“No, stop,” I gasped into Khol’s mouth as I struggled to push him away.
He pulled away from me but only briefly so that he shifted and wrapped his arms around me, pressing his face into my hair. “But you’re right, my little Seer,” his breath tickled my neck and I yearned to tangle my hands in his hair to pull him closer, but I remained perfectly still instead. “A dragon’s love is eternal, and I would never—could never walk away from you—because I already would have by now. Maybe Bryn is too human to love you the way you desire . . . the way you deserve.”
“But what if I am dragon enough to love Bryn forever?” I hadn’t thought about that before. What if Bryn wasn’t dragon enough to love me forever? And what if I am? Was I doomed to love Bryn for the rest of my life and to maybe have him move on to love someone else? Maybe more than one someone else?
“I’ve explained this before,” Khol massaged my back slowly, which felt much more sensual than relaxing, but maybe that’s what he was going for. “It’s different for female dragons, that part of you isn’t triggered until you’ve mated.”
“But I was mated!” I exclaimed.
“To both myself and Bryn. Even if some part of your prior matings linger . . . it still . . .” His voice trailed off as he pulled away far enough to look into my eyes again from mere inches away. I gulped nervously at the intensity in his green depths. “It still means I have a chance with you too. And I’m not going to miss any opportunity I might be presented by Bryn’s stupidity.” He brought his lips back down to mine and kissed away any retort I may have had at the time. I moaned into his mouth as he pressed himself down into me on the bed. I felt him tugging at the towel that offered me little protection from his roving hands. I had absolutely no idea what to do. Thoughts of doubt about Bryn kept circling in my head, and yet they looped back around to the fact that I couldn’t give myself to Khol for fear of losing Bryn forever . . . But what if I already had?
A sharp intake of breath acted as a small dose of sanity for me and I pushed Khol away—only to meet the dark blue eyes of none other than Bryn. It was as if my thoughts alone had conjured him up to witness my betrayal of him. You can’t betray someone if they left you at the curb like yesterday’s trash, my mind offered in my defense. A split second before Bryn’s face clouded over into an unreadable mask, I saw the hurt that my actions had placed in his eyes. “Bryn!” I gasped. Khol stood and walked out of the room without another word, but I didn’t miss the smug look on his face, and I’m sure Bryn didn’t either.
Bryn’s cool assessing gaze met mine, and my face heated with shame as he spoke. “I see that it’s not going to take you long before you’re mated with him then. Good.”
He might as well have slapped me. “Good? You can’t mean that!” I struggled to breathe. “He kissed me, I want you—I love you! You know that! Bryn please!” I began to feel lightheaded from lack of oxygen, if only I could manage a couple normal deep breaths.
“We’re not going to have this discussion. I want you to move on, just like I’m going to . . . with Nala.”
I opened and closed my mouth, unable to find my voice, the shock of what he was saying almost too much for me to handle. “Bryn, no,” I rasped when I finally found my voice. “Don’t do this. I’ve known you since we were both five years old. I know you think by pushing my buttons, by using Nala, I’ll get angry and mate with Khol . . . Just please . . . stop.”
“So maybe I don’t have any real feelings for her, and maybe what I said to you before was true.” When he finally met my eyes again, there were so many dark emotions swimming in his sea storm eyes that I couldn’t see the old Bryn—my Bryn—in them at all. “But I want you to mate with him, and if giving myself to Nala is the only way I can make that happen”—he bared his teeth at me in a mock smile—“then I’ll do it. Make no mistake about that.”
“Bryn.” His name rolled over my tongue and out of my mouth in a hushed whisper, carrying with it a silent plea that I could somehow make him see what a huge mistake he was making.
“I was born to be your Guardian, and I swore to myself once that I would do whatever it took to protect you, even if it meant protecting you from myself.” He turned and took a step toward the door. “I’m just not strong enough—not powerful enough—not good enough to be with you. I just wish I had accepted that from day one. It would have saved us both a lot of pain.” Khol chose that moment to return and he stepped into my room, pausing near Bryn. The two of them shared a very male look before Bryn left without so much as another word to me. I stared after him, hating Khol freshly in that moment.
“We must make plans for your journey,” he said coolly, in an all business tone. He was a very wise dragon to not push me any more in that moment. He knew I’d talk to him about the task I was assigned by the missing Dragon Queen from my vision, but little else.
“And where exactly am I going?” I grated.
“She will let us know where and when it’s time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked with a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“It means we have a lot to talk about,” Khol said as he closed my bedroom door behind him.
4
“Knock, knock,” Jenna said as she walked right into my room and flopped onto my bed.
“You know saying knock, knock and then walking right into someone’s room is not the same thing as actually knocking and waiting for a reply.” I feigned annoyance at her, even though the truth was I missed her . . . a lot. It felt like we hadn’t had any real girl time in a long while and I had a feeling that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
“Your door was open,” she retorted.
“No,” I said as I stuffed the last of my clean laundry into my dresser, “It just wasn’t locked.”
“Same thing.”
“Not really,” I grumbled.
“So . . . you and Bryn are really over, huh?” I froze with my back to her, my heart tripling in time.
“Why, what do you know?” Had Bryn already mated with Nala? Wouldn’t I somehow just know? It couldn’t all be over like that . . . could it?
“Well, he did move out of your room, didn’t he? And I’ve seen him skulking around all moody and broody. So—yeah—I connected the dots. You’re not the only one that’s known him forever.”
My knees buckled with relief, and I slid to the ground. He hadn’t mated with Nala, at least not yet. “Oh thank God,” I gasped on a sharp intake of breath. Until he did, I still had a chance, and I wouldn’t believe otherwise. I scooted around so I could face Jenna, my back resting against my dresser. “Have you seen him hanging around with any female dragons . . . like Nala maybe?” I couldn’t seem to control my morbid curiosity.
Jenna’s laugh came out sounding like a sharp bark, and she eyed me with amusement from under her black fringe of bangs. “No, he’s been avoiding all female dragons like the plague. Especially Nala. Is that what he told you? That he was going to mate with someone else?”