He twitched his head, and Arielle knew that he was telling her to climb on. When she did, it felt right. He looked back, and she saw his eyes were the same brilliant shade of green as the brightest of his scales. His meaning was clear, wanting her to hold on tight.
"Let's go," she whispered.
He left the ground with a single flap of his massive wings, and took Arielle on ride of her life. He flew through the clouds, flying higher and higher until she could barely see the buildings on the ground.
Arielle didn't know how long they stayed up in the air, but she felt free. Truly free for the first time in her life. She was left thinking about what it would feel like to fly while she was her true self—her dragon self.
By the time they landed again, the sun had started to fade from the sky. Arielle was breathless and her cheeks windburnt. She was thankful her hair had been up in a bun to begin with, otherwise there would have been no hope for the tangled mess. While she waited for him, she turned around giving him a bit of privacy. Even though all she really wanted to do was watch every second of his transformation, and maybe catch a glimpse of what he looked like naked. She'd been too distracted earlier when he shifted the first time.
"Thank you," she told him once he was back in his human form and dressed. "I've never been this happy before."
Matthew smiled down at her, and a flash of some unknown emotion crossed his face before he wiped it away.
Arielle couldn't help herself. She leaned up on her tiptoes, and pressed her lips against his mouth. The small jolt of electricity she felt at the connection made her gasp against him, before she quickly pulled away.
10
Matthew stared at Arielle while she stood in the kitchen shoulder to shoulder with Adam while they made dinner. His heart still hadn't calmed down completely after his encounter with Arielle earlier.
"You know she's the one," he said quietly so that only Stefan could hear.
"Yep," Stefan agreed. "Which sucks, because all I want to do is force her to listen to reason."
"And you're not worried about jealousy or anything?"
"What I'm worried about is Drake," Stefan told him. "He expressly forbid it, and now we're going to end up breaking the law, because there's no way in hell that she's not going to end up in our beds by the time all of this is said and done."
"Shit," Matthew said. He shook his head and put his hands through his hair. "I can't believe this shit is happening. She kissed me today, and I swear to the gods above that if she asked me to kill myself to make her happy, I'd have done it. This isn't right."
"It's the power of a mate," Stefan said. "I called Erik after I left you two together earlier. He told me the same thing happened to him and the others when they met Danica. I'm sure that Drake is going through the same thing with Mary. Except there's no way in hell he'd ever let another dragon around her—he would never share."
A knock at the front door distracted him from looking at Arielle, and he walked away to answer it doing his best to ignore the way that her laugh echoed through every bone in his body.
He opened it to see Jackson, which shocked the shit out of him.
"What are you doing here?" He whispered, before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.
"You've got a problem," Jackson whispered back. "I heard the mercenaries today. They're still in Boston."
Matthew didn't bother asking Jackson how he knew about the mercenaries or anything else. It was part of the special power that his friend had, and it had always been useful a lot more than it had let him down.
"Are they coming for her?"
"Not just her," Jackson said cryptically. "They weren't just planning on the princess. They kept saying that they had plans for 'the other girl' too. I don't know if they're coming after Mary or Danica. But someone is going to have to keep an eye on them." Jackson turned and started to walk back down the way he'd come.
"Are you going to help?" Matthew called after him. "You know I could use some of your super skills."
Jackson paused, and for a moment Matthew thought that he had him. Jackson only shook his head. "I don't get involved in anything to do with the magical realms anymore. You know that. I thought you needed to know, though."
"Thank you," Matthew said before Jackson could get too far away.
He walked back into the house to see both Stefan and Adam standing there.
"Helpful information?" Adam looked over his shoulder at the retreating Jackson with raised eyebrows. "I thought he didn't want to come back to Gilcurry or have anything to do with magic."
"Shut up." Matthew closed the door behind him, cutting Adam and Stefan off from seeing Jackson's retreating back.
"The mercenaries are planning something, according to his sources."
Adam snorted. "Yeah, his magical never-ending sources of information, the kind he can pull from anyone's head."
"What can we do?"
Stefan was looking into the kitchen, and it was clear that he was staring at Arielle, longing written on his face so clearly that Matthew almost felt bad for him. Except for the fact that they all had that same look, they all wanted her.
"All we can do is watch her. He didn't have any solid information, and apparently the ones that he was cornering didn't have any either. There's not really much we can do with that. Let Drake and Erik know to keep Mary and Danica close, though. Apparently, they were talking about something to do with another one of the women, too."
Stefan sighed, dragging his eyes away from their errant princess. "I'll handle Drake. He's currently in the Dragon Realm."
"I'll go see Dani and the others." Adam offered, "Maybe they can give me some advice with the new modifications I want to make to my blades."
Matthew was left alone with Arielle, and he wasn't sure if it was the biggest mistake that they could make, or the best thing that had happened to him.
"Do you want to watch a movie with me?" Her voice brought him out of his thoughts, leaving only one thing behind. She was definitely the best thing he'd ever had happen to him.
"Yeah." He smiled as she led him to the living room, and then took his seat so that she could make herself comfortable around him.
The problem was, her version of comfortable was pretty much sitting in his lap. She was lying against his chest, with her legs brought up so that she was practically on top of him, and Matthew was pretty sure that he was going to die at any moment. She felt so right being around him. He idly thought about what she would do when he had her naked and wrapped around him. Quickly, he shut down that stream of thought. The last thing he needed was to go against a direct order from their king.
"Will you hold me?" Her quiet words filtered through the quiet noise of the movie she'd picked out.
Matthew chuckled. "You mean that using me as a pillow isn't enough?" He quickly silenced any retort she would make in response by putting his arm around her and resting it on her back.
Matthew didn't watch one second of the movie that played. Instead, he focused on the way her skin felt against his. Her body fit perfectly in his arms, and he knew that he'd never be able to walk away from her. Not now that he had her. Hell, he hadn't even fucked her, and he knew that she owned him.
When she pressed a soft kiss against his neck, he was lost completely. With a groan, Matthew shifted so that her face was right next to his.
"Fuck it," he whispered harshly.
She smiled as he pressed his lips against hers, one of his hands moving to grasp the back of her neck and hold her to him. The way she arched into him, straddling his waist while they kissed, had Matthew on fire.
"I need more." His voice was hoarse, breaking, when he pulled back to tell her what he wanted. She mewled, leaning forward for his lips.
The way she moved, the way her eyes were glossy, and her skin twitching under his touch, told Matthew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
A door slamming in the distance broke the spell that had enveloped itself around them, and Matthew shoo
k his head to clear the last bits of lust-filled haze from his mind. He couldn't do this—not yet. Not until he was absolutely sure that she wanted to be his mate. He wouldn't force that bond on her.
"Touch me," she pleaded softly.
"I can't," Matthew said. "You're not ready."
She didn't hear him. Instead, he saw the fear in her eyes. The way she accepted his rejection of her, and he knew that he'd lost her—at least temporarily.
"I thought you were different. I thought you would give me what I want. Instead, you're just like everyone else. Trying to control me. To force me into whatever you think is best instead of letting me choose on my own."
Matthew expected her to storm away, to scream or even hit him. What he didn't expect was for her to calmly tell him that he was essentially garbage, and walk away with her head held high. He watched, unsure if he should move. Instead, he watched her go and knew that he'd just made a mistake. The worst part was, he wasn't sure if he could take it back.
They'd all assumed that she was young, irrational, and a spoiled princess who didn't know what she wanted. Arielle, it seemed, was more complicated than any of them had given her credit for.
Stefan braced himself when he heard Arielle's door open the next morning. Matthew warned him and Adam when they got up that she would most likely be in a bad mood.
When she stepped into the living room, he was shocked to see that she looked as though she'd been crying. Her face was red, and her eyes were swollen.
"What do you want?" Her voice was hoarse, and Stefan was moving before either of the other two could.
He pulled her out of the living room and into the kitchen, concerned that something had happened.
"Arielle," he said quietly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Her words lacked the fire that they usually had when she was facing off with him.
Stefan tried to pick a fight, he honestly did. But when he opened his mouth, he couldn't do it. He couldn't make her angry, not when she needed comfort.
"I'm going to hug you now," he warned her.
Arielle didn't move. She didn't even acknowledge that he said anything. Stefan pulled her into a hug, her head pressing against his chest.
"This doesn't mean we're friends," Arielle said quietly.
"I'll tear someone's arm off if they hurt you," he answered just as quietly and was rewarded with a subdued laugh.
"You have news, don't you? I can feel it," Arielle whispered against his chest.
Stefan nodded, but of course she couldn't see him. "Yeah," he told her. "The others already know. The mercenary that's been sent. He's just a paid hand. There's someone else behind the attempted abduction. The one pulling the strings. Your brother doesn't want you to know the details, but Matthew said that it's only fair you know."
Arielle sniffed, but didn't say anything. Stefan knew what she was thinking and what she was angry about. He knew without her saying a word that she would want to know exactly what her brother knew.
"It's my life," she said fiercely. "I deserve to know."
Stefan grinned. She really was the most fascinating woman he'd ever encountered in his life. When he expected her to fight and scream, she was quiet. When he thought she'd stay silent and meek, she put them all in their places. She was perfect—for him, at least.
"His name is Xavier," Stefan told her and watched as she crumbled before him.
Her breath hitched, and she started to whimper. He knew that name meant something to her, and his unease grew when she opened her mouth.
"Have you seen him? Is he here?" She was trying to hide her emotions, but she was doing a terrible job of it.
"No," he said. "He hasn't been seen since your father's murder."
"I'm going to work at the coffee shop." That was her only response, and it set Stefan's teeth on edge.
She couldn't help it. He repeated that to himself, over and over again. When that didn't work, he started counting backward.
"I'll only work during the day," she went on. "But I'm doing this. I need to be away from this house, from the monsters in my head."
"You can have the job." Stefan wasn't really giving in, at least that's what he told himself. Besides, if she worked during the day, there would be other people in the shop. One of them would always be there too, close to her. She didn't need to know that she wouldn't be alone. It seemed like the perfect compromise.
He let go of Arielle, not realizing that he'd been holding her for their entire conversation. It was the longest that they'd gone without fighting since he'd met her. When she stepped back and looked up at him with gratitude in her eyes, he felt that damn tug at his heart again and knew he was royally screwed. Literally and Figuratively.
11
Arielle hated working. Seriously, she couldn't stand the actual act of working. The people she served at the coffee shop were entitled, and most of them were rude. Sure, she enjoyed listening to their gossip while they thought all of their conversations were private. It didn't take away from the fact that they didn't treat anyone around them with respect.
The men took turns sitting in the coffee shop while she worked. They weren't creepy about it either, at least after the first day when Stefan sat at a table staring at the wall for four hours. No, Adam and Matthew brought their computers, or a book, when it was their turn. Stefan always had the newspaper now, and Arielle saw him working on the crossword puzzle every time she looked over at him.
Adam was the one currently sitting across the shop, and he was scrolling through something on his phone. He had been for the past three hours, too. When it slowed down for the day, Arielle took the chance to go over and talk to him.
"Hey," she said. "What are you looking at?"
He jerked as though she'd hit him, and looked up at her guiltily. "Nothing," he said quickly.
Arielle lowered her eyebrows at him, wondering if he was really hiding something or maybe just embarrassed.
"Okay. Well you were sitting over here looking like someone might have shot your dog, so I wanted to make sure that you were alright. I have another hour left and then I'll be ready to go."
"That's fine," he said with the shadow of a smile. "I'll be here waiting." He turned back to his phone and dismissed her.
Arielle left him there, staring at his phone, and went back to the counter. It had been that way for an entire week. Every time she turned around, they treated her as though she were a nuisance. Even after Stefan hugged her when he told her about Xavier being behind everything, he'd shifted. She felt stupid for thinking, even for a minute, that any of them would be interested in her. She'd heard it her entire life, though—no one wanted her. She was lucky to have the attention she did.
Xavier was a monster. Knowing that he was the one who was trying to hurt her, to take her, had Arielle feeling like she needed to run away and hide. Stefan had said his name, and every single thing inside Arielle froze in terror. There hadn't been a night since he told her that Arielle slept more than an hour or two at most. She wasn't doing well, not in the slightest. She couldn't trust Matthew, Adam, or Stefan to keep her secret if she told them. She was lucky that Xavier hadn't been able to force her to show her true colors, during the time that he'd spent violating her.
"Hey." Arielle turned to see a wolf standing in front of her at the counter. "You're Arielle, right?"
She smiled at the young man, who was probably her age. "Yeah, that's me."
"Awesome." He blushed. "Maddox said that you might need a friend or six since you're out and about more. A couple of the younger crowd are going to go out and have some fun tonight. Do you want to come?"
Arielle's heart started to race, and her hands grew sweaty. This was her chance not to run away and be free. Not to be in danger at all, but to just have fun. She opened her mouth to say yes, but Adam was there in an instant with a fake smile on his face.
"Sorry, man. We've got plans tonight. But she should definitely catch up with you guys next time." The way he said it made even Arielle think that
they had plans, and the young man walked away with a smile on his face and a promise that they'd catch up later.
Arielle saved her rage until after she was alone with Adam a few moments later.
"What did you do that for?" She hissed, "That's not your choice."
"No," Adam agreed with her. "But you don't know them. I don't know them. And Matthew hasn't done any recon on any of them. So until we know they aren't a threat, the best thing you could do is postpone hanging out with them."
She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that he was wrong. That she was going to do whatever she wanted to, but he was right. She'd literally just been thinking of Xavier. The smart thing to do was wait.
"Okay," she said to his back. "But next time, I want to go."
"See?" Adam called out over his shoulder. "You're already learning to compromise when the situation calls for it."
Arielle did her best not to sneer at his back. He was being ridiculous. They all were. At least he hadn't told anyone what she'd said to him that night, though. She hadn't meant to let slip the extent of what Xavier had done to her. Of course, Adam didn't know that it was Xavier. And she'd been keeping it a secret from them since Stefan told her about him.
They were all wondering why he would be coming after her as strongly as he was, but she knew the truth. In the dark of the night, when he was finished with her, he would tell her his plans. When he held her against her will, his disgusting body pressed against hers, he whispered his dreams about making her his queen.
She shuddered at the memory, completely shaken to her core. It was time that she learned how to protect herself. Not just the little lessons that she'd had with Danica and Mary. No, she needed to learn how to fight, and win no matter the cost.
There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't hide from. Xavier wouldn't stop until he had her, by his side willingly or not. Besides having her he'd want to hurt her. Just like he had for the last five years that her father had her imprisoned. Never stopping from the time she was fifteen, until the day she was freed.
Using Her Dragons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Omega Book 3) Page 8