by Celeste Raye
Freya's heart fluttered a little bit because she had been so convinced that it was because they had some sort of connection. Not because he was some kind of Sherlock Holmes.
She was about to ask him another question because Freya still had it in her heart that there was a connection between them. There was just something inside of her that made it known.
Then a voice that she recognized as the club owners came over the loudspeaker and he started to give a speech about the day and how it was supposed to be honored by all families.
“If it wasn't for the first Dragons, none of us would be here. We are born of the blood, and we will continue on with the tradition. This is the one day of the year where we can put all of our petty differences aside to remind ourselves why we gather together every year. Why we come from all walks of life and across thousands of miles of terrain. We come together to look around and see how strong we have become. We all started from four eggs. So, no matter how different we may seem now, how different can we really be?”
The whole time that Frank was speaking, Nik couldn’t keep his eyes off Freya. He wanted to believe the words that came out of Frank's mouth, but he knew better. His family would never forget the hatred that they had for the Domin family. It did not matter how long ago it happened or how many years had passed since then. The only thing that mattered was hate, and no matter what day it was, they could feel nothing else.
He tightened his features and looked away from the woman that was pulling him in. Of course, the first time that he felt something for someone, it would be one of his enemies. Someone that he couldn't be with.
Freya did not see it that way, and she squeezed his hand. She was snuggled up against him, and Nik was not worried about who else was seeing it. He didn't want to think about what happened when he got back to his family. He was going against the cause. They would see it as a betrayal, no matter how it was framed.
After the speech was over and the music started back up, Nik told Freya that he had to go.
“Where are you going?”
“I just have to go, Freya. I am glad that I met you, but this can't go any further.”
Freya looked confused and tried to stop him, but he was already turning away. She managed to stop him for a moment by grabbing his arm.
“At least kiss me before you leave. Something to remember you by.”
Nik was surprised by the request but he was unable to stop himself from doing exactly what she wanted. How could he possibly tell her no?
He leaned down to kiss her, and their lips touched for only a moment. He could feel the same electricity that had flowed between their hands, now on his lips. They were tingling with a sensation.
He heard her gasp, and she pulled back with an even more confused look on her face.
Chapter Five
“I thought you were leaving.”
“I was, but that kiss…”
Freya was upset that he was leaving so soon, but she liked the pause in his eyes now.
“What?”
“You know what.”
“Well, you have to leave, so I don’t want to keep you. It can never happen with me and you, right? That’s what you were going to say.”
“It was, and I still believe it to be true, but something happened when we touched. Did you feel it?”
Freya wasn’t going to say one way or another. She could hear enough of his thoughts to know what he truly felt.
“It was nothing, Nik. I can’t change who I am.”
“Neither can I.”
He looked to be making up his mind and then he turned back around after a moment. The second kiss was spontaneous, and it took her breath away. When he pulled back, she was staring at him as if she didn’t know what to say or do. She definitely felt it that time.
When he walked away again, she felt something inside of her left aching for him. There had been a connection that she didn’t understand between the two of them. It didn’t make sense, and it was most certainly not sanctioned, but none of that mattered.
Freya knew that it wasn’t right what they did. It was one thing to drink and dance with the enemy, but it was certainly not okay to kiss the enemy or to think about having sex with them. There were rules against it; she was sure of it.
She looked around, wondering if any of her brother’s friends were around to make gossip that would piss him off. Lachlan was so predictable in his outrage that it wasn’t hard at all to figure out what would happen next.
No one came to her immediate concern, and Freya looked at the time. The day was done and going upstairs to a room sounded better than going home. She wanted to ride out the feelings that she was experiencing at the moment.
She got upstairs and found her room. She was grateful that there was one available. Freya had thoughts of what would have been different if one of them were someone else. If Nik had been anyone else, she would have certainly invited him up for a while. It was hard to think of anything else happening in that scenario.
Her sleep was filled with visions of the man that held her at the party, so close that she could hear his heartbeat when they were dancing. He smelled like fire and brimstone, yet somehow made it smell wild and free. Everything about him attracted her, but there was nothing that she could do about it.
He was a Rand, which made him off limits.
“I cannot believe you, Freya!”
She hadn’t even gotten out of bed and already she was getting yelled at.
“What can you not believe, Lachlan?”
“That you were seen canoodling with the enemy.”
She giggled and saw the look of rage on her brother’s face. Freya had known that it would be coming. She just didn’t realize that it would happen so fast, the judgment that her brother was known for.
“They don’t even use that word anymore. We danced, that’s it.”
“Danced and then kissed him in front of half of the dragon families. We are now going to be the laughingstock of the community because of it.”
He was always so worried about what other people thought.
“I just danced with a guy that was nice to me. I don’t know why you have to make a big deal out of everything. What do you want me to say? A few dances and a kiss do not make you guys lose face. I don’t see how that is even an option.”
Lachlan shook his head. “You think that I am being rough on you? Just wait until Father sees you. He is going to freak out.”
That wasn’t something that Freya was looking forward to. “Well, why don’t we get out of here, so I can prolong that ass-chewing for a bit?”
Lachlan agreed, only because he felt the shame from his sister’s actions and didn’t want to be around to hear about it. He was lost at what to do with her, sure that she was uncontrollable. That was the word that was given to Freya at a very young age.
Freya watched him go and wondered if it was really as bad as he was making it out to be. It had only been a kiss after all. It wasn’t like her brother, or anyone else, knew what had been going on in her mind when all of it was occurring. Then she would have something to answer for, but that wasn’t the case. Her mind and thoughts were her own.
It didn’t matter that they were filled with Nik. That was going to be her little secret.
Chapter Six
The kiss was still on his lips when Nik went upstairs. He had thought that he would find someone for the night, but his mind had been altered by meeting Freya. Nik wasn’t sure if it was still his sister’s words or something organic. All he knew for certain was that he was thinking of Freya in a different way than he had thought of anyone else. All that he could think to himself was how perfect Freya was.
But when he got upstairs, reality set in and Nik knew that he wasn’t going to be able to entertain the idea again. There was no use in even trying.
Nik took a cold shower, which he needed after seeing Freya. She had made all of him respond to her in a way that he wasn’t accustomed to. He got turned-on all the time, but that didn�
�t mean that he was used to being so fierce, so quickly. It was hard to imagine how badly he wanted to be with her, knowing who she was.
The door to the adjourning room opened, and he knew it was his sister Ophelia.
“Going to bed, Opi. I am tired. What’s up?”
“I saw you with her. Was that a Domin?”
She knew it was and Nik didn’t want to get into the particulars with his sister.
“Why do you ask if you already know the answer to it?”
“I just find it funny because that was one of the girls that I wanted to have you meet.”
“You wanted me to meet her? Why?”
“Because I thought that the two of you would hit it off. I know that she is from the ‘bad’ family, but why does that have to matter? Just because our parents and grandparents didn’t get along, it doesn’t mean that we have to feel the same way. You know?”
He liked to agree with her, but at the same time, Nik knew better. He knew that it didn’t matter what started the fight, just that he held up his loyalty to his side. That wasn’t for him to decide.
“It was just a couple of dances, and that’s it. I don’t know why everyone is making a big deal out of it.”
“Because it’s her. I thought you were going to get into it with Lachlan.”
“I will never like him. Ever. I have hated him since we were both young and learning to be dragons. We were expected to compete, and we did. Everything was a competition. We’ve never gotten along, and he wanted to start something but his sister stepped in. She was probably just making sure that he didn’t get hurt.”
Ophelia rolled her eyes and tossed her blonde curls back off of her face. “You just don’t get it, do you?”
“I guess not.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, Nik. I think you should see her again; family be damned. I hadn’t seen you that happy and actually smiling in a really long time.”
He liked the idea of it, but he wasn’t going to let it show. She didn’t need to know that the woman was haunting him. That was something that he needed to keep to himself.
“Get your head out of the clouds, Opi. It was just a kiss.”
She didn’t seem convinced, and Nik wasn’t all that convinced either. How had Ophelia known that he would take such a liking to the woman? It was like she had known, just like he had known once he’d met her.
“Whatever you say, Nik, but you seem to forget that I can read your mind.”
“Don’t.”
“Well, stop being emotional and letting it seep out. That’s your loss of control. You know I can’t help but hear it. Silence your mind and I won’t have to know that you’ve been thinking about her all night.”
That got Nik growling, and his sister wasn’t fazed at all by his posturing.
“Stay out of my mind.”
“I want to, Nik. Shut up about it and I won’t have to hear it.”
His sister put him in a foul mood, and the rest of the day didn’t help much. It wasn’t what anyone said or did; it was just the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about Freya. He told himself that it was impossible, told Ophelia the same, but there was something that was bothering him.
He did what he always did and put his effort into work. He had a lot to do around the estate and with pack business, so Nik made it through the rest of the day without thinking about Freya once. Until he went to bed that night. Then there was nothing to stop all of the thoughts and dreams that he was bound to have. They were all about her, and it wasn’t something that he could get off of his mind.
Nik was not the type of person that didn’t sleep at night. He didn’t have any demons that bothered him, so restful sleep was something that he was used to. But that was apparently something that had changed because he tossed and turned most of the night. By morning, he was sore all over, and his mind was racing.
Another day was spent thrusting himself into every job and opportunity to get his mind off of things that arose. It was hard for him to worry about Freya while his mind and body were wracked. He flew further and faster than he had to and even did some pounding when it came time to break rock for the foundation of the house he was building. Anything that he could do to take his mind off of her was what he did.
But another night came as they always did, and he was not able to cope with it. He knew that he should be able to, but it wasn’t possible. At the end of the day, all he could think about was her, and after spending another night up and worried about a woman he couldn’t have, he had to do something. Against everything that made sense, he just wanted to see her once more. Maybe he just wanted to convince himself that she wasn’t as great as he remembered. How could she be? No one was that perfect.
With a decision to see her in mind, Nik finally slept. He was awakened by contractors’ calls but he ignored them and dreamed about Freya. Knowing he would see her soon had settled him when nothing else could. It was all he needed.
Chapter Seven
Freya went back to her life and tried to pretend like nothing had happened. She had upset her family with her antics at the party, but that was just something else that she was trying to forget. Every time she tried to push Nik from her mind, he rose right back to the top. It was either because of her own doing or one of her family members talking badly about him.
So, Freya went on. She went back to the family home and toiled. It was usually work that she loved, cooking and supervising the help to get the house in order, but it wasn’t doing anything for her now. Everything felt like a waste, and for the first time, Freya started to realize how alone she felt.
Her mother caught her moping and asked her what was going on. She seemed concerned, and Freya wanted to tell her.
“I think I am just confused, Mom.”
“Does this have anything to do with that Rand boy?”
It was funny to call Nik a boy. He was far from it, but it made sense to Freya that was how her mother would talk about him. Compared to her, she most likely did see him that way. He was not near as old as her parents were after all.
“Well, I am sure that Father has told you all about it. As loud as he was yelling at me when I got back, I figured that you knew about it.”
“Yes, I heard what your father had to say, but I want to know how you feel about it. How do you feel about this Nik Rand?”
She acted like she didn’t know who Freya was disturbed and confused about, but she knew. Her mother seemed always to know things like that. She knew everything.
“I don’t know how I feel. It doesn’t matter, though, does it? I mean, as much as our families hate each other, it’s not like anything can ever come of it. I don’t know why we are supposed to hate them, but we don’t have a choice. I know that.”
“Some people are not meant to be together and knowing that we can’t have something makes us want it a bit more.”
Freya wasn’t sure if that was what was going on or not. She wanted to believe that it was something more going on between the two of them, but she just wasn’t sure. It was all too complicated as far as she was concerned. She didn’t think that it had anything to do with the fact that she couldn’t have him, but perhaps that was the truth?
“I don’t think that’s it, Mom. I don’t know. There was just something about him. I felt like I’d known him my whole life. I know that it’s silly to feel that way, but I just can’t help it.”
Jillian pressed her lips together into a thin line and Freya knew that it was her mother’s way of showing her that she was upset about it. She didn’t want to get into it with her mom, but at the same time, she really wanted to talk to her about it. Jillian was her best friend after all. They’d been together for over a century. She wanted to talk to her without the bias of her father clouding everything.
“Would it really be so bad if I were to like Nik? I mean, it’s not like anything is going to happen, but would it be so bad if it did?”
She was asking because Freya was hoping that her mother would give her consent. Fre
ya just needed someone to say that everything was going to be okay.
“You know better than to ask a question like that. We would not ask you to stay away from his family if it was not absolutely necessary. We only do it to keep you safe.”
“But why? Nik would never do anything to hurt me, so why are you acting like I am in some kind of danger? I don't feel like I'm in danger when I'm with Nik. It is my brother and my father that make it so dangerous. They are the only ones that are giving me grief about it.”
“It is with good reason.”
“Then tell me why. You keep telling me that I can't do these things, but I want to know why. Don't I at least have the right to know?”
Jillian looked away for a moment like she couldn't meet her daughters’ eyes. Freya knew that the only way she was going to get answers was to keep pushing it.
“You have heard the stories. You know that our families do not get along and they haven't gotten along for over a century.”
“Why don't I remember it? It wasn't like it was that long ago. I should remember something, but I don't.”
“You were young, and you were involved with a lot of other things that kept your mind away from the family. Just recently, you started to care about what happens to this family, Freya. Before that, well, you were just young.”
Freya had never really thought about it, but now she wondered why she couldn't remember anything from her youth. It had been so long ago, but she should remember something. A glimmer, something. Even when she really tried hard, there was nothing there. It was the first time that she realized it, and it freaked her out a little bit. What did that mean?
“So, what happened? Why is it that we are supposed to hate the Domin family so much? I just don't understand. Why can't somebody tell me something?”