Dragon Lust

by Kelly Armenta

  Tough guy raised an eyebrow, bared his teeth slightly and turned back to Margie, “On your head,” he told her with a shrug as he lifted the rope and allowed us to pass, much to the dismay of the others in line.

  I noticed he didn’t step back as we passed and I had to fight the urge to clip him with my shoulder as I stepped around him. I could feel his eyes tracking me through the doorway and when I chanced to look back, he was pressing his finger against his earpiece speaking into his watchband. Probably not a good sign.

  Just inside the door I stopped, looking out at the packed-in bodies swaying and gyrating below me, wanting to take it all in. The place was huge and dark except for the neon lights flashing everywhere. But not so dark that you couldn’t see tables lining three sides of the room and the bar stretching across the length of the fourth side. The stairs we were standing on were fairly wide and could easily fit four or five people abreast. They led down directly onto the dance floor which seemed to stretch forever.

  Non-humans were everywhere and from the scent of them, they were having one hell of a good time. Hey! This girl had never been to a dance club nor had sex, and there seemed to be plenty, or near plenty, of both going on just about everywhere.

  The air was a haze of musk, primarily wolf and leopard…and something I couldn’t place? My nose, never one of my best attributes, went on overdrive and nearly shut down from sensory overload. When I shook my head, my vision went double as my infrared kicked in to compensate for the low lighting. I reached for the railing just as Margie grabbed my arm, again tugging me down the stairs. Gulping a deep breath, I started down after her, wondering how she managed in her spiked heels.

  At the bottom she plowed left, dragging me toward the bar where she ordered two drinks with names I’d never heard of, and promptly shoved one into my hand. I tried to offer her money, but either it was lost in the translation or she didn’t want any as she waved my offer away, snagged my wrist again and proceeded to drag me toward the opposite side of the room.

  You might think that a normal person would have been irritated at all the dragging and pulling going on, but honestly I was having a hard enough time keeping myself from falling flat on my face at the moment to really care. In fact I was struggling not to panic and flee back the way I’d come, and might have if I could tell which way was up.

  In no way could you say I gracefully crossed the room. Maybe one day I’d be able to negotiate a packed dance floor the way Margie could, but while she slipped easily through narrow openings, I was left in her wake like a tin can tied to a bumper. And like the proverbial tin can, I bumped and bounced my way through a sea of hot sweaty bodies, all of which were beginning to smell rather yummy.

  Mercifully we eventually made it to the other side of the room, but by then I was nearly clenching my teeth and I could feel the sweat pooling down my back. Inside I was shaky and I was nearly heaving, my heartbeat a frantic tattoo in my chest. Worse on worse, when I glanced down at my arm there was a distinctive golden tint to it. And my hair was growing…I could feel it brushing my back below my half top. Crap, I was afraid if I checked a mirror I was not going to like what I saw.

  Margie pulled us up at the edge of the dance floor in front of one of the booths and turned back to me. The look of shocked surprise on her face confirmed my fears, yet I couldn’t help smiling as she looked down at my wrist still firmly grasped in her fingers. It was as if she knew she hadn’t released me, but couldn’t figure out how I’d changed during the trip across the dance floor.

  “Hi,” I said, my voice coming out about an octave lower than it normally sounded. “It’s still me.”

  She shook her head and her nostrils actually flared. She tried for a weak smile and nearly made it. Then she looked at my chest and burst out laughing. Apparently not just my hair and skin had morphed in the drag across the floor. Her makeshift top was suddenly indecently small for my real me chest.

  Through it all she maintained her grip on my wrist and when the laughter subsided, she turned us both to present me to the table, and the six men seated there, all of whom were staring hungrily back at me.

  On a normal day, I probably would have smiled and made inane chit chat, been ignored while I sipped the drink still in my other hand. Or, given that I was in a club for the first time, I might even have tried batting my eyelashes, because I’d heard that that could bring men to their knees.

  Unfortunately today wasn’t going to be normal because I didn’t do any of those things. No, to be truthful I panicked.

  And my panic apparently caused mass hysteria.

  Have you ever seen one of those nature shows where the lion leaps out of the grass amidst a herd of wild zebra? Well that’s not such a bad analogy as to what happened next. Although in my own defense, I never actually leaped or shifted, in fact, I don’t believe I moved at all, although I do think my eyes whirled. Ever seen golden multi-facetted eyes whirl in a dark dance club with neon lights bouncing across the room?

  I was my own light show.

  I think even that would have been okay, except apparently in the animal world panicked Dragon trumps all. Even slender, large breasted, five foot five golden skinned, red-gold haired scantily clad Dragons.

  Did I mention I was part Dragon? No? Well hmmm, aside from hiding it all my life, it really hadn’t been much of a topic of discussion. At least I’d never actually scared small children on the streets, or had I? Perhaps that was why my Mother moved us around a lot. Funny are the thoughts that will run through your mind in the midst of a crisis.

  My girl, whom I affectionately referred to as Goldilocks, or Goldy for short, because I’d liked that story as a child, unfurled her wings and tried to claw her way out from inside me. I’m not certain if she wanted to have sex then and there, or if she was actually trying to protect me. I am sure I’ll never know.

  I, on the other hand, simply refused to allow her to do so. And somewhere in the midst of our disagreement, some two hundred plus petrified were animals attempted to flee the scene in a most disorderly fashion. This, of course, excited my girl and had her snapping at those passersby that came within easy snapping reach. Thank goodness I didn’t break any skin; it would have been simply too much for my girl to handle.

  And so there I stood, trying to control my inner Dragon. At some point I believe I knocked down and placed my foot in the middle of one particularly attractive Werelion’s chest. I think Goldy was actually sizing him up as a potential mate but he obviously wasn’t up to the task because he continued to struggle, and for some reason managed to wet himself before passing out from sheer fright.

  I think his wetting himself is what actually took the wind out of Goldy’s wings and allowed me to firm my grip enough so that I could shove her back down into her inner cave. She went with a huff and a flounce, not at all happy with me.

  Heaving a sigh and looking around the now empty club, I realized two things. One, I was in deep trouble. And two, I wasn’t alone.

  A hush fell over the club as the last strains of music died away. Chairs and tables were overturned and lay at odd angles around the room. Everyone had made it to safety, except the poor Werelion I’d singled out of the pack, and who didn’t look like he’d be going anywhere real soon.

  But Peewee and I weren’t alone; somewhere in the room were at least two others. Turning my head to the left I swept the room at eye level, and found…nothing.

  “Ah, it appears she’s come back to her senses,” spoke a masculine voice directly over my head. “So much for business tonight.”

  Goldy tensed in her cave, a sense of hope and interest echoing up from her direction, even as I flowed away from the sound toward the center of the now empty dance floor and craned my neck back to see into the darkness.

  The flashing lights made it difficult to focus but I could just make out a walkway encircling the building at street level. A railing ran the length of the room and there, directly above where I’d been holding my pitifully poor mate auditions stood two
men looking down at me, their faces hidden in shadow. The one on the left appeared rather tense, both hands gripping the railing as if he was forcing himself to remain still. The other stood calmly, his forearms braced negligently on the top railing as he leaned over and watched me from the shadows. In the dimly lit room, the second man’s eyes met mine and his voice eased over my skin like a warm caress, though he spoke not to me, but the other man.

  “Do not tease Jace, such temptation leads to power, which is always difficult to control. It’s obviously been a while since she’s been exposed to…such a feast of the senses. Under similar circumstances, any of us would have responded the same.”

  The first man blew out a deep breath and unclenched his hands from the railing. In the dim light I could see him flex his fingers several times as if trying to get the blood circulating. “I believe the question is… how can that be?”

  “Hmmm,” replied the other more velvety voice. “Perhaps we should introduce ourselves and ask.”

  “No doubt a good start.”

  “Do not be frightened little one, we mean you no harm.” And so saying the second man, he of the velvety voice, vaulted the railing and dropped the 10 feet to the floor, gracefully landing not six feet from where I stood. The other man landed next to him almost immediately and stepped forward, bringing with him a scent that caused air to whoosh out of my lungs as Goldy figuratively sat up at attention.

  As the one called Jace took a step forward, and I immediately threw up my hand, palm outward. “Hold it right there,” I wheezed, bending forward at the waist and sucking in air. Mentally I scolded Goldy, arguing it was surely undignified to be caught wheezing and gasping for breath because two incredibly gorgeous men had suddenly dropped out of the sky at your feet. She refused to heed me, practically jumping up and down in her cave going “give me, give me,” like some greedy child, which in turn nearly knocked me off my feet.

  We had words, and she finally calmed down when I promised I’d consider one or both for sex if she’d just ease off and stop making us look like an idiot. Grumbling, she circled her favorite sleeping place and curled up with her tail over her delicately rounded snout. Her eyes looked up at me one last time with a “you’d better not blow this” look before they closed. She hadn’t gone to sleep, and I could still feel her intense curiosity, but at least I wasn’t staggering about like a drunk anymore.

  When I stood up again, both men were smiling as if they knew full well the conversation that had just transpired. A look of horror crossed my face as it dawned on me that I’d lost my shields somewhere amongst the sweaty bodies on the dance floor. Totally mortified, I slammed them into place.

  “Ouch,” muttered Jace. “I guess that’s what we get for eaves dropping,” he remarked as he gently rubbed his temple and blinked repeatedly.

  The other man just chuckled softly and watched me through his dark blue eyes.

  Where does a girl go from here I wondered? Any fool could tell they were waiting for me to make the first move. That said something, a lot of something for both of them. Taking a deep breath I stepped forward and did the one thing you do when meeting someone new, I stuck out my hand. “Hi. I’m Lexi,” I said as my fingers slipped into the palm of the man closest to me, the one not Jace.

  “And I am Gareth. Welcome to the Salty Dog,” he replied.

  I would have liked to have my hand back given that I was receiving mini shocks from where our skin touched, but he raised it slowly to his lips, bent at the waist and leaned over it like a precious flower, his eyes never leaving mine as his lips brushed my knuckles. My eyes widened and that pesky whirling threatened to start up again. Closing my eyes I counted to five. When I opened them I realized mine weren’t the only eyes in the room that were multi-facetted. Smiling, Gareth blinked his eyes back to solid dark blue, lowered my hand and stepped back. One last look and I turned to Jace.

  “And I am Jace, and you are most welcome.” He too raised my hand to his lips and this time it was eyes as green as the summer grass that gently whirled above my fingertips. Then he stepped back and his eyes flattened back to a piercing green.

  “Are you aware that you name means protector of man?” Gareth asked with a wry smile.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised, but there it was. “Yes, but I’m sure you couldn’t prove it by the folks in here earlier,” I added lamely. “I am sorry…about that. I don’t know what came over me. That’s never happened to me before.”

  Gareth chuckled again and Jace smiled brightly.

  I grinned back at them and added, “Actually, no one here tonight was purely human….so strictly speaking no humans were harmed.”

  “Would you like another drink or do you prefer to keep this one?” Gareth asked me as he moved toward the bar across the room.

  That I had managed to hold on to both my drink and my purse struck me as quite odd. Much like the fact I’d been worried about scaring small children in the midst of the earlier crisis.

  Glancing down at my glass I realized it was still full! Miracle of miracles! I shook my head and raised the glass to my lips, I would have swallowed it down too, except Jace’s hand was suddenly on mine preventing me from doing so.

  “I believe what Gareth was subtly trying to say, is that Absinthe and…our kind do not combine well. Please let us make you something a little less… fiery, shall we say?”

  I suppose I could have said something inane like, “Our kind? Who said anything about me being an ‘our kind?” But it was perfectly clear that that cat was out of the bag, having ripped it into the proverbial shreds. No use in stating the obvious. Besides that old saying…it takes one to know one, or in this case two, was absolutely true.

  What I did say was, “Fiery huh?” Afraid I’d burn down the place on top of clearing it of all customers?

  The watch on Jace’s wrist beeped loudly and I jumped, almost dropping the drink. Jace’s fingers shifted down my wrist and I nearly swallowed my tongue as his fingers slid over mine then wrapped around the glass. For one all too brief moment his hand cupped mine, then my fingers slipped away, leaving him holding it. Smiling again, he motioned me toward the bar.

  It took a second, but I managed to pull my eyes away from his and unlock my knees. Getting my legs to work took another half second but then I was on my way. I expected Jace to take my elbow. Oh who am I kidding? I was hoping he would! But when his hand didn’t magically appear, I looked back and noticed he was still standing where I’d left him, watch to mouth, finger in ear, deep in conversation. Mouth, hand, ear, he seemed quite busy, but his eyes….were just for me.

  Chapter 4

  “What is that saying….? Of all the gin joints in all the towns in the entire world, she walks into mine.”

  “Catchy, who said that?” I asked as I stepped up to the bar and leaned my forearms across the long smooth black surface. My bare midriff brushed against the cold edge and I sucked air and shifted back slightly. I was pretty sure if I turned around Jace would still be looking at me, and with my rump pushed out in the air like it was, chances were he was nearly seeing the whole show, thanks to Margie and her scissors. Grinning, I lifted one foot and placed it on the black metal rod at shin level running the length of the bar. There were no bar stools, just a ledge to rest a foot on. If you wanted to sit, you got a table.

  Gareth leaned down flicked some switches and the flashing neon lights instantly subsided, replaced by soft backlighting and some sultry jazz just loud enough to tease the senses. One sandy blonde eyebrow raised in question as Gareth looked at me over the bar. In his left hand was a bottle of Champagne, and he reached behind him for one of the hanging flutes. Apparently we were celebrating. I couldn’t read the label, but it looked expensive. “Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry I don’t get out to movies that often. Is it new?”

  Such inane conversation when what I really wanted to say was ‘can I see you naked… now… please’?

  Deciding that would probably be a mite too
forward, I satisfied myself with admiring the delectable parts I could see over the top of the counter.

  Of the two men, Gareth was the more ruggedly handsome in a Paul Bunyan sans mustache sort of way. I knew who Paul Bunion was because my Mother had dragged me through Minnesota one summer and I felt comfortable comparing the two. Not that he was twenty feet tall or anything. In fact I’d say he topped out around six foot which still put him a good five inches above my current height in boots. But he had a woodsy outdoors look about him that gave off the impression he’d feel comfortable slogging along on a deer trail with an ax over his shoulder. Very manly!

  Piercing wide blue eyes gazed out over high cheekbones, a nicely shaped nose, and cupid bow lips made the completed picture very nice. His sandy blond hair was cut close at the sides while managing to stand straight up on top, and for some reason made me think of fresh mowed grass. His arms, shoulders, and chest were nicely muscled and well defined; he looked solid but not overdeveloped like the guy at the front door. He was wearing black fitted slacks and a black pressed shirt unbuttoned at the throat. His sleeves had been rolled half way up his arm, revealing tanned forearms covered in light brown hair. On his wrist he wore a watch the same as Jace and the door guard, a communicator obviously.

  “And here I thought everyone knew the classics. 1943, won three Oscars… cynical nightclub owner reconnects with his old lover who comes to his club needing help. Any of this ringing a bell?” he asked hopefully, blue eyes shining at the memory. “Opening night was really something,” Gareth recalled as he slid my drink toward me, before reaching up for two more glasses which he proceeded to fill.

  My mind did a double take as I looked back at him in shock. 1943 I hadn’t been a scrap of a dream or a glint off a test tube, let alone alive and attending grand opening nights at the theater! “Hmmm, must have missed that one,” I muttered, reaching out to wrap my fingers around the stem of my drink and pulling it closer so I could stare into the explosion of tiny bubbles.