The words flow easier now. “I had a dream that I was positive wasn’t going to come true about meeting a man with gray skin and pointed ears. Then I stumbled upon him in the backroom of a coffee shop while trying to find the bathroom.”
“I was shocked.” I snort. “He was shocked and definitely not human, so I started peppering him with questions. He gave me his card and told me I was special and if I wanted to know more, I should relocate to the city. That there were more people like that there. And if I needed anything, I should give him a call.”
I swallow. Half expecting Kalos to laugh at how gullible I was, but he says nothing.
“I packed a bag and took the first bus there. I was only six months from turning eighteen, but I couldn’t stand to wait any longer than a few days.”
Kalos’s hand on my stomach tenses, his talons catching on the fabric of my shirt. “He tempted you out.”
“Yep,” I say easily. “I thought he was being helpful for the most part. What I didn’t know was that there was a ward on that room to make sure the business being done wasn’t disturbed, which is why he was unglamoured. I was rather lucky that I had walked in after his clients had already left.” My laugh was breathy. “It would have been so much worse if it was just five minutes earlier.”
I was stupid. Innocent in a way that I didn’t think I could be after being bounced from foster home to foster home. But stopping the story here would feel like lying, only showing the parts to Kalos I’d rather he see.
“I had a hard time when I got here. I didn’t want to call the guy right away. I already knew how to look for the strings attached to the things people offered, and nothing he was going to give me would be free. So I tried to get people to talk to me about magic. Tried to find paranormals. I thought I was going to show up…” I trail off.
“And find people like you,” Kalos says.
I nod. “Yeah. In the end, I called him. Turns out he had a job for me and a place to stay. And that’s how I started stealing. We made a pretty good team. He’d do all the background work with his skills in mixing magic and technology, and I have my… talents. We fit.”
I expect derision from the dragon under me. I was na?ve, chasing something I didn’t understand, trying to find where I belonged, but he doesn’t. He dips his head and brushes a kiss to my forehead that hums with care.
“It’s natural to gravitate toward your own kind,” he says. “To search them out. Even now, the few dragons that are left keep in contact, and we are creatures who are solitary except for our families.”
“I don’t think I could forgive my biological family for leaving me with humans.” My voice is rough. “I got into more trouble than I could handle trying to find someone similar to me, whether they were related to me or not. Now that I know more about witches in general, it’s clear that some witch families aren’t great to their members, so it’s better for me not to know exactly where I come from.”
“If that is what you wish. You will always have a place here, Rina.” The words are careful, but they cause an earthquake in my soul.
I frown at him at the same time my heart lodges in my throat. “Don’t promise things like that.”
Don’t offer something only to take it away later.
He presses his lips together. “We may not have a romantic relationship, but you are mine. I care for what is mine.”
I narrow my eyes at him to keep from melting, from trusting him. I trusted him too quickly last time. “I’m not yours. Let’s just focus on keeping the baby healthy.”
His nostrils flare, as if annoyed that I’d assume he’d do otherwise. He glares at me like he wants to say something else. Maybe deny my assertion. The tension in the room rises, and the hand on my belly grows hotter.
The knock at the study door dissipates whatever he’d been wanting to say.
“Come in,” Kalos growls.
“I brought dinner,” Maggie says as she walks in with a tray.
“You should put me down so we can eat,” I say.
Kalos ignores my words for a beat, and I wonder if he’s going to tune them out completely before he finally moves to set me on the couch. He arranges me right next to him so that our outer thighs press together. His body burns against mine. It’s distracting, but better than that one time he’d fed me.
No wonder I’d assumed that we could have a relationship. Kalos sends the worst mixed signals. Of course I’d be confused.
Telling me we can’t be together one moment and claiming I’m his the next. The way he touches me flies in the face of us not being romantically together, but then again, that could just be sex. We’re compatible. It doesn’t mean more than that.
I won’t let my lonely heart try and convince me otherwise.
Maggie sets the tray on the coffee table, and Kalos pulls it toward us so I can reach the plate.
“It looks delicious,” I say, even as my eyes water at the spicy steam rising from it.
Maggie runs her fingers over my shoulder, and her shoulders drop in relief. “Improving already.”
Kalos’s face shows no emotion at Maggie’s declaration. So the extra cuddles will work. More conscious time spent with this man who so blithely offers me things that I can’t trust.
Goody.
17
KALOS
I KNOCK. My dragon grumbles at knocking on a door in our own home, but this is her space, and she isn’t asleep this time.
Katarina swears softly on the other side, moving around the room as if in a hurry. I furrow my brow.
“Who is it?” she calls out.
“It’s… me.” I mentally curse myself for how awkward I feel. It’s silent on the other side of the door, and I sense her surprise.
She finally answers after a pause. “Come in.”
I enter, expecting her to be on one of the couches in the lounge area of the room or by the bed, but instead she stands in front of the closed bathroom door. I swallow at the scent of the room. Over the past month, this place has become more hers with the scent of her permeating every inch. There’s a variation of that today, but I’m too distracted by her to pick apart whatever is new.
“What are you doing here?” she asks. Her heart races with what seems like nerves.
“I thought we could add a contact session in the time before bed as well as in the morning. Does that work for you?” I ask. It’s odd to not just lay out my plan and expect her to obey, but I’m not in charge of her. She is mine to protect, but she isn’t my employee.
I have very few people in my life who wouldn’t do as I command. It’s easier to be around people who know what’s expected of them. Katarina and I don’t have a contract or any connection other than the young she carries. My dragon wants to provide for her, but I can’t just go around doing what I please when it affects her life.
Katarina’s shoulders relax.
“That’s a good idea.” She glances down and blinks. “What are you wearing?”
I look down in confusion before arching a brow. “A robe.”
“Only a robe?”
“Yes?” Clothing is uncomfortable against my skin for long periods of time, and I prefer the way silk runs over my scales.