“I went wild. Did some questionable things that I can’t really remember. Went to movies. Parties. Drinking. Things I’m not very proud of anymore. But I turned my life around. Became who I wanted to be. And it looks like you’ve done the same,” I said softly.
His eyes melted.
“Thank you,” he said.
I smiled down at him, then leaned forward until my lips hovered over his.
“You made the right decision,” I whispered softly.
My breath brushed over his lips, and he inhaled deeply, almost as if he could pull me that little bit closer so that my lips would touch; but it wasn’t to be, sadly.
Three dragons chose that moment to ambush the both of us at once.
I rolled with the attack, crying out in mock terror.
Nikolai did the same, but he was obviously the larger target, because soon I was left by the lone one who’d taken me down, and all three worked on Nikolai; nipping, throwing their bodies around and growling.
It continued for long minutes until Nikolai was too tired to play any longer, causing him to flop back on his back, lungs heaving for air.
“You’re good with them,” I said, moving closer until our hips touched. Him facing one way, me the other.
I breathed deeply, letting my feet tangle in the grass.
I’d lost my boots sometime during the altercation, and the grass felt cool against my bare toes.
Nikolai moved his head until it rested against my foot, and I pinched his hair between two toes.
“Oww!” he said, jerking slightly.
I grinned.
“So how long are Keifer and Blythe going to be gone?” I asked.
He shrugged, making the dragon on his chest grumble at him for having his bed moved.
“I guess as soon as they find what they’re searching for,” he finally said.
Apparently, they’d found what they were searching for.Chapter 7Nikolai is a weird combination of ‘he’s so sweet, my parents love him’ and ‘don’t ever fuck with that guy, he’s a crazy mother fucker.’
-Brooklyn’s secret thoughts
Brooklyn
I opened my eyes to darkness, and a solid massive male, who wasn’t Nikolai, standing over me.
And I might, or might not have, reacted badly.
Out of sheer instinct, I launched myself off the bed, then hovered there in the corner.
Then imagined myself being protected by Nikolai, and suddenly, I was.
Nikolai appeared as if out of thin air, and he was spitting mad.
He launched himself at my unwanted intruder. The two of them went down in a pile of big limbs, strong punches, and bellowing roars.
“What the fuck is going on here?” the man that looked like death reincarnated, screamed.
Nikolai didn’t talk, only kept attacking.
Except, the more I looked, the less and less real it seemed.
Because Nikolai wasn’t doing much more than distracting the intruder, stepping in front of him, knocking him down.
It wasn’t anything like the fight I’d seen last night.
What the fuck was going on, indeed.
From the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the doorway, and looked to see a crowd huddled there, Nikolai in the very front.
He was looking at the scene with an impressed air about him, and suddenly, I wasn’t scared any longer.
Which meant the illusion I’d unwittingly created dissipated in a cloud of smoke.
“What are you doing out there?” I asked Nikolai in confusion.
Then understanding dawned as he grinned and watched Keifer stand up and brush off his shirt before turning to me.
Why he was hovering in the doorway in a dark room scaring the ever loving crap out of me while I was sleeping was beyond me.
It wasn’t Nikolai who answered.
“I was letting your cat back inside, she wouldn’t shut up,” Keifer explained.
“Ahhh,” I said. “How’d she get outside?”
Nikolai shook his head and finally breached the room, walking to the bed, and taking a seat like there weren’t fifteen people in the room.
Well, more like five, but who was counting?
He was wearing exactly what he’d had on last night when we’d gotten into bed, which wasn’t much of anything, corroborating his story.
The night before, Nikolai and I had fallen asleep in his bed, talking about this and that.
We’d…or at least I’d…had a great time.
We’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, talking about dragon riders. My life with my parents. Nikolai’s life before he’d come into his powers. What I wanted to do with my life.
And sometime between my explanation and his offer, I’d fallen asleep.
Only to be woken up so rudely by the behemoth standing at the end of the bed, glaring down at me like I’d outsmarted him, and I was an interesting new toy.
“Hi,” I said, waving.
“You have a mating tattoo,” the man said.
“That’s very observant of you, Keifer,” Nikolai said dryly.
Keifer turned his glare to his brother.
“How long has this been going on?” he challenged.
Nikolai grinned. “Since you left.”
Blythe, who’d been standing in the doorway, gasped.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Blythe said accusingly.