“Snapping.” I giggled, unable to help myself.
“How many of those have you had?” Rachel asked, seeming surprisingly sober. A little too sober for my liking actually. She should drink more.
“Three?” I tried.
“More like eight,” Zara muttered from the other side of the bar. She set down a glass and put a couple of drops of food colouring in it. I liked Zara. She got the whole red-drinks thing. Though I didn’t think I’d seen her drink anything blue for herself. Silly water dragon.
“Eight?” Rachel raised an eyebrow.
Why was she so pretty? I wondered that a lot but tried not to think on it too hard. But she was really pretty. Big rose-gold eyes. Which was weird. How was that even possible? Most fire dragons had amber eyes, flaming and vibrant. Not Rachel. Her eyes were soft and alluring. Filled with endless possibilities.
“Lola?” She furrowed her brow at me, concern plain on her pretty face.
“Yes?” I swayed a little, only managing to stop myself by focusing on her soft pink lips.
Hmm…now I was thinking about the time we’d…experimented. I never got kissed in high school, so one night we…
No, Lola. Don’t think about it.
To wipe the memory from my mind, I waved at Zara and pointed at the big bottle at the back. The red liquid was calling out my name and I wanted it.
“More… Please,” I hiccuped, pushing my glass towards her.
“I think you’ve had enough,” she tried, but I didn’t like that answer.
“Just a teeny tiny bit more. Pleeeease, Zara,” I mumbled, wondering when my head got so heavy. Did someone hang weights on my back? Maybe I needed to take a nap before drinking more. Although, if I was asleep… Then who would keep the party going? Who was going to drink all the red booze? What if someone wanted to hit on my Rachel?
No! They couldn’t do that. Rachel was my best friend and I didn’t want to share her with anyone else.
I slung my arm protectively over her shoulder and fell into her. Whoops, stupid chair, why was it so wobbly?
“Hey! Are you okay?” she called, pulling me backup and steadying me on my bar stool.
“Yes, totally fine!” I stared up at her rose-gold eyes as I’d often do and smiled. She was so pretty.
“You’re pretty.”
I heard that! Who was calling Rachel pretty? I swivelled around, trying to find the culprit. Who was making moves on my best friend?
“Was it you?” I glared at Zara, amused by my waving finger. Was this finger mine? It looked funny.
“Was what me?” the water dragon asked, wiping some of my spilled drink away.
“Did you call my Rachel pretty?” I growled, waving in the blonde’s general direction.
“Ummm… No?” Zara frowned her eyebrows in a deep curve that made me giggle. She looked so confused. Oh wait, I didn’t have time to laugh. Someone was hitting on my best friend.
I turned around and glared at the guy at the end of the bar. I slipped from my stool and swayed in his direction. “You! Was it you?”
“Lola, what are you doing?” A warm hand pulled me away from the creep and I found myself staring up at Rachel’s face.
“Hello,” I smiled, reaching up to boop her nose. “Boop.”
“You’re drunk,” she stated, clacking her tongue a little disapprovingly.
“No, I’m not,” I giggled, inhaling the scent of bonfire. I loved Rachel’s smell, it was comforting and safe. She was my bonfire. Oh, and I was protecting her.
I jolted up from her embrace and pointed at Zara again. “You! I know it was you!”
“What are you on about?” Rachel tutted, pulling me back towards her before I could climb on the bar. Shame, I did great bar walking. And flying. Oooh, maybe I could fly! “Fire to Lola! What are you looking for?”
I curled against my friend and wobbled my glass. “Someone called you pretty,” I muttered, trying not to sound too pouty.
“Yes,” Rachel replied, confirming my suspicions. Hah! So there was someone trying to hit on Rachel. “You, Lola. You called me pretty.”
OH.
So wait… I was the culprit? It was me hitting on Rachel?
Wait, that wasn’t right. I didn’t flirt with her, she was my best friend. And I didn’t like her, not like that. No, I liked men. And not just any of them, probably the three drinks running around in this bar.
Blah, I didn’t want to like them and I didn’t want to like like Rachel. But why was my stupid heart going thud thud? Well, not just my heart. My head was pounding a little too. Maybe I should have some more drinks.
“Barkeep! Another glass,” I grinned, waving at Zara again. I wanted to taste the red liquid from the big bottle now.
“How about a nice drink of water,” she smiled, pushing my glass towards me. With my nose pulled up, I shoved it back.
“No, water is for water dragons. Fire dragons like fire! Like this!” I cheered, coughing up a spark and spewing it onto my hand. “Look! Pretty!”
“No, bad Lola!” Rachel called, hitting my palm with a towel and killing my little flame.
“Awww.” Disappointed, I stared at my empty hand and let my head hit the bar. Rachel stole my fire. Bye bye little spark.
“No fire spewing allowed,” Rachel muttered, pushing my chin up as she pointed to the big yellow sign behind the bar. The letters danced in front of my eyes, but I knew what it said.
“Look! It says: Fire spewing allowed,” I grinned, coughing up another flame.
“No, it says ‘NO’! No fire spewing allowed!”
“Booo, but I want to play with fire,” I pouted, swallowing the fire again. If I couldn’t let it grow, I’d take it back before someone could steal it. This was my fire. And my Rachel. Nobody could take them. Nobody. Mine, mine, mine.
“You guys okay there?” A deep voice pulled me up from my own thoughts and I stared at the muscled guy from before.
“Heccie!” I cheered, bouncing up from my chair.
“Heccie?” he repeated, an appalled look taking over his face. “I’m going to ignore that for now.” He turned to my best friend and tilted his head. “Your name is Rachel, right?”
I swung my arm back over my best friend and growled at him. “So what if it is?”
“It looks like you could use some help. Are you two staying in the dorms?”
“No,” Rachel replied before I could. “We had planned on going home.”
“Yessssss, we were going to do lots of driving.”
“No, you were going to do lots of driving,” Rachel reminded me.
Oops. I’d forgotten I was the one who could drive. Rachel just caught the train everywhere. My bad.
“I think the dorms are full tonight,” Heccie said, a thoughtful look crossing his face. “But our flat has a spare room you can use if you want.”
I lurched away from Rachel and grabbed hold of Heccie, leaning my head on his shoulder and looking up at him.
“Is this just your way of trying to get in our pants, Heccie?” I slurred.
“Lola!” Rachel admonished. “She didn’t mean that, we’d love to take you up on the offer,” she said over me.
“I don’t have sex with drunk dragons,” Heccie said sternly, turning so I was facing him. I stumbled slightly as I turned, losing my balance. He steadied me and looked deep into my eyes.
He had nice irises. I could see the fire in them. I liked fire. Why couldn’t I breathe fire here again?
I hiccupped and Rachel stepped forward, probably to fuss me. Oh I could do with some fuss. Rachel’s hands were very soothing.
“I think it’s best if we get her upstairs and into the bath,” Heccie said.
“Are you going to bath me?” I asked innocently.
He choked slightly. “I don’t think so. I’m sure your friend can manage without me.”
I was only a little disappointed by that. Being bathed by Rachel sounded like fun.
“Okay, I’m ready.” I held out my arms and he gave me
a bemused look.
“She’s asking you to carry her,” Rachel pointed out, a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Oh, well okay then.” He quickly hooked his arms under my back and hoisted me into his arms.
The warm scent of roasting chestnuts enveloped me. Hmmm, I could get used to this. It was probably on par with Rachel’s bonfire smell for how much I liked it. I wondered what my other mates smelled like?
No! Lola! Don’t think like that.
I didn’t have mates. I just had Rachel. My best friend. An outcast. Beautiful, kind, patient Rachel. With her beautiful white scales and pearlescent fire which changed colour depending on where I stood. She didn’t shift nearly enough. Rachel was ashamed. I wished she wasn’t, but being different hadn’t put her in good stead in the Fire Dragon community.
“Bath?” I murmured, nestling into Heccie’s arms.
He had nice arms. Strong and defined with lots of muscles. And he was carrying me easily with them. I wasn’t exactly the heaviest of people, but it still said something that he could.
“Yes, Lola, I’m taking you to the bath now.”
“Is it okay if we borrow a couple of shirts too?” Rachel asked from besides us.
“Of course,” Heccie replied. “Just let me get you in the bathroom first then I’ll sort out some comfy clothes for you.”
“Thank you,” Rachel said softly.
“You’re welcome. Something tells me this won’t be the last time I help deal with a drunk Lola.”
“No,” Rachel replied, her voice holding a hint of unidentified sadness. I wondered where it came from, but my brain was in no fit state to fully examine it.
“Heccie, I’m sleepy,” I mumbled, curling myself against his chest. A soft humming emitted from him and I couldn’t tell what it was. Was it his rapid heartbeat? Or… “Are you purring?”
“Don’t be silly, dragons don’t purr.”
“Oh, right.” The haze was clouding my mind and it was hard to think straight. This was why I didn’t drink, it turned me into a soupy mess. A messy soup? But somehow, I found myself in the arms of this incredibly handsome mate. Fuck. Man, I meant man, not mate. Man. He was a man. A man. A man-mate.
Oh shit, stop it Lola.
No men, no mates. Just Rachel. My woman-mate.
No! No mates!
“Bleh,” I winced, hoping to stop the thoughts flashing through my head.
“Is she okay?” Heccie asked.
“Hey! No talking to my Rachel,” I slurred, bringing up my hand to stroke his cheek. Stubbly. “You’ve got hair on your face, let me get it off.” I plucked at the little pieces of hair sticking out of his skin.
“Ouch, stop that, you weirdo,” Heccie said, moving his head away. Bye bye handsome face.
“But there is hair alllll over your cheeks?”
He coughed dryly. “That’s called a beard.”
“Haha, beard. Beaaaard. Beard. Be-ard!” I giggled, patting him again. He was a good carriage, very nice and steady. Warm and comfortable. “Good boy.”
“Did— Did you just pet me?”
“No,” I denied.
Where was Rachel? I missed her bonfire scent and I hadn’t seen her little face for a while now. I squiggled out of his arms and swayed across the room. Oh, this was a bathroom, but where was my fire dragon? “Rach?”
“Right here, Lola. Now come on, let’s get you in the bath. The tap shrieked and the hot water steamed up the bathroom. Nice and hot, just how I liked it.
“Yay, water,” I grinned, wobbling away from Heccie towards my best friend’s voice. Water. Nice water.
Determined to stay steady, I gripped the bathtub with both hands as I swung my leg over the side. Nice and hot.
“Lola! Nooo! You—” Rachel shrieked loudly. I didn’t like that, it hurt my ears.
“What?” I muttered, plopping down into the near-boiling water. Hmmmm, that was great.
“Never mind,” she muttered, shaking her head with an exasperated look.
“What?”
“I was going to take your clothes off, but too late.”
“Oh.” I looked down at my shirt, watching how the water crept up the fabric. Didn’t clothes like to be wet? But what if we put them in the wash? Did that make them sad?
A tear trickled down my face and I pulled my shirt up, the water thrashing out of it. “I’m sorry,” I hiccuped, hugging the fabric close.
“Oh no, what’s wrong?” Rachel’s soft hand stroked my back and the watergates just flooded open.
“I’m— I’m sorry,” I cried, tugging my favourite shirt as far away from the water as I possibly could while still in it.
“Lola, what’s going on? Why are you sorry?”
“I— I put my clothes in the water when I wa-ash them and it makes them sadddd,” I sobbed, stroking the printed dragon on my shirt. “Water isn’t for clo-o-othes.”
“Hey, that’s okay. Clothes don’t mind water,” Rachel smiled, helping me out of the tangle of my armholes. Why were there so many?
“A-Are you sure?”
“Yes, they like water in the wash. Just not in the bath, but that’s okay. Let’s just get you out of them.”
“But then what am I wearing?”
“Nothing, Lola. It’s a bath, you’re supposed to be naked.”
“Naaaaked,” I grinned, catching Heccie’s eye. He was trying very hard not to look at me, but he was failing miserably. “You like what you see?” I purred, trying to pull myself up from the bath. The porcelain shrieked and I slipped back, splashing Rachel in the process.
“Haha, you’re wet!” I cheered, tugging at her shirt too. “Come join me!”
“Lola, I can’t,” she protested, trying to escape from my grip but I had her locked down in my grip.
“Please, it’ll be fun! Just like when we were kids!”
Her ears turned red and she shook her head furiously. “We’re not kids anymore.”
“Come on, Rach, I want you with me.” I tugged on her shirt again, hoping to convince her to join me in the hot water. The temperature was so nice and scalding, I was sure Rachel would love it as well. Oh, and maybe Heccie could join too? The more dragons, the merrier!
“Heccie, join us!”
He gulped loudly as he backed away. “This is too much, ladies. Rachel, you got this?”
“Yes, she’ll calm down in a moment. Thanks for letting us stay here.”
“No probs. Towels are down there and the guest room is just across the hall. Night.” As quick as he could, he slammed the door shut and I heard his rapid footsteps run through the flat. Why did he flee?
“Bye bye, Heccie!” I shouted, splashing some more water up at Rachel. “It’s so nice and hot, please get in the bath with me,” I begged, giving her my best dragon eyes.
“I… I can’t.” Rachel moved to the other side of the bathroom and sat down on the toilet, an exasperated look flickering across her face.
I frowned, my brain not working as fast as usual. I just wanted my best friend to enjoy the water with me, what was so wrong about that? Why wasn’t she getting in?
“Because… Your mates are on the other side of this door.”
7
The bath had done me good, in some respects. In others it really hadn’t. Sobering up was great until I started going back over the various revelations that seemed to have come from my sambuca fuelled state. In hindsight, maybe not my best idea.
The door clicked as Rachel slipped back in, towels and what looked like spare clothes in her arms.
“Here, the guys gave us these.” She set down half of them on the toilet lid, not looking at me properly.
She hadn’t looked at me properly since denying to get in the bath with me. I tried not to focus on the loss that was making me feel.
“I’ll see you outside,” she muttered.
“Are they…”
“No.” Her back was still to me and I just knew she wasn’t going to turn. My heart felt like it was breaking in two. “Th
ey’ve gone to their rooms. But they’re going to want to talk to you in the morning, Lola. You’re going to have to face this.”
“I…”
Rachel didn’t wait for me to finish and slipped back through the door. My hands slipped to my sides, splashing the now lukewarm water around the bath. It wasn’t particularly pleasant anymore, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually get out.
Apparently I’d passed the point of fun drunk and sunk into the slightly depressed drunk phase. Or I was sobering up and was now starting to realise exactly what was happening.
Leaning forward, I pulled the plug and watched as the water began to disappear. The cold air hit my skin and I shivered as goosebumps erupted all over me.
When the cold got too much for me, I stepped out of the bath and grabbed the towel Rachel had left for me. It was fluffy and a lot warmer than the cold water.
Looking in the mirror, I grimaced at what I saw there. The bottom of my hair was damp, but the top still dry, giving me a slightly bedraggled look. Only added to by the dark rings circling my eyes. It was almost as if the hangover had already set in. Damn that fast dragon metabolism. It’d probably been developed when dragons had still been chomping on stolen cattle from farmers’ fields. Why we hadn’t lost it after a couple of centuries was beyond me. Maybe our DNA just expected the world to revert to more primitive times or something.
I dried off as quickly as I could. The last thing I wanted was to be caught by one of my mates and have the awkward ‘thanks-but-no-thanks’ conversation while I was still on the edge of being drunk. I’d probably forget all of my tact if I did that. Not that I had much anyway.
The shirt they’d leant me reached my knees, but didn’t smell like Hector at all. Instead, this one smelled like burning driftwood, the slight scent of the ocean coming along with it. But not in a water dragon way. It was an odd combination. I wondered if this scent belonged to Martin, or if it was the other one of the trio.
I supposed I was going to find out no matter what I wanted. But not tonight. Tomorrow. I would deal with lots of mates tomorrow. Yes, that sounded good. And not at all like procrastination.
No, the guys could wait. I had more important matters on my hand. Rachel.
Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection Page 27