Topaz knocked on her door bright and early the next morning. Luckily, Lana had already been up designing, as that was her favorite time to get things done.
She’d been chagrined to find all she could think about upon waking was seeing Dom again, and the urge to go find him and do more of what they’d done the day before was almost impossibly strong. But she needed to take things a little slow. Let herself adjust.
Seeing Topaz at the door, she steeled herself to reject him and opened the door, blocking it with her body. Luckily, she was already dressed in jeans and a purple sweater that hung over one shoulder.
He grinned at her, but before he could speak, she interrupted him.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Yesterday—”
His smile faded, and he gave her a dry half smile. “You changed your mind?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m sure the other dragons can help you with resources.”
“Sure,” he said. “Your mate didn’t like it, right?”
“He’s not my mate,” she snapped a little too quickly, and he grinned.
“Then why can’t you do what you want?”
“Because I do like him,” Lana said. “And I don’t want to make him unhappy.”
“If he’s a good guy, he should let you talk to whoever you want.”
“I don’t think he trusts you,” she said, keeping the door between them. “I don’t think most people do.”
“I don’t blame them,” he said. “No one here really knows me.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. He was wearing normal clothing today. Black sweatpants and a white tee shirt that outlined pristine, tanned muscles. His light-blond hair was a contrast to his dark eyes and lashes. His eyebrows were blond like his hair.
Despite being tall and broad like Dom and the other dragons, there was something much friendlier and more approachable about him. Also something that made her nervous. That was probably just the fact that he was a single shifter, and single shifters got ideas.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m not used to not reading minds. But I heard that, and I promise I won’t make a move you don’t want.” He gave a casual shrug of one shoulder that was bursting with boyish charm. “I just thought it would be nice to have a friend.”
Ugh. Just the words to break her resolve. Everyone deserved to have a friend. Dom had certainly been a good one to her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “What do you want to do?”
“Just go for a walk. Or eat breakfast together, if you’re more comfortable with that. Get to know a human. Because you know the other dragons aren’t letting me within feet of their mates.”
“That’s shifters for you,” she said.
“Well, some of them.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I don’t think a male has to be that controlling if he’s actually secure.”
She wasn’t sure what to make of that. It was kind of refreshing to hear they all didn’t need to be Neanderthals. “So you’re saying if you had a mate, you wouldn’t be that protective?”
“I’d protect her, sure,” he said. “But I’d let her do what she wanted. I can’t make her choices for her. If she wanted me to get involved, I would. Otherwise, I’d probably let her do her own thing.”
Was he serious? There was no reason to believe he was lying. Everything about him seemed relaxed and sunny. “Where is your friend, Citrine?”
Topaz shrugged. “He may not be out of his room for a while. He’s been grumpy ever since we were awakened.” He stretched his hands out in front of him, cracking his knuckles and giving her a bright smile. “And I just want to start learning everything.” He put his hands in his pockets. “I just want to start helping the world.”
Her eyes fell on his collar. Why was he so different than everyone had been describing? They’d been saying dragons were dangerous, hateful, sociopathic, unkind to humans. Yet he was one of the nicest people she’d met.
“I guess breakfast would be okay,” she said, following him out of the room.
She looked down the hallway at Dom’s room, but there was no sign of movement. He was probably sleeping in after feeding the kittens.
She followed Topaz down the stairs and into the dining room. She didn’t see the other dragons around. Perhaps no one else felt like being an early riser. Still, despite no one else around, she felt oddly at peace. Not in danger with the shifter across from her, no matter how much everyone else feared him.
There were already two plates with pancakes and syrup on them, with side plates of bacon. She sat across from him and began to eat, throwing suspicious glances at him, wondering when he was going to turn into the beastly dragon everyone had described.
Instead, he calmly ate, chewing with a smile as if he’d never tasted anything so wonderful.
“So, Topaz, what are your powers?”
He looked at her in shock. “I don’t really tell people that,” he said. “Kind of private. And hey, I’m collared, right?”
She added. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was rude to ask.”
He put up a hand. “Oh, no, you weren’t rude. I guess I’m still used to the old ways. We kept our powers to ourselves. Maybe if we get to know each other better, I can tell you.” He gave her a wink, and she felt a flush.
He still didn’t affect her anything like Dom. Just the thought of Dom sent tingles down her legs. But he was pleasant, and there was just something about him that drew her in.
“So how do you like it here compared to the human world?” Topaz asked, pouring some milk.
“I miss my world,” she said. “Though, I don’t have anyone to go back to. I miss my work. My home.” Though, now that she thought about it, it all seemed a little lonely. She guessed a part of her just wanted to go back to how things were before the kidnapping. Before she’d lost her sense of safety in the world.
“I guess it’s hard to feel safe sometimes,” he said. “I heard about your kidnapping.”
She shrugged, hating the way she always felt uncomfortable when it was brought up.
“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he said.
It felt like he just understood her. Maybe he could really be her first shifter friend, because Dom was obviously more than that, if she were really honest about it.
“You want to go for a walk?” he asked. “It’s nice outside.” He stood, hands in pockets, and tilted his handsome head to one side. “No pressure, though, if it makes you nervous.”
She swallowed. She’d pushed herself with Dom, and that had only resulted in good things. Anyone who could show her shifters weren’t bad was probably a good person to hang out with.
She stood just as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She walked into the main foyer behind Topaz and saw Dom.
His ice-blue eyes flashed as he looked from her to Topaz, and she saw his whole body tense dangerously.
Please don’t, she silently begged. She saw him stop and guessed he’d heard her thoughts. I’m going on a walk with him. I’ll be safe. Please don’t ruin it.
A muscle in Dom’s strong jaw ticked. He was holding one of the kittens and stayed stock still on the step, glaring.
Chapter 13
Topaz looked up. “Oh, cute kitten,” he said. “Can I hold him?” he started up the stairs, but Dom let out a snarl that raised the hairs on Lana’s neck.
“Back off,” Dom said.
“Ooh,” Topaz said. “Touchy. I heard you have three of them. You could have shared one.”
Dom’s lip curled in warning, and Topaz stepped back down to the ground level with an easy shrug.
He turned to Lana. “Should we go, then?”
Lana nodded, eyeing Dom. She was a little impressed at how he’d been protective of the kittens, so why did she want him to be less possessive with her?
It was a puzzle.
“We’ll be right back,” Lana said. “Unless you want to join us.”
She saw a flicker of displeasure on Topaz’s face, but then he hid it quickly.
“Sure. Join us.”
“Sure,” Dom said flatly. “Be out in a minute.” Then he turned to go up and probably put the kitten back.
Topaz rolled his eyes and strode quickly back toward the kitchen. There was a back entrance to the yard there, and he obviously meant to take it.
“Wait,” Lana said.
“For that spoilsport?” Topaz asked. “He’ll ruin my walk. You can wait for him if you want, but do you seriously want that dark cloud overhead?”
Lana pulled her lip through her teeth, following Topaz. Maybe she shouldn’t haven’t invited someone he was uncomfortable with.
“Sorry,” he said as they stepped onto the back deck. “It’s just none of them will give me a chance. They all were awakened; they know what it’s like, but none of them are willing to even look at me without anger in their eyes. All they care about is themselves.”
“That’s not true,” she said. “Dom cares about me.”
“Cares about you or wants to own you?” Topaz asked. He leaned on the railing and sighed. “Sorry.” He ruffled his hair with one hand and started down the steps onto the grass. He stretched out his hands as he walked forward, and Lana followed. “What a beautiful day.”
“If he did want to own me, wouldn’t that be natural for a shifter?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Would it? It seems barbaric to me.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. He was saying everything she’d thought she wanted to hear. So why did she still wish Dom would hurry and come outside with them?
He looked over at her. “So want to start walking and let him catch up?”
She nodded reluctantly. If she knew Dom, he’d be there soon. “All right.”
They’d reached the little path that led to a grove of trees at the edge of a lake by the time they heard heavy footsteps catching up to them.
Topaz looked over his shoulder. “You should be careful with that one. Even dragons are suspicious of him. Dark powers. And look at him, just glowering all over the place.”
Lana looked back at Dom, striding out into the sunlight in a black jacket and tight, dark jeans, his piercings catching the sun, his expression serious as usual, his bright-blue eyes almost scarily light.
Maybe scary was what other people saw. But she found there was nothing she feared about him anymore.
Topaz sighed. “You’re really into him, aren’t you?”
Lana nodded. “I think so.”
“No chance for me, then.”
She shook her head. “I thought you just wanted a friend.”
He gave her a bashful smile. “Well, can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“Sorry,” she said.
“No problem,” he replied. “As long as we’re still friends?”
She nodded. And then Dom had caught up. “Did you have breakfast?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No time. Where are we going?” His voice was hoarse, like he’d been hurrying.
“Are the kittens okay?” she asked.
“All sleeping.” He looked at Topaz. “And the door is locked.”
Topaz laughed and put his hands behind his head, walking forward. “I’m not going to mess with any of your pussies,” he said.
“You better not,” Dom growled, and Lana put a palm on his chest.
“Stop it,” she hissed. “Topaz is going through things, too. Can’t you be kind to him like you are to me?”
Topaz laughed. “Girlie, that’s like asking two stray dogs to not fight over territory.” He eyed Dom. “Still, would it kill you to calm down a little? Other dragons helped you, right?”
Dom nodded, folding his powerful arms. His black hair lifted slightly in the wind, and he looked like a fierce, punk pirate on the bow of a ship as he considered it. “As long as you stay away from my stuff, yes.”
Lana flushed, feeling it was obvious she was included in that. “Stop it.”
“I’m not going to do anything to Lana that she doesn’t want. But I’m her friend if she wants that,” Topaz said.
Dom still didn’t seem mollified. His jaw was so tight she could have cracked an egg on it, and he just didn’t seem willing to be won over by Topaz like she was.
“Anyway, I can see this isn’t going to be the pleasant walk I wanted,” Topaz said. “So with that, I’m off.”
“Wait,” Lana said. “It’s not…” She caught Topaz by the hem of his shirt, and he turned back to her in surprise.
Dom shot forward as if to knock her hand away and then thought better of it, forcing himself to step back.
Lana released Topaz’s shirt. Did she really want to hang out with him anyway when she had Dom here? She felt bad for Topaz, but she felt more than that for Dom. “I’ll see you later.”
Topaz gave her a wave and a nod and walked back to the house, leaving her with a very angry, very tense Dom.
After a moment, he spoke, jamming his hands into his tight pockets. “Did you have to go out alone with him? Do you know what could have happened?”
“Did you know he’s lonely?” she asked. “That everyone here is just judging him and not giving him a chance?”
Dom shrugged. “That comes with the territory. He knows that.”
“Well, for your information, he was a perfect gentleman, and I told him I wasn’t interested in being anything more than friends.”
Dom raised a dark eyebrow. “Did he ask for more?”
“No,” Lana said. “He figured out I liked you, and I said yes and that I couldn’t like him that way.”
Dom’s mouth curled into a crooked smile, his body visibly relaxing. “You like me?”
She nodded, taking a step forward. “Obviously.”
“You still shouldn’t be out with him,” he said.
“You’re being controlling,” she said. “And apparently, not all shifters are. Topaz, for instance—”
“It’s easy for a man to pretend to do otherwise with another man’s situation,” Dom spat. “That doesn’t mean anything as far as action goes.”
“You wouldn’t even let him hold a kitten,” Lana said, laughing as she put an arm through Dom’s, wanting to soothe him. His bicep was so wide it was hard to fit around him. “Let’s go on that walk.”
They started forward on the path, and she enjoyed his reassuring warmth. The broad size of him. As they moved under the cover of the trees, memories of them together kept coming to her.
The first time she’d seen him, when he’d saved her from Galen. The first time he’d kissed her, right in front of her friends and without explanation. The day they’d picked out kittens together.
The night he’d held her when she cried.
She looked up at him, silent and stoic as he watched the forest for any signs of danger, radiating protection with every step, and felt something foreign thump through her, infecting every cell.
Was she coming to love him? More than lust, more than wanting to push him on the bed, more than wanting to be his friend, was she actually falling for him?
He looked down at her, puzzled.
“Did you hear my thoughts?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “But you slowed, and your grip tightened on my arm. Is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No. Just excited to see the lake.”
“I’m trying to stay out of your head,” Dom said. “It feels like a violation of your privacy, so I try not to hear as much as possible. It takes practice. It’s like plugging internal ears. Hard to explain.”
She leaned her head in against his huge bicep. “I appreciate it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re acting differently. Did Topaz do something?”
“No,” she said. “I guess it’s just a quiet moment, and I’m thinking about everything that has happened between us. I was also thinking earlier about my home and whether I really want to go back there. Whether there is anything to go back to anymore.”
She sighed. “Before I disappeared, I was invited to every party. Had tons of what I thought we
re friends among my co-workers and extended family. But then, after being kidnapped, I found out how empty that all was. How you can be surrounded by people yet totally alone. How hard it is to find someone who really cares.”
He rolled his lips together, listening. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said, swatting his arm. “You’re one of the good ones. One who cares.” Before he could react to that, she continued. “I guess when I think about going home, I think about going back to the illusions I had before. But I wouldn’t be able to live like that anymore. Smile and laugh with people and acknowledge they don’t really give a shit about me.”
“People are selfish,” he said, leading her to a bench when they reached the lake.
The trees all around reflected in the edges of the lake, and little silvery ripples blew across it. Candy for her eyes.
Sitting next to Dom, feeling his warmth, taking in this new world just felt right.
“They are,” she said.
He was slightly hunched, hands on his knees, staring out at the lake, and she touched his shoulder. He looked over. “What?”
“I just… That’s the second time you’ve said that about people. What happened with them? I thought you’ve always been alone.”
“Not always,” he said. “Something happened, and it made me realize you can’t be yourself with anyone.”
“You’re yourself with me.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m trying to be better. Trying to be only a friend.” He turned toward her, brushing her hair back. His touch grazing her skin was electric, making her flush. “I want too much. I’m too possessive, and you hate it.”
She swallowed, feeling heat build inside her. “Maybe I don’t hate it as much as I thought. I mean, you care.”
“More than I think you want to know,” he said.
She controlled her breathing, trying to stop her racing heart. Dom had always had this effect on her. Maybe that was why it had scared her that he was like Galen. Both of them made her heart pound, made her feel like she was falling, out of control.
The difference was Dom was holding back, ready to catch her.
Amethyst Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 5) Page 10