Something inside Layla screamed as she felt it go. And something inside Luke breathed deep as he was released – as his lips lingered upon hers, pressing her one last time before letting her go. Setting their foreheads together, Luke released his magic. Layla choked, rubbing her chest, feeling something beautiful stolen from her, far deeper than any death. Sweetly, Luke kissed her forehead, his lips lingering.
And then he pulled back.
“Goodbye, Layla.” He breathed.
“Goodbye, Luke.” She choked, still clutching her heart.
Luke’s gaze went long, watching her suffer, his green eyes intense as a flicker of lightning moved through them. But Layla couldn’t feel him anymore, and his thoughts and heart were closed to her, as he at last turned and walked away.
She didn’t see him leave, as she heard the door open and Luke stepped out into the hall.
She didn’t want to, as her friend and first-bound Royal Storm Dragon was taken from her –forever.
CHAPTER 28 – CRYSTAL
Moonlight flooded down through the crystal atrium at Riad Rhakvir, a night-whisper of palm fronds easing to Layla’s ears as a cool desert wind flowed through the space. Jasmine and honeysuckle were fragrant in the air as Layla stood by a column in a flowing Moroccan silk caftan gown in a deep royal purple, feeling the night. Sipping an after-dinner Prosecco, she lingered in the airy hall with its burbling fountains and sculpted gardens, staring at its central fixture. All around the broad atrium, crystals thrust up through the alabaster floor, some massive, some spreading and branched, as soothing water-sounds eased through the columns. Fireflies moved in lazy patterns, swirling slowly around the crystals as they reflected an unearthly light from the high desert moon.
Swirling her Prosecco, Layla stared at the crystal sarcophagus glowing softly beneath the atrium’s high dome. As if Dusk felt her watching, the beautiful cocoon gave a slow pulse, shimmering through its depths with a deep sapphire light. All around the vaulted room, crystals reflected that light; towers of ruby and emerald, massive fans of sapphire and citrine, swirling columns of onyx and amazonite. It was haunting and beautiful, and as Layla watched the light move like a living thing through Dusk’s room in Adrian’s palace, her Dragon curled up inside her with a keening sound.
As she watched the night, warm hands found her shoulders, and a tall, strong presence stepped to her back, curling her in his arms. His cinnamon and jasmine musk stole in her nose as she breathed, his soft desert winds moving all around her with a deep comfort and scintillating passion. Wearing a vest and trousers in a dark navy with gold pinstripes to match her gown’s beadwork, his white sleeves were rolled up at the elbows as his strong arms curled around her, baring a snarling crimson, gold, and black Dragon-tattoo winding up his left forearm. A slow smile curled Layla’s lips as she turned slightly in Adrian’s arms, lifting her chin. Setting soft lips to her neck, he kissed her gently.
“I thought I would find you here.” Adrian murmured, cradling her as they watched the crystal sarcophagus glow beneath the moon. “Will you come back to the party? Rachida is asking for you, and Emir wants you to regale him with the tale of our victory at Chartres again. He’s furious I didn’t call the clan in to help for the battle – Rachida, too.”
“I’ll go back to the party in a moment.” Layla spoke low, something about this room and her mood demanding quietude beneath the moon tonight.
“Dusk’s not going anywhere, Layla.” Adrian spoke, kissing her neck again with his sweet, smooth lips. “His condition hasn’t changed for three weeks, and the Arizona Crystal Dragon healers we had come take a look at him couldn’t make any definitive diagnosis on his condition. He’s stable, and for now that’s good enough. Come back to the party. Your clan is asking for you.”
“I just wish there was more we could do.” Layla sighed, staring at the sarcophagus. “It feels like he’s a coma patient… and we’re just waiting for him to wake up.”
“We are.” Adrian spoke simply. “But Dusk would want us to live our lives in the meantime. Rachida and Emir and the clan are guarding him now, day in and day out. They’ll tell us the moment anything changes.”
“I’m glad you invited the clan to come stay at Riad Rhakvir these past weeks. It’s been nice having them around, getting to know them.” Her gaze breaking from the sarcophagus at last, Layla turned in Adrian’s arms, setting her wine aside on a teakwood table by the column and lifting her arms up around his neck. They kissed, gently and decadently, before she pulled away. “When do they go home?”
“They don’t, not unless they want to.” Adrian spoke with a smile as he brushed one of Layla’s curls back from her face. “Rachida and a number of others want to take up residence again in the palace, and I said yes. Like you said – it’s been nice having them around.”
“Adrian Rhakvir!” Layla spoke with a growing smile as something lightened inside her at his words. “Solitary bachelor billionaire no more, I guess.”
“Not since I found a good mate.”
With a tender grin, Adrian nuzzled her nose, and Layla felt her mood lighten despite the somber beauty of Dusk’s atrium, and everything that had happened recently. Layla and Adrian had been together these past weeks, day after day, standing at each other’s sides and sleeping together at night. After her friends had left the Paris Hotel, Layla had gone to the Madame and put herself on indefinite sabbatical. Without Dusk, she hadn’t wanted to return to Concierge Services, and with everything that had happened, she didn’t feel ready to launch into her new role as a Courtesan. With the Desert Dragon clan now back in residence at Riad Rhakvir and Dusk’s sarcophagus being protected there, Layla and Adrian had done most of his Hotel re-org work from Morocco – all while perusing documents late at night from Rhennic about theSage of the Wildsto figure out more about Hunter. But as everything had shuffled out, it had given Layla and Adrian a new life together.
For the first time, Layla felt like Adrian actually was her mate and she his.
And despite their sacrifices, it was a cherished thing.
She felt Adrian share her emotions through their Bind as he wrapped her in his arms, kissing her deeply now as his hands netted her close at the waist, his warm desert winds easing all around them. It was heady and decadent, and Layla felt herself melting into it as she breathed him in, as she touched his infinitely soft lips and enjoyed his incredible scents breathing into her mouth and all around her body. She felt his strong coils of heat and power slide against her as they kissed, trapping her close to his body, stroking her with deep pleasure.
Kissing Adrian was always a pleasure – especially now that she got to indulge in it daily.
“Besides, I’m still a billionaire, you know.” Adrian spoke at length, as he grinned deviously between kisses. “Even despite what I spent on you for Yule, Courtesan-in-Absentia.”
“And I didn’t even get a Rolex or a Ferrari for sleeping with you.” Layla grumped teasingly, winding her arms more solidly around his neck as she grinned back.
“You’re still sleeping with me.” Adrian growled with an even wider grin. “And you can have fifty Ferraris if you want. Though Rolexes are completely passé.”
His mood was lighthearted, and even as Layla laughed, she realized it was something Dusk might have said. Winding her arms tighter around Adrian’s neck, she sobered. “You sound like him sometimes.”
“I find myself almost thinking like him sometimes,” Adrian agreed as he nuzzled her nose. “Which tells me more than anything that he’s still in there, Layla, still fighting – still him. Dusk is a stubborn bastard, and more of a fighter than anyone I know, possibly excepting you and Rachida. He’ll wake. I know he will.”
