by Skye Jones
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. Talk about the best firework display she’d ever seen! Not because of the fireworks themselves but because she watched them from on the back of a dragon.
The display ended far too quickly. She’d forgotten her fear and only a euphoric high remained. This was better than any fight win. Better than anything she’d experienced in her whole life. Her body fizzed with excitement and life, and for once she didn’t have to stop it. Didn’t have to cut it off and go to her calm place, where she felt nothing.
For the first time in years, she let herself feel.
“You want to go back fast? Experience a real thrill ride?” Teresa’s quiet voice sounded in her ear.
“Why the heck not?” she said.
Teresa let out another whoop. Nathan and Dominic swooped low, and then high again, before speeding back at a scary-fast rate to the patch of grass jutting over the valley.
They landed with a thud, and Ice thanked God she’d held on tight to those thick silk ribbons around her wrists. The same men surged forward and helped her out of the chair, steadying her as she clambered to the ground. Legs shaking, she stood with adrenalin coursing through her body. She threw her arms around the thinnest part of Nathan’s scaly neck and gave him a hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his jaw. “No one has ever given me such an amazing gift. I’ll treasure the memory forever.”
Chapter Eight
Dominic awoke with his heart racing. Something had disturbed his sleep. Beside him, Nathan grunted and rolled over. Dom listened but didn’t hear anything. About to drop back off, he stilled. A muffled sound, almost a sob, rang out from Ice’s room two doors away. Silence reigned once more, and he wondered if he’d imagined it. Another sob reached him, followed by a sniffle. Damn, their girl was crying.
She’d been with them three nights now. The first night, after the flight, the whole community feasted together. Ice had glowed. Seeing her let go and experience everything fully, only made her more beautiful. Her eyes shone with exuberance and her bright spirit, the one she normally kept hidden away, too scared to let out. When they’d returned to the house, Ice kissed him and Nathan on their cheeks then retired to her room.
Last night she’d spent the evening doing laps in their small pool, and then she’d gone for a run with Teresa. Once more, upon returning to the house, she’d retired to her room.
This evening they’d all eaten a meal together. After, he’d suggested they watch Warrior, a film about two brothers who were fighters A genius idea if he said so himself. The mundane activity seemed to relax her, and she’d ended up snuggling between Nathan and him. Still, at the end of the night, she’d once more kissed them on the cheek and padded off to bed.
Dominic crept across the room, not wanting to disturb Nathan, and opened the door a crack. Moonlight illuminated the atrium. More snuffles came from Ice’s room. Hesitating outside her door, he sighed, and opened it without knocking.
“Ice? Sweetheart? You okay?” He stuck his head around and saw a small bundle under the covers where she’d curled in on herself. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the silk sheets back a touch. “Want to tell me why you’re crying?”
She turned her head to look at him. For a moment, he didn’t think she’d share anything. Her eyes seemed preternaturally light in the dim moonlight streaming through her window. The linen curtains hung open and billowed in the soft breeze.
“I never felt I belonged, you know?” Her voice came thick and hushed. “All my life I sensed somehow I stood on the outside. My parents love me, and are lovely, but I always sensed something there, a barrier of sorts. I can’t describe it easily, but after I hurt Sian, I spent months and months in fear of getting sent away. My mum said if I ever told they’d lose me, and I’d end up in a home.”
Dom clenched his jaw. He wanted to shake her mother, the stupid woman. Maybe she’d meant well, but her actions hurt Ice.
She sat up and the silk sheets pooled around her middle. Her strappy top encased her lovely small breasts enticingly, and he averted his eyes before he went and got all turned on, which would make him a bastard, seeing as she still held tears in her eyes.
“Kids avoided me after it happened. I pretended I didn’t care. Lived in my head a lot, you know?”
He nodded when she glanced at him. He’d never been particularly introspective. Dom lived life, and didn’t angst about it, but he wanted her to keep sharing.
“Then the attack happened, and I burned that man. Afterward, I became more freaked out and afraid. I let myself drift away from most people in my life. I became more and more lost, until mum persuaded me to go to self-defense classes. Those classes saved my life. They became my life. My teacher didn’t only teach me to fight, she taught me to meditate, and to control my emotions. Now, because of all I learned, fighting, training, meditating…these things were…are everything to me.”
It sounded horribly lonely, but he remained quiet. He sensed her struggling to put her experience into words, his bond with her starting to solidify. Her emotions became clearer to him by the day.
“Now, I discover there’s somewhere I do—could—belong. But I don’t fit in here either. I suddenly find I do have a family. A community. And fuck me, but it’s fantastic. This place. You guys. The way I felt flying with you on the first night, and at the feast. I can’t describe how out of this world it seemed. But even here, I don’t fit in.” She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand.
“I swear. Fight. And don’t want to spend my life mated and locked away in the house or teaching kids. And I suppose it’s stupid, getting all sorry for myself. Wherever I choose, I don’t quite fit. Either way, I’m still on the outside.”
She swiped her wet cheeks. “I hate crying. I never cry.”
Dom took her hand and held it in his. “Ice, sweetheart. You’d fit in here. As much as I do, anyway. I come from a Canadian clan. We’re different from these guys. Yes, the basics are the same. Two or more males for each female, but we don’t have the same traditions. These guys, they are old world. They do things their way, and it works for them, but it wouldn’t work for a new world dragon, the same as it might not work for you. So you make it work, but as in any relationship, I’ve made some compromises. Nate has made others.”
“Like?” She sniffed and blinked at him.
“Okay. Maybe this is a stupid example, but here goes. They have these ceremonial robes. My clan? We still celebrate the important gods and goddesses on their named days, but we do so casually. These guys, they go the whole hog. As Nate’s partner, I’m expected to go the whole hog, too. Put on these long silk robes and gold cuffs on my arms. I refuse to do it. Hate it.” He shuddered. “I feel similar to some stupid kid playing dress up. And Nate accepts this, despite not liking it. However, when I told him I wanted to build a road into the settlement, he absolutely put his foot down. He explained why they don’t have roads here, and why they want to keep it that way. It made sense to me, and I accepted it.”
“I’m not saying I want to stay. I haven’t let myself think about it yet,” she said. “But the idea of having to choose between two societies where I’m an outsider made me sad. You’ve made me less sad. So thank you.”
“Sweetheart, you’d fit. Give it a few days. See how it goes. Hell, I’d bet you could persuade Nate about the fighting if it mattered to you to continue.” He paused and trailed his finger along her arm. “I bet you can be very persuasive.” He grinned at her.
Ice watched his finger mapping her skin with hooded eyes and when she lifted her gaze to his, the desire there jolted him to his core. He didn’t stop to think. He ignored the plan to let her come to them. Ignored, too, that rightfully Nathan decided when, where, and how anything between them happened. He ignored everything but the power of her aqua gaze. One moment he stared at her, rapt, the next his hand snaked into her hair and gathered a handful of the silky tresses. His mouth slanted over hers and his tongue touched her lips. She moaned and opened f
or him. Her taste exploded in his mouth, fresh and minty with a sweet undercurrent all her.
Dominic moaned back, and pulled her closer until their chests touched. Ice wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her intensity matching his. Fucking hell! Dom closed his eyes and fireworks exploded behind his lids. His erection strained against the soft jogging bottoms he’d fallen asleep in. He wanted her so badly. Unlike Nathan, he’d never experienced a dragon lover. Dom spent his time fucking around with human women, which he enjoyed. A lot! But this? This felt like being clothed in silk after a lifetime spent wearing rough cotton. His skin tingled with his arousal.
“What the fuck?”
Nathan’s voice, quiet but deadly, broke the spell, and Dom wrenched his mouth away.
“It’s not what you think,” he began, realizing how lame it sounded as soon as the words were out.
“It’s my fault.” Ice reached forward, but Nathan ignored her.
“Dominic, can you come with me, please?” Nathan turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.
Now things were going to get interesting! Dom rolled his eyes and turned back to Ice. “Gotta go talk with him, sweetheart. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“You sure there’s nothing between you two?” Ice asked, her eyes wide. “He seems awfully upset.”
“He’s upset I kissed you, when it isn’t my place to do so.” He gave a cynical laugh. “Believe me, Nathan doesn’t want me. He’s pissed you and I got too friendly without his say-so. Fucking control freak. Don’t worry, angel, it’ll be alright. I’ll go smooth his ruffled feathers.”
He kissed the top of her head, inhaling a lungful of the coconut scent of her hair. “Try to sleep. Stop worrying so much about fitting in here, and see where the next few days take you.”
He walked out of the room willing his erection away, and livid at Nate’s high-handed attitude. If the guy imagined he’d some right to treat Dominic like shit, purely because he held position as clan leader, he could go fuck himself.
Back in the room they mostly shared, he closed the door behind him softly so as not to upset Ice by slamming it.
“Do you mind dialing the attitude back, and dealing with me with some modicum of fucking respect?” he spat at Nathan, who paced the center of the room.
The large male stopped pacing and turned to him, dark eyes blazing. “You dare talk to me about respect? We agreed. We made a joint decision to leave it to Ice to come to us. Furthermore, I understand you take our traditions lightly, but you must be aware it is up to the dominant male to initiate anything with a matched mate?”
“You’re only dominant because you’re clan leader. A position you’ve held for so long you’ve no idea how you’d hold up against a challenger.” He wanted to shove the words back in once they’d escaped him. He didn’t want to hurt Nathan, and furthermore, he did not relish the idea of getting into a challenge with the big guy.
The next moment Dom found himself against the wall, his throat screaming as a meaty forearm pinned him in place.
“Are you challenging me?” Nathan growled.
Warm breath blew across his cheek, and he must be sick in the head or something because his erection surged back to life.
Dom tried to move his head and found it almost impossible, but he managed a small shake.
“I have fought and destroyed all our enemies for centuries, both dragon and human. I can assure you; I’d win any challenge thrown my way.”
Nathan picked him up then, by the scruff of his T-shirt, as if he weighed nothing, and threw him on the bed.
“I’ve put up with so much shit from you.” Nathan towered over him. “You’re arrogant, cocky…rude. You ignore our traditions, and I’m sick of the human women you bring back here all the damn time. I’ve put up with it because I wanted to be mated. Knew if we found a female, things could be amazing. We have a great genetic match, with the right mate our triad ought to be the strongest seen in generations. But you push and push.”
“How do I push?” Dom grew too fucking angry to be scared or back down. “By being me? Sorry, pal, but if you think making me change who I am is going to make us strong, you’re sadly mistaken. And another thing, Ice is the same as me. She won’t fit into your stuffy traditions and ways of life any more than I can. You want us, then you take us as we are.”
“I do.” Nathan got in his face and let the words out on a fierce whisper. “I do take you as you are. Have from the start. Doesn’t mean you don’t piss me off.”
“Oh, I’m aware I piss you off. You make it all too clear.”
“Yes, and you make it all too clear you think I’m boring and stuffy, and you hate our life here. As I said, you throw it in my face often enough with the regular supply of women you bring through here. What was it? Nine, last month alone?”
“Since when have you developed a problem with me bringing women back?” Where the hell was this coming from? They both brought females back occasionally. Sometimes they shared them, although not recently come to think of it. Most of the time, Dom took any women back to his old room.
“Since it went from an occasional thing to becoming a regular fucking occurrence, and finding myself having to make small talk over breakfast with some woman I’ll never see again, far too bloody often.”
“I don’t see how it matters to you. And I have needs. It’s not as if you’re going to take care of them, is it?” Dom gave a harsh laugh. “So I get them taken care of elsewhere.”
Heat filled the room as the air around Dom turned heavy and hard to breathe. Nathan let loose some of his magic, and Dom’s eyes widened at the male’s power as his skin prickled with the heat of anger turned into hot, arid air.
“What did you say?” Nathan sounded strangled.
“Nothing.” Dom backpedaled. He hadn’t meant half of what he’d shouted in anger, but he’d gone too far. “Forget I said anything, I didn’t mean it.”
“You taunt me for not touching you, yet you were the one who made it clear you found the idea of me anywhere near you intolerable. I am all too aware you find me unattractive, at best.” Nathan’s chest heaved as he spoke. “I never pushed you for anything more. Now you make a joke of it and act as if you wanted me to ‘take care of your needs’ when we both know it is the last thing you’d ever want.”
“I don’t find you intolerable,” Dom said. “Never have. Infuriating, yes. Intolerable, no. Did you ever stop to consider that when I came here, I was young for a dragon to be bonding with another male? Especially one of your experience and power. Also, you must have figured out I had no previous sexual experience with a male, dragon or human? So yes, at first I made it clear I wanted us to be purely platonic. It’s what I thought I wanted and needed.” He took a deep breath and dug deep for his courage. “Somewhere along the way it changed.”
Nathan stopped breathing. His large chest ceased to move. “It changed?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. I think.”
“Not good enough. You need to know. Gods, I need some space. You certainly do. I’m sleeping in the spare room.”
Before Dom got out another word, Nathan stormed out the door.
“Fucking brilliant.” Dom put his head in his hands and sighed.
He wanted Ice with an aching keenness. He also wanted Nathan, but the idea scared him. Not because he was male, but because Nathan was Nathan. A powerful, scary, at times maddening, male. If he and Nathan went there, it would be explosive and there’d be no going back.
He sighed and closed his eyes.
Chapter Nine
Ice packed with cool efficiency. She’d got over her mini-breakdown and now wanted to punch herself in the face for crying like some stupid child over her hurt feelings at not belonging. God, when did she become such a sap? She took life’s hits and kept going. It was her way, and now after only a few days here, she’d gone all emo. She’d have put up with it to see if she could fit in, and maybe have a secon
d home here. Somewhere she could visit sometimes, but the fierce row she’d overheard the previous night, after she and Dom started to get it on put paid to the idea.
Clearly, Dom and Nathan were more than just bonded men and close platonic friends, whether they admitted it or not. Not about to be a third and get in their way, she wanted gone. She wouldn’t be the reason the two men split.
Not that she’d mind sharing. A small grin tugged at her mouth as she imagined the hotness of the three of them together. She thought of Sian’s sizzling threesome. Problem being, this situation didn’t compare at all to one night. This situation contained nasty, messy things, such as emotions. She wanted Dom and Nathan physically, but also on a deeper level. They drew her to them. Whatever they did, whether swooping in the air or watching a movie, she’d loved it. If this went any further, her heart would be involved eventually.
“Keep it simple,” Ice muttered to herself, head shoved deep in her case as she placed her underwear in a neat pile. “Never get in over your head, always leave yourself an escape plan. No man is worth it. You let yourself get involved emotionally, and you know it ends in tears.”
“You’re better off alone, baby,” she told herself.
“What are you doing?”
“Jesus!” She jumped and turned around to find Nathan in the doorway, arms folded over his bare chest, pajama bottoms hanging low on his lean hips.
He strode into the room and closed the door. “Why are you packing?”
She jutted her chin and turned to square up to him. “I’m outta here.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Excuse me?” God, but he was a bossy bastard.
“You said you’d give this a chance.” A muscle ticked along his jawline.
“You said, anytime I wanted, I could go.”
“You loved it up there with us your first night. I sensed it because I tuned into your emotions the whole time we were flying. It’s something that happens between matched dragons. So why the change of heart? It is only a few days—a vacation if you will—to see how you find life with us. Your people, may I remind you.”
