Border Lair by Bianca D'Arc Page B

hide as the emotion welled up and over, pouring out of him with the tears he’d never allowed himself to shed before.
    He cried for the family he’d lost. For the king. For the years of desolation and pain.
    Darian came up behind him and put a strong arm around his shoulders as Jared wept for the first time in many, many years. Jared barely registered his old friend’s presence, but he felt the warm support of Kelzy and Darian, needing it as never before.

    Adora found them like that when she walked into the suite a few minutes later. Darian caught her eye and motioned her over, his expression solemn as he supported his old friend with a brotherly arm around his wide shoulders.
    She looked up into Kelzy’s aquamarine eyes and the dragon explained what had happened in her silent way.
    Adora felt tears well in her own eyes as she thought of how badly this news had affected the strong man who held a piece of her heart. She reached out, coming up on his other side to offer what comfort she could. Her healing gift reached out to his pain as she put her arm around his waist and snuggled into his side.
    A moment later, she was whirled around and grasped tightly in his embrace as he let go of Kelzy, only to cling to her instead. She was shocked, surprised, and so touched she gave freely of her healing energy, wishing only that she could heal his shattered heart. She looked up into Darian’s sad eyes as Jared choked out broken, nearly silent sobs, his face hidden in her neck as his strong arms engulfed her. She saw sorrow, love, and approval in the eyes of her new lover as she held the other man. It was confusing, but it felt right.
    It’s as it should be, daughter. Kelzy’s voice was gentle in her mind as her breath puffed over them with comforting heat. Do not fear your feelings for either of these men. They are your destiny.
    Both of them? But how?
    The idea of her daughter having two knights as husbands was still uncomfortable, but she sort of understood the necessity with the way the men were bonded to mated dragons. This, however, was something else altogether.
    Only Jared was bonded to a dragon and Kelzy was unmated. If Adora was mated to Jared, she would eventually be expected to take the knight of Kelzy’s dragon mate as her second husband, if such a thing ever occurred.
    Because of the bond dragon and knight shared, when dragons mated, their human partners were inevitably caught up in the sensual frenzy. It was a sacred rule that fighting dragons never mated while their knight partners had no mate. The frenzy as the dragons joined would drive an unmated knight insane and a casual sex partner just would not do. The depth of feeling—the love—had to be there for the mating frenzy to be sated, for it was deeply emotional as well as intensely physical for both the dragons and the humans involved.
    Don’t ask how, child, Kelzy counseled her, still sending warm breaths of cinnamon-scented air over them to offer what comfort she could to her heartbroken knight. Just accept it will be so. The Mother and we will make it so. We see the way both these men feel about you and how you feel about them. This is the turning point, I think.
    Who’s ‘we’? She had a sneaking suspicion, but the idea was too wild to even contemplate.
    Leave that to us, child. See to Jared now. This storm was a long time in coming and he will feel shame for his actions if you give him half a chance.
    Best to take him to your bed now and take his mind beyond the grief of the moment. Give him something much more pleasant to focus on.
    You want me to sleep with him?
    Isn’t that what you’ve wanted for weeks now? Kelzy’s voice was sly with the knowledge only another female could understand.
    Well…yes, I suppose so. But he doesn’t want me. Not really.
    Nonsense! The man loves you.
    Adora gasped. Are you sure?
    I know my knight. He’s stubborn, but he loves deeply and true. He has a good heart that has been badly hurt and he takes too much