Light Dragons 01 - Love in the Time of Dragons

white—light,” he said as he shifted back, holding out his hand. Light formed there, stretching out to form a white and blue sword. “When I was reborn, I became something new, something not seen before—we are light dragons, you and I, Ysolde. Our dragon form reflects the fact that we encompass all colors, just as light does. We wield arcane magic, which other dragons cannot do. Ours is a new sept, with only the two of us as members.”
    I digested that. “That sword belonged to Antonia von Endres, didn’t it?”
    “Yes.” He glanced at it. “She gave it to me long ago.”
    “Why would she give you something like that?” I asked. “That sword is famous in magedom, and although you’re not a slacker at arcane abilities, you’re not a mage.”
    He tossed the blade up, catching it on the tip of one finger. It balanced perfectly. “Antonia gave it to me because she said I gave her great pleasure.”
    “What sort of great pleasure?” I asked, a sudden roar of anger whipping through me so great that it drove off my intention to tell him that Dr. Kostich had asked me to take the sword from him. “Great pleasure as in, oh, I don’t know, sex?”
    “She was my lover, yes.” He frowned, shaking his hand so that the sword dissolved into nothing.
    “You screwed her for a sword?” I asked, my fingernails digging into my palms with the effort to keep from shaking him. I knew my anger was unreasonable, but I was powerless to stop it.
    “Why are you so angry?” he asked, looking thoughtful all of a sudden. “Are you jealous?”
    “Of course I’m not jealous! What do I have to be jealous of? I mean, it’s not like the man I just told I loved beyond all reason informed me he’s been out bonking anyone who has mage toys, is it? It’s not like he just admitted infidelity, oh no! It’s not like you’re standing right there with your penis all bulgy and poking me”—I gestured at the fly of his pants, which was looking rather strained after our steamy kiss—“and telling me that it’s been visiting other women, not because you are seeking another lover, but so you can have a fancy mage sword! It’s not like that at all, is it, Baltic?”
    He looked delighted, the bastard. “You are jealous!” “You are the most obnoxious, reprehensible, despicable man I’ve ever met.”
    “I am a dragon, not a man.”
    “Gah!” I yelled, and slapped both hands on his chest.
    He covered them with his own, doing that lovely rusty chuckle that made my knees go all weak despite the fact that I wanted to knock his block off. “ Chérie , I remember many times you threatened to emasculate or decapitate me when you believed I was looking at other females, but I had thought the centuries we spent together had eased your suspicions.”
    “Just tell me this,” I said, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. “How many times did you betray me?”
    Anger followed surprise in his eyes. “What cause have I ever given you to believe I would do such a thing?”
    A horrible silence followed, one that was filled with my brain suddenly pointing out that time actually existed before I met Baltic. “Er . . . you knew her before you met me?”
    He sighed, unclenching my fingers from his shirt. “Yes.”
    “But you never told me she’d given you a mage sword.”
    “I had no cause to use it,” he said, shrugging. “I did not have the skills at that time to wield it. It was only after I was reborn that I was able to do so.”
    “So you didn’t sleep with her after you met me,” I said, wanting to make absolutely certain of that point.
    “I took no females after I met you.” He started to smile, but suddenly looked away.
    I pounced on that. “Oh, really?”
    He made a vague gesture, a flicker of embarrassment in his eyes. “There was a barmaid in Bordeaux, but I did not rut with her. I tried, but I could not.”
    “What a goddamned shame,” I growled, wanting to punch him all over again.
    “She was not my mate. I thought I would ease my lust on her, but I could not. I knew then that I must have you and no one else.” He took my clenched fists in his hands, stroking his thumb across the top. “That is when I sent to Constantine to let him know I was claiming you.”
    The fury inside me melted away into a dull throb. “It’s very hard to be angry at someone when he’s just told you he can’t have sex with another woman because he wants you instead.”
    “You have no need to be angry. I have not given myself to