Page 16 of Dragon's Code

Kash’s silence makes my chest ache. I know I’ve hurt him even though I never meant to. I rub my hand over my chest, trying to ease the ache and the fear that somehow I’ve betrayed him.

“Why am I just hearing about this now?” His voice is low and calm, but I can hear the seething too.

I’m sure it’s for Raphael, the rage, but I think that’s only a part of it. A part of it has to be for me too. I can tell that I’ve hurt him for keeping him out of part of my life. I would’ve thought he would’ve been happy to be kept out of my romantic life. I guess…I was…wrong?

“Kash, I didn’t…it wasn’t because…” I don’t know what to say. I cover my face with my hands and sink into this miserable feeling eating away at me like a bad fish taco. I drop my hands away from my face and look up at him. He’s standing closer than I thought and I lift my chin higher. “I was embarrassed.”

Kashton keeps staring down at me. He lets out a long breath before he drops down into a squat in front of me. He’s no longer holding me, and I miss his warmth immediately. He reaches up and cups my face.

“You’re never obligated to share anything you don’t want to share.” His thumb caresses my cheek as he continues to cradle my head in his hand. His green eyes are tender and soft, his mouth is smooth with a soft curve at the end, in a gentle smile, a reassuring kind of smile just for me. “I’m frustrated because you were so scared that you left your home. You got on an airplane. That’s not a common reaction. Especially for you. If you’re that scared…it scares me for you. I’m not mad at you though, my goddess. You’re all I care about. I’m glad you came here. We’ll have some fun and get your mind off of that creep. But I’m going home with you once this weekend is over.”

“Kashton…”

“I won’t be talked down. If we have to we’ll get a restraining order or something. You’re not going to be scared in your own home. That’s no way to live. You’ve reached your quota for terrible trauma in your lifetime and I’m going to make sure it’s kept as low as possible from now on.”

I let out a shaky breath. My insides feel unsettled and twisted up like I’ve been fiddling with a twist tie until it’s so twisted and degraded it will never be a twist tie again.

“I am scared.” My voice is little and quiet. It’s almost too hard to say out loud, because then it’s real and then I have to do something about it. Worse than that, I feel like the biggest fool in the world. How did I let someone predatory into my life, someone my gut questioned, but I ignored?

Kash shifts his weight and sits next to me and pulls me into his arms. For the first time, my body seems to release the tension all at once and I melt into the hard ridges of his body. With as big of an athlete as he is, I expect him to be too hard to feel comfortable against, except, he’s warm and comfy as hell. It’s then that I realize how little we’ve touched in the time we’ve been friends. It seems like he only holds me when I’ve been traumatized in some way. He hasn’t held me like this since that night in the hospital, when he flew all the way from Brazil just to see me.

It’s an odd thing to notice at the moment, but I know I would’ve asked for more hugs if I’d known they felt like this. I lean into him just a little more, taking in the warmth, the kindness, the familiar rightness of being around him. Ever since we were children, Kashton has always given me a sense of peace.

“Do you have a picture of this dead man?”

“Kashton,” I scold, pulling back. “You are not going to jail for me.”

He puts a hand over his chest, giving me a wounded puppy look. “You think I’d get caught? You don’t have faith in me that I could kill the douchenozzle and get away with it?”

My mouth falls open. “Kashton Wystan. You are not going to kill someone for me. I feel like murder is a bit excessive.”

He shakes his head and gives me a malicious sort of smile I haven’t really seen on him before. It’s predatory and a little unnerving. For a second, I swear even his teeth seem to shift into sharp points. Must be my imagination.

“If someone touches what is mine, they’re going to wish for death when I’m done with them.”

I shiver instantly, his words crawling into my skin and making their way right to my heart and to my core. Being sexually aroused by my best friend is confusing enough, but I’ve never heard him talk in such a way. Possessive and commanding, like if Raphael were around, Kash would make sure my ex would take his words seriously.

“Okay then.” I don’t know what else to say. Not to him, not to my own confused thoughts, so instead, I just change the subject.

“What is your schedule like for your weird meeting-slash-event thing you’ve got going on?”

“There’s not really a schedule. The stuff really gets going tomorrow. How are you feeling? Do you want to head out onto the town or stay in and watch some movies?”

“Let’s watch some movies. I don’t want to be around people right now.”

He beams at me, with a spark of excitement in his eyes. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

ChapterFour

KASH

Athena falls asleep about twenty minutes into the first movie, a sign of how exhausted she is and how much stress she’s been under. I don’t know if her ex is the whole problem, but I plan to get every detail about this guy before we leave.

I don’t care that the world is in chaos and that dragons are under siege at the moment. Athena is mine to protect.

I leave her to sleep and duck into my room. The last of the dragons will be arriving shortly, and I’m expected to go down to the bar to meet the rest of them. Today has been exhausting and it’s only the first day.

I haven’t seen a peek of Declan since we arrived. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but I assume it’s something to do with Grey, because what isn’t about that asshole anymore?

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