Page 52 of Dragon His Heels
“I let it consume me, started to hate you. And our parents. Convinced myself I could never be happy here. So I left. Didn’t have a clue where I wanted to go, though. A couple of girlfriends were heading to New Orleans for vacation, so I went along, figuring I’d start my adventure there. But then I met Darius, and my adventure ended there. He decided he wanted me, so he pressured me into having sex with him.”
“Wait. Pressured you?”
Jasmine nodded. “He was my first. My only, actually.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah. When he was trying to seduce me, he promised to buy me a ruby.” Her laugh was brittle. “Dragons and our stupid attraction to shiny things. And when I found out I was pregnant, I thought, ‘Well, he didn’t give me the gem, but he gave me a child, and that’s an even better treasure.’ I was such a fool.”
Talia sank onto the bed and placed her hand on Jasmine’s arm. Her sister blinked, probably trying to fight the tears, but they fell anyway, dripping onto the comforter.
“He didn’t even want me. I was nothing but a conquest. He told me I was a worthless whore when I told him I was carrying his child. I left here looking for a way to feel better about myself, and I ended up far away from home, alone, pregnant, and more depressed than ever. ”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not. I mean, I’m sorry I got caught up with Darius, but I’ll never be sorry for bringing Ruby into this world.”
Talia scratched her nose again. “Except for the whole getting addicted to dragon’s blood and overdosing and nearly leaving her alone in this world.”
Jasmine flinched. “Is that why you lied to Gabe? Told him Ruby was his?”
Blowing out a breath, Talia nodded. “When I saw you lying on that floor, I thought you were dead. Ruby was sitting next to you, shaking you, crying, begging you to wake up. I blamed myself for not trying to find you sooner. I wondered how the hell I was supposed to tell our parents. And I vowed that I’d get your child away from that place and ensure she lived a happy, secure life.”
Both women swiped a tear at almost the exact same time, which made Jasmine chuckle and Talia offer up a watery smile.
“When I realized you were alive, my game plan changed a bit. I got you out of New Orleans and checked you into that rehab facility. Initially, I was going to bring Ruby here to our parents. That way, I’d be free to keep tabs on you and still do my job as PR manager for Gabe, and Ruby would be in that safe, secure environment I’d vowed to give her. Bonus that she was going to be raised by her own grandparents.
“But then I started thinking about Gabe, like I always do. Even before we, he, uh…” She flapped her hand.
“I understand. You’ve always been like that, Talia. Always taking care of everyone else, never giving up until you reach your goal. It’s what makes you so good at your job. And would probably make you an excellent reeve’s mate.”
“Yeah, well, clearly that’s off the table now. Heck, Gabe didn’t want it to happen even before he found out I lied about Ruby’s paternity.”
“So instead of bringing her to Mom and Dad, you decided to tell Gabe she was his?” Jasmine prompted.
“He needed something to ground him. He was losing himself, denying his own possibilities, his own future. I’m still not entirely sure why he does it, but he’s been like that for as long as I’ve known him.” She frowned. “I’ve always sensed there was more to him than he let anyone see. I was determined to prove he was a worthy reeve for this colony. And forcing him to take responsibility for raising what he believed was his own child suddenly seemed like the perfect solution to all our problems.”
“Well, it looks like your plan worked. I’m getting better, Ruby’s safe with her family and an adopted father who loves her, and Gabe is exhibiting signs of being one of the best reeves this colony has ever had. At least, that’s what Adelbern says.”
“I guess,” Talia grumbled. “Except now the entire colony hates me—including Gabe.”
Jasmine slid her hand into Talia’s, twined their fingers together, and squeezed. “Thank you for saving Ruby and me. And Gabe.”
Talia used their clasped hands to tug her sister into a hug.It will have to be enough.When she pulled away, she said, “Hey, whenever Gabe lets you see Ruby, will you call me? So I can come over and hang out with her too?”
“Of course.” Jasmine squeezed her hand. “I love you, big sister.”
“I love you too, little sister.”
***
Talia would have preferred to skip the colony meeting. She already knew what was to be discussed, and she wasn’t a fan of the glares some of the dragons gave her. Gabe apparently had some serious, cult-like fans, and they had taken an intense dislike of her. One more item to add to the reality series she was currently living,This Is Now My Life.
Unfortunately, she was note-taker for these meetings, and since Gabe wasn’t speaking to her, she couldn’t tell him she didn’t want to be here. So she slumped in her seat at the end of the row of chairs on the dais in the auditorium where the colony gathered for these meetings. The rest of the chairs were occupied by the Counsel of Elders, with Gabe in the center. A table draped with a white cloth stretched the length of the stage in front of them. Talia focused on her laptop screen and refused to look at anyone, not the audience filing in to take their seats, not the Elders, and certainly not Gabe, who probably would just ignore her anyway.
The meeting started a few minutes after seven, with Adelbern grumbling under his breath about these things never starting on time. The room fell silent, and then Gabe stood and began speaking.
Despite his insistence on not wanting to be reeve, he was really quite an eloquent speaker. He paced along in front of the table while he told the colony about the battle and his decision to let the Rojo dragon go rather than kill him.
