Page 2 of My Dragon Lovers

It always took me longer though, thanks to my dragon heritage. Fucking waste of time, that is. Mom had told me all the stories about how I was descended from the strongest dragon who had ever lived, the one who was going to take us back to our home planet of Drakon. But he had been stopped by some petty other dragons who didn’t want to leave. Dad had died, Mom had fled, and later on she gave birth to me. She kept us hidden, afraid that we were going to be discovered. When I was young, she taught me all about this other thing inside me. But I hated it. Itwas like poison ran through my veins. I wished I could get rid of it, splintering it from my soul.

Instead, I just took another shot, hoping to drown it in alcohol.

“Can I get you a drink?” a guy asked. He slithered up against me. I shook my head, jerked it towards a woman at the end of the bar.

“I think she’s got what you’re looking for,” I said. He gritted his teeth and gave me a baleful stare. Guess he thought I should be there for the taking. He moved along when he realized that I wasn’t going to give him anything he wanted. I watched the other woman as he approached. She had silken hair, red lips, pert tits. She pushed them out and fluttered her eyelashes. They were going to be fine for the night.

Maybe I should give myself to them like her, surrender to the molten flesh and lose myself to the ecstasy. Maybe it would help me forget the terror of my own mind, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I liked touching the temptation here, but I never let its inky tendrils slide over me. I put up a brittle front, but deep inside there was a hell of a lot of pain. Truth is, Dad wasn’t the only guy who had hurt me over the years. There was someone else, someone who had made a promise he had subsequently broken, along with my heart.

I ordered another shot. There was another guy staring at me.

“What are we toasting to?” he asked, his thick mustache twitching like a worm on his upper lip. I pursed my lips and rolled my shoulders.

“Queen of the dragons,” I slurred, and then slammed the shot back. He did the same, and then sidled towards me. I already felt a wave of nausea passing over me. I turned away from him, ready to leave. He shot an arm out, grabbing me.

“Where do you think you’re going? You can’t leave after we just toasted. I don’t even know your name, little lady,” he drawled. Anger flashed in my eyes. I almost stretched my wings and slapped him silly with one. I wanted to wipe that lecherous look from his eyes and send him crashing against the wall. Before I could do any of that, someone else came up to me. He leaned against the bar, separating me and this ogling man. He smiled widely and pretended like he knew me, but I’d never seen him before.

“Kyra, right? It’s good to see you again,” he said. He glanced at the other man, who was slinking away back into the shadows. I furrowed my brow.

“Who are you?”

He rolled his shoulders. “Just trying to save you,” he flashed his smile, showing his pearly whites. I bet that and his piercing blue eyes took him far in the world. His square jaw was impressive, as were his broad shoulders.

“I don’t need saving,” I huffed.

“Really? I beg to differ. I’m Brock,” he held out his hand, expecting me to take it. I looked at the wide palm, and the crisscrosslines that spread across his flesh. His fingers were thick, solid, strong. I couldn’t imagine there would be a part of him that wasn’t strong. I didn’t take his hand though. I batted my eyelashes and turned my shoulder towards him.

“Good for you. So, are you going to tell me how you know my name?” I asked, already on edge.

“We have a mutual friend. In fact, he’s waiting outside. Why don’t you come and say hi? We have something important to tell you.”

I frowned, becoming concerned and annoyed by his manner. There was something insistent about the way he spoke, as though he expected something from me, something that I wasn’t ready to give.

“If it’s so important then you can tell me here, or our mutual friend can come in and tell me themselves. I’m not playing some game, and if this is some weird seduction technique then it’s not going to work. I’m hardly going to be lured outside by some stranger. This ain’t my first rodeo.”

“Please Kyra, it’s important,” he said. His tone shifted. I looked into his eyes and I saw something different inside. It was as though something melted inside him. Seemed like he had run out of ammo already. If there was one thing I hated it was a lack of persistence.

“If you’re going to turn to begging so quickly then you really need to up your game. Shame really because you’re kind of cute. Maybe if you caught me later in the night, I might have been willing to play, but try again next time. I’m sure there are plenty of other girls willing to play along,” I turned away from him and looked towards the mirror that ran along the back of the bar. Behind me the door opened. I saw him there, as stark as blood on snow, his face reflected amid the array of bottles. I swung around, mouth agape, staring at Aidan.

What the hell was he doing here? How had he found me? Was this his friend?

A hundred questions ran through my mind, but I could only say one word.

“Fuck.”

Chapter Two

Aidan

I was pacing outside, wearing a groove in the ground. I gnawed on my lower lip. The people outside were staring at me, probably thinking I was a tweaker or something. They were all clustered together, standing around with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, plumes of smoke rising into the air, thin and wispy. I laughed inside, trying to imagine their faces if they saw me in my full form. I could have bathed them in smoke and then doused them in fire, but that would have been ignoring the most important rule I had ever been taught; never expose yourself to the humans.

Some of us were used to hiding in different ways. Kyra, for example, had been lost because of her mother. I had tried so hard to bring her into the fold, to make her understand, but she had never wanted to become a part of us. She just wanted to stay apart, and it had hurt me ever since. I know she blamed me for what happened. Maybe I could have handled it better. Maybe I should have been more understanding, I don’t know… either way I’ve been thinking about her ever since then and I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind.

But I know she wouldn’t talk to me directly. I know she would be angry and she’d try to run away, which is why I sent Brock in. He’s been like a brother to me since we were kids. We’ve done everything together, and he’s been patient enough to put up with me pining over Kyra. And now he’s trying to convince her to come out here and speak to me.

I kept glancing towards the door, waiting and watching for her to appear, wondering how she was going to react and what I was going to say. I had been waiting for this moment for so long,and now that it was here, I was filled with nerves. I had practiced over and over again what to say, but I knew that as soon as I saw her I would be paralyzed and all the thoughts would just pour out of my mind. That was the effect she had on people.

That was the effect she had on me.

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