REICHARDT

by KD Jones

  “She’s human, then?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought, because of your past, you would never want a human female.”

  “Things change.”

  She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, they do.”

  “Let me walk you back inside. Stay the night and leave after breakfast.”

  “I would love to meet this human, but I suppose it might be awkward.”

  “Perhaps it would be. Maybe another time.”

  Chapter 14

  Gema stood at the balcony overlooking the grand open foyer of the ranch house and admitted to herself that she was lost. She had been walking around in the two-story building for more than thirty or forty minutes. The place was bigger than the apartment complex she used to live in. Where in the world was the bedroom she had woken up in? She assumed it was on the second level but now she was wondering if she was mistaken.

  “You look lost,” Valorie said, laughing and coming up behind her.

  She turned to look at the blonde. She liked Valorie and could even see them becoming friends. “I am totally lost.”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “Back to my bedroom. I’m kind of tired.”

  “At least you’re on the right floor. Your room is down the second hallway on the left at the very end. I would walk you there myself but my husband has to help with security rounds for the next six hours and I wanted to see him before he leaves. We’re on the bottom level.”

  “Oh, I should be able to find it, then.” She heard the entrance doors open and they both turned to see who entered. Rei walked in, arm in arm with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The woman was tall, almost six feet. She was athletically built, not an inch of fat on her. Her hair was long and inky black, and even from the distance where she stood she could tell her eyes were a vivid blue, taking in everything around her. She smiled and whispered something to Rei, who chuckled and smiled back.

  “Who is that?” she asked aloud without thinking.

  Valorie looked in the direction she was staring and snorted. “Queen Arena. I didn’t realize she was still here.”

  “I didn’t see her at dinner.”

  “She had to take a call in Rei’s office with her clan so her meal was delivered there.”

  Gema just caught on to the title. “Queen? She’s a queen of what?”

  “She’s the last queen from Drakonia and rules the clan in Asia. I keep my distance from the royals when they visit.”

  “There’s more than one royal?”

  “Sure. There are five kings, including King Reichardt.”

  “Rei’s a king?”

  “Man, he really didn’t tell you much, did he? Asshole.”

  Gema agreed. How could Rei not tell her he was a king? She turned her attention back to the man in question.

  “They seem close.”

  “I don’t know them that well but I have heard rumors that they had a long-lasting affair.”

  Her emotions were going from jealousy to fury to deep envy. Whoever this woman was, Gema did not like her at all. She should just turn around and walk away but she couldn’t take her eyes off them.

  They stopped in the middle of the foyer and looked at each other. Gema couldn’t see their faces and couldn’t hear them but their body language spoke volumes. They were familiar and intimate. The woman reached up to touch Rei on his chest. That was all Gema could take.

  “Is something wrong, Gema?” Valorie asked with concern.

  “I’m just really tired. Good night, Valorie.”

  “Good night, Gema.”

  She felt like something precious was being taken away from her, which made no sense at all. She barely knew Rei, but seeing that other woman—a queen, no less—touch him was like a slap in the face. King Reichardt owed her no loyalties, but for some reason, after sharing the experience of being held hostage together, she expected him to be loyal.

  “I’m an idiot,” she mumbled as she turned down the hallway that Valorie had told her to take. Thankfully this pathway did seem familiar. There, at the end of the hallway, was a set of large heavy wood doors. She would get a good night’s sleep then call for a taxi to take her to the airport. She was going home.

  Chapter 15

  Rei said good night to Arena and headed upstairs to his bedroom. He wondered if Gema was sleeping. He hoped she was awake. He wanted to talk with her, get to know her even better.

  He opened the door and frowned at the darkness of the room. She was sleeping. How disappointing. Quietly he entered the room and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.

  “Who’s there?” Gema asked, sitting up and reaching for the bedside lamp to turn it on.

  “It’s just me.”

  “Rei?”

  “Yes. I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was just going to take a quick shower before settling in for sleep.”

  “Why can’t you use your own room?”

  “This is my room.”

  There was a pause. “Can’t you use the room you slept in last night?”

  “I slept here last night, in the chair next to your bed.”

  She looked at the chair then back at him. “I don’t think having you sleep in the same room is a good idea.”

  He approached the bed. Something was different in her attitude toward him. There was hardness in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She got out of the bed. Her blue nightgown fell down to her knees and, though it was low lighting, he could see the outline of her body through the material. His dragon purred in pleasure at the sight of her.

  “Gema?”

  “I’ll go stay somewhere else so you can have your bedroom back.”

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  “A king shouldn’t sleep in a chair.”

  “I don’t go by king anymore, just Rei.”

  “What does the queen call you?” she mumbled low, but he easily heard her.

  “Queen? Are you talking about Arena? I didn’t get a chance to introduce you to her.”

  “I don’t need to be introduced to one of your lovers. I’m leaving for home tomorrow.”

  He moved closer and reached his hand out to her but she stepped back from him. It hurt that she would not let him touch her. “Gema, it’s too dangerous right now. Dyson is out there and there was a reason he took you.”

  “What reason could he have? I think I was taken because I saw a dragon get shot down. He has no other reason for wanting me.”

  “He wants to try to mate you.”

  She looked shocked. “What? He doesn’t even know me.”

  “Can we sit and talk?” He motioned her to the bed while he went over to the chair. “There’s a lot still that I have to talk to you about.”

  She sat down on the edge of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m listening.”

  “Our people are dying out because we haven’t been able to breed successfully in years. On Drakonia, we would meet someone and if both our dragons approved, we would mate one another.”

  “Has anyone ever mated on your world that their dragons didn’t approve?”

  “Yes, but it’s unnatural for us. When we came to Earth, we stayed among ourselves but the matings were fewer and fewer. A few attempts were made to breed with humans that ended in disaster.”

  Sadness flashed across her face before she covered it up. “What do you mean by disaster?”

  “When Drakonians mate, their dragons will share their dragon fire with their mate. If the dragons approved the match the fire would be able to make their union stronger and breeding possible. If the dragons don’t approve, the fire would be too dangerous to share and could cause death. Breeding with mated pairs who couldn’t share the dragon fire was less successful.”

  “Did you mate with someone?”

  “No, not on Drakonia and not here on Earth. It has been a very lonely existence.”

  “You didn’t try to
mate a human? Maybe not, because you couldn’t share the dragon fire.” She answered her own question.

  “That isn’t completely true. Drakonians have failed at finding human mates because the humans don’t have dragons in them. The dragon had to approve of the human, but the most important part is that the human has to accept both the man and the dragon. It had never happened like that until Valorie and Markus. She accepted both the man and his dragon. That allowed her to be able to receive the dragon fire without any harm.”

  “This is all interesting, but what does that have to do with Dyson wanting me? We didn’t even meet.”

  “My dragon noticed you and was interested from first sight or scent. He scented you first and flew close to get a good look. I suspect that Dyson’s dragon may have also been attracted to you.”

  Gema stood up and started to pace the room. “This is crazy. My smell drew the attention of not one but two dragons? When you say the human has to accept the dragon, does that mean I have to have sex with—”

  “No! We share sex in human form. If you could shift to a dragon that would be different. Our dragons could do that but never a human and a dragon.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Has this happened before? More than one dragon attracted to the same person?”

  “Yes, on Drakonia it was rare but it did happen and it always ended with a brutal fight to win the mate. As far as I know it has never happened on Earth because our dragons haven’t been approving of humans.”

  “What changed? Why all of a sudden are dragons becoming interested in humans?”

  “We don’t know. Markus and his arrival may have triggered something that the mages had set up when they sent us through the portal. We’re still trying to work out the why of it. It’s one of the reasons Arena came. She wished to study Markus and Valorie and their mating.”

  “The amazing Arena is suddenly a scientist?”

  “Did you meet with Arena?”

  “No, I saw you two together in the foyer. She had her hands all over you.”

  It occurred to him that Gema was jealous—of Arena. He couldn’t help but smile, pleased that she cared enough about him to be jealous. “You don’t have to be jealous of Arena.”

  Her head jerked up. “I’m not jealous.”

  “Arena asked me to share sex with her.”

  “That bitch did what?”

  He moved closer to her. He longed to caress her silky skin. “I said no. I’m not interested in Arena.”

  “I bet that pissed her off.”

  Rei cupped her face gently. He wanted to kiss those plump lips of hers. She would taste sweet. “I can’t share sex with anyone else when the one person I want is you.”

  She looked shocked but didn’t move away. Her response was a whisper. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

  “Just stay a few more days. I want more time for you to get to know me, and it will give my people more time to search for Dyson.”

  She bit her bottom lip. “One more day.”

  “Two days, and then I’ll escort you home myself.”

  She sighed. “Two more days.”

  “You stay here. I’ll go use one of my guest rooms.”

  “Not Arena’s,” she called out.

  He chuckled. “No, not Arena’s. I will be sleeping alone, thinking of you, sweet Gema. Good night.”

  “Good night, Rei.”

  Chapter 16

  Gema barely slept. She had tossed and turned, her body needy and aching. When he cupped her face, she thought he would kiss her. She even prayed he would. He left her there alone to go sleep in another room. Her imagination pictured him going to Arena’s room but he said he wouldn’t. He said he wanted Gema. She had never met a man who was so open about what he wanted. It was refreshing. She wished she had asked him to stay. They could have talked more. She stared out the window at the horses in the corral.

  A knock at the door had Gema jumping back in surprise. Would she always be jumpy? Was that the curse that Dyson left her with? “Come in.” Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Rei.

  “Good morning, Gema.”

  “Good morning, Rei.”

  “Are you ready for breakfast?”

  “Yes. I could definitely go for a cup of coffee, too.”

  He waited for her by the door and when she passed him, her body rubbed against his a little. The heat from his body made hers react in need. Her nipples hardened and her pussy actually quivered. Rei sniffed the air and growled. She looked back at him and his eyes were glowing.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  She didn’t like to be lied to. She stopped walking and turned to face him. “I know something’s wrong. Tell me.”

  He moved so fast, he was pressing her against the wall. Gema wasn’t scared—he wasn’t hurting her and he was just holding her in a stationary position. His glowing eyes stared into hers, making her feel like she was floating in the middle of an ocean of blue.

  “Rei?”

  “I want you. My dragon wants us to claim you as our mate. I’m fighting my instincts so that I won’t scare you off but when I scent your arousal, I lose a little of my control.”

  Gema was dizzy with desire and unfulfilled needs. She wanted him, too, but was scared. She wasn’t ready yet for more from him.

  “I’m not ready.”

  Rei closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pulling back. “Let’s get something to eat. I wanted to show you the barn.”

  She looked at him strangely. “I look forward to seeing the barn.”

  He chuckled. “One of our horses just had a colt. I thought you would like to see him.”

  She smiled. “Yes, I would love that.”

  *****

  Rei was in constant internal struggle with his dragon. Whenever they brushed against her skin, her scent of arousal would grow. His dragon was on the verge of breaking free just so that he could look at her with his own dragon eyes.

  Breakfast had been torture watching her put things between her lips. He couldn’t concentrate on anything she said; his focus was on those lips. Then they had spent time by the horses in the pasture. He enjoyed watching her ass in the jeans that Valorie had gotten for her. She had bent down to pick up a rock to skip across the pond and his dragon wanted them to take her right then and there. He had to quickly maneuver them to the barn.

  “Easy. Take it slow and easy with this one,” he told his dragon.

  “Did you say something?” Gema asked as they stood in the barn overlooking the new colt.

  “What do you think of the colt?”

  “He’s beautiful. I didn’t realize he would be so small. What are you going to call him?”

  “You pick the name.”

  “No, I can’t do that. He’s not my horse.”

  “He could be, if you want him.”

  She frowned at him. “What are you saying?”

  “I would like to see you again. If you had a horse here, it would ensure that you came back to visit often.” He wanted her to move to the ranch but he knew it was too soon to push for that. She also wouldn’t want to leave her grandmother. She had talked about her childhood most of the morning and he knew she would never leave her grandmother alone.

  He leaned down and kissed her. It was supposed to be a simple kiss but at the taste of her, a fire lit up inside him. She tilted her face, giving him better access. He teased her by going slowly at first, his tongue stroking her over and over until she moaned with need. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. All other thoughts left his mind. She felt so good, so right. He wanted her and had to have her.

  His hands traveled down her sides then back up until they palmed her breasts through her shirt. She was perfect. Rei was about to rip open the material to get to her flesh but he felt something in his pocket and it wasn’t his rock-hard cock. His phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his back pocket and looked at the text. Damn it!

  “I’m so sorry t
o have to cut this short. I’ve got to meet with my warriors. There’s a lead on Dyson’s whereabouts. Will you be all right to find your way back to the ranch house?”

  “I’ll be fine. Will you be back for lunch and dinner?”

  “Probably not lunch but I may get back around dinnertime. Don’t wait on me.”

  “Let me know how things go.”

  “I will.” He started to walk off but stopped to turn back. He pulled her in for another quick kiss then released her before walking off. He hated to leave her but if there was any chance of catching Dyson, he had to act now.

  Chapter 17

  Damn, that man could kiss. Gema had to reach out for the railing nearby to help hold her up. Her legs felt weak like rubber. Her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. She wanted him badly.

  She must be crazy. He was a dragon-shifting alien and she was a Mexican American still undecided on where she wanted to live. Turning back around, she watched the colt feeding from his mother. Was he serious about giving her the baby colt? It didn’t matter; she would never take that colt from his mother. They should get to be together on the ranch.

  He did offer for her to move there, live there with him. That was also a crazy idea. She barely knew him, yet the time she had spent with him made her feel like she had known him her whole life. Conversation with him was easy and he listened to her, really listened to what she had to say. Some of the guys she had dated only pretended to listen in order to get in her pants. She really hated guys like that. She was glad that Rei wasn’t like those other men. Maybe his being what he was made him perfect for her.

  Walking out of the barn, she watched a few of the ranch hands ride the horses. The horses were gorgeous, different breeds that got along well. She wondered if the ranch hands were all dragon shifters.

  “Would you like for me to saddle a horse for you?” a man said from behind her.

  She turned in surprise. “What?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m the lead horse handler here. I saw you admiring the horses and thought maybe you would like to take a ride.”