by Anna Lewis
I loved him. I was in love with Hex, and that sensation only got stronger as the heat from our lovemaking consumed me entirely.
***
Hex
We lay panting next to one another, both basking in the post-orgasmic bliss. However good I thought that being with Kayla would be, nothing could compare with the reality of it. I felt like we had connected on a much deeper level.
Because there were real feelings there, intense ones that I wanted to grip onto forever more.
“So,” I gasped, turning my body over to face her. She had a sheen of sweat covering her body, and a pleased expression on her face. I could honestly say that she'd never looked more attractive to me. “What now?” It didn't feel like the best time to be covering any awkward topics, but at the same time I didn't want to be left in the dark again either. I needed to know where her head was at, what she was really feeling before I got myself hurt again. I needed to be honest about what I was feeling and thinking, if we were ever going to become anything serious… which I desperately prayed that we were.
“I… I want to try,” she smiled serenely at me. “I meant what I said. I want to be with you.”
“But what is that going to entail?” I said. There was no denying that it was going to be complicated – she was a pop star, I was her bodyguard, she'd just been kidnapped… and I was a dragon. If we were going to make this work, we needed to talk about it and make some decisions.
“I don't know,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders at me. I would have taken that as a negative thing if she hadn't had a shiny, love filled look in her eyes. “But we can work it out, right? If we… like each other enough, then surely we can make it work?”
I held her hands in mine and lightly kissed her on the lips. “Come on,” I said moving myself into a standing position. “Let's not worry about that now, let's go and do something fun.”
“What do you have in mind?” As she stood up, totally revealing that gorgeous body in the full to me. I sucked in a deep breath of air, taking a second to really admire her beauty. How could I ever have liked any other woman with Kayla in the world? I was so glad that nothing before had worked out, because it had led me to her.She was the woman that I was supposed to be with.
“You haven't seen me change yet, have you?” I said. Her eyes widened in shock, then excitement overcame her expression. “Why don't you finally see me in my dragon form? Why don't we go out to fly?” We couldn't make any full commitments until she had seen every part of me anyway, so this was absolutely the perfect moment for this to happen.
“Yeah, I would love that.”
As she raced off to get changed, I remained standing in the middle of the room, buck naked. There wasn't any point in dressing just to take it all off anyway, so I took the time to really embrace the happy glow inside of me.
I just slept with Kayla. She wants to be with me. This is all really happening…
With her, the complications would be worth it. She meant everything to me, she was the one.
Although it wasn't just Kayla's complications that we needed to consider, was it? If she wanted to be with me, forever, then we had to decide what to do in the future. If she remained human, we would never be able to have children, and I would have to suffer the agony of watching her die many years before me.
Some dragons were happy to do that, they moved on with ease after their human mate died, or even beforehand when they became old and less appealing, but I wasn't like that. When I loved, I loved hard. I loved with everything that I had. I wouldn't be able to do that. Even if Kayla's looks faded, she would still be her. Her soul was what attracted me.
If we were going to make this work, then Kayla would have to become a hybrid. I would have to infect her with the non-deadly dragon venom to change her. Then she would live for as many years as I did and we could start a family… but that would be a huge sacrifice for her to make. She would have to watch everyone she knew and loved die, and she would have to give up her current body. She might even face some adversity.
Throughout the majority of the world most people were happy for the shapeshifters to live among people, and life was peaceful, there were still odd pockets of people who remembered the war and who resented shifters because of that. I didn't affect me, but it could impact on Kayla and her career.
This wasn't going to be easy.She came out of the bathroom in a sweet looking summer dress, and my heart fluttered like crazy. This had to work, I needed it to. Once we did this, once we took this time out and went for our flight, we needed to have a serious heart to heart , we needed to talk.
“She we go?” she said.
***
“That was incredible!” she screamed excitedly as soon as we landed. “Flying was amazing, much better than I thought it was going to be. That view… wow! And you as a dragon, I don't even know how to describe how amazing you look.” She was flush faced, babbling, and super cute.
“I'm so glad you like flying,” I grinned back, seriously happy that she enjoyed that side of my life too. “But maybe we now we really do need to sit down to have a talk. If we are going to go into this then I want us both to have our eyes wide open, I want us both to agree, that way neither of us can get hurt in the future. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she nodded.
Well, here goes nothing!
***
Kayla
Moving in with Hex was an easier choice than I thought it was going to be. It was actually probably down to Charlie. Maybe if he hadn't kidnapped me and put me through that hell, I wouldn't have been able to make such a life-changing decision with such ease. He had put everything into perspective, and now I was happier than ever.
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” Hex called out to me from the front room of my brand new apartment. “The premiere will be happening in a moment. We do need to get there.”
Ever since my trauma, I gave up the pop star career and started writing instead. That allowed me to remain in the same place, to buy my new home, and to really make a go of things with Hex. We were moving slowly despite the fact that we desperately wanted to jump in things with both feet, because after our long talk we chose to be cautious. We might have known, but we still needed to be certain.
He was at my apartment all the time anyway, so it wasn't much of an issue for either of us. When we eventually did make the move towards living together, it would hardly be any different. In fact, we were probably just holding back so no one else thought that we were moving too fast…
“This is going to be strange,” I confessed to Hex. “Like, I know I wrote the book and agreed to film being made, but it's going to be so weird seeing other people portray our story.”
The world went wild to find out what had happened with me and Charlie behind the scenes, so the book that started off as a therapeutic vent for me became a worldwide sensation pretty quickly. Everyone quickly fell in love with Hex too, the man who looked past the police investigation, that noticed things no one else would.
“It will,” he replied quietly. “But maybe not as weird as the trial is going to be.”
“Hmmm…” I was doing my best not to think about that. It had been forever, but I still didn't feel ready to tackle it. “Yeah, well one thing at a time.”
“Come on.” Hex pressed a light kiss on my lips, making my insides churn with happiness. “Let's go. You never know, this might be fun…”
But I still wasn't totally convinced…
***
“Okay,” I grinned excitedly as we crashed back through the door that we'd left only a few short hours before. “I have to admit, you were right. That was amazing.”
Seeing the film unravel on the screen had me gripped. It was almost as if my life had been a fictional story – which was helped by the odd creative liberties that had been taken by the filmmakers – so I felt strangely distanced from it the whole time.
“I'm not too sure I like the guy who played me,” Hex teased. “He was a little too wimpy for my liking.”
“Oh, stop it!” I exclaimed, hysteria floating through me. “Come here and kiss me.”
As Hex's lips crashed against mine, I felt the same intense rush of excitement I felt the very first time that we kissed, in the hotel room when we both knew that we shouldn't be. I knew then, even in that moment that it was something powerful. At the time I just didn't know what to do with it.
“I love you,” he murmured the words that I would never get bored of hearing however many times that he said them.
“I love you too.” We finally caved and confessed the depth of our feelings not long after we got together, and ever since then things had felt solidified, steady. “I'm so lucky to have you.”
“Yeah, and you're about to get a whole lot luckier!”
He slid down my body and tugged my lace panties down from under my dress, which would only mean one thing… I was about to get the part of his body that I loved the best. His tongue. Every time he explored me with his mouth I felt like I was about to die with bliss.
“Oh God,” I gasped in shock, trying to find the wall behind me to rest my body against something. We hadn't even made it out of the hallway. Time had done nothing to dull the chemistry and passion between us.
As I felt his breath on my entrance, my eyes slid shut and my head fell to one side in ecstasy. Then his lips found me, and his tongue slowly slid into me.
“Oh wow, Hex.” He was phenomenal, the best that I'd ever had. “Hex you feel… so good…”
I shuddered, and staggered on my feet, the pleasure too intense for me to remain standing up. Sensing that I was struggling, without me even needing to tell him, Hex stood up and carried me, allowing me to wrap my legs around him. I could feel him, pulsating for me, needing me as much as I did him and I couldn't wait for what was to come.
I was happy to eventually change for this man, to become a dragon hybrid – especially as it gave me some much needed extra years with him. He was my everything, the love of my life. But I wanted the time to be right.
“I love you,” I panted again as he tossed me back onto the bed. “I love you so damn much.”
He hovered over me and started to nibble on my neck, giving me a hint for what was about to come. Then as I was distracted by his mouth I felt him slide into me, and my body felt right all over again. With him inside of me, I felt whole, like this was exactly where I wanted to be.
“I love you too,” he thrust, sending the intense, powerful waves of pleasure crashing over my body over and over again…
***
Hex
Guilty.
Still, even now, even after four hours solid of looking at that headline I cannot get used to it. Sure, I was already fully aware that Charlie was guilty. It was me who went through it after all. But to see it in black and white… it made me feel weird.
The details of the trial were harrowing, almost worse than being trapped with Charlie. To learn the full details of his obsession with me was hard. The fact that he mailed me body parts, that Mouse hid them from me, that he heard about my one failed date with a werewolf which led him to take fake, illegal werewolf supplements… it was insane.
The defense tried to suggest that the supplements hadn't done anything. But that strength was inhuman. They must have helped him somehow.
Luckily I had Hex with me during the whole trial. He looked after me and supported me. He was incredible.
“Are you okay?” he asked once more. This time he placed his arms around my waist and kissed my neck. “I know it must be difficult for you, but this is a relief right? He's finally going to be locked away for a very long time. He won't be able to get you, or anyone else, ever again.”
This was huge, gigantic actually, and it made me really want to put him behind me once and for all and make a fresh start on my own life. And there was only one thing that I really wanted to do.
“I'm ready,” I announced, spinning around to face Hex. I wanted him to look into my eyes as I said this. I wanted him to see how serious I was. “I want you to change me.” He gasped audibly in shock – we had originally planned to wait a little longer, but what was the point? We were always doing what we thought was expected of us. It was time to start living for us. “Let's go now, head to Vegas, get married. Turn me, make me one of you, then we can have children.”
“Are… are you sure?” he stammered slowly. “This isn't just a sudden whim?”
“I love you, Hex. This is nothing but that. I'm ready to take that step, I'm ready to finally start living.”
He stepped back and examined me, before holding out his hand to guide me. “I suppose we better get going then. If you're really ready then there's nothing holding us back.”
As we raced to his car, I felt right. This was perfect, this was us, our happily ever after…
THE END
= Bonus Book 2 of 11 =
Black Dragons
Maria felt a chill working its way up into her skin. She knew that she only had about ten minutes to get where she was going and she was in no mood to be late. Her stomach growled with hunger and she shrugged it off, ignoring the little stands of food and corner stores that seemed to pop up every few steps. She didn’t have time to eat, no matter how hungry she was.
Her breathing was quick and she felt the wind whipping through her hair, teasing at her skin and making her shiver. She felt a little sick, worries twisting in her gut. She hadn’t been summoned since her father had passed away. When he had died, she had received a call just like this one.
Urgent and curt. She approached with dread, and rightly so. The news that her father had been killed still rung in her ears. It was right there and then, back in her teenage years, that Maria had decided to cut ties with her heritage and walk away from it all.
She wanted no part of their feud. She wanted no part of a war that was only there to get people killed. First her mother, then her father. They had been playing with fire and she was in no mood to do the same. She glanced at her watch and hurried along.
She had to move it. She picked up her step, glancing over her shoulder as she did. Her parents had been part of a dragon-hunting clan, one that you joined, not one you were born into. They took it upon themselves to hunt down dragon shifters and do away with them completely.
Maria shuddered. She wanted no part of it. Her parents had been human and so was she, and chasing dragons was just a stupid thing to do. They had gotten themselves killed and left her alone to deal with the fall out. Now the dragon hunters were calling on her. Maria had wanted to ignore the call, but she had a sinking feeling that they would find her, regardless.
She had to go, even if it was to tell them to stay the heck away from her from now on. Maria sighed and fixed her hair as she turned into the dim little alley that led to the shop at the back. It wasn’t hard to find, but it was dingy. It didn’t speak of anything great, and Maria didn’t really expect it to.
She wasn’t sure she even believed in dragon shifters. And if she did, she definitely wanted to stay away from them, not go hunting them like an idiot. She had loved her mom and dad, but that didn’t excuse the fact that they had run off and gotten themselves killed.
The dragon hunter clan expected her to want vengeance. While anger smoldered in her chest, Maria was determined to stay out of it. Unless she had a guarantee of finding her parents’ killers, then she didn’t want any part of it. Chasing innocent dragon shifters wasn’t her idea of a good time.
So she had walked away. Now, years later, she stood face to face with her past all over again. With a deep breath, Maria knocked on the door.
After a moment, an older man pulled the door open. He took her in, assessing her, before nodding and letting her step past. Maria felt a shiver running down her spine. The silence was chilling and she hated the custom of being all secret and mysterious.
She thought of her little office job and the handful of friends she had been able to make. She wanted to return to that, not this suffocating life. A dull lump of misery had b
een lodged in her chest ever since her father passed and she doubted that this was going to help it any.
She was led down a dimly lit staircase, and Maria felt like she was descending into the bowls of hell. It was hell alright, only damp and suffocating and strange. It was nothing like the life Maria dreamed of. She had never seen a dragon shifter, never seen any grand fights or declarations. She had only seen death, this suffocating little hovel and a bunch of people that got kicks from being so mysterious.
She was led to a seat and plopped down on it without ceremony. She wrapped her arms around herself, idly checking that she still had her phone close and readily available. If she could keep her phone on hand, she’d be able to deal with anything that popped up. A quick call to the cops about a cult should do it.
She bit her lip and waited instead.
Slowly, people filed in and Maria shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It wasn’t until the leader of the dragon hunters, at least for this city, entered that everyone stood up. Reluctantly, Maria did the same, more because she was in no mood to stand out and draw even more attention to herself, when she could just quietly blend in.
“Maria Jacobs,” his voice boomed across the room.
No such luck. Her plans of blending in evaporated and she glanced around her.
“Step forward!” the voice continued and she realized that it belonged to Travis. He was glaring down at her and she took a small step forward, drawing her away from the rest of the crowd. She felt everyone’s eyes on her and shifted, uncomfortable.
“We have found the one who murdered your father.” His tone had grown softer now, and Maria felt her heart leap into her chest.
“What?” Maria hated the way her voice came out as a squeak, her eyes widening at the news.
Travis was nodding. “We have found him.” His eyes stared down at her. “Do you not want justice, Maria?”