Dragon Envy

by Kelly Armenta

  “Well it was that or I leave them all heated up with nowhere to go. That hardly seems right. It’s not like I can practice this on myself you know. And if I tried it on one of my men we’d only end up… not practicing. These guys both volunteered their service and are fully aware of the consequences, we aren’t harming anyone.”

  “I dinna volunteer,” Dane reminded me. “I hardly call pulling my wee hairs sport. An if ye hadn’t noticed, I’m not flopped on the floor meself, and tis fairly heated I am at this moment.”

  “Did you want to be… flopped on the floor that is?” I asked, turning my head and glancing up at him.

  “Not alone,” he informed me firmly and stared down at me with a frown. “I’ve had more than enough of that already, I have.”

  “Well I’m not having sex at the moment so you can either join the boys or grin and bear it. Your choice entirely.”

  “I do nae care much for either,” he replied.

  “Then I can’t help you.” And I got back up on my feet and went to check on Nate. “Nate, are you okay?” I asked and smiled when he waved his fingers at me.

  “It’s all good,” he muttered contentedly.

  “Great, then I think I’m done here.” Owen was kind enough to get rid of our swords and I spied Nick talking to one of his men over by the weight benches and waved him over. “This is Dane. Dane, this is Nick. Nick runs things around here for Jace and Gareth. Dane is with me and will be staying for a while.”

  “What are you?” Nick asked sharply, his nostrils quivering. Dane ran his eyes over Nick’s body and then glanced at me questioningly.

  “He’s like me… only without the special ingredients,” I told Nick and caught the surprised look on Dane’s face from the corner of my eye. Apparently no one had told him I was more than just Elf and Dragon.

  “Lust Demon.” Kit added, leaning over my shoulder and wrapping his arms around my waist, while pressing his chest to my back. His movements seemed to annoy Dane even more. “And maybe a few other things that we aren’t quite sure of yet.”

  I ignored Kit and told Nick, “There may be others joining us soon. You might look for men that smell like Dane. Just as he’s Black, we are expecting White, Bronze, and Copper in case anyone shows up while we’re gone.”

  “What about that Red?” Nick asked while he eyed Dane. “The one on the front pages with you this morning. Is he here too?”

  “No, he won’t be joining us anytime soon. I sort of gave him to my parents to watch. I needed to get him away from Valentine so they took him to the Sidhe.”

  “If they do show up, what would you like me to do with them?”

  I chewed on my lip and put my hand over Kit’s, running my fingers over his wrist distractedly while he pressed against me and made pleased noises in his throat. “Good question. I’m not sure how to answer it. If you send them away, we need to make sure they don’t fall into Valentine’s hands. If you keep them here, and they cause problems… see this just sucks. I have no idea what these yahoos are going to be like. For all we know they could be mass murderers or escapees from the loony bin! I just don’t know, Nick. Do whatever you think is best. Hopefully it won’t be a problem and no one will show up while we’re gone. Although after my little stunt last night, I suspect it won’t be long before the lot of them descend on us,” I grumbled while he shook his head and frowned at me.

  We piled into the elevator and Dane turned toward me. “Where are ye going and what tis the meaning of ‘other things’?”

  I signed and thought best about how best to answer him. Apparently I took too long.

  “The Queen has sent for me,” Amras replied. “The Princess plans to accompany me to the Sidhe for a short visit.”

  I glanced at Kit, eyeing him thoughtfully while he stared at the floor and mumbled under his breath.

  But it was Owen that added, “We think her Father’s familiar, a Demon by the name of Knight, added a few other ingredients at her conception, or shortly thereafter, which included Lust Demon. We aren’t sure what else, but at the time he had access to her Father’s lab, which contained nearly every type of non-human and immortal DNA samples.”

  Dane thought that over and nodded. “Cloves an’ cinnamon,” he replied. “Tis a heady combination.”

  The elevator doors opened and I headed down the hall. Gareth and Jace were in the living area chatting and I went to Jace, who was closest and gave him a kiss, then crossed to Gareth and did the same. His arm snaked up and he pulled me into his lap. “You taste salty,” he informed me as he nuzzled my neck. “No one appears to be limping.” He added with another nuzzle that made me snort indelicately which caused him to chuckle. “Have you eaten?” He asked.

  “No, not yet. We just finished upstairs,” I replied while the others flopped down on the couches around us. Dane grimaced but seated himself gingerly and I glanced at Owen, taking pity on him. Owen nodded, and Dane sighed as his leather was replaced by a soft pair of worn jeans and a T-shirt that hugged his body nicely.

  Jace pushed himself off his chair and headed to the Kitchen while we made small talk. He came back with a plate full of the four basic food groups and took a seat next to Gareth. I leaned back into Gareth’s arms and curled my feet into his lap while I let Jace feed me. The others discussed the morning papers strewn about on the coffee tables. From where I sat I could see several shots of us as we took flight the previous night. There were also a few with us coming down the carpet when we first arrived. From the next couch over Dane eyed the three of us from beneath his lashes but kept his comments to himself. He didn’t seem to be a big talker and I appreciated that.

  I was just finishing my breakfast when the elevator dinged and there was a knock at the door. Owen was closest and he went to answer it, standing back and giving me an irritated look while I glanced over Gareth’s shoulder in surprise as six of Nick’s men carted in stacks of brightly wrapped presents and several floral bouquets.

  “There’s more upstairs,” one of the men, whose name I didn’t know, informed us. “we could use some help getting them down here.”

  I glanced at Kit, who rose from his chair. “Where?” he asked and the guard told him they were stacking them on the landing in the club upstairs. Kit disappeared in a swirl of black and silver, then reappeared seconds later with an amazed look on his face. “Wow!” he said and snapped his fingers. A pile of presents, nearly as tall as Owen and about ten feet wide, appeared between the kitchen and the living room. The flowers he spread around the room on the end and coffee tables and the room immediately began smelling like a florist shop at Easter time.

  “Wow is right! What is all this?” I demanded, crawling out of Gareth’s lap and reaching for the card in the nearest bunch of flowers. Part of me as curious as a child at Christmas, while the other part held her breath, afraid this was going to cause problems. I opened the card and with a relieved sigh, read it. “This one’s from Channel 10 News,” I muttered and waved the others at the cards.

  “Channel 3,” Amras informed me.

  “The San Francisco Daily,” Owen advised us as he too held up a card. The others reached for cards and all of them appeared to be from news outlets or businesses around town. I had them toss the cards in a pile in the middle of the table and then had Owen get rid of the flowers. He didn’t say where they went and I didn’t ask, but I suspected the local hospitals might be wondering who their mysterious benefactor was.

  With the flowers all gone, I turned and looked at the stack of presents and wandered over to the pile. “Areth?” I called and smiled when she appeared sitting daintily on a box with a big blue ribbon.

  “Princess?” she inquired and glanced around in wonder.

  “Hi there. I’m going to require help. I need some way of keeping track of what came from whom. I think I’m going to have to send ‘thank you’ cards,” I told her, frowning at the pile and shaking my head, hoping I could convince Areth into being my personal secretary for the day.

  “I can a
ssist you,” she told me happily, giving her dainty little hand a wave. In the air next to her a feather pen and scroll appeared, much like the one the little man had used when we had invoked Kit’s contract. “Simply state the article and whom the gift is from, and it will be recorded,” she advised me while Dane muttered something unintelligible from across the room. I couldn’t tell if it was Areth, or the scroll and pen, that surprised him more.

  “That will work,” I told her and she disappeared with a smile. “Now who wants to help me open presents?” I asked and Cursed was the first to volunteer.

  “I do, My Lady,” he replied with a frown. “To ensure there is nothing in one of the boxes intended to harm you.” That pretty much got the others moving and soon we were ripping paper and I was wrapping bows and ribbons round our necks. It was like Christmas in May. When every last box had been opened I sat on the edge of the couch and looked around. There were mugs, platters, stuffed animals, kites, jewelry, clothing, shoes, and purses. Someone had even sent me a bike. It was like every shop in the town had chipped in something.

  “I think you’ve just became the town’s mascot,” Jace told me. When I frowned at him he added, “People are going to flock to the city to see you. I think this is our town’s way of saying thank you for future business. I imagine in a few days you’ll be on mugs and posters in every store.”

  I glanced at the coffee table and this morning’s newspaper. The top half of the paper was a picture of the five of us circling City Hall. “Actually, I think we’ll all be,” I told him, and then laughed when he grimaced. “Just think of it Jace… your very own fan club,” and laughed again when he rubbed his hand over his face and shook his head sadly.

  I made sure I named off all of the floral arrangement donators and got them onto the list. When I was done I called for Areth again and she promised to get the thank you cards out to everyone. Owen got rid of the garbage for me and when he would have snapped his fingers to get rid of the rest of it, I asked him to put the jewelry, clothing, purses and shoes in my room, which he was kind enough to do. Hey, some of those purses were worth a lot of money and the shoes… well a woman never turns down shoes.

  Chapter 3

  I went to shower and when I came out of my bathroom naked, drying my hair with my towel, I discovered Dane lying across my bed watching me. He was wearing jeans and a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled back to his forearms. He looked like he’d already showered and had been waiting a while. By the time I noticed him it was too late to escape back into the bathroom and while I wasn’t happy about walking around naked in front of him, screaming and pretending maidenly airs seemed just a tad extreme. Especially given that he’d already seen me in the altogether just a few hours earlier. Instead I simply wandered over to the bed and the clothing Areth had laid out for me.

  “I’d ask what you’re doing in here but that seems pretty obvious,” I told him while I reached for a pair of lacy panties lying on the bed. His hand flashed out and wrapped around my wrist. I glanced down at his fingers then slowly up into his eyes.

  “Leave them,” he told me and slowly tugged me toward him. I dug my heels in and frowned at him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.

  “I’d very much like ta be tasting ye,” he replied in a coaxing tone. “Tis a kiss I’ll be wanting.”

  “Do the others know you’re in here?” I asked while I held my ground and continued to look at him.

  He shrugged. “I’m here, I am,” he told me while he simply pulled me slowly in against the bed, despite my lack of assistance. “Walked right past them, did I nae?” Which meant they were all in the other room listening in and how special was that?

  “Look Dane,” I tried while he continued with the pressure and I found myself bending over the bed. “I don’t have anything against you personally… it’s just that it’s all a bit sudden and I’m not that kind of girl.” I told him still managing to not assist, though it seemed to be doing me very little good.

  “Ah so it’s worry over other’s perception that concerns ye?” he added. I nodded and lifted a knee against the bed while he slowly continued the pressure on my wrist. “Believing it’s no natural fer yerself to be entertaining so very many different men are ye?”

  “Well… yes actually it isn’t. Is it?” I asked as my knee slid onto the bed and I lifted the other to keep it from getting bent backwards.

  “Tis nae something ye need concern yerself with. Are ye nae a Queen, aye? An tis it nae yer right ta be taking as many Drakes ta yer bed as ye can? Tis our duty to serve ye is it nae? So where be the shame in that I’m asking.”

  “You think I’m a Queen and the rules for other women don’t apply to me?” I asked while I chewed on my lip and knelt on the bed. He was sitting up now his fingers still locked around my wrist and I could feel his black eyes caressing my skin.

  “Aye they do nae. Tis sure ye need strength. Tis our attendance upon ye that ensures the powers continue ta grow so ye can become a proper Queen. Tis the natural order of things, ye kin?”

  I wasn’t certain I agreed emotionally, but what he said did seem to make an improbable kind of sense. Mi had told me my powers would grow with sex. According to Dane the Drake’s were duty bound to support me in growing my powers. When I thought about it in that way it didn’t seem quite so bad. “Why so many?” I asked, then tried again when he just looked at me in confusion. “Why does it have to be so many Drakes… why isn’t Gareth and Jace enough?”

  He sighed and his thumb stroked across my wrist. “Can ye deny the power in yer pleasure is a force ta be reckoned with?” He asked calmly and I thought about it and shook my head. “Then believe me when I say… twill only get stronger, an tis the power that draws Drakes ta ye Court. The stronger yer power the larger yer Court, ye kin?”

  “My Court?” I asked and turned my head to look at him skeptically. “You Drakes are my Court and your job is to pleasure me so I can grow stronger?”

  “Aye.”

  “And I need lots of you because I’m getting stronger and therefore will need more of you to… ah, serve me?” I asked, my eyes widening at the near horror of the thought. “I need you to feed off like some sort of Vampire?” I asked suddenly feeling a little nauseous at the thought.

  “Nae ye need us so ye can become fertile.”

  “I’m very confused,” I replied and flopped down on my side, then rolled onto my stomach propping my chin into my hands and staring down at the comforter. His fingers stroked my hair, worrying at the knots in it while I struggled to get my mind around what he had told me. “I need you to make me fertile and you need me for what?” I asked, almost afraid of what answer he might give. The entire conversation was disconcerting to me and I wasn’t certain I liked where fate seemed to be taking me.

  He chuckled and gave my hair a tug. “Why would any man be needing a woman?” he teased and I frowned.

  “So… you make me fertile and I give you sex?”

  “And wee ones,” he replied. “Tis the greatest gift of all an tis why we share.”

  “Because I need more of you to help me reach my power and become fertile?” I asked and he smiled and nodded.

  “Aye, ye kin now.”

  “The more of you I have sex with the better my odds of increasing my power and becoming fertile so I can produce offspring. You act as my Court and protect me while providing me with… variety.” This time he drew the back of his finger down my cheek and over my lips while my eyes widened and I met his eyes.

  “Variety ensures yer continued good health. Tis why the rules dinna apply ta ye. Why I would very much like ta join the Court so I may perform my duty an assist in keeping ye healthy and… dare I say happy?”

  “Hmm… you almost make it sound like it’s a chore.” I grumped.

  He leaned down on his side next to me, bracing himself on his elbow and moved my hair to the side so he could run his fingers over my shoulder and down my back, all the while smiling serenel
y. “Would it help if I were ta speak of yer beauty? Or tell how I’ve been searching ta find ye since the first morning I woke and had shared yer dream? That I am in love with ye, Lass?” he admitted. When I turned my head toward him he dropped his shield, revealing his mind to me for the first time and inside me Goldy cracked open an eye and hummed deep in her throat.

  A forced calm coated his emotions, controlling them with an iron fist. I could sense the layers boiling and churning underneath and it occurred to me that he was much older than I had guessed. He was perhaps the first. There was about him a quiet hint of growing excitement at being so close to me, to the possibility of us. A need to be accepted and wanted. Take me, he offered, and use me, his mind whispered, while I licked my lips and felt my heartbeat accelerate.

  “Can you take off your shirt?” I asked and his eyes widened and he sat up. In one smooth motion he pulled his shirt over his head. His fingers went to the top button on his jeans and he hesitated, then eased himself onto his back and turned his head toward me. My eyes swept his upper body and once again I felt myself quicken at the sight of his abs. His chest was deep and covered in a light patch of inky black curls that stretched from nipple to nipple and arrowed down the center of his body in a fine line that disappeared under the waist band on his jeans. The three gashes I had given him earlier were still there and I made a surprised sound in my throat and sat up, abruptly reaching for him. My palm met his flesh and my body actually arched at the shock that passed from his skin into mine. Biting my lip I forced myself to maintain contact while I pushed the healing into him and felt his skin knit beneath me.

  “You fought me with that under your leather,” I scolded.

  “Tis nae but a wee scratch then” he told me with a small smile.

  “You can heal yourself, can’t you?”

  “Aye, but tis not like yer healing.”

  “I mean, you heal when you shift don’t you?” I asked and had a bad thought. Marcus hadn’t healed himself either. Was it that they were unable to heal themselves during shift?