Branded Wings

by S. I. Hayes

  “I’m sorry,” she muttered. Holding her stomach, she let me help her to her feet, but as soon as I had her upright she fell back down. Those heels were not doing her any favors. I scooped her up into my arms, and she fell against my chest.

  She was far drunker than I had anticipated, and I was instantly sorry for almost taking advantage.

  “This was not how I wanted my first kiss.” I almost missed her words as they were muffled by my shirt.

  Her first kiss? I understood now, her feelings of fear, and the unsure way she had kissed me. I stroked her head, she had been through so very much in such a short time. She was just a baby Dragon, someone was trying to keep her under their control and she was afraid of telling who. This was something I understood, all too well. My phone beeped and I maneuvered her to check it, it was a text from Keegan telling me he was going home with Ryane. Good, at least then I wouldn’t have to explain the now passed out girl in my arms.

  Chapter 44 Aella

  THE WARM SUN, FILTERED through dark curtains, awoke me. My head pounded as I rolled over, seeing a tall glass of water covered with condensation from the ice that filled it and what looked like a couple of aspirins. Groggy, I sat up and looked around. I didn’t know the room with its oaken furniture. I looked down at myself to see I had on a big white T-shirt over the previous night’s clothes. I tugged at it, while I tried to remember what the Hell happened. The night was mostly blank. I took the pills and guzzled the water. It felt good going down my parched throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied a stack of fabrics at the foot of the bed and on top a note. I crawled down the bed, my body not ready for much else and snatched up the piece of paper.

  ‘Aella,

  ‘There’s clean towels in the bathroom down the hall. Freshen up and meet me downstairs.’

  Sig

  I picked up the stack to find it was another white T-shirt and black drawstring sweat pants. I took a deep breath, I smelled awful and my mouth tasted like a cat had shit in it. I groaned, grabbing the clothes and headed out of the room. The hallway was nice and clean. A long brown afghan runner covered the hardwood floor, and I passed a couple tables with fresh flowers and trinkets on them. I found the bathroom as it was the only door unlocked and ajar. I turned on the light and winced at its brightness, then I caught myself in the mirror. I looked like a train wreck. Mascara and eyeliner was smudged everywhere and I had lipstick on my teeth. My hair was a nest of puffed and frizzed curls going every which way.

  “Christ,” I swore, pulling the clip from my hair, letting it all fall down my back. I stripped and turned on the hot water, climbing into the big porcelain tub and letting the heat of the water wash the sick feeling in my body away. There wasn’t much in the shower, some nondescript shampoo and conditioner, which smelled okay, but was not going to make my hair very happy unless I used a ton of it. I needed the ultra-moisturizing anti-frizz stuff. There was also a body wash, which was ginger and honey, that I was surprised to see in a man’s bathroom. I shrugged and lathered up a clean washcloth.

  To each their own, I thought as I got to work scrubbing my face and body.

  I BUNDLED UP MY CLOTHES and wandered down the stairs, looking at the photos on the wall. They were of an older man and what looked like that girl Ryane, Collette had pointed out to me. Was this her house? Did Siegfried live with her? If so, what was going on between them? Was she here? I could feel my nervousness and my scales as they prickled on my arms. I stopped myself before I rounded the corner, taking a few deep breaths. I didn’t hear much, but I could smell meat cooking and coffee brewing, both making my stomach growl greedily. I adjusted the ties on the sweat pants, making sure they were going to stay up and came around the corner into the hall that connected to the living room. I peered inside curiously. It was cozy. A couch and a couple of matching fabric chairs, a big television over the fireplace. It was a nice intimate setting for a family or group of friends. My stomach became insistent I so followed it, finding the kitchen. Siegfried was at the stove frying up some eggs, there was already steak on two plates and a stack of buttered toast.

  “Hi,” I managed, my arms crossed over my chest. He turned his head slightly, a smile on his face as he plated the eggs and slid the food in front of me.

  “Good morning,” he answered softly, for which I was thankful as my head was still not happy. “You feeling better?”

  I nodded, rubbing my head and staring at the food as he gave me a napkin, knife and fork. “This looks great.”

  “It’ll help absorb the rest of the alcohol, not that you should have any left in you.” He chuckled, joining me at the center island.

  “Yeah, how did I end up here, I mean, we didn’t...” I couldn’t even say it, my face flushed and my scales rose along my eyes.

  “I’m not in the habit of bedding passed out women. I prefer my sex interactive.” He took a bite of the steak, chewing as he seemed to be thinking of his next words.

  I sighed heavily with relief. “Thank the Gods.” He rose an eyebrow at me in question. “Sorry, it’s not that I... What I mean is, I was -don’t, remember anything past the seventh or eighth drink with Collette and her friend. All those games I was playing... I don’t want you to think I’m some slut.” I shoveled the food into my mouth. The steak was tender and a little spicy, a perfect complement to the runny egg. I let out a happy moan. “This is so good. I’m gonna need more of this.” I pointed at the steak with my knife.

  “Furthest thing from my mind.” He was staring at my mouth as I spoke, making me think there was something on my face. I wiped at it. “What are you staring at?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just, well, I wasn’t a complete gentleman last night.” His smile became a wide grin. “As drunk as you were, when you pinned me, I did kiss you. May have grabbed your ass a bit too.”

  I choked on my coffee. “I kissed you?”

  “Yup, right before you puked all over the sidewalk, the grass, yourself, my truck...” He sipped his coffee. “I managed to come away with just a bit on my shoes.”

  I put my head in my mortified hands, shaking it side to side. “I am so very sorry.”

  “It’s okay, but you were pretty out of it, which was why I brought you here with me.”

  I nodded, looking around some more. “So whose place is this, I saw pictures of that girl, Ryane, on the walls. Do you live with her?” I wanted to change the subject of my botched first kiss. It would figure I would miss it, and not get to actually experience it. I was internally beating myself up.

  “No. She lives somewhere else. It was her Godfather’s, but he passed away recently, so I’m keeping the place up and running.” He slipped from his side of the center island and came over to me. “It’s just me and you here.” He pushed my curls back from my face and turned me toward him. “Last night you said something that I’d like to confirm.”

  “I did?” My legs started to shake on the stool, and I put my hands on them to make it less obvious. That strange feeling was returning to my body, having him so close. God, I couldn’t help the way he made me feel, the hairs on me lifted as he looked down at me. I clenched my fists against my connected knees.

  “Yeah, you said, ‘This was not how I wanted my first kiss...’ How did you mean that?”

  “Um, what do you mean? How?”

  “Did you mean your first kiss, or your first kiss with me?”

  “Does it really matter?” I tightened my fists as my face went crimson.

  “Yeah, one makes me feel giddy, the idea that you have thought about kissing me. The other makes me feel like a thief, taking something so special from you when you were so vulnerable.”

  “Would it help if I said both?” I whispered.

  “You’re a gorgeous woman, how can you have gone this long and not been kissed good and proper?

  I looked down, but he lifted my chin, making me gaze into those emerald green eyes. “I never met someone I wanted to kiss before.”

  “But you have now?” He was trying not to
smile, as he lightly caressed my cheeks with his thumbs.

  The touch sent a zing straight through me. I licked my lips, taking my bottom lip between my teeth for an instant. “I...” I gasped as he reached between my knees to pull the stool and I closer to him. His lips hovered over mine, I could feel his cool breath on me as he took my face between his palms.

  “You deserve to be kissed and kissed well,” he murmured, laying a kiss on my forehead. Then his lips fluttered over my eyes, my cheeks. He lightly brushed my mouth, but passed it by, instead he lightly kissed my jaw, then my throat.

  My hands found his, and they traveled up his arms. I pulled him closer with a gasp, my whole body felt like it was on fire. He kissed up my neck and to my chin with tiny nibbles, then his lips fell onto mine in small wet bursts. I sought to bring him closer to me, opening my legs and he obliged, filling the space with his hard body. I opened my mouth, my tongue finding his. He tasted spicy, like the deep, rich coffee, we had been drinking. He pulled away slightly, breaking the kiss.

  “Take it easy,” he whispered, his lips softly teasing mine. “A little less tongue.” A chuckle filled his chest.

  “I’m sorry.” I was starting to panic, was I not doing good at this?

  “It’s okay.” He took my bottom lip into his mouth, giving it a gentle tug, his hands running down my back and cupping my ass. I grabbed him by the head, going back in even as it made my head swim. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me, in a moment I felt the couch surround us as he lay beside rather than on top of me. His hands squeezed and kneaded at my hips. I ran my leg up his and he pulled it up further, breaking our heated kiss. He grabbed my legs, flipping me onto my back and sliding me down the couch, getting my knees on either side of him. I watched with heavy breaths as he pulled off his shirt, tossing it to the floor. I sat up and ran my hands up his washboard of a stomach. The flesh was evenly tanned like the rest of him and the muscles were rippled and firm. His breathing was as labored as mine as he grabbed my face again to take my mouth, laying me back, coming down on top of me. He leaned into my center, and I felt something hard push against my sex. I broke our kiss, looking down, the bulge in his pants was hard to miss. “Oh, wow.” I couldn’t help myself. I’d never actually seen a guy excited before.

  He laughed, pulling back slightly. “I’m sorry, you just taste so fucking good, he’s got a mind of his own and we’ve kinda been thinking about you a lot.”

  I could see the hunger in his eyes as his hands settled back on my hips and waist.

  “I know what you mean,” I confessed. “I’ve thought about you too.”

  “What have you thought about?” He raised an eyebrow. “I’d love to hear.”

  I covered my face with my hands. “Oh, Hell, I don’t know.” I giggled. “Stuff.”

  “Like, what?” He leaned down, his hand under me as he kissed my neck. “This?”

  “Sometimes...” I lifted my head as his tongue ran up to reclaim my mouth for a moment.

  “And other times?”

  “I’ve thought about your hands on me,” I gasped as he slid his hand just down the back of my pants, getting a handful of my naked flesh. I hadn’t wanted to put on the worn underwear, so I just went without.

  “I see.” His fingers trailed around to the front of my waistband, he dragged his nails along my stomach, lifting the T-shirt. He bent down, kissing my navel, flicking the ring there with his tongue. “You like piercings?”

  “I- Sometimes.”

  “Can I take this off you?” He tugged at the T-shirt.

  I looked down at him with a little nod as I sat up on my elbows. “Yes.”

  Chapter 45 Sig

  AELLA LAID BACK, COVERING her breasts, even though she gave me permission to take off the T-shirt, she couldn’t hide her embarrassment. Her scales started to come to the surface, her stomach and chest turning a deep royal purple, with iridescent blue flecks around the edges. The color climbed up her arms in beautiful swirls. She looked up at me with such innocence. God, I wanted to ravage her. My body ached for it, but I had to pull myself back. She was a virgin; of that I was quite sure. I trailed my nails up her scales and they flickered, lifting and dropping under the motion. She closed her eyes, lifting her body to me. I raised her arms above her head, kissing her slowly, deeply. My tongue worked its way down to her breasts, circling the scales at her areole feeling them drop as she relaxed into her arousal. She drew her legs up the back of mine, pulling me in closer as she writhed under me. I grazed her nipple with my teeth, one of her hands sought out my hair, fisting into it. I laughed, giving her a lick.

  “You like that?”

  “Mmm hmm,” was all she could fare, with a nod of her head, her hand covering her face a moment before she reached down and grabbed my biceps, pulling me up. I pushed against her, my hardon pressing between her legs. Fuck, I needed to be inside this woman. I growled into her mouth as she kissed me harder, panting and lifting her pelvis in time with my movements, Her rhythm perfect. I dragged my hands down to her waist, getting a good hold of her ass, lifting her up. She moaned deeply, her body stretched out along the couch, her eyes half closed. I watched her tits as they bounced upward and she grabbed them, squeezing them together. I wasn’t going to be able to restrain myself much more seeing that.

  “I don’t want to push, but what can I do to you?’” I questioned.

  “I’m not ready to... Not yet. But...” Her hands trailed down her stomach, to her waistband. “I’ve imagined your hands over every inch of me. Inside of me.”

  I lowered her back down with a nod and slid my hand down the front of her pants, past the small patch of hair there and found her hot and trembling.

  “I’ll be gentle,” I assured her as I opened her folds, sliding my middle finger between them and finding her ready for me. I groaned just a little, wishing my cock was there instead. She lifted her pelvis to my hand as I found her clit, rubbing in slow deliberate circles. Her scent was a spicy exquisite ginger as it permeated the room from her arousal.

  “Please,” she cooed, pushing my hand downward. I took her cue and found her drenched little hole. I pressed up against it, gently tracing its outline. Little by little, as she rocked against me, I worked my finger inside. She gasped as I got over her ridge with the second finger, her fingers twisting and gripping at the couch cushions. Her moans filled my ears as I felt her clenching up around me. She was about to come. I moved faster, bending down to kiss her neck.

  “Let me taste you,” I half demanded and she nodded yes.

  Just as I pulled my fingers from her, I heard the front door swing open, followed by Keegan’s big fucking mouth.

  “Sig? Where are ya? I’ve got great fucking news!”

  “Shit,” I barked as Aella rolled out from underneath me, grabbing for clothes. She grabbed my T-shirt as I jumped the couch to halt Keegan. “Easy there.” I put up my hands to stop his coming into the living room.

  He laughed, looking at me, standing there in just sweatpants with a raging hardon. “I’m sorry, are you not alone?” He made to look around me as I tried to block his view.

  “It’s okay,” Aella called out. “I’m decent, and embarrassed.”

  Keegan scuttled by me and walked over to her with a toothy grin. “Hello there!” He chuckled. “I’m sorry for barging in like I did. If I had known the monk over here had company, I’d have called first.”

  “No, he wouldn’t have.”

  Keegan looked at me. “No... I wouldn’t have.” He shook his head, looking her over once more. “I am sorry though, I’m Keegan.

  “Aella.”

  He swung to look back at me. “I’ve got great news.”

  I walked over to Aella and grabbed the other T-shirt, pulling it on. “What’s that? Boss.”

  “I’ve decided to announce Ryane and I’s engagement to the Senate, we leave in two days.”

  “Yeah, that’s great for you. What’s it got to do with me?”

  “What, you
don’t want to see your old pals from your time with the house of Krieger? I’d have thought you would welcome the break.”

  I looked at Aella, who stared at the floor. “Let’s talk about this later.” I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into me. “Why don’t I get you back to the dorm?” I rubbed my hand up her arm and she nodded.

  “That’s probably a good idea. I’ll grab my stuff.” She wiggled out of my arms and headed for the stairs, I turned to Keegan with a scowl.

  “Thanks man, you really couldn’t have spent the day with your woman? You haven’t seen her in days and already your back?” I walked over to the kitchen island, gathering the leftover food, tossing it out with a few clanks and bangs.

  “Hey, she had to work. I’m sorry I broke up whatever you were doing. Although it’s not like you haven’t walked in on me and Ryane. Hell, you’ve gotten quite the show on more than one occasion.” He chuckled, clasping my shoulder. “I am sorry, is that the girl you’ve been talking about?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “She’s hot.”

  “Yeah, she is.”

  “Got a nice set on her too man. I think they might be bigger than Ryane’s.”

  I gave him a shove. “Shut up, she’ll hear you.”

  “Kinda late for that,” Aella retorted with her hands across her chest. “Hope you don’t mind, I snagged your gym bag.” She held up what was certainly not my gym bag.

  My eyes went wide. “I- Uhh...”

  “Some interesting things in there.” She walked toward the door with a shake of her ass. Keegan and I watched as she opened the front door and went through it.

  “Damn, she’s fucking hot.”

  “Yup, and gonna be all mine.” I grabbed the keys out of the dish on the counter, and my cell phone as I headed for the door.