Adora felt tears well in her own eyes as she thought of how badly this news had affected the strong man who held a piece of her heart. She reached out, coming up on his other side to offer what comfort she could. Her healing gift reached out to his pain as she put her arm around his waist and snuggled into his side.

A moment later, she was whirled around and grasped tightly in his embrace as he let go of Kelzy, only to cling to her instead. She was shocked, surprised, and so touched she gave freely of her healing energy, wishing only that she could heal his shattered heart. She looked up into Darian's sad eyes as Jared choked out broken, nearly silent sobs, his face hidden in her neck as his strong arms engulfed her. She saw sorrow, love, and approval in the eyes of her new lover as she held the other man. It was confusing, but it felt right.

"It's as it should be." Kelzy's voice was gentle in her mind as her breath puffed over them with comforting heat. "Do not fear your feelings for either of these men. They are your destiny."

"Both of them? But how?"

The idea of her daughter having two knights as husbands was still uncomfortable, but she sort of understood the necessity with the way the men were bonded to mated dragons. This, however, was something else altogether. Only Jared was bonded to a dragon and Kelzy was unmated. If Adora was mated to Jared, she would eventually be expected to take the knight of Kelzy's dragon mate as her second husband, if such a thing ever occurred.

Because of the bond dragon and knight shared, when dragons mated, their human partners were inevitably caught up in the sensual frenzy. It was a sacred rule that fighting dragons never mated while their knight partners had no mate. The frenzy as the dragons joined would drive an unmated knight insane and a casual sex partner just would not do. The depth of feeling--the love--had to be there for the mating frenzy to be sated, for it was deeply emotional as well as intensely physical for both the dragons and the humans involved.

"Don't ask how, child," Kelzy counseled her, still sending warm breaths of cinnamon-scented air over them to offer what comfort she could to her heartbroken knight. "Just accept it will be so. The Mother and we will make it so. We see the way both these men feel about you and how you feel about them. This is the turning point, I think."

"Who is 'we'?" She had a sneaking suspicion, but the idea was too wild to even contemplate.

"Leave that to us, child. See to Jared now. This storm was a long time in coming and he will feel shame for his actions if you give him half a chance. Best to take him to your bed now and take his mind beyond the grief of the moment. Give him something much more pleasant to focus on."

"You want me to sleep with him?"

"Isn't that what you've wanted for weeks now?" Kelzy's voice was sly with the knowledge only another female could understand.

"Well...yes, I suppose so. But he doesn't want me. Not really."

"Nonsense! The man loves you."

Adora gasped. "Are you sure?"

"I know my knight. He's stubborn, but he loves deeply and true. He has a good heart that has been badly hurt and he takes too much responsibility on his solitary shoulders. He needs you, Adora. He needs your strength and your love."

"But what about Darian?"

"Child, the Mother of All knows what She is about. Look at Darian. I think he understands. He knows how much Jared loves you and needs you. He loves Jared like a brother and hates to see him hurt like this. I think he'll understand. He will help, I think. Take him with you and see where it leads."

"But he's not a knight. He doesn't expect to have to share a woman with another knight."

"He's a man, child. I don't know of too many human males who would turn down a threesome when offered the chance."

Adora smiled just slightly, shyly, as she met Darian's eyes over Jared's broad shoulder.

She saw warmth there--the warmth of care and love, but also the warmth of desire. Darian had shown her just last night that she was not as dead sexually or emotionally as she had thought. He'd given her a boost of confidence along with his tender and commanding loving. She knew he cared for her and was fast falling in love with him as well, but her heart also wanted Jared. Adora had wanted him almost from the first moment she'd seen him.

Jared needed her so badly, she knew it in her heart, and this breakdown only proved it further. He needed love and support. He needed to let people close to him, not just dragons. For the past years, only Kelzy had managed to breach the defenses around his heart. But those walls crumbled and crashed as she and Darian supported him in his soul-deep grief.

Darian moved slowly, coming around her, holding her gaze as long as he could until he was behind her. Sandwiched between two hard male bodies, Adora swept her hands down Jared's back as his weeping began to ease. He was so silent, so needy, but so resolute. Jared straightened by degrees, his warm lips nuzzling into her neck as he moved, perhaps unable to meet her eyes while his own were red from grief too long denied. Or perhaps because he was finally giving in to the attraction between them.