by Amelia Jade
So why the hell was he so nervous?
“The other is our mates.”
“Your mates.” She pursed her lips. “Which, while I remember almost nothing about that day, is what I recall pretending to be that got us into this situation in the first place. Correct?”
Thorne looked at her. “You really don’t remember much?”
She snorted. “Look, buster, I may be a badass battlesuit bitch, but you had me drinking pitchers of beer and doing shots of hard liquor. I can hold my own normally, but your tolerance is insane! I was an absolute wreck that night, spent it around the toilet. So no, I don’t really remember a damn thing besides that, and drunkenly kissing you like some boot camp newbie!”
The big man laughed at her description. “Well, you certainly didn’t kiss like one.”
Flames erupted across her face at the pronouncement, and she hurriedly buried her embarrassment by drinking deep from the wine glass. She could barely even remember the kiss!
“You never told me what it was that I wouldn’t believe,” she said into the cup, still refusing to look up.
“I was getting there,” he explained. “Giving you a lead-in. But very well. What I’ve been wanting to tell you, but wasn’t sure how to, was that what started off as a joke now isn’t.”
Carla waited for him to finish breaking it down for her, but he never did. “I don’t follow. What isn’t a joke?”
“This,” he said heavily. “Us.”
She blinked slowly, comprehension refusing to form, though she felt like it should be.
“Carla, what I’m saying is that you are my mate, as insane as that might seem.”
Her jaw fell off. Not literally of course, but if she were a cartoon it would have just detached from her face and hit the floor. She stared at him agog for a full thirty seconds before even attempting to make a sound, let alone form a word.
“Carla? Are you okay?”
She laughed, motor control finally restored. There was no way he was being serious. “You’re funny.”
Thorne sighed and looked away. “See, I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Oh come on!” she protested. “You can’t pull that hurt look with me.”
“I’m not pulling anything,” he said, looking at her straight on again. “Carla, you are my mate. The one woman I’m destined to spend my life with. It seems crazy; I get it. I understand that. I pretty much expected you to react like this, but it still doesn’t make getting laughed at while vulnerable any easier.”
She just stared in shock. He was serious. Dead serious even. How could this be? “But it was just a joke. We made it up to try and get a laugh, to have some fun!”
“I know. Trust me, I know. I just never allowed myself to consider the fact that maybe it was fate that drew us together, and I just took it as a joke. But when I finally stopped to think about it, the answer was clear.”
Carla rubbed her eyes. “Right.” She drew out the word, giving herself time to think. “I’m your mate, so you say.”
“You are.”
The absolute belief in his eyes bothered her, so similar to what she’d expect of a fanatic of any sort that it grated on her nerves. How could he just be so certain?
“So then that means if I kiss you, I’m going to fall head over heels for you and we live happily ever after? Is that it?”
Thorne shook his head, smiling gently. “No. That’s not what it means. If you did decide to kiss me now, sober, two things would probably happen.”
“Do I turn into a frog?” Carla was being rude and she knew it, but her brain couldn’t process the situation fast enough for her to think it over rationally.
“Of course not.” A sliver of steel entered his voice at his obvious frustration with her snide remarks. “One,” he continued unfazed, “you’ll remember it.”
Okay, she probably deserved that.
“And two, you’re likely to feel an intensity that you don’t expect, that has no logic and defies your belief.”
“Bullshit. I’ve kissed you before. I didn’t feel anything ‘special.’”
Thorne shrugged her denial off. “We were both drunk, and hadn’t had time to get to know each other at all.”
Impulsive as ever, Carla rose to her feet. “Fine. Let’s kiss again then. I’ll show you; I won’t feel a thing. You’re wrong, there’s noth—”
All of a sudden Thorne was there. His body pressed up against hers, both hands running over her ribs and across her back as he covered her mouth with his. Her back arched involuntarily, pressing her chest up into him.
Bursts of electricity rippled across her flesh, leaving goosebumps and hairs standing on end as it went, traveling from the base of her neck down her spine and out into her arms and legs. Carla’s eyes, wide at first, closed as she nearly melted into the kiss, overwhelmed by the heated passion and instinctive connectivity between the two. Their lips moved synchronously together, their tongues flicking out and across one another as if they’d done it hundreds of times before. There was no awkward bumping of teeth nor smearing of tongues across closed lips. Everything just fit like it should, naturally.
Thorne bit down gently on her lower lip, tugging on it as he pulled away. Carla opened her eyes to see twin circles of topaz staring back at her, pale and shining bright with enjoyment and perhaps even just a bit of delight.
But it was the look of near smug assurance on his face that snapped her back to the present. He had the look of someone who had just proven a disbeliever wrong.
Unwilling to admit that the kiss had been anything out of the ordinary, she squared herself away, shoulders back, expression neutral.
“That was good,” she said, not wanting to tear him down. “You know how to kiss. But I’m not ripping my clothes off nor begging you to do it again.”
She very carefully buried her mind in a deluge of non-Thorne thoughts as it tried to call her a liar in any manner of uncouth ways. Now was not the time to admit that he was right. Carla needed to get back to her unit.
“Oh. So you didn’t feel anything?”
“Just your tongue and bit too much saliva in my mouth.”
Thorne made a coughing-laugh sound that indicated he knew she was full of shit, but thankfully he didn’t push the issue.
“It was just joke gone wrong, Thorne. I have to get back to base, to my squad. They need me.”
Crossing thickly muscled arms in front of him he stared at her, the lines of his jaw tightening over the several-day-old stubble. His cheeks, never sharp to begin with, were drawn into stark relief as he looked troubled for the first time.
“Why are you so adamant about getting back there?” he asked, wanting to understand.
“They mean a lot to me,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze.
“It’s more than just that,” he pushed.
“Of course it is!” she cried. “They’re back at base, preparing to face the worst threat that humanity has ever had. Something so bad it could erase us as a species completely and utterly. Yet while they’re doing that, doing the job that I signed up to do, here I am gallivanting around town like an oblivious civilian while making out with super-hot dragon-men like some sort of…of…I don’t know!”
She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “I took an oath, Thorne, and if you can’t accept that or understand that, then you definitely are not my mate.”
Spinning, she stormed across the room, mad at him, herself, and everything conspiring against her just then.
The door slammed behind her satisfyingly.
Chapter Nine
Thorne
He stood in the middle of the seating area for several minutes after the door closed behind his mate.
“That went over well,” he muttered quietly. “You idiot.”
Putting the coffee table back in place that he’d kicked aside during his mad dash to kiss her, he stood up. Now was the time to be absent. Wandering over to the elevator he punched the button for the floor above him, w
ondering if it would work.
Apparently it did, because seconds later the doors slid open and he was up another level.
“Hello?” he called out. This was weird. The elevator had meant to only ever go straight to this level, but as part of the renovations the military was carrying it out, stops had been included at every level now. The main elevator had been ripped out to make more room for space, but it had resulted in the new elevator opening right up into the apartments.
Odd, was all he could think.
“Who’s that?” a voice rumbled back, sounding like it was coming from above him. Recalling that it was a two-story penthouse, he realized that made sense.
“My name is Thorne, I’m—”
“An onyx dragon,” the same voice said, rounding the corner.
His eyebrows went up a fraction at the stealthiness of the newcomer. Tall, though more thickly built than he was, the other dragon shifter had a magnificent braid of midnight-black hair that fell just past his shoulders.
“I’m Vanek,” he said, introducing himself.
“Thorne.”
“Yes, I do recall having heard of your awakening. Come in, come in. I take it you’re here now?”
“Yeah, moved in right below you, sorry to tell you.”
Vanek laughed easily. “This is the new world, Thorne. No animosity between our kinds needs exist anymore. A fresh start for all of us means a clean slate, until you do something to earn otherwise.”
“Sounds wonderful to me,” he said, following his nominal host to the stairs and the upper floor.
“Here, let me introduce you to the others.”
Three other people were sitting in a comfortable living area, and they rose to greet him.
“This is Harlow, my mate.”
The subtle emphasis on the last two words were unnecessary; he’d seen the look Harlow had given Vanek upon his return from simply going downstairs, but it was rather adorable nonetheless. He shook the woman’s hand firmly, her crystal-blue eyes regarding him with a quiet intensity that foretold of considerable intelligence.
“This is Kylie, and her mate, Corde.”
Thorne gave the violet-eyed woman with hair down to the middle of her back a perfunctory handshake and pleasant smile before turning to the other dragon shifter, another red, he realized.
“Thorne,” he said, raising his voice loud enough for all to hear, even as he shook hands with the blond-haired giant. “I’m from downstairs.”
Vanek ushered him to a seat and he sat, feeling comfortable amidst the group of shifters and their mates. Although they were being polite now, he made a note to stay on their good sides. Red dragons were notoriously fickle and prone to anger, along with being some of the best fighters in the business. Thorne could likely outrun either of them, but a fight would be disastrous for both sides, pitching his speed and reflexes against their strength and experience.
Neither side was likely to appreciate the outcome.
With the introductions done and everyone settling in, Thorne noticed that Corde was looking at him rather intensely, eyes of graphite flinty and hard.
“Can I help you?” he asked warily, unsure of what it was he’d done to warrant such attention.
The other little side conversations ceased as others picked up on the situation.
“Corde, what’s wrong?” Kylie asked from next to him, shaking his leg, trying to get his attention.
“Have we met before?” Corde said suddenly, his voice a deep rumble.
Thorne looked around the room, wondering if he should be making himself scarce from here as well.
“I don’t think so?” he replied. Nothing about the other shifter had immediately stood out to him. Thorne hadn’t met all that many reds before he went to sleep. He figured he’d remember if Corde were one of them. “Reds and blacks have never been a popular combination,” he said jokingly, trying to thaw the ice in the air.
“Maybe,” Corde said, sitting back, still studying him.
While Vanek got Corde’s attention and told him to play nice, Thorne opened up his senses fully, testing the air as he tried to get Corde’s scent, separating it out from the others. As he did, he noticed that it was somewhat familiar. Nothing he could place though, which didn’t mean much. As a dragon he’d traveled the globe, and it wasn’t that rare to come across another’s scent. There were only so many mountain ranges out there.
It was likely he’d just come across his trail once before, or stayed in a cave that Corde had also used. He couldn’t place him, though his brain was trying to tell him something. The thought or memory wouldn’t form, and so he eventually dismissed it.
“So, Thorne. They sent you here to try and find your mate?” Harlow asked, taking over the conversation from the others.
Kylie leaned in, eager to hear about any hopeful budding romance.
“Ahhh, not quite,” he admitted awkwardly. “They sent me here because they thought I already had her.”
Confused looks greeted him all around, even from Corde, who was still looking as if he were trying to place Thorne, but for the moment had decided to let it slide. Breathing a sigh of relief about that dodged bullet, he recanted the story of his and Carla’s drunken escapades.
“You didn’t!” Vanek roared with laughter.
“Elin truly did put you through the grinder with that one,” Kylie said, giggling uncontrollably.
It was weird to hear Colonel Mara called by her first name, but he had to remind himself that she was friends with this group, and they knew her differently than he did.
“Put? She still is! I’m not sure if she somehow knew we actually were mates, or if she’s just doing this to drive home a point to me and any other dragons that are awoken, but what a ball-buster!”
Vanek grinned. “She is that, and more. No quit in that one. She has a mission, and she’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish it, even if it means forcing you to swallow your own bullshit until you choke on it. Though in your case it sounds like it’s going to work out for you and Carla.”
He snorted. “If I can convince her to give me a chance. She’s so hung up on getting back to her unit that I’m not sure she’s going to let me. Her sense of duty is strong.”
Harlow nodded. “I understand that. What you need to do is you need to figure out a way that you two can help her fight for the cause she believes in, while also being together. Come up with the answer to that, and you’ll be golden.”
Thorne nodded, leaning back into the chair, lost in thought. That was a good point indeed.
To his left Corde was drawn in to the conversation as it continued, but he kept glancing over at Thorne, his brain obviously still trying to figure out where he’d come across the onyx dragon before.
“Also, Thorne, you should try making some more romantic gestures,” Kylie said, snagging his attention as the conversation turned his way once more.
Harlow nodded. “Yeah, cook her dinner, maybe buy flowers too.”
“Well, maybe not flowers,” Kylie said thoughtfully. “If she’s in the military and as badass as you make her out to be, then that might not be the best gesture. She might think herself too tough for that.”
Harlow looked away at the mention of the military and badass, but a leg-squeeze from Vanek seemed to ease whatever was going on there.
“Show her affection, do sweet things. If you truly are mates, it will work. Eventually. Just be persistent; some of us are stubborn about that sort of thing, but we get it eventually.”
Harlow and Kylie shared a laugh over what was obviously a reference to their own courtships.
“Was it that bad?” he asked Vanek, wincing before he’d even heard the answer.
“Oh yeah. It was bad.” He put his hand around Harlow’s shoulders and drew her in close. “But oh so worth it in the end. Be persistent, Thorne. It’ll come, or it won’t.”
The conversation devolved from there, and though the next hour was thoroughly enjoyable, eventually he felt he needed to go.
/> “Thank you so much for having me,” he said, getting up. “Hopefully next time I come by I’ll have someone else in tow.”
The others smiled and wished him luck, even Corde, much to his surprise. As the elevator doors slid closed around him, the last thing Thorne saw was Corde’s face and the shock of blond hair that fell down his forehead, wavy and unkempt. It was thinner than his, which had a natural tendency to stick up more.
But it was the eyes. The steel-lined eyes that he couldn’t shake. Thorne had seen them before. Somewhere.
And as the elevator sped downward to the basement, he suddenly thought he knew from where.
Chapter Ten
Carla
She lay on her side, curled up on the edge of the bed. It was an oversized custom mattress easily big enough for four or five of her, and yet she’d compressed herself into the smallest possible area she could. A big comfy blanket she’d found in a closet was draped over her, the comforter and sheets all still made from that morning.
Her phone buzzed with the notification of a new text message.
Jody: Hey Girl! Good to hear from you. How’s life in the big city?
She smiled. With the preparation for the GI, none of her unit had had any time to use their phones, and she’d had to wait ages to hear from anyone about how it went.
Carla: It’s good. But don’t play coy with me. You know what I want to know! How badly did they hammer you for me not being there?
The wait was a short one, keeping her nerves from growing too great while she waited to hear about if her unit had been berated because of her actions.
Jody: Everything is fine C, you know that. We’re good. We passed, not a problem.
She smiled, happy to hear the good news, and said as much. Sighing happily, she rolled onto her back, tension leaving her shoulders and joints. They had passed. Despite her not being present. Maybe Colonel Mara had spoken to Captain Steiger before the GI after all, explaining away her absence.
Jody: Now your turn. Spill the beans. I wanna hear all about your adventures with dragon boy. I still can’t believe you scored him. Tell me, is it as big as they say?