Master of Frost

by Bolryder, Terry

  But if he hurt her, he just couldn’t stand it.

  “Look, you seem like a nice guy. You’ve been patient. But there’s a difference between waiting for her to come around and watching her do dumbass things like hooking you up with her best friend.”

  He scratched the back of his head, feeling trapped and cornered and a little increasingly worried about what Luka and Chelle were doing behind closed doors.

  He trusted both of them, but…

  “Look, why don’t you call her bluff,” Iris said, taking both of his hands and putting them around her shoulders, forcing her to face him on the couch.

  Dmitri froze, feeling like he was doing something incredibly wrong, even though Chelle had set this up. “I don’t know…”

  “If she doesn’t have feelings, you should really move on from her. And if she does have feelings, then this should let both of you know.”

  Dmitri looked into Iris’s eyes, panicked, but saw only kindness and reassurance there.

  “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind having your hands on me, but I’m just doing this for my friend. Once she comes to her senses, I’ll make my move on the dark-haired ice prince over there.”

  Dmitri laughed. “Ice prince?” It was oddly apt, considering she knew nothing about them except that they’d come from ice.

  “Oh, you know. He just has that demeanor about him. Noble. And those icy eyes.” She sighed.

  Dmitri laughed. “You move on quickly.”

  She shrugged. “I’m a practical girl.” Then she looked over her shoulder at the hallway. “Shouldn’t be long now.”

  “What should I do?” Dmitri asked.

  Iris put a hand around his neck, drawing him closer. “Just let me make the moves. We want it to look a certain way, but not too far, when she comes back.”

  Dmitri nodded, heart pounding. “What if she doesn’t?”

  “She will,” Iris said, placing a hand on his face. “Hey, you’re worth it.”

  Dmitri certainly hoped so, because if, after all this, Chelle didn’t want him, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  Chapter 12

  “This is bullshit,” Luka said, pacing around his bedroom, ruffling his dark hair with his hands. When his gaze met Chelle’s, his icy eyes flashed. “Why would you keep me from Iris? She is a single female, and I still have research to do.”

  “I…”

  “And you left her out there with Dmitri? Do you know how that’s going to make him feel?” He shook his head, planting his hands on his hips angrily. “You’re my friend, Chelle, and I’ve tried to hold my tongue on this, but you’re being completely illogical.” He sat on the bed next to her. “I know you have feelings for each other.”

  “He’s my friend,” Chelle said.

  “You know he doesn’t feel that way,” Luka said. “Even someone as dense as you can’t not know.”

  Chelle took a deep breath, trying to distract from the constant ache that came from leaving Dmitri out there with Iris. Dmitri probably wouldn’t make a move, but Iris would. And once he realized how it felt to be wanted by someone who didn’t have any baggage, perhaps he would be able to give up on Chelle.

  She had to sit on her hands to keep from going out there to stop him.

  Luka peered at her, anger fading into an annoyed stare. “You know, what’s so wrong with Dmitri anyway? In his day, women would flock to him. He’s a kind man, but I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. He is good looking, which is typical for dragons. He is strong and more than capable of protecting you as your mate, so what’s the problem?”

  She shrugged. “I just don’t have feelings for him.”

  “Bullshit,” Luka said. “You’ve been taking care of the two of us for weeks. I’ve seen your feelings for him.”

  “He’s a very dear friend.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “I don’t want to lose him.”

  Luka leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Honestly, you’re impossible. You think you just have friendly feelings for him?”

  She nodded, still feeling choked by the things her mind kept imagining about Iris and Dmitri.

  “But you cuddle with him at night?” Luka asked caustically. “I know about that. And I know what you did a few mornings ago, too. Still think it’s only friendly?”

  “Of course I’m attracted to him,” Chelle said defensively, folding her arms. “He’s gorgeous, and he’s a good friend.”

  Luka frowned. “I’m gorgeous and a good friend. You want to fuck me, too?”

  The blood drained from her face instantly. “No. What?”

  Luka moved in a little closer. “Because based on your logic, we should be able to do things, too. I’m not opposed to it, for research, I mean. Look at you, able to separate sexuality and emotion. I would think that’s rare for most humans. It’s rare for dragons even. But hey, I’m down.” He came closer, until his breath was almost tickling her neck.

  All she’d have to do is turn her head if she wanted to kiss him.

  But she didn’t.

  Despite Luka’s looks and the fact that she cared for him as a friend, she zero percent wanted to kiss him. Or touch him. Or cuddle. Or do anything she did with Dmitri.

  He pulled back, looking smug. “I thought so. Feels gross to do things like that when you don’t have those feelings for someone, right?”

  She sat back, feeling utterly defeated. Sadness waved through her as she acknowledged he was right. There was more than friendship between her and Dmitri. She wanted him in a way she had no right to.

  She was attracted to him, far more than Luka, and it had nothing to do with looks.

  Perhaps she’d been attracted to him from the start, in that deep way she always avoided, and that’s why she’d felt threatened by him.

  Perhaps she’d always known he would be the one to make her hurt most over what she couldn’t have.

  She folded her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry. I’ve made a mess of things.” She still didn’t know where to go with all of this. She might care for Dmitri, want him more than she wanted anything, but that didn’t mean things were going to work out.

  Life wasn’t some sort of fairy tale. She’d learned that more than ten years before.

  “You know, when I said it feels gross to do that with someone you aren’t into, I also meant to point out that’s probably how Dmitri feels right now as well. With Iris.” Luka looked at her pointedly.

  Chelle shot up. “Right.”

  Dmitri cared for her. She might not be able to answer him in the way he wanted, but she could at least be honest so he didn’t get more hurt. She wouldn’t send mixed messages.

  She couldn’t stand if Iris touched him, and if he didn’t want that as well, then why was she sitting here doing nothing about it?

  She ran out of the room and down the hallway, not caring if Luka was following behind. She didn’t really think Dmitri would try and do anything, but—”

  She skidded to a stop on the carpet when she saw Dmitri in Iris’s arms, the two of them looking cozy on the couch.

  Perhaps she had set herself up, because she didn’t think anything could have made her feelings about him clearer than that moment.

  Dmitri’s arms on Iris’s shoulders, Iris’s hand on his muscular neck. His perfect neck.

  She swallowed, trying to push down the rage inside her so she could get important words out. But all that came was, “Get out.”

  Iris sat up, smiling for some reason. Like she didn’t realize Chelle was serious.

  “No, seriously,” Chelle said, walking over to the couch and grabbing Iris by the arm. “I need to talk to my roommate. You need to go.”

  Iris frowned at Chelle but released Dmitri. “I don’t get it. You said you were just friends.” She put a hand on Dmitri’s chest.

  Dmitri’s flinch at the motion was the last straw. She pointed a finger at the door and practically screamed, “Out!”

  Iris scrambled up, putting both
hands up. “Okay, okay. Look, you’re going to feel guilty about this tomorrow, but I’m glad you two are going to work this out.”

  Luka appeared behind Iris. “We should let them talk. Want to go do something?”

  Iris turned around, and a blush tinged her deep skin. “Oh. Um, sure.”

  Chelle fought back a smile. Maybe she’d just hooked her friend up with the wrong dragon. But what did that mean for Dmitri now?

  “Okay, you two drama queens figure things out,” Iris said, putting her arm through Luka’s. “Me and this hunk are going to go get a drink. Too stuffy around here.”

  And then with a shrug from Luka, the two were gone.

  Chelle looked at Dmitri, realizing she was still standing while he was sitting stiffly.

  He looked like he’d been molested. Maybe he had. No, Iris was pushy, but she wouldn’t go that far. So why had he let Iris do anything at all?

  Chelle took a seat in a chair across from him. “So. That went fast.”

  Dmitri raised an eyebrow at her, and she could tell from the tension in his hard jaw that he was a bit irritated as well. “What did you expect? You practically threw me at her.” His blue-green eyes were accusing. “You know how I feel.”

  She twisted her hands nervously. It had been easy to come out here and get jealous. It was hard now to talk about why. But after all the shenanigans, she definitely owed him an explanation “I thought we were just friends. And I thought, if you met her, maybe she could be better.”

  Dmitri scoffed. “That completely invalidates my feelings.”

  “I know,” Chelle said. “But I honestly don’t know what to do about your feelings anymore. How do you tell someone that the only toy they want is broken? Why wouldn’t you try to get them something else?” She looked up at him, hoping too much pain wasn’t showing in her eyes. She wasn’t ready to talk to him about everything, but she could give him a peek into her heart.

  After tonight, he deserved at least that much.

  “You aren’t broken,” he said, anger fading slightly as his blue-green eyes narrowed in concern. “I like you just the way you are. Just the way we are. Why do you always think I’m going to want more than you can give? What if I like how we are now?”

  “It will never be enough,” she said. “You want more, and—”

  “I would rather have something with you than everything with anyone else,” he said firmly. “Do not hook me up with any of your friends anymore. You don’t have to date me, but I refuse to be pushed into dating someone else.”

  She sighed. “If you didn’t notice, I just chewed out my good friend over something she thought was fine to do, so obviously, I don’t want you dating anyone either.” She bit her lip. “Besides, Luka helped me realize that my feelings for you are already deeper than I would have for a friend.”

  He perked up at that. “How did he do that?”

  “By pointing out that he was also handsome and my friend and making a move on me.”

  Dmitri was on his feet in an instant, striding toward the door with a murderous intent in his flame-blue eyes. “I’ll kill that sonovabitch. How dare he—”

  Chelle ran in front of the door, blocking it so Dmitri could calm down. “No, wait. He didn’t do anything. Not like that. He just sort of came in closer, daring me to take him up on it. He didn’t force me. We didn’t even touch.”

  “Oh,” Dmitri said lightly, sagging in relief as he stepped back. Then he folded his arms. “You still shouldn’t be alone with him.”

  “He’s only my friend. He knows we’re into each other. I think we all know that now.” She scowled. “Then again, you did let Iris put her hands on you.”

  “She did that,” Dmitri said flatly. “I told her I had feelings for you, and she said that we should call your bluff. I hated her touching me.”

  “Oh,” Chelle said lightly, even as relief she didn’t know she would feel flooded through her at the thought that Dmitri hadn’t wanted anyone else. She’d suspected, but to hear it from his lips was different. Better. “That’s good.”

  “Is it?” Dmitri asked, coming forward, blocking her against the door.

  She cringed back, aroused, as he rested an arm on the doorframe above her, making his body her entire view. Not that she was opposed to that.

  She looked up at him, enjoying every inch of his muscular chest and arms until she reached his face, which was watching her intently. Always watching her.

  That, too, felt familiar.

  But she pushed the pain aside. Tonight, she just wanted to be with Dmitri. She just wanted to touch him and feel him touch her and damn the consequences. She just wanted to be a regular woman, feeling crazy about a man.

  Just one night shouldn’t be too much for that.

  “Oh no,” he said, lifting her chin up to force her to face him. “If we do this tonight, we do it with feelings. We do it together, without hiding. We do it honestly.”

  A muscle ticked in her jaw as electricity ran through her just at his touch.

  The first time they’d come together, she’d only touched him. She’d wanted to be in charge. She hadn’t wanted to hear his feelings, and she hadn’t wanted to talk about hers.

  Now…

  She couldn’t say exactly what she was feeling or what she wanted. She still had to trace around some lines that could ruin everything.

  But she did know that, due to everything that had happened with Luka and Iris, the wall had fallen. The denial that had kept things between her and Dmitri merely civil was gone.

  Now there was just sheer fire, burning hotter because he was so close to her. She reached a hand up to touch his chest, wanting to wipe Iris’s touch away. His eyes closed and opened with a heat she was glad another woman couldn’t experience.

  The way he reacted was nothing like he had with Iris or any of the club women. Perhaps he really did care more than she thought.

  That made it hard because it meant she couldn’t just pass him off or have hope for him to find someone. For whatever reason, she was the only one who could get this response.

  She ran her finger down his neck and he trapped her hand in his stronger, larger one, and pinned her with a heated glare.

  “This time, I need to touch you, too. I have to,” he said urgently. “I need to feel all of you. To know I’m the only one with you. To see for myself I’m the only one who can make you feel that way.” He shook his head. “Even though I know better, I’m still so jealous of Luka.” He looked to the side angrily, the muscles clenching at the side of his jaw.

  Even angry, he’d never looked hotter.

  She reached up and caught his head in both hands. “I will never do anything with Luka. Or anyone else. That much is certain. Whatever I do feel, I feel for you in a way I’ve never felt about anyone.” She felt sadness creep in and had to push it back again. It was easier when she had this big, handsome man looking down at her like she was his entire world.

  He made everything easier and harder at the same time.

  “I can’t offer you everything someone else could, but at the same time, I only want to offer what I do have to you.” She came closer to rest against him, listening to his heartbeat, which was racing like her own. Then she looked up at him and raised up on her toes to kiss him.

  He melted into the kiss, his arms coming around her as she opened her lips and his tongue thrust deep into her mouth.

  It felt so good, so amazing, that she let out a little moan and pulled him tighter against her, wrapping her hands around his head and neck as if she just couldn’t get close enough.

  He let out a little growl and grabbed her under the thighs, lifting her and pinning her against him, backing her up until her back hit the door.

  She could feel his hard length pushing against her, feel his strong hands holding her up.

  She moaned as he released her lips and nibbled down to her neck, biting her softly there in a way that made her ache. Her whole body was lit up for him now, and she could feel the anticipation of t
he pleasure he would give her right down to her toes.

  Chapter 13

  “Bedroom, Dmitri?”

  He growled as he kissed her on the lips again with a hungry dominance that he must have been holding back before. “I don’t know if I can wait,” he said when he pulled back, leaving her breathless and more thoroughly kissed than she’d ever been before.

  She felt closer to him than ever, and he’d been inside her before. What would it feel like tonight when there was so much more honesty between them?

  She buried her face in his shoulder, slightly worried about it as he carried them swiftly down the hallway to her bedroom.

  But regardless, she couldn’t stop now if she wanted to. She was on a collision course with Dmitri, headed toward more pleasure than she knew what to do with, and no matter what waited at the destination, she couldn’t turn back now.

  She pressed kisses over his neck and shoulders, more out of the urge to touch and claim every part of him than because he gave any reaction at all.

  He gave her a pleased look just before he tossed her down on the bed and then went over to shut and lock the door behind him.

  Then he began to strip, unbuttoning his shirt swiftly with one hand as his eyes kept her pinned to the bed.

  She watched hungrily as he shed each of his garments. When he was revealed, totally naked, there was a savagery to his figure. So tall, so muscled, so hard.

  So beautiful.

  And so focused on her.

  As he came forward, his eyes softened and he crawled onto the bed, pinning her down. He grabbed her hands and shoved them above her, watching her all the time for some kind of negative response.

  She just smiled because she liked seeing this side of him. She’d suspected he would be dominant in the bedroom. That’s what had made it special when he had let her take control.

  But now she wanted to see everything. See who he was when he wasn’t forced to hold back.