She reached up to playfully tug at his hair. “Maybe being human isn’t so bad, then... I’ve kind of gotten used to it.”
He smiled a smile that warmed her all the way to her toes.
Until she thought of something else. Then, she went completely cold as her happiness evaporated. He would need a unicorn bride.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing.” She started to get off the bed.
Dash pulled her back into his arms. “I know you, Dragon. What demons are in your head now?”
She licked her lips as she faced a horrible fact. “I no longer have any place that I belong.”
He gave her a stern glower. “You’re exactly where you belong. But I won’t force you to stay with me. That’s not my decision. It’s yours. If you are sure you won’t miss being a dragon...”
“But what would I be here?” His mistress? The very thought made her sick. She couldn’t bear the reality that he would have to marry and have children.
With someone else.
Swallowing the pain, she met his gaze levelly. “You never did answer that question, Dash.”
His frown deepened. “What do you think I’m offering you?”
“I can’t stay here and watch you marry someone else, beast. It would kill me.”
His mouth began to work like a fish dragged from its watery nest. “Why would you ever think I’d ask that of you?”
“Then what?”
“Marry me, silly dragon. There’s no one else I’d ever have as my queen.”
For a full minute, she couldn’t move or breathe. Was he serious? “Really?”
“Of course. I love you, Tanis. I told you that.”
“Really?” she repeated.
Laughing, he pulled her against him and gave her a kiss so hot that it stole her breath. “Yes, Dragon. Marry me.”
“Would you say yes already, Highness? The two of you are making me seasick... and nauseated for another reason.”
Tanis covered her face as she remembered that her armor was sentient. “Yes,” she said from behind her hands.
Dash gently lowered her hands so that he could rub his nose against hers. “One day, my precious queen, I hope you’ll valueyourself as much as I value you.” Then, to her greatest shock, he held up his wand and turned it into a beautiful charm. He manifested a bracelet for her.
“In our kingdom, whenever unicorns are in love, they exchange their wands with their beloved as a sign of ultimate trust.” He held the bracelet up for her to see it. “Of course, my father never allowed anyone else to hold his. But I’m not my father.” He fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
Tanis couldn’t believe her eyes. He trusted her completely.
And in that moment, she realized how much she trusted him in return. How funny that she’d met him while seeking death and instead, he’d given her life.
A life she’d never dreamed of having. It was miraculous and amazing.
A dragon and a unicorn.
Even if she never took her dragon body again, she could live in absolute ecstasy.
And all because she’d dared something the old Tanis would never have done. She went after her future and found it.
