Compelled (The Secrets of Dragons Book 1) (10 page)

It was endearing Lou felt the need to defend him so adamantly. “Thank you, lover. I appreciate that.”

“It’s true.” Her head tilted again and she pursed her lips. Her face was so damned expressive. “I have to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Did what I saw earlier have anything to do with the fact I couldn’t keep my eyes open?”

That was an astute observation. “Yeah, probably.”

“I’m dying to have this conversation.” Leaning closer, she whispered, “Are you a shifter?”

Good guess. “In a sense.”

“A lizard?”

“Not exactly.”

She sat straight up, her mouth opening into an O as her eyes widened. “Can they fly?”

He nodded. He could fly, and it was the best feeling, second only to sex.

“Are they in
Game of Thrones
?”

That probably wouldn’t have been his next question, but they were talking in code, so… “Yes.”

“Holy shit.” She was bouncing with excitement.

This was certainly not the reaction he or Eric had anticipated. Would she be this happy when she saw him in his real form? Would it freak her out? Somehow he didn’t think so, and that was freaking him out. The big question was why she was having this reaction. Human’s didn’t normally fare so well when faced with the truth of the supernatural. “I guess you could say that.”

“Eric, too?”

“Yes.”

“Even better.”

Joe was now staring at them oddly. “What the hell are the two of you talking about?”

He was saved from bothering to reply when the doorbell rang again. Lou hopped up to answer the door as if she suddenly had springs in her ass. A moment later she was walking back into the living room. “His name is Joseph Lawn. We dated for about six months and he did move in with me for a while. A little over a month ago, he moved in with his new girlfriend. Earlier I found him lying in my bed. He said he had to wait until his car was repaired on Wednesday or Thursday, then he was going to leave.” She took a breath. “Then I ran out for a little while, and when I came home, I found all of my stuff as you see it now. Joe had called a friend. The man showed up while I was waiting for you, with his ride, to steal all my belongings. I want him arrested for breaking and entering through my garage and attempted theft.”

Lou pointed to Joe. “That’s him.”

“I was not stealing her things,” insisted Joe. “She piled the stuff up like this to frame me. My ride was only picking me up so we could go out for a while so I didn’t have to be here when this bitch got home.”

The officer looked at the middle of the living room and then glanced at him. “And you are?”

“Alex Haleey. I’m Lou’s current boyfriend, and I arrived to them arguing loud enough I could hear it outside. Lou was with me earlier.” He was going to add she had a feeling, but stopped himself. That comment might serve to further add to Joe’s story about Lou trying to set him up. Was she? It was a disturbing thought, but he didn’t think she would do that.

“Do you recall what was being said?” the officer asked.

“I heard Lou asking what he was doing and he replied ‘Fuck you, bitch.’ The front door was open so I came in. Lou was crying and Joe had his back to me. He was making angry, threatening gestures with is hands. I was afraid Joe was going to hit her, so I subdued him until I could find out exactly what was going on.”

“Subdued me?” said Joe sarcastically. “He fucking attacked me.”

Lou rolled her eyes. “He did not attack you. He lifted you by the back of your shirt and put you on the floor. He then held you there with a knee to your shoulders. I was actually stunned by how gently Alex performed that maneuver.”

“Can I come in?” asked Eric from the doorway. Lou gave him a smile and Eric walked in to take a seat in the chair beside him.

Joe leered at him. “So this is who you’re fucking. Damned faggot.”

Lou appeared completely horrified by the comment, her bottom lip dropping. “Joe. That was horribly rude. These are my friends; why would you say that?”

Lou’s comment was the better part of valor, and made Joe look really bad in front of the police.

“Oh, shut the fuck up, whore. You would defend them, you’re fucking them. Both of them. I’d say that says a lot about your character.”

“Oh, my word, Joe. What is wrong with you?” asked Lou. She was a good little actress, and Alex was sure her reaction would have been much different if the police weren’t standing in watch.

The officer looked at Eric whose skin was slightly off shade. “And who are you?”

“I’m a friend,” Eric wisely answered. “Other than that, my relationship with Alex or Lou is no one else’s business.”

Eric was quickly losing his cool. Alex could tell as he watched the normally tan shade of Eric’s skin tinting with lavender. He stared at Lou, catching her eye and gesturing with his gaze to Eric. She walked over and sat beside him, taking his hand. “I’m so sorry,” she said, stroking Eric’s palm with her finger. “There is no cause for anger here. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and calm down. What do you think, Eric?”

The woman was amazing. Eric’s coloration instantly calmed back to human. She then turned her attention back to the officers. “I guess this is a case of my word against Joe’s. I see no rational reason why I would try to frame him. I have to admit I wasn’t happy about his sudden appearance, but I was cordial about allowing him to stay for a few days. I’ve moved on with my life, although, Joe did seem rather angry about that fact.”

“Fuck you, Lou. You’re such a two-faced bitch.”

Her expression could easily belong to a mother dealing with an unruly child. “I really wish you would stop cursing and calling me nasty names. It’s completely disrespectful.”

She was laying it on thick.

“Is anything missing, Miss Arius?”

“I don’t think so.” She rose. “Let me go check my jewelry box.”

Lou strode from the room, leaving them all to stare at each other in silence. She returned a few minutes later. “My grandmother’s diamond ring, and her amethyst and diamond pinky ring are missing, as well as a ruby necklace and earring set.”

The officer walked over to Joe and hoisted him to his feet. He patted him down and then went into Joe’s pocket, pulling out the missing pieces of jewelry. “I suppose she gave you these also?”

“Yeah, it was in payment for money she borrowed.”

Lou lost it. He could almost see the steam rising from her ears. “You’re unbelievable, Joe. I supported you the entire time you lived here, and you take my grandmother’s jewelry out of my box. You know I cherish those things more than anything in this house. I can’t believe I was ever stupid enough to like you. What a jerk I was.”

The officer turned Joe around, and cuffed his wrists before removing the twine. Joe decided it was a good time to struggle. “You’re arresting me? I didn’t do anything.”

The officer put Joe face down on the sofa and then read him his rights. The other officer walked over to Lou, handing her a card. “I think we have everything we need. We will be giving you a call if we have any questions. This is our line at the station, let us know if you think of anything else.”

The other officer put her jewelry on the side table and then walked out with Joe.

The one who remained snapped a bunch of photos of the items on the floor and the jewelry before giving Lou a smile. “I hope you have a better evening.”

“I hope so also, thank you.” Lou looked at the card. “Officer Bailey.”

With a nod the man walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Chapter Eight

Lou was crawling out of her skin as she looked out the window, waiting for the car to pull away. The minute it was out of sight, she hopped up and kissed Alex hard on the lips. His arms snaked around her, one hand at the base of her spine and the other behind her head. The passion relayed by his tongue and lips was stunning, her body soaring to heights of almost instant arousal.

It ended slowly, and she flopped back onto the sofa. “Okay. Talk!”

Alex chuckled. “To what do I owe such a kiss?”

“You’re my red knight, come to rescue a damsel in distress. You deserved to be rewarded.”

“Thank you. Now what do you want to know?”

First she wanted to confirm what she had gleaned from their earlier exchange. “So you and Eric can shift into dragons, right?”

“That about sums it up. Why do you seem exuberant rather than frightened?”

“Why would I be afraid? Are you going to eat me? Oh, how I love that.” Just thinking about his mouth on her clit was making her insane with lust.

“Wow. That was a double-sided comment. No, we would never harm you.”

She shrugged. “Then what do I have to be fearful of?”

“Nothing, really, but that doesn’t stop most people.”

“I’m not most people,” Lou replied in an insulted tone. It was an exciting thing to discover that shifters actually existed. These two men wanted to be with her and she with them. She had a bad habit of turning a blind eye, but in this case she was going into the relationship with her eyes wide open. She wanted to see what they had to offer. “I’ve been having really weird dreams since I met you. I’ve been dreaming about dragons flying in the sky and landing before me. I never fear them in the dream and riding on their backs is thrilling. Now I know what the dreams are about. Of course I read a lot and I’ve always loved shifter erotic romance. I’ve always dreamed of being with one and now I have been. Sex with the two of you is incredible. I want to see you.”

“We can’t change here; we’re too big. Before we get into this, Eric, what did Yassie say?”

“He wasn’t sure if premonitions had anything to do with our scent.” Eric cleared his throat. “I have the supreme feeling I’ve missed something.”

“I already told you about her reaction. We had a cryptic conversation where she asked me if we were in
Game of Thrones
? Well … not us, but dragons. I said yes and the oddest thing happened, she’s cool with it.”

“There’s that word again.” Eric shifted to look more directly at Lou. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I am! I love the idea of a human who can turn into something not human. What about your sisters, Alex?”

“They aren’t like Eric and I. We were born human. The dragon came much later. I was nineteen.”

Lou was puzzled. “So if you weren’t born with the ability to shift, why can you do it now? Is it something you grew into and your sister’s didn’t?”

“Dragons aren’t born; they’re created by other dragons.”

She had always imagined dragons hatched from eggs, but obviously that was not the case here. “So are there others like you?”

Alex nodded. “Would you like to hear our story?”

“Please.”

Eric turned to the side, sliding his leg between her and the sofa. He urged her to turn her back to him and then leaned back onto the side pillow as he drew her into his chest with his arms wrapped around her. Lou snuggled into his body, her full attention on Alex.

****

“Eric and I used to like to go hiking. When my uncle left me the ranch, we continued that. There are massive underground caves about a mile from the house and we would go exploring in them and often stay out for a few days. One night we walked into a large cave structure and there were signs of life. Or more aptly signs someone had been there recently. We were curious and kept walking. We had torch lights with tons of extra batteries.” Not that they needed them anymore. Their eyesight was keen, even in the darkest night.

“With each passing hour we walked deeper and deeper into the cave. We were just about to turn back when something flew over our heads. It was huge and green with vibrant wings that seemed to shimmer in the torchlight. We were dumbstruck and speculated as to exactly what it was. The sight of it convinced us to stay. We decided to set up camp and see if the creature came back. Stupidly, it never occurred to us it could be dangerous. We lit a small fire to make coffee and set up our tents. It was then a man walked out of the darkness from the direction we had been heading. He had shoulder length silver hair and a face that looked far younger than his hair suggested.

“‘The coffee smells good. May I have a cup?’ he said as if we were old friends.” The memory made him smile. Yassie had such a bold and straight forward personality.

“I didn’t know what else to do, so I poured him a cup. His name is Yassie. He sat down and drank his coffee as he analyzed us. It was kind of weird because we didn’t make normal introductions. We just sat and looked at each other. Then Yassie told us he had been friends with my uncle. My uncle gave him and his people the right to stay in the caves. I told him my uncle was dead, but he already knew this. He also knew my name and quite a bit of information about me. It kind of verified he knew my uncle.”

The event was far more detailed than he had the time or energy to explain, but he wanted her to get the gist of it. “I said I would honor my uncle’s pact with him and asked if he minded if we came back to explore more. I said we would like to meet his people also. Yassie agreed and said he would send someone for us in the morning. When Eric asked him about the creature that flew over our heads, Yassie said only we had no need to fear it. They were inhabitants of the caves and preferred their privacy.”

He had Lou’s complete attention although she was nibbling on her bottom lip as she listened and it was making him insane. “That was the first time of many we went down into those caves. We made friends with Yassie and his people. We occasionally saw one of the winged creatures, but it was always a fleeting glimpse and we never made the connection they were actual dragons. Of course neither of us was much into mythology, so—” Alex shrugged. Lou had guessed what he was simply from a quick glimpse at the scales on his face.

“It was about six months later when Yassie asked us how we felt about dragons. I had no clue.

Eric asked if Yassie was talking about the cute ones in cartoons or the nasty ones that set people on fire and ate them. Yassie appeared perturbed as he stood staring at us and shaking his head. ‘Have you read none of your grandfather’s books?’ he asked. I asked what books and he glared harder. As it turns out, among his other hobbies, my uncle liked to write. He wrote quite a few books about Yassie and his people. We were told to go home and read them before we returned to the caves. It became our mission to devour every word my uncle wrote. It was some interesting stuff, but we thought it was fiction. It wasn’t.”

Alex could still remember the shock and terror of that night they finally returned to the caves as if it was yesterday. It had been irrational emotions fueled by watching too many horror flicks. “The night we went back into the caves, Yassie questioned us in length about what we had read. Then he asked if we wanted to be dragons. We thought he was kidding until he turned in front of us. The words that came out of our mouths had nothing to do with cool. We both freaked out. Then more dragons flew in and landed, one at a time they came, filling the large cave and blocking our exit. They were all different colors and sizes, but they were all dragons. I looked at their colors and a poem I had read in one of the books came back into my mind. I thought it was strange when I read it, so I read it over and over thinking it to be a riddle.

“It went
Emerald’s the stone, Maize is the corn, the ravages of age leave them tattered and torn. Orange’s the fruit and Teal is the sea, beautiful and stately may they always fly free. Black is a noble and White is his queen, the most alluring creature I’ve ever seen. Moss is a stone and Aqua is the sky, they are heaven and earth, but she be quite shy. These are the ones who’ve endeared me to them, forever taken me from the world of men.
As I looked around the colors struck me. A green and yellow dragon stood shoulder to shoulder. Orange and teal were together as well as black and white. I saw a brilliant dragon the color of spring moss, his mate stood back from him as if fearing to come closer, she was Aqua.” He hesitated to see if she would catch the correlation.

“So you turn red from emotions, not food allergies, and that’s why your name’s demon?”

“Actually, my dragon name is Demon. Hellboy was given to me by human friends, and I always blamed it on food. Of course, it’s not a complete lie because I do react to some food, but only with redness, not scales.”

“So what’s your name, Eric? I presume is has something to do with purple.”

“Yes, it does. My name is far less noble. It’s Phylox.”

“No, shit. That was my grandmother’s favorite flower. She adored that color purple.”

“I’m surprised you even know what it is. I had to look it up.”

“So who picked your names?”

Alex sighed, he wasn’t too fond of his name. “Yassie did.”

“So are you going to tell me what happened that transformed you?”

He might as well tell her the whole story. “It’s a two-part process. Of course it didn’t begin until we overcame our fear and realized how great it would be. It also meant neither of us would ever be completely human again, and for the most part we have to hide what we are. The only time we’re free to be is when we’re with our own kind. We only turn and fly at night because we can’t do it in the daytime when someone might see us. Even then, we have to stay away from brightly lit areas and planes. Our only big advantage is we have the ability to fly in stealth mode. It basically makes us invisible, but it takes tons of energy to do it. Anyway, the first part of the process is called cleansing. There is a moss in the caves that strips all toxins from the body. It also makes you sicker than hell for a few days, and from what we were told is deadly if you take too much. It doesn’t matter if it’s poisonous because the reaction is needed to weaken your resistance to the second part.”

When he didn’t immediately continue, she scowled. “Well?”

He had to laugh. “Once that happens they have a party, drinking a specially brewed wine. The wine makes you feel better and also makes you horny as hell. Then the orgy begins. It’s the sex, the exchange of bodily fluids that floods your body with the genetic material necessary for the change. Alex and I woke up after the party and felt fantastic. Of course that wasn’t the end of it. We had to learn how to shift, how to control it, and how to fly.”

“You inherited a ranch when you were nineteen?”

“That was the last question I expected you to ask. Yes, I did.”

“That’s impressive.”

“I thought the whole story was impressive. Do you believe me?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Why shouldn’t I? Will I get to meet them or are you keeping me all for yourself?”

“We would like you to meet them. We called Yassie to ask about you sleeping so long.”

“What did he say? Is there a reason for it? Please don’t tell me I will sleep like that every time we have sex.”

Eric rolled his eyes, looking up at the ceiling. Alex blew out a long, frustrated breath. “Unfortunately it may have been caused by the scent we give off when we are aroused. It’s similar to a mate finder scent many animals use. Did you notice it?”

“Yes, I did. It was very strong and terribly arousing. Can you not make that scent at will?”

The question had been phrased oddly, but he understood what she meant. “We have no control over it. It happens and gets more fragrant as we become more aroused.”

Her entire body seemed to sag for a moment, her shoulders taking a dip as she groaned. “Wow, that’s gonna suck. Is there anything we can do about it?”

“We can buy you a nose plug. That might help.”

Lou giggled. “Yeah, that will be sexy as hell. How about a gas mask; that might be better.”

“That’s an idea,” replied Alex with a chuckle. “There’s one other option.”

“What’s that?”

“You become one of us.”

Lou sat staring at him. Her bottom lip was hanging, and she was blinking more than normal as if she had no clue how to reply.

“Are you going to say something?”

“I’m not sure what to say.”

Was she serious? “So it’s cool we’re dragons, but you don’t want to become one?”

“I’m not against the idea, but I haven’t even seen you become one yet. I think agreeing at this point is unreasonable. I’d like to know what I’m agreeing to first. I don’t know the nuances of being a dragon. I’ve never even seen a real dragon.”

Her voice was going up octaves with each sentence she spoke. Alex had a feeling she was on the verge of hysteria. “I didn’t mean make the change right now. I was just throwing that out as an option.”

“I thought you were going to your house tonight.”

“I was and still am. Go with us, Lou. Meet the others and get a feel for what they’re like. Please.”

Lou immediately stood up, but he wasn’t sure where she was going. She picked up the jewelry on the table and walked from the room. Eric grimaced. “I’m not sure that went too well.”