Page 4 of Emerald Waves (Primordial Protectors #2)

Chapter Three

Caro

My brother’s hand on my shoulder kept me grounded and focused on the man in my arms, rather than the snarling beast in my head that ping-ponged between giddy excitement at having found our mate and a vicious desire to seek out everyone who’d ever hurt Emerson and stomp them into the dirt.

“We’re going to go and leave you two to sort things out now,” Ionus declared, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

“But if either of you needs us, you only have to reach out and we’ll come right back,” Alex added.

“Welcome to the family, Emerson. It’s awesome to no longer be the only mate.

When you’re feeling up to it, we should plan a picnic, just us.

Until I came here, my only friend was my Gramps.

I’d really like the chance to get to know you better. ”

“S-seriously?” Emerson asked, the caution back in his voice.

“Seriously,” Alex said, his voice firm and fierce.

Discovering his dragon had turned my new brother-in-law into a force to be reckoned with and now here he was, making sure my mate knew that he had a place with us and a friend waiting to see to it that he never felt left out or excluded again.

I loved him for that and for the light he’d brought into my brother’s life.

When I thought back to the way he’d come to us, smart-mouthed and fearless after wiggling through a fissure in our cave wall, I couldn’t help but offer up a silent thank you to the Goddess.

My big brother had already changed in ways I never imagined. When I looked over at him, all I saw was love and pride in his eyes as he looked from his mate to me and Emerson.

“Welcome to clan Denarius,” Ionus said. “May you make my brother as happy as my precious mate has made me.”

I watched Emerson blink, then blink again, as astonishment and relief swirled like a tornado inside of him. Tears shimmered in his eyes as Ionus and Alex took their leave, falling only after Ionus had closed the door behind them.

“I...” he stammered, voice trailing off as words eluded him again.

I was glad for that. It meant that he was no longer searching for reasons for us to reject him, though I knew I would have a rough path to forge when it came to getting him to see just how valuable he was, and not as an archivist or an omega, either.

Just from the glimpses of emotions I’d gotten from him and the things his dragon was sharing with mine, I knew that was all he’d ever felt that he had to offer.

It was no wonder he was so twisted up inside.

No wonder his mind had started to fracture and become a place where he no longer felt safe.

Hadn’t my brothers and I feared the same thing happening to Ionus, with how focused he’d been on training, drilling us so hard that at times resentment had crept in, leaving us bitter and upset over the man our brother had become.

Centuries of battle preparedness, shrewd business transactions and investments, ever watchful, ever spurning the things in life meant to bring joy, even temporarily.

Hadn’t we wondered what that was doing to his mind and if there would come a time when we’d lose him to his narrow-minded mission?

How could I have ignored the same signs in Emerson?

How could I have thought that leaving him alone was the best way to sort out what it was supposed to mean that he was my mate?

And how could I ever have thought that flying hundreds of miles away would help bury my curiosity and the budding feelings I’d tried to squelch because I didn’t believe myself up to the task of handling a mate that needed, well, I hadn’t figured out what Emerson needed yet, except to be loved, and I could do that.

I owed him that much and more.

Had I really almost talked myself out of this moment because I was wary of the challenge?

Yes.

I wasn’t asking you, dragon, I was just thinking to myself.

When you think to yourself, you are also thinking to me, and when you ignore my answers, my opinions and my desires, you piss me right the hell off, human. How can you expect to help Emerson see his worth when you think so little of yourself?

I hung my head at hearing that and hugged Emerson tighter.

My dragon, as usual, was right. There had just been so many factors that had gone into my decision to stop hoping that there was a mate out there for me, things I’d come to grips with long ago, that hope had died in me.

It had become easier to just tame my thirst with a willing omega when I was feeling randy and spend the remainder of my time on the projects I tended to down in my horde.

Even my brothers knew nothing of them, or the careful efforts I’d put in to caring for the at-risk species of the sea who dwelled within the deep aquariums I’d built to house and breed them in.

Over time, I’d been able to release some back into the wild in the hopes of boosting dwindling populations.

Much as Emerson tended the tombs and scrolls inside these walls, I saw to the careful collection and preservation of creatures at risk of disappearing completely thanks to human carelessness and greed.

Oil spills, trash and chemical dumping, overfishing, as well as willful and malicious destruction of reefs had all played a part in the damage done to the world’s oceans, my second home.

Earth may be my element but the sea and I were close friends.

When Emerson asked about flying my heart had soared, wanting to share that first moment with him.

Now I wondered if he could swim or if he would find the sea too dangerous a place to venture out into.

Would he think me the mad one when he got a glimpse of some of the creatures I’d rescued that could never be released to live in the wild again, like the sea turtle I’d created a prosthetic flipper for, so it could swim properly again.

A boat propeller had left it injured and floundering with an extremely curious, hungry tiger shark closing in.

The shark had been left to hunt for different prey, while the sea turtle I’d ironically named Trooper, I’d carried home with me.

Now that we were alone together, I didn’t know what to do next.

Yes, you do.

We cannot just bite and claim someone, he hasn’t given permission yet.

And you haven’t asked for it.

Doesn’t that need to be finessed? Romanced? We can’t just come out and ask to bite him.

I didn’t ask to remove the door to get to him, either, and I did not see you balk then.

Completely different situations, dragon, and besides, that door, along with the rest of the building, belongs to us.

As does he.

And he is of flesh and blood, not specially reinforced metal.

Harrumph.

Pulling back a little, I framed Emerson’s face in my hands so I could peer into his eyes. Poets called them the windows into the soul, and I guess they were, because what I saw in them was guarded caution, like he expected everything to change now that we were alone.

Slowly, in case it wasn’t welcome, I dipped my head and claimed his lips in a gentle kiss, shocked when he pressed closer and upped the intensity.

It’s welcome.

Now it was my turn to be thrown off guard.

How did you know that was why I hesitated?

Your dragon told mine. Now that we’re communicating, he’s filling me in on why you hesitated with me. Thank you.

W-what are you thanking me for?

Being honorable. He told me that you were afraid of trying to claim me because you feared that with all the confusion going on in my head, I wouldn’t be able to consent properly and that I’d regret anything that took place once my mind was clear.

I just didn’t want to do anything that you might not be onboard with. I would never hurt you or any omega that way. I didn’t want to start a mating with something so distasteful hanging over our heads, over my head, so I kept my distance, but I was angry, too.

At me?

No. At the fates for making it so you were right there within my grasp but completely untouchable.

I’m not untouchable, not to you.

I slid my hands through his hair, still a little damp from when the fever held him in its grasp, a reminder of how sick and hurt he’d been when I found him.

“We should get you cleaned up and fed,” I told him as I drew back, but never let my hands drop from his face. “Is it okay if I run you a bath. I don’t have to stay in there with you if you don’t want me to.”

“I’d like a bath, and for you to stay. If the tub were big enough, I-I’d want you to join me.”

My dragon did what I could only describe as an awkward happy dance.

Harrumph. Dragons are not awkward.

Tell that to me the next time you get your tail twisted up in a fishing net.

Had the fools tried hauling me up I’d have dragged that trawler to the bottom of the ocean and laughed as the fishermen abandoned ship, the bloody fools.

And given birth to a modern round of sea monster stories. No thank you. Learn something from Nessie’s indiscretions if nothing else. Our cousin can be a real idiot sometimes.

“I’ll go run the water for you,” I said, caressing his cheek before I straightened up and headed for the bathroom.

As I ran the water and added a bit of his body wash to it, because who doesn’t love bubbles, I glanced around, taking in the sparseness of everything.

Much like his bedroom, it contained no luxuries and little in the way of comforts of any kind.

Basic washcloths, towels, bodywash, shampoo.

Not even a decoration on the wall to give me a clue of something he liked besides books and scrolls.

Unlike Alex, who’d eagerly chatted about rock hounding, spelunking, and all the places he’d gone exploring and the things he still hoped to see, Emerson was a complete mystery.

Outside of the archives, it was like he didn’t exist beyond this space.