure made him realize everything he’d risked and lost.
“Then, show me,” he said, knowing he’d beg if he had to. “Please.”
“You mean it,” she said, with undisguised delight.
Damien nodded and Petra immediately tipped her head back.
She was beautiful, so strong and feminine. It made sense for her to use her powers to defend him, just as he used his to defend her. It was different from his expectations, but was logical when he considered it.
Did they have more in common than he’d imagined? Was that why she captivated him so thoroughly?
It was an enticing possibility. Damien knew that no woman had ever challenged him as much as Petra—and none had ever satisfied him so well either.
As he watched, a rosy glow rolled over Petra’s body, like the sunrise touching the lip of the earth, and his heart skipped. Her body looked firmer and more solid, and her movements became impossibly slow. She breathed only once for each dozen breaths he took and he could almost have believed that she’d turned to stone herself. Her eyes opened slowly, their brown color replaced by the simmering orange of a volcano’s heat, and the glow around her body brightened. She looked so fearsome and powerful that Damien fought the urge to take a step back.
It was when the snakes began to erupt from beneath her feet that he remembered he’d lost his ability to become a dragon.
He was powerless in a strange realm and he knew it.
But Damien was resolute. There could be no greater test of his trust in Petra, and he was determined not to sacrifice the firestorm’s promise again.
* * *
Petra dared to hope.
She’d known all her life that she wouldn’t find happiness with a mortal man. That was the curse of her kind. But she’d always hoped that she would be one Earthdaughter who found a man with his own powers. When she’d met Damien, she’d imagined that future with him, one filled with love and trust. It had been devastating to learn that he was afraid of her.
She’d made a mistake by reacting in anger.
They had a second chance and he was willing to see the truth.
Even given that, Petra had concerns about showing him the fullness of her powers, lest she frighten him again. There would be no third chance.
Yet the truth offered the only way forward. Damien had to see it all, trust her, and still love her, or she’d never be able to put her hand in his again.
At least he was willing to try.
She had to meet him in the middle. That was the essence of partnership.
Petra closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, turning her thoughts inward. Deep in the core of her mind was a place of stone and rock, a center that couldn’t be moved. It was her anchor and her sanctuary, her source of confidence that the world would be as it always had been.
Because there always would be Earthdaughters, and they would keep custody of Gaia and her legacy. Petra had thought that she and Damien had common ground in this, so to speak, since the Pyr were the guardians of the earth and the custodians of the elements. She’d expected them to understand each other.
Maybe this was their chance to do so.
The key might lie in the prophecy, the one she’d heard only once and didn’t recall. As the power built within her, Petra realized that her dragon warrior would remember every word of the prophecy given to him.
Dragons had long memories, after all.
First things first.
The kernel within Petra grew as she bent her attention upon it. There was a connection established between the relatively quick rhythm of her human body and the much slower cycle of the earth. She felt her heart slow
Damien smiled. “That sounds like part of a story.”
Petra smiled and the sight of her pleasure made him realize everything he’d risked and lost.
“Then, show me,” he said, knowing he’d beg if he had to. “Please.”
“You mean it,” she said, with undisguised delight.
Damien nodded and Petra immediately tipped her head back.
She was beautiful, so strong and feminine. It made sense for her to use her powers to defend him, just as he used his to defend her. It was different from his expectations, but was logical when he considered it.
Did they have more in common than he’d imagined? Was that why she captivated him so thoroughly?
It was an enticing possibility. Damien knew that no woman had ever challenged him as much as Petra—and none had ever satisfied him so well either.
As he watched, a rosy glow rolled over Petra’s body, like the sunrise touching the lip of the earth, and his heart skipped. Her body looked firmer and more solid, and her movements became impossibly slow. She breathed only once for each dozen breaths he took and he could almost have believed that she’d turned to stone herself. Her eyes opened slowly, their brown color replaced by the simmering orange of a volcano’s heat, and the glow around her body brightened. She looked so fearsome and powerful that Damien fought the urge to take a step back.
It was when the snakes began to erupt from beneath her feet that he remembered he’d lost his ability to become a dragon.
He was powerless in a strange realm and he knew it.
But Damien was resolute. There could be no greater test of his trust in Petra, and he was determined not to sacrifice the firestorm’s promise again.
* * *
Petra dared to hope.
She’d known all her life that she wouldn’t find happiness with a mortal man. That was the curse of her kind. But she’d always hoped that she would be one Earthdaughter who found a man with his own powers. When she’d met Damien, she’d imagined that future with him, one filled with love and trust. It had been devastating to learn that he was afraid of her.
She’d made a mistake by reacting in anger.
They had a second chance and he was willing to see the truth.
Even given that, Petra had concerns about showing him the fullness of her powers, lest she frighten him again. There would be no third chance.
Yet the truth offered the only way forward. Damien had to see it all, trust her, and still love her, or she’d never be able to put her hand in his again.
At least he was willing to try.
She had to meet him in the middle. That was the essence of partnership.
Petra closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, turning her thoughts inward. Deep in the core of her mind was a place of stone and rock, a center that couldn’t be moved. It was her anchor and her sanctuary, her source of confidence that the world would be as it always had been.
Because there always would be Earthdaughters, and they would keep custody of Gaia and her legacy. Petra had thought that she and Damien had common ground in this, so to speak, since the Pyr were the guardians of the earth and the custodians of the elements. She’d expected them to understand each other.
Maybe this was their chance to do so.
The key might lie in the prophecy, the one she’d heard only once and didn’t recall. As the power built within her, Petra realized that her dragon warrior would remember every word of the prophecy given to him.
Dragons had long memories, after all.
First things first.
The kernel within Petra grew as she bent her attention upon it. There was a connection established between the relatively quick rhythm of her human body and the much slower cycle of the earth. She felt her heart slow
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