by Romi Hart
With a heavy sigh, his tone was actually happy about what I’d said, “Oh, thank goodness. I can be lazy as well. I adore lying around, just watching the clouds go by while not thinking about a thing at all. My most favorite spot in my land is lying by the pond, listening to the waterfall flowing over the boulders and doing absolutely nothing at all.”
He had to be lying. “Tieris, your body is a work of art and I haven’t even got to witness all the hills and valleys that must make it up as those are hidden beneath your clothes. There is no way that you don’t work out for hours each and every day. A man who is built like you can’t be as lazy as I can be at times. Once again, you’re merely saying what you think I want to hear.”
Stopping our forward progression, he took both of my hands in his and looked me right in the eyes. “I am telling you the truth. I love just laying around. And, for the record, I don’t work out at all. I don’t watch what I eat – but I like to eat all sorts of meats and vegetables too. Maybe that’s why I’m fit. But working out isn’t why I’m built this way.”
He might’ve been on to something with his natural diet. “My body is the creation of me loving to eat sweets and starches far more than meats and veggies. I go through a loaf of bread a day and oftentimes a gallon of ice cream in a couple of days. Pizza is my number one go-to and I love soda pop too.”
With a smile, he only pulled me closer. “Then I shall make sure you get the things you love, my sweet. No wonder you taste so amazingly scrumptious. You’re the very first sweet thing I’ve ever found a craving for.” With a kiss to the tip of my nose, he once again ran his arm around my waist and off we went.
“But what I love makes me fat. If you make sure I get all I want, I’ll only get fatter.” Maybe he was some kind of a weirdo who wanted to see how fat he could make a woman get. Who was I to know what kind of person he really was?
Laughing softly, the deep vibration moved from his body to mine as he held me so tightly to his side. “Fat isn’t what I see when I look at you. I see a robust woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t care about trying to maintain a tiny body just to please the eyes of other people. Plus, if you were mine to please, then you would get a lot more physical exercise than you’re getting now.”
Here we go with the sex-talk.
“So, you’re saying that I can eat any way I’d like to because you will screw the calories off of me.” I rolled my eyes. “As if that’s even possible.”
“It is and I would love nothing more than to prove that fact to you. We can start ASAP.” A boisterous laugh came out of him. “I’m kidding. I know that you want to get to know me and I respect you. So, I will wait for you to let me know when you would like to begin getting intimate with one another.”
“If, I want to get intimate with you.” I knew any other woman would’ve been all over this magnificent man already. But I knew myself and I knew that I would fall head over heels for a man like Tieris. And I knew he would soon grow tired of looking at me – feeling my lumpy body beneath his perfect hands.
He can have any woman he wants – he’ll never be completely satisfied with just me.
I saw no reason to kid myself about things. The man who held me at his side as we walked down the street seemed to be proud to be seen with me. But there had to be something going on that I just hadn’t figured out yet.
His grin told me he had high expectations that we would indeed end up shuffling around in the sheets – and soon at that. “Yes, if you find me to your liking.”
“Tieris, you are beyond sexy and so far, what I know of you amazes me to no end.” He should know how I really felt. “I don’t want to get hurt. And I know I will get hurt if I let myself believe all these things you’re saying to me. They just can’t be true. This is some sort of a ruse and I know that.”
“You’re wrong. I am being as honest with you as I’ve ever been with anyone. I’m not a liar by nature. And there is no reason to lead you to think that I adore everything about you, especially your completely unique and natural scent. It’s as captivating as you are.” Taking a long sniff of my neck, he growled softly, “So intoxicating.”
I almost reminded him about sniffing people. But the way chills ran all over my skin told me to just shut up and enjoy it. Whatever special charisma the man had, it made the woman in me sit up and pay attention. And the woman in me wanted the brain in my head to shut the hell up and let her have this gorgeous creature for as long as she could.
My heart wasn’t protesting a bit either. It pounded in my chest as the tip of his nose grazed along my neck. “How do you make me feel this way?” I felt my knees getting weak and wasn’t sure if I could find the strength to stay up on them or if I would fall. Of course, he would catch me before I hit the ground, carrying me as if I weighed nothing at all. I had to laugh at my silly thought.
“What are you laughing about, Linda?” He nuzzled my neck, moving his lips up it now and making me sort of lose my mind.
“Just some silly thoughts that have sprung up in my head.” I thought about how he’d picked me up at the shop with such ease that it defied gravity. And how he’d been able to spin me around the dancefloor as if I was some tiny ballerina. “You’re just really strong is all. And it’s a bit mind-numbing how you’ve been able to pick me up and make me move in ways that I’ve never done before.”
“You haven’t a clue how I can move you, my sweet.” His breath spread hot across my neck as his teeth now dragged along my flesh.
Closing my eyes, I nearly forgot where we were or who I truly was. He’s a seducer, Linda! Stop falling for it. “Okay, the wine has gone to my head. I can clearly see that now. Come, let’s get going. Making out on the street isn’t a thing I do.”
“Pity.” Pulling himself away from me with so much reluctance that I could feel it within him, he took my hand and began our journey to my place once more. “Do you see the men who are looking at you now, Linda? Pay attention to the smiles on their faces. They like seeing you entice a man like me. Not that I want you to run to any of them to entice them they way you do me.”
“I don’t even try to entice you, so how could I possibly understand how to entice anyone else?” I tried to find these looks he spoke of on the men’s faces who walked casually down the sidewalks around us.
“Oh, you could do it,” he assured me. “I mean, you would have to want to do it if you were to entice any other man – which I would rather you not even consider. Look at me – already I am possessive of you, my sweet.”
With his admission, I thought I would see what he thought if I felt the same way. Which I didn’t. “And what if I felt the same way about you, Tieris? What if I told you that I didn’t want to think about you enticing any other woman? What would you say if I told you that if I saw you even flirting with another woman that it would enrage me?”
Now, let’s see his reaction to this.
“I should hope it would enrage you.” With his nose in the air, he stopped right in front of my apartment building. “Is this where you live?”
“Wow.” He was good. Or maybe he’s been stalking you. “It is where I live.” For a second, I thought taking him up to my pace might be a horrible mistake. But then I recalled my roommate being there and thought I’d let him in on that. “You can walk me up, but you can’t come inside. My roommate is in there. I don’t want to bother her as it’s late.”
“Of course.” Pulling open the door, he let me walk in before him. “Lead the way, my darling.”
His hand on the small of my back made me feel oddly amazing. Why it made me feel as if I was special to him was a thing I couldn’t wrap my head around. “Here we are.” I stopped in front of my door.
He smiled as he nodded while inhaling the air. “I’m glad you told me the truth, Linda. I was afraid you were going to try to tell me that you lived in a different apartment so I wouldn’t know where you lived. But you told me the truth and that means you trust me at least a little.”
Shrugging, I guesse
d he was right. “I keep a baseball bat under my bed.” I thought he should know that in case he did have any strange ideas.
His cell suddenly rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, looking at it with annoyance. “Why is he calling me?” He tapped in a message, instead of answering the call and in record time another message came in before he had time to put the phone back into his pocket. “Holy, hell. I’ve got to get going, Linda.”
So this is how it ends then.
“Okay.” The heaviness I felt was off the charts. “Bye then. I had a great time.”
“Me too.” Wrapping his arms around me, he looked into my eyes. “One kiss goodnight then?”
What the hell? It’ll be the one and only one anyway.
Nodding, I licked my lips as he moved in slowly. As soon as our lips touched, it felt as if flames shot through my entire body. He moved me until my back hit the door then his body crushed mine as he pushed his tongue through my lips, running it around mine as if asking it to play.
His hands were all over me, then I felt them underneath the back of my dress and running up my back. I didn’t care if my dress was hiked up. All I cared about was him and that kiss.
Mind-blowing, staggering, supernatural were all words that ran through my head as he took my mouth in a way no one ever had. There was obvious passion in him – passion for me!
Pulling away from me, he breathed heavily as he pulled my dress down, smoothing it out. “Sorry. I got carried away there, my sweet. But in my defense, you are scrumptious.”
Rubbing my jaw as it actually ached a little from the rough kiss, I nodded. “Yeah, you did get carried away there, didn’t ya?” Not that I minded. “You’re pretty delicious yourself, Tieris.”
Looking over his shoulder, he seemed irritated. “I’ve got to go. But I will be back. I’m not sure how long this will take me. Days – months maybe. But I will be back. So, I have to ask you not to see anyone else while I’m gone. If I have to think of you seeing some other man, it will get in my head and make things difficult for me.”
His request after one date wasn’t exactly normal at all. But my mouth opened and out came one word that I’d had no idea would slip off my tongue so easily, “Yes.”
The joy that spread over his handsome face filled me with elation. He really will come back. He really does like me. Or am I really crazy?
7
Tieris
Mako’s urgent text told me we had trouble at our castle – a place which had never seen trouble since our father had created it for us. My dragon wings beat the dark night sky as I headed home.
Why trouble had come just as I’d scented a mate, I had no clue. But the trouble had to be dealt with before I could bring my mate back home anyway. And Mako didn’t need to deal with things on his own either. Dragons always put family first.
Our realm always smelled of fire and brimstone, but as I flew in closer to the treetops I found another scent capturing my attention. Fish.
Unless Mako had left out a ton of eggs to spoil, we had another problem. What sort of problem? I still didn’t know. But we did have a problem.
The morning sun’s light began to wink at me over the horizon when something came up from the tree cover below. Huge, black, leathery wings carried my brother up in front of me, then he gave a loud growl as he led the way to what he wanted me to see.
The first thing I noticed was the fact that no water fell over the waterfall that filled the pond we got our drinking water from. Flying up the river that made the fall, we found it dry. Dead fish littered the once-thriving riverbed.
Mako gave a shriek of anger at what had happened to our water supply. It was as if someone wanted to make sure that we couldn’t stay in our realm. Without water, my brother and I would have no choice but to find another home in which we could live. That wasn’t a thing either of us had ever thought we would have to deal with. Our father had built us this place to spend our eternities. We would fight to keep what he’d given to us before we gave up.
Mako led me all the way up the river until we got to where the natural springs fed it. I’d expected to find something damning up the river, not dry springs, but that is what I found.
Going to the rocky ground, my brother and I put our dragons away, taking our human forms. Throwing my hands in the air, I was the embodiment of frustration and confusion. “Mako, you were here. When did you start to notice the change in the water?”
“Right before I called you.” He pointed at an empty spot on the riverbed where water had flowed from the underground springs only hours before. “Someone did this. This isn’t some kind of a natural phenomenon. One minute the waterfall was flowing like it always has, the next I heard nothing and looked to find everything dry.”
“You’re right, this isn’t natural.” Eyeing the surrounding area, I looked for signs of other shifters. It had to be a shifter behind something like this. Humans could only come to our realm if we brought them there. Shifters could come and go, but most of them waited for an invitation to make a visit. “Beaver-shifters?”
Mako shook his head. “There’re no dams. I haven’t ever heard of anything like this, but the thought of a sea sponge-shifter did come to mind. It is like all the water has been soaked up quickly and thoroughly.”
He was right about that. “I’ve never heard of sea sponge-shifters either. What else can soak up lots of liquid in a short amount of time?”
We both thought of the same thing at the same time as we shouted, “Camel-shifters!”
Having a breakthrough idea excited me. “A whole herd of them could be touring the shifter worlds and gulping down all the water.”
Mako’s smile turned into a frown. “Yeah, they could do that. But what they can’t do is suck the natural springs dry. Keep thinking.”
Nothing made sense as I continued to look around the area for any signs that might help us understand what had gone on. Mako looked around too, both of us searching the ground that had once been covered by three feet of rushing water.
We both stopped our search as a sudden loud booming sound made the ground underneath our feet shake. Looking at each other, we knew where the sound had come from. “Our castle!”
Jumping into the air, we transformed to rush to our home – the only home we’d ever known. Anger and confusion riddle me as we flew to the place we’d heard the explosion coming from. Upon our arrival, what we found took the air from our lungs.
Landing, our human feet took us at breakneck speed to the entrance that was now nothing but a pile of stones, sealing off our castle. “Damn!” I couldn’t believe someone had been in our realm and that we hadn’t been able to detect their presence. “Who the hell is here?” My voice reverberated off the high walls of the castle – walls that were still in place.
Mako’s hand on my shoulder took my attention. “Brother, we can fix this later. Right now, let us seek out the being who has sought to destroy us.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Taking a deep breath along with a sniff, I found nothing in the air. “How has it masked its scent so completely? I can’t smell a thing that shouldn’t be here.”
Mako nodded as he took in a deeper sniff. “Wait. A difference is here. Smell the air, Tieris. What is that unique scent? It’s captivating in a way.”
Wafting my hand over my clothing, I sent the aroma his way a bit more. “You mean this?”
His chocolate-colored eyes closed as he leaned in close to me and inhaled what remained on my clothing of Linda. “Ah, yes. That is a remarkably delightful scent. Pumpkin spice, I do believe.”
“Along with some other great things, yes.” Pulling my shirt up to my nose, I breathed in, reminding myself of Linda and the kiss we’d shared before I had to go. “Her name is Linda and she is the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. She’s funny, sweet, but so brave and powerful too. She’s it, Mako, she’s the one.”
“The one?” He shook his head. “Another woman, after all these years, Tieris. Are you sure? The females these days aren�
��t like the damsels in distress of yesteryear. Plus, when people go missing in this day and age, the whole world looks for them. It’s dangerous is what I’m saying.” His eyes went bright with orange flames shooting within them. “Wait! Could this be the work of someone who is fighting for her, brother? Could there be another shifter who wants the female you’ve scented?”
Codut had happened upon her twice that I had seen. “Our old nemesis, Codut was roaming about the city of Rome as was I. And I did find him in the athenaeum where Linda was working.”
Mako frowned, his brow furrowed. “What is an athenaeum? Some sort of a gentlemen’s club? Please do not tell me that you have scented a female of ill-repute, Tieris.”
Even with all the bad things happening in our realm, I had to laugh at my brother’s remarks. “No. Not in the least. An athenaeum is a bookstore. Linda works in one. And Codut was inside the store – the only other being inside the place when I followed my nose into the place that held my love – my one and only – my sweetheart.”
Mako’s wide eyes told me he thought we’d found our culprit. “So, he was in the same place as this female you’ve scented. He could very well be the one doing this to us to rid you of her company so he can swoop in and take her.”
“He had his chance with her, and he didn’t take it.” Codut had been there before me after all. “He also happened to be at the restaurant I took Linda to for our date and he didn’t come across as jealous in the least.”
“So, you don’t think he could be the one who is responsible for the destruction of our castle or the drying up of our water,” Mako murmured as he stroked his chin while deep in thought. “But if not him – the evil Codut – then who?” He gave me a sideways glance. “He is quite cunning, Tieris. Perhaps the way he acted was only a ruse to put you off guard.”
“If Linda was what he wanted, he could’ve taken her before I ever came around.” Shaking my head, I just didn’t feel that Codut had any interest in my female. “It has to be someone else. Or perhaps something else. We have to think rationally about this. The water drying up that way might be a thing we’ve never encountered but nature could be the one to blame for that. And even the collapse of the entrance could be blamed on nature.”