by D T Dyllin
“No!” Jeremy and I exclaimed at the same time.
“Talk about ecstasy overload,” Jenna finished up as if Jeremy and I hadn’t just screamed at her to stop. “Anyways . . .” She seemed to internally shake herself. And it was a good thing too, because I couldn’t help but feel just a tad violent toward her for mentally imagining a threesome on herself with the two men I was in love with. “You’re not a slut, P.J. Case closed.” She blinked at me a few times, and then another smile crept onto her face. “Wait. When you say hooked up with Khol, I’m assuming we’re talking about more than kissing or you wouldn’t be feeling so guilty. So . . . spill it. What happened?” She leaned toward me with an eager expression on her face, which caused me to stuff my face back down into Khol’s comforter.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I said.
“Oh, but you’re going to.” Jenna’s voice had taken on a hard edge. “I’m not leaving until you do.” And I knew she wasn’t bluffing. I knew she’d sit there and pester me until I told her exactly what happened between Khol and me.
My face heated as memories of his intimate kiss skittered across my mind. “Maybe it’s genetic,” I mumbled to myself.
“What is?” Jenna asked.
“Me and my slut like behavior.”
“For the last time . . . you are not a slut,” Jenna practically growled. “You’re just trying to avoid talking about what happened between you and Khol. You’re not fooling me.”
I sighed. “Maybe I am, but that doesn’t change the truth. Khol told me once that dragon females were nearly insatiable when it comes to . . . well, you know. So maybe I just can’t help it.”
“Or you just happen to want Khol and Bryn. If you were a genetic slut then you would have been putting out years ago. And again I will say . . . being with two guys doesn’t make you a slut. Now . . . time to spill what happened between you and Khol. No more subject changes.” Jenna resumed her eager stare.
“Fine,” I grated. “Khol and I . . . well I let Khol . . . he—”
“Just say it!” Jenna demanded. “What? What? What? He what?”
“Well he . . .” I wasn’t sure if I could actually say it out loud. “He . . . kissed me—”
“And!” Jenna leaned forward on the bed, reminding me very much of a vulture waiting to scavenge a body.
“It wasn’t a regular kiss . . .” My whole body flushed, and my heart began to race as I again thought of what I’d let Khol do to me.
“Oh my God! Just spit it out already!”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “He kissed me . . . well . . .” I pointed down toward the general vicinity of my middle, opening my eyes to meet Jenna’s confused brown pools. “Down there,” I hissed, looking at her with meaning. Come on Speaker—get there faster.
I saw comprehension wash over her as a grin spread across her face. “Holy shit! You let Khol go down on you?” She started bouncing up and down on the bed and I resumed my ostrich head in the sand position . . . a.k.a. my face stuffed into Khol’s comforter.
“You did!” Jenna exclaimed with excitement. “Did you like it? I mean was it good? I need details!”
“I think I’m gonna head out now,” I heard Jeremy mumble. “I got some—stuff to do. I’ll see you guys later.” He scuffled out of the room, his face flushed with embarrassment.
Neither Jenna or I acknowledged Jeremy’s leaving, but as soon as the door clicked shut signaling he was gone, Jenna exploded into girly excitement. “Details! I need details! EEEEEE! I can’t believe you let him do that to you! I’m so proud! Oh wait . . . did you reciprocate? Come on P.J. . . . I need details!”
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. “Yeah, it was good. Beyond good, I’ve never felt anything like it. Plus, with his magic . . . yeah . . . like I said, I’ve never felt anything like it.” I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. “And no, I didn’t reciprocate.”
“Let me get this straight.” Jenna’s eyes had widened to resemble tiny saucers. “He went down on you, and he didn’t even expect you to do it back?”
“He said he just wanted to help me take the edge off . . . You know, because of the extra hormones I’ve got going on with my pregnancy.”
Jenna flopped back onto the bed beside me with a huge sigh. “He’s got it bad for you. No joke. If that isn’t love then I don’t know what is. Plus, all the other stuff he’s always doing for you, but he’s still a guy, you know. You’re so lucky.” She exhaled a loud demonstrative sigh.
“Macon loves you, and so does Jeremy.”
“Yeah well, Macon acts like reciprocation is his God given right. I used to think it was kind of hot how he took all the control and everything, but now I mostly think it’s annoying.”
“Jeremy wouldn’t do that.” I’d always liked Jeremy and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put in a good word for him. “Jeremy really cares about you, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Jenna waved her hand in the air. “I don’t wanna talk about it. I wanna talk about what you’re gonna do about everything that’s going on with you.”
I scowled in her direction. Typical Jenna. She didn’t want to talk about stuff she wasn’t ready to, but she was always forcing me to divulge information before I was ready. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing you need to do . . . Pick some new colors for your wardrobe because what you’ve got now is so going to clash with your new hair.” She paused as if thinking. “And you’re going to need some new eye makeup. Hey, if Storm from X-Men can look hot with white hair, then you can too. We’ll make it work.”
I started to giggle as I mentally pictured Jenna trying to dress me up in various superhero type costumes. “I’m not a superhero, Jenna. Just—”
She rolled to face me at the same time I rolled to face her. “A queen.” We both burst into laughter.
“Who would have ever thought our lives would have gotten so complicated?” I said, grasping at my side because I was laughing so hard. It was all so funny because it all . . . wasn’t.
“Certainly not me,” she barked out. “I used to be worried we’d miss out on all the adventures. And”—she clutched at her side too—“I used to worry you’d die a virgin. Ha! Look at you now!”
“Hey! Not funny!” But I couldn’t help but laugh harder. It felt good to just let go of some of the tension with Jenna. It made me feel like some of the weight had been lifted off of my shoulders . . . even if it was only temporary.
A prickling of power slid across my skin causing goose bumps to erupt all over my body. I sucked in a ragged breath a split second before Khol appeared a few feet in front of the bed. “That’s new,” I muttered as I locked eyes with him.
“Oh hey, Khol,” Jenna said. “We were just talking about you.” She giggled. “All good stuff, I promise. But I have a few questions for you . . .”
“Jenna, stop!” God only knew what kind of questions she had for Khol.
She turned to me with an over exaggerated pout. “Fine, then.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’ll just leave you two alone. Just one question first . . .”
“Get out Jenna!” I yelled. “I’ll talk to you later.” I gave her my best stern face, which actually seemed to work.
“Alright,” she said in a singsong voice. “I’ll see you two later.” She practically skipped from the room with delight.
I turned to address Khol, my face heating with embarrassment. “Sorry about that. I—”
Khol stole the words from my mouth with a blinding smile. “It makes me happy to see you smiling again, my little Queen.” He dropped down on his knees in front of me. “I only wish that I had been the one to lighten your mood.” He cupped my face in his large warm hands, his eyes flaring brighter.
The vision slammed into me, forcing the air from my lungs as I gasped to breathe. Unlike some of the visions I’ve had in the past, it was almost as if I was watching two TV screens at the same time. I co
uld still see Khol as clear as day in front of me, but I also saw a second scene unfolding in front of me that dragged my attention toward it.
“Fight for her if you love her,” Khol growled as he stepped into the space directly in front of Bryn.
“I thought you’d be happy if I walked away,” Bryn slumped into himself, a look of defeat etched into every plane on his face. “You’re the better man . . . or rather dragon . . . You win.”
Khol grabbed Bryn by the front of his shirt, his eyes erupting into flames. “I will win this battle fair and square, not because you simply gave up,” Khol spat the last words with distain, as if giving up were the worst thing anyone could ever do.
“We’ll wait to see who the father is, like we agreed. That’s all I can promise.” Bryn wasn’t even struggling against Khol; he seemed utterly and totally broken.
“You and I both know she won’t be able to stick to that, she always has and always will follow her heart. She’ll try, but she is after all a female dragon.” Khol’s lips turned up at the corners in a cruel smile. “She’s already wavering in her decision. I plan to take advantage of any opportunity she’ll give me. I’ll claim her before the child is born, if her will slips for even a moment, I’ll claim her.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Bryn whispered, his eyes flaring dragon blue for the briefest of moments.
“Because I love her, and I know she would never forgive me a second time if I tried to rip you away from her. I need to make sure she feels you had a fair chance. But I can’t fight my instincts. I will claim her.”
“I know you love her, maybe even as much as I do. But that’s why I’m walking away, because I can’t protect her. I love her too much to see her suffer because of my selfishness.”
“This will be the only warning you get,” Khol stated with force. “Do not upset her needlessly when it’s too late for the two of you. There’s no going back this time, once she’s mine . . . she’s mine.”
Bryn pulled free of Khol’s grasp and bared his teeth at him. “Message received and noted. Now leave me the hell alone.”
The vision faded away slowly and I found myself staring into Khol’s eyes. “What did you see, my little Queen?”
“You don’t know?” I breathed.
“No. The vision was closed to me for some reason. Tell me what you saw.”
“It was just Bryn and you talking . . . about me. You told him to fight for me—you told him—”
“The Queen’s powers are beginning to show themselves in you. I know of which conversation you’re referring to because it only just occurred, before I came to see you here.” Khol pushed the hair on the left side of my face behind my ear. “But it was not meant for you to witness.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that,” I said dryly. “So you plan on seducing me away from Bryn to break our bargain?”
Khol hesitated for a moment before responding. “Yes. I’ve made no secret about my desire to claim you . . . the right way this time.”
I tried to be mad at Khol as I stared into his strong chiseled face, meeting his fire-consumed eyes. I tried to be mad at him as I ran my fingertips over his high cheekbones and brought the fingers of one of my hands to caress his firm and yet supple lips. I tried to be mad at him as he gripped my hair at the base of my neck and tugged gently as he sucked one of my fingers into his mouth, reminding me of other things his oh so talented mouth could do. And I tried to be mad at him as his free hand slipped up to pull me closer to him, eliciting a moan from me. “I can’t trust you not to cheat,” I murmured.
“No, you can’t.” He nibbled on my fingertips before letting my hand drop away so he could claim my lips. I clutched at him, unsure of whether to push him away or pull him closer, my body craving his touch, and yet my mind screaming at me to punish him for his actions.
“Let’s end this now.” He began kissing a heated path down the side of my neck and I finally decided that pulling him closer was the best course of action to take at the moment. “Let me claim you so that none of us suffer any longer. You saw for yourself, he won’t fight for you.”
“It could be Bryn’s child,” I said, trying not to lose control under Khol’s heated lips.
“He still doesn’t want to fight for you, and I don’t care who the father is. I will love it like it is mine . . . either way.”
“I know,” was all I could manage to say; my brain was short-circuiting on lust. Khol continued his way down my body, nibbling, kissing and suckling. He paused to tug at my pants and alarm bells began sounding in my head. I knew he was intending to wear me down slowly, another few rounds of what he’d done to me before and I’d be begging for him to make love to me, consequences be damned. So I decided to do whatever I could to prevent that scenario from happening. “Wait . . . stop!” I said with desperation. “Let me—” Let me what? Then my thoughts went to what Jenna had asked earlier. “Let me . . . reciprocate.” Khol stopped short, his heated gaze resting heavily upon me. “Please, I want to.” I pushed up from my prone position and dipped down on my knees in front of him. As I unzipped his pants, I felt Khol’s body thrum with tension. He seemed almost reluctant to let me repay his favor from earlier, or maybe he saw my aversion tactic for what it was.
Khol caught my head in both of his hands and he forced me to look up at him. “Are you sure you want to do this?” His voice came out sounding strained, and broke an octave lower about halfway through.
I searched my feelings, asking myself if I really wanted to do for Khol, something that I’d only ever done for Bryn, and only a handful of times at that. But the answering clench of my stomach followed by a rush of heat to my middle let me know that I did indeed want to give Khol this particular gift. “I’m sure,” I rasped. I was surprised at my feelings, but I didn’t doubt them. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of me taking control of Khol, of me having power over him in that kind of intimate way. “Now just sit back and relax,” I commanded.
And Khol obeyed.
9
“No. Just stop. I let you curl my hair but you’re not attacking me with hairspray again. The last time I let you at me with that stuff I had to deep condition . . . twice . . . before I could even get a brush through it.” I scowled at Jenna, who was currently brandishing the biggest can of hairspray I’d ever seen.
Her brows furrowed together with annoyance. “Just a little bit, or your hair’s gonna fall.”
I stood abruptly and scrambled away from her, waving my hands around my head to keep her from spraying at me on the run. “I said no!”
“Come on, P.J., I don’t see what the big deal is!” She vaulted after me and pushed down the aerosol button on the top of the can and let loose a stream of spray in my direction.
“The big deal is that my hair is already white, if you spray it until it could withstand a tsunami then I’m going to look like a little old lady!” I crouched as Jenna shot another stream of hairspray at me.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re almost nineteen not ninety, and without make-up you still look like you’re twelve, so just let me make you look pretty for this stupid announcement thing!”
“No means no Jenna!” I screeched as I whirled around and grabbed the can from her, but still managed to get shot in the face. “Oh come on!” I coughed.
A prickling of power across my skin signaling Khol’s emanate arrival made me stop and straighten up. I still hadn’t figured out what was going on with me being able to sense Khol’s arrival before he actually appeared, or how I could tell it was him, but I had a feeling it had something to do with my still new to me powers. I hadn’t had the opportunity to test out if I could sense it with anybody but him yet, but I was sure I wouldn’t have to wait long.
“Khol,” I breathed as he appeared a few feet in front of me. The smile he gave me made me weak in the knees, and I knew the answering one I wore probably made me look like I was a little drunk. And maybe in some ways I was. “I’m not ready yet,” I murmured trying to ignore t
he little flip-flop that my stomach did as memories of what we’d done together, of how he had let me explore him with my mouth with leisure, and of just how he tasted, rose unbidden to my mind.
“My little Queen,” he practically purred, and I had to fight the urge to fan myself.
“Jenna, hey . . . um . . . can you give us a couple minutes?” I said without breaking eye contact with Khol. I wanted a few minutes alone with him after what happened between us. We hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk; in fact, right after I’d finished . . . my job . . . Drake had called him away on some sort of dragon business. At the time I was kind of relieved because I was pretty sure I was about five seconds away from doing something stupid with him, but now I was regretting the lost intimacy that being with him afterwards would have surely offered me.
“Yeah, I guess,” Jenna pouted. “But don’t do anything to mess up your hair.” She left the room grumbling under her breath about not being appreciated enough.
“I brought you something,” Khol said with a twinkle in his eyes. He then produced a small rectangular shaped box from behind him.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You’ll just have to open it to find out.”
“Yeah, okay.” I made my way over to him and hesitantly took the box from his outstretched hand. I wasn’t used to getting gifts from men, especially men who’d seen me naked. Except for Bryn, my mind protested, but I quickly pushed the thought aside, and ignored the weird pressure in my earlobes from the small sapphire studs that Bryn had given me for my birthday almost a year ago. The black velvet box creaked its protest as I opened it, and I inhaled sharply at what was inside. Nestled on more black velvet was an enormous red stone surrounded by a dragon with outstretched wings. The dragon itself was intricately made, every small detail etched into the shiny silver metal with care. It was a pendant that I’d never seen the like of, and I was pretty sure I never would again. Fire and Water, I thought numbly, ruby and sapphire. Khol was a Fire dragon, and Bryn a Water dragon. The symbolism was too obvious to be ignored, but I decided to do just that. “That isn’t real, is it?”