Bernie had looked embarrassed but as Kayla spoke that embarrassment had melted away. Tyler sneaked past the two of them and headed away. He carried a shirt on his arm. He had a tattoo of angel’s wings taking up both shoulder blades and half of his back. Where, Kayla didn’t care. He did help out quite a bit but this was inexcusable. How much time had they wasted doing that when they could have been working? How much more work did she have to do because they decided to have sex?
“We’re all a little overworked and stressed, so I’m not going to hold that against you,” Bernie spat at her. “But the next time you decide to get mad at me for having sex on my day off, I suggest you stop and think about what you’re really mad about.”
“There’s only the two of us, we don’t get days off.”
Bernie shook her head. “If we don’t then we’ll both go as crazy as you are right now. You’re not mad at me, Kayla. You’re sexually frustrated and overworked and stressed and you want to break out the pots and pans with Shane but you’re too ashamed of your own sexuality.”
Kayla opened her mouth then closed it, uncertain how to respond to that.
“You like him. You liked banging him. But you’re telling yourself exactly what Freida flung at you.”
“That’s not true,” Kayla protested.
Bernie put her hands on her hips. “No? Then why isn’t that big hunk of delicious dragon flesh sleeping in your bed every night? I’m sorry if I’m being crude about it,” she added, her expression softening, “I’m a little overworked and stressed too. And embarrassed that you caught me and Tyler. But that doesn’t change it. You and Shane are like a couple out of a romcom. You refuse to admit that you like each other except when the passion burns your clothes off.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means that you’re slut-shaming yourself. Don’t be an idiot, Kayla.”
Kayla shook her head. “I’m not slut-shaming myself.”
Bernie put her hands on her hips and popped out a hip while narrowing her eyes. “Then what are you doing?”
Maybe Bernie was right but she didn’t want to think about that right now. Emotion was just one of those things that made everything more confusing. Kayla shook her head again and grabbed the keys to the car.
“I need you to go out to the dig to keep an eye on things while I go into town.”
Without another word, she went back to the student. Taking him to the hospital took longer than she anticipated. By the time he was taken care of and they had returned to camp, everybody else had come in for the day. Kayla adjusted the duties for the next couple days to allow the injured student enough time to heal, then ate dinner and helped wash up.
By the time she returned to the camper, she had almost forgotten about what had happened inside. Fortunately, it had aired out and smelled only of a hot summer’s day. Nothing else was too rosy, though, and Kayla sighed as she searched through her clothes, trying to find something that wasn’t too dirty.
There was a note on the desk in Bernie’s handwriting. Think about it.
Think about what? Kayla stared at the note for a moment before she slowly allowed her mind to turn back to what Bernie had told her earlier. Now that she had had some rest and got some food, it made more sense. She had never considered herself overly puritan, certainly not when it came to other people’s relationships. She was always harder on herself, though. Always.
And didn’t she think about Shane every night before she went to sleep? Didn’t she crave to have him near her? Not just for sex. No, she wanted to cuddle, to whisper secrets to him, to hear his secrets in return. She wanted to get to know him better than she had known anybody before. And she wanted him to know her, too. He was always there, so close, and yet there was a distance between them. She wasn’t certain if it was just her or not.
The camper was suddenly too small. Too constricting. Kayla left it quickly. She walked past the tents and the students sitting around the firepit with their flashlights and beers. She wasn’t entirely certain what she was going to say when she found him but she made a beeline for Shane’s tent. There, she found him lying in the hammock, a book flat on his chest.
“Hey.” She smiled softly, her heart skipping a beat as the taste of his lips ghosted over her mouth. “Do you have a moment? I think we need to talk.”
Tyler’s voice came from the tent. “Hey, don’t ‘talk’ where I can hear, okay?”
Kayla rolled her eyes but Shane was already out of the hammock. He jerked his head and they walked a little ways outside of camp. The night was cool and clear, a relief after the extreme heat of the day.
“So… so we need to talk,” Kayla said again.
Shane nodded.
“We need to figure out what this is between us. We had sex and it was explosive. And we kissed and it was explosive. But I hardly see you anymore. You come out to the dig occasionally but you just spend so much time away from camp. I know you have business, and everything but it feels like… it feels like you’re hiding from me.”
Shane shook his head. “I’m not.”
“Well… we need to figure this out. It’s awkward and I don’t want it to be awkward.”
“Right.” His gaze dropped to the forest floor. “I understand that sex is different for humans. That you’re much more casual about it than most dragon cultures. So I don’t want you to feel like you’re under any pressure here.”
Kayla opened her mouth to ask him what he meant, then her eyes widened. She had completely forgotten that most dragons only had sex with one person. Their mate. And that if two dragons coupled, then they would be together forever.
“Oh… Shane… was that… was that your first time with a girl?”
His head shot up and his eyes widened. “Did it seem like my first time?”
“No!” Kayla shook her head. “No, it didn’t. It seemed like you were really experienced. You knew exactly what to do, at least. It was good,” she added. “Explosive. I’m not saying that it was like you had a lot of girls but I’m just saying… it was good…”
She trailed off, her face on fire.
“I’ve never been with ‘girls’,” Shane said, grinning. “Only women. But now that you’ve mentioned it… was that your first time? I’m not saying that it was like your first time, it was good for me, too. Like, really good. Explosive good. But if it was your first time, then I…”
Kayla giggled as Shane’s face went red as well. They were quite a pair, stumbling over this. She took his hand in hers and squeezed gently. “No. I’ve had men before. I only asked because, well, I know about how many dragons believe that sex is only for one’s mate and that what we had… I guess I’m a bit embarrassed by letting passion overwhelm me, and I just want to know… what you feel. What you’re hoping to get out of this. If anything at all.”
Shane looked at her for a long moment, silent. Eventually, he licked his lips and opened his mouth but said nothing. He turned away and ran a hand through his hair.
“It’s okay if you don’t,” she said awkwardly. “I mean, our lives, our cultures, are so different. Not to say that people from different cultures can’t make relationships work. Or that we have to have a relationship. I just want to get this figured out. You know?”
“I do know.” His voice was low. “I told you I don’t have a clan. That my mother was ejected from hers for keeping me. Well, she never made Tyler and me think that sex had to be only between mates. The clan she was from, it’s not part of their culture. It’s not something I ever thought.”
“Oh.” Why did hearing that disappoint her? She dropped her gaze and tried to laugh it off. “Well, I guess that’s a good thing. No pressure on either of us, right? I mean, it’s not like sex has to mean that we’ll be together forever and—”
“I want you.”
Kayla swallowed hard as she peeked up through her lashes. “You want me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He moved a little closer, his eyes locked on
hers. “I want you like I’ve never wanted a woman before. I want you in my arms, in my bed, in my life. I want to go to sleep every night with you beside me and wake up to you snoring in my ear.”
“I don’t snore.” Kayla’s heart fluttered regardless. She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“I want you,” Shane repeated, then kissed her.
Kayla was all too happy to throw herself into the kiss. Everything else faded away until it was just the two of them in that moment. And it was all she wanted.
Chapter Twelve
Shane
The fist came at him but he managed to roll to avoid it. Shane kicked his attacker in the face, then sprang to his feet. The two big dragons that fought opposite him panted as they retreated. Shane took the opportunity to lean against the wall. Part of him hoped that it would make his opponents think that he was weakened. The other part of him knew that he was. They’d been going at it for hours. His lungs wheezed when he breathed out and his left hand was so bruised and swollen that he couldn’t even stand to look at it.
One of the dragons came at him again. Shane gritted his teeth and sidestepped. He stuck his foot out and tripped him, following it up with grabbing the back of his head and smashing his face into the wall. Shane retreated in time to see the other dragon coming at him. But not to block the punch to his abdomen. The blow knocked the air from his lungs and he crumpled.
“Not so tough now, huh?” The dragon that had brought him down panted. He kicked Shane in the ribs. “I’m not letting you hurt her anymore!”
Shane didn’t have much time to consider what that meant as the boot connected to his face. He managed to roll away from a third kick but he ended against the wall. Nowhere to go. Fists and boots rained down on him and he curled into a ball, protecting his head and neck. He had to get back up. He had to bring them down, he had to—
One of the dragons gave a strangled yelp. The other cursed then howled in pain. Through a haze of pain, Shane looked up. Both of the dragons stumbled away from him and a third stood over him. As it turned to him, he braced himself.
Tyler’s eyes peered worriedly at him. “Better get up, big brother. Unless you want to lose your mate to me.”
“Mate?” one of the other dragons asked.
Tyler pulled Shane to his feet. He could hardly support himself but somehow managed to stay upright. The other two dragons both looked shocked. Shane swallowed painfully. His eye was swollen shut and he grimaced. As he–and apparently the others–reevaluated their options, he considered the dragon’s words.
“What did Gordon tell you I’m doing to Kayla?” he managed to choke out.
“The worst thing a man can do.” The two glanced at each other. “But she’s your mate?”
“We can’t just stand around talking.” Tyler rolled his shoulders. “Let’s make this good for the viewers, shall we?”
It all seemed very choreographed. Shane sagged against the wall as the others started to fight. Tyler wasn’t so good but he had improved since Shane had last seen him fight. Good enough, it seemed, to take down the other dragons. Shane dropped to his knee as Tyler punched out the last dragon. Everything spun around him and went black.
***
“Great work, gentlemen!” Gordon chuckled as he rubbed his hands together. “The viewer response has been very positive. I’m thinking about throwing in an incest angle, people seem to love that right now. I think it comes from Game of Thrones and—”
Tyler snarled at him as Shane pressed a bag of ice to his eye. Shane grabbed his brother’s arm and gave him a stern look. Tyler stepped back, though he didn’t look any calmer for it.
“This has to end,” Shane said, trying to keep his voice even. “You’ve had me fighting for far too long already. And you told those two I fought today that I was hurting Kayla. What do you want out of this, Gordon? Waiting for me to get so deep in it that I can’t fight my way out? If you hurt Kayla, you know that I would tear off your head.”
Gordon laughed and shrugged. “Maybe I just like to have a powerful dragon shifter under my thumb. At least, a shifter who thinks he’s powerful. Face it, you’re nothing. No clan, nothing but a whore for a mother and a whore for a mate.”
Shane surged to his feet. His flames rose high, leaving smoke seeping from his lips. Gordon’s dragon goons tensed, eyes on him. This time it was Tyler who grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Shane glared at Gordon for a moment before jerking his head. He and Tyler slipped away, though his fires still burned hot and every inch of him wanted to destroy Gordon Hunt.
The brothers were silent as they returned to the camp. It was in the deep of night, so they didn’t bother being sneaky as they retrieved water and the first aid kit in the kitchen. Then they retreated to Kayla’s tent.
“I can take care of myself,” Tyler grunted when Shane started to clean him up.
“Shut up. You’re lucky I don’t wring your neck for putting yourself in danger like that.”
“You know that’s a contradictory statement, don’t you?”
Shane prodded him in the back. “Shut up.”
Tyler laughed softly, then fell silent. It didn’t last long, though. “You need to tell her.”
“If she knew about this, she—”
“She isn’t safe. Honestly, you might have convinced yourself that you’re doing a good thing here but you’re not. What you are doing is putting her in more danger by not letting her make her own choices.” Tyler flinched as he wiped a particularly nasty cut with an alcohol wipe. “You need to tell her. And I don’t just mean about the fights, Shane. You need to tell her how you feel and you need to tell her that she’s your mate. Do you understand?”
Shane sighed. His brother was right, of course. “I’ll tell her in the morning.”
“No. Now.”
“I’m not going to her in the middle of the night covered in blood. In the morning—”
“Ha!”
Tyler turned to him and narrowed his eyes. He looked so much like their mother when he did that, it was scary. Both of them had taken after their mother but Tyler didn’t have as hard of angles as Shane did. His was a more youthful appearance, more of a heartthrob and less of an ex-SEAL.
“You’ll just make another excuse in the morning,” Tyler said. “Go to her. Right now.”
Shane shook his head but sighed again. “Let me get cleaned up first.”
Tyler nodded. “And then you tell her.”
It didn’t take long to clean up the blood. His hand was a mess still, and the bruises on his face weren’t going away like they should. The constant abuse was taking a deep toll on him, and he shivered to think about what would have happened tonight if Tyler hadn’t intervened. His anger was quelled slightly by the knowledge that the other two dragons were also trying to protect Kayla but it didn’t do much.
All too soon, he was entering the camper while Kayla fretted over the state he was in. Her hair was tousled with sleep and she wore a ragged housecoat over her pajamas.
“What happened?” she demanded.
Shane tugged her to the bed. His heart beat hard in his chest and he glanced away, trying to figure out how to confess his secret. Eventually, he swallowed and started at the beginning. By the time he was done, Kayla had both hands pressed to her mouth. She sobbed and shook her head. Shane wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Kayla pulled away. “To me? You’re the one being beaten every single week. What the hell were you thinking? You should have just shut the dig down and gotten away from here. It’s not worth it!”
“You’re worth it.”
Kayla shook her head again.
“You are.” Shane squeezed her hand. “I… I love you.”
Her eyes widened briefly before she narrowed them again. “And I love you. That doesn’t mean that this dig is worth it. Tomorrow we pack everybody up and send them home and then we take this to whoever we can. The FBI, the
CIA, anybody.”
“We’re in Canada. Those are US organizations.”
Kayla touched the side of his face. A hard throb raced through his jaw and he winced. Apparently, that was still tender, too. Kayla retreated, her eyes burning. She shook her head again, then wrapped her arms around him. Having her in his arms helped him to relax. All of a sudden, he was exhausted. His eyes started to drift shut.
“If we shut down the dig, Esther and Bryant are going to wonder why. They’ll—”
“Bryant can help. He’s part of the Queen’s Guard, he can get other dragons to step in and help to take care of this.” Kayla stroked his hair. “But for tonight you’re going to sleep. You’re exhausted. And from what you have told me, Gordon wants you to lose. What does he even want?”
Shane shrugged. “I don’t think it’s the money. I think he just likes the violence. The feeling of being powerful, humiliating his fighters. Most of them are dragons, too. Maybe he’s got a fetish.”
Kayla made a strangled noise in her throat. “He’s a real sicko.”
Shane would have laughed, only it hurt too much. He settled for a smile, then laid back with a groan. Kayla’s hands fluttered over him, so he tugged her so she was lying in the narrow bed next to him. He had expected to feel worse once he told her, to feel like he had failed to give her proper protection. Instead, he felt like a weight had been lifted from him. His eyes drifted shut.
“I’m going to send Tyler away. I’ll figure out a way to make him leave… He’s already gotten too involved in this, I won’t have him get any deeper into this mess. And you should leave as well. Get you and him far away. Then I can deal with Gordon properly.”
Kayla let out her breath in a huff. “If you think that we’re going to leave you here, you’re crazy. Gordon isn’t just going after me, he’s going after you. He’s just using me to get to you, like the misogynistic sadist he is. No, you’re going to come with me.”
It sounded like a lovely idea but Shane knew that wasn’t going to work. He had no idea how far of a reach Gordon had, and besides that… Shane wasn’t the type of dragon to just run away and let somebody else end up in this same mess. No. He needed Kayla safe, and then he needed to take down Gordon Hunt.
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