by A. K. Koonce
He hates me for me.
Chapter Fourteen
As White as Snow
Kain doesn’t mention it. If he’s frustrated with the fake fuck fest his friend put on while he was working, he never mentions it.
He does pass me long and questioning glances throughout the day. He’s giving me one right now as I cup my hands within the cool river before bringing the water to my lips. He watches every single move I make down to the way the water drips from my lips and down my throat.
“Kreedence talked almost fondly about the mage today.” A teasing smirk touches the corner of Chaos’ full lips.
Rime brings his attention to Chaos. Chaos stands back, seemingly ready to head home as he lingers near the woods while Rime leans against a tree, one ankle crossed lazily over the other.
It’s even weirder that Chaos doesn’t mention what happened either. It’s as if he didn’t just see his friend supposedly fucking me in front of him …
Guilt twists through me and I can’t stop watching him. I hate my feelings. I hate the mess I’ve made of my life.
But most of all, I hate the position I just put Chaos in with his friend.
Kain and I sit in the damp grass near the river’s edge. The smell of pine is heavy in the fresh air, and I breathe it in deeply on a shaking breath. The water is barely a trickle here; a calming sound that fills the quiet forest while these two discuss my ex right in front of me, and I pretend not to listen at all.
Rime doesn’t reply to that statement, but he does consider it. He seems to pick apart what people say and now is no different.
“I wonder what the woman did to him. Seems he was stupid enough to fall in love with her.” Kain’s emerald eyes skim to the tangle of thick tree limbs above, letting the pieces of sunlight warm his skin.
“You sound so jaded.” I bite my lip the moment I say it. Sometimes the words just slip out. I’ll blame it on my normal lack of a social life. I was supposed to be minding my own business.
The look Kain shoots me says he thinks I should mind my own business as well. Chaos’ dark brow arches at me, almost sending me a warning signal with a single look.
“I’m not jaded. I’m careful. Responsibility makes someone careful. I don’t back down from commitments or responsibility. You just have to be careful in life.”
Hmm, sounds jaded. And no one knows jaded better than I do.
“Who was the woman who made you so careful?” Once again, I lecture myself about minding my own business, and, once again, I ignore that little chastising voice.
Kain doesn’t look angry this time. His attention holds on me, shifting over my features slowly. For a moment, I think he’ll actually tell me. Then his gaze tears from mine.
“We need to get back.” He stands, leaving me behind as he starts walking back into the thicket of the woods.
Chaos shakes his head before trailing after his friend in a rush like he might comfort him.
Rime watches him go as he passes by, his arms folded neatly in place before he shoves away from his spot against the tree. Thin twigs snap under his boots, and he startles me when he pauses at my side. We stare at one another in an awkward beat of silence. Stiffly, he lowers his hand to me, and it takes me a moment to realize I should take this small offer of kindness from him. His warm palm grips mine, pulling me to my feet until we’re chest to chest. The clear blue of his eyes studies my features as I tip my head up to him. The feel of his breath against my lips is a cold and tingling feeling. He searches every part of my eyes, looking for something there. Or … maybe he’s trying to understand me.
When his animalistic gaze makes something in my core tighten, I pull away, letting my palm fall to my side finally. That sparking energy seems to swirl within the small space between us, skimming over my flesh in waves.
“You two coming?” Kain’s voice yells out to us, and it seems to break the building tension immediately.
My gaze flickers to Rime’s once more before I turn away, trailing after the sound of his friend’s voice.
And forgetting all of those confusing emotions the moment he’s out of sight.
***
Kain sits on my kitchen table, his long legs nearly touching the floor as he lazily discusses the details with Chaos and Rime.
And I’m left forgotten as I listen intently. I’m all but taking notes about what they’re saying, and no one seems to think to filter themselves in front of me.
“Kreedence is adamant that she’s in this area. He says the mage was chased out of the town east of here for accidentally setting fire to a crop field when they tried to burn her at the stake. The people were pissed she wouldn’t just accept her punishment.” Kain almost smirks, and his eyes lock with mine as I smile a cocky reminiscing smile.
As if I’d really just let them burn me at the stake.
How insulting.
I didn’t intend to burn everything in a ten mile radius but… incidents happen.
“So, she’s dangerous?” Rime’s long fingers tap against the tabletop. He sits lazily in the chair, his legs spread out wide and invitingly.
Laughter shakes through Chaos and soon Kain is laughing right along with him.
“Hardly. Kreedence said the most dangerous thing about her is her mouth that never shuts up.” Kain’s smirk irks me to my core.
My lips part with outrage, but I manage to snap my mouth closed before the protests leave me.
“Rime,” I call out, standing abruptly. I don’t have to sit here and listen to my shitty ex-boyfriend fill my friends’ heads with lies … not that they’re my friends …
Rime’s smile falters as his attention settles on me.
“You did say today, didn’t you?”
I don’t give further details into what he’s volunteered to do. Our agreement is between us and us alone.
“Speaking of mouths that never shut up.” He doesn’t deter his gaze as he speaks, and it makes me want to climb up the table and wrap my hands around his neck.
The anger in me rises and, before I can stop it, the fuming words are spewing out of me.
“Listen, dragon dick, I might talk a lot, but at least I’m not blindly following orders from a man who’s literally sent from hell. Maybe you should reevaluate your life choices, asshole.” My steps shake across the old floorboards, and I slam the door behind me as I storm outside.
Grim gives a low whine of concern, his bushy tail held low while he makes his way toward me. The warmth of his blazing body leans into me, and my palm pushes across his fuming fur.
I wish all the creatures in my life were as sweet and caring as Grim. He’s been the only creature I’ve ever kept. Partly because I love him, and partly because no one seems to want to buy a fiery hellhound who may or may not be cursed. He’s one of a kind. Because the rest of his kind are in hell.
“It’s their loss, isn’t it, Grim.?” I tilt my head against his, and the heat of his tongue sears across my cheek as he gives me a happy kiss.
If only all my creatures were as loving.
“What happened with you and Rime in the woods?” Chaos’s voice startles me, and he doesn’t look at me as I stare up at him. “I don’t—I don’t believe you two were actually fucking—”
“You don’t?” I cut off his steady stream of words. Was my fake orgasm really that bad? I don’t know why I want to take such pride in a fake orgasm, but it does kind of sting my ego to think he knows I was faking.
“For one, I couldn’t smell your arousal like I could the other night.”
My brows arch at him, my lips parting without any words aiding me whatsoever.
“I’m sorry, what?” I finally sputter.
“I could smell it, sure, but it wasn’t that delicious flooding scent.” He pushes his hands into his pockets as a strange smile starts to pull at his lips. “So, whatever it was that you two were doing, it wasn’t fucking. And also, even if you were, it doesn’t bother me the way you think.”
I stand and his fingers brush along
the back of my knuckles before he slips his hand into mine. His strong body is solid against my arm as he stares into my eyes.
“I saw the pitying look you were giving me. Dragons are different. Sharing a mate—I mean someone I care about with someone who I also care about—strengthens our bond. It makes a feeling of pride burn through me, not jealousy. I just, I didn’t want you to feel awkward around Rime and me.”
My heart is warm and pounding as he leans closer to me. My gaze catches his every miniscule movement as he closes the space between his lips and mine. Ache blooms through me as I tip my head up to him.
The door bangs shut, and I jump at the sound of it.
“Let’s get this date over with, My Tamer.” Rime strides down the road as if he’s going to the Prince with or without me.
I pass a knowing and annoyed look to Grim before glancing back at Chaos. The hellhound’s crimson gaze follows the arrogant man as a low, humming growl emits from his throat.
“I feel the same way.” A huffing sigh shoves from my lungs, but then Chaos presses his lips to the side of my temple.
His warm attention lingers on me before he walks backward a few steps, turns and strides into the house without another word. I stare after him for several seconds before I realize Rime is practically out of sight already.
I have to nearly jog after Rime. Dirt billows around my bare feet, and he doesn’t even seem to notice me when I finally reach his side. The way they mocked me for my apparently incessant talking presses to the front of my mind, and I force myself not to say anything to him.
I try my very best to keep my mouth shut. I don’t talk an obscene amount. It’s just that I never have anyone to talk to. Goddess forbid I make conversation from time to time with the asshole dragons who I’ve kindly taken into my home and fed and watered every day. “Is it too much to ask that they pretend to show me kindness?”
“Yes.”
I pause my little rant and glare up at him from the corner of my eye.
I didn’t realize I’d said anything aloud, but now that I have, I’m going to be silent for the remainder of our little trip.
Total silence.
We will see how he likes being ignored.
I refuse to say a word.
“You know you can’t just waltz into the Kingdom in your human form?” My tone is an angry and annoyed sound that even I shake my head at.
I was doing so well with my vow of silence too.
But seriously, I can’t offer the Prince a man full of hostility in place of a mystical and beautiful dragon. That’s not a good trade at all. No one wants a man when they could have a dragon instead.
I’ll take my white dragon over a white knight any day.
… That sounds a little disgustingly romantic. That’s not what I meant at all.
The quietness is pushing into my chest in the form of anxiety with each passing second.
“You can’t walk in there as a man, Rime.” The words shriek from my lips, and the tone of my anger has him halting in an instant.
He stares down at me, his jaw ticking just slightly. He’s intimidating, I’ll admit it. But something about him doesn’t scare me. I know what a cruel man looks like, and the hard features of the man before me aren’t it. He’s just used to being closed off I think. I can’t imagine how shut off he felt growing up without much human contact.
He helped me. He pushed aside his cold demeanor long enough to help me. I don’t believe there’s really a malicious bone in his body.
While his gaze is locked with mine, shimmering scales begin creeping across his jaw line. They look snow kissed, and it takes me a moment to realize what’s happening.
His palm connects with my shoulder. More glittering scales begin ripping through his flesh and that sexy smile pulls across his lips just as he shoves me hard away from him.
My ass hits the ground, my palms stinging against the earth as I watch, in awe of the man before me who transforms with swirling magic into a massive, roaring dragon.
A shadow falls over me as his wings spread wide and he takes flight. A cold chill hits the air, and I barely have time to raise my hand as a heavy frost rains down from the dragon’s mouth. The ice clatters to the ground, breaking like glass around me but not on me. Fine particles of snow glisten against my long hair, blanketing my skirt, and I tip my head up to meet the flakes. Several land against my lips, and I breathe them in like it’s the first breath of air I’ve ever experienced. In a way, it is. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt snow. The winter temperature here never lowers long enough for the frost to settle in.
In my entire life, I’ve never realized I wanted something that I’ve never even had.
His long wings soar for a moment before he glides lower. With grace and beauty, he lands before me, his head held obnoxiously high.
The small and helpless dragon I found weeks ago no longer exists. He’s the largest beast I’ve ever seen. Muscle lines his arms. His solid frame, and even his tail, is a weapon to be feared.
He’s in his dragon form, but he’s still not the favorite, quiet little creature I loved. He stares down at me with impatience, and it takes me a moment to stand, dusting my skirt off as I try to find my confidence again in front of this mountain of an animal.
His wing lowers to me, and I stare at that offering for a moment. It’s held out purposefully to me, bending against the ground at my feet. Hesitantly, I place my foot against his smooth scales. Wings are fragile, made up of delicate bones and thin structure. But he doesn’t seem to flinch away from me as I brace my foot against his upper wing. I reach for something, anything to grab onto.
There’s nothing. Only smooth scales and hard muscle.
Without warning, his cold snout brushes against the curve of my ass and he pushes. I bite back my shriek of fear as he helps me up. My hair is across my face, stuck to my lips, and a mess of dark locks blocks my sight when I finally settle in against his spine. I barely have time to push my hair back before his wings are beating down on the dusty earth. I meld my body against his, wishing I had something to hold on to.
Would he let me fall?
If I fell, there’d be no more secrets between us. He’d definitely see my magic come out during a life or death situation.
Another sheet of ice and snow rips through him, and the tension in my shoulders leaves me as the flakes begin to flurry around me. I lift myself just slightly to see the world below us pass by in colors of late summer. The leaves are tinged with amber colors like autumn is just seconds away from turning the world around me into crisp beauty. Another shaking roar rumbles within him and he rains down more of the pretty flakes and glittering ice. The wide fields below are a blanket of white glistening in the warm sunlight.
It’ll all be gone in a matter of minutes.
But it’s here now.
I raise my hand to the cold winds and let the damp flakes kiss my skin, sending a shiver all through me. Rime peers back at me from the corner of his icy eye, and I lift both hands letting my legs lock firmly around him. He pauses for only a second before an earth-shaking roar tears through him with another bout of ice and snow. My chin tips up to the feel of it against my skin and I let out an excited yell to match his roar.
For only a moment, I feel alive and wild.
For only a moment, I’m every bit the free-spirited drifter I’ve appeared to be for the last five years.
All because of Rime.
Chapter Fifteen
The Favorite
The guards at the palace aren’t nearly as happy about Rime’s winter wonderland. The dragon soars high above the castle gates, even going as far as to kick off the top of the bricks that read Blessed Minden, Saved by the Solstice Queen, letting the wall crumble beneath his touch as he settles down on the ground in front of the castle doors. His destruction tumbles, landing hard at his side, but he doesn’t give the heaping mess a second glance.
The showoff.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men show
up at once. Huh, so that’s what it takes to get some service around here.
All I got last time was John. And he wasn’t very welcoming at all.
I leap down from the dragon, impressing even myself when I don’t stumble against the dirt. I raise my chin high with my loyal dragon at my side. Or at least … he appears loyal. For the moment.
Gleaming swords are directed our way, the guard’s unwavering and fierce attention not held on me but the silent dragon.
Rime gives them a careless look as if he doesn’t care to acknowledge their expensive weapons and shining armor.
“Good morning to you too.” My chipper voice is hardly noticed. “Excuse me, where’s John this afternoon? John?” I call out to him. It takes a few seconds before my favorite guard pushes through the iron-clad men.
“John, how are you?” His sword lowers, and he passes a sheepish look to his friends.
“I’m going to need you to start making appointments. Your entrances are becoming more and more dramatic every time I see you.”
A pleased smile tilts my lips.
“John, I have a special delivery for Prince Linden.” I give a wave of my hand to the beast at my side.
John’s attention skims up the massive frame of Rime, and his eyes widen as he takes in the creature before he finally nods and turns toward the castle.
John does know how to get things done around here. I hope the King promotes him for his quick service.
“I will announce your arrival.” He stalks away, but I do hear the mumbled words he speaks next. “Though I’m sure he’s already well aware.”
Minutes drift by and I pass the time by taunting the men. My fingertip taps against the tip of the blade poised at my face. I flick it a few times and the man’s eyes narrow on me.
These men are well acquainted with me. They’ve had to suffer through my antics about once a month for over a year now.
Ah, the poor bastards. I wonder what they do when I’m not around. It must be a boring day when I don’t grace them with my lovely presence.
