Bad Dragons: Special Edition Complete Series

by Terry Bolryder

  Griffin bit the inside of his cheek, cursing when it bled.

  He tasted the saltiness of it, then stood, wanting to go back to the room.

  “I don’t feel that,” Griffin said slowly. “I don’t feel anything for that human. When we get to town, I’m going to sell her. That’s all.”

  Seth closed his eyes again, continuing to lie there in the rain. “I guess we’ll see, then.”

  “Yeah,” Griffin said, wondering if he was going to have to fight the black dragon. “We’ll see.”

  15

  “This is amazing,” I say, biting into my roast beef sandwich and taking a sip of what tastes like Coke.

  It’s a small restaurant with only a few tables, and we’re the only ones here, except for the owner, who is an older man who scowls at us with yellow eyes.

  “Wolf,” Griffin says, glancing at the owner. “They’re especially mistrusting.”

  The owner rolls his eyes and disappears in back, and Griffin and I continue to eat our sandwiches.

  An extra one lies wrapped by the seat next to us.

  “Are you sure Seth is okay?” I ask.

  “It’s not your problem,” Griffin says. “But yes, he’s fine. Currently enjoying the rain outside.”

  “Is he treated like this everywhere?”

  “You’ve scented him,” Griffin says. “I would guess a lot of places he is.”

  “I don’t smell it anymore,” I say. “He doesn’t make me afraid.”

  “You would still be smart not to trust him,” Griffin replies. “He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants.”

  I set my sandwich down and play with my straw, pushing it around my glass. “And he wants me?”

  Griffin nods. “At all costs, I think.”

  “How close are the two of you?”

  Griffin’s eyes grow shaded, the gray covered by sudden clouds. “We’ve known each other a long time.”

  “How long?”

  He looks to the side. “It doesn’t matter.” His hair looks a dark auburn, as it’s still damp from rain. It’s messy and tousled and makes an amazing contrast with his gray eyes.

  I’m fascinated by his freckles and whether they’re everywhere on that big body—

  “Look, I’m trying not to hear you, but right now, your thoughts are like shouting. You’re thinking them so strongly.”

  “Oh, oops,” I say, covering my mouth quickly before I realize there’s no way to cover a thought. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” he says, but his cheeks are red and blotchy. “Seth was right. We’re made to attract humans. I guess he’d be the right one to try out for that.”

  A small part of me is irritated that he suggested it. Sometimes I feel something for Griffin. Sometimes I don’t. But I hate the thought that he could look so bored while telling me to be with another person.

  “I’m not bored,” he says, looking annoyed with himself for reading my mind again. “I’m just trying to stay impartial.”

  “Got it,” I say crisply, eating my sandwich again. “Loud and clear. Experiment sexually with Seth if I’m looking for a booty call.”

  Griffin nearly coughs up his sandwich. “Excuse me, what?”

  “A booty call,” I say, grinning at how red he is getting. “Action. Sexy times. You know.”

  “I’m not going to tell you what to do with your ‘sexy times,’ as you call it. I simply meant that Seth seems to be on board. That’s the last I’m going to say about it.”

  So that means Griffin is not on board, which is disappointing.

  Though I shouldn’t, part of me wants to make a memory with him, even if we don’t stay together.

  I still remember yesterday morning when he pinned me on the bed and told me I was twisting him up but it was too late for him.

  He said it was like dangling a steak he couldn’t eat, and I don’t know what that means to him.

  I take the last few bites of my sandwich and grab the other one. “I’m going to take this to Seth. Spend some time with him.”

  As I’m standing, Griffin stands too. “I should come with you.”

  “No,” I say. “I’ll be safe with the black dragon.”

  “You don’t know anything about him,” Griffin says, though he eases back down into his chair.

  “Are you worried he’ll steal me?” I ask.

  “No,” Griffin says. “If he wants to take you from me, he’ll fight me. He isn’t sneaky like that.”

  “That’s good.”

  Griffin frowns. “Plus, he probably knows he could burn me up.”

  I swallow. “Oh really?”

  Griffin nods, then slowly grins. “But not before I burn him up as well, so probably we should avoid fighting if possible.” He glances at the window where the rain is finally stopping. “There are enough things to fight in this world.”

  I shudder slightly. “That’s true.” I tuck the sandwich under my arm. “Anything I should tell Seth when I see him?”

  “Tell him if he tries anything, I’ll burn him,” Griffin says.

  I smile at him. “I thought we were supposed to avoid fights?”

  Griffin frowns down at his sandwich. “Some things are worth fighting for, I guess.”

  It’s my turn to feel my cheeks heat, and because I want to make my own meaning about what Griffin said, I don’t ask him anything further.

  Instead, I just give him a wave and tuck my chin slightly, trying not to smile as I walk back onto the street.

  It’s still eerily empty, and the rain clouds are still blocking out the sun, casting even more gray all around.

  But as I walk between two buildings to where Griffin set up Seth’s camp (they showed me before lunch), I begin to feel a fondness for this place.

  For the wild, gray beauty of it and the quietness all around.

  When I reach Seth’s camp, which is separated from the hotel and surrounding buildings by a small group of trees, he appears to be sleeping in a camp chair.

  His coat is still on but open, and his soaked shirt reveals powerful pecs and rippling abs.

  Plus a pretty collarbone I’d like to nibble on.

  One green eye opens, looking at me. The other follows.

  Then a smirk. “I told you anytime, dragon heart.”

  “Hey,” I mutter, sitting down in the camp chair next to him as I hand over his sandwich. “You have to stop doing that.”

  “Doing what?” He takes the sandwich from me and unwraps it.

  “Reading my mind.”

  “Stop thinking horny thoughts, then,” he says, smirking at me. “They’re super loud.”

  I look around at the sparse little camp. It’s just a couple chairs and a tent. “Are you sure you want to stay out here?”

  He shrugs. “It’s just for a night.” He takes a bite of the sandwich. “Thanks for bringing this, but it’s fine. You can go back inside. It’s cold.”

  “It’s fine,” I say, rubbing my arms, which are damp but not cold yet. “I like it out here.”

  “Lies,” Seth says. “Besides, you can escape the smell, at least for a little while.”

  “What smell?” I look around, sniffing. “Is there a skunk?”

  Seth lets out a choked laugh. “No, my smell, silly.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t smell anything.”

  His mouth parts slightly, and for once, he’s at a loss for words. Then he straightens in his chair, setting down his sandwich on a small camp table. “You must be joking. Everyone smells it.”

  “I don’t,” I say. “When I first met you, there was this odd sense of… I guess dread. You could call it a smell, maybe. But it faded, and now I don’t know why I don’t smell it.” I stand up and come over to him, sniffing over his head. “Nope, nothing. Just something piney and fresh.”

  “Stop,” he says, waving a hand over his head to chase me away. He takes another bite of his sandwich, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was embarrassed. “You’re either lying or you make no se
nse. Either way—”

  “I like being around you,” I say, sitting in the camp chair. “You’re very open.”

  “I see no reason not to be,” Seth says matter of factly. “But then again, it’s not like I’ve been able to hide.”

  “Unlike Griffin.”

  “Well, Griffin has always been a pretty straightforward sort as well,” Seth says, still eating his sandwich. “I mean, not with you, but in general. He fights and can be a big bully, but he isn’t sneaky like some of… like…” Seth trails off. “Never mind.”

  “How many more dragons are there?”

  Seth peers at me. “What makes you think there are more?”

  “I don’t know,” I say, rubbing my arms again. “It’s just… there has to be, right?” I feel a little guilty that I can’t tell them more.

  Seth eyes me suspiciously, then frowns when he notices me rubbing my arms. “I would give you my coat, but you know…”

  I look at the tubes on it. “I wouldn’t want to break anything.”

  His eyes widen slightly, looking so gorgeously green. “That’s the problem you would have with it?”

  I nod. “It seems important.”

  He’s blushing now, rubbing his hand over his face, and then he looks up at me and his eyes are glossy. “I’ve never met anyone like you.” His eyes close and he leans back again. “My whole life, everyone has treated me like I’m dirty. Why are you willing to sit with me in the rain?”

  It takes me a second to consider my answer because I know he’s talking about something deeper than water.

  Thunder cracks overhead and rain begins falling more earnestly, and he opens one eye to look over at me.

  He frowns when he sees that I’m shivering despite my best attempts to hide it.

  “Want to go in my tent?” he asks casually. “It’s warmer there.”

  “You aren’t going to try anything?” I ask. “Griffin said he would beat you up.”

  “Not if you don’t want me to,” he says. “But I don’t know. You were pretty heated when you went in that shower.”

  I flush, standing to go into the tent just to escape this situation. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  I push the flaps aside and duck in, but just as I’m turning over to lie on my back, Seth joins me, rolling to my side.

  There’s just enough room for us to lie here like this, arm to arm, hip to hip.

  But then he rolls up on his side, leaning over me. “How about a cuddle?”

  Before I can answer, I’m pulled into his chest, on my side and spooned by him, his arms wrapping around me, so strong.

  They feel different than Griffin’s, but they’re no less reassuring.

  And as the rain falls on the walls of the tent, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.

  I always loved camping, and I feel safe here. Despite what Seth wants from me, I don’t feel he will push me.

  That is until he nips the edge of my ear.

  I yelp, trying to ignore the zing of heat that moves through me as I push away from him to the opposite side of the tent.

  He stays where he is, lazily watching me, though his tongue darts out to wet his lower lip.

  My eyes follow it.

  My heart is pounding. My fingertips are tingling. My ear is hot where his lips just were.

  He reaches a hand out for me. “I’m here if you want more, dragon heart.”

  I don’t know what that means, but I don’t care anymore. From his lips, it’s almost affectionate.

  And I want him, and my body does too.

  Slowly, I come back close to him, both of us on our sides, my face at his chest level because he’s so much taller than me.

  Then he leans down, tilting my chin up to look at him. “I haven’t even tasted you,” he says softly just before his lips cover mine.

  They’re plush and soft and warm, then firmer as they push my lips apart.

  His hand stays on my shoulder as his tongue moves inside my mouth, making me tingle. My hand moves to his chest, caressing the muscles there. He feels as good as I thought he would.

  Am I a jerk for wanting both of these men so much?

  I feel his hand on my face, stroking my cheek as he breaks the kiss, leaving me gasping for breath.

  And desperate for another.

  “You’re not a jerk,” he says, nipping at my jaw and then earlobe. “Don’t ever say that again.”

  “But I—”

  “It’s different in this world,” he says, his finger trailing down to caress my neck as his lips find my ear once again.

  He licks up the shell of it, making me shudder, taking his time to explore as he comes back down to my lobe and sucks it into his mouth, giving it a soft bite.

  I jump at that, and he steadies me, using his hand to pull me in close.

  We’re chest to chest, my breasts pressed against his hard muscles, his beautiful face so close to mine.

  I could look at him for hours, but touching him is pure heaven. Better than I could have ever thought.

  His green eyes widen, and I realize he is reading my thoughts. His expression softens, more than I’ve ever seen it, and he cups my face in his hand, bringing me in for another kiss.

  Just before his lips cover mine, he pauses. “I’m never letting you go, dragon heart. I can’t ever leave you again.”

  My eyes close at his words because I don’t know what to do with them.

  And then I’m lost in his kiss, swirling my tongue with his as my whole body presses against him, his hand moving down over my arm, to my waist, to my ribcage.

  Creeping toward my breasts, when suddenly—

  “Seth?” The tent shakes as someone grabs at the zipper, and Seth and I fall out of each other’s arms.

  My lips just want to find his again, and it’s like I was just lost in a world separate from this one and want to get back there as soon as possible.

  That is until I see Griffin’s angry face staring in at us.

  He looks like he’s going to pop a blood vessel at his temple, and his jaw is clenched as he stares us down, glancing from me to Seth.

  “Ah,” he says, shoulders falling. “You’re both fine. That’s good.”

  Was he worried about us?

  He rubs the back of his neck nervously and looks to the side, and I would almost say he seems hurt.

  By what?

  He told me to experiment with Seth, didn’t he?

  “I’ll just… see you back at the hotel. When you’re finished.”

  And then he shuts the tent and leaves it hanging unzipped as his heavy footsteps stomp away.

  Seth lazily stares up at me, lips swollen from kissing. One of his talented hands reaches up to brush back a lock of my hair. “That was amazing but probably as far as we should go for now. I just wanted a kiss.”

  I clench my legs together, wishing I was just a little less horny.

  Seth eyes me, a gleam in his emerald gaze. “You know, Griffin isn’t always honest with his feelings. I’m good with sharing, whereas he doesn’t take it well. My guess is he’s kind of upset.”

  “He is?” I feel bad about that. “Wait, what do you mean sharing?”

  “I told you,” Seth says. “Dragons like us usually mate in pairs.” He lies back with his head on his hands. “But then again, dragons like us usually don’t have to be in this world. So I don’t know.”

  I remember what I pictured, the two dragons on either side of me, in the bathroom mirror.

  “But like I said, Griffin isn’t good with that. At least so far. If I were you, I’d go check in on him.” He closes his eyes. “Anyway, I think I’m ready for a nap.”

  How he can just be kissing me and fine with lying there, I’m not sure, because my body is still on fire.

  But it’s also on fire for Griffin, and I definitely don’t want him to be hurt.

  He has been beside me in this adventure the longest and saved me several times, and I still don’t feel like I know who he is.


  I want to.

  Seth opens one eye to look at me, then smiles. “Go get him, dragon heart.”

  16

  I rush back to the hotel room, hoping to catch up to Griffin, and when I finally knock on the door to our room, it’s quiet for a few seconds.

  Then it opens, but before I can say anything, I’m grabbed by the wrist and jerked inside.

  Griffin slams the door shut and pins me against it, grabbing both of my hands in his and trapping them over my head as he leans down to bring his face close to mine.

  “Dammit,” he says, his lips claiming mine in a kiss that is harsh, possessive. He puts both of my wrists in one of his huge hands and the other hand moves to my waist, pulling my hips in against him. “Dammit,” he says as his tongue swipes into my mouth, which opens easily for him.

  I enjoy the kiss for a moment, the unexpected urgency of it, and then I struggle against him, needing to think.

  Immediately, he lets me go, stepping back like he has just been burnt.

  “Fuck,” he says, rubbing his hand on his jaw, which is covered with stubble that only makes him look that much more striking and beautiful.

  I still want to get my hands in that red hair.

  “Stop thinking about me,” he says, taking another step back. “I want to be mad at you.”

  “Why?” I ask, taking a step toward him. “You told me to try things with Seth.”

  His lips tighten. “I didn’t want you to want to.” He sighs, dropping his head slightly. “You never make things easy for me, dragon heart.”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?” I ask.

  “Wishful thinking maybe,” Griffin says. “Or maybe it’s just what we always pictured as a mate. It’s a good thing. I just don’t know if it’s true or not.”

  I take another step forward, encouraged when he doesn’t run away from me.

  He’s so tall that I have to crane my neck to look up at him as I get closer.

  Feeling bold, I grab the flannel of his shirt, trying to yank him in.

  His gray eyes are stormy. “Don’t,” he says, reaching for my hand to pull it off his flannel. I don’t let him. Something is supposed to happen between us. I can feel it. The longer we wait, the more wrong it is. “You don’t know how much I want you. If you do this, I can’t hold back.”