by Skye Jones
“Let me get a shower and dressed and we’ll go find her. We’ll tell her the truth. All of it. You said she’d burned her friend, so she must know she’s not normal. Not as far as being human goes anyway. I think she’ll listen.”
He untangled his legs and hopped off the bed, heading for the bathroom. Nathan watched him go, hoping like hell he was right.
Two hours later Nathan and Dominic stood outside her apartment, Nathan’s heart thudding hard.
“Think she’ll let us in?” Dominic asked, his assurance of earlier seemingly deserting him now they stood outside her door.
“I hope so,” he muttered as he knocked.
The door opened, and Ice narrowed her eyes when she saw them.
“What now? Come to tell me you’re aliens wanting to take me back to your planet?”
“Not far off.” Dominic said and Nathan kicked his shin.
He sighed and searched for the correct words. “I’m sorry. I know this must seem…fantastical to you, what I said. But I…we need to talk to you. To explain.”
She shook her head.
Nathan let his dragon take over and smell the air around her. Fear. Anger. But underneath the unmistakable sweet scent of her lust. Yep, she still wanted them.
Ice jutted her chin and held his gaze.
“Please.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the door.
The rattle of the chain coming off, snapped his eyes back open. She swung back the door.
“Thank you,” he said
“I don’t understand why I let you in.” Her eyes widened in alarm, and she glanced back at the door with a frown. “I don’t…I don’t know what’s going on here.” She shook her head, her eyes darting around the room. Another wave of lust poured from her, topped off with acrid fear, her body and mind at war.
Just put it out there. “You’re one of us, Ice. One of our people. We aren’t human. What we are will shock you, but it will also explain a few things to you.”
“Mister, this may come as a shock to you, but I don’t have a clue what the fuck you are talking about!” She pointed at him. “I am not one of your people. You have a serious case of mistaken identity.”
She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’d like you to leave now.”
He opted for the blunt approach. “Right now, you’re scared, you think I’m crazy, but you’re also turned on.”
She flushed and shook her head. “You’re nuts. Get. Out. Of. My. Home.”
“Can’t do, beautiful.” He shrugged. “You’re a pretty big problem. You see, no dragon should be out and about in the world not knowing what and who they are. It’s dangerous. For you and the humans around you.”
“I am human!” She shouted now, eyes flashing with anger, and her pupils pinpricks of rage. “Dragons? What the fuck? You are so in need of help.”
Dominic sighed and crossed to the sofa where he sank heavily into its saggy depths.
“So…you’ve never felt…different? The odd one out? You don’t smell things strongly or find bright lights and loud noises irritating?” She clenched her jaw so he went on. “Never had an experience that scared you? Perhaps you wanted someone to do something they didn’t want to, and they suddenly did it anyway? As if by magic. Or maybe you hurt someone when you didn’t mean to?”
And there it came, the flicker in her eyes telling him he’d hit pay dirt.
Ice trembled as she faced Nathan. He stood in her lounge, calm as anything, as he talked all sorts of crazy crap. Except, the things he’d said about scents and sounds being too much sometimes! She’d been labeled ‘highly sensitive’ growing up. Only the focus that came with training and meditating helped her. And the other thing! Jesus. All that stuff about hurting someone when she didn’t mean to, had her so freaked out she shook in her shoes.
Ice didn’t particularly love her life. Most of her days were lonely. The things Nathan listed were why she isolated herself. Her hand went automatically to her neck and fingered the gold cross, the one her birth mother had given her. It had been the only possession, other than the clothes on her back, Claire had on her when her parents took her in.
Nathan’s dark eyes softened as he watched her. “Shit. This isn’t ideal. I’d never have told you this way if I’d had another.”
Dominic nodded. “We’ve never heard of a dragon out and about in the world who didn’t realize what they were.”
“What’s a dragon? I mean, clearly you don’t mean actual dragons, like in fairy tales and stuff.” Now she was talking crazy, but if these strange men held any answers to her weird experiences, she ought to listen.
“Dragons are our people, or as we are officially named, The Dragonea. We have dragon blood in us. We, some of us at least, can change into full dragon form. Some can’t change but have certain skills. They can enchant others, use mind control, or they can burn with their touch.”
“Oh my God!” Her legs buckled and she grabbed the counter to hold herself up.
She stared at him, mind whirring as his words ricocheted around in her head. What the hell? Did he mean the stuff she’d done? “Tell me more about this ability to…burn things.”
Nathan nodded. “I think you ought to sit for this.” He moved toward her and she flinched. “We won’t hurt you, Ice.”
She trusted them on that front at least. They wouldn’t harm her. The way they’d treated her so far, coupled with a deep intuition, told her so. “Let’s go sit on the sofa.” She pointed to her small, deep-red couch under the picture window where Dominic sprawled.
Once they were seated, Nathan took one of her hands in his, but she snatched it back instantly. His scent alone messed with her mind, sending flashes of all they’d done together parading through her brain. His touch only made her arousal worse.
He sighed, but let it go. “We are dragon shifters. We generally don’t mix with humans because years ago, I mean centuries back, they tried to wipe us out. We aren’t many, and we don’t reproduce quickly, so secrecy helps ensure our survival.”
“You said, erm, you said you can change form?” Her heart hammered in her chest. This seemed so fantastical. It couldn’t possibly be true. But then she’d never have imagined a fifteen year old girl, terrified and battered, about to be raped, would place her hands over the heart of the man towering over her and burn him so badly his clothes set fire!
“Yes, I can. So can Dominic. We change into our dragons.”
“Do you fly and stuff? And make fire and the whole thing? As in real King Arthur shit?”
He laughed then. “Yeah. As in real King Arthur shit, as you say.”
“And the burning?”
“If we are threatened, we can burn by touch. The most powerful of us, by our minds alone. Did you do something to someone, Ice?”
His voice came across as gentle, almost melodic. Tears pricked at her eyes as she teetered on the precipice of sharing her deepest secret, for the first time outside of her mum and Sian.
“You can tell me. But if you don’t wish to, it’s okay.”
He gave an out and in doing so sealed the deal, by letting her trust him a bit more.
“I’ve hurt two people. Once, when I was a kid, I burned a girl who’d been teasing me—by accident. I put my hand on her wrist and it glowed all red. She screamed and I let go, the red faded.” She stopped and drew in a deep breath. “Not merely any girl…it was Sian. I told my mum and she told me I must never speak of it again. I’m adopted and mum said I’d be taken away.”
She looked at her hands, hating the memory—the moment her safe world had become anything but. Her home and family at risk of being snatched away. “I did as told and forgot all about it, buried it deep inside. As I got older, I assumed it must be one of those weird childhood memories, part daydream, part exaggerated reality. I became a loner afterwards.”
Nathan shifted in his seat, and his dark eyes flickered with sorrow.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m used to living my life this way.”<
br />
“You shouldn’t be alone in the world. You need to be with your people. With me and Dominic, and our clan.”
“Perhaps I can come and visit one day.” Who knew, maybe she would go see this place and find out about her ‘power’? “Not now though. I’ve got a championship chance since I won the last fight.”
“You should not fight,” Nathan muttered.
“Don’t worry—I can control the weird burning thing. I learned how to do it through fighting. It’s why it matters to me so much. I basically go into this sort of meditative state.”
“Females don’t fight,” Nathan said.
She didn’t appreciate the way his jaw set tight. Wow, talk about old fashioned and controlling. “Buddy, females can do what the hell they like.”
His dark eyes flashed with something she couldn’t name, but he took a deep breath in and rolled his shoulders. “Please, tell me about the other time you used your gifts. You said there were two?”
“Hardly gifts,” she said, but his eyes flashed again, this time with clear anger. She ignored it and continued. “When I was fifteen a man attacked me.” Nathan’s jaw set even tighter. She worried for his teeth. “He tried to rape me.”
“Fuck!” Nathan stood so fast he blurred. He began to pace. “A male tried to take you, against your will?”
“Yes. He didn’t though.”
“Tell me what happened.”
It wasn’t a request, but an order. Despite the urge to tell him to stop ordering her around, the need to share won out. “As I started to say, a man tried to rape me. He’d hit me a few times. Really hurt me. I put my hand on his chest. Can’t think why. I simply did it. Instinct I suppose. Next thing I know, he’s screaming in pain and the same red glow I’d seen on Sian’s arm, burned on his chest. I saw it through his T-shirt.”
She stopped and swallowed. The memories were horrific. She rarely let them surface and to discuss it made her nauseas.
Nathan closed the distance between them and rubbed her back in soothing circles. His touch calmed her completely. In fact, it did more. The only thing she could compare it to was a glass of wine after a long day. Her limbs tingled and loosened, and her belly warmed.
“I didn’t let go this time,” she whispered. “His shirt set fire and he jumped off me, rolling around on the ground screaming. I’m not sure he lived, but if he did, then he’d be badly burned.”
“Good.” Nathan’s low rumble vibrated through her. “You probably saved a fair few other girls a similar fate.”
“Why is your hand on my back so nice?” she whispered again, which was not her usual style, but she didn’t seem able to find her voice.
“Because, we match.”
“What do you mean?”
“Not now, my sweet. Now you need to go and pack some clothes and come with us for a while. We need to show you our home, let you meet your people. Teach you how to control your magic. When do you have to train, for this match you spoke of?”
Ice smiled at the idea of reaching the championships and what it might mean. “I have some recuperation time before I need to start training again in two weeks. Then I train for six weeks, knocking it off a few days before the fight.”
“And your work? Is the fighting your job or do you go to an office?”
“I work from home. Freelance editor.”
“Good.” He nodded. “So you can bring the things you need for your work and come with us for a few weeks. You ought to learn the basics about the power you wield.”
“You can honestly teach me how to control this…thing?”
Nathan held out his hand, palm up. A flash of bright light radiated from his skin and a glowing ball of flame sat in his palm.
“Oh my…Jesus!” She pressed back against the couch.
A flap of his fingers against his palm and the tiny fireball disappeared. “Now you try. Open your palm, Ice.”
She shook her head.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You won’t hurt yourself or us. Trust Nate.” Dominic smiled at her.
She opened her palm.
“Good. Now close your eyes and think hard of heat in your hand. As if you’re holding a burning candle by the flame. Let yourself experience the touch of the flame on your skin.” Nathan’s voice went melodic again. “As you feel the heat let it grow. Let the fire grow until it sits in the palm of your hand, a ball of warmth.”
Fire pricked at her skin and Ice’s eyes shot open. She clapped her other hand over her mouth. A small ball of fire sat in her outstretched hand. “Shit!”
The moment she lost focus, the flames withered away.
“I can help you, teach you. But you need to come with us. If only for a short time. I give you my word of honor you will be safe, but you need to know who and what you are.” Nathan’s face went soft, and he smiled at her. “It’s simple. Look upon it as an adventure. Go to your room. Pack a bag. Meet us in the foyer. You can text anyone you need to on the journey. Tell them something’s come up.”
She’d created a ball of fire from nothing! Seen it. Felt it. Still couldn’t believe it. She shuffled about her room packing a bag, but every motion took extra effort, as if wading through mud. Fire? Dragons? None of it could be real. But maybe—maybe they belonged to a strange magic cult. She shook her head at the idiocy…Cuz magic was sooo different from dragons.
The other thing freaking her out was the connection she felt with them. Yes, their time in the sack had been phenomenal, but it ran deeper. She didn’t understand it, but in their company, she experienced a new sense of safety and peace.
She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “Please don’t let this be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.”
Chapter Five
Dominic watched Ice as they pulled into Arach Caim. What would she think of their home? The one level farmhouse clung to the landscape. It had been small to start with, but modernization had added a lot of space. It still fit into the land, though. Dotted all around were the homes of his fellow clan members, all of them simple, one story buildings. None of the buildings overwhelmed the stunning landscape. Here the homes seemed to rise out of the very ground they stood on. Sheep grazed on some of the steep hillsides and high mountains gave way to verdant valleys, before rising up once more to reach for the sky. He loved it, but would she?
The journey had seemingly taken forever. He wanted their girl home with them. He needed her on their territory to soothe his dragon’s increasing desire to claim her.
Speaking of claiming, Nathan’s attitude so far amazed Dominic. Nate seemed to have locked down his more domineering side and gentled his responses to Ice. He had to give the big guy props for it.
“This place is so beautiful,” she said.
Oh, her voice. It slid over him like silk, and his dick immediately hardened. He hoped she’d give them time and keep an open mind. Their way of life differed from the human world. Even he found it stuffy at times. The traditions and hierarchies frequently irritated him, and he’d grown up dragon.
It was so bloody ironic, their match had no idea she should be theirs. She proved to be perfect mate material. Not only did her scent compliment them utterly, but she radiated an amazing spirit. And yet she’d no clue about dragons?
“If I don’t want to stay, I can leave?” Ice turned to Nathan.
Leave? Dom shook his head. No. No way! He didn’t want her to leave. They’d waited years for this chance. If she walked away, it might be decades, or centuries, before another match came along–and he doubted any other female could equal Ice in beauty or be such a perfect match.
“Yes. You can leave.” Nate answered.
Dominic would have something to say on the issue if it arose. He blew out an irritated breath and opened the door as the car rolled to a stop.
Ice clambered out and glanced between them. “So how does it work between you guys? Are you lovers?”
“I’m his bonded male.” Dominic hefted his bag out of the backseat.
“Bonded? As in a pair? So
you’re gay? Or bi, I presume after this morning…”
“We aren’t gay,” Nathan said.
Dom nearly butted in to say bi would be a better description, if they were human, which they weren’t, but Nate spoke again.
“Our people don’t produce many females. So males find another male who matches them, then they look for a female to complete them. Some males never find a female, and live together as two males in a relationship. Some males find they don’t want a female and are happy as they are. Others find a female, and then the three dragons are together, in all ways. Do you understand?”
Ice nodded.
Dominic wanted to tell Nathan to knock off the condescending shit. She wasn’t some naïve Victorian lady, coddled from the world at large. But Nate carried on with his explanation.
“Other males merely bond and wait until they find their female match. They are close, closer than probably any human relationship, but not physically so…or at least not sexually, I should say. Dom and I are the latter. We are not sexually bonded. We’ve been waiting for our female mate.”
“We don’t give it labels though,” Dom supplied. “We aren’t hung up on who does what with whom. As Nate says, there are myriad ways we organize the mating between males and their one female.”
He couldn’t wait to experiment further with Ice. See how they all fit. Add in something happening with Nate and he’d have the whole package. Not that Nate had shown any interest in doing anything. Which, frankly, he found a little insulting since he knew Nate liked guys as much as girls.
Okay, so maybe he’d laid the law down about not being into males when they’d first got together, but it had been years ago. He’d loosened up big time on the sex-with-Nathan front, but Nate made it clear his caveat stood. So they’d been in a holding pattern ever since.
As they approached the front door, a tall, blonde female rounded the corner.
“Nathan! Trust me to pick a day to visit when you’re away. I’m setting off home now…” She trailed off and stared at Ice, eyes narrowing. “And who is this?”
