Stones of Dracontias

by N. D. Jones

  “You’ve revealed the second greatest secret of the Dracontias. The first being the magic stone in our skull. Does your human know that secret as well?”

  “No. I would never.”

  “Until twenty minutes ago, I would’ve also thought you incapable of being so careless. Yet, you were. We watch, and we learn, Kya. We can also befriend if needed. There’s no shame in finding and learning from a diata. Over the years, your father and I have found many a worthy human who’ve aided our knowledge of their modern world.”

  Her mother flew away from Buto and Kya followed. Though not as large as the forty-foot Bluestone Dragon, Kya could keep pace. Well, she could as long as her mother wasn’t flying at her maximum speed, which she rarely had reason to do.

  This flight, which humans would refer to as a stroll, had nothing to do with a dragon’s aerial prowess but a daughter’s confession and a mother’s wisdom.

  “A dragon’s heart is pure. Our healing magic makes it impossible for us to act on anything but the most genuine of emotions. Your magic sought your human in his dreams. Showed him the human part of the dragon you keep hidden inside.”

  “I didn’t intend for that to happen, Mother.”

  She’d revealed her second form to Armstrong through dragon dream magic. A mistake she hadn’t realized she’d made until a month ago.

  “Where the conscious mind refuses to act, our stone magic will bring forth our heart’s desire when we slumber. When you slept, you dreamed of the human. When he slept, he dreamed of you. Your Bloodstone merged the two unconscious desires until they actualized on the physical plane and the conscious level. Not a mistake, daughter, dragon mate magic.”

  Dragon mate magic? Kya stopped. Her mother didn’t. She circled Kya, gliding the light-green tip of her tail around Kya’s head and neck.

  Around and around she went, caressing Kya’s scales and calming her runaway heart. A dragon hadn’t bonded with a human in hundreds of years. All had left Buto, choosing to live in the land of the humans as a human. And all had returned with offspring from the union.

  Kesins. Two-legged dragons with no Dracontias healing stone in their skull, no magical powers and no flight ability. These land dragons were half the size of Afiya, full-dragons, and didn’t possess a gold to green color scale but a red to yellow range. While they could shift, they had far less control over their transformation than a full-bloodied dragon.

  Kesins, regardless of whether the mother was human or a dragon in human form, was always born as a human. Within six months of a Kesins birth, however, they would shift for the first and final time. They had no magic to stay as a human and live among them. So the dragon parent would return, Kesin in tow, to Buto, leaving behind their human mate.

  She’d never heard of a dragon-human mating that lasted beyond the birth of a Kesin. Dragons cherished their mates but loved their offspring more.

  “Follow your heart, Kya. It has already chosen. You will not be fully happy on Buto if you fail to answer the question you cannot escape.”

  “What question is that?”

  The Bluestone Dragon halted in front of Kya. Face slid beside hers and rubbed with a mother’s affection.

  “What if. Life, my daughter, is full of what ifs. The more of them we possess, the less happy we are with our choices. The larger and more significant the what if, the harder it is to look forward instead of backward. Seek the answer to your heart’s desire.”

  “My heart is here.”

  Her mother resumed flying, and Kya followed. Not a staid pace this time. In an hour, they were over the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

  “Your heart is also here. Find the answers you seek. Home will always be there when you need it.”

  “What if I return home with a Kesin?”

  “The Dracontias will love your Kesin as we love the others. Your father eschews dragon-human pairings because the sacrifice for the dragon is great. But your father has never known how it feels to have his heart pulled in two different directions, which makes him protective of the Dracontias to the point of narrow-mindedness.”

  “It won’t last. Why should I try?”

  “We live long lives, daughter. Too long to nurse what ifs and regrets.”

  “And too long to nurse a broken heart.”

  “True. The decision is not an easy one. But it’s yours to make, not mine or your father’s.”

  Green scales rubbed gold before her mother flew away. The Bluestone Dragon flew at a leisurely pace, glancing back once to see if Kya followed.

  She should follow. Kya wanted to return home with her mother and to the easy life of a dragon unencumbered by unnatural desires and thoughts of a doomed mate bond.

  She should follow, but she did not. Instead, she watched her mother fly farther away until she could no longer see the green scales of home and safety.

  Reminding herself she was the Bloodstone Dragon, Kya shored up her nerves and went in search of her human.

  Armstrong found himself tapping his foot every five seconds, running fingers through his short hair every ten seconds, and glancing at the front door of the restaurant every twenty seconds. He was ridiculous. Yet there he sat, in the best steakhouse restaurant in DC waiting for his dragon-human date.

  “Ah, look at him Isaiah, Armstrong’s so cute when he’s nervous.” His sister-in-law laughed, a mocking sound that had him glaring at Nicole. “What? You’re adorable. In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you nervous before. It’s kind of sweet.”

  “It’s not sweet.” Isaiah, who sat beside his wife and across the table from Armstrong, shook his head. “It’s pathetic. Look at you, you haven’t said more than ten words since we sat down and you keep staring at that damn door. You know, a watched pot never boils.”

  “That’s a stupid saying.” Needing something to do other than, yes, stare at every customer who came through the restaurant door, Armstrong downed his glass of water.

  What made him the pathetic loser his brother accused him of being was that he was sweaty, anxious, and acting like a complete idiot and Kya wasn’t even late. In fact, Armstrong, Isaiah, and Nicole were fifteen minutes early. Yet, Armstrong had a right to his anxiety. After the big reveal and the platonic night they’d shared in his bed, Kya had shifted back into her dragon form and flown away the next night.

  She’d stayed away for a month. Not away from North America and the children she loved to heal and help but away from Armstrong. They’d connected telepathically, but the conversations were awkward when they’d never been before. Then, two weeks ago, she’d returned. For days afterward, he’d watched the sky for a big ass gold dragon in the form of Kya’s father.

  She’d laughed but didn’t tell him he was being paranoid. Most nights they shared his bed and some mornings he awoke with Kya by his side. She didn’t speak much, and he didn’t push or complain. Kya, as she reminded him, was a dragon, which meant Armstrong could never have the kind of relationship with her that his brother had with Nicole.

  That was okay. He’d take his dragon however he could have her. This double date was Kya’s first real interaction with anyone in a social setting outside of Armstrong. She’d agreed to meet his family, though with a lot of reluctance on her part and pleading on his. That was two days ago, and he hadn’t seen or heard from her since.

  “Listen, Kya’s shy and doesn’t talk a lot so try not to overwhelm her.”

  Nicole, pretty in a navy-blue fitted dress, smiled at Armstrong. About a year ago, when she was pregnant with Isabelle, she cut her hair into a short, classy style. She now wore it in choppy layers that were combed and teased to the front and fell over her forehead in bangs.

  “I guess opposites do attract. I can’t believe you went out and found a quiet girlfriend.”

  Armstrong wouldn’t dare define Kya as his girlfriend, but Nicole was right about opposites attracting. More than she would ever know.

  “My point is that our family can be a bit much. She’s more subdued than us
.”

  “If she can deal with you, then she’s not fragile. Relax,” Isaiah said. “You’re making way more out of this than is necessary. I already like the woman. If for no other reason than she got you on hooks and got Nicole and me out the house. Thank God for grandmothers who like to babysit. Do you hear me? Are you even listening?”

  He wasn’t because the woman of his dreams had just walked into the restaurant. Damn but she was gorgeous. Shiny, dark hair was piled atop her head in an elegant twist style. Tendrils flowed down the long column of her neck and onto well-defined shoulders. Spaghetti straps held the sexy form-fitting black dress in place. The mouth-watering garment fell to Kya's ankles and, God help him, it hugged every voluptuous dip and curve of her body. The dress tempted for all that it hid yet alluded to.

  The next time Kya claimed she didn’t know anything about being a human female, Armstrong was calling bullshit and shutting her down. Because, yes, his dragon knew how to make one hell of an entrance. Kya had style. He’d known that the first time she’d conjured clothing. But he had no idea how well she could put herself together when she set her mind to it. Maybe he wasn’t the only one nervous and wanting to make a good first impression.

  Instead of waving her over, Armstrong pushed from the table and hurried over to her. Not that she would notice or care, but he didn’t like so many male’s eyes were on her.

  As he approached, Kya smiled and nodded, acknowledging him in that regal way of hers.

  He didn’t know how he should greet her. They’d never done this before, meeting in public and Kya as a human. They had no reference point, which brought back his butterflies.

  “Do stop staring, Armstrong. I feel self-conscious enough without you gaping at me like a fish caught in a sailor’s net.”

  Her dragon tongue. He loved it. Armstrong laughed and pulled Kya in for a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes. I didn’t know if you would show up.” He released her then claimed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and turning toward the table where he’d left Isaiah and Nicole.

  “I assume you don’t mean your eyes are literally sore.”

  “I don’t, so no healing magic required.”

  By the time they maneuvered around tables, diners and waiters, Nicole and Isaiah were standing. Still a little nervous but feeling better with Kya by his side, Armstrong made introductions.

  Kya, at six feet, towered over the five-five Nicole, who greeted the dragon with a warm hug and a, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “It’s definitely nice to meet you, Kya.” Isaiah shook her hand. “For a while, I thought you were a figment of my brother’s imagination. But nope, you’re as real as the rest of us.”

  Kya was real, just not a real human.

  Armstrong held out Kya’s chair, and she sat. He followed, unable to keep his eyes off her. His dragon was stunning in her human form, and he felt lucky and honored she’d chosen him.

  When they picked up the menu to order, Armstrong realized he’d never seen Kya eat a single thing while in human form. He’d cooked them breakfast, and he’d eaten. In his happy state at having Kya in his home, Armstrong hadn’t paid attention to her lack of appetite. He’d made reservations at the steakhouse because he knew Kya was a carnivore. But devouring a wildebeest as a twenty-five-foot dragon wasn’t the same as eating a ribeye steak as a human. Did wildebeest even count as red meat?

  Hell, why didn’t any of this occur to him before now?

  Kya ordered wood grilled kohlrabi steak, vegan paella, asparagus, and fennel-roasted onion.

  “Where in the world did you find a vegetarian dish on a steakhouse menu?” Isaiah asked.

  Armstrong tried not to gape. He was sure Kya would order the bloodiest steak allowable under the FDA.

  “I only consume meat once a month. It’s all my body requires. But Armstrong insists on filling my breakfast plate with bacon, sausage, and something called scrapple. I didn’t want to know what animal scraps comprised the side dish, so I refused to ask.”

  “Wait, my brother cooks you breakfast?”

  “If one considers what he does cooking, then yes. It’s thoughtful but quite unnecessary.”

  Isaiah and Nicole looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

  “You could’ve told me you didn’t like my cooking.”

  “For me to dislike your cooking, I would’ve actually had to taste the food. Which I was disinclined to do.”

  His brother and sister-in-law continued to laugh, their eyes ping-ponging from Kya to Armstrong.

  He should stop. This wasn’t the time or place to get into an argument with his dragon.

  “Do you have any idea how early I have to get up to cook for you, or how long it takes to get the scrapple just right so it’s crisp but not overcooked?”

  “Yes, from start to finish, forty-five minutes.”

  “That was a rhetorical question.”

  “Was it?”

  She damn well knew it was.

  “Oh, yeah,” Isaiah began, “she’s a real introvert. I’ve never seen anyone shier.”

  Under the table, Kya grabbed his hand and held it. It trembled, although none of the rest of her did. His heart constricted with love for his Bloodstone Dragon. Like he’d been earlier, Kya was nervous. Unlike Armstrong, she hid it behind a dragon’s pride.

  For him, she made an effort. She smiled and talked and answered questions with as much honesty as their situation allowed. She peppered lies with the truth, which had his heart constricting for another reason. To be together, they would always have to lie.

  By the end of the evening, Armstrong could sense the strain of the night on Kya. When she chose to meet him at home instead of riding in his car, he knew she needed to cast off her human shell and take to the sky in her natural form.

  He didn’t take it personally when Kya slid into bed at dawn. Armstrong simply scooted to her and held his dragon close. There was still much to learn about Kya, the dragon and the human. One thing he knew about both was that Kya took comfort in physical contact.

  Armstrong wondered if that was a Kya thing or a dragon thing. Something in the way she burrowed against him, her arms going around his back and caressing, even when she slept, made him think this was the way dragons showed their love and affection.

  That dinner turned into a five-year unorthodox relationship. All the Knights loved Kya, especially the children. She doted on them in that quiet yet commanding way of hers. His mother loved her but didn’t like the idea of them “shacking up without the sanctity of marriage.”

  In a sense, Kya and Armstrong did live together. But his family would’ve been surprised to know how often Kya would disappear for days. Some days she couldn’t stand to be in her human form. Other days the sky and Buto called to her dragon spirit.

  She always came back to him but in pieces. Kya was never whole when she wasn’t in dragon form. Those nights, after being away, when she would return, they’d make love with so much passion Armstrong would forget how lonely he’d been without her.

  Tonight was one of those nights. It was their anniversary, not that Kya cared about such milestones. Armstrong did, though. It had been thirteen years since she’d seen him in the alley outside of Knight Life Bar and sought him out in his apartment. Thirteen years of loving a dragon and five years of having the human Kya share his life.

  He moved inside of her, and she felt so good. Kya always did. A year, that’s how long it had taken before they consummated their relationship. The wait had nearly killed Armstrong, especially with the way Kya liked to rub against him in her sleep. But waiting had been for the best. When they finally took their relationship to the physical level, Kya had wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear.

  She turned her face to him and kissed Armstrong. Deep and long and with an erotic display of tongue. His dragon had mastered the art of kissing, of which Armstrong was the happy benef
iciary.

  “I missed you as well.” She arched in his hungry embrace. “Touch me there again, diata.”

  She didn’t tire easily and was rarely winded. Yet when they made love, he managed to leave her breathless and panting for more.

  He touched her where she liked, and Kya moaned into his mouth. He desired nothing more than to taste her, and now that she understood what that entailed, he slid down her body with confidence.

  Mouth first found breasts and kissed. Then engorged nipples and sucked. Lips pressed into her toned stomach, kissing then licking before dipping lower. Big hands spread thighs and nose nuzzled the V of hair there.

  Kya sucked in a harsh breath, and Armstrong did it again. He wouldn’t tease her. She didn’t understand or appreciate the sensual power of delayed gratification. So he sank his tongue down, around, and in. Vanilla and honey, his dragon’s signature flavor.

  Delicious.

  “Armstrong. Armstrong.”

  He loved the way she moaned his name. Kya had never been a loud or talkative lover. She didn’t swear when she came or talk dirty. She didn’t flirt and wasn’t coy. She didn’t fake her orgasms or give him platitudes about his sexual prowess.

  She did none of those things, which made Kya the best lover Armstrong had ever had. His name. How he made her feel and what they did to each other when they made love was expressed in the way she said his name.

  Velvety and sentimental.

  Hips lifted, and a hand came to his head. “Armstrong.” She pushed her sex into his mouth, and he gladly accepted. Kya was wide open to him and the most human she would ever be. So close to her orgasm, with his tongue lapping at her clit, fingers driving in and out of her, Kya could be no more human than when on the verge of her release.

  “Armstrong please.” A soft plea.

  He knew what she wanted, and he gave it to her. Closing his mouth around her clit, Armstrong sucked with a gentle tug. That was all it took for his dragon to explode into a rapturous release.

  Seconds later, she pulled him to her and Armstrong sank into the warm wetness of his Kya.