Deryn rolled her eyes playfully. “No. I was just leaving.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure but I think Fulk is trying to start a dance off. As thrilling as that sounds, I’m going to have to pass. The eighties are over. I’d like to leave it that way.”
Kane laughed so hard he bent forward. “You’re joking, right?”
Fulk cleared his throat. “Hey, I’m a were-coyote. It’s been pointed out to me once today that I’ve got excellent hearing.”
“Great, then care to explain the dance off suggestion?” Kane asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Uh,” Fulk ran his hand through his hair again, “no. I should have picked mud wrestling. The other just popped into my head.”
The music in the bar changed to something airy, light, almost Celtic chantish. That caught Deryn’s attention. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Vonni made her way to the makeshift stage and set her army jacket on the back of a chair near the edge of it.
In a flash Vonni went from wearing her fatigues to wearing a long white dress. As she began to move along with the music, Deryn realized what she was--a Fae. If she was a pure fairy she’d have knocked Deryn on her ass so that ruled that out. But Vonni was certainly something in addition to just a bitch. She moved with a seductive grace and then launched into some sort of lord of the dance routine, leaving Deryn biting her lip to keep from laughing.
Kane touched her shoulder. “Hold it in. I know it’s hard. Just think, you can break dance and show her how it’s really done.”
“Ha, ha, as funny as ever I see.”
He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her near him. Swaying back and forth, Kane began to dance slowly with her. “Are you saying you’re not into the dance off?”
“How did you guess?”
“Hmm,” he whispered, pressing his mouth to her ear. “Well, you could always kick her ass and show her who she’s messing with.”
Deryn laughed. “Yeah, that would go over well here. They’d shoot me in a heartbeat if they caught wind of my little secrets. Shifters and vamps hate me.”
“Hey, don’t lump us all together, Deryn.” Kane turned her to face him and lifted her chin, using caution not to send her drink tumbling all down her. “We are not all alike. These men and women are good people, Deryn. They won’t judge you or assume that you’re out to....”
“Colonel, you changed your mind and came out after all,” Fulk said, interrupting Kane. “I’d say I’m shocked but I’ve seen Dr. Murray take her tee shirt off. I wouldn’t miss getting her drunk either.”
Cringing, Deryn narrowed her gaze on Fulk. “You did wash your hands really well after handing the mentula minuscule, didn’t you?”
“I thought you said it was a mentula magnus?”
Arching a brow, she looked him over carefully. “Yep. A big one all right,” she said sarcastically.
Kane chuckled in her ear. “Do I even want to know how Rodriquez saw you without a shirt on and why you’re talking about dicks with him?”
“Probably not.”
“Hi, Colonel,” Issac said.
Deryn peeked over Kane’s shoulder to find Alejandro standing there. She was so shocked to see him out of uniform that she couldn’t help but stare. The black shirt he’d chosen helped to accent his long-on-top, short-on-the-sides black hair and make his emerald green eyes glimmer like jewels. He was so tan, so bronzed that she desperately wanted to know if every portion of his body was that way or if the sun had kissed him just so.
Kane pushed her chin up. “Control yourself, Deryn. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
The urge to kick her longtime friend in the shin was great. Somehow she managed to hold back. Instead, Deryn plastered a friendly smile on her face. “Hi, Colonel. I’m glad you decided to come. Issac told us you wouldn’t show.” She winked. “I was telling Onnie how much I wished you’d reconsider coming out with us earlier.”
“Call me Alejandro and I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” he said, eyeing Kane like he wanted to say something but was holding back. “Feeling better, Dr. Murray?”
“It’s Deryn and I am feeling better. Thank you for healing me. I’d ask for a bottle of you next time I visit my doctor but I don’t think they’ve started mass marketing cures as sexy as you yet.”
Holy shit! Did I really say that?
A slow, sexy smile graced his squared face. “I could give you my number. For you, I’d make house calls.”
I did say that.
Mortified, Deryn did her best to keep her composure. She took hold of Kane’s hand for support and clutched it for dear life. When he chuckled she stomped on his foot. He winced. She smiled wider.
Pulling back, Kane glanced down at her. “Wait a minute. What happened and how did Alex heal you? And didn’t I get you that shirt?”
“Yes, you got me the shirt. You got me ninety percent of the clothing I own with dragons on it. Before you ask, no, I’m not wearing the matching panties.” Deryn let out a soft laugh.
Kane touched her cheek gently and gave her a questioning look. “What’s funny about you being hurt?”
“Oh, it was nothing. It was just too much sun. I was laughing at you calling him Alex-V. It pisses him off so he calls you Samurai Soto to get ... err ... umm, no he doesn’t. I mean, he....”
Alejandro moved in close. “You told her I call you Samurai Soto?”
“No,” Kane bit out, staring at her with hard brown eyes. “Want to tell me what’s going on? I thought it was fishy they yanked you in at the last minute, knowing you’d be with nothing but supernaturals. When I first recommended you for the program, almost a year ago when it was in its infant stages, I thought they’d bring on non-supernaturals as well. They didn’t. Something is up. Now, spill it, Deryn.”
Deryn drew in her lower lip and glanced around the bar, noting Vonni had almost all the men’s attention. Well, all but Alejandro and Kane. She swallowed hard. “I was just babbling. I think its nerves. Yeah, that’s it. Nerves.”
“Since when did you become shy?” Kane asked, lifting a dark eyebrow. “The Deryn I’ve known since I was seven and she was four would stand on a rooftop and shout what’s on her mind. What’s with the newfound...?” He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Alejandro. “Never mind.”
“Kane,” she said, touching his face. “Don’t take it there. I just don’t want to get into it all right now. We can talk in private later. I promise.”
Kane’s expression didn’t change. “He’s exactly your type, Deryn.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.” He rubbed his chin. “I should have known you’d take an interest in him. He’s a ladies man. I can’t ever remember him having a steady girlfriend. An endless line of women who look like they work in the porn industry, yes. Steady ones? No. You love those types of men. No commitments. No pressure for you to have anything real with them. Heaven forbid the wild Deryn find herself caught.”
Mortified Kane was discussing this in front of Alejandro, who looked shocked and slightly pissed, Deryn gave Kane a dirty look. “Are you just about done?”
“No.” He averted his gaze. “You’re going to be all reserved and not yourself around him, aren’t you?”
“Some embarrassing things passed between us. Only mortifying on my end. Excuse me for feeling like an ass in front of him. It could have been anybody. Not just him. Way to be a dick to your friend. I’m used to you doing it to me.”
Kane stiffened. “I am not being a dick to you, Deryn. And I hardly think Alex cares what I call the women he takes up with. He’s called them worse.”
Forcing a smile to her face, Deryn stared at Kane. “Well, that makes it okay then. Sorry I said anything. Wait, I think I remember overhearing what you had to say about me while surrounded by your buddies. You know what they say about people who live in glass houses, Kane.”
Tipping his head back, Kane sighed. “Shit. I didn’t ... Dammit, Deryn. I told you guys do that arou
nd other guys to shut them up. We don’t like going in depth about the women in our lives.”
Putting her hand up, she stopped Kane. “I’m sorry. I’d like to take a moment to introduce you, the pot, to the kettle.” She pointed towards Alejandro. “I can see why you’re friends.”
“You are impossible to argue with, woman. You’re a master of twisting things.”
Deryn clutched her breasts and gave them a good squeeze. “I am woman. That’s mistress of twisting to you, ass.”
“Wonderful, good to know you didn’t leave the bitch behind. You were sure to bring that side with you when you came,” he bit out, his face hard, his body tense. He advanced on her and she noticed Alejandro coming at Kane out of the corner of her eye.
Putting her hand up, she stopped him and glared at Kane. “I will drag you by your pretty boy hair outside and kick your dragon-shifting ass up and down this base, boy. Then you’ll know just how big of a bitch I can be.”
“Deryn....”
She jabbed him in the chest. “Don’t you try to sweet talk your way out of being you. You, Kane, will apologize to your colonel and then you will apologize to me.”
“Deryn, don’t make....”
“Shhh,” she pressed her finger to his lips and smiled, “that did not sound like a ‘Colonel, I’m sorry for saying all the women in your life are whores’ or a ‘Deryn, I love you more than life itself and cannot possibly live with myself if I know you’re mad.’” Taking another sip of her drink, she wagged her brows.
Kane groaned and lifted her free hand up. He pulled her pinky finger up and began inspecting it closely. She gave him a questioning look. A shit-ass grin came over him. “I’m just trying to figure out how it is I fit so easy around such little finger. Any idea when it was I got wrapped around it?”
She nodded. “I sure do.”
“Really?” he asked, leaning down.
“Yep, when I was four and you shifted for the first time in front of me, trying to scare me.”
Kane covered his face and flinched. “Aww, that’s horrible. I changed back thinking I got you good. I mean, you curled up in a little ball and were shaking. And those tears. They were huge. It took me five minutes to get you to stop long enough to look at me again. Then you cried harder. The minute you told me why I almost cried, too.”
Deryn licked her lower lip. “I really did think Jimmy’s big iguana got loose and ate you.”
Kane grabbed her shoulder and laughed. “Ohmygods, and when you confessed your first thought was how you didn’t want to tell Jimmy his pet ate me because you didn’t want him to cut its belly open and that you’d really miss me though, I didn’t know what to say.” He sighed. “Yep. That’s when you wrapped me around your little finger.” He stuck his bottom lip out.
“Oh, now you’re pouting like a big baby.” Deryn pushed his rock hard chest and snorted. “Enough. Don’t make me play pin the tail on the dragon again.”
Kane cringed and grabbed his left ass cheek. “Just thinking about that makes it hurt again.”
She beamed and took a sip of her too strong drink. At the rate she was going one drink would have her under the table if she wasn’t careful. “Hey, I just wanted to make you whole. It was done purely out of love.”
“Yes. Often I express my love for another by stapling a homemade tail to their ass while they’re sleeping and only ten years old.”
Alejandro laughed from the gut. “Tell me you’re kidding. She didn’t really do that, did she?”
Deryn blushed and nodded. “Unfortunately, it’s true. In my defense, I only wanted to give him the best birthday present ever. He said his favorite part about being shifted was having a tail. I only wanted to give it to him for all times.”
“It’s a present I never forgot,” Kane said, running the back of his hand over her cheek tenderly. “I remember asking for a kiss from you that year. Instead, you made my ass bleed.”
“A kiss?” Alejandro’s smile faded fast and he took a tiny step back.
Sensing something was wrong, Deryn went to him, stopping just short of actually touching him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m great.” The clipped words and harsh tone told her otherwise. “I take it you two are really good friends.”
She nodded. “Kane and Onnie are my best friends. Like Kane said, we’ve known one another a long time. Almost all of our lives. Why?”
“No reason.” Alejandro’s rather cold response left Deryn slightly hurt. She wasn’t about to tell him that though.
Turning, she found Vonni climbing down from the stage just as the bar erupted in whistles and applause. “Damn, I missed my competitor’s performance.”
“Competitor?” Alejandro asked.
Kane snickered. “It would seem that Vonni and Deryn had a difference of opinion and Fulk thought he’d solve it with a dance off.”
The half-choke, half-laugh that came from Alejandro told Deryn that he didn’t believe Kane’s explanation. If she wasn’t living it, she wouldn’t either. “Do you all play rock, scissors, paper when you have issues or is this just a girl thing on this base?”
“What?” Kane nudged her. “You aren’t scared of a half-pixie, are you? Come on, she’s a medic, you can take her. Go shake your thang, Deryn. Show her how it’s done. Maybe, if you’re in an extra good mood you could break out into song and sing a nursery rhyme for her.”
Deryn rolled her eyes. “I do not walk around singing nursery rhymes and children’s songs when I’m happy, Kane. Stop saying that.” It was a favorite thing of his to tease her about.
“Uh-huh,” he said, laughing softly.
She gave him a hard look. “Then you must be the only person I’ve ever been happy around because no one else has ever said that to me.”
Alejandro cleared his throat and tried to hide a smile. Her eyes widened. “Oh gods, please tell me I didn’t do that in front of you.”
“It was adorable, Doctor.”
Her chest tightened at the sound of him calling her adorable. Kane snorted. “Adorable? Please tell me you didn’t just say that, Alex.”
Deryn rolled her eyes and tapped Kane’s arm. “Great. Somebody got out of the dragon’s den with a scale out of order. Are you planning on being an ass all night? Tell me now so I know to ignore you. It’ll save me a headache and you my wrath.”
“Deryn.”
She glared at him. “What, Kane? How about an ‘I missed you,’ huh? Why do I get grumpy you? You said you wanted me here with you. If that wasn’t true then why push to get me to come?”
“I do want you here.” Kane sighed. “Dammit, Deryn, I haven’t gotten to spend any time with you in months. It’s killing me. I go from being with you every day of my life to seeing you for brief Earth layovers. I don’t want to fight with you, sugar.”
Tapping her foot, she crossed her arms over her chest. “And?”
Kane smiled. “And I’m sorry for being an ass.”
“That’s better.” He was right. They didn’t get to see each other at all anymore. Giving in to the urge to comfort him, Deryn smiled and wrapped her arms around Kane, hugging him tight. “I missed you too. And now you have me on the verge of tears. Wonderful. I’m sure the insane redhead will love this. I’m still not sure what the hell her problem with me is.”
“Let me guess,” Kane drew in a sharp breath, “you asked her what it was, didn’t you?”
Releasing him, Deryn shrugged. “Well, it was clear she had an issue with me. The minute we walked in she started looking like she wanted to shoot daggers out of her eyes and pin me to a wall. Onnie noticed, too. I just inquired about it.”
“What exactly did you say?”
“I asked what crawled up her ass and died?”
The look on his face was priceless. Deryn just grinned as she watched Kane glance back at Alejandro again. He shook his head slightly and cleared his throat. “Way to start a cat fight, Alex.”
“Hey,” Alejandro said, putting his hands in the air. “I’m innocent. I g
ot here after you, pal.”
“You can’t be that dense, Alex.”
Unsure where this was headed, Deryn stood silently as the men had at it. Alejandro shrugged. “I have no clue what you’re getting at so I must be.”
“I’m lost too so don’t feel bad,” she added.
Kane pushed a stray strand of hair away from Deryn’s face. “You said Alex healed you. Does anyone else know that?”
Deryn thought about a moment. “Yes. I’m fairly sure everyone who was out with us knows. He also, umm,” she entertained lying to Kane but knew better, “he helped me ride out the pain from the injections. Fulk sort of happened upon us at the end. It may have looked a bit compromising, if you know what I mean. It was innocent. He was just helping me. Why do you ask?”
“Fulk was running his mouth again.” Kane gave her a soft smile, making her feel at home again. “I think Vonni is jealous, sugar.”
“Of what?” she asked, taking a large sip of her drink.
“Of you, Deryn.”
Opening her mouth to object, she found Kane’s finger pressed to it, silencing her. “Please don’t launch into the ‘I’m too tall, too skinny, too blonde, too white, too nerdy’ speech because I will take you over my knee. I know how your mind works when it comes to this sort of thing. Trust me, she’s jealous. You have something she wants and she knows she can’t compete with you and win.”
Deryn couldn’t help but laugh as she checked herself over carefully. “Umm, if it’s the allergy to the sun she’s wanting I’d happily hand that over. I’ll even gift wrap it for her.”
Kane grew quiet as he stared down at her. He touched her cheek and then tipped his head down to meet hers. “Tell me that you weren’t out in the midday suns here, Deryn. Tell me that you listened to me when I warned you to stay in during that time. I can’t see you like that again. Do you understand? I can’t see you go through that again. None of us thought you’d survive. Tell me you listened.”
As Deryn stood there, her head touching Kane’s she knew better than to lie. He could read her easy enough and know if she was telling the truth. “I can’t tell you because I didn’t listen. I thought if I took two doses of the serum before I went out I’d be all right. I was wrong. I even tweaked it before I came, hoping it would be strong enough.”
Shifter Fated Mates: Boxed Set Page 63