by Roxie Ray
Jury’s dragon weighed on my mind as I got ready for the day. My father had taught me a significant amount about dragons, including the need to shift. I’d covered for him more than once to let him shift with privacy. Both Jury and Nyx had to be absolutely miserable not being able to shift.
After a shower, I checked my phone, and saw a message from Harley. She’d had contractions in the night, and they’d gone to the hospital only to find out it was false labor. She was back home and exhausted. I fired back a reply to rest. I could find something to keep me busy. We made dinner plans, then I told her to go nap.
So that freed up my day. The flowers were still lying on the kitchen table, so I rummaged in the kitchen cabinets until I found a cheap glass vase under the sink, but it was too small for the big bouquet.
Luckily, there was a pitcher, meant for tea or lemonade, under there, too. It made an ugly vase, but at least it would keep the flowers alive. I added the flower food and arranged them the best I could in the makeshift vase, then put them back on the table.
Jury’s note caught my eye. I picked it up and read it again, then flipped it over to find his phone number. Ah.
With a sigh, I felt my forgiving and eager-to-please side win. I went back to the bedroom where I’d left my phone and sat on the side of the bed to text Jury.
Thank you for the breakfast.
He didn’t reply immediately. I opened a game on my phone to pass a few minutes to see if he’d reply at all. Maybe he’d changed his mind.
As I matched my first row of virtual candy, his reply flashed across the top of the screen.
Can I buy you lunch, too? Stef told me you might need company today.
Of course he did.
I suppose that would be okay.
He replied with an address and time. I didn’t know where it was, but my GPS would find it fine. See you then.
Well. It looked like I had a lunch date with Jury Kingston. And Nyx. Super.
I drove around for the rest of the morning. The town had a few shops to waste my time in. I considered getting my hair and nails done, but I knew Harley wanted to do them. We’d planned to go to her salon today, even though she was already on semi-maternity leave. She had big plans to renovate the salon but had put them on hold until after the baby was born. For the moment, she said she was running it the same way it had been before she bought it. She only dealt with scheduling and payroll, and any major issues that might have popped up. I didn’t blame her. What was the point of owning a business if she couldn’t take a step back when she needed to?
I found a secondhand shop and spent a couple of hours trying on clothes and combing their shelves. I left with several new outfits, having hit the jackpot of some person who had cleaned out their closet in my size. I’d have to pack creatively to get it all in my bags for the flight home.
But I still had an hour until I was due at Jury’s, thanks to the super-early wake-up call with breakfast.
I left my car in the shop parking lot and walked down Main Street, wandering in and out of the buildings and browsing. I even went into the grocery store and bought a soda. It felt weird to walk out empty-handed.
When I got back to the car with my soda, I figured it was close enough to time. It would probably take a good fifteen minutes to get to the address, making me right on time.
I plugged it into my GPS, and it gave me a five-minute arrival time.
Shit.
Well, I’d drive slowly. I knew the way to Jury’s parents’ manor house, and at first, I thought the directions were taking me there. But then, a driveway appeared on the left side of the road, across from the driveway to Maverick and Ava’s house. I’d been to it a time or two in the week I stayed with Jury’s family. I headed up the new driveway, and even driving five miles per hour under the limit, a gorgeous house appeared through the trees at the end of the very long, well-kept gravel driveway with pristine white rocks after only six minutes. Leaving me still almost fifteen minutes early. Oh, well.
Wow. The house was gorgeous. It was at the top of a hill cleared of trees and looked like a castle overlooking its kingdom. As I continued up the driveway to the top of the hill, my father’s face popped into my mind. He wanted this kingdom. He was willing to die for it.
I couldn’t think about that. Pushing thoughts of him away, I focused on the home and opened the car door.
They built this house in only the months I was gone? They must’ve had a crew out there dedicated day and night. Then again, I didn’t have the first clue how long it took to build a house of this grandeur. All that I knew I’d learned from watching celebrity reality TV shows.
The big wooden front door opened, and Axel walked out. I sighed with a bit of relief to see him. Having lunch with just Jury had felt too heavy. Plus, if this was Axel and Charlotte’s new house, I’d get to see the baby!
“Come on in, it’s good to see you,” Axel called.
I walked around the car. “Is it okay to park here?”
“Of course, it’s fine.” He held the door open and closed it after I walked in. Then I understood why the house was already done. Much of the inside still needed finishing. “Apologies for the state of the house. We only work on it when Charlotte is at the hospital and Chase is at their daycare.” He motioned me through the bright foyer. The home was full of windows, making it seem even bigger and airier.
“Are you finishing it yourselves?” I asked.
“No, only partly. We have a local company that is working with us on the scheduling.” The living room looked pretty well done. He walked us through it, and I noted the lack of furniture. “We mostly live in our bedroom and the kitchen. Those two rooms and the bathrooms are done,” he said. “But it’s been great having our own place. I’ve never lived away from my parents, as pitiful as that sounds.” He chuckled. “I guess it worked out.” He led me through an empty and unfinished room, that probably would eventually be their dining room.
“Absolutely.” I stood in the kitchen and gaped. “Whoa. This is heaven.”
I loved to cook. As a teen, I was always making some concoction or another for my mother, including her many boyfriends, until I figured out that feeding them made them stay longer. The kitchen was like a culinary orgasm for me. All stainless-steel appliances, a double-size range, three—three!—ovens, and the refrigerator was hidden as a cabinet. I knew because there was no refrigerator in the room.
“This is gorgeous,” I whispered.
“You like it? You’ll have to tell Charlotte. She designed it. She said she always wanted a fancy kitchen, so...” He looked around and shrugged. “It must be pretty cool because I think my mom has cooked more meals in this kitchen than her own since it was finished. She’s the real chef of the family.”
I giggled and ran my hand along the marble island top.
“Come on, they’re out back.”
He opened one of the French doors behind the kitchen table, which looked very small in the large room.
A baby’s squeal distracted me from Jury, who was sitting in the middle of the yard with his legs crossed.
“Abby,” Charlotte said warmly. “Welcome.”
Jury jerked and turned around on the lush green grass when he heard Charlotte say my name. I ignored him and walked across the large deck to greet Charlotte and the baby, who was sitting up on her knee. “Thank you for inviting me for lunch,” I said. “So nice of you.”
Then, my attention was captivated by the baby. “How old is he now?” I asked.
“Five months,” Charlotte said. “And already trying to crawl.”
“Wow.” I leaned over and looked at his face. “Hello, you handsome guy.”
“Want to hold him?” she asked.
“Absolutely.” I pulled the little guy into my arms, and he promptly grabbed my earring and some hair in each fist. I laughed as I gently pulled them out of his chubby grip. “You are so handsome, aren’t you?”
He gurgled his reply, and I couldn’t help but lean forward and smel
l his head. “Mmm,” I hummed. “He smells wonderful.”
Charlotte laughed and gathered up his bottle and blanket. “It’ll make your uterus skip a beat, won’t it?”
I agreed but didn’t say that in front of Jury.
“I’ll go change him and get the sandwiches out. We’re not eating fancy today; I hope you don’t mind.”
She took him from me with the smile of a new mother. “No, sandwiches sound great,” I said. “I had a big breakfast.”
Charlotte gave me a knowing smile. “I bet.”
When they walked inside, I turned and faced Jury. He was still on the grass. Axel came back out the door with a blanket. “Here, just in case.”
He held it out, and I took it with a confused expression. What did I need it for?
I turned to ask Jury, but his eyes captivated me. They looked so lively, even halfway across the yard. Like he was staring into my soul or something equally corny like that.
“Thank you for coming,” Jury said. “Will you sit with me for a few minutes?”
And that was the reason for the blanket. I was in a skirt. I considered telling him no and going in to help Charlotte with lunch, but then I remembered his dragon. Maybe sitting with me would soothe the big guy. “Okay.” I walked down the three deck steps and onto the grass. It had been cut recently and smelled like watermelon.
After spreading the blanket in front of Jury, I crossed my legs the same way and made sure my flowy skirt covered them well. I fiddled with the blanket and my skirt as long as I could, then I had no choice but to look at him, to look into his eyes.
Damn, they were alluring. It was hard to say if they looked more brown or green. At the moment, green, but that was probably a reflection of the grass.
“Can I hold your hand?”
I looked down at his large hands resting on his knees. After a second, I put my hands above his. He turned his over and enveloped mine. His palms were warm and dry.
He slumped forward, his entire body relaxing, and he gripped my hands harder. I looked up in surprise to find a blissful expression on his face. “Thank you,” he whispered.
I twitched my head because a faint buzzing sound kept bothering me. It was so quiet I almost thought it was in my head. After a few moments, I realized it was energy, buzzing between Jury and me. Whoa.
My body felt energized, yet at the same time as I imagined a cat felt when it fell asleep in a ray of sunshine from the window. Warm and comfortable and safe.
“Abby, would it be okay with you if I shifted?” I looked into his eyes again, and he looked so hopeful and worried.
“Why?” I’d seen my father shift a few times. It wasn’t a big deal, but surely, he wouldn’t have wanted to have such a private moment in front of me.
“Nyx is anxious to meet you himself,” he explained.
“Oh.” That was flattering. “Why?” I said again, not able to find any more words in this moment.
His eyes seemed to burn brighter.
Because you are mine.
A gravelly voice in my head made my eyes widen. Holy crow.
Jury ducked his head and pursed his lips. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s okay.” My voice came out weak because I knew exactly what it meant for a dragon to speak to a woman in her head.
It only happened with bonded pairs.
Fated mates.
I was his fated mate.
Really.
Actually.
Oh, geez.
10
Jury
“Sure, yeah. Of course. Go ahead and shift.” Abby’s face had paled when Nyx spoke to her, and I cursed him immediately. She didn’t understand what it meant, I didn’t think. But when she didn’t question me or wonder how he’d spoken to her; I couldn’t help but wonder if she did understand what it meant for a dragon to speak to a woman.
“Uh,” I stammered. “If I don’t strip down, my clothes will rip.”
She jerked, pulling her hands out of mine. “Of course. I know that.” She jumped to her feet and pulled up the blanket. “But...”
I hurried to stand beside her. “What is it? Whatever it is, tell me, I’ll fix it.” If something was bothering her, I wanted to put her at ease. When she’d put her hands in mine, it hadn’t just been Nyx that had relaxed. I had, too. I was relieved and happy to see her, and that was on top of the feelings I’d gotten from Nyx.
“No, nothing is wrong,” she said. “I just, is it totally rude that I’d like to watch you shift? I’ve never watched it happen. I was around my father several times, but of course I didn’t want to watch him shift, ‘cause gross, and...” She was about to trail off into a tangent. She was nervous. How cute.
Oh, no. Now I was thinking about how cute she was. “Abby,” I said. “Let me have the blanket.” She handed it over, and I dropped it on the ground. When I was down to my underwear, with Abby’s eyes carefully facing skyward and a deep blush on her cheeks, I picked it up again and wrapped it around my waist. With the other hand, I shimmied my boxers down until I could kick them off. Then I backed up a few steps so I wouldn’t trample my clothes. “Okay.”
Abby looked at me and grinned. “Good idea.”
I relaxed and hoped Nyx would allow the shift, and to my delight, it happened quickly. Nyx was beyond anxious to be out after all the time. Abby’s excited squeal accompanied the completion of our transformation.
When I opened my eyes, it was behind Nyx’s. This was how he saw the world all the time. Yet somehow, dragons were content to live like we did. I didn’t understand how or why, but until the fated mate fiasco, Nyx had been content to shift several times a week.
All of Nyx’s emotions washed over me. Guilt swarmed me when I realized how sad and anxious he had been from not being able to see Abby. I’d known he was upset, but not on this level. He’d been damn near hopeless.
I’m sorry. I hoped my dragon accepted my apology. I’d made things so much more difficult because I didn’t expect us to like Abby’s personality. But it hadn’t been worth this. We could’ve learned to like her or at least tolerate her. Hell, we didn’t have to be around her constantly, either.
Abby stood in front of us with her hands clasped together. Her eyes danced in delight as Nyx lowered onto his belly and put his head at Abby’s feet. His way of apologizing to her. I couldn’t hear the thoughts he projected into her head, but she dropped to her knees.
It will be okay. Nyx’s reply and acceptance of my apology would’ve brought tears to my eyes if I had eyes at the moment. It was amazing how much he meant to me. More than anyone else. I would’ve done a lot more to make him content. I’d tried to imagine what it would be like to be alone, utterly alone, like humans. How did they breathe without their support there with them? It would be like losing a limb. He was a part of me. I more than loved him.
Could a person simply love themselves? No, it went deeper and was far more complex. We were an us. Not usually a him and me. Unless he was mad at me for not accepting our mate.
“You’re gorgeous,” Abby whispered.
Oh, geez. Now he’d have a big head. He loved compliments. All dragons did.
“May I touch your head?” she asked.
Nyx pushed forward and put his head in her lap.
She giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Feeling Abby touch Nyx’s head was strange. I tried to think back, and I wasn’t sure anyone had ever touched him. We’d fought and wrestled with other dragons, of course. Dragons were playful when with their shifted family. But not even my mother had put her hands on Nyx.
Having Abby’s hands on his head sent emotions all through me. Nyx, too, so his amplified my own. Holy shit, it felt amazing.
Nyx was in heaven, and there’s no way I could deny it anymore. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Abby was my mate. We were meant to be together.
We sat like that for a while, and I was pretty sure Nyx and Abby were talking in her head, but then Abby grimaced. “My legs are going numb,” she said. Nyx
lifted his head and backed up, then looked toward the woods.
“Sure, I’d love to,” she said. We walked into the woods, finding paths that would fit Nyx’s big body alongside Abby. They mostly spoke in her head; with the exception of a few times she spoke out loud.
Hey, Nyx. Ask her to talk out loud when possible. I’m feeling pretty left out.
He sent me an exasperated feeling, but a few moments later, Abby laughed. “Sorry, Jury,” She called. “Can you hear me?”
I asked Nyx to nod for me, and he did.
“If I project my thoughts, I can talk to him in my head!” she said with a face full of excitement. “I was just telling Nyx about my childhood,” she said. “It’s not a happy story, not really.”
My heart ached as I listened to her tell us what her mom was like. I’d had an idyllic childhood. Really, I was spoiled rotten when it came down to it. Certainly more spoiled than she was. She’d been through more than I ever imagined. How had I thought she was spoiled?
I hoped that when life threw me the proverbial lemons, I’d be able to make lemonade and not crumble. I recognized my privilege and was thankful for it. I tried not to be oblivious to it, but I’d failed miserably a few times, especially recently. Knowing that all the women my age in town thought me no more than a man-slut had hit me straight in the feels.
“Jury,” Abby said. She looked at Nyx and stopped walking. “I know you don’t think much of me. But I swear to you, I’m not the person you think I am. I understand who I am to you, and who you are to me. I get the fated mates thing. And I know that I won’t feel right when we aren’t...” She trailed off and looked away. “What’s the word?”
Her head swung around, and she looked into Nyx’s eyes again. He was saying something to her. “Right,” she said with a laugh. “If we aren’t at least comfortable with each other. All three of us. So, I hope I can change your mind.”
How had I ever thought she was cold and callous? Warmth dripped from her voice every time she spoke. She had a happy disposition, but I didn’t see it before, and how could I have? She was miserable. And I’d just made it worse.