by Crymsyn Hart
“I can do that.” He held her closer.
“I can take care of myself. Just because this...thing happened between us doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being me. I don’t need a man to tell me what I can and can’t do. And I don’t need a dragon telling me the same thing either.”
Drake chuckled as her frustration rolled through him. “I wasn’t suggesting that you were going to stop being you, Savanna. Since I can’t be there until this is over, and in case you have any more visitations, I wanted to be sure that Wyeth keeps an eye on you. Is it safe to say that I am a little more than worried about you because you nearly faint after you travel from your body, and I don’t want it to happen, say, when you’re driving a car?”
“It won’t,” she said.
“I’ll keep an eye on her, but what about you? Do you really want to be stuck in this cave?”
“It’s not the first thing I want to be doing, but what choice do I have? If I get hungry I can go out at night when no one sees me and go for a long swim.”
“What would you eat?” Savanna asked.
He smiled and showed her his long, sharp teeth. “A few sharks are in these waters if you go deep enough. And I can swim pretty well. I just have to stay out of the shipping lanes. Although boat propellers don’t do much to my scales, normally. You can come visit me if you want to. I hope you’d want to.”
She nodded. “I will. I hate to say it, but I do have to go. I have appointments today.”
“Me too, I have the crew waiting for me at a couple of sites before I come back here and work on the house.”
Drake butted his head against Savanna and made her giggle. He did the same thing to Wyeth, before flicking his tongue over Savanna’s cheek. “I’ll see you later.” Drake hated to see them go, but it was best. It was good to know that he had been able to switch his shape, and it was still within him. Although he wasn’t sure he could have done it without the help of Savanna and Wyeth.
* * * *
Savanna glanced over at Wyeth as he sat in the car. “Are you sure you want to walk home? You have a long way to walk back to the house.”
He shook his head. “One of the crews I have isn’t too far from here. They can give me a ride. Besides, I need to clear my head. After last night and this morning, I got a lot of shit on my mind.”
“I know the feeling.” She still didn’t believe half the stuff that she had done. Being away from Drake, an emptiness threatened to consume her she had never felt before. When she was close to him, all she could feel was complete and utter joy. It was as though she had found a part of herself that she never knew was missing. And being with Wyeth she felt the same thing, too. She wasn’t sure she could be away from them, but she had a life to live that was independent from the two of them. And yet, as much as she wanted to go she also wanted to stay with both of them.
“I can’t believe he’s a real live fucking dragon. I never would’ve believed it unless I didn’t see him transform into one.” He shook his head.
The disbelief was evident in his voice. “Yeah, I know what you mean. So when do I get to see you again?” Savanna asked.
He sighed and stared out of the window. Savanna sensed his frustration and uncertainty. “After last night...I’d say there isn’t anything that we can’t talk about. I never thought I’d be in bed with another guy. I don’t know where this goes. But I feel this connection between you and Drake. Look, Drake’s in the caves and the only way in is through the house. You can come over whenever you want. I’m not going to stop you. I’d like to get to know you better, date you before maybe falling into the sack again. Although, I’m not sure I can resist the urges I get when I’m around you.” He trailed his fingers along her leg and inner thigh.
Savanna shivered, and a small moan came from her throat before she could stop it. She hated to think that she was put under some spell by this bond they shared. “Thanks for the invite, and yeah, I feel the same way. I’d love to get to know you better, Wyeth.”
“Are you free tonight?” he asked.
“I think I need a night to myself, if you don’t mind. Get my head together after all that’s been happening.”
“Sounds like a plan. If Drake needs anything, I guess I’ll call you. But I need your number.”
Savanna smiled. “Right.” She grabbed one of the business cards she kept in her glove compartment and scribbled her number on the back of it. Savanna brushed the top of his leg and felt his passion as sure as it was hers. The fire crawled up her spine and shot along her nerves. Wyeth grabbed her hand and pulled her to him until their lips met in a hungry kiss. His hands clutched her sides and shimmied up her shirt so his hands connected to her skin. He raked them across her stomach until he brushed her breasts. Her nipples hardened. She forced his arms down.
“I want you,” he breathed.
“I know, but I have to go to work and so do you. I can’t do this in the parking lot. I can’t...we can’t let this desire consume us. Wyeth, it’s not what rational people do. Come on. You know this.” She took a deep breath, but the heat between lingered. In the distance the craving was fueled by Drake. If she focused on it long enough she could feel the fire within him. Savanna pulled her attention away from the dragon before it wrapped around her. If that happened, she didn’t think she could separate from it. She would fuck Wyeth in the car and see what would happen after that.
“Right. Right. I’m going to go take a walk. I’ll call you later to let you know about tomorrow. What do you like to do?” Wyeth asked as he opened the door.
She shrugged. “Movies. Reading. Walks along the beach. Play Frisbee when it’s warmer. Reading cards and talking with the people that are like-minded. There are very few around here. I do ghost tours and séances when it gets to be Halloween. I like history, horror movies, strange things that go bump in the night. I can never really get away from that. I’ve assisted on some ghosts hunts in the past. I like a lot of things. Why?”
He flashed her a smile. “Have to start somewhere.”
She shook her head and headed back up to her apartment. Savanna closed the door and took a deep breath now she was away from both men. She needed a nice warm bath and some time to clear her head. She closed the door and set her keys down on the table. The feelings of both of their hands raked her mind, and she smiled at what had happened the night before.
“Hey, Sav. Did you have fun last night?” Chastity asked.
Wonderful. All I need is to deal with her at the moment. I should’ve listened to my instincts and never let her move in. “Sorry?”
“You went out with someone last night, by the looks of it, because you aren’t wearing what you went out in. And you never go anywhere unless it was with that man the other night that pulled you from the frothing depths. Did you have fun?”
Savanna tried to go past her roommate who blocked the way. “Look, I really have to get in the shower and get to work.”
Chastity plastered a smile on her face, but the look in her eyes was a little crazed. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah, it was fun. Are you happy?”
“I take it you got fucked pretty good.”
She held her breath and counted to ten as her roommate was pushing all the wrong buttons. “Chastity, I’m not having this conversation with you. I don’t ask you how good the sex was with all the different men you parade around.” Savanna pushed the woman’s hand out of the way so she could get into her room and hurried to get ready for the day.
As Savanna was setting up the shop, her thoughts wandered to Drake and Wyeth. Not being wound in the heat of passion so that she nearly drowned, being clear-headed, was a godsend. Getting involved with Drake was risky. He would return home, and she wasn’t going to stop him, not after discovering this was his last chance for another ten thousand years. Although the idea of losing him was like a knife to her heart, twisting and lacerating it until nothing remained except strings of useless flesh. It hurt to even think about it, much less to even contemplate what it
would be like if he did leave. However, she had a month until the moon was full. When he left, she figured the bond between all three of them would fade away. It had to, because she wasn’t going to keep continuing her tryst with Wyeth after this was all over. How could she? They were complete opposites.
“Are you the psychic?” someone asked.
Savanna jumped. When she looked over, she saw the man Chastity had brought to the apartment the other night. He reeked of smoke, but he seemed harmless enough. “I am.”
His eyes widened. “Wow, you’re Chastity’s roommate. Look, about the other night, I’m sorry. I didn’t smoke in the house.”
“I know you didn’t because I would’ve smelled it. Can I help you with something?” Savanna asked nicely.
His gaze darted around the shop. The way he fidgeted and stuck by the door, she figured he hadn’t been to a psychic store before. “Actually, yes. I wanted to get a reading.”
She chuckled. “You want to know how your love life is going.”
“Yes. Wow, you’re good, but not in the way you think. I was hoping you could tell me if I was going to...make up with my wife. After last night...”
Wife. Wow. She hadn’t seen that one coming. “Chastity too much for you?”
“You could say that. No offense to your roommate, but she’s insane. We...ahh...you know... and all she could talk about was this other guy that had stood her up. She started hitting me, beating against my chest. I told her I wasn’t looking for anything serious. I wanted some fun, and it pissed her off even more. She threatened to call the cops on me for raping her. I never even got her shirt off, let alone in her pants. I screwed up. I wanted to know...is there any chance that I can make up to my wife?”
Savanna eyed him. “Look, sir, the first thing you can do is not go on dates with women you don’t know.”
“She was the first one. I swear.”
“Mmm...hmmm.” Savanna took his hand and closed her eyes. She honed in on his energy and a flash came into her mind. Shockingly, he was telling the truth. He had never cheated on his wife. She saw a quick glimpse through his eyes of Chastity coming on to him. Touching his shoulder and smiling, twirling her fingers around her hair as she tried to keep up the illusion that she was sweet and innocent. Savanna never had such a strong vision before. She could smell the beer that the man had drunk and that stupid flowery overpowering perfume Chastity always wore. She could smell more of the scents around her the longer she concentrated. Normally, she would get something that came in symbols, and she would have to interpret those symbols that her guides gave her.
“What are you doing?” the man asked.
She opened her eyes and he ripped his hand from hers. “Sorry. You were asking me about your wife and I was getting you the answer.”
“That’s it. You’re not going to have me sit down and do some crazy shit in the back room?”
“Do you want an answer or not, Shawn?” The name slipped from her lips even before she realized she said it.
“Yes.”
“Treat your wife with respect. Stop thinking she doesn’t love you because she’s been busy. You were the one who thought she was sneaking around on you, but she’s been doing other things like getting ready to tell you that’s she’s pregnant.”
“That’s impossible. We always use a condom and...”
“There was that time, two months ago, when you came and found her waiting for you and all you were thinking about was your secretary.”
“How in the hell do you know that?”
How the hell do I know all this? Her answers were never this precise or powerful. It was as though she had tapped into a different power source. It dawned on her it might have something to do with the strange connection she had with Drake. “It doesn’t matter. Just go to the store, buy her something, and don’t be a curmudgeon about it. She’s scared to death to tell you because of all the conversations you’ve had about never wanting children. Deep down you’ve always wanted one, you just never wanted to screw up and be like your father.”
“Do you know if it’s going to be a girl or a boy?” he whispered.
“Sorry. Too early to tell. Is there anything else you want to know?”
“How much do I owe you?”
“Twenty bucks,” Savanna told him.
He didn’t comment further and handed her the money before walking out. When she checked the amount, he had given her fifty instead of a twenty. When she went to chase after him, he was already long gone down the street and out of sight.
Chapter Thirteen
Wyeth spent the rest of the day and the night catching up on things that he had missed with his crew and throwing himself back into work. It kept him from thinking about what had happened between him, Savanna, and Drake. With the distance between them, he was clear-headed. Try as he might to dismiss the idea of him not wanting to be with Savanna, he couldn’t bring himself to think that way. She was imprinted in his thoughts. All her curves and everything about her turned him on. He wanted to get to know her better and see if they had anything else in common. Boy, was she hot in bed.
“Boss, you okay?” Ralph asked him.
Wyeth pulled himself out of his daydream of thinking about Savanna and focused back on the project they were working on. They had almost completed an old mansion and he was going through it, making sure they hadn’t missed anything. So far things were good. Next, he would check out one more job then head over to the hospital and check on Chuck. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about something.”
“Gotta be some pussy,” Ralph joked. “I’ve seen other guys get googly eyed about chicks when they’re in love or getting really good head.”
Wyeth flashed him a smile, but he tried not to bristle about the comment. “Naw, nothing. Are we good here? I’m going to visit Chuck. I’ll tell him you said hello.”
They all said their goodbyes and he left. He turned his thoughts toward what he and Savanna would do that night. He had no idea what she liked and what she would want to do. She didn’t seem to want to be bought or wined and dined. He had to call her and see what time was good to pick her up or have her come over. Probably best to have her come over since he didn’t want to deal with her roommate.
Wyeth went to the hospital and checked on his worker. They hadn’t been able to reattach his fingers because there was too much damage. He assured Chuck that he was covered until the workers compensation insurance kicked in with a payment, and he would assist him in any way he could. If he wanted, there was another job there for him doing something. If not, then he had a severance package that would keep him going for a few months. As he walked by the gift shop, he saw the flowers. As Wyeth perused the bouquets, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out and saw it was Chastity. She had called and left him a voicemail. He listened to it quickly and shook his head. That woman is crazy. Thinking I’m still going to go out with her. How can Savanna live with that?
He slipped out of the hospital and got back to his truck. Wyeth fished Savanna’s card out of his wallet. He dialed her number and let it ring.
“Hello,” Savanna said.
“Hey, Savanna. It’s Wyeth.”
“Oh. Hi.”
She didn’t sound enthusiastic to be talking to him. Maybe their infatuation was rubbing off now. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I was finishing up with a client. Sorry.”
Relief went through him. “Did you still want to get together night? Maybe come over to the house and see Drake? I could pick up some take out. I-I don’t know what you like, though.”
“Are you going to get take out for a three ton dragon, too, that’s living in your basement?” she laughed.
“I don’t think I need to worry about him, and it’s not really my basement. Although, I could show you the cellar if that’s what gets you hot?”
“No. I’m good on that. I’d love to come over. Dinner would be good. It would have to be late, around eight if that’s fine. I had to reschedule a couple
of clients until later tonight.”
“Okay. I can do that. And I don’t think I’m going to be ordering anything for Drake. It would be nothing more than a snack for him. What would you like?”
“Nothing with tentacles or too spicy.”
Wyeth chuckled. “That leaves it open.”
“I know. I’m easy.”
He heard the bell ring through the speaker. “I gotta go. The future calls.”
“See you later.”
“Bye.”
Wyeth hung up. Once he did, he had a text message from Chastity asking him to call her. He erased it. Wyeth tried not to think about it as he spent the rest of the day gathering what he needed and then ordered the take out. While he was waiting, he hurried to the florist and picked a bouquet of roses, but he put them down. They were too common and Savanna wasn’t common. Instead, he got her something a little more exotic. As he paid for the food, his phone vibrated once more. He checked to see if it was Savanna, but it was Chastity. Another message for him to call her so they could get together and talk. He deleted the message once more and figured if he ignored her then she would eventually get the hint.
Wyeth set the flowers on the table and checked his watch. Eight thirty. Savanna was late. Maybe she’s going to stand me up. She doesn’t seem like the type, but maybe she got cold feet. The wind raged outside, ushering in the storm that had lingered in the clouds the whole day. Lightning illuminated the sky. Emptiness filled him, and he had an emptiness that hadn’t been there before. Drake must have left the cave. Thunder filled the sky and the doorbell rang at the same time. He raced to get the door and saw Savanna dressed in jeans that hugged all her curves. She had on some makeup, but he decided he liked her without it. Her shirt showed the dip between her breasts and all the lusciousness underneath. She had a bag slung over her shoulder.
“Sorry, I’m late.” She stepped inside.
“Expecting to stay the night?”
She glanced at her bag and shrugged. Her cheeks colored at the comment. “I didn’t want to be unprepared like the other night.”