“Hey,” Tide gripped Topaz’s shoulder and attempted to pry her off of him, “I’m working right now.”
Meghan snapped her eyes back to the menu in her hand. “Mmmmmm …” She pretended to study it. “Sounds great.” She put it down in front of her, noticing how Topaz was pouting. Did women really act this way?
“You’ll have to come back real soon for a visit.” She touched the tip of his nose and winked again.
“Sure.” Tide picked her up and put her down on the chair next to him.
“How about tonight?” Topaz had her back to Meghan, blocking Tide off completely.
“Did you get everything you needed today?” Shale asked her, forcing her attention back to him. “Did you meet my nephews?” he continued. Unfortunately, she missed Tide’s answer. No! It was for the best. What he did was his own business. She didn’t care either way.
"Yes," she blurted when she realized that Shale was waiting for an answer. "I got everything I needed. The twins were adorable. Thank you. So you're going on a mission?"
“Yeah, I’ll be gone for a while. I take it there’s no one waiting for you at home.” She noticed how his nostrils flared.
“No, my work keeps me very busy. I don’t have time to date.”
“Surely you must make time on occasion, I mean, you and Tide?” He raised his brows.
“That was a mistake. A huge mistake.”
Shale chuckled. “I’m glad to hear it. Maybe we could—”
“Let’s go and get lunch.” Tide stood up. “I’ll bring your food, Meghan. You said you wanted the steak.”
“It’s Doctor Roberts.” She looked up at his imposing form.
His jaw clenched. “Doctor.”
Shale stood up as well. “I would be happy to get your lunch, Doctor Roberts. May I call you Meghan?”
“Let me do my job,” Tide growled at Shale, hands fisting at his side. “You do yours and I’ll do mine. Doctor Roberts happens to be my responsibility.”
“Sure.” Shale shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”
Topaz stood up, clinging to Tide like her life depended on it. “I’ll go with you,” she gushed and actually fluttered her eyelashes at him. It was sickening.
Meghan held back a sigh. Although Tide seemed jealous of Shale she knew it wasn’t the case. Like he had stated, he was just doing his job. “I can get my own food.” She stood up, Shale fell in beside her and they headed for the counter, standing in a line. Why oh why had she thought this would be a good idea? Tide and Topaz were ahead of them. The tall, willowy dragon shifter whispered something in his ear. He said something back and she laughed. Then she nuzzled into his neck. Tide didn’t do anything to encourage her, but he also didn’t do anything to stop her either.
She shouldn’t care either way. It would be best if she tried not to look. “So, you’re a prince?” she blurted, glancing at Shale. What a stupid thing to ask. Of course he was, he had a golden chest. Granite was his brother, so it stood to reason. She needed to take her attention off of Tide and Topaz. So what if she and Tide had spent the night together. It was ancient history. Like she said, a mistake. Him groping her yesterday had been to prove a point. Tide clearly wasn’t interested in her and even if he was, she didn’t want a guy like him anywhere near her anyway.
Shale ran a hand over the marking on his chest, drawing her eye. “Yeah, I’m a prince. Can I come and visit you later? Maybe we can have dinner together?”
Tide turned sharply, forcing Octopus Arms to let go of him. Topaz gave her a dirty look and folded her arms. Tide narrowed his eyes. “Doctor Roberts,” he emphasized the words, “has to work late. We’re up early. Not that it’s any of your business but the human is meeting with Blaze and needs to be fresh and on top of her game so—”
No damned way. He wasn’t telling her what she could and couldn’t do, was he?
“Actually …”
“Actually nothing. You can’t join Doctor Roberts for dinner. Not tonight. Not ever.”
Tide had no right. “Actually, that sounds great.”
Shale grinned broadly. “What time should—”
“Are you hard of hearing?” Tide’s eyes were narrowed. His frown was so deep it might end up being permanent. Those muscles on the sides of his neck roped. Come to think of it, his biceps looked huge too. He took a step towards Shale.
Shale clenched his teeth and took a step towards Tide. His soft brown eyes seemed to darken. “I think Doctor Roberts can speak for herself. She may be your responsibility but you’re not her keeper.”
“No, she can’t speak for herself and yes, technically, I am her keeper.”
No way! “Yes, I can speak for myself and you are most definitely not my keeper.” Tide was too much. Making his own arrangements to see Topaz while, at the same time, banning her from seeing Shale. Treating her like a child. Double standards!
“Excuse us a moment.” Tide gripped her hand firmly in his much larger one.
“I don’t need a moment,” she spoke under her breath.
“Oh yes, you do.” He marched towards the exit, pulling her along with him.
“Why do you insist on trying to rule my life?”
“We’ll talk in a moment.” He kept on walking, even picked up the pace, which forced her to jog to keep up.
Once they were outside in the hallway, which was also pretty busy with people coming and going, he kept on moving, stopping at every door they encountered. It was only when they reached the fourth door that he paused and sniffed. Then he knocked, cocking his head and narrowing his eyes. He pushed the door open and ushered her inside, closing it behind them. “Shale wants inside your pants. It’s as simple as that.”
"So much for the preamble. Why don't we just get down to the nitty-gritty?"
“Exactly. We don’t have much time here. Shale wants to fuck you and it’s not going to happen on my watch. We spoke about this.”
“You spoke about this. I disagreed. Shale wants to have dinner with me. That’s all, just dinner.” There was a squeak to her voice. It was of utter disbelief. She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.
“That’s bullshit. Just like cleaning the stain off my shirt was bullshit. Just like those leftovers you promised me were bullshit.” He got right up in her face. His eyes looked even brighter. Damn him, even more beautiful.
“No.” She shook her head. “He’s a nice guy. A sweet guy. Unlike you.” She put her hands on her hips. Take that, asshole!
Tide laughed. “Unlike me,” he muttered. “Yeah, okay, sure. At least I’m honest about what I want and what I don’t want. Trust me, Shale does not want to make small talk, he doesn’t want dinner and candles and all that other bullshit. He wants inside that tight pussy.”
She did that whole choking on her spit thing again. It had never happened to her before meeting Tide. She had a feeling it would happen again several times before her time in the dragon lands was done. “You’re a pig and a male slut. You have no leg to stand on, as far as I’m concerned. None whatsoever. Just because you have a dirty mind, doesn’t mean that every other man out there does.”
“Oh yes, they do. We all do.” He shrugged. “I’ll admit wholeheartedly, I have a seriously dirty fucking mind.” He gave a half-smile, it was feral looking, like he was thinking up a couple of dirty things right now.
Something clenched deep inside her lower belly. Meghan didn’t like how his words affected her. “There! Exactly. I told you. You get to go and have as much fun as you want while expecting me to—”
“Oh …” He smiled. No, make that grinned. Tide all out grinned. “So that’s what this is all about ‒ you’re jealous. I should have known.”
What a prick! Her hate went up a couple of notches. If that was even possible. “Jealous! Like hell I’m jealous, you are such an asshole. Did I mention how big your ego is?”
"Several times." He was still grinning. "But this isn't my ego talking. It's a straight fact. You don't like the idea of Topaz and I together, so you're
agreeing to meet with Shale to get back at me or to prove some or other point. Is it an attempt to make me jealous? Because, if it is, you're barking up the wrong tree."
“That’s not what it is at all. Not even close. I think it’s plain wrong that you get to do whatever it is that you want while expecting me to sit at home alone. It’s a double standard and I won’t stand for it. For the record, I think you’re jealous.”
Tide chuckled. “No fucking way. It’s not a double standard because my life is not on the line here, yours is.”
“I don’t agree. Shale has been nothing but kind. So what if I was to date him? It would be exclusive, so there would be no fighting amongst the guys.” Although Shale was sweet and attractive, she only saw him as a friend. Tide didn’t need to know that.
His eyes turned stormy. “You have no idea what you are talking about. Anyway, I thought your focus was on your work?”
"It is, at least during office hours. What I do after that is my business. In fact, do me a favor and go and see whats-her-name tonight. Please. I beg of you. Just don't get in the way of my dinner with Shale. You'll be off duty anyway so—"
“It’s not fucking happening,” Tide growled.
She swallowed thickly, a little afraid of how his eyes blazed. His muscles were all roped and thick. His chest was practically against hers. The lower part of his chest, at any rate, he was just that tall in comparison to her. He wasn't going to hurt her though. Meghan could be confident of that fact. Especially after how he protected her when he thought Granite was a threat. "Yes, it is happening."
He groaned, the sound laced with frustration. Tide turned and walked to the other side of the room. He squeezed the back of his neck and just stood there, the seconds ticking by.
Meghan wanted to talk. To say something. Anything. But she forced herself to stay silent. The ball was in his court. “Fine,” he said when he finally turned. “I’ll stay away from all females. No rutting. If that’s what it takes, then I’m fine with that.” He rolled his eyes. “No double standards.”
“You think that’s what this is about?”
“You’re uppity because I get to do as I please while you need to live by certain rules, despite the fact that I’ve explained that those rules are for your own good.”
“I wouldn’t call it uppity, I’d call it justified but yes, it’s the reason I was unhappy to sign that non-fraternization policy in the first place. Double standards. I can’t stand them.”
“What if the same rules were to apply to both of us?” he asked.
“So, neither of us gets to have sex?” She raised her brows.
“Exactly. No sex for either of us. If that’s what it takes to do my job and keep you safe, then so fucking be it.”
“Don’t sound so hard done by.” It wasn’t like she had planned to have sex with anyone anyway. She liked the idea of Tide suffering. She’d get a kick out of it. In fact, she had to work hard to keep from laughing her ass off. She pursed her lips for a few seconds instead, pretending to think it over.
“Do we have a deal?” Tide folded his arms.
“Yes, fine, we have a deal.”
Tide held out his hand. She tried to take it but he gripped her by the wrist and gave her whole arm a big shake. “It’s done.” He huffed out a breath. “You’re a pain in the ass for such a tiny human.”
“Oh, and stop referring to me as ‘the human.' You …" Flip. She felt her cheeks heat. “Should also stop referring to that night.”
“What night?” He narrowed his eyes and his lips twitched. The bastard wanted to laugh.
“You know very well which night. Stop referring to it and for the love of god, stop referring to … parts of my anatomy.”
“What parts?” He smiled. “Oh, yeah, you mean your pussy.”
“Stop it,” she whispered.
“I told you, not talking about it won’t make it magically unhappen. We fucked, multiple times and you enjoyed the hell out of it. So did I, human, so did I. Very fucking much!” He turned and walked out of the room, holding the door open for her.
Meghan picked her jaw up off of the floor, pulled back her shoulders and walked out. She wasn’t sure if she’d just made things better or worse.
Chapter 13
"You've got to be kidding me," Torrent growled, throwing another log on the fire before sitting back down.
“Wish I could say that I was, but I’m not. Flames shot from the whelp’s mouth. We all saw it. The child was upset after Doctor Roberts touched the silver needle to the inside of his arm. He screamed blue murder and flames shot from his mouth. It lasted a couple of seconds. Thankfully no one was hurt and nothing got scorched. It was a shock, I can tell you that much.”
“You said it was the second time this has happened?” Torrent took a sip of his whiskey, swirling the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing.
“Yes, Granite mentioned another time. His mate saw the incident. They were hoping it was a one-time thing. That’s why it was never reported. I can’t say I blame Granite.”
“What the hell does it mean? An Earth dragon capable of producing fire?” Tide could see that his brother was mulling it over. “I can’t believe it … and just as the kingdoms are starting to get it together.”
He took a sip of his own whiskey. It burned its way down his throat. “I don’t know. It has to be the human blood. Or maybe it’s the human, Earth dragon combination. Then again, only one of the twins can breathe fire so that can’t be it.”
“You say everything was fine at Thunder’s lair when you visited. There were no problems with his whelp. Everything seemed ‒ for lack of a better word ‒ normal?”
“Yeah, the whelp seemed normal.” Tide huffed out a breath. “His baby is only three weeks old, so it might be too early to tell. His chest marking is just an outline. The baby also showed signs of suffering from the silver affliction; so far that has been standard with all of the whelps.”
“So, tomorrow you are heading to the Fire lair?” Thunder asked.
“Yes.”
“Don’t mention the fire incident.” Thunder gripped his glass tighter. “I discussed it briefly with Granite. Earth, Air and Water are meeting to discuss what this means. Also, how to break this to Blaze along with the possible implications. We might be reading too much into this whole thing but I’m worried about how Blaze is going to take this.”
“I don’t think he will take it well.” Tide shook his head, watching as the flames licked up as the newly added wood caught alight.
Torrent took another sip. “You said that the non-fire-breathing youngster,” he scrunched up his eyes in thought, “Declan, is the heir to the throne, right?”
“Yup, Declan was born first.”
“That is at least one good thing.” Torrent nodded. “If this is isolated, and so far everything points to that being the case, then I doubt Blaze will be too concerned. However, if there are more of such cases in the coming years …” He shook his head, looking grave.
“What will Blaze do? Eradicate innocent children?” Tide sighed. “I can’t see it happening. The male is hard as nails, but he’s not evil. Killing children …” It was too much to contemplate.
“There are many things he could do. I’ve thought this through.” Torrent was frowning. “He might take the infant and raise him as a Fire dragon.”
“Let him try. Granite is protective of his young,” Tide chuckled. “We’re all possessive at the end of the day, will do anything to keep our own safe.”
“Exactly. Granite will not allow it.” Torrent drank again, finishing the last of the whiskey. He grimaced as the liquid went down his throat. “We’re all possessive as hell. This could still spell war. I only pray that Blaze thinks things through. That he treads carefully. Let’s hope none of the other children exhibit this trait.”
Tide knew that Torrent was thinking of his own unborn son and heir. If the boy somehow had the ability to breathe fire, he would be at risk. Even if Blaze shrugged it off and prete
nded to be comfortable with this new development, he knew that the male might change his mind at any time in the years to come. Power could do strange things to a male. Terrible things. After all, the Fire king would be just as protective of his own family and future. A sliver of dread appeared in the back of his mind but he pushed it down. It wouldn’t help to jump to conclusions or to speculate on outcomes. Not at this stage of the game.
“How is it going with the healer?” Torrent walked over to the wet bar and poured himself another whiskey.
“Fine,” he answered simply.
Torrent turned, narrowing his eyes on Tide. “Fine … really? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“She is a good healer but a handful.”
Torrent chuckled. “She’s a human female. They’re hard to understand. Is she doing her job though?” His whole demeanor changed. “Does she seem capable?”
“She handled herself well with Granite and Thunder. So far, yes, I’m impressed but it’s early days yet. I will let you know if things change.”
“You do that.” Torrent took another sip of his freshly poured drink. “I want no risks with my female or my children. If anything were to happen.” He squeezed the glass in his hand so tight that it cracked. He made a growl of frustration and threw the shards of glass in a nearby wastepaper basket. Blood dripped onto the floor and he clenched his fist to staunch the flow.
“Are you okay? Can I get you a towel?” Tide stood up.
Torrent shook his head. “No, I’m fine. The bleeding has already stopped.” He sighed. “Am I an idiot to be this concerned?”
“Of course not. You might be a king but you still have feelings. You love your family.”
Torrent swallowed thickly. “More than anything.”
“Doctor Roberts is good at what she does,” Tide assured him.
“It’s up to you to make sure that her focus stays on the job at hand.”
He took a step towards his brother. “You can rely on me.”
Torrent made a snorting noise. “I’ve heard the males talking. They would like nothing better than to get their hands on that female.”
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