Singed Page 7

  My kids would want to know, too…wouldn’t they?

  “Please, just pick,” said Trey, his voice strained.

  My heart thumped in my chest. I didn’t know if I could. My gaze flicked first to Trey, and then to Drake, wondering what in the hell I was supposed to do.

  I couldn’t. I just couldn’t choose.

  Drake watched me thoughtfully. “Or…we could have a challenge. You and I, Trey.”

  “I’m in,” said Trey. “Under one condition: that I select the challenge.”

  “Of course.” Drake nodded. “I accept.”

  I buried my face in my hands. “Arghhh!” I said in exasperation. What had I done? I hadn’t wanted them to fight for me.

  I didn’t want to be part of this. No. Not one bit. I stood from the table and grabbed a few dishes to take back to the kitchen. “I’ll be inside if you’re looking for me. Enjoy your machofest. But please…please! Don’t kick the shit out of each other. Too badly, at least.”

  8

  Ethan

  So you really don’t wear underwear? I tilted my head sideways to look at Jackson with incredulity.

  Nope.

  Never?

  No. Never ever, Ethan.

  We glided across the night sky, our wings outstretched, the towering rocks and green valleys below us.

  How did Jackson manage this? It baffled me entirely. I always wore boxer briefs, enjoying how they fit snuggly around my package. My cock and balls always hung in the right spot, never flailing around or doing what they weren’t supposed to.

  What about boxers? I sent back. Those can be comfortable, right?

  They were too unstructured for me, but at least they provided some coverage. Something. Anything.

  Didn’t his nuts chafe against his jeans?

  Jackson laughed and suddenly made a nosedive into the canyon below. Not even boxers. I love the feeling of wearing nothing at all. Pure freedom. You should try it sometime.

  No. Definitely not.

  I followed Jackson into the canyon, diving down and then pumping my wings a few times. I held them tightly to my sides to fly through a large window in the rock, emerging on the other side.

  Although…now that I thought about it, I’d wear no underwear in lieu of talking with Torm Troilus any day of the week. Why had I answered his call earlier with Lyssa in the room? I knew I shouldn’t have, but then I did. I was still kicking myself over this lack of foresight.

  I knew he just wanted updates. Demanded them, to be exact. Had Lyssa spoken with the Dragon Oracle? Did we know the next step in healing the stone?

  Of course, Lyssa wanted to know who I’d been talking to. But she was already under so much pressure, she didn’t need any more from this dickface. Why stress her out even more?

  By the gods, I wanted to rip this man’s balls off and feed them to a large, raging rhino.

  It took all my control to not give Torm a piece of my mind. But I couldn’t—not yet. He wielded too much power. If I told him to fuck off or refused to answer to his demands, I knew he would make life miserable for Amelie and her family. Make all our lives miserable.

  Torm had no qualms. He was a cold, calculating bastard, and I needed to do everything I could to help Lyssa find the Dragon Oracle.

  The sooner the better.

  For tonight, I’d take it easy, and tomorrow we could resume the quest.

  I circled slowly around a peak that somewhat reminded me of a nipple. I peered down below. Now, where was Jackson?

  Then I saw him, flying low to the ground, skimming along the low brush. I dipped lower to fly with him once again, when suddenly I heard a loud roar.

  Do you hear that? I sent out to Jackson.

  Yeah, he answered, just as another roar reverberated through the air.

  Oh gods. Drake and Trey were no doubt beating the shit out of each other. Maybe I needed to intervene to make sure no one got hurt.

  Launching into the air, I pumped my long blue wings until I hovered high up in the sky, overlooking the entirety of Red Rock Country. That’s when I saw them, in their dragon forms, on the edge of a large, flat mesa.

  I shot forward, making a beeline for them, and I felt Jackson close at my heels. As I approached, I could see that they were both sitting upon their haunches.

  Strange. Here I was, expecting them to be duking it out.

  Jackson and I landed a few feet away just as Drake let out another anguished roar.

  Drake turned to face us, smoke swirling from his nostrils in a raging torrent. This challenge is unfair! Drake told us both.

  No, it’s not, Trey sent to all of us. All Drake needs to do is name all the European countries. A super-straightforward challenge, in my opinion.

  I nodded but said nothing, not really sure I’d be able to name all of them on the fly without looking at a map.

  Well, apparently there are four countries with the letter L, said Drake, but I can’t think of the last one! He let out another roar, and this time, a little bit of fire accidentally came out. Oh. I am sorry, he added sheepishly, and quickly covered his large, toothy snout with both claws.

  I even gave him a hint, said Trey. He tapped a talon on the ground with impatience. Well, Drake? Do you forfeit?

  Drake said nothing, deep in thought, while the smoke continued to swirl all around us. I batted it away with my claw.

  Fine, Drake said finally. Tell me!

  You missed Liechtenstein, said Trey.

  Drake howled. Fucking Liechtenstein! He spread his giant wings and his spines quivered in fury down his back.

  Jackson suddenly began to laugh. Are you guys for real? I thought for sure you’d be seeing who could toss a telephone pole the farthest. Or arm wrestling. Or, I don’t know…hurling boulders at each other. As he spoke, he walked over to a large boulder and hefted it up easily in his claws. Like this one. This one’s nice.

  I did, too! said Drake. But he, he added indignantly, gesturing with his forearm toward Trey, wanted a smarty-pants challenge.

  Jackson lifted himself off the ground and beat his wings to hover about us, the boulder still in his claws. So, hey, what does everyone think about a friendly game of boulder dodgeball? A wide toothy grin erupted on his green face. Trey, you and I can be a team, and then Drake and Ethan can be on a team. Come on. It’ll be fun.

  What? No, I don’t think— I started, but Jackson was already lifting the boulder high, as if to throw it.

  Ready…and go! said Jackson, hurling the boulder toward Drake. Despite Drake’s massive size—quite bigger than any of us, actually—he was on all four legs in a second. At the very last moment, he twisted his body to the side, his tail lashing forward to meet head-on with the boulder. The boulder smashed into a bajillion pieces.

  Drake laughed loudly. A little boulder dodgeball, eh? Okay. As long as there are no rules.

  No rules? I wanted to protest, but Drake had already selected another boulder, a much larger one this time, and hurled it directly toward Trey. Trey caught it in both claws and immediately threw it with all his might back toward Drake’s head. Drake managed to duck, and it whizzed over him.

  Without waiting, Jackson hoisted another huge rock and I found it zooming toward me at what seemed like lightning speed. I dodged it by hopping to the side, but then soon found another one zipping in my direction, this one by Trey’s hand.

  I leaped up to catch the boulder, feeling a sudden thrill of exhilaration fill me. We weren’t scoring points. We weren’t playing by rules. But hell—this was fun. Right?

  Oh, yeah? I taunted Trey, feeling a huge dragon-y grin spread on my own face. Is that all you got?

  Try me. Trey stared at me, his silver horns glistening in the moonlight. He reared up on his hind legs and I chuckled, knowing this was all in jest.

  Then I hurled the boulder as hard as I possibly could. It moved faster than I thought it would, and by Trey’s wide-eyed expression, faster than he did, too. Much too fast for him to dodge out of the way. And the trajectory…oh, g
ods.

  I watched with horror as the boulder smashed right into Trey’s junk.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Did I really just toss a huge rock into my best friend’s cock and balls?

  Trey roared in pain and immediately covered his crotch. I tromped over to him and sat on my haunches, feeling absolutely awful. What should I say?

  Are you okay? I asked tentatively. I am so, so sorry. Oh fuck.

  Jackson and Drake gathered around, too, and we all watched in trepidation until Trey finally spoke.

  Yeah. I’ll be okay, Trey said, his eyes glazed with pain.

  Do you want me to try to heal you? sent Jackson. I can maybe try to—

  No! I don’t want you anywhere near my dick.

  Drake chortled, but immediately zipped it when Jackson and I both shot him a glance.

  That’s not what I meant, said Jackson. You know I don’t want anything to do with that. Come on. Want to shift to human form and hop in my claw? I’ll give you a ride home.

  No thanks, said Trey. I’ll fly. With another pained face, he lumbered forward, and we all launched ourselves into the sky. Trey straggled behind all of us.

  I still felt terrible. Dragons healed quickly, and no doubt he’d feel a lot better tomorrow, but Trey was definitely out of commission for any baby-making tonight.

  9

  Lyssa

  Shay answered her phone on the second ring. “Hey!” she said, but I could sense something different in her usual peppy voice. Worry? Apprehension?

  “Hey. What’s up?” I scooched myself up against the pillows on the bed, taking a second to tuck one behind my lower back for added comfort. “I tried calling Amelie’s cell phone, but she’s not answering.”

  “Yeah. She’s sleeping right now.”

  Again? That’s what Shay had said earlier when I texted her. Of course, Amelie needed tons of sleep, but I would have expected she’d be able to talk to me at least sometime today.

  “Is she feeling better?”

  Shay sat silently on the line for a moment. Uh oh. My cousin being quiet—not really a good sign. “Um. Well…”

  “Just spit it out, Shay. What’s happening?”

  “I found her…uhh…practicing dark magick again. She had her spellbook.”

  “What?” I sat up straight on the bed. “Why the hell does she still have the book? I thought that was taken away from her! Was she performing a spell?”

  Shay blew out a huge whoosh of air on the other side of the line. “Well, I thought Ethan had put it into the vault. But then when I came in this morning, she had it in the bed with her. And no, she wasn’t actually doing a spell…she was just hugging the book to her. Rocking a little bit. Kind of like…I don’t know…like it was a baby or something.”

  Oh, holy crap on a stick.

  “Like…a baby?”

  I thought about when I had found Amelie in the garden with both the orestaia and her spellbook, less than a week ago. She’d seemed unable to relinquish the book then, wanting to keep it close to her.

  “Yeah,” said Shay. “Or like a super-tasty candy bar she wanted to eat. Like finger-lickin' good tasty, do you know what I mean? And when I tried to pry it out of her hands, she pulled back, hard, and stared at me with this weird, glazed look. Like she couldn’t remember me at all.”

  I’d seen that look, too. As if the dark magick somehow pulled her into a trance. Called to her and made her an entirely different person.

  “Okay.” Now it was my turn to blow out a huge breath. “But you took the book away from her, right?”

  “Right. It’s back in the vault, and the Crimson Forge guards know that Amelie is not supposed to be down there at all.”

  “Cool. That’s a good idea.”

  “Dark magick is some hardcore stuff,” Shay said, her voice somber. “Amelie’s changed so much, and today it really freaked me out.”

  “No shit.” Any kind of dragon magick was hardcore stuff. Even the good kind.

  Like the light magick of the golden bracelet. I’d almost forgotten all about it.

  Without thinking too much, I got up to grab the black jewelry box from the secret zipper part of my purse, then hopped back onto the bed. I opened the box to peek at the bracelet inside.

  Hey, mind-fuck bracelet. Looks like you won yourself a free ride to Sedona.

  I had tucked it into my purse before I left for the airport, planning on giving it to Ethan on my way out the door—but somehow, it had slipped my mind. Oh well. It could just hang out in my purse the entire time, since obviously I wasn’t going to use it.

  The bracelet shimmered softly under the lamplight from the side table. Sooo pretty. I placed it on the palm of my hand.

  It pulsed with power immediately. The warmth ebbed and flowed, sending heat deep into my palm. It spread throughout my hand, into my arms, until tendrils of energy flowed into every cell of my body.

  Maybe I could just put it on for a little bit…

  I slipped the bracelet onto my wrist, enjoying the pulsing heat within me. A sudden feeling of bliss traveled from my head to the tips of my toes. My inner dragoness squirmed with happiness.

  It felt good. Really good. I curled my toes languorously and stretched my neck a bit.

  “Lyssa?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you okay? I’ve been trying to get your attention. You’re not saying anything.”

  “Oh,” I said with a start, realizing I’d been lost in La La Land.

  Wait.

  Hold the fuck on.

  What had just happened?

  I quickly took off the bracelet and let it lay on the bedspread, my heart pumping wildly in my chest. I eyed it suspiciously. This had never happened before. I’d always felt the bracelet’s heat, and I’d observed it doing some incredible things, but it had never affected me quite this way before.

  I felt invigorated. Energized. Completely and utterly amazing.

  Even though I no longer wore it, energy still thrummed within me, like streaks of light flickering through each and every bone and muscle.

  I could still feel the power surging in my veins.

  Whoa. Was the bracelet messing with me?

  Not that I didn’t enjoy the lusty goodness that swirled through every part of my body, but quite honestly, the whole thing weirded me out. I tossed it back into its box and shoved it into my purse before sitting down on the bed again, my breath still coming short.

  “So are you okay or not? Lyssa? Hello?” Shay’s voice echoed through the receiver like a perky Barbie on perma-repeat.

  “Um. Yeah. I’m great. Sorry.” I rubbed my arms, sending a few extra zips of pleasant fuzziness skittering across my skin.

  “What in the heck are you doing?”

  I debated telling her, when a firm knock had me whipping my head toward the door. Without waiting for an answer, Drake entered, a sexy grin on his handsome tanned face.

  Lust—and smoke, of course—swirled around him like a sex god on fire.

  “Uh…Shay? I gotta go.” I tapped the end call button before she could say anything else.

  “Hello, bella.” Drake sauntered into the room, and my gaze traveled the length of his massively built body—from his perfectly styled hair to his white linen shirt, then down his black leather pants.

  Oh, mama.

  I had no doubt what he was here for. My legs quivered with desire. Thoughts of the bracelet—and everything else, quite honestly—quickly poofed out of my mind.

  “Are you ready for me to pleasure you tonight, my love? Trey sends his regrets—he is unable to come because he is busy icing his balls.”

  10

  Lyssa

  Drake’s lips crashed upon mine. We fumbled frantically with each other’s clothes, tossing them wherever as waves of fire spiraled around us.

  “Cara,” said Drake, in between passionate, urgent kisses. “I have been waiting for this all day.”

  “So you…won the challenge?” I panted, wrapping my arms around hi
s neck and pressing my already taut, aching nipples against his chiseled chest.

  “Oh,” he said while giving me little nibbling bites along my shoulder. “Well…that does not matter so much now, does it?”

  “But—”

  My protest was cut short as Drake’s hot and hungry mouth captured my own again. And when he slipped two fingers inside of me, my thoughts became mushy and jumbled, and all I could think of was reaching for his fabulous cock.

  With two hands. I really needed both for his fantastic girth.

  Drake groaned and scooped me up in his arms, the deep and rich rumble of his voice rubbing deliciously down my spine.

  He dropped me onto the bed, spreading my legs wide. “Mmm,” he murmured, meeting my gaze, flames of desire in his eyes. He slowly trailed his fingers across my slick pussy. “So beautiful.”

  I gasped, his touch setting my flesh afire. He flicked his thumb against my clit and even more sparks sizzled across my skin.

  “Come,” he said, pulling me on top of him as he lay down on the bed. “I want you to sit on my face, bella.”

  Ohh. Fuck yes. My heart skittered in my chest.

  I clambered upon him, straddling his face and lowering myself slowly. His strong hands gripped my hips. Then he flicked his tongue across my most sensitive spot and a moan escaped my lips, my blood beginning to simmer in my veins.

  “Closer,” Drake said, and pulled on my hips. “I want you right up against—mmphh!”

  “Like this?”

  He groaned with pleasure and I took that as a yes. I bucked my hips toward his face while he licked and flicked, and licked some more. Soon an inferno of need swirled within my core, fighting its way to the surface, and suddenly broke free—sending a torrent of heat exploding through me.

  I flopped onto my back, my entire body humming with flame-licked ecstasy, the kind you only get when your lover is an amazing sex machine.

  Drake moved to hover over me on the bed. He glistened like a Greek god, each bulging muscle shimmering in a sheen of sweat. The red dragon tattoo on his chest rippled with each movement.