Forever Fated Mates: A Shifter Romance Collection

by Meg Ripley

  Archard thought about that for a moment, suddenly realizing that he was even more confused about Earth life than he thought. Though they were out in public, he felt like being in this vehicle separated the two of them from the rest of the world. There was no room at all to shift in here, but once again, he felt that white-hot need underneath his skin as he looked into her eyes. “Is this a date?”

  “What? Oh, this?” She waggled her finger back and forth, pointing at him and then herself, laughing uncomfortably. “No, of course not.”

  “But you said a date was when two people went out and did things together to get to know each other. We’ve certainly done that. If this isn’t a date, then how do you know?”

  “Well, ah…”

  A crimson flush bloomed over her cheeks and her breath came in short bursts, causing her chest to move in an alluring way that Archard had to fight to keep from staring at. It was a cool day, but the heat between them was unmistakable. He knew what it was. He’d tried to deny it from the moment he’d met her, but keeping the truth a secret wouldn’t change reality. Still, the last thing he wanted was to scare her away. “Kaylee?”

  She turned her head to him, her eyes looking into his and then drifting down to his mouth. She was irresistibly stunning, full of life and desire. But as quickly as the moment had happened, she ended it by turning away and starting the car. “I guess you just know.”

  The corner of Archard’s mouth tipped up slightly as he turned to look out his own window in order to give Kaylee a little privacy. Yes, he certainly did know. It was crazy and it didn’t make a lot of sense, but he knew. Now he just had to wait for her to understand. He only hoped he could be that patient, since it was clear that Kaylee was just as stubborn as any other dragon he’d ever met.

  Their conversation turned to daily matters as she headed out of town and into the more rural area where her house was located. They discussed what the weather was like there, and Kaylee spent a full five minutes talking about breakfast foods. Archard paid some attention, but most of his focus was on the way her soft lips moved around the words she spoke.

  They came in the door from the garage to find the kitchen empty and a note on the table. Kaylee read it out loud. “We went to Holden’s place for lunch. Feel free to join us if you’d like. Love, Mom.”

  Archard’s body reacted to the knowledge that they were alone. Kaylee stood with her back to him, and there was nothing he wanted more than to gently brush the stray curls from the back of her neck and kiss the warm skin there as he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her just tightly enough to keep her close. In his mind’s eye, he envisioned her turning around in his embrace to kiss him fully. The thought made his wings threaten to burst from his back at any moment.

  Kaylee turned to him, but not with the idea of kissing him evident in her eyes. “I can take you over there if you’d like, but I have some things I really ought to be doing. I’ve got classes tomorrow, and I haven’t prepared for them.” She’d told him of her education, and while Archard didn’t understand why she’d be so interested in studying humans, he knew it was important to her.

  “No, that’s all right. I’ll meet them some other time, and you do what you need. But I do want to thank you for what you did today.” Archard’s eyes refused to look anywhere but at her. He’d seen amazing things on his flights back on Charok, from steep waterfalls to high mountains, sometimes bathed in the glow of sunrise or the brilliance of midday, but none of them compared to her. He felt he could survey the bridge of her nose for hours and still not think he’d taken in the sight of her enough.

  “Of course. I had a good time.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she set the note back on the table. “It was neat to get a different perspective on things I’ve been taking for granted my entire life.”

  His body moved closer to hers, though Archard wasn’t aware of moving his feet. “I’ll just need to find a way to pay you back.”

  Those viridescent eyes traced down his face to his lips again. She’d tried to brush him off, just as he’d tried to do, but Archard knew she understood. The magnetism between the two of them was undeniable. The only thing he didn’t know was if her body was reacting the same way his was. If he let himself go for just a fraction of a second, there would be a dragon standing there in the Turners’ kitchen.

  They were inches apart, even closer than they’d been outside the dressing room at the mall.

  “Pay me back for what?”

  Archard swallowed. “For your time, for the things you bought for me. For the meal.”

  “I was happy to do it,” she said breathlessly.

  “I want to,” he insisted. “More than you know.” Slowly, he brought up his hand to delicately graze his fingers along her elbow.

  It was only a millimeter that separated them now, though it felt like a mile. “Then I suppose I shouldn’t stop you.”

  His lips met hers, and Archard was tempted to pull back instantly. Her lips were soft and giving, her body warm, and her perfume surrounded him in a subtle cloud, but the violent frenzy happening just under the surface of his skin was unbearable. His arms shook as they threatened to shift, yet he wrapped them around her waist and deepened the kiss. Sparks of electricity streaked through his body, starting at any point where he made contact with her and making it all the more difficult to retain his form. Scales rippled down his back where her hands touched him, and a growl threatened to rise from the deepest pit of his lungs.

  Kaylee pulled back slowly, melting away from his body just as easily as she had come to it. Archard felt an icy chill on his skin where she’d touched him, his very cells pining for her immediately. He grinned at her.

  “What?” she asked, looking embarrassed.

  He reached up slowly to touch her face, where a faint line of shimmering green scales had erupted along her cheek bones. Archard grazed his thumbs over them, causing them to undulate in response to his caress. “You’re the most exquisite creature I’ve ever seen.”

  She glanced down at the floor. “Um, I really should get going. You sure you don’t want me to take you over to my uncle’s place?”

  “No, don’t worry about it. I can entertain myself.” He stood in the kitchen, exhaling deeply as he watched her go. She glanced over her shoulder at him as she passed through the doorway, and it was almost enough to make him lose control completely.

  When she was gone, he wrapped his fingers around the back of a kitchen chair until his knuckles turned white and closed his eyes. Archard tried to think of boring, mundane things that would keep him in check, at least until he could find the time and space to shift.

  “I’d like to know just what you think you’re doing.”

  Archard opened his eyes to see Jake leaning against the doorway that led to the basement stairs. The bulk of his shoulders was accentuated by the way he folded his arms in front of his chest, and his eyes were hard. His t-shirt was soaked with sweat, and he had a towel flung over his shoulder.

  “Standing here.” Archard still wanted to shift, but for a completely different reason now.

  “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  “I thought everyone was at Holden’s house.” While it’d been tempting to meet Kaylee’s extended family, Archard had put his body through enough that day.

  “I stayed behind to get in a workout, and it’s a good thing I did. I saw you kiss my sister.”

  “What business is that of yours?” He kept his hands wrapped around the chair where they couldn’t do much harm. Jake was bigger than he was, but not by much. It would be one hell of a fight, but one that Archard doubted Kaylee or the others would appreciate. She’d made it very clear that she didn’t want him to pummel someone on her account. Things would only be worse if it was her own brother.

  Jake crossed the kitchen until he stood on the other side of the table. “Don’t try me. I’ve spent my entire life protecting her.”

  “Is that so?” Archard raised one eyebrow, appraising t
his Earth dragon once again. He was strong in human form, but did that translate to his reptilian constitution? “It seems to me that she knows how to take care of herself pretty well.”

  “I’m sure it does seem that way. Kaylee is just as headstrong as the rest of us are. But she has no idea just what I’ve done behind the scenes to keep her safe. There have been any number of guys who come along, thinking she’s nothing but a hot piece of ass, and I’ve kept them all at bay. I’m not going to let you slime all over her just because you’re one of us.”

  This made Archard wonder just how well Kaylee knew the human mating process. He’d never asked if she’d been on the dates she described to him, or if she’d enjoyed the companionship of a human male. The idea made him angry, but only because he didn’t want to share her with anyone. “I think that decision is up to her, not you.”

  Jake shook his head. “She can think that, but I know the truth. I love my sister, but she doesn’t always know what’s good for her. Besides, from what little I know of you, you’re not the kind of guy she needs to be hanging around with.”

  “Is that so?” Archard came around the table, his teeth sharpening in his mouth. Being Kaylee’s brother didn’t give Jake the authority to keep the two of them apart, especially considering what Archard knew about their relationship. He was meant to be with her, but he couldn’t expect some Earthling to understand. “And who’s going to stop me?”

  Jake took the slightest step backward. “I’m not going to fight you, but only because I know Kaylee wouldn’t want me to. You can consider this your warning and be thankful for it.” He turned and stomped back down to the basement.

  Archard took a few deep breaths before heading up to his room. He was going to have to get out of this house on his own, and soon.

  9

  The next morning, Kaylee couldn’t shake the events of the day before. She had plenty going on at school, from meetings with her professors to classes and a study session in the library, but none of it seemed important. All she wanted was to be with Archard again.

  She settled down into one of the private study rooms at the back of the university library and opened her books, but her mind wandered once again back to Archard. Showing him life on Earth had been a much more complicated thing than she’d imagined, but it’d also been very satisfying. He’d really made her see things from a different viewpoint, and she’d enjoyed seeing the way his eyes lit up with understanding. Kaylee had underestimated how difficult it was to describe and explain things that were so run-of-the-mill for her. She’d never met anyone who hadn’t been in a car before. Even Varhan had a little experience by the time she and Julian had found him.

  And that kiss… Kaylee had focused mostly on her studies so far, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been a few exchanges behind the bleachers in high school or an occasional coffee date once she’d started college. But up until recently, there hadn’t been any dragons on Earth besides her cousins. Spending time with a man had always been nice, but it was nothing when compared to spending time with Archard.

  “Earth to Kaylee! Come in, Kaylee!” Nicole plopped her books down on the table and giggled when Kaylee jumped in her seat. “You were a million miles away.”

  Kaylee smiled. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”

  “About what? Wait, I think I know that look on your face.” Nicole pushed her glasses up with one finger. “You’ve found yourself a man.”

  Nicole had been Kaylee’s best friend since high school, when the two of them discovered they both had a love for archeology. It’d started in their social studies class freshman year, and while Nicole was leaning more toward becoming a history teacher, their friendship hadn’t waned.

  “Why do you say that?” Kaylee asked, once again reliving the tender yet arduous way Archard had kissed her. He’d set her body on fire in a way she’d never experienced before.

  “Oh, come on! I can see it written all over your face! You’re not thinking about ancient languages, you’re thinking about the one universal language that everyone knows.” Nicole giggled at her own joke.

  “Stop it!” Kaylee could feel the heat in her cheeks, something that was becoming a permanent state of affairs these days.

  “You might as well just tell me now.” One blonde eyebrow arched over Nicole’s tortoiseshell glasses. “I’ll find out eventually. Is it that cute guy down at the coffee shop?”

  “No. He’s cool, but he’s not my type. You know, you should ask him out. It’s been a while since you’ve had a date.” Kaylee flipped through her notes just so she had something to do with her hands.

  Nicole shook her finger in the air. “Don’t change the subject! We’re talking about you. If not coffee guy, then who? Oh, maybe someone you met on your most recent trip? Do I have to tell Dr. Morrick he needs to keep a closer eye on you?”

  Kaylee smiled. It was useless to pretend she didn’t have something more on her mind than her classes, and there was no way she could tell Nicole the truth. Even her best friend had no idea who she really was. But she’d been in Colombia only a couple of weeks earlier, and a man from a foreign country who Nicole would never have a chance of meeting was just as good an excuse as any. “Okay, you got me. I met a guy on my trip. But it’s sort of a long-distance thing, and I doubt it’ll work out.”

  Long distance to be sure, if Archard went back to Charok at some point.

  “I knew it!” Nicole clapped her hands softly and bounced in her seat. “You’ve never been good at keeping secrets, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Except for the biggest secret of her life, and it would have to remain that way. “I just didn’t want to say anything because I’m really not sure where it’s going.” Once again, she could feel the way his hand had traced up her spine to the back of her neck, cradling her skull as he’d kissed her. It’d been delicate and yet commanding, and Kaylee’s body reacted at the mere memory of it.

  “Does he feel the same way about you?” Nicole pressed.

  Kaylee shrugged and thought about the way Archard looked at her, like he hungered for her. That was a thrill, but was it anything more than lust? She knew he made her feel things—new, strange things—but maybe that was simply because he was another dragon. “I don’t know yet. I guess only time will tell.”

  “I’m not sure about that.” Nicole pulled a can of soda out of the side pocket of her book bag and cracked it open. “I’m starting to think we women should just put ourselves out there and say how we feel, you know? Tell the guy you like him and you want to be with him, and if he can’t handle that right away, then he’s not worth keeping.”

  “That’s all perfectly well and good for some situations, but I don’t think all guys are like that. Some guys are a little more old-fashioned, and I think they like to feel that they’re in control.” She’d seen the gentle, sophisticated side of Archard, but it was very clear to Kaylee that an animal lurked under the surface.

  “Then it’s up to you to make him see the other side of things,” Nicole countered. “Hell, if you like him enough, you should fly right back to wherever it is he’s from and tell him so!”

  Kaylee smiled at her friend. She made it all sound so easy, but things were much more complicated than that. If she could just hop on a commercial flight to Charok, that would be one thing.

  Their conversation eventually turned to their studies and their upcoming tests, but thoughts of Charok still bubbled under the surface. Kaylee had always wanted to go, and she hadn’t realized just how badly she wanted to be there until she’d seen that vision of it just before Archard and his family had accidentally been brought to Earth.

  Absentmindedly, she made notes for her upcoming test and once again wondered if there was a way to get there. If there was, then she might take the biggest trip of her lifetime.

  That evening after dinner, when she was back at home and things seemed quiet, Kaylee found Varhan in his room. Despite the numerous books in her father’s library, the wizard had turned his room into a st
udy of his own. Books and scrolls lined the walls, and a box of more books peeked out from under the bed. He sat in a rocking chair in the corner, carefully sanding down a stick of wood into a new wand.

  He glanced up at her as she knocked on the doorway. “Good evening, Kaylee. What can I do for you?”

  She clenched her fingers together. “Do you mind if we talk for a moment? In private?”

  Varhan set his would-be wand down on a nearby table and heaved his weight from the chair. He ushered her into the room and closed the door softly behind her. “Of course. Is everything all right?”

  “Yes, it’s just that I don’t want anyone else to know about this.” Speaking with the wizard had never made her nervous before. He’d instantly been like an old relative, even though she’d only met him a year ago.

  “Mmhmm.” The wizard squinted at her. “Better let it out and tell me, then.”

  Kaylee took a deep breath. If she wanted to, she could’ve opened her mind and let Varhan right inside instead of trying to explain what she wanted. English words simply weren’t adequate for some things. But the two of them had spent several weeks learning how to stay out of each other’s thoughts to afford them some privacy, and there were some things on her mind that didn’t need to be brought to the surface. “I want to know what it would take to go to Charok.”

  Varhan watched her for a long time, his deep stare making her uncomfortable. “Does this have anything to do with Archard?”

  Her stomach knotted as though someone had sewn strings through it and yanked on them. “Why do you ask?”

  He gave a soft laugh. “First of all, because I know he was the first one to demand he be sent back home. Second, because you’d already brought that idea to your father and me on his behalf. But also because I may be old, but I’m not oblivious. You’ve spent more time with him than with any of the other new dragons.”