Page 16 of The Mating Claim

Xavier looked touched. “Thankyou.”

Drust rolled the bracelet in his hand. “Did it change you, finding your mate and then fathering achild?”

His fellow wizard’s expression broke into a tender smile as he gazed at his daughter. “Yes. Ciara completes me, the same way I complete her. And Sonia, every day is an adventure. She keeps meyoung.”

Drust raised a brow. “Hate to break the news, X, but you are young, compared to the rest ofus.”

Xavier sighed. “I know. And yet as blissful as life is here, I worry all the time. As long as Sonia is here, she’s safe from danger. But sooner or later she’ll want to visit Earth for longer than necessary and she’ll be vulnerable, like Tristan’s twins are when they visit Aiden, Nia and theirdaughter.”

“Has she been therealready?”

The Crystal Wizard nodded. “Ciara has taken her there from time to time. It is good for both of us, because we don’t want her growing up coddled and afraid of the mortal world. I do still worry, as Tristandoes.”

It made sense for X to worry about his daughter on earth. Here in Tir Na-nog, the wizards’ children encountered no threats. Likewise any area created by the wizards had a natural level of protection, like Swamp World, the practice land where Drust honed his wizardskills.

But that layer of protection vanished once they visited the ordinary mortal plane. Much worse could happen. They were immortal children, but still vulnerable children, perhaps even more so because they had not developed sufficient power to protectthemselves.

And yet Niki had been taking the twins to Montana to visit her twin sister, Nia, and her family. Tristan allowed it because Niki was devoted to her twin and he trusted Aiden, Nia’s mate, who was a ferocious alpha Lupine and quite protective of his own daughter. But Tristan also confessed to Drust he always worried about his children when they were at the ranch, despite all the precautions Aidentook.

“Aiden takes tremendous care to protect Niki and the twins when they visit, and you will do the same for your Sonia,” he reassured his fellowwizard.

“She’s part of my heart,” Xavier admitted. “I would die all over again to keep her safe and if anyone dared to hurt my baby, I would make him suffer before vaporizing him. Same goes for Ciara. Anyone hurting my beautiful mate would sufferhorribly.”

He understood and felt even a little wistful and jealous. Unlike Xavier, he’d had a mate and fathered children as a mortal, but never felt that close of a connection to hiswives.

Would it be worth it to do it all over again? To try to find love like Xavier held for Ciara? He’d been faithful to his mates, never cheating, and always ensured his children were well cared for, but love? Oh he had loved his children, but though he treated his wives with respect, until the day his second wife had cheated on him, he’d never shared the kind of passion X shared withCiara.

And yet, a distant memory tugged at him, as if he had loved and loved so deeply the very idea of it hurt on a visceral level. Because he had not only loved, butlost.

“Drust?” Xavier waved a hand before his face. “Where did you go, dude? You look as if someone kicked you in thegonads.”

Blinking, he frowned. “Gonads?”

“Nuts.”

His frown deepened. “I don’t care for nuts, except foralmonds.”

Xavier shook his head. “Hello? You really do need to keep up with the times.” The wizard pointed to his own crotch. “Your man parts, dragon. You do have man parts, even though you’re a dragon,right?”

“Bigger than yours. We dragons do everythinglarger.”

“Not much good unless you use it.” Xavier chuckled. He nodded at the hallway and then closed the door behind the sleepingbaby.

“Listen Drust, you need to lighten up. Your problem is that you haven’t had sex in centuries, and you’ve been working too hard. Take my advice, once you get laid, you’ll feel muchbetter.”

“I’ll worry about feeling better once I’ve seen that book destroyed.” And yet he couldn’t help but think of how this new assignment would force him to spend time withLacey.

“Thank you for this.” He held up the bracelet. “Tell Sonia when I return, I’ll teach her how to say ‘I will not date until I’m fifty yearsold.’”

Xavier laughed. “You’re worse than me. I was consideringforty.”

Drust smiled. “You’ll change your mind as she gets older andprettier.”

Xavier frowned as Drust turned and left, and then opened the nursery door again to stare at his sleepingdaughter.

Damn, the Crystal Wizard had it bad. Drust laughed as he dematerialized to his owncastle.

Chapter 5