Page 81 of Silent Jay

She waited for me to answer, almost falling on her tiptoes. I leaned down, suddenly engaged in a game of stare-eyes with a twelve-year-old.

I refused to let my daughter see me blush. I did feel a strong pull towards men and women equally. But sex was very complicated, especially with my condition. Donating sperm and masturbating were simple. Not that I would tell her that.

“Maybe.” I finally said. “But same-sex pairings are a human thing. I don’t know how a dragon shifter would even know.” Mystomach twisted at how true that was. “Magic is my lover, and that’s enough for me.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s so lame.”

I poked her in the ribs. “Get to class before I get yelled at.”

She grinned and scampered toward the exit. I shook my head. Maybe I was glad I only knew one of my kids. In a few steps, I made it to the buffet table and pulled a plate off the stack, picking out all my favorite kebab meats and a big bowl of tzatziki.

Oh, the Tomato keftedes looked fantastic today. Jay’d love those. I stopped myself, pulling my hand back like I burned it. I filled my plate for two. A growling noise drifted to my ears. The person behind me trained his gaze on the floor and backed up. Suddenly, I realized I was the one growling and cut it short.

My dragon and I were not two separate entities, but sometimes it felt like it, and this was one of those moments. The beast clawed at me, begging me to go to Jay, but I wouldn’t. She’d answer questions more honestly and readily if she were hungry. I still didn’t know who she was beyond Rehan’s mate, nor did I know her intentions.

Unable to return any food, I headed toward my usual table. Two dragons sat at it. As I gestured for them to stay, they both stood, bowed their heads, and left me to it.

I sighed, missing Rehan’s simple company. But that was over now, and with it, my temporary friendship. Actually, keeping his mate locked in my lair probably ensured the water dragon hated me.

I sat heavily. Even my arms felt dense. I’d been up all night healing Jay. Fatigue hit me all at once. I demolished my meal for two and dragged my feet to my cave, definitely not thinking about Rehan’s mate.

Different from my lair, my cave consisted of one big spacious room with a smaller round washroom off to the back. In thecenter, I could stretch out in my massive dragon form. Along the outside, my collection of carved furniture and shoji partitioned out each part of my human life: my mini kitchen, my hoard, my spell library and tattoo studio, and so on. I liked to keep my world organized.

I stretched out on a mattress, and my tired brain fogged. I forgot about Jay for a moment and drifted half asleep before jerking awake. If I was exhausted and hungry enough for two, she would be as well. I’d not stuck around to ensure she knew how to work my lab, given her a tour, or anything else.

It didn’t matter. She wasn’t my friend. I had to remember that.

I finally got up and slammed a sleeping draught. My brain needed to let my physical body rest and recharge. I needed to stop thinking about her.

I slept longerthan I meant. The sun sank below the mountains as I undid the spells hiding my lair. With a death grip on the last bit of food I’d been able to beg from the community kitchen, I stepped forward. Dave Brukeck’s Take Five spilled out of the cave.

I froze in place. Hearing one of my old records was literally the last thing I expected. My lair didn’t have electricity to fire up the turntable. I pushed through my security spells and rushed down the short passage to my lair, skidding to a halt. My jaw dropped. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t this.

Next to my lab, a crank spun my antique turntable, spilling jazz into the air. Steam turned a belt made of dirty white cloth. She’d made a tiny steam engine out of my stuff. Who came up with something like that?

My mouth went dry as my gaze landed on her backside.

The cloth turning my record player had come from her dress, which was now very short, showing me exactly how long her legs were. Her barely covered hips swayed to the uneven beats of the song while her hands fingered the equipment in my alchemy lab. Blood rushed away from my brain and toward a part of me that never made good decisions. She reached around her shoulder, scratching at something and leaving a mark where she’d dug through a layer of dirt covering her skin.

My dragon growled, and my chest burned with guilt. I didn’t even have plumbing in here, much less enough water for her to get clean.

I kidnapped my friend’s mate and locked her up without even the basics. In response, she built a machine to amuse herself and dug into whatever thing she’d been trying to make before I trapped her. I didn’t know if I was in love or terrified.

I watched her hips sway, occasionally adding an extra wiggle to the music until the final cymbal hit echoed off the cave wall. Immediately, I cleared my throat.

She turned, her smile faltering. I clenched the glass bowl in my fist, feeling like a piece of shit. We just stood there staring at each other until the next song on the LP came to life with a crashing horn line. She glided over to her contraption to turn it off. The room fell silent.

My instincts told me to whisk her out of here and take care of her, but I shoved them down. I set the food I’d brought on a table and stepped up to the two potions bubbling away.

After sniffing and stirring each, I held a spoonful under one of the table’s battery-powered lights. Its deep, florescent pink sparkled. “A magic sedimentation. Exactly what you said you’d make.”

She rolled her eyes and handed me the pad of paper.

My pulse raced. She’d documented everything in precise, neat handwriting. Her organization made heat flush my cheeks, and I suddenly needed to frame this piece of paper. I set down the pad, my dragon and human mind both desperate to hear her speak, understand who she was, and touch her skin.

I stepped into her personal space but stopped myself before I touched her. I took a deep breath, my voice unusually deep. “Have you tested either of them yet?”

She raised an eyebrow and tapped on her wrist where she would have worn a watch.

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