by Lisa Daniels
“Who are you?” Janus asked, while Meridas made an ominous hissing noise in the back of his throat, which was noticed by Alex.
“Someone interested in stopping the Conclave as much as you,” he replied. He handed something to Janus, bowed, then walked away, ignoring their calls for him to return. The paper he handed showed an address and a time. Tomorrow at seven. The Doppelganger Inn.
Well, Evelyn thought. This whole situation got weirder and weirder.
Chapter Six – Janus
Trouble could wait. Right now, Janus wanted to spend time unwinding, and pretending he wasn’t nearly as stressed as he was. Which proved hard, given that the Creeping Rot threat trickled in the back of his mind like a sandglass running out of granules. Any moment, Ruthen Island’s core might become infected, initiating mass evacuations. By the time they made it back, it might be entirely possible that every single island had fallen, and the Creeping Rot had instead spread through the Undercity populace, leaving them with no thriving country to return to.
And now they were staying in some unknown city, with everyone being poked and prodded by far more powerful hosts. Currently, Janus sat in the atrium of the hotel in his serpent form, and Zamorkans were pouring in by the dozen, exclaiming in delight at the sight of a long, white dragon curled up, with huge feathery wings furled into himself. He just wanted the excuse to shift, because emotions became duller in dragon form, and it was easier to regard everything in a logical manner. Not to say he couldn’t feel emotions. Dragons certainly could panic and rage. But right now, in the shafts of sunlight that streamed from the open top of the atrium, filtering through some of the greenery lining the tiered floors, he could relax.
And let the Zamorkans treat him like some kind of exotic exhibit. Two red-haired children darted in close to his snout, giggling. Out of detached amusement, he unfurled his forked tongue and licked one of them all up the body, and the little boy fell back, squealing, while their friends behind them laughed.
His parents would be furious to see him here now. Wasting time. Sitting here, doing nothing, when he could be using that spare time constructively, towards something that earned money, reputation, or luxury.
When Evelyn strode into the atrium from the far-left entrance into his vision, with her black hair bouncing, her long, yellow dress rippling like the winds she controlled, and her dark eyes so large that they seemed like windows to the soul, he shifted back into human form.
Much to the disappointment of the Zamorkan children, who had apparently been daring each other to try and climb onto his back. What was it about Evelyn that fascinated him, exactly? Perhaps her calm demeanor. Perhaps that she didn’t seem too open to talking about herself. Sure, he knew about her family and the expectations heaped upon her, but about her, personally?
Not enough. “What are you doing here?” he said by way of greeting, brushing down his collared button shirt. Transforming with clothes required a little more energy, but was worth the effort of expending, since he didn’t want people seeing him walk around naked.
“Looking for you,” she said frankly. “Luckily you weren’t hard to find. You’ve got the local population hysterical with happiness at the thought of encountering a dragon. Nice form, by the way.” She flicked him a smile, which he returned more thinly.
“Well, we must do everything in our power to make our hosts enjoy our time spent here,” he said, walking towards her and holding out an arm imperiously. A tiny surge of delight shot through him when she looped her arm with his, but he kept his expression neutral as they walked over to the atrium’s bar, laden with drinks and foods, including a selection of sandwich fillings in metal containers, and cakes. “I’m not too keen on the idea of irritating thousands of witches.”
“Me neither,” Evelyn said. “They all act oblivious, though, when I ask them what they know about whoever could have dragged us into the black forest.”
“I doubt they’re ready to give up all their secrets,” he said, now pausing at the stand, so they could select the food they wanted. She opted for some kind of vegetable filling, he went for beef and cheese, which they wrapped up in foil and placed on top of a grill with flames flickering underneath. They continued their relaxed conversation, and Janus found himself imagining how his parents would have reacted if he’d brought her home to see them. Didn’t matter they were dead. It felt… nice, somehow, to picture them alive and healthy, meeting for the first time someone he… liked? Did he like her?
He pursed his lips, watching her eat her sandwich. Enough, it seemed, to, well, picture his mother barking at Evelyn, asking about her background and her family.
“Yes, yes, I’ve spoken to your mother in court. Very good woman. Tad on the poor side, but nothing we can’t fix. Heard you’re a renowned air witch. Best in the Six Isles. Yes, my son here’s been talking about you...”
“What are you thinking about?” Evelyn asked, interrupting his thoughts and the heavy weight on his lips as they curved upwards, but without happiness.
“I was… just thinking about how my mother would have reacted to you. If I introduced you to her.”
Her dark eyes softened. “Ah. That explains the sad smile, then.” She wiped her mouth, giving him a knowing one in return. “Lady Ruthe scared me, honestly, the few times I did see her.”
“Yeah, she would have,” Janus replied, now warring with some conflicting emotions within. Something deep and hollow opened up somewhere in his guts, and it gnawed away, leaving a kind of… depression afterward. He chewed on his melted cheese and beef roll, hoping the tastes might divert him from too much dwelling.
They hadn’t deserved to go out like that. After all their hard work, their time improving Ruthen Island to be one of the most powerful of the Six Isles, second only to the king’s isle itself—and they’d died. They would have been childless as well, if not for the orphaned dragon boy they adopted after the fall of Serpent Isle.
“We needed an heir,” his new father had explained quite candidly to Janus. “And out of all the children we could have picked, we wanted one to be a dragon. Something old and noble and powerful to take the place of the child we could never have.”
In an attempt to ignore the wallowing emptiness in his gut region, he dredged words out of his throat. “I do think she would have liked you. The same might not be said of you to her. I could think of worse women to show to her, though.” He crept out a hand towards her, wondering if she’d take the bait or just watch it like it was some kind of alien creature moving across the table.
Her own hand went on top of his, the fingers lightly trailing his knuckles. “I do know that my own family, of course, would probably have a heart attack in their excitement if they knew I was personally associating with members of the Ruthe family. The only family above you in status, I think, is the royals. Which is a shame. I wouldn’t mind if you were dirt poor. It’d be amusing listening to my mother attempt to be nice but not quite hide her disapproval at my life choices.”
“You live to aggravate your parents, do you?” he replied, smiling. Her hand felt so warm on top of his.
“Who doesn’t?” she grinned, before doing an overly dramatic roll of her eyes. “At least yours didn’t make you feel like a cow fattened for slaughter, did they?”
“Fattened, perhaps,” he said, flipping his palm upward and stroking the underside of her own hand. She reacted with a tiny shiver, which in turn zapped something through his own stomach that somewhat abated the hollowness inside.
“You know, at this rate, you might be the one to break the terms of the bet,” she said, lips parting slightly so that the tip of her tongue could be seen resting over her bottom teeth. “If you’re going to continue to get this friendly.”
“It’s not my fault you allow me to be this friendly,” he replied, not ceasing in his stroking motion upon her. He noticed little hairs on her arm raising slightly, and inhaled deeply to catch that windblown scent of hers. “But perhaps an unknown city isn’t the best place to continue
… exploring the limits of our bet.”
“Who cares?” She grabbed his hand hard. “I sure as damnation don’t know what’s happening tomorrow or the next day. Maybe we should go right now and explore our new rooms. See if they’re… up to standard.”
“Sure,” he said with a confident smirk. “But I’d like to finish my food first.”
* * *
If nothing else, the unknown city did have some beautifully designed suites. They enjoyed a dark brown and orange color scheme, with lush, patterned drawers, a wardrobe, and a dressing table for women. There was also an entrance to a small but opulent bathroom, with the tub connected to a boiler that heated up the water. Evelyn seemed quite taken with the red-sheeted, four-poster bed, and so was Janus—but for other reasons.
He noted the way her attention kept flitting to the bed, and sometimes to his lips, as if daring him to kiss her. But no. He didn’t plan to be the one to lose this bet. But he did intend to see how far the two of them intended to go. Another useful thing the room had as well—and he’d checked discreetly in one of the drawers—condoms.
How thoughtful of their hosts. “How far do you intend to go with me?” he asked her. Nothing wrong with being direct. She preferred directness herself, which Janus wasn’t always sure he appreciated.
In response, she began to peel off that rippling dress of hers, as if casually planning to change into her pajamas.
“Depends if you plan to do something about this, or if you’re going to just watch like an idiot,” she said, now checking the same drawers he had. “Hmm… I wonder if this happens to be their love suite or something?”
“Have to make those baby Zamorkans somehow,” he said, though he couldn’t quite control the desire in his voice when looking at her. He expected to be the one in control of this situation, but it seemed Evelyn had other ideas.
“Did I mention to you that it’s been a while…?” She patted at her white brassiere, with matching colored underwear. “What goods do you have hiding under those clothes?”
“This.” Grinning, he popped the buttons off his own top, but kept his pants on. For now. He quickly checked himself out, trying not to make it obvious, since he wanted to make sure he didn’t have anything out of place, or too much flab around his middle. Not that he needed to worry. Her eyes were wide and the pupils blown. He also didn’t hear any breathing from her. He allowed a confident smirk to plaster over his lips, before sauntering up to her and placing his hands upon the small of her back.
That caused her to start breathing again, but faster, and he felt her blood thumping erratically under her skin as he pulled her close. Sure, they might be on a life-or-death mission in an unknown country. Sure, he might be killed at that place where the man wanted him and Meridas to go. There were far too many variables for him to adequately plan for, so he wanted to take control of at least something in his life.
And with someone as attractive as this…. someone who certainly seemed to know her own mind, what she wanted, and who she wanted it from. That kind of confidence ignited a fire in him, a feeling to best her, somehow, in a field she enjoyed.
And well… it’d be fun to see which one of them cracked first. He moved his hands up her body, sliding his fingers under the strap of her brassiere, but not sliding it off. He continued the tease, reveling in her warmth pressed against his chest, in how his growing erection prodded at his pants and against her stomach.
Neither of them kissed. Both had their lips open in knowing smiles, but neither intended to be the one to lose the bet. He continued running his hands over her body, and relished every touch of her own hands. However, she got a little impatient, for her right palm slipped into his pants and grasped at his almost fully formed erection, clearly wanting to speed things up.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he said, taking her fingers off, pushing her backwards onto the bed. “Not before I’ve had a little more from you.”
She let out a little groan of frustration, which was drowned in a gasp of surprise as he went onto the bed with her, pinning her arms down. “I get you’re impatient, but I don’t want to be finished before you are...”
Still letting her keep her bra on, he began tugging off her underwear. Her eyes went wide in astonishment, before she helped him take them off, and he parted her legs, leaving her core exposed with the thin thatch of hair around it.
His tongue went to work at the softness there, which quickly grew wet with his ministrations, not just from his tongue, but from her squirming, gasping reaction. She did need to stop moving around so much…
Swallowing the urge to just rip off his own pants and plunge himself into her already, he continue to lick her out, careful not to press his lips onto her nub, in case she tried to do some wayward interpretation of their bet, until he felt her shuddering and twitching beneath him. She let out a long, sighing moan, body arching upward, causing him to shiver in increased excitement. Muscles in her thighs quivered with the unleashing of tension, and she whimpered at him to stop, because of the increased sensitivity there.
He loved the way her hair splayed out on the covers, so wild and curly, like an animal’s mane. He loved the way her scent enveloped him, speaking to that primal instinct in his brain that wanted to fuck, to consume his partner, rather than take it slow and gentle.
His fingers shook as he pulled down his pants and underwear, and tore open the small packet to place the condom over his erection. A moment later, he moved up her body, resisting the urge to shove his face against her skin and start kissing along it, and tested her reaction to him waiting at her entrance. He slowly pushed in, squeezing his eyes shut at the warmth and constriction.
Shamefully, he could only manage around a minute of increasing movement inside her before heat boiled through his groin and shot out with a release of pressure and pleasure all at once.
Mine, he whispered against her ear, giving a light nip. Teeth—not a kiss. He breathed hot air down the back which caused her to flinch violently.
“Skies, that was way too nice,” she gasped, before he managed to extricate himself and lie by her side.
He had to agree. His least favorite part now remained. Peeling off the condom. That was always fun. Having it off left a stickiness clinging to him that he instantly went to wash off. A sleepy happiness flooded through his body, making him want to slump next to her, but he also didn’t want to relax too much. What with the bet and all.
Instead, he focused on dressing himself back up again, under her slightly disapproving stare.
“As much as I’d like to lie next to you, pretty one,” he said, “I know I’ll be tempted to kiss you if I do.”
She let out a little hmph, before both her eyebrows flicked up. “Wait. We really did just have sex without the kissing, didn’t we?”
“We sure did. Not quite as romantic… but it’s still… pleasurable,” he said, buttoning up his shirt. He took his time to do so, noting how she enjoyed watching the act.
The cool air around him helped lower his otherwise heated body temperature, and his heart rate had now slowed to acceptable margins. If they did survive long enough to return to the Six Isles and settle back into a sense of normalcy, they’d probably talk about this moment as a brief spell of madness between them. Admirable, really, how a human, or indeed, dragon mind could seek to distract itself.
It would be nice if we could have met in more favorable circumstances, he thought sadly.
“You could always take a bath with me…?” she suggested, now sitting up in bed, hopeful. Not shy or covering herself up.
“Perhaps another time.” Sensing her growing disappointment, he moved over to her and held her right hand, squeezing it briefly. The terms of the bet suddenly seemed ridiculous to him now. But since she didn’t make any move, neither did he.
He wasn’t quite that mature of a person. “Thank you,” he said to her softly. “I enjoyed this. I look forward to any more time spent together.” He lifted his other hand to brush one of her wonderfully soft
, still-flushed cheeks. She leaned into the touch with a sleepy smile. It felt a little… sacred, somehow, having someone else lean into his hand like this. He hadn’t done anything nearly this intimate with any of his other relationships. He’d gone through the long-term courting process, and when it finally came to the sex part… sure, it was enjoyable. Any sex could be, regardless of the partner. But he’d never felt so eager to watch someone else in pleasure as he had just now. He didn’t understand some of the men’s complaints in court when they had their gentlemen gatherings, about how women were just so hard to please.
Seemed to him paying some attention to a woman was pleasing enough. Just… being attentive. Already, his mind started working through potential gift ideas for her, ways to express interest in her beyond this.
“Wow, you’re so polite after sex,” she said with a wavering smile, as if trying not to laugh. “That’s not something I’m used to.”
“Pity. My mother always said a lady liked it if she was treated as such.”
Evelyn arched an eyebrow. “Seems she was quite wise in this idea. But you know… we don’t always like to be treated as ladies. Sometimes we like something a little extra.”
“You can tell me all about it.” He stroked her under the chin with one finger, before moving away to put on his shoes. “But I think I’d better find out what Meridas is up to.”
She settled herself back under the covers. “Good idea. And, um, thank you as well.”
He gave her a polite bow, before closing the door behind him. The moment the door shut, the smile on his face vanished.
One of the Zamorkan hotel attendants lay on the floor, a red, cloying stain spreading beneath him. His glassy eyes saw nothing. A knot of unease drowning the last of his happiness from earlier, Janus headed to the man, bent over him, and tested for a pulse, even though he knew there wouldn’t be one. Before Janus found the words to express himself, to raise the alarm, he heard someone shrieking to his right.
