Slowly, so as not to wake him, Yelena moved her hand and ran her fingers through his inky black hair. He was so brutal in his beauty that it hit you hard when you weren't ready for it. Gods, she had wanted to touch him for so long.
The first time she had seen him, her dragon had pounced on him, unable to stop itself. It was so curious about the silky, dark sensation of his magic. She had licked his skin, tasted his blood, her ridiculous mouth running about him being a dark mage because she didn't knowwhathe was. The taste of his blood and skin had been intoxicating.
She didn't know how to handle it or how to understand him. The enigma of all that darkness that was used to do good. And she had made such a mess of things by not knowing how to be normal around him.
Yelena's hand was shaking as she stroked his hair, memorizing the sensation of the silky strands. It might be the one and only time he let her touch him after the fiasco with the letters. She had just wanted to talk to him so badly.
When Taranis had been hurt and they had worked together to help heal him, Yelena had felt the dragon inside of Valentine. It had been awake all along, unlike the rest of his family. Her own dragon had wanted to play with it, to provoke it into coming out.
Yelena had seen the magic he had done to keep it locked in, and she had almost wept. Valentine needed help, and no one was able to give it to him except for her. That was why she had gottenTaranis to convince Valentine to write to her as Caelan. He would never have accepted the help if it had come from her.
Baby Girl Galadrial. She had heard the name he had mockingly given her. Layla had been more than happy to show her the movies, and afterward, Yelena realized that despite his tone, that name wasn't a mean one. She was flattered to be compared to the elf queen of so much power.
The letters had worked until Valentine found out the truth and sent her that final note. Despite the hurt in it, he had still travelled all the way into Faerie for her.
Yelena couldn't remember much while in the ice, but she felt him change into a dragon. She knew he had come for her and that she was safe again.
Tears tracked down her cheeks, her body languishing in the feeling of that safety and having him close. She looked at her arm, bound in bandages and in a sling. Her mind couldn't make sense of the part of her that was missing. She looked away, tried to keep breathing because she didn't know what to do about it.
Her eyes fell on the drawings that were scattered around Valentine on bits of paper. They were studies of her hand from different angles. Notes were written in tight script she couldn't read. She could also make out the designs of a sigil, half hidden by his arm.
Valentine shifted in his sleep and opened his eyes. They were scarlet, not their usual gray. Yelena slowly moved her hand from his hair, hating the feeling of loss that swept over her.
"Hey..." he whispered, and it was his voice and not a dragon's growl.
"Hey," she whispered back. "You okay?"
"Me?" His dark brows shot up. "I'm better than you."
Yelena's lips twitched into a smile. "That's not hard."
Valentine sat up and ran his hands through his dark hair andover his face. Bandages covered his arms, and Yelena could see them through the open V of his shirt.
"You arehurt," she said, trying to keep her voice low and steady, afraid of frightening him away.
"It's nothing. I'll just... I need to go get Charlotte now you're awake," Valentine said, getting out of the chair. He gathered all the drawings quickly and headed for the door.
"Valentine?" Yelena said, making him halt, his hand resting on the door frame. "Thank you."
He didn't turn. "I couldn't leave a friend like that. Wearestill friends, aren't we?"
Yelena swallowed hard. "I really hope so."
Valentine knocked his knuckles on the stone. "I've got to find Charlotte. Don't go anywhere."
Yelena bit back a laugh. "Dick."
Valentine grinned over his shoulder, and then he was gone.
The dragon side of Yelena preened and said the one word that it had said every time Yelena had a chance to glance at that so rare smile of his.Mate.
Yelena wiped at her wet eyes and gave the same response she always did.We aren't like them. I don't think we wild ones mate the same way.
The dragon ignored her. It knew what it was. Whohewas. They were the opposite of each other and the same. He was the only one capable of handling what she had buried deep inside of her. Like she was the only one who could handle what was inside of him. They were matched even if they weren't mates.
Yelena had managed to compose herself by the time Charlotte appeared. She smiled with relief when she looked at Yelena.
"Thank the gods. I was starting to worry that you weren't going to wake up," she said in her crisp, no-nonsense way. Yelena loved Charlotte.
