by Starla Night
A rickety old car pulled up and Rose’s grandma got out, shaky and breathing hard. She spoke to the older lady driver, closed the door, and started for the house. Then, she saw Jasper and halted, paralyzed.
Rose exited. “Oh, Grandma. Have you seen Liam’s backpack?”
She shook her head, her eyes still on Jasper filled with mistrust.
Rose continued down the steps and enfolded her grandmother in a hug. “How’d you get to your appointment?”
“Friend,” she replied, muffled. “I asked Briar for a ride and she laughed.”
Rose pulled back. “Briar was here?”
Grandma shook her head. “On the phone.” She rested a hand on the railing to pull herself up the steps.
“Liam wants to stay for dinner. You got your check today, so I thought maybe it would be okay.”
Grandma’s shoulder’s sagged. “I bought gas for my friend. Had nothing left for the store. But come on in. I’ll find something.”
“It’s okay,” Jasper told Rose. “I did a little shopping.”
A delivery truck wheeled into the apartment complex, navigating the potholes, and parked behind Jasper’s car. Two drivers jumped out and opened the back. They carried in crates of food, sagging on the steps. Rose and Liam followed them, and her cries echoed out with amazement.
“Cheese, meat, organic whole milk, and apple juice! Look, Grandma…”
Half the neighborhood peered out, and the kids stopped and watched in awe.
He thanked his suppliers, who he’d diverted from the planned delivery at Rose’s apartment to here, and carried the last box of food into the kitchen.
“It’s Christmas morning.” Rose stacked boxes on the counter while her grandmother examined a whole frozen chicken. Liam twirled while making hooting noises, a tornado of energy and excitement.
“I’m going to cook a chicken,” her grandmother said. “And those rolls.”
Liam’s eyes lit on a box of mix. “Pancakes!”
“Yeah, we’ll have pancakes.”
Out in the neighborhood, music started up loud. Luis called out, “Hey, we’re having a block party! A neighbor party, come on out.”
Rose and her grandmother smiled. Liam squealed.
Jasper stood in the middle of their rotting kitchen and felt good for the first time since he’d been kidnapped. The only question was how long he could stay before Larimar woke up.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rose helped Grandma thaw the chicken and dress it for the oven; everything else was getting prepped for the barbecue. The less time they spent inside the moldy house, the better. Jasper had wrinkled his nose at the wallpaper, but today she was concentrating on the good things in her life. Like not sitting in jail.
The police and everything could wait.
Luis entertained them in a fine form, introducing around his vast extended family, and she met guys in suits and women in low-cut designer tops. He had a big network for a man who sat around his apartment drinking and yelling at his TV. He’d held a few parties but never invited the neighbors, and he was a fun host, deferential and yet joking to the elders like Grandma. Grandma hadn’t smiled so much in years.
They pooled food, since Jasper had ordered more than Grandma could ever eat, and everyone enjoyed cinnamon horchata and real tamales along with roast chicken and fluffy rolls. Grandma’s face lit as she gave away the food. Nothing made her so happy as gifting her bounty to others.
Jasper gave the adults joyrides in his Jaguar and flew the kids around the parking lot. The kids laughed and screamed and laughed some more. Seeing so many little hands hanging off him made her heart stop, but he flew low, slow, and safe. Although, afterward, the mothers shooed away their children and apologized for any roughness.
“So, you moving in here to marry Rose, or what?” Luis asked him point-blank during a lull while they were eating.
Jasper glanced across the crowd at Rose but answered Luis. “After I finish my work for the other dragons, I’ll be free to pursue my own future.”
“Aw, man, don’t be that way. You belong here with Rose.”
Jasper smiled with no promises. He had a pleasant way of making someone feel good even when he disagreed, and he soothed feelings without contradiction. An impressive skill Rose wished she had; she’d get farther with Peridot.
“Your people, they miss you,” Luis continued. “You should be here.”
“I’ll be here as long as I can,” Jasper promised.
“Stay.”
“I’m stuck. I have to appease the other dragons, or Rose must defeat them in mortal combat.”
Everyone swung to her.
She stopped mid-chew. The urge to freak out, refuse, and batter Jasper for putting her on the spot like that nearly choked her. But she didn’t want to run, especially not from him. “We’ve never discussed this, you know.”
“Because it’s not your responsibility.”
“Everyone else seems to think it is.”
“Everyone else forgets you’re not a dragon.” His lips curved in an adorable grin. “You have a powerful, competent presence, Rose. Just like a dominant female dragon.”
Her heart thudded in her chest. He always said the nicest things.
Luis’s head tipped forward. “Hey, you really have to defeat some dragons?”
She shrugged like it was no big deal. “I don’t know, probably. And here I am, all out of machetes and machine guns.”
“Machetes? You need a machete?”
“No, no. It was just a figure of speech.”
“You need a weapon, Rose?” He called out to a brother-in-law, and they chatted in Spanish. Luis jerked his thumb at the other man. “You need a saber? We got Mexican-American war sabers.”
“No, that’s not what I need.”
“Any weapon? You need a weapon? For fighting dragons?” He squinched up his forehead. “Like a knight lance, or you want me to ask around?”
“No,” she said firmly.
“Female dragon scales are bulletproof,” Jasper said. “They’re also lance-proof. No impact-based weapons will intimidate Larimar. That’s why I have to found her company. Once it’s created, there’s more than enough work to keep any dragon distracted.”
The men nodded.
Wait a minute.
Rose lifted her hand in protest. “Distracted? Your plan to get out of marrying that adviser is to distract her?”
“Mal was so distracted by creating the Onyx Corporation that he didn’t pursue a female until it was required to save the company.”
“Mal’s kind of special.” And she didn’t mean it in a bad way; she meant that Mal roared around the office and yelled at everyone except his sweet, shrinking-violet wife. “Is that adviser anything like Mal?”
Jasper smiled pleasantly. “Do you have a better idea?”
Her stomach flipped. He did that nice disagreeing thing again. “I don’t know. Run?”
“But then I could never return. I’d be exiled from this solar system, my family, and you.”
Her heart thudded. “Never?”
“Investors get mad when you ghost them.”
“But they’re not investing in you. They’re guilty of kidnapping.”
“I’m a resource to them. And I’m looking for another solution. Until that happens…” He shrugged. “Distraction.”
Her heart thudded. Jasper pledged himself to her well-being. He loved her. He’d been devoted since their first moment.
She stroked her nails. They weren’t moisturized anymore, but she remembered their smoothness from over a week ago, massaged with his lotions. She wanted the chance to feel that again.
Forever.
The party continued into the evening with citronella candles, loud music, and flowing beer. Kids went to bed and Jasper helped the other guys break down buffet tables. Rose helped Grandma inside, packed leftovers into her fridge, and flooded the sink up to its crack to wash the dishes. She hummed.
“Take care,” Grandma mutt
ered.
Rose cut off her hum. She splashed water and soap on the pan. “Sorry.”
“Don’t let down your guard.” Grandma waved her fingers. “Don’t trust a smooth talker. The happiest day of your mom’s life was that promotion right before her diagnosis. Your dad gets a new car and somebody runs him off the road. Good things only happen with bad.”
“I know, but I can’t think the worst all the time.” Rose scrubbed.
“Don’t end up like me. You have energy, Rose. Health. You can prepare.”
“I think I am prepared.” Rose held up a stained spoon. “One of these days I’ll go to college, get a good job, and move you into a nice house.”
“Worry about yourself, not me.”
“The mold will collapse the floor out from under your feet, Grandma.”
“By then, I’ll be dead.”
Rose just shook her head and carried on with washing.
Grandma muttered her familiar liturgy while she put away the dishes. “The richer they are, worse they lie. How many times did your uncle get taken in? Money’s the root of all evils. Don’t trust it, and don’t trust those who have it. Be smart with yourself, Rose.”
Her mutters ebbed and flowed over the high-pitched whine of light bulbs attacked by suicidal moths. Her words had comforted Rose since she was a kid. Why worry about not having money since it was the root of all evils? And no matter how little they had, Grandma was always here.
But Rose wasn’t used to seeing Grandma stop mid-rant, rest a hand on the counter, and breathe hard.
“Er, Grandma? What was the doctor’s appointment?”
“My asthma.”
“You’ll get better if you leave this house.”
Grandma avoided her gaze. “I’m never going anywhere.”
“Oh, come on.”
“I’m going to die in this house. I’m old and ready.” She ran the threadbare towel over the clean silverware.
Grandma was maybe sick, definitely frail, and hardened like a little gem. No, she wouldn’t live forever. No one would. But she might rightly die in this house.
So might Rose.
She could almost see it. Herself, old and complaining, in this kitchen while Liam washed dishes. Her muttered tales of woe. Yikes. She could see it in 3D. A lot more bitterness, a lot more loneliness, and she’d end up right here, too worn and tired to make a change.
That’s why she had to change her future now.
Tonight.
Jasper stuck his head in the back door. “Liam fell asleep at the table.”
Grandma shied away from Jasper.
“I’ll be right there.” Rose washed the last dish, drained the sink, and dried her hands on her shirt. She shouldered Liam’s little backpack.
Jasper thanked her grandmother for the food. Her grandma ignored him. Like he was a devil and speaking to him would make danger appear.
Well, she was old.
Rose hugged her and followed Jasper outside to one of the last standing tables. Dirt smeared his face, food stuck to his hair, and green freezer pops stained his mouth. He flopped over her shoulder, a heavier weight, as though he’d doubled his mass at dinner. He probably had. Kids did that.
She stepped close to Jasper. He tucked her against his broad, comforting arms.
He rose into the air. “Your apartment?”
The practical part of her said yes. She couldn’t risk Jasper getting called away from his spaceship, stranding her. Spending another cramped night in her hot apartment was the hard reality, the bitter truth Grandma had prepared her for in the old kitchen.
Rose had to make a change.
“Can we go to your ship?” she asked.
“Absolutely.” He snugged her close and zoomed.
The journey wasn’t as rough as the first time; the ship was closer, and she didn’t get as many ear pops or chills. They entered, Rose removed shoes and dropped Liam’s backpack, and then she rested Liam on his bathroom counter and did a quick sponge bath and tooth brushing while he tried not to flop over. She rested him in his bed and kissed his forehead. “Love you.”
He struggled against sleep. “Rose…bogeyman…”
“Screw the bogeyman.”
He sighed, a small smile on his face, and he dropped back to sleep.
Yeah. Screw that guy.
She returned to her suite to brush her own teeth, wrap her slim dreads in a peach silk scarf, and drape herself in a matching silk nightshirt.
Jasper wasn’t in their rooms. She continued up the stairs, cautious as Beauty in Beast’s tower, and found him in a control room. He typed, pensive, and swiped screens. Draconis script interspersed with English. The letters were sharp, blocky, and foreign.
She curled into the seat behind him. “Crop out the naked parts.”
“Kyan said to send only the bottom floor.” He typed a few more things, swiped the screen, and sat back. “He will convey you to work if I am called away.”
“How very responsible.” She stood, moved forward, and dropped her arms around the back of his neck, nestling his head between her soft breasts. “I love team players.”
He leaned back into the seat. “I will do anything to help you, Rose.”
“I know.” Arousal tingled in her breasts and pooled between her thighs. She’d tasted her first sex and her cravings roared. “And I need your help.”
“You do?”
“So much.” She rubbed against him.
He slid his strong hands up her forearms to her elbows and pulled her around to the front to rest on his lap. She settled into place straddling his hard thighs. He lifted her peach shift to reveal gold panties and bra embroidered with ivory flowers. She posed for him, slipping her fingers beneath the hem. The jewel-tone red flecks in his dark brown eyes gleamed with dragon interest.
“Change color,” she urged.
His scales rose to just below the surface, darkening his skin but not covering it, and hardened his body. She skated her hands up his chiseled forearms, stone biceps, and unbuttoned his shirt to luxuriate in his hard pectorals. He was immutable and gorgeous, accommodating and demanding, and hers.
Rose teased a finger down the bumps of his six-pack and along a dark treasure trail to the edge of his trousers.
He hooked his finger under the seam, extended a claw, and severed the fabric. His dark arousal sprang free, a long curved shaft nestled in a mat of curly hair.
Her pussy throbbed.
“You are so hot,” he murmured.
She moaned. Urgent need made her quiver.
Jasper lifted her nightshirt, unclasped her bra, and attacked her nude breasts, dragging first one nipple into his wet mouth and rolling the point between his teeth, and then the second.
Desire lanced her belly. Heat tightened her nipples and arousal streaked into her center, drawing dewy wetness to her channel.
She tugged at her panties. “I want you.”
In an instant, Jasper snuck a claw under the silken fabric and it separated into two halves, giving her crotchless panties. He softened his finger back to human and glided over her hard nub. Pleasure bloomed between her legs and she leaned into him.
“You’re so wet,” he growled, his canines turned to teeth as his eyes glowed a dark chocolate brown.
She lined up his shaft against her damp entrance and descended, embracing his cock one inch at a time. As he filled her, the cosmos whirled around their cockpit, uniting them in the middle of the stars. She reached the end of his shaft and seated herself fully against him, united for all time.
He looked into her eyes. “I love you so much.”
Her heart trembled. The slightest friction of body to body ignited a swirling passionate flame in her channel. The orgasm overwhelmed her, hot and hard, and left her shuddering.
He held her tenderly, chased her mouth and stole a kiss, and moved under her. Pleasure mellowed into a slow-building sweet heat. She moaned her pleasure. He dropped a wet finger between their union and stroked her hot nub while his cock th
rust in and out, completing and overwhelming her. His soapy scent tickled her nose and his firm masculine taste teased her tongue.
She loved him so much.
The urge to confess her feelings built like the second orgasm. She needed to tell him how she felt too.
But instead, she gripped his shoulders and rode his cock, thrusting harder and faster, until the stars burned out and she arched. A second, even more powerful orgasm ripped through her body filling her veins with cosmic dust and an ocean of gold glitter.
“Love…you…” Jasper repeated, gripping her hips to center her channel, and then he groaned and released deep in her channel.
She collapsed on top of him.
The urge to confess pounded at her breast.
But they’d just had sex, and that was the worst time to say she loved him. She should say it at a more meaningful time, when he knew she wasn’t trying to manipulate him or react to the most amazing night of her life.
Exhaustion urged her to sleep, even with her knees contorted against the armrests.
“You can’t sleep here.” Jasper lifted her into his arms and flew her through the ship, weightless. He deposited her in the master bathroom.
She marshaled enough energy to clean up. He joined her and then put on a new suit. She slithered into the comfy bed.
“We should plan a wedding ceremony. But first.” He handed her a small gold box. “What do you think?”
She opened it.
A massive diamond nestled in a cloud of smaller diamonds like a queen surrounded by her subjects.
Tears clogged her throat. Rose tried to gasp, For me? But it got stuck, and she kept silent.
She marveled over the glimmer and the weight. Like the solid gold bed, it seemed excessive, almost uncomfortable, and yet fulfilled a deeply hidden core dream. Could she own a wedding ring this beautiful? Someone like her? Rose wanted it, craved it.
Jasper slid the heavy, heartfelt jewel cluster onto her fourth finger. It fit perfectly.
She tried not to cry. “It’s…wow.”
He smiled, reassured by her response. “Good.”
The urge to tell him rose again. But she felt like if she tried, a coughing fit would carry her words away, or he’d change his mind. Briar used to toss her gifts back because she’d bought the wrong thing, or Briar was no longer interested.
