Oh, My Dragon

by Lani Lynn Vale

  And then, in a freak meeting, she’d shown up where she shouldn’t have been, and all my training had deserted me.

  I’d touched her. Stolen her life from her with one single touch, and she didn’t even know it.

  I could have stayed away. Should have. But the moment I saw her up close and personal, I knew fate had intervened.

  “I realize that,” I rumbled, squeezing my arm into my side and giving Wink a reassuring squeeze when she started to tremble.

  The power in the room had grown exponentially since I’d arrived.

  Which was why I never stayed longer than I had to.

  The longer Keifer and I were in the same room, the more the tension built until something broke.

  Usually, it was me…or something that belonged to me.

  But this time, that wouldn’t be happening. This time, I had Wink to protect.

  And Keifer saw that I wasn’t going to bend. Not this time, anyway.

  So he got on with what he wanted me there to talk about.

  “Blythe, will you please tell Derek and Jean Luc to come in here?” Keifer said on a put-upon sigh.

  Blythe’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Where are they?”

  “They’re in my office,” Keifer said.

  “I’ll go with you. I have to go throw up,” Brooklyn said as she passed the baby she was holding to Keifer then left the room.

  Wink’s hand tightened on my arm, and I looked down at her.

  “What?” I asked.

  “She’s having a boy.” Wink muttered softly. “Why do I know that?”

  I smiled.

  “You can see their DNA,” I told her. “That’s part of my powers that I share with you now, remember?”

  Nikolai’s startled exclamation had both of us looking up before Wink could reply.

  “What?” Wink asked. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Everyone was staring at us, including Derek and Jean Luc who’d come in through the back door.

  “What do you mean, she’s having a boy?” Nikolai asked.

  “You never told me what I was having,” Keifer said.

  Did I detect a note of hurt in his voice?

  Surely not.

  “That was because you never asked,” I said distractedly, my head turning slightly. “Why did you tell her to go get Jean Luc and Derek if you could summon them through mind speak? And why did you send her in the wrong direction when you knew that they were outside?”

  Keifer’s eyebrows rose.

  “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m having a boy. Do you think he’ll be as big as me?” Nikolai asked.

  We all stared at him.

  “Not when he’s born,” Wink said nicely. “Maybe when he grows up, though.”

  Nikolai’s mouth turned up at one side in a grin. “That’s good to know.”

  “Can we get on with what we came here for?” I asked, annoyance clear in my voice. “I haven’t had but a few hours of sleep.”

  Keifer’s eyes narrowed.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “Because I was on duty last night, like you asked me to be. Remember?”

  Keifer shrugged.

  “And then I had to go talk to a guy about some things,” I said.

  “What things?” Keifer asked. “Who?”

  Farrow chose that moment to come into the kitchen, and he looked bad.

  My mouth kicked up at the corner at seeing the job I’d done on him.

  Twice.

  He deserved it.

  Farrow was the most selfish motherfucker on the planet, and if my opinions held any clout with Keifer, I’d recommend that the little fucker find someplace else to live.

  He was going to get us all in trouble.

  Had gotten us all in trouble.

  A lot.

  But the little fucker was royalty, and Keifer’s brother.

  So, no matter what I thought, Keifer would never kick Farrow to the curb.

  Farrow would likely be on Keifer’s tit for the rest of his life.

  “What happened to you?” Keifer asked Farrow.

  “Nothing,” Farrow said, his eyes sliding to me once before turning back to the cabinet where he was reaching for a cup.

  I turned my eyes back to Keifer, my eyesight offended that I’d chosen to look at Farrow as long as I had.

  The motherfucker really got on my nerves, and it chapped my ass every damn day that I ever got into the situation that I needed help from him.

  “You’ll tell me later when we’re alone,” Keifer ordered his little brother.

  I snorted, causing all attention to come back to me.

  Wink squeezed my hand, letting her small fingernails dig into my skin.

  Chapter 5

  Book sniffing (verb): breathing in the scent of a book, sometimes in secret.

  -Wink’s not-so-secret secret

  Wink

  I was so goddamned lost it wasn’t even funny.

  Everyone kept casting me furtive glances, most of them filled with pity.

  In fact, it was happening so often that I wanted to yell at them.

  I didn’t know what that was all about, or why they were doing it, but I was seriously at the point where I was about to lose it.

  And I really hated the way nearly all of them sounded like they were talking down to Ian with each word that came out of their mouth.

  The bigger brother was fighting with the little brother, that I could tell from what little information I knew.

  The weird thing was how I knew they were brothers.

  I could see their DNA. It was like it was floating in the air around them.

  A whole bunch of letters like I saw in science class during college.

  They were wrapped around each man like a second skin, and I had to resist the urge to go over there and see if I could move the letters by pressing on it.

  “You’ll tell me when we’re alone,” the big man said to the little man.

  Then Ian snorted, and I squeezed his hand when all eyes came back to him.

  “Do you have something to add to this conversation?” Keifer asked through gritted teeth.

  “No,” Ian said, no apology whatsoever in his tone.

  Kiefer turned more fully to Ian, giving his brother his back.

  “How about you enlighten me about what was so funny, then?” Keifer said slowly.

  Derek, Nikolai, and the accented one—Jean something or other—all looked warily between the two men.

  I shifted, putting myself even further into Ian’s hold, something in which Keifer caught.

  “Maybe we can discuss this in private,” Keifer suggested, his eyes going to me and then back to Ian.

  “Keifer!” Blythe called. “Can you get someone to bring the babies to me? It’s time for them to eat.”

  My eyes went to the two babies who were asleep and clearly not hungry, otherwise they’d be letting people know.

  Nonetheless, Keifer sighed and turned to walk out the door.

  “Fucking pussy,” Farrow, the unwise brother, said to Keifer’s back.

  Keifer froze, and then turned to glare at his brother.

  The baby in his arm, jostled by the movement, woke.

  “Take the baby,” Keifer said, handing the baby off to Pierre or whatever the hell his name was.

  Pierre promptly passed the baby to Derek, who then looked at me like I would know what to do with him.

  I rolled my eyes, loosened my hold on Ian, and held out my arms.

  Derek handed the baby over, who stared not at me, but at Ian.

  “Why’s this kid staring at you like you know all?” I whispered to Ian.

  Tell you later, he said in my head.

  My eyes widened in alarm.

  Nikolai, the other brother, came over to me with the other baby, and placed her into my other arm without me even saying he could.

  “Go up the stair
s once you exit the kitchen. First door on your right is the nursery,” he said.

  I looked over to Ian who nodded his assent, and I blinked.

  “O-okay,” I said. “I’ll be back.”

  “Wait until he comes and gets you,” Keifer growled at me.

  I turned and stared at him with annoyance.

  “How about I come down here when I feel like it, hmm?” I asked nastily. “And how about you stop being so mean.”

  His eyes narrowed, and Ian growled before Keifer could say what I could see at the tip of his tongue.

  “Go, Wink,” he said softly.

  I went, but only because the babies in my arms were starting to wake up and whimper.

  “Y’all are just the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” I cooed at them. “But don’t tell my clients that. They think their babies are the cutest.”

  Neither kid had anything to say to that, and I chose to ignore the intelligence I could see lingering in their young eyes.

  I also ignored the fact that I was walking in someone’s house that I didn’t know. Nor did I feel like I belonged.

  The fact that Ian didn’t seem to ‘belong’ either, didn’t help my feelings much.

  I could sense an underlying current of hostility from the entire room, and it was quite disconcerting to know that it was directed at Ian.

  He may not be the nicest of men, nor the chattiest, but he was actually a pretty good guy.

  He made sure to always give me a bonus around the holidays. A generous one.

  He paid me triple what I got at my other jobs, and he always made sure to stock the kitchen and fridge with my favorite food and drinks when I was there.

  Not many men I knew stocked flavored water bottle mixes for no other reason than their maid liked to drink that when she came over to clean.

  “Oh!” Blythe said as she came hurrying out of the room. “I wasn’t sure if they heard me yell.”

  I gladly relinquished one of the babies to her, following her into the room where she immediately took hers over to a changing table.

  Then I watched in fascination as she chatted and changed the baby’s diaper.

  “You’re mated to Ian. That’s so cool,” she said as she reached for the wipes. “I never thought he’d find someone with that whole ‘back off’ vibe that is always wafting off of him.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked her, placing the baby in my arms onto the changing table once she’d finished with hers.

  She then passed me the baby she held, and I took a seat in the rocking chair opposite of the padded glider and waited patiently for her to finish.

  “Do you mind if I breastfeed with you here?” she asked. “I’d like to tell you a few things.”

  I blinked, then nodded my head.

  “Sure,” I said. “I don’t mind.”

  Then she proceeded to the second rocker to feed the first baby under a cover as she spoke to me about Ian, telling me some interesting things I’d yet to learn about him.

  “He saved all of our lives,” she said. “When I was pregnant with these two, some things happened that hurt Nikolai, his sister, me and Brooklyn,” she winced slightly and shifted her stance before continuing. “And he was the one there to nurse us all back to health.”

  “Oh,” I said with a smile as I looked down at the little baby in my arms. “I’m sure he just loved that. He’s so private and hates being in crowds.”

  “How do you know that?” she asked, her eyes sharpening.

  My brows furrowed.

  How did I know that?

  Memories.

  I blinked.

  What? I asked him.

  My memories. You have them. You have everything you want of mine. We share our powers, so all you have to do is touch something of mine and you’ll get whatever you want from it. Sometimes it’s not something you’re aware of getting, either, he whispered into my mind.

  You’re telling me I can touch anything I want and get whatever memories associated with it that I want? I wondered.

  Yes, he said. Just touch the nearest object. Concentrate on it. It’ll show you the memories associated with it.

  My eyes went to the bed, and then I shivered thinking about what might’ve happened on that bed, so I chose to go with the chair that I was sitting in.

  And I got a full, firsthand show of absolutely everything that had ever gone on in that chair.

  Starting with the newest imprint, which happened to be a snippet of Keifer and Blythe kissing with the babies in Blythe’s arms. Then it moved on to Blythe rocking in the chair, watching the cribs with longing in her eyes.

  Then it transformed.

  Into something so naughty that I had to pull away with a gasp.

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered, the scene replaying in my mind, only I had a front row seat to what had happened.

  “Keifer please,” Blythe whispered. “Fuck me.”

  Keifer growled and dropped down to his knees, his eyes staying on mine as that long, wicked looking tongue darted out of his mouth and licked my pussy.

  His tongue circled my clit, round and round.

  His hand smoothed up my thigh, and my fingers dug into the smooth, cool wood.

  “Wink!” Blythe called loudly. “What’s wrong? Did the baby show you something?”

  I blinked, surprised.

  “What?” I asked, a blush stealing up over my face. “No, your baby didn’t show me anything.”

  “Then what did you see?” she asked. “Jean Luc told me that my baby boy can project his thoughts into anyone he wants to. He thinks it hasn’t happened yet since he’s still so young, but Jean Luc can feel his latent powers.”

  “Jean Luc can tell the baby already has powers?” I asked. “Ian told me that dragon riders were around twenty-one years of age before they came into them.”

  “They are,” Blythe nodded in confirmation. “But my boy is the future king, and there are powers and entities, as well as prophecies galore, swirling around right now that were never here before. My husband has two theories. One, it’s only because my son’s the future King and he came into contact with his dragon in utero. Two, something is happening that is waking their powers up earlier.”

  “Are there any more children who are exhibiting these powers?” I asked curiously.

  “Not that we are aware of,” Brooklyn said as she came in and collapsed on the bed. “I hate throwing up.”

  I looked at her, and the DNA that seemed to swirl around her. One set of DNA was most definitely hers. But the other, no. The other was not hers. That I could tell almost immediately. But it was also a part of her. Part hers, and obviously part the man, Nikolai, from downstairs.

  It was so amazing to see this that I stared at her for so long that she shifted uncomfortably.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “There’s just something about you that’s intriguing.”

  She blinked.

  “Like what?” she asked curiously.

  “Ian’s told me a little bit about his powers, but apparently, I’m able to see DNA. And it surrounds everyone like an aura. But I have to concentrate to see it,” I explained. “With you…I don’t.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, leaning back onto two elbows in the bed.

  “I can see the DNA of your son wrapped around you like a coat…or whatever,” I said, running my hand in the air around her. “It’s freaking cool.”

  Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

  “Son?” Blythe asked in surprise.

  “Son?” Brooklyn parroted.

  I nodded. “Yes. Son.”

  Chapter 6

  Just when I think stuff is looking up, life bitch slaps me and reminds me that it’s not.

  -Ian’s secret thoughts

  Ian

  “What did my daughter say to you?” Keifer growled in frustration. “And what the hell is going on with you and my brother?”

  I looked over at Farrow, won
dering if he was going to address this, but he looked away to stare out the window.

  I sighed.

  “Your brother’s a fucking dumbass who tried to buy drugs from his girlfriend’s neighbor,” I said. “And when your brother brought the freaky fucker’s attention to the girl, the girl got dead because your brother liked to fuck her in the hallway.”

  Farrow’s fists clenched.

  “Guy didn’t much like the object of his obsession getting fucked in the hallway, so the next time he saw her there alone, he killed her because she was a ‘slut’, according to him,” I continued, watching Farrow’s face as I explained.

  Keifer stiffened, and Nikolai growled in frustration.

  “Seriously, Farrow?” Nikolai surprised me by being the one to speak. “Drugs? Is that what it’s come down to?”

  Farrow stiffened even more, turning to look at his brothers.

  “You don’t know what it’s like,” he said. “I can’t stop the voices. They’re killing me.”

  “Do you think we all harnessed these fucking powers in a day?” Keifer asked in a deceptively calm voice. “We didn’t. In fact, I still learn new fucking things every fucking day, yet you don’t see me turning into a little bitch and using drugs when I’m faced with difficult and complex situations or problems. And, by the way, little brother, I’m faced with those kinds of problems every hour of every fucking day.”

  Farrow shrugged.

  “Don’t know what to tell you. I’m not you,” he said. “And thanks to him, I now have to figure out an alternate path.”

  “What do you mean by ‘thanks to him?’” Keifer asked, glancing at me before returning to Farrow.

  Farrow looked at me in disgust.

  “He fucking fucked with my goddamn brain, and now every time I even think about drugs, I get a splitting headache that brings me to my knees,” Farrow said.

  Nobody said anything, and I had a feeling that they agreed with my methods.

  They may not like that they did, but they were appreciative nonetheless.

  Keifer sighed.

  “Fucking wonderful. At least something’s going our way today,” Keifer muttered.

  His gaze swept back to me and he crossed his arms.

  “Now, tell me what that was that passed between you and my daughter earlier,” Keifer ordered.

  I sighed and turned to look out the window.