They wouldn’t know that he didn’t like to be rocked; he’d rather be bounced. So if they rocked him, it would only make him more upset, more agitated. What if his anxiety was more than they could handle and prompted them to do something horribly reckless?
* * *
Dozing in the corner of the ancient puzzle box, Aelthed opened his eyes and tilted his head to one side with a frown. Something was...different. There was a certain something in the air swirling about his eternal jail.
It felt like... He leaned forward, his arms wrapped around his bent legs, studying the chemistry in the air. It felt like animal lust.
Need.
Desire.
He shook his head. From where had this emotion come? Who was the object of such primordial passion?
Even after more than eight long centuries of captivity, he understood and recognized the intense longing that charged the air swirling about him like lightning in a thunderstorm.
The dragon twins were already mated, so neither of them were the target. And he knew that it was not Danielle Drake. Her passion was for him, and it felt warm, comforting, enticing and nothing at all like this brewing storm.
“No.” Aelthed rose and paced, hoping the movement would clear his mind of what was impossible. “It can’t be.”
The newest changeling wasn’t a dragon born. It couldn’t be him. His beast and power came from a curse alone, not from family blood. So why would that dragon’s emotions flow all the way from Dragon’s Lair to Mirabilus, into his cell and mind? Unless... Aelthed frowned. Was there more to this curse than he’d first feared?
Sending his thoughts out into the air, he whispered, “Danielle, come, talk to me.”
Just saying her name eased the tension from his body and the frown from his face. Danielle Drake possessed far more than just guardianship of his prison—she possessed his heart. Since he’d forced himself into her hands a couple years ago, he’d come to care for her deeply and he was well aware she shared the same feelings for him.
After Nathan the Learned had dropped the box that kept Aelthed imprisoned at the feet of the Dragon Lord’s wife, Alexia, they had put him in the basement with their weapons and forgotten about him. Which suited him fine, because it gave him the chance to listen and learn.
When it became necessary to gain assistance, he’d sought out Danielle Drake. Aelthed laughed softly remembering the first time he’d spoken to her. At that moment he’d been grateful for two things—that Danielle was telepathic and that his nephew Nathan had kept him updated on the current languages through the decades. Otherwise he never would have been able to converse with the woman.
He might have only been a spirit imprisoned in a puzzle box, but that didn’t stop him from noticing how beautiful she was with her womanly curves and long raven tresses. He’d been drawn to her from the first moment she’d touched his box and made him gasp at the warmth that had flooded through him.
She was so easy to talk to, quick of wit and old enough to know her own mind. Which she had to be, considering she’d raised her three nephews alone after their parents had been killed at Nathan’s hand. It was a shame she’d never married, never had the opportunity to share a life and experiences with someone her own age. But she’d insisted more than once that her life had been full and she was content with her lot—especially now that she had Aelthed to share her joys and troubles with.
He’d once lamented the huge difference in their ages and she’d laughed at him. While it was true that he was over nine hundred years of age and she only sixty-two, he’d only lived as a man for eighty of those years. As far as she was concerned, he wasn’t all that much older.
He didn’t argue with her logic, because it made no difference while he was locked in a wooden cube.
Within moments, he felt her warm touch on the box as she lifted it from her nightstand. “What is it, Aelthed? What do you need?”
He shivered at the low, seductive timbre of her voice. Oh, to be alive again, to be a man capable of gathering her into his arms for an embrace, a kiss, a prelude to making love. A wry smile briefly crossed his lips. Dreams and wishes were all he had and of late, they weren’t nearly enough.
Opening his mind to his surroundings, he brought her into view. He nodded with approval at the way she’d been wearing her hair down lately, instead of twisted up into a tight bun. She looked younger, more alive with the raven tresses streaming along her back. Forcing his attention back to the subject at hand, he asked, “Your nephew, the youngest one, is he still back at Dragon’s Lair?”
He felt the woman’s hesitation before she answered, “Yes, he is.”
“And tell me, Danielle, what troubles him?”
She sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. “I’m not sure of all the facts since Braeden just returned from the Lair. But it seems Sean got a vampire’s daughter pregnant. She had a son, and he’s been kidnapped.”
A vampire? The changeling lusted after a vampire? “Good heavens, not St. George?”
“Of course. Would one of the Drake boys choose anyone...normal?”
Aelthed chuckled at her long-suffering tone. Even though she’d done a fine job, she never should have had to raise three Drake males on her own. “No. It would make your life all too boring if they did.”
Danielle nodded in agreement. “I suppose so.” She placed the puzzle cube on a pillow and stretched out on the bed. “So, what can you tell me about St. George?”
“Well, it’s your great-great-great-grandsire’s fault that he’s a vampire. If I recall the rumors correctly, the two of them got into a fight—the dragon and the dragon slayer—and when the dragon managed to knock the slayer out, he left the man tied to a tree in the forest assuming someone would come along and free him.”
“I can guess the rest.” Danielle snorted. “He was found by a vampire, not another human.”
“Yes. Which explains the deep-seated hatred between the two families.”
“Not that they ever would have been the best of friends in the first place.”
“Perhaps not, but we can do nothing about the past. Only the future. How did the cursed changeling get a vampire pregnant?”
“She’s not exactly a vampire. Braeden says she’s a succubus.”
Aelthed considered that possibility then shook his head. “Doubtful. I think the Dragon Lord may be mistaken on this one. Although I am willing to guess that if she’s not a full blood-sucking vampire, that she may be a psychic soul-sucking one. Does she have fangs?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t met her.”
“This babe she bore, is it human—or otherworldly?”
“I’m not sure.” Danielle shook her head and sighed. “But since its mother isn’t human, doesn’t it stand to reason that the babe might not be, either?”
More to himself than anyone else, Aelthed mused, “I wasn’t thinking of the mother.”
Danielle’s frown deepened. “Surely you don’t think this curse on my nephew carried over to his child?”
“Considering the oddities of late, it’s something we need to consider.” Even though Aelthed could already guess her answer, he had to ask, “I don’t suppose you know if the babe has shown any habits that might be considered...purely Drake?”
“I can’t answer that, either. I know nothing more than you.” Danielle picked up the cube and held it out before her. “Right now all I know for certain—” she drew the cube closer and then dropped her voice to little