by Jadyn Chase
“So what are we looking for?” I asked once I was close enough to him.
He didn’t seem to realize it was me as he just rattled off an answer, “Heard something a little while ago and came to check it out.”
I could have told him it was probably me fighting with Mig that he heard, but I wasn’t ready for any more battle advice. I still wanted to hurt Mig even though I hadn’t applied Aya’s wisdom to my rage just yet.
“Well, I hope you find it. I’m going to take off,” I told him.
“Lorna, wait,” he stopped me with the soft touch of his hand to mine. “Where are you going? What are you doing down here? You smell like cinnamon. Were you down here to see Aya? Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt,” I mumbled, “I just came to give something to Aya.”
“You’re lying,” he said, “I can smell the Onyx Skull blood on you. What happened?”
“Nothing I want to talk about!” I shouted, “I’ve already managed to calm myself down. If you get me all worked up again, I’ll go kill him right now.”
“I guess you’re talking about Mig?”
“Who else?!” I pushed him out of my way to storm off, but he stopped me again.
“Kill him? What did he do now?”
“Nothing, Preston. I told you I don’t want to talk about it. I’m exhausted and need to get some sleep. I can’t even fly home, I’m so tired,” I yawned and stretched not realizing how much battling with Mig exhausted me.
“You’re always welcome at the Towers, Lorna,” he said with a hint of hesitation.
“Doesn’t sound like it,” I chuckled.
“You are,” he insisted, “I’ll even give you my bed.”
“That sounds great right about now. Thank you, Preston.”
He held his hand out pointing toward his bike. That monstrous metal beast was fast and loud, but it let me tease him to no end. He acted like he was annoyed whenever I sat in front of him, but the longer we rode together with my ass pressed against his crotch, the more I felt how happy he was with my chosen seat. I guess I’d been lusting after Preston for a while and never wanted to acknowledge it. The more I thought about it, the less it made sense for me to end up with Mig. If I were completely honest, I was probably using Mig as a distraction from how I truly felt about my Black Sapphire protector.
I’d heard stories of Scalers being mated from birth, and it follows them into adulthood, but I never thought that would be us. Even when he annoyed me, I always loved having him around. Preston regularly worked at putting a smile on my face and keeping me safe. Now as he led me up to his apartment, he was giving me his bed to sleep in. He’d risked his life and his friendships time and time again to protect me and still, I hadn’t given it any thought.
A rush of guilt crashed into me as he put fresh linens down on the bed and brought some out to the living room where he was planning to sleep. I couldn’t let him do that. He’d already given me so much. The last thing I was going to take from him was his bed.
12
Preston
It was one of the few instances I didn’t make it in time. Lorna had it out with Mig. She was hurt, and she was tired, but she didn’t want to tell me about it. Well, whatever it was couldn't have been that bad with the way she wiggled her ass in front of me on the bike. A distraction, more than likely to stop me from blacking out on another Scaler. The sound of the motor drowned out the thumping of my pulse, beating against my eardrums. I could barely focus on my reasons why I was holding back from her.
Her heart didn't belong to me, not yet. I had to keep that at the forefront. So I made sure that when we arrived at my place, I gave her the bed and told her I'd take the couch. A twinge of disappointment peaked from behind those hazel eyes. That soft brown hair got tossed into a bun as I placed fresh linens on the bed.
"Thank you, Preston," she said softly. "You're always there for me."
"Are you ready to tell me about what happened tonight?" I asked her.
She shook her head, "No, but just know that I'm going to be fine, and as soon as I'm at a hundred percent, I'm going to take care of it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she said firmly, "I know that you will defend me and fight every single one of my battles, but this is one I want to resolve on my own. Okay?"
"I don't think taking Miguel on by yourself is the greatest plan," I told her honestly. "It's okay to have help. It's okay to have me backing you up. It's okay to use me to fight these kinds of battles. I swear, Lorna, I will never let anything happen to you, but you have to give me the chance to show you that."
She approached me slowly with a softness in her gaze, "You've shown me that too many times to count. I want to show you and everyone else that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Why don’t you guys believe me?”
I took a step back, eyeing her from head to toe, took a deep breath and started from our last altercation, “That twisted ankle wasn’t the best demonstration. The fact that you can’t scale right now is another. Do I need to remind you about what your father did to the East side of the city?”
“That wasn’t my fault. He overreacted, as usual,” she rolled her eyes.
“Just get some rest,” I told her backing away, “I don’t want to fight with you. I don’t want to argue. I want you to be okay, Lorna.”
“And I’m trying to tell you and everyone else that I will. No matter what happens, or if I get hurt, understand that I’m going to be fine. I wish I could prove that to everyone. More importantly, I need to prove it to you,” she said with a glint of sadness.
“Me?” I think I knew more than most that she’d be okay.
“Yeah, because if you know and understand that I’ll be fine without you jumping in to fight every single one of my battles, that will give you the time you need to show me how good you are at other stuff,” she grinned. “There has to be more to Preston Cane than being Lorna’s protector. I want you to show me what you’re good at, Preston. Like that kiss. You were great at that.”
I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and other places. So I pushed all my reasoning, all of my excuses; I drove it all out of my mind and led with my heart. I knew what I was good at and holding back from Lorna wasn’t it. Pulling her in close to me, I waited for her to push me away or to tell me we shouldn’t. But instead, she inched up onto her toes kissing me gently on the lips. We paused, pulling back from each other, gazing into her eyes, I had to ask her, “Do you want to see everything I’m good at?”
She sat down on the bed and pushed herself until her back pressed against the wall. Her breast moved up and down as if she were nervous, but her words could never be mistaken, “I want you to show me everything. Show me the truth behind why you always show up for me.”
Licking my lips, I shook my head and crawled onto the bed, slowly sliding her legs open. With a single talon, I cut her out of her pants and sliced her shirt open to reveal a perky set of beige nipples staring at me. I took one in my mouth while my fingers entertained the other. Moans of pleasure escaped her lips as she ran her fingers through my hair. I couldn’t wait to taste every inch of her. I moved down from her nipples to her belly button, circling my tongue down her torso, stopping just above her waist.
With a seductive glance up to her, I spread her legs even wider to give me more room to work. The first flick of my tongue between her folds caused her hips to buck. Her flesh tasted sweet. I couldn’t get enough. My mouth continued to work over her pleasure, trying to make her climax as much as possible before I showed her the rest of Preston Cane.
Her eyes closed as she slid down onto her back. With me on top of her, I wasn’t sure why I suddenly felt a wave of hesitation over me.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered stroking the side of my face as I hovered around her entrance.
“Nothing, this feels right,” I told her.
“So what are you waiting for?” she asked me.
I slid inside of her walls with ease, filling every inch o
f space. Lorna’s head tilted back as she sucked in a breath of air while I pushed myself deeper and deeper inside of her. I wanted to tell her everything that was on my mind, but at that moment, I became focused on her pleasure. Her face flushed red. Her body writhed against mine. We tossed and turned over the bed, falling deeper and deeper into each other with every thrust, with every kiss, and with every touch of our bodies against one another. I couldn’t believe that this was happening.
By the time I was ready to orgasm, we were drenched in sweat and had changed positions more times than I could count. It was the best sex I’d ever had.
After we climaxed together one last time, I went into the bathroom to clean up. I brought her out a warm washcloth to wipe my very essence that dripped out of her sex. A part of me wanted to go another round, but I noticed something. A fresh trail of scars down her back marred her beautiful, naked, body.
I bent down to get a closer look, but she turned away from me and smiled, “You know you’re going to have to get me a brand new set of clothes right?”
“Yeah,” I said dismissively. I wanted to look at the injury, “Turn around, Lorna.”
“Round 2?” she smiled.
“No, show me why you can’t scale!” I said with anger replacing every ounce of lust and desire I’d just felt minutes ago.
She finally took notice of the shift in my mood. After pulling the sheets up to her neck, she folded her arms across her chest and turned to face the wall.
“I told you that I was going to be fine. I’m going to take care of it!”
“Did Mig do this to you?” I wanted to cry as I ran my hands over the circular scars where it was clear an Onyx Skull’s tail punctured her.
“No one else has been battling with me lately, at least physically,” she glared at me from the corner of her eyes.
“I’m going to go take care of this once and for all,” I growled.
“Preston, DON’T” she screamed out to me.
“NO! I’ll make sure he never hurts you like that again! Just stay here until I get back! I promise you, Lorna, he will never be allowed to do this to you or anyone else!” I threw my clothes back on and darted out of the apartment.
“PRESTON! PRESTON!”
It was then that I realized I only got as far as I did because she didn’t have any clothes to throw on. And without her ability to scale, she was liable to be taken as someone’s pet. I took advantage of it as I raced toward the Onyx Skull headquarters.
There wasn’t some elaborate party going on this time, but it still had an uncomfortable aura lingering within the space. It didn’t take long for Skinner to find me wandering through his playhouse of pets and Scalers. I only wanted to get my hands on Mig.
“The one you’re searching for is not here,” Skinner said without an introduction. He pulled the newest pet of his close to him. This girl was different from the last one. She was definitely into it, and him, as she wrapped her arms around his waist before sliding her hands down into his pants. The smile that spread across her face was almost as broad as Skinner’s.
“I need to get my hands on Mig, Skinner. I can’t have any interference from the Skulls when I do either, I told him.”
“Finally, a duel over the princess. How delightful,” he moaned as the girl stroked him in front of everyone. Skinner snatched her hands out of his pants to tell her, “You will not distract me right now. Go shove some pussy in your mouth.”
He tongued her down with a kiss that was neither passionate nor sexy. My face twisted in disgust, turning away from the display of debauchery. It wasn’t anything like what Lorna and I shared.
When he finished with her, he turned back to me, “I’ve heard things about the future of Black Harbor. It seems like a new regime is trying to take control? Say it isn’t so my Sapphire brother.”
“I can’t tell you anything for sure,” I shrugged.
“Well let’s make a deal then,” he offered with a sly grin on his face. I didn’t want to trust Skinner, but as creepy as he was, he never lied.
“I’m listening,” I sighed.
“Mig isn’t the best ally for us here. He brings a lot of trouble behind him because he doesn’t know how to treat certain people with the respect they deserve. His carelessness brings you here more often than I like. It also threatens to bring Golden Daddy down here which will ruin every ounce of progress we’ve been working towards in rebuilding this place.”
“I understand, so what’s your deal?”
“I will give you Mig, delivered on a silver platter if you promise to bring me in as the head of the Onyx Skulls. They all listen to me anyway,” he reasoned.
“I think it’s because they’re all scared of you,” I said looking around the room.
“And rightfully so,” he bowed his head, “Rumors are circulating that a certain Black Sapphire wants us all to bend to his will while you and your father want to keep things as they are with a healthy respect amongst the clans. No one wants a war, Preston, but we will not be turned into servants for the Sapphires or any other clan. We deserve to be present while the future of Black Harbor is negotiated.”
My father’s words rang in my head. He wanted anyone but Skinner. There was no other option. His word was as good as gold with me, as he’s never betrayed me before. So I held my arm out telling him, “If you bring Mig to me, then you will be given the seat for the Onyx Skulls within the Heads of Clans.”
He grabbed my arm by the elbow, pressing his against mine and we shook on it.
“One more thing,” I warned him before heading out, “If another Onyx Skull should challenge you and win, they will take your seat, Skinner.”
“I see no problems with that,” he smiled. “No problems at all.”
13
Lorna
“PRESTON!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I couldn’t believe that he just took off like that! I didn’t need him to fight this battle for me, and I’m getting tired of explaining that to him too.
So there I sat in Preston’s bed, naked with nothing but a sheet covering me. The rage boiling inside of me threatened to have me scale in his room, but I still couldn’t do what I needed to do. I hadn’t any idea where Mig went and scaling down anywhere else would have me just as naked as I am right now.
I CAN’T BELIEVE HE LEFT ME HERE!
Mig was mine to take care of. I’d started this mess, and I could finish it! He didn’t deserve the quick death by Preston. I needed Mig to know his demise was brought on by me!
So I threw the sheet off of me and scavenged for something, anything to throw on. Being held hostage without the ability to scale was driving me crazy. Had Preston decided to stay with me until I could scale again, it would have been much better. But no, he had to jet out of here! Always in a rush to be the Knight in Shining Armor.
I poked my head into the bathroom not remembering where Preston kept his clothes. After stepping inside and opening a few cabinet doors, it was safe to say he didn’t keep anything other than his robe in there. Heading out of the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of my back in the long mirror. A single tear dropped down my cheek as it looked much worse than it felt.
Memories of Mig’s tail slicing into my back while we were dueling fumbled around my head as I struggled to remember the exact moment he released me. The largest scar was about the size of a doorknob. It was a raised ring, black and charred around the edge with the skin a vibrant shade of black, blue and purple. Gold flecks sparkled over it as I watched a patch of my scales flash over it and then revert to my natural skin tone. Aya certainly knew what she was doing. At this rate, I’d be healed by morning without a single trace that Mig and I had even crossed paths. It also gave me a glimpse of what Preston saw and what he must have thought. I couldn’t blame him for charging out of here the way he did, but still, this wasn’t his battle to fight.
I moved toward the door near the largest window remembering that’s where he pulled the linens from. Perhaps there was something I could throw on in there
. Hell, I’d even take a dirty sweatshirt out of the laundry basket if that meant I could get out of here and stop him from whatever he planned to do.
Nothing!
Another door next to that one finally revealed an array of clothes. A few pairs of jeans and a bunch of t-shirts folded across the top shelf. I grabbed one of each and tossed them on before picking up the shredded pieces of my outfit that lay across the floor. I wanted to scale and take off, but the slightest flinch of my wings breaking free sent a surge of pain coursing through my body as I’d never felt before. I understood Aya’s instructions even better. I needed to rest, but my mind wouldn’t let me.
I began pacing around the vast dining room table. I didn’t want to stay in the room, in the bed, where our scents were still mingling together. That magical experience would have been far better had he not ruined it by leaving. The sound of his door opening broke me out of my thoughts and into reality.
“You’ve got some nerve just leaving me here like this, Preston Cane!” I began shouting before the door opened completely.
Lucas and Elaina Cane held their hands up in surrender, with timid grins on their faces. I wondered if my cheeks were as red as they felt.
“I’m sorry guys,” I apologized with a huff of defeat.
“None necessary,” Lucas laughed as he moved toward the table with a long tube of paper in his hand.
Elaina smiled with joy, “So nice to see you again, Lorna. You have Preston’s clothes on this time, I see.”
“Yeah,” I blushed again, “Mine got ripped.”
“Fighting with an Onyx Skull will do that,” Lucas said as he unraveled the tube he carried in. He sat two metal daggers along the edges to hold it open. It was a map of Black Harbor and the surrounding areas. It was almost as big as the table.
“I don’t think she lost the clothes in battle,” Elaina quipped with a devious smirk.
More heat flushed to my cheeks. Just great! The mother of the man I love has only seen me half naked in her son’s robe, and again out of my clothes and wearing his stuff. Holy crap! Did I just? I mean, is Preston?
