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“I vow it,” Sebastian swore. “I will come home to you.”
“I love you more than anything, Sebastian Drake,” Perry whispered. “More than gold, more than jewels, more than life itself. I don’t care how long it takes—I will wait.”
With tremendous care, Sebastian lowered Perry into the grass and kissed him with the sincerity of a love five hundred years in the making, and Perry returned the kiss with enough love to see them through five hundred more.
* * *
Sebastian left the following day, and in his absence, Perry spent his time divided between getting to better know the staff and relaxing in the sunshine with Pake. It was, if he was honest, difficult to transition from being a father of eight mischievous boys to an empty nester with no idea of when that might change, but he warded off loneliness by devouring good books and making himself useful. And, of course, by charming whichever member of the staff happened to be nearby so he could use their phone and call the boys in California. Under Misha’s orders, the use of phones and other electronics had been banned for fear that Raven would be able to track them down, and the one phone they were allowed to use—given to them by Misha himself—had been taken by Sebastian on his trip, but the staff at Gardenia Cottage was under no such edict, and it had become somewhat of a game to see whose phone he would borrow on any given day.
One week into his new routine, a letter arrived from Sebastian. The job was taking longer than expected and Bertram had been called in to help. With some luck, it would be over before the week’s end, but he could make no promises. Judging by the somewhat terse language used, Sebastian was not happy that Bertram was there, and Perry predicted that would make the job all the more complex.
He was right.
Two weeks after arriving at the cottage, another letter appeared. The job was not yet done. Bertram was proving difficult to work with, and they were butting heads on the best way to manage the situation—whatever that might be. Perry hadn’t the foggiest. But it was ever so strange for Bertram, who strove to be so much like their father, to butt heads with Sebastian on a mission of their father’s design.
One month after arriving at the cottage, while taking the morning off to elevate his swollen feet, a third letter arrived. The job was done, but there were loose ends to wrap up that would necessitate Sebastian to stay away for a little while longer. It wasn’t welcome news, but Perry took it in stride. He was seven months pregnant now—more pregnant than he’d ever been—and the babe kicked and fluttered. She’d yet to go still. Like him, it seemed she would wait for Sebastian to come home, and as long as that was the case, Perry wouldn’t rush him. He wrote back to Sebastian with all his love, then spent the rest of the day with Pake in the atrium, where they basked in the sunlight and ate fresh, delicious food brought to them by the Attendants.
It was, in a word, bliss.
Only two months remained until they’d welcome their first dragonet into the world, and even should things go wrong and Perry deliver prematurely, at this point in her development, there was a chance she would live. Drenched in sunlight and relaxed as could be next to his oldest friend, Perry ran his hand over his belly and allowed himself to dream of holding her. How sweet it would be to kiss the top of her head and hold her tiny hand in his. And maybe after her there would be others—precious children with their father’s dark features and Perry’s beaming smile.
He wanted them.
All of them.
And for the first time, a world where it was possible was within his reach.
Two more months.
Just two more.
Which was no time at all for a dragon, but an eternity in the same breath.
* * *
Sebastian returned home a month later, a week after Perry entered his eighth month of pregnancy. For such a small omega, Perry had ballooned, and while the baby weight was cumbersome and made it difficult to get around, he had never been so happy. Which was why, after hearing from one of the Attendants that Sebastian’s vehicle had been spotted on its way down the driveway, Perry left the comforts of the atrium to greet him at the door.
Smyth, the Attendant who’d taken on doorman duties since their arrival, bowed his head politely at Perry and stepped forward to open the door. On the other side stood Sebastian, whose expression went from stoic to wide-eyed after laying eyes on his mate.
“Perry,” he uttered, then rushed forward and came to an abrupt stop an arm’s reach away. Hesitation played across his face. To Perry, it looked very much like he was a child confronted by something small and sweet and delicate—something that could easily be destroyed by a single careless act. “You…”
“I’ve gotten quite big, haven’t I?” Perry grinned and reached forward, taking Sebastian’s hand and placing it on his belly. “She’s doing well, Sebastian. She grows more every day. I truly think we’ve done it—after all these years, the curse has been broken. We’ll have a child to call our own. Our very first.”
Sebastian’s nostrils flared, and after a long moment, he took his hand away and tugged Perry into his arms, lifting him up so they were face to face. Joy shone in his eyes. “My love. Oh, my love. We’ve done it. She will be ours, I swear.”
Perry nodded, then looped his arms around Sebastian’s neck and laughed until tears streamed down his cheeks. It was a dream come to life, and with his dragon home, it was only getting better.
* * *
“The construction has been completed,” said Sebastian one morning as they lay in bed naked, Perry dripping with gold and satisfied from that morning’s lovemaking. Sebastian held his phone aloft and was looking at its screen. “Misha says we can come home.”
“Do you think it wise to move now?” Perry asked, propping his chin on Sebastian’s shoulder. “There are only a few weeks until my due date—we could stay here where it’s peaceful and quiet. Why return to somewhere we’ve been threatened? I do quite like it here, and I would be fine with staying until the threat has been contained.”
“I would stay as well, but Everard will not travel.”
“Why not? He’s done so before—and over greater distances, might I remind you.”
“Remind me not. I know. He is choosing to be cautious. Father saw fit to send him along on our latest mission, as there were some,” Sebastian set his lips, “unsavory moments in which his skills proved useful. However, he has become aware that something is afoot, and he won’t leave Harrison or his whelp again. Not for love or money.”
