Kade by Tasha Black
Kade
Kade observed the woman out of the corner of his eye, careful not to give too much away.
Though his inner dragon raged just beneath the surface, begging to be released, he kept his feelings locked inside.
Perfect control was the only way he would survive the tsunami of emotion that roiled in his chest.
Kade of the Invicta knew two things.
The woman before him was about to become the mother of the baby he already loved as his own.
And she was also destined to be his mate.
He kept his eyes firmly on the horizon, cradling little Lyra protectively in his arms. Without the baby to ground him, he would have lost his mind with the wild joy of it.
But even if dragons had the luxury of experiencing unbridled love at first sight, warriors certainly didn’t. And Kade couldn’t expect this Terran girl to embrace their bond immediately. She might feel something, some pull or yearning. But she wouldn’t know what it meant, or understand how important it was.
For now, he would celebrate in dignified silence. All things would unfold as they should, he was sure of it.
He watched as Aurora embraced her friend, and was struck again at how familiar she seemed. He would have sworn he’d seen her somewhere before, but he knew that wasn’t possible. He’d never been to any of the Terran planets.
Kade noted her superior maternal instincts as she set her friend’s worries at ease with a few kind words. She would make an excellent mother for the sweet whelp in his arms, and any others they might create together.
All Kade had to do was not mess it up.
She glanced over at him, suddenly looking more serious.
He noticed that her hand kept unconsciously going to the scarf wrapped around her hair, as if she were concerned that it might be slightly out of place.
But she needn’t have worried. She would be loveliness embodied, no matter how she dressed.
The other girl disappeared down the path with his fellow solider, Tyro and baby Atlas.
Now Kade and baby Lyra stood alone in the meadow with their new family member.
She turned, and they finally locked eyes as the breeze picked up, carrying her scent to him.
Beneath the harsher smells of the chemical bath she had just been given, he could taste just a hint of peppermint, plus a deeper musk that sent a shiver of lust down his spine.
“Greetings, Aurora,” he told her. “I am Kade, and this is Lyra.”
He waited for the woman’s face to melt at the sight of the perfect child.
And he could hardly blame her. After all, little Lyra was plump and strong, with a good loud voice that she wasn’t afraid to use to stand up for herself. The tears that often clung to Lyra’s pale eyelashes lent her a tragic beauty that Kade felt belied her young age.
Of course he couldn’t be positive, because he hadn’t met all the babies in the universe. But Kade was pretty sure that Lyra was the very best one.
The woman eyed the babe without comment and then gave Kade a quick nod.
“Where are we headed?” she asked nonchalantly.
He blinked at her stupidly for a moment, unable to believe that was all she had to say.
Didn’t she want to hold the baby? Babies were excellent for holding.
“Uh, our home is in the village, so we’re waiting for the coach to arrive,” he told her. “It shouldn’t be long.”
As if on cue, he spotted the tops of the wing-steeds’ heads bobbing up and down along the hillside path.
“What in God’s name?” Aurora murmured as she noticed them.
“They are called wing-steeds,” he told her. “I believe they’re similar to your Terran ostriches. But they’re colorful, and ill-tempered.”
The woman’s eyebrows went up slightly.
The coach had come into sight now. It was a beautiful thing - glossy blue with gold trim, pulled by matching turquoise wing-steeds.
Kade knew he shouldn’t have raided his private reserves for a frivolous thing like an open-air coach. But when he had seen the hologram, all he could think of was how perfectly it matched Lyra’s azure eyes. When she got older, she would be proud to arrive in such style to all her activities.
As it pulled up before them, he realized belatedly that it also matched the eyes of the woman who did not yet know she was his mate.
“Your coach, sir,” a small hover droid announced, sailing off the front seat to drop the ownership cube in his waiting hand.
“Thank you,” he told the droid.
It floated back down the hillside quickly, as if anxious to get back to the dealership to deliver its next coach. Although from what he knew of the town, not many people could afford such a luxury. If he was being honest, he really couldn’t either.
One of the big birds turned to him and squawked curiously, turning its frilled head to the side.
Lyra squawked back bravely and then began to wail.
“The beast meant no disrespect, Lyra,” he told her calmly.
He did not expect her to stop crying. Lyra would express her feelings in a hearty voice until she felt the violation was cleansed from her mind. That was her way.
Meanwhile, the woman was staring at her in horror.
Kade understood. At first, he had been distressed by Lyra’s crying as well.
“She is expressing her displeasure,” Kade explained. “She will stop when she feels better. Would you like me to help you up?”
“Uh, no thanks,” the woman replied, fixing him with her bright blue eyes.
A wave of lust washed over him and it was all he could do not to pull her into his arms. He waited for her as she hopped gracefully into the coach, then he swung in after her and whistled to the wing-steeds.
They took off jogging with the usual speed of the showy land birds.
Aurora was clearly not prepared for the sudden acceleration. She fell backward against the seat and her scarf blew half off in the sudden breeze.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the sunlight glinted in her coppery hair.
Kade couldn’t help but gasp at her beauty.
Aurora’s eyes went wide with horror and she grasped for the scarf, desperately trying to cover her hair again.
Kade looked away, not wanting to impair her modesty.
He had heard tales of the many cultures of old Earth. His mate must be a Terran who preferred to cover her hair outside the home.
He made a note to himself to obtain proper fabrics so that she could construct beautiful and sturdy coverings if she liked.
A greedy voice inside him gloried in the idea that her fiery halo might be his alone to see.
“They look like peacocks,” she said thoughtfully.
He turned back to her.
Every trace of her hair had disappeared into the scarf again. She observed him with softer eyes than before.
“What are peacocks?” he asked.
“They have the same iridescent feathers and dark frills on their heads,” she told him. “They have long tail feathers that normally drag behind them. But when a male wants to impress a female, he lifts the feathers to make a sort of colorful screen.”
“When wing-steeds wish to mate, the male flaps his wings as if he is going to fly,” Kade explained.
“Maybe they’re not so different after all,” Aurora said.
“The further I travel the galaxy, the more I am convinced that the myriad of beings are more similar than most believe,” he said, nodding.
Aurora didn’t reply.
He glanced over at her.
She seemed transfixed by the sight of the tiny town that was revealing itself around the curve of the road.
He wondered suddenly if she was frightened.
It seemed strange to think this fierce young woman could be so easily frightened. Surely, he was wrong, and she was just happy to see that they would not be alone on the frontier moon.
Aurora frowned and her hand went to her scarf, as if to be sure it was still in place.