by Jenna Payne
She hovered above the ground, flapping her wings steadily, and watched as Daniel slowly lowered himself to the earth with softer and softer flaps. Joshua had already landed, and was standing beside the house watching them. Stacie took a deep breath, her lungs feeling clearer and freer now that she was in the open, away from the city, in wide-open space. Then she began to flap her wings, slowly.
It was an awkward moment. In the end, she had to let herself drop a few feet. She nearly sprained her ankle, but on the whole she was okay. She walked toward the house, to where Joshua and Daniel stood, and stared at them for a moment. There were no words, at least no words that she was aware of, that could adequately describe the intensity of emotion within her.
Joshua looked at her, smiled, and began to laugh. After a moment, Daniel laughed along with him. And then Stacie burst into laughter. It was crazy and surreal and alien, but Stacie felt at home. She fell against Joshua and he put his arms around her. Then Daniel stepped up behind her and wrapped her in his arms, too.
The three of them stood like that for a long time, and only went inside as the sun began to set.
“So,” Joshua said, “what do you want to do?”
The three of them were sitting around a table in the house. It had been four days since her flight from the city. Her wings were safely tucked into her back-sacs. It sounded disgusting when Joshua first explained it to her, but she found it to be much more dignified; the wings folded into her back, so they were almost invisible. Well, you certainly didn’t notice them on Joshua or Ragnar on a certain night. They had just finished three steaks and were sharing a glass of wine. It turned out Joshua’s dad had been very rich, and had left Joshua a sizable inheritance, hence the lavish meals, expensive cars and many other luxuries.
They wanted something from her now. They wanted to know if she was going to go with them, west. West to the dragons, so she could be officially recognized by the Council of Scales. Or was she going to return to the city, to her old life, to her call-center job and her apartment? Did she want to be a Queen or did she want to be a drone?
“I think we all know the answer to that,” she said.
Dragons were not like humans, Stacie had learned. Their emotions were quicker and more intense. She had bonded with these men faster over the past four days than many humans would in four years. It was an almost telepathic bonding, formed over secret looks and held hands and frantic lovemaking. It was the kind of bonding only Queens and Drakes have access to.
“I want to be a Queen,” she said, feeling strong as hell.
And I will be. I will be a Queen of the skies. I will be a Queen and Joshua and Daniel will be my Drakes. Yes, Stacie Simmons, you have done alright for yourself.
“I saw them!” the boy shouted, excited.
The waitress rolled her eyes. “Three dragons, Tobe, really?”
“Yeah, really!”
“OOohhhhhhh, okay. And where were these dragons going?”
“West, Sissy, they were going west!”
“Right! Stop making up stories and let me get back to work.”
THE END
Bonus Story 18 of 40
Wrong in the Right Way
Michelle sat in the morning meeting wondering if she could train herself to sleep with her eyes open. The balding, monotone man from accounting was informing the team that their last magazine did not sell as well as originally anticipated. Their magazine covered a wide range of topics from politics to new trends in the fashion world. Michelle wasn’t surprised that last month’s issue didn’t sell well though; it was dedicated to ways that individuals could make the environment safer. It was boring, dull and filled with hard facts. It had not been her idea; not that she personally had anything against making the environment safer. But the sad fact was that readers didn’t get excited by long articles about how people were killing the environment, let alone want to spend money on a magazine issue dedicated to it.
“Michelle, what’s your take on this?”
A woman’s stern British accent broke through her thoughts causing her to wake from her zone. Michelle stared blankly at the current editor-in-chief, Nicki.
“I think we were rushing, we had a deadline to meet and well we dropped the ball, it won’t happen again,” Michelle responded recovering from her stupor.
“I would hope,” Nicki responded as she swung back around to face the accountant.
Michelle let out the breath that was accumulating within her lungs. She was basically gunning for Nicki’s position and it was like walking on needles. The tension was very apparent at this point considering Nicki knew of Michelle’s intention. The last couple months Nicki had been trying to find all sorts of things to blame on Michelle and her team. Michelle was under review by the owner of the magazine, too. But she was handling everything Nicki threw at her with class. She just had to stay on her toes for a while and not get herself into any unnecessary drama.
A vibration suddenly erupted from Michelle’s pocket, causing her to jump slightly. She fished her phone out quickly to avoid attention and silenced it. It was a text message from her best friend Rachel, who also worked at the magazine but in the IT department.
‘Save me from these idiots.’
Michelle stifled a laugh and looked around to make sure she wasn’t being watched before she replied.
‘I need the saving; listening to Bob from accounting is diminishing my will to live.’
Within a minute Rachel had replied.
‘HAHAHA you’re right, you do need saving more than me! Anyway I’m excited for San Diego next weekend!’
Michelle bit her lip nervously as she read the last line of Rachel’s text. Next weekend was a big deal for her because of one singular reason, Jackson Blake.
Jackson was a billionaire who was gaining attention because of his brash methods of taking over the corporate world. He was featured in their magazine in their top 10 sexy billionaire bachelors article, as well as other articles including being among the top 100 influential people in the world. However, Michelle knew him before he was Jackson the business tycoon. The two had grown up together. He was her stepbrother.
When Michelle was young, her mother Holly had gone on vacation to Las Vegas and come back a week later married to a widower named Steve. Steve had a son named Jackson, who was just a couple of years older than Michelle. Steve, like Michelle’s mother, was free spirited and believed in that love at first sight bit, even if it was in a smoke filled Las Vegas casino bar. Even at a young age Michelle saw the absurdity in what her mother did and of course didn’t approve. However, watching the two fall deeper and deeper in love with one another with each passing year changed her mind. This is why it tore her soul into two when Steve died of cancer after 20 years of loving marriage to Holly. Jackson was of course devastated, and Michelle spent a lot of time with him then, comforting him and helping with the arrangements. Holly was an emotional mess and frankly still was not over his passing.
Michelle sighed and leaned back in her chair as she momentarily tuned back in to reality just to find that Bob was still going on with numbers and projections. She went back to her text conversation with Rachel and replied, ‘yeah I’m excited too!’
The situation between Michelle and Jackson was that they had been incredibly close despite the difference in their personalities. Jackson was the street smart, fun loving, funny, adventurous, handsome kid who couldn’t be tamed. Michelle was the book smart, quiet, wallflower who didn’t quite know how to deal with people and would have just rather curled up with a book. The two had a close bond and Jackson was always there to protect her but also test her limits, which she supposed was good and bad considering her personality.
After Jackson’s father had passed, they saw less and less of each other, going onto different paths, Jackson bulldozing his way into the business world while Michelle worked behind the scenes in the publishing industry. Michelle sort of chuckled to herself at the realization that they hadn’t changed much over the years.
In any case, they kept in touch through the occasional phone calls, emails, and text messages.
Michelle would have been lying if she said she didn’t miss him. She wished to see him again, but they were so far apart these days. So it was a complete surprise to her when one day a birthday invitation and two plane tickets to San Diego arrived at her home. Jackson expressed in the invitation how he missed her. He said he wanted her to be there to celebrate his birthday weekend. He also added she was welcome to invite her own guest; without a second thought, she called Rachel to ask if she wanted to attend.
“Michelle are you paying attention?”
Michelle looked around, momentarily forgetting where she was in the midst of her deep thoughts. She was faced with a very irritated Nicki who could see Michelle had mentally checked out of the meeting.
“Yes, yes of course,” Michelle lied anyway before proceeding to pretend she was writing down notes. If this meeting didn’t end soon she may just have to do some bodily harm to Bob.
*****
“I’ll be seeing you soon, are you excited?”
Jackson’s deep, smooth voice spoke to Michelle through the telephone line. Michelle lay down on her couch with her phone in her hand and a large smile on her face as she spoke with her stepbrother.
“Of course,” she responded shyly.
“Good. Chelle, you’re going to have the best time I promise. Are you bringing anyone?”
“Yes, my friend Rachel from work,” Michelle replied as she stood up to walk to her room. The flight to San Diego was tomorrow and she had yet to pack.
“Great, call me when you land, I’m going to come pick you guys up,” Jackson said, sounding like he was moving around some papers.
“Ok, sounds good,” Michelle said. “Hey Jackson?”
“Yes Chelle?”
Michelle bit her lip. She wanted to say what was in her heart but found something was holding her back.
“Nothing, I’m excited to see you and I’ll talk to you later.”
“Chelle?”
“Yes Jackson?”
“I missed you, see you soon, bye.”
Michelle looked at the phone and realized her cheeks had been burning due to what he had said. She shook her head and removed herself from the cloud she was on.
“Get it together Michelle,” she told herself as she went back to her room to get started on the difficult task of packing before preparing for bed.
*******
In the quiet early morning of the day of the trip, an incessant knock echoed through Michelle’s apartment. Michelle groaned, pulling the covers over her bed as she prayed for whoever it was to go away. Just as the noise of the knocking quietened down, her phone took its place in disturbing the peace.
Michelle let out yet another groan as she searched for her phone and through one eye peeked who was calling her at this hour.
“Shit!”
Michelle saw that Rachel was calling and saw the time; it was already 6 in the morning. Their flight left at 9 and she was not at all ready. Michelle scrambled out of bed as she answered the call.
“Michelle I can’t believe you’re still sleeping, you must not want to go!”
“I do, I’m coming to let you in now!”
Michelle ran down the short flight of stairs to let Rachel in before quickly doing a turnaround back up the stairs to go get ready. This was the day she was going to see Jackson and everything in her being was nervous about it
“You are unbelievable Michelle,” Rachel said as she dragged her suitcase into Michelle’s place, but stayed by the door. There was no time to sit and get cozy; they still had to make their way to the airport soon.
After hurriedly getting ready, brushing her teeth and throwing her hair back in a messy bun, they left for the airport. Michelle made sure to pack Jackson’s present safely in her luggage before flying down the stairs in a simple grey dress and black heels, and her travel suitcase.
“Finally,” Rachel said with a sigh as she glanced at her watch.
“Sorry, I spent all night trying to figure out what to bring,” Michelle said with a sigh as they left the house to meet their taxi ride to the airport.
“Sounds like someone is looking to get lucky,” Rachel said with a smirk as they got into the cab which promptly took off.
One long flight later the two women had reached sunny San Diego. They stepped out of the crowded airport to greet the warm sun and cool breeze. A smile tugged at the corner of Michelle’s lips as she let the sun warm her skin. This was going to be an amazing weekend.
“So where is he, can we go back inside and wait?”
Michelle looked over at Rachel who was digging in her purse; she eventually pulled out a tube of sun screen and began lathering herself with it. Michelle shook her head; she had forgotten the beautifully pale Rachel was not a fan of long exposure to the sun.
“A little sun isn’t going to kill you,” Michelle said under her breath as she pulled out her phone to call Jackson.
In a matter of minutes a shiny black car pulled up in front of the two women. Upon seeing the car, Michelle hung up and clutched the phone in her hand nervously. She stared at the black car with tinted windows with the feeling that it was Jackson who was inside.
The door swung open suddenly from the passenger side and a long, bare, feminine leg in blood red heels stepped out of the vehicle. They belonged to a tall, brunette, model type woman in a skin tight black dress.
“Uhm, do you see what I see?” Rachel asked in a hush voice as she leaned over to Michelle, not taking her eyes off of the beautiful woman.
Michelle’s eyes widened. She hoped to everything that she was mistaken in thinking it was Jackson’s car. Unfortunately, Michelle was correct in her initial assumption because the driver side door opened to reveal a tall, handsome and dark-haired man dressed in black jeans and a gray t-shirt. The man turned in slight confusion before making eye contact with Michelle. When he recognized her, a large smile graced his face.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Michelle said in a hushed tone as she instinctively grabbed onto Rachel’s arm.
Michelle tore herself away from the brunette beauty to look at Jackson as he shut his door and began to walk her way. All sorts of questions ran through Michelle’s mind as Jackson approached her, the first and main one was: who was the brunette? And why in the world was she with Jackson to pick them up?
“Chelle!”
Jackson came up to Michelle and without warning, picked her up off her feet and swung her around. Michelle let out a little scream as she held on to the tall, strong man who apparently had no problem swinging her around like a rag doll.
“Jackson, put me down,” Michelle exclaimed as she felt herself getting dizzy. Jackson, who was grinning like an idiot the entire time, finally lowered her to the safety of the ground.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he said with a smile as he gently moved stray strands of her hair from her face and pulled her into a tight hug. He released her from his hold and his eyes met hers, truly realizing how much he had missed her. Jackson then turned to Rachel who had been applying sunscreen on and off.
“You must be Rachel,” he said with a warm smile as he took her hand and shook it.
Rachel looked at Jackson in awe whether it was at his attractiveness or the fact that he was somewhat of a celebrity, Michelle didn’t know.
“Yes, that’s me, I’m Rachel, nice to meet you,” Rachel replied awkwardly. Michelle did everything in her power not to laugh, Rachel, for the most part, was not a people person so watching the interaction was slightly entertaining.
While Rachel was being awkward, Michelle set her sights on the brunette who was still with the car checking her make up in a compact mirror. She couldn’t help the ping of jealousy that radiated in her chest as she wondered who the woman was to Jackson.
“Jackson, who is that woman who came with you?”
Michelle looked over at Jackson, who was still chatting with Rachel. In t
urn, the nameless brunette eyed Michelle intently. Her glare told Michelle the brunette was not very pleased at her arrival.
“Oh,” Jackson said in surprise as if he had forgotten she had ridden with him. “That’s just Nadia, she’s a friend who is staying at the house this weekend,” Jackson said as he took the two women’s bags with a grin and headed towards the car.
Michelle and Rachel looked at one another before watching Jackson walk over to the car to put their luggage in the trunk.
“I don’t know about this,” Michelle said as she looked back at Rachel. While Jackson said she was a friend, it didn’t seem as if it was as simple as that.
“Well, it’s too late to turn back now, might as well enjoy ourselves right?” said Rachel. She shrugged and made her way to the car. Rachel had made it sound so easy. Michelle couldn’t blame her; after all she didn’t know of Michelle’s feelings for Jackson.
Jackson waved Michelle over to the car, signaling they were all ready to depart. Nadia threw one more glare her way before re-entering the expensive vehicle, causing Michelle to question whether this trip would be as relaxing as she originally thought it would be.
One thing was for sure though; it was too late to turn back now.
*****
The three sat in the car while Jackson spoke about how great of a weekend it was going to be. On the night of his actual birthday, there would be a masquerade party. Michelle sat in the back seat listening to Jackson but was a little annoyed that she wasn’t sitting in front, as childish as that sounded. She burned holes at the back of Nadia’s head as the model laughed and playfully rubbed Jackson’s knee.
“Hey Chelle you okay back there? You’re a little quiet,” Jackson said as they reached a stop light and he physically turned his head to eye her. Michelle put on a smile and waved off the concern Jackson was showing.
“Yeah just tired is all,” Michelle lied; she was really worried about the tension that was accumulating in the car. She had to deal with it at work and now here? Michelle mentally asked the universe if this was some sort of karma at work.
