"No, they don't. Becomes a real pain in the a.r.s.e, doesn't it?"

Izzy finally smiled. "It does."

Branwen looked Izzy up and down.

"So you done crying now, Iseabail, Daughter of Talaith? Because I must tell you that from experience, tears never work with the mothers. Only the fathers. So why bother?"

Now Izzy grinned. She simply couldn't hate Branwen. "You're right. Why bother? And everyone calls me Izzy."

"All right then, Izzy."

"Oy!" a voice called from a distance behind them. "Branwen! Where are you, you dizzy cow?"

Branwen sighed. "That's me idiot brother and me cousins." She tugged Izzy's arm and together they began to walk. "So what does your father say about you going off to war?"

"He fought on my behalf. I know he did. But if he can't convince my mum ... no one can." Feeling comfortable, she added, "My father is Briec the Mighty, by the way. Not my blood father, but ... you understand. My mum's his mate."

"Briec?" Branwen stopped and looked at her, her dark eyes wide. "You're Briec's daughter?"

Her sudden eagerness surprised Izzy a bit. Although Briec's brothers and sisters had been welcoming, the other dragons-"the idiot royals," as her grandfather would always mutter-had been tolerant of her, but she could easily tell they didn't consider her anything but another human and a possible meal.

"Aye," she said with a bit of confidence. "I am."

Branwen slapped Izzy's arm and Izzy grunted in pain. "Well then, you sobbing cow, you're me cousin!"

Izzy blinked. "I am?"

"Aye! I'm a Cadwaladr. Briec's cousin. Me mum is your grandfather's sister. Which makes us second cousins ... I think. Anyway, we're kin. Ya know? Family."

"All right then." Izzy couldn't ignore Branwen's eagerness. She seemed so happy to know her.

"This is brilliant! Changes everything."

"It does?"

Branwen threw her arm around Izzy's shoulders. "Tell me, cousin, have you ever played Run and Jump?"

"No."

"Well as your older cousin, it's my right to teach it to you. That's the beauty of blood relations."

"Will it upset my mother?"

"Beyond comprehension, I'd wager."

Izzy didn't even hesitate. "Then lead the way, cousin."

He could smell incense and herbs, fresh vegetables, and what smelled deliciously like stew.

Gwenvael slowly looked around him, confused about where he was and yet for some strange reason recognizing this place. It was a house. He'd dreamt about it long ago, yet he knew he'd never been here.

Maybe he wasn't awake after all. He couldn't really tell at the moment. He closed his eyes, but he caught those scents again. And, above them all, he scented her. His nostrils flared and his eyes opened again, his gaze searching her out. She was sitting at a small eating table beside the pit fire built into the wall. She had a metal cup in front of her and her head in her hands. Her head scarf and spectacles lay on the table, and her satchel was at her feet.

Seeing her there, alive and well, did more for him than anything else could.

Her head lifted from her hands and she turned in his direction. He smiled at her, but she didn't smile back. Instead she lowered her head and squinted at him.

"If you can't see me, you lazy sow, put your b.l.o.o.d.y spectacles on."

Her back straightened and she glared. "I see you perfectly, which is barely at all."

"You're keeping me waiting?"

"Until the end of time."

Gwenvael stuck his lower lip out, shuddered a bit. "But I'm in such pain."

"By all reason, have you no shame?"

"Not an ounce." He held his arm out, hand open for her to take. "Now come here."

Putting her spectacles back on, she rose from the chair and moved across the room. She placed her hand in his, and he tugged her close until she crouched beside him.

"Are you all right?" And he was no longer teasing, because be needed a straight answer to his question.

"I'm fine."

"Good." He kissed her knuckles. "Where are we?"

"The Outerplains between the Southland and Northland territories. By the Aatsa Mountains."

"How the h.e.l.l did we get here?"

"You brought us here."

"I did? I don't remember."

"What do you remember?"

"Kissing you." He grinned. "In the library stacks."

"That, of course, you couldn't be kind enough to forget."

"Not ever. But do tell me, Lady Dagmar, why do I hurt? Did you try to skin me alive with your hidden pa.s.sion?"

"My hidden ... oh. Forget it. You've been through h.e.l.l the last few hours is what happened. Kidnapped and tortured and a pitch battle with Horde dragons."

"Really?" He lowered his head and his voice. "Am I fiercer to you now that you've seen me in battle? Do you want me more than you ever thought possible? Are you ready to take me at this moment?"

"Perhaps when the scabs fall off."

Not knowing what she meant, Gwenvael looked down at his body. Horrified, he sat up. "What is this? What's happened to me?"

"Calm down. It'll heal quick enough, I'm sure."

"Heal? I'm hideous!"

"You're alive."

"Hideously alive!" He covered her face with his hands. "Don't look at me! Look away!"

"Stop it!" She pulled at his hands. "Have you lost your mind?"

Gwenvael dropped back to the bed, turned his face toward the wall. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"Gwenvael-"

"I'll have to live alone, at the top of a castle somewhere. I'll hide from the daylight and only come out at night."

"Please stop this."

"I'll be alone but not for long because you'll all want me more. You'll l.u.s.t for the beautiful warrior I once was and pity the hideous creature I've become. Most importantly, you'll want to soothe my pain." He looked at her again. "Don't you want to soothe my pain? Right now? Without that dress on?"

"No. I do not."

Dagmar tried to stand, and Gwenvael caught her hand, pulling her back down. "You can't leave me. I'm tortured and brooding. You need to show me how much you adore me so I can learn to love myself again."

"You've never stopped loving yourself."

"Because I'm amazing."

She yanked her hand away, but Gwenvael simply caught it again and dragged her until she was on top of him.

"Let me go!"

"Not until you kiss away my torturous brooding."

"I'm not kissing anything away." Dagmar froze. "And move your hands, sir."

"But they are warm and comfortable where they are."

He was impossible! To think she was actually worried about him. Why? What was the point of worrying about someone who was insane?

"Get your hands off my rear."

"Not until you kiss me."

"I'm not kissing you."

"It's because I'm hideous!"

"You're not ..." Why was she arguing with him? Didn't that make her more insane than he was? "Release me."

"Kiss me, and I will."

"Fine." She leaned down and planted a quick, closed-mouth kiss on his lips. "There."

"You can do better than that."

"No. I can't. So just-" Dagmar gasped when his hands squeezed her rear through all her layers of gown and undergarments. And with her mouth open, he swooped in, rising up and kissing her hard. In seconds his tongue had invaded her mouth and swirled insistently around hers.

That was all it took. She melted against him, her hands reaching up to frame his face. Her stomach tensed, and everything went wet and warm between her legs.

She wanted him. Beyond reason, she wanted him. No matter how strange, demanding, or annoying he seemed to be.

His grip on her rear tightened almost to the point of pain, but she didn't mind. Nor did she mind when he pulled her so close she could feel the hardness he had for her between his legs. Taking his time, he rocked her s.e.x against his groin, the hands on her a.s.s not only moving her but squeezing her cheeks each time.

She began to groan, the power of a climax beginning to grow inside her.

"What are you doing?" Strong hands grabbed Dagmar's arm and yanked her off Gwenvael.

Stunned, panting, and incredibly aroused, she could only stare at Esyld, unable to speak.

"He's still healing!" the dragoness chastised. "He doesn't have the energy for all that sort of thing."

"She was all over me," Gwenvael chimed in, causing Dagmar's mouth to drop open in shock. "I couldn't stop her."

"Honestly!" Esyld dragged her toward the door, shoved a bucket in her hand. "Go get some water from the well. Perhaps that'll help you cool off and get some control!"

The door slammed in her face and Dagmar could only stand there, staring at it, her mouth still open.

Gwenvael grinned at the dragoness peering at him.

"Do you enjoy torturing her?" she asked.

"Depends on the torture."

She snickered. "I a.s.sume you're hungry, Gwenvael."

"I am." He inclined his head. "You look awfully familiar. Have we ... uh ... met?"

She rested her hands on her knees and bent at the waist, leaning in close. "Look in my face and say that again. With the same inflection."

Gwenvael did look into her face and he knew what he saw smirking back at him.

His mother.