“That, of course, is a given, my lord,” Drake responded in the same emotionless tone. He then shifted and stood facing Khol with question and worry intermingled on his face. “If I may be so bold to ask . . . why did you not merely kill him?”
Khol picked up a piece of the broken tub and studied it for a moment before answering. “She would never have forgiven me. I know that now.”
“But she would be yours.”
“Not completely. Not in the way that I truly desire her to be.” Khol’s face contorted into a mask of pain for the briefest of moments before becoming emotionless again.
“I do not understand, my lord. It is the way of the dragon.”
“But it is not the way of love.” Khol clenched and unclenched his fists. “And I fear love makes me grow weak.” He whirled around and disappeared.
Drake remained motionless staring at the spot where Khol had just been. “I fear that too, my lord,” he whispered to himself.
I looked up at Jenna and let go of her wrist. So many emotions were swirling around in me at once. The first was my shock at seeing a side of Khol that he’d never let me see before, a side of him that made me love him just a little bit more than I had a few moments ago. And the second was an irrational anger at Jenna for her attempt at trying to seduce him. I knew logically that I’d been with Bryn, and that Jenna would have seen nothing wrong by going after Khol who I had no real claims on . . . but the dragon in me roared at the horrible offense.
“You tried to seduce Khol,” I growled at her. “And you never even said anything.”
“Uhh . . . duh! Why wouldn’t I try to seduce him? He’s smoking hot, and I wasn’t serious with Macon yet, and—besides you were with Bryn!” She cried out the last part with outrage. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“If you didn’t think you did anything wrong, then why did you never say anything?” I could feel my dragon fire magic rising up from underneath the surface and I fought to keep it under control. My mind conjured up an image of what Khol and I had done together, but with Jenna in my place. I think my blood actually began to boil. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I screeched.
“You were with Bryn!” Jenna screeched back, as she moved toward the door.
Khol appeared just in the nick of time as flames shot out of my palms in the general direction of Jenna. Khol grabbed my hands and began siphoning off my energy, but I still heard Jenna scream even though I knew the flames hadn’t touched her.
I heard Macon’s voice as he entered the fray. “What the hell is going on?”
“She tried to burn me!” I heard Jenna cry out.
“That’s because you’re a slut who tried to screw Khol!” I growled between clenched teeth.
“You were with Bryn!” she screeched back at me.
“My lord?” Macon’s shaky voice said with question.
“Nothing happened,” he responded in a flat tone. “Take her out of here.” He paused and seemed to think better of what he said. “Do not punish her, it was before the two of you were seriously involved.”
“Don’t punish her my ass!” I hissed as I struggled inside the iron bars that were Khol’s arms. “If you don’t I will!” But Macon and Jenna were already gone, and the adrenaline rush that had been fueling me suddenly dissipated into wave of dizziness.
“Hush,” Khol crooned as he kissed the top of my head. “You must learn to keep your dragon temper under control. You may end up hurting someone you do not wish to one day.”
“But she tried to seduce you,” was my lame attempt at an excuse even though the rational side of me was already beginning to chastise my behavior toward Jenna. She was right; I had no right to be angry with her for what she did. I had been with Bryn at the time and had no claims on Khol. So why did I still feel so betrayed by her? “You don’t seem all that upset,” I groused at Khol. Yes, he had advised me that I would regret hurting Jenna, but he didn’t seem angry at all by my outburst . . . not really.
“I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you why.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
No, he didn’t have to explain why he was so pleased, not really. He was completely digging the fact that I had gotten all crazy jealous over him. “Why didn’t you hook up with her? It’s not like you didn’t know I was with Bryn.”
Khol turned me in his arms and brushed his warm lips over mine. “Let’s not talk about it.”
“But I wanna know.” I fought the feelings of lust that his soft kisses where inflaming in me. He didn’t answer and pulled me closer to him in his arms. “I said I wanna know.” And just like that another vision slammed into me.
Khol was sprawled out on his bed, a tortured pensive expression on his face when a soft knock on his door caught his attention. “Yes,” he growled.
The door opened slowly and a tall beautiful woman, with long curly red hair stepped through the door hesitantly. I’d never laid eyes on her, but the minute she spoke, I knew who she was. “My lord.” She curtsied low. “Drake has sent me to you.” It was Shannon—the female dragon that Khol had once used to try and forget me. The memory of him kicking her out of his room so he could heal me played across my mind briefly.
Khol stood and glowered at her. “I didn’t ask for him to send you.”
She smiled at him in a flirtatious way. “But maybe you should give me a chance before sending me away.”
“I don’t want what you’re offering me . . . at least not from you.” Khol’s green illuminated eyes sparked with anger.
Shannon approached him with more confidence. “No, but I can help ease your pain. Help you forget her, for I am dragon after all.” She came to stand in front of him and dropped the dress that she had been wearing, showing that she had nothing on underneath. When Khol didn’t say anything, she obviously took it as a step in the right direction, so she sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back in a blatant offering.
In a blur of motion, Khol snatched her up by the arms and pinned her to the wall. “Not on the bed,” he commanded, his voice dipping to sound inhuman. She stood up on her tiptoes and tried to kiss him, his response was to flip her around and push her face first into the wall.
“Yes, you don’t have to be gentle with me—”
“Don’t speak,” Khol snarled. He unbuckled his pants with one hand while still holding Shannon up against the wall with the other. He closed his eyes and slid into her. She moaned her delight, which only seemed to annoy Khol more. “I said not to speak—not even a sound.” I was completely and utterly taken aback. I’d known the aftermath of Shannon and Khol’s coupling, but I’d at least thought he’d been somewhat decent to her while they were together. Boy was I wrong. With his eyes firmly shut he moved in and out of her sensually. He even let go of her wrists to wrap her hair around his fist. Things from that point on seemed to go pretty smoothly until Khol broke his silence with a moaned profession of love . . . for me.
I was suddenly staring into Khol’s illuminated green eyes, the live version, the vision fading as fast as it had come. My heart clenched at the realization of what I had just witnessed. I’d asked to know why Khol hadn’t hooked up with Jenna, and my new powers, in a roundabout way, had shown me. He had used Shannon, and apparently even pretended she was me, or at least tried. He didn’t want to do that to Jenna, my friend.
“Khol—” I started.
“I wish you wouldn’t have seen that,” Khol’s voice was somber. “I was not at my best then . . . right after it happened.”