“Michelle?” she somehow managed to say, though her throat suddenly wanted to lock up. The three women confronting her were the same ones who had made her life so miserable all those years ago. And to Annie, they all looked exactly the same.
Michelle was still slim and blonde—in addition to her horns and tail she was wearing a scarlet dress with a plunging neckline and an elegant little diamond tennis bracelet to match the teardrop diamond at her throat. The women on either side of her were similarly thin and pretty—making Annie suddenly feel more plus-sized than she had in a long time.
“That is you—right Annie?” Michelle peered at her, as though not quite certain in the dim room. “It’s hard to tell without your braces and glasses. But it seems like we used to call you something else—what was it?” She put one finger to her perfectly sculpted chin as though deep in thought.
“Yes, it’s me,” Annie said tightly.
“Well, you’ve changed some since graduation,” Bella Jenkins remarked, tossing her long black hair over one shoulder.
“Well we all have, haven’t we?” Kristy Smithers giggled. “Don’t tell but I’ve put on a few pounds.”
“Oh me too—isn’t it awful?” Michelle widened her eyes dramatically. “I mean, I’m actually a size four now—and you know I was a two in high school.”
“I got up to a size eight when I was pregnant with my first little girl,” Bella confided in hushed tones of someone admitting a shameful secret. “Of course I lost it all again the minute she popped out,” she added quickly. “Breast feeding, you know. Takes the pounds off in a flash.”
“Better a size eight than an eighteen.” Michelle Prouty’s eyes flickered over Annie’s figure and she suddenly felt every bit as beach-ballish as she had back in high school. “But then, not everybody can keep their figure. You know what works for me? Cross Fit. I tell you girls, my hubby Doug and I are absolutely addicted to it. I go every day after I leave the office. Did I tell you I just got made the regional director of sales?”
Annie felt like she was suffocating. She had to get away from her old tormentors—every minute she spent with them made her feel fatter and uglier and more and more worthless.
“Well, it’s been nice seeing you again but I need to go,” she began, starting to edge away.
“Oh, I remember what we called you now!” Michelle Prouty’s voice trilled out above the nostalgic music playing in the background. “It wasn’t Little Orphan Annie, it was Little Oinker Annie—isn’t that right?”
Annie wanted to sink into the ground. From all directions, heads were turning. Just like it had in high school when she called out the cheers, Michelle’s voice carried amazingly well.
Just then a well-dressed man with light brown hair came up and put his arm around Michelle.
“Hi, Honey-bunch,” he said, kissing her on the ear affectionately. “I heard you from across the room. What’s going on—you found an old friend?”
“Something like that.” The sneer on Michelle’s perfect face was unmistakable. “Girls, this is my better half, Doug—he owns Douglas Manufacturing up on Stickler road.”
“Oh, I see my Barry over by the bar,” Kristy said and waved. “Barry, over here! I want you to meet Michelle’s hubby.”
“My Brad just went to call the nanny and make sure everything is all right with baby Madeline but he’ll be back soon,” Bella announced.
“What about you, Annie?” Michelle Prouty turned wide, innocent eyes on Annie who still wanted to die. “Did you bring a significant other tonight? Or are you all alone—just like you were in high school?”
Annie felt sick. She’d lain awake many nights as a teenager, thinking exactly what she would say if she ever had the nerve to speak up to Michelle Prouty. She’d imagined cutting remarks and stinging insults that would pay the other girl back for every bit of misery she’d caused. But now all her carefully planned barbs seemed to have deserted her, along with most of her self-confidence. She no longer felt pretty and competent and in control of the situation. Instead, it seemed like she was suddenly back in high school unable to fight back against the other girl’s nasty remarks.
“I…” She cleared her throat. “I, um…”
“Don’t tell me you’re here all alone tonight,” Michelle remarked, opening her eyes even wider. “Why, that would be so sad, especially since I made sure to put on the invitation that spouses and significant others were welcome to come.”
“I…I don’t…” Annie didn’t know what to say or how to get away. Just like back in high school she was paralyzed with shame and self-loathing. “I just…”
“She is not alone. She brought me.”
The deep, rumbling voice was strangely familiar and suddenly a long, muscular arm encircled her shoulders. Looking up, Annie saw the huge Kindred from her dreams—Drugair of the Drake Kindred, she reminded herself—standing right beside her.
“Oh…” Michelle murmured, her eyes going wide for real this time. For once, she seemed to have nothing to say and Kristy and Bella were similarly struck dumb.
“I am Drugair—Dru for short, as I believe you humans like to say,” the big Kindred went on in a conversational tone. He held out his hand to Doug, Michelle’s husband who took it uncertainly. From the wince on the other man’s face as they shook, Dru’s grip was very strong.
Annie still didn’t know what to say but she couldn’t miss the contrast between the big Kindred and Michelle’s husband. Dru was huge and muscular and even in the darkness his black eyes seemed to glow with some inner light. His uniform gave him a certain dashing air which was much more exciting than any boring business suit. In short—he looked amazing next to the nondescript Doug.
Like some kind of male model, Annie couldn’t help thinking. She’d been frightened of him when they first met, which had definitely kept her from noticing. But now she saw how his fierce aura of strength shone out, marking the big Kindred as a warrior, not just a businessman like Michelle’s husband.
For a moment she felt a powerful sense of pride that he had claimed her in front of all these awful people but then she tried to push it back down. After all, she still didn’t know his intentions. Better to reserve judgment until she found out what he wanted from her.
“You…are you a Kindred?” Bella managed to say at last in a breathless voice. “From the Mother Ship? I mean, you’re so tall and strong and…”
“I am a Kindred, yes.” Drugair—or Dru as he had introduced himself—nodded.
“And you’re with Annie?” The sneer in Michelle Prouty’s voice was impossible to miss.
“It is my pleasure and my honor to claim your former classmate as my own,” Dru rumbled. “Annie is the most beautiful female I have ever met.”
“Really?” Michelle wasn’t even trying to keep the disbelief off her face. “Well, I guess to each their own. Human guys like their women fit, right Dougie?’ she cooed at her husband.
“Human tastes have always been a mystery to me,” Dru remarked, before the other man could answer. “They seem to enjoy bedding females who are far too thin to be attractive. Some might even call them bony.” His eyes flickered dismissively over Michelle’s lanky figure and her low-cut red gown. “Such females are called hic’thors on my home world—the name refers to a flightless bird whose internal bone structure or skeleton can be clearly seen through its bedraggled feathers when it gets wet.”
“What?” Michelle put a hand on one bony hip “Are you calling me one of those hic-things? Are you insulting me?” She turned to her husband. “Dougie, I think he’s insulting me. Do something!”
“Um…” Her husband cleared his throat nervously and took a step back from the huge Drake Kindred. But he needn’t have worried.
“Naturally I was not insulting you intentionally—any more than you were insulting my female on purpose,” Dru said smoothly. “I was simply making you aware of our cultural differences. Human males seem to like skinny or skeletal female anatomy while males of my kind enjoy luscio
us, full curves.” He looked down at Annie appreciatively and she could feel her cheeks getting hot and her breath coming short. Was this turning her on? Or was it just a new sensation, having anyone—anyone at all—step up and defend her against the awful Michelle Prouty?
Stop it, Annie! she lectured herself. Of course it’s not turning you on. What’s wrong with you?
“Now if you will excuse me,” Dru went on, drawing her away from the small group. “I would like a little time alone with Annie. I dislike sharing her attention with others.”
Before Annie quite knew what was happening, he was steering her away from Michelle Prouty and her crowd and into a dark corner of the dance floor.
“Hey,” she protested as he put his arms around her and they somehow began to sway to a slow song the DJ had just started. “What do you think you’re doing here? I told you to leave me alone.”
“I didn’t notice you complaining when I was putting your former classmates in their place,” Dru rumbled, pulling her closer. “Would you rather I had not interfered?”
“I…you…” Annie bit her lip. She had to admit she was glad he’d showed up when he had. Looking around his muscular arm, she could see the angry, pouty look on Michelle’s face. The big Kindred’s words had gotten to her far more than anything Annie could ever have said herself—probably because she measured her self-worth and the worth of everyone around her by appearance alone.
“Was that female cruel to you back when you matriculated together?” Dru asked in a low voice. “She seems like what my people call a Chith’is.”
“A what?” Annie shook her head. It felt surreal to be in this situation and having this conversation. She’d dreamed of her high school reunion for so long but nowhere in those fantasies had there been a seven-foot-tall Kindred warrior who told Michelle Prouty off and whirled Annie away to the dance floor.
“A Chith’is,” he repeated patiently. “A low or vulgar male who allows his Drake to come out on a regular basis and threatens others with its flame. Of course your former classmate is female but the principle is the same.”
Annie shook her head. “I’m sorry I really don’t understand what you’re talking about. I didn’t even know there were Drake Kindred. The only kinds I knew about were Blood, Beast, and Twin Kindred.”
“There are many types and races of my people,” Dru remarked, dancing gracefully for such a large male, Annie thought. “But some are not recognized by the Kindred High Council. And some—like my own people—keep strictly to their home planet.”
“Why?” Annie asked, curious despite herself.
“The majority of my people cannot be trusted to keep their Drakes contained,” he said. “Only those like myself, who come from a long line of males with the willpower strong enough to keep the beast inside from coming out, are allowed to leave the planet.”
Annie opened her mouth to ask what a Drake was and what in the world he was talking about when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning her head, she saw a familiar face.
“Hi Annie,” Christian Wentworth said. “Amy told me you were looking for me. Can I buy you a drink?”
Six
Annie wasn’t sure what to say. This was her dream—her fantasy come true. And yet…somehow she found herself reluctant to leave the big Kindred. She barely knew him but he had crashed the reunion just to be near her and taken on the worst nemesis of her angst-ridden teenage years, demolishing her with a few well-placed words.
Also, he smelled amazing. Dancing close on the darkened dance floor it seemed like all her other senses were heightened and she loved the cologne he was wearing—or maybe it was deodorant?
Anyway, whatever it was, it seemed to draw her like a magnet. It smelled like leather and wood smoke and camping at twilight—which was ridiculous since she was strictly an indoors kind of girl and had never spent a single night in a tent. Still his scent was what she imagined camping at twilight would be like. It evoked a mental image of a warm, banked fire…sparks and smoke curling lazily through the air as purple-blue dusk covered the land…
Annie gave herself a quick mental shake. What was wrong with her? This was Christian Wentworth, the guy she’d been dreaming of since high school standing right in front of her asking to buy her a drink. There was no way she was turning him down.
“I’d love to have a drink with you for old time’s sake,” she said to Christian. “Just let me talk to my, ah, date for a moment.”
“Okay, pretty Annie. I’ll be waiting at the bar.” He tipped her a wink and ambled off, leaving her to look up at the big Kindred who had stood silently by during her brief conversation with Christian.
“Are you going with that male?” There was a low, rumbling growl in his voice and for a moment—just a moment—Annie thought she saw his eyes begin to slit open as they had in her dream, showing a fiery core within.
“I’m sorry but…he is the reason I came here,” Annie told him.
Dru frowned. “But you are here with me now.”
“Because you crashed the reunion—not because I asked you to come,” Annie pointed out. They had stopped dancing at this point and were talking in low voices at the edge of the dance floor. She drew herself up and lifted her chin, looking him right in the face. “Besides, didn’t you get what you came for? You said you wanted to see me face to face and to have, uh, ‘physical contact’ with me. We’ve been dancing for the past few minutes and you’ve been touching me while we did—doesn’t that fulfill your requirements?”
He frowned, his dark brows drawing low over his black eyes.
“Unfortunately it appears that it does not. The Claiming Itch is still unsatisfied.”
Annie frowned and drew back from him.
“Look buddy, I’m not here to scratch your itch, whatever it is. I came here tonight to meet old friends from school. To meet Christian. And now he’s waiting for me at the bar and so I’m going to go have a drink with him.”
Dru glared at her. “I do not like that male. He smells untrustworthy.”
“What?” Annie gave him an incredulous look. “Are you serious right now? How can you tell that about somebody from their smell? That’s ridiculous!”
“It is not ridiculous. I can tell a great deal through my sense of smell,” Dru countered. “I could tell you were unhappy and despairing—almost close to panic—when I first found you at the mercy of that female Chith’is. If you hadn’t been I would not have interfered. I would have stayed back and watched you but I perceived you needed my help and so I came.”
“Are you saying you can smell emotions?” Annie demanded. “Is that some kind of a Kindred thing?”
“It is a trait of the Drake Kindred. I do not know if others of my kind have the ability or not.” He leaned closer and inhaled, as though drawing in her scent. “I can also tell that you have not been with a male in a long time and that you are sexually hungry—nearly starving.” He looked at Annie intently. “Is that why you wish to go with this male? To sate your sexual need?”
“What…you…how dare you!” Annie gasped, although she wouldn’t have been half so offended if his words weren’t true. She hadn’t been with a guy in a long time since none of her Love Match dates had been working out and she refused to date anyone at work where she was the boss of her own creative team. Don’t shit where you eat, her father crudely used to say but crude or not, it was the truth. She was smart enough to know that if she started dating some of the guys working under her, she would lose her authority and credibility pretty damn quickly.
But right or not he doesn’t have to act like I’m some kind of a nymphomaniac just looking to scratch my itch! Annie thought indignantly.
“Look,” she said, glaring up at the huge Kindred. “I don’t have to stay here and listen to you talk to me like that. Nobody asked you to butt into my life and crash my reunion—I’m going.”
She half expected him to try and stop her, but he simply folded his arms over that amazingly broad chest of his and frowned down at her.
“Go then. I tried to warn you—I hope you won’t find out the hard way that my nose does not lie.”
For some reason the fact that he wasn’t trying to stop her made Annie angrier than ever.
“Fine!” She turned on her heel and marched towards the bar where the man of her dreams was waiting for her.
Only he’s not the man of your dreams—not really, whispered a little voice in her head. Because it’s Dru you’ve been dreaming of, right?
Annie pushed the little voice away. She had come to the reunion for one reason and one reason only—to take a chance on getting with Christian as she’d always dreamed of back when she was a sad and lonely teen—and she was damn well going to do it no matter what Dru and his Drake Kindred nose said.
Dru clenched his hands into fists as he watched her walk away. It was all he could do to keep from going after her. Inside him, his Drake shifted angrily, spreading shadow wings that darkened the room around him and made some of the more clumsy humans stumble and bump against each other, spilling their drinks.
Mine! She should be MINE!
It roared so loudly the humans around him winced and looked uneasily from side to side. They couldn’t hear it—not with their ears—but they felt the turmoil of his darker half. It was like a psychic shout directly into their minds. Around him, several of the males pulled their partners closer in a jealous, possessive way. The stronger a Drake, the more it broadcast its emotions which were capable of affecting people in its immediate vicinity. It was one of the reasons the Drake Kindred were considered dangerous and only those like Dru, who had control of his beast, were welcome aboard the Mother Ship.
Releasing the Dragon Page 4