Page 21 of Wild for the Wyvern

Nine

Kori

Despite everything, sitting in his lap, leaning against his chest, is heaven. Damn, I’m one of those hopelessly in love women I always made fun of. I should be stronger than this. I should push him away and go home. But I let him hold me and relax into his embrace. “I guess I understand being angry and hurt, but why did you reset the trap?”

He lets out a long breath and his shoulders slump. “I’m not sure. You were sleeping and not available to know more about. I left you on my couch where you were safe. It felt, at the time, like a normal thing to do. I flew back to the site and reset my trap. It took only a few minutes and I rushed home before you woke up. As for why I left it set up afterward, I only know that it felt as if I should, and now I think that was for you, for us.”

“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t change your original intent. You loved her but you wanted to hurt her. That hadn’t changed by finding me.” I stand and wipe my damp cheeks. I shouldn’t feel so betrayed, but my emotions are in knots. He lovedsomeone else just a couple of weeks ago. He wanted to hurt the person he loved. Huge red flag. I need to get away from here.

Facing me, he waits until I meet his gaze. “I never loved Astra. Maybe I thought I did, but I didn’t understand what love was until you crashed into my life. I wanted her because I was lonely, and when she backed out of our arrangement, I thought I would be alone forever. There is no excuse, but that is the truth.”

“How do I believe you? How do I know you won’t get angry with me next week and try to hurt me? You were about to run away with Astra and now you say you don’t love her.” I grip the sides of my head and close my eyes. I need to think clearly. I can’t do that with him so close. His proximity affects my mind and my heart, not to mention my body wants him, even when I’m angry. None of this makes sense. I walk away toward the main road.

“Where are you going?” His voice is rough and full of pain.

My gut aches and my chest tightens. Tears spill down my cheeks. I have to pull myself together and figure out how to get down this mountain. “Away from you, for now, Drayce. I need to think.”

The rumble of a vehicle forces me to move to the side of the drive. I wipe my face and pull my shoulders back. No man or monster or wyvern is going to wreck me like this. I should have known he was too good to be true.

Astra pulls her big pickup truck to a stop next to me and rolls down the window. “This is my fault, Kori. Drayce didn’t do anything wrong. I led him to believe there could be more between us so that I could get away from my father.”

“He told me,” I manage to squeak out. I can see why he wanted her. It’s hard to look away from her beautiful face; everything about her is alluring. I want to run away, but I stop and stare into the truck. The mythology about nymphs issomewhere in my brain, but I can’t conjure it. I should have read more of the Greek classics.

She looks back at Drayce, standing with his head bowed in the spot where I left him. Returning her gaze to me, she sighs. “I want to make this right. Tell me how I can fix this.”

“Can you give me a ride?” If I don’t get away from here soon, I’m going to have a complete meltdown and then I won’t be able to do what I must. It’s already unlikely I’ll find my way to civilization on my own, if I’m bawling my eyes out, I’ll end up lost and dehydrated.

She nods. “I think you’d be better off staying, but I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

I hop into the truck and pull on the seatbelt without looking back at Drayce. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. His eyes are on me. I can feel them, like a lifeline holding me. Even as we drive out of sight, I still feel the tug of him.

While I cry my eyes out, Astra drives me away from the only man I can ever love.

She turns on to the main road and, after a while, pulls off into a scenic view rest stop. “Where can I take you, Kori?”

Gulping for air, I don’t know what to tell her. I could go to the resort where my friends are, but I can’t bear to tell them it all fell apart. Seeing the pity in their faces would be too much and too familiar. Nothing ever goes the way I hope. Maybe a rental car place, if there’s one in town, I could drive myself back to the city and pick up my life. More tears and gasps for air burst out of me.

I have no idea how long we sit in the overlook parking area while I sob, but Astra waits until my weeping dwindles to hiccups.

“I didn’t learn to drive until recently. My mate taught me. I never wore real clothes either. I ran around my woods in nymph clothes that were sheer and magical, and talked to my trees and the water in the lakes and rivers. I spent my daysfrolicking. Many times, in years past, I would seduce humans who wandered off the path. It’s my nature as a nymph to attract the creatures around me. I give them pleasure and that makes me feel worthwhile. It’s a fair exchange.” She sighs.

“A few years ago, that pattern began to feel empty and lonely. I still loved my mountains and all that thrives here, but seducing strangers had lost its appeal. I longed for something more, though I didn’t know what that was. So, I stopped seducing, but the loneliness didn’t go away. It became worse.”

“Is that why you wanted to run away with Drayce?” I’m not jealous. It’s hard to feel anything but sad at the moment.

Her luscious blond hair shifts with the shaking of her head. “No. I knew that Drayce was not the man who could assuage my emptiness. I needed an escape, and I knew he would rescue me. He’s a wyvern, which is a kind of dragon. Though, don’t tell him I made the comparison. Dragons like shiny things, the more rare, the more they want it. Drayce might not consciously realize it, but I think that due to his nature, I was something to be coveted and kept. Once he saved me, he wouldn’t let anything harm me. That offered me a bit of safety. My father was forcing me to marry someone I’d never met or even seen.”

“But it turned out the man, um… monster your father picked is your mate, right?” This world I’ve stumbled into is very confusing.

There’s no mystery in Astra’s smile though. Whatever a satyr is, she loves him. “Niko is my mate and when you meet your true mate, it’s difficult to deny him. The allure of being near them is so strong that pulling away can be painful. Still, I don’t want to be anywhere else but with my satyr. He and I were destined to find each other, with or without my father’s interference. Though, that did complicate things.”

My heart already aches for Drayce, so I know what she means. “But if I wanted to stay away, this feeling would subside, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe after a while, if that’s really what you want.” She draws a deep breath. “I’m going to take you to my house. Niko will cook us some dinner and you will have all the time you need to think about what you want.”

I nod in agreement. Partly because I want to meet a satyr, and partly because it’s hard to deny this captivating woman anything. As we drive farther away from my monster, the ache inside me grows tighter and tighter. “Your boyfriend cooks?”

She grins wide. “He’s a chef. He writes cookbooks. Maybe you’ve heard of him? His name is Niko Barbaros.”

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