“Explain? You’re going to explain why you stood Katie up for some bimbo? And then tell me why that bitch tried to eat my best friend?” The woman crossed her arms over her chest. “Go ahead, why don’t you explain it to me first.”
Joey’s dragon stirred, releasing a puff of furious smoke. It bristled at being questioned by a mere human. Human. “I can appreciate the fact that you’re worried about her, but don’t you think she deserves to be the first to hear what I have to say?”
“No,” Honey snapped. “I really don’t.”
“Look, I know you don’t like me right now—”
“You say that as if I’ll ever like you.”
“—but I really do care for Katie.” That was almost the truth. In reality he more than cared. His dragon craved her, ached to protect her, and was anxious to have her beneath their wing.
“Katie can do without your kind of ‘caring.’” Honey even used finger air quotes around the word caring.
“I—”
“Let him in, Honey.” Katie cut into their verbal tussle, and her tone nearly ripped out his heart. Defeated. Tired. Almost broken.
His dragon roared and filled his mind with fire at their mate’s emotional condition. Trying to keep her safe, trying to ensure her health, had done this to her.
“Are you sure?” It was Honey who sounded unsure and Joey was quick to take advantage of her wavering conviction.
He slipped past the woman and padded toward Katie, careful not to approach too quickly. He knew her emotions were everywhere, and he couldn’t blame her. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten his unsure mate. He’d badgered her to accept him, and now he knew he had to tread carefully.
“Katie…” He drank her in with his gaze, noting the darkness beneath her eyes and the slump of her shoulders as if she carried a great weight. She looked so tired, exhausted, and… he’d done this to her.
His vibrant Katie was vibrant no longer.
She rubbed her arms, bringing his attention to her left arm in particular. The short sleeve shirt she wore allowed him to see the remaining evidence of her wound. What still lingered after she’d confronted a part of his life that never should have touched her. There was no stabbing, or bruising, but the area remained the bright pink of newly healed skin.
He tore his attention from the area and forced himself to meet her gaze. “Katie…”
She wrenched her attention from him and stared at a spot across the room. “What do you want, Joey?”
“To explain.” To say goodbye.
It struck him like a freight train. He had to let her go. For her safety, for his sanity, he had to release her. It wasn’t fair to her to expect her to be in danger twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It wasn’t fair to expect her to constantly be on guard and continually looking behind her. Being a black came with great benefits, but twice as many downfalls.
He had to say goodbye. As much as it killed him, as much pain enveloped his heart, he couldn’t deny the truth. He had to go. It was his own stupid fault for believing—even for a moment—that a black could mate.
“Will you let me explain?” Will you let me say goodbye?
Katie looked at him for a moment, eyes colliding with his, and then she spun away from him. “I don’t know what you think it will accomplish, but we can talk in the guestroom.”
With that she strode away from him, heading down the hallway toward the back of the house, and he ignored the burning glares from both Honey and her mate Blake. They couldn’t hate him more than he hated himself.
She led him into a bright, cheery space. The walls were a pale yellow, and the furniture carried the light hues throughout the room. It was girly and feminine and soft and everything his mate wasn’t. And yet… she fit in this space. As if it were designed just for her.
She stopped when she reached the bed and spun to face him. “So, explain.”
Joey grimaced and it was his turn to stare at a spot on the wall. “It’s—” he sighed. “It all seemed so simple when I was flying over here. All of my thoughts were organized and I was ready to tell you everything. But now, in front of you, I can’t think of the right words.”
“Try,” she said flatly.
He pressed his lips together in a frown and then did as she asked. He first warned her that she could not tell anyone else what he was about to say, dragons were secretive for a reason. If others knew their secrets, knew the threat that they could pose to one and all, the dragon hunts of old would spark again.
The last thing Joey wanted to do was kill innocents.
And then he told her about the rogue, of the threat he posed, and then explained about Sophia and the promises she’d given.
Finally he spoke of Adra and the rest of the twelve.
“Was that so hard to say?” Katie whispered the words, her voice hoarse with emotion. “If you would have told me, if you would have even sent me a text that said ‘beware the psycho whore,’ things would’ve turned out a lot differently. Instead…”
Joey took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Instead I let you get hurt. But you have to understand…”
“I have to understand that mates don’t keep secrets from each other.”
Mates… “So you decided to accept me? Even after all this?”
Katie shook her head. “I admit, I was crushed when I saw you at the diner, what you’ve just told me. My hedgie believes you. You wouldn’t have tried so hard to convince me to meet you and then fucked it up by being with another woman.” Her eyelashes fluttered, and he spotted extra moisture filling her eyes. “I just wish you would’ve trusted me. Just a little. But Honey reminded me that even if we are mates, we know absolutely nothing about each other. But-but I would like to.”
Joey swallowed hard and didn’t say a word.
Katie huffed out a breath when he remained silent. “So, where does that leave us?”
Where did it leave them? Nowhere. Nowhere because he wasn’t about to risk her life by mating her, and he wasn’t sure how to tell her.
When she swayed on her feet, taking a small step to retain her balance, he fully noted her fatigue. Noted it and decided to take advantage of it.
“That leaves you being tucked into bed.” He stroked a single finger down her cheek. Her skin was so soft, so flush with life. Life… Life that he’d almost extinguished by simply being her mate, for involving her in his life, and more conviction filled his veins.
“Bed?” She raised her eyebrows.
Joey rolled his eyes, fighting for a teasing smile and posture. “To sleep. You haven’t been sleeping, have you?”
She frowned. “No.” She shook her head. “It’s been… hard.”
Because of him. Another strike against their mating.
“Take a nap, Katie. I’ll watch over you.”
“Will you,” she licked her lips, that pink tongue making a quick appearance before vanishing once again. “Stay with me? Not to mate, but…”
“Anything for you,” he murmured and her mouth was too much of a temptation.
Just one kiss…
He lowered his head, attention flicking between her eyes and mouth, searching for any hint of objection. And found none.
*
Katie should stop him, should push him away and remind him that they still had issues to resolve. But he was too tempting for her to deny. So, instead, she embraced the meeting of their mouths.
His lips were soft as they brushed hers with a gentle pressure that she felt all the way to her toes. Her hedgie sighed in pleasure at the connection with their mate. That simple touch soothed the little beastie like nothing had in the past few days.
There was one brush, then two, and he lapped at the seam of her lips. She immediately opened for him, welcoming a chance to taste and savor his flavors. A hint of crisp sunrise mixed with the smoky heat of his dragon danced over her taste buds. She leaned into him as she pressed to her tiptoes, attempting to deepen their kiss.
She wanted more of him,
more, and all he had to give. Her hedgie danced in agreement, anxious to bathe in his natural scent and snatch every hint of his taste into her.
He was her mate. Mate.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever get enough of him so it was good that they had the rest of their lives together.
Yet… How long would their lives truly be? It was obvious being a black dragon came with its own set of risks. Risks she was willing to take as long as it meant having him.
Joey wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her high against his body, and she twined her fingers in his hair. The meeting of their mouths deepened further, teeth clicking together as their tongues dueled for dominance. She knew he’d win, there was no doubt that a massive dragon overpowered a teeny tiny hedgie, but she gave him a run for his money. They teased and tasted, tormented and taunted, until the need for him nearly overwhelmed her.
She wanted to mate him now. Now. She’d made her decision, and everything inside her screamed that she wanted to belong to him. She didn’t want to nap, she didn’t want to wait. She didn’t want to delay another second.
She moaned against his mouth, squirming in his hold, and finally was able to wrench herself away from him. “Need…”
“Katie…” He gripped her shoulders and carefully set her away from him, putting space between their bodies. “We need to slow down for a second here.”
“Slow down?”
“Yes, slow down. I’m not going to mate you when you’re half dead on your feet in your best friend’s guestroom.”
“Honey won’t mind.” She stepped toward him and stroked his chest, fingers tracing the deep grooves of his muscles. “We just have to promise to wash the sheets when we’re done.” She smiled with her teasing words, but cut off her small chuckle when she realized Joey wasn’t laughing with her. “Joey?”
“Sweetness, now is not the time.” He traced the area beneath her eyes and she knew he was staring at the purple crescents that marred her pale skin. “Rest for a couple of hours.”
“But…” She really, really wanted him now. Really.
“Come on, I’ll tuck you in.”
That had potential. Katie waggled her eyebrows. “And get into bed with me? I bet I’d sleep better in your arms.”
Joey snorted and rolled his eyes. “Right,” he drawled. “I have a couple of errands to run, but how about I lay down until you fall asleep?” He narrowed his eyes. “No funny business.”
Dammit.
“Fine,” she grumbled and turned toward the bed.
It took no time to settle on the mattress, Katie snuggled between Joey and the wall. His scent surrounded her, enveloping her in a blanket of comfort and peace, and she quickly found herself drifting to sleep. He’d been right, she needed the rest, but she’d be damned if she told him that.
Instead, she let fatigue drag her into unconsciousness. She couldn’t wait to wake up once again. He’d—justifiably—put off their mating for now, but as soon as she was recovered, she wouldn’t let him deter her.
With that thought in mind, she nuzzled his chest and released a happy sigh.
That happiness remained in her heart as she dreamed about her future with Joey. About the little hoglets and dragonlets they’d have in the future. About the home they’d share and the life they’d lead. She had no doubt there would be bumps along the way, but she also didn’t doubt that the two of them would weather those storms with ease.
But then she awoke. Alone and cold, Joey nowhere in sight. Which was fine because he said he had errands to run, right? Except, in the area that once cradled his body, now lay a single piece of paper, masculine scrawl marring the page.
Katie snatched it to her and stared at the strings of words.
Dear Katie…
Joey left her. He left her, and he wouldn’t be returning. Ever.
Chapter Ten
“Fuck’s sake, Joey. Lighten it up a bit, would you?” Adra snarled, and as she staggered to her feet, fixed him with a glare that promised retribution and pain.
“Why? Can’t handle it?”
He bounced lightly on his feet, rolling his shoulder until it clicked and glared back. He felt a little bad that he’d knocked her the length of the room to crash into one of the tapestries that lined the walls of the throne room, but that quickly disappeared when she sent a column of flame his way. Like him, Adra was a warrior through and through, and if she couldn’t take a few knocks from a fellow warrior then she needed to get out of the game, and fast.
Then he remembered. They were blacks, members of the Council of Twelve, and there was no retirement. No getting out the game for them. Nothing but service and heartache. No family, nothing but the twelve. The twelve were his family. His jaw tightened and he partially shifted, using a wing to shield himself from her flames.
He rolled, reabsorbed the wing and came up on her left side at a run. Claw tipped fingers sliced through the air, aiming for her side but Adra was fast. Almost as fast as he was. Forced to block a heavy right hook, he dropped to the ground and scissored his legs, taking hers from underneath her. The fight devolved into a wrestling match on the floor with other members of the twelve calling encouragement around them.
Training always went like this, with the twelve pitting themselves against each other as the queen, resplendent on her throne, watched. He stole a glance at her and met warm golden eyes. Cadeyra the White. The Queen of all Dragons. He’d always thought she was beautiful. Small and curvy with masses of white hair and exotically tilted golden eyes… Any dragon with blood in his veins harbored a secret fantasy that the queen would choose him for her consort.
Even he had. Had, though. Past tense. Now in those fantasies, the queen was replaced by a small, curvy as hell werehedgehog with attitude. As soon as the thought entered his head, his dragon roared in frustration and misery. They both missed their mate. Badly. But it wasn’t to be, blacks couldn’t mate, to do so would put those very mates in danger. He saw that now.
A fist crashed into the side of his face, derailing his ruminations and knocking him on his ass. He looked up into Adra’s frustrated face.
“Bloody hell, Joey,” she hissed, curling her hands into his shirt and hauling him to his feet. Small she might be, but she had a dragon’s strength. She let him go with a shove and he staggered back toward the queen. “Any slower, and I’d have had my claws through your throat. What’s the problem? Still pining for your lady love? Ha! As if she was worth the effort!”
How dare she mention his mate? How dare she mention Katie?
“Don’t you say another fucking word,” he snarled, baring his teeth. “You’re not even worthy to say her name.”
Pulling power from his beast, he kept it just under the skin and charged the air around him with potential. He felt more than heard the whispered shock rolled around the throne room from his colleagues, and even the queen sat forward on her throne. A full shift in the throne room was forbidden, but he didn’t care.
Adra curled her lip and growled back at him. “Yeah, right! She was just a hedgehog, not even worth bothering with. Not even a snack! As if she could be worthy of a dragon. As if she could be worthy of a black.”
That did it. Joey’s control snapped as white-hot rage flowed through his veins, slamming into the walls of his control and obliterating them. With a roar he released the energy under his skin. Power punched through him, twisting him, changing him. Wings burst from his shoulders and he launched himself toward the female dragon. Shouts of alarm filled the air around them but he didn’t care. The red mist descended over his eyes, and all he could see was his enemy.
Her eyes widened a second before his claws crashed into the stone where she’d been standing, shattering the flagstones. She’d thrown herself to the side with speed only a dragon could muster, but Joey was just as fast, if not faster. Shifting quicker than he ever had before, he swapped the wings out for a tail and lashed out at her retreating form. She yelped as the razor sharp scales along the edge of his tail sliced at the
back of her legs and threw herself into a roll. The scent of blood blossomed on the air, calling to him. Calling to the rage within.
Not capable of speech any more, growls and snarls dropped from his lips as Adra bounded to her feet and faced off against him again. The air around her, just over her skin, wavered and he could feel the presence of her dragon in the air. She cut a glance to the queen, and for a second Joey thought he saw something pass between them, but then the rage rose again and he charged.
They twisted and turned in a dance as elegant as any ballet, trading blows with the force of speeding freight trains. He blocked and attacked, she blocked and attacked. They were evenly matched, as were all of the twelve, and that frustrated Joey all the more. When she blocked his latest punch combo, he tipped his head back and roared his frustration to the rafters hidden in the shadows above. He felt his humanity slipping away, his personality merging with that of his dragon… And they were both hurting. But that was good, hurting was good. Him hurting was better than his mate hurting.
He was a black. He could handle pain.
Then he had her. He spotted an opening in Adra’s defenses and slid through them with the speed of a striking snake. A satisfied snarl rumbled from his chest as he wrapped her up, arm around her throat in a vicious chokehold. He’d won… Just one little squeeze…
The double doors behind him, of old oak and high vaulted to match the dimensions of the throne room, crashed open. All the dragons in the room, Joey included, whipped around to face the threat. But no dragon, rogue or otherwise, stood in the opening. Instead, a small, very curvy woman propped her hands on her hips and glared at Joey. Startled, he said the first thing that came to mind.
“And just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
*
“Me?” Katie pointed at herself, fingertip pressed against her chest. “I know you’re not asking me that question.” She stepped forward, the anger and frustration that had consumed her for the last week filling each and every step. “I should be the one wondering what the hell you’re doing in this gold lined monstrosity of a building when you should be in North Carolina with me.”
Dragon Her Feet Page 9
