As Christopher soared over the city and toward the dark forest that surrounded the glittering buildings of Sapphire Island, he knew that he was making a pretty dramatic statement to Allison. He was saying that he couldn’t handle the information she’d shared and that he needed to escape, so he was running.
He felt weak for doing it, and he felt horrible.
Allison was so fucking incredible that leaving her alone and naked in his office seemed like an awful thing to do, but he needed to fly. He’d been trying to keep his dragon at bay all morning. He’d been doing pretty damn well until she’d come into the office and he’d stripped her down.
Oh, she’d been so damn perfect. She was beautiful, of course, but she was sweet, too. She was kind. She was gentle. She was smart as hell. There were so many wonderful things to like about Allison that Christopher couldn’t quite figure out which thing he liked most.
What he did know was that flying always relaxed him. It always gave him a place to clear his head. That was one of the great things about living where he did. He could fly as much as he wanted to and nobody cared because everyone else was a flying, shapeshifting dragon, too.
Christopher wasn’t sure what came over him, but he found himself heading toward Declan’s house. While Christopher and Brian had both chosen homes close to work, Declan was a bit of a recluse. He was also an outdoorsy sort of dragon. He spent his lunch hour in the treehouse in the forest that he’d built long ago, and he spent it with his wife. Christopher approached the treehouse quietly, soaring over it and circling around a few times before he finally landed.
Then he waited.
If Declan was inside with Zoa, there was a good chance that they were making love. He didn’t need to see that. Nobody did. Oh, Christopher was perfectly happy for his brother. He just didn’t need to see Declan’s dick. So, Christopher waited patiently outside of the treehouse. He sat just outside of it on the grass, and he closed his eyes.
He counted, trying to calm himself. That was a trick his mother had taught him years ago. She’d always had a lot of stress and an incredible amount of anxiety that had been difficult for her to manage. She’d touch the necklace she always wore around her neck – the one that seemed to glow at times – and she’d count to 100. Then she’d count backwards to zero. Then she’d count again.
Now, Christopher tried that same method of self-soothing, and to his pleasure, it seemed to work.
“What are you doing?” Declan’s voice cut through Christopher’s silent meditation, and he was so surprised that he shifted right back into his human form and found himself sitting cross-legged on the front lawn of his brother’s home.
“Is that Christopher?” Zoa’s voice sounded from inside. “I told you it was Christopher. Tell him I’ll make some lemonade.”
“I don’t need lemonade,” Christopher managed to say.
“I know you don’t,” Declan told him. Then Declan just looked at him, watching him. Christopher and his brothers were triplets. In some ways, that made them closer than people could possibly imagine. Christopher had always felt like his brothers could read his moods. They always seemed to know exactly when he was sad or frustrated or anxious, and this was no exception. “What’s the problem?”
“Allison.”
“Ah, you finally figured out she’s your mate, did you?” Declan looked smug. Christopher wanted to slap that look right off his face. He couldn’t, of course, because only recently Christopher had said the same thing to Declan. Brian and Christopher had both realized that Zoa and Declan were meant to be together. They’d teased their brother about it, laughing that he’d been the last to figure out their relationship was destiny.
Now, apparently, everyone thought the same thing about him and Allison.
“She sneaked into the file room.”
“What file room?”
“So, you don’t know either? Apparently, Brian has a file room.”
“Of course, he does, that sneaky bastard.”
“What is it?” Zoa called from inside. She still hadn’t come out. She was probably naked.
“Brian’s got a secret file room,” Declan yelled back.
“What a sneaky bastard!” Zoa yelled.
Christopher just rolled his eyes. Declan and Zoa were definitely made for each other. There wasn’t really any way around that knowledge. The two of them were more alike than either of them would ever admit. Most of the time, Christopher just felt happy for his brother. Other times, he was slightly jealous. He wanted a mate who would make him smile as much as Zoa made Declan smile.
“He is a sneaky bastard,” Declan repeated, looking at Christopher. “So, what’s this got to do with Allison?”
“She sneaked down there.”
Declan laughed, shaking
his head.
“What?”