Claws and Kisses

“Fuck you, Bruce!”

I threw a pillow at his chest, grinning in satisfaction when it it him square in the sternum. The giant-of-a-man looked down at the fallen pillow with a sneer before narrowing his oak brown eyes on me.

He’d barely stepped toward me when another dragon entered the scene, standing between me and my opponent. Romeo raised his hands with a curious grin, saying, “Whoa, slow down there, hot shot. What you being mean to Bruce for?”

Crossing my arms in a weak imitation of Avel, I glowered at both of them. “That oaf is getting on my last nerve. You tell your giant to back off before I do something stupid.”

Romeo rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed with my speech. “Right.” He turned to Bruce with a wide, sympathetic smile. “She been real mean to you, pal?”

There was a twinkle in Bruce’s eye when he clasped Romeo’s hand in greeting, squeezing once before releasing him and heading to the door.

Romeo followed after, but he turned around so that he could walk backwards while talking to me. He shook his head, mockingly once more. “How could you be mean to a sweetheart like Bruce? The guy’s practically made of rainbows and sunshine.”

“You’re funny, Romeo,” I said, following the pair down the hall. “I’ll give you that.”

Bruce had been sent to my room in Romeo’s stead. Apparently, Avel had needed him for some urgent matter, so I got the pleasant company of the giant for the morning. He was even worse than he had been the past week as I was healing. Now that I was better, he did not have any problem in pushing me around and wagging his big fat finger in my face whenever I told him to piss off.

We had just been heading to lunch when Romeo had popped in with that shit-eating smile of his. That dragon always looked seconds away from pulling off some deadly, deliciously humorous prank. It made the damn hair on my neck stand up whenever he was around.

The pair left me to drift behind them a couple feet back as they talked. Or more accurately, Romeo talked and Bruce grunted. He was in the middle of telling some story about a woman he had seduced the previous night.

“You shoulda been there, buddy.” He slapped Bruce on the back, laughing and wiping away nonexistent tears from his eyes. “She bent like a fucking—”

He abruptly cut off. I lifted my eyes to see him frozen in the middle of the hall, eyes glazed over so that they appeared weirdly shiny. Bruce watched on, unfazed. I simply paused and waited for the shine to fade. Once it did, Romeo blinked. And blinked again. He slowly pivoted so that he faced me. Our eyes locked. I waited, growing tense from his piercing gaze. A moment passed before . . .

Before he started laughing.

Wild bubbles of howling laughter overtook him, and he bent over with the force of the laughs that shook him. He went on, bent like that for a couple of moments before he finally straightened, a wicked smile curving his lips so that they appeared almost malevolent.

“Oh, sweetheart.” His chuckles gradually dissipated as he grinned with a shake of his head. “I wish I could be there to see the look on your face when you go into that damn room.”

I was suddenly alarmed. “W-What?”

He waved his hand in the air, dismissing the issue. He turned back to Bruce with a hard hit on the back, starting to walk forward once more. “I don’t know if you just got that message, but you’re going to want to be in there too.”

Agitated at the dismissal, I hurried my steps so that I was only a foot or two behind the dragons. “Romeo? Romeo, what the hell just happened?”

“Patience, kid.” He threw a wink over his shoulder, his features full of fiendish delight. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Before I could ask him anymore, I was bumping into Bruce’s back. I glared up at the dragon, but he wasn’t looking at me. Both of the males’ eyes were on the door in front of us. Light pooled in a puddle from the small opening below the threshold, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was waiting on the other side.

“In you go, human.” Romeo and Bruce simultaneously moved aside to let me through. Romeo was still grinning, so I made my way past him with ginger steps. He didn’t talk until my hand was on the handle of the door, halfway between pushing it open. “And, Wendy?”

I peered over my shoulder, raising one brow at him.

He smirked. “Don’t scream too loudly when you get in there.”

They were gone in the blink of an eye. I stared at where they had been, my heart picking up speed. Deciding not to linger on his ominous words for long, I pushed the door open all the way and stepped into the room.

The room wasn’t a room at all. It opened up onto a ledge on the side of the mountain. There were three natural walls and a stone roof, but the fourth wall was entirely missing. There was no rail or guard to keep someone from accidentally falling from the heights.

Why would they put one there? I thought sourly. They’re dragons. No height could frighten them all that much.

It was raining heavily. By some miracle—or more likely, by Drachen Magic—no rain had laid ruin to the floors. A small dining table had been set up by the open wall, surrounded by bouquets of flowers and statues of long-dead dragons. The sight was a considerable one.

“Boo.”

“Ahh!” I shrieked, spinning around and automatically reaching for the dagger strapped to my breeches. The very one Avel had given me. I fumbled to unbuckle the weapon, but paused anyways as I realized who my would-be attacker was.

“Avel!” I slapped his arm, glaring hard up into his amused face. “Would you quit it? What are you, five?”

He shrugged, his eyes moving from my face down to my attire. Those purple orbs immediately darkened at the sight. His eyes flickered up to meet mine, silently commanding me to explain why I had disobeyed him.

“Sorry,” I shrugged, not all that concerned by his hooded glower. “Forgot.”

“Hmm.” Quick as an arrow, he twisted his finger around one of the loops on my breeches and sidled me forward. Startled, I stumbled closer to him, staring up with wide eyes into his face. There was a smirk there, but it was full of malevolence instead of glee. “Perhaps I should help you remember, little tiger.”

I gulped, suddenly blushing for no reason. “Uh, no thanks.” Putting my hands on his chest, I tried pushing away from him but he refused to relinquish an inch, and only kept me grounded in place before him. As I struggled, I gritted out, “You know, you’ve really changed, lordy. You use to give up a hell of a lot easier than this.”

The dragon lord yanked me forward more, and I yelped this time as I collapsed into his chest. He caught me around the waist, smirking in full now. “And you use to not be so clumsy. I wonder what changed.”

Cheeks stained red and eyes wide as saucers, I squirmed in his hold, unable to wrap my head around his arms on my waist. “Avel, please! I—”

“You,” he stilled my movements simply by gripping my chin between his thumb and his forefinger. He tipped my head back so that I had no choice but to look up at him. Into his dark, shadowy gaze. “Need to be taught a lesson or two about how humans are treated here. If I tell you to change, that means that you get your ass upstairs and you fucking change.”

The heat coming off him pressed into my stomach and my breasts. Lower. I squirmed some more, overwhelmed by the flood of sensations that came from being pressed so close against him. “Yes, okay! Avel, please just—ah! Ah, let . . . let me go! Please.”

He released me, seemingly satisfied with my response. Not a moment later, there was a knocking from the other side of the room. We both looked to see an unfamiliar man standing there. He was a dragon. A powerful one if his tattoos were any indication. The dragon was tall and bulky, his figure a lot like Avel’s. However, instead of Avel’s midnight blue hair, this man had hair as white as the moon. It shone in the glow of the storm raging outside.

The dragon cocked an eyebrow. “Am I interrupting something?”

Tripping away from Avel, I stood to the side and watched as the Dragon Lord greeted the man. “Jericho,” he nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets, acting as if he hadn’t just manhandled me a few seconds ago. “This is Wendy. Wendy, meet my brother, Jericho.”

My eyes snapped to his. “Brother?”

Avel nodded again. I gaped and looked back and forth between the two, the similarities between the two all the more prominent now that I knew they were related. I turned accusatory eyes onto Avel. “Why did you not tell me you had a brother?”

He shrugged. “It was irrelevant.”

“What? No,” I threw my hands up, glancing at Jericho, who was simply looking amused by the whole exchange. “Having a blood relative is not irrelevant.”

The Dragon Lord hummed. “If it makes you feel better, he was in our parent’s domain when we first met. He only left them to join my horde and rule beside me a few years ago, when you were still in the south.”

I consented a nod, feeling oddly shy in Jericho’s presence. If he was not Avel’s brother, I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about what he thought of me. But . . . I found myself wanting to impress this man. Or at least earn his respect.

Jericho smiled and strode forward to lift his hand in greeting with a warm smile. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Wendy.” His eyes darted briefly to Avel’s, knowingly. “I have heard much about you.”

I returned the gesture, my eyes wandering to Avel’s face as well. He let his eyes drift to me lazily. Upon seeing my curious stare, his lips twitched with a wink. I blushed again and turned back to Jericho. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Jericho.”

He offered a slight bow, straightening at once, his bulky frame filling up the space. His attention drifted to a side door, and a sudden, wildy delighted glint sparked in his gaze. “We’re just missing one more, then.”

My brows furrowed as I turned to Avel. “I thought it was just us?”

His features were carefully neutral. “Little tiger,” he said with a stern but gentle tone. “I only found out about this earlier this morning.”

His vague words did nothing to help answer my question. I crossed my arms and asked, “Found out what . . . ?”

At that moment, the side door swung open. A pale, muscled figure appeared in the doorway. Instead of rags, he wore a fine tunic with matching breeches. Bracelets cuffed his wrists, marking him as a dragon’s companion. A fresh brand stood out on his neck, drawing the eye to the intricate mark that claimed him.

I stumbled forward, confused. “Rhett?”

“Ah,” Jericho grinned as he walked to my twin, who was standing as still as death in the threshold with an expression just as grave. “So you have met him already then, have you?”

My eyes widened almost comically as the dragon cupped my brother’s cheek, leaning forward so that their noses just barely brushed. Jericho’s grin stretched wider. “Lady Wendy,” he said cheerfully. “I would like to introduce you to my mate.”

Oh my lord.

Wow! So lots of big reveals in that chapter. You all finally got to meet Jericho (yay!) and Jericho's mate . . . who also happens to be Wendy's twin. Now who saw that coming? Certainly not me. The idea for Jericho and Rhett just recently popped into my head, and I was trying to slowly work my way up to it. So . . . surprise!

Also, quick note: this story has been pretty lukewarm so far. I've kind of been setting the characters and plot up for a while, but we are about to start getting into the plot and the core of the real stuff. Things are about to get dark. Things are about to get steamy. Things are about to get a little fucked up. If you have been riding for funzies so far, time to get off. It's about to get gritty and bloody and twisted and HOT. For the rest of you:

Get ready. *winks charmingly*

Big stuff coming soon story-wise. Promise you won't be dissapointed. Update coming in the next few days!

That's all for today folks. Hope you enjoyed.

~Elaine