Authors: Milly Taiden
TWENTY
Becca woke with a smile. She stretched on her bed and sighed, letting her body go lax. The scent of coffee woke her up. Coffee?
She jerked her eyes open and glanced around. Light filled her room. Unlike the previous night, when the room provided dark colors to go with her long hours of sex with Vikter, the room was now a pale yellow. Everything was bright and cheerful inside it: exactly the way she felt.
She hopped out of bed, ignoring her naked state, and winced. Damn that dragon had some serious stamina. Her back hurt, and she could barely walk. She shuffled to the table where she saw what looked like a coffee carafe with mugs waiting. Someone had been nice enough to bring her coffee. Thank god.
She lifted a folded piece of paper.
It isn’t what you call coffee, but we’ve been told it smells and tastes like it. I hope you enjoy it.
V.
She grinned. A man who fucked her stupid and gave her coffee? All she needed was bacon, and he’d be a keeper.
She poured the not-coffee into a mug and sniffed it. Definitely smelled like coffee, but with more hints of cinnamon than she was used to. She added what smelled and looked like milk and sugar. Then she sat to sip it with a sigh.
Someone knocked at her door, and she glanced down at herself. Shit. She was having coffee naked. Not something she normally cared about, but clearly whoever was at the door might have reservations about seeing her nude in her jiggly glory.
She threw on a robe and opened the door to a bright-eyed Razzy.
“Hi.” Razzy smiled. “Can I come in?”
Becca tried and failed to stop herself from grinning from ear to ear. It was silly, yes, but she was excited about the time she spent with Vikter. She wanted more, to see where this could go. “Come on in.”
Razzy sat on a chair by the table. “I’m not sure if this is appropriate or proper, but I wanted to thank you.”
She frowned. “What for?”
“For being here.” She stood and paced. Becca got the impression Razzy liked to do that when thinking. “I hadn’t been able to get Vik out of that angry mood he’s been in.” She stopped and glanced at Becca. “Suddenly, you and he have words, and now he has shaved, cut his hair, and is looking like himself again.”
Becca raised her brows. She highly doubted that she was the reason Vikter had finally done all those things. It looked more like he was going through something. But if she did have an impact on his life to that extent, she was glad to help.
“I don’t know what to say,” Becca mumbled.
“Don’t say anything.” Razzy sighed. “I had to thank you…and warn you. I don’t want your feelings hurt.”
Becca sat. “Warn me about what?”
“Vik. He’s…” Razzy’s pale face turned crimson with embarrassment. “He’s not interested in being in a relationship. I don’t… No… I know how far things got last night, and if you’re anything like me, you’re possibly wondering where this is going.” She bit her lip. “It’s not going anywhere. He was clear about that. He wants you, but he’s not looking for long-term.”
Becca froze in place. She felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her. She met Razzy’s sad gaze and smiled over her shock. “I’m not getting any ideas. One night of sex doesn’t mean we’re getting married or anything.”
Razzy shifted from foot to foot. “I don’t know how to make this better.”
She stood and shook her head. “Don’t worry. I’m fine. Do you mind giving me some time alone? I want to get dressed and ready to head back to Charlotte’s place.”
Razzy nodded. “Of course. I can go. Are you sure you don’t prefer for me to stay and talk to you?”
Hell no. She didn’t want the poor girl making excuses for Vikter. Looked like there were players all over the universe.
“I’m fine. I just need to shower and change.”
Once Razzy was gone, she gulped down the coffee and slammed the bathroom door closed. She showered quickly and tried not to think how stupid she felt.
She’d actually done something with Vikter she hadn’t done before. She gave herself ideas about the future—thoughts of a relationship and possible long-term commitment. Yeah, right. No matter what planet she was on, a one-night stand was still a one-night stand.
She rushed to dress and pack her overnight bag. The longer she stayed, the angrier she got. Not with Vikter. He hadn’t made any promises. She was angry with herself, for foolishly thinking she’d have the same luck as Bella and Charlotte and that being on Aurora would mean she’d find a great shifter for herself, too. Bullshit.
TWENTY-ONE
Becca lifted the bow and arrow and took aim. Luckily, she had done this before and wouldn’t look like a total idiot trying to best her new brother-in-law.
She shot the arrow, missing the target by three trees. Fucking hell. She’d never shot that badly. She growled and glared at the bow. The urge to throw it on the ground and stomp on it hit her fast and hard.
“Are you okay, Becca?” Eros asked.
She turned to face him, having forgotten for a second he was there, and pasted a fake smile over her face. “Yes.”
He frowned. “Has Charlotte spoken to you much about shifters?”
Becca ground her teeth and shook her head.
“We’re able to sniff lies,” he said, his eyes filled with compassion. “I can tell you’re not okay.”
She did growl at that point. “I’m sorry. I should’ve been more adult about this, but I can’t help being angry.”
He nodded, but she knew she made no sense. “Vikter?”
How he figured that out from her words, she had no clue. “He didn’t say he wanted a relationship. So why did I go and start planning one? That’s not me.”
Eros put his bow down and walked toward her. “Come on,” he said, walking with her to a picnic blanket they’d set out. Even though the Ice Mountains were cold, he’d taken her to a much warmer area for target practice.
They sat, and for a moment he said nothing. She hoped he didn’t feel uncomfortable with her need to vent.
“I’m sorry,” she started.
“No!” He shook his head and sighed. “Don’t apologize for what you’re feeling. There are a lot of things I can’t tell you about Vikter, but the one I can tell you is that he’s a good guy.”
She snorted. “A good guy who won’t say no to a booty call.”
He frowned. “Vikter is going through a difficult time right now. He’s having problems with his dragon and coming to terms with personal issues.”
“You don’t have to defend him,” she said flatly. “He didn’t do anything wrong.” Hell. More like everything right. He’d given her more orgasms than she was used to, and it had fucked with her head.
“Perhaps you should speak to him,” Eros suggested. “I think there are things only he can explain to you.”
She quickly rejected the idea. “No. If he wanted to talk, then he would’ve come over by now.”
She heard the flapping of wings and glanced up. Sure enough, there was that big, golden dragon she’d spoken to at the castle. They both stood to get a closer view of the creature.
She watched the giant beast land with a thump, a bundle of something wrapped around his talon. Suddenly it started to shrink; scales receded and turned to flesh. She should have known: Vikter.
Who else could have had those intense, golden eyes to match the dragon?
“Fuck!” She turned to face Eros but found herself alone. Great. Now he’d left her to deal with Vikter on her own. The last thing she wanted was for him to realize she’d gotten ideas about the two of them, not when he was clearly not interested in her in that way.
“Becca—”
“Listen,” she looked away, “we don’t need to talk about what happened.” She turned to put some distance between her and him.
“Stop,” he yelled.
She whirled around and glared at him. “Don’t come ordering me around. I’ve been patient with your attitude and shit, so don’t yell at me.”
He stopped short and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to walk away without listening to me.”
“You mean there’s more than what Razzy told me about you not wanting a relationship, just one-night use of my body?” She folded her arms over her chest. “There’s more to add to that?”
He curled his hands into fists, clenched his jaw. The vein at the side of his gorgeous face throbbed like a pulse. She wondered if it’d pop.
“You don’t understand. It’s best to keep things casual.”
Oh, that fucking asshole. Casual. If she wanted casual, she had ten exes willing to give her that. The whole point of finally giving in to the strange connection she’d felt with him was that she thought things would be different.
“Fuck casual!” She stomped away.
“Wait,” he said behind her. “I’m no good for you.”
“Spare me your self-pitying excuses,” she threw over her shoulder. “If you weren’t good for me, then you wouldn’t have fucked me last night.” She stopped and spun on her heels. “Oh, wait.” She tapped her chin. “I get it. You are good for that, but not for anything else, huh?”
“No. Yes.”
She turned and continued marching forward. “Good to know you have this argument down pat.”
“Stop walking away,” he growled. “I’m trying to speak to you.”
She stopped again. “And I’m trying to ignore you. Get with the program.”
He curled a hand around her arm and pulled her to face him, making her stumble in the process. He wrapped his other hand around her waist and pushed her against a tree. Her back was plastered against the hard trunk, while he pressed his body to her front.
He cupped her face to keep her from looking away. “Listen to me,” he rumbled softly. “I want you. I want you more than my next breath.” His hold on her face softened when she didn’t fight to escape. “I’d give up whatever life I have left to be with you, but I can’t promise you forever.”
Lord. How could he say things like that and then expect her to act like they’d only had some one-night stand? He was messing with her head and, fuck, with her heart too.
“What is it you want?” She breathed. “I don’t understand. I’m getting mixed signals, and it’s confusing.”
Frustration filled his gaze, along with a flash of fire. He pulled away from her. “I want you. Us. No expectations. No commitments.”
Her face burned as if he’d slapped her. “So good enough to fuck, but not good enough long-term, huh?” She shook her head. “Fuck you, Vikter. You can take your offer and shove it.” She slid away from the tree and glared down the path, where she saw Eros farther down. “Don’t bother following me. I’m not interested in anything else you have to say.”
She marched away, her body numb and her heart empty. She’d come to another world to be treated worse than she had been on Earth. Great. Apparently there were jerks everywhere, no matter the planet.
TWENTY-TWO
Another burst of fire flew out of Vikter’s dragon’s throat. He couldn’t stop him. The beast had taken control, and there was nothing Vikter could do, not that he could with how furious he was with himself and the world.
The fading connection between him and the dragon grew fainter. At the moment, he felt as if the dragon was trying to communicate, but he didn’t understand what the animal wanted. One thing was for sure: the dragon was angry.
Vikter flew home in a rage. There, Brecc waited for him. He threw clothes on and met him in his office.
“You do realize she doesn’t know you’re dying,” Brecc said the moment he walked in the door.
“Yes. I do. It’s best to keep it that way. The last thing I need is pity. If she wanted to be with me she’d have agreed to my request.”
“Keep things casual?” Brecc winced. “Are you so out of touch with women that you really expected that to work?”
“She’s smart. I told her I couldn’t. I didn’t say I didn’t want to be with her.”
Brecc shook his head. “Wow. What a play on words.” He marched to one of Vikter’s chairs and sat, lifting his legs to place his feet on the ottoman next to him. “You should just tell her. She‘ll probably understand that a lot better.”
Maybe. Or she’d look at him with a pity in her eyes that Vikter would never be able to live with.
“Are you going to the first flight?” Brecc asked. “Becca told Charlotte how excited she is to see so many dragons flying together.”
Fucking hell! Stupid Drayken wanting the same woman Vikter did. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve never missed the first flight, Vik.” Brecc shrugged. “It’s not my business, but why don’t you offer to take her on the first flight? Drayken won’t argue with you. We both know who rules this family.”
It used to be Vikter, back when he was in control of his dragon and his life. Another bout of fire heated his throat. His dragon was angry once again, and he couldn’t figure out why. Unless he was upset over the same thing Vikter was: Drayken and Becca on the first flight.
His office door burst open, and Razzy rushed inside.
“Vikter, this isn’t working,” she shouted, ignoring Brecc’s presence. “We’ve hurt Becca’s feelings. She won’t look me in the eye anymore.”
His sister threw herself into his arms and started crying. “Calm down, Razz.”
“Don’t,” she sniffled. “Don’t tell me to calm down. She was my friend, and we hurt her feelings.”
“Did she stop talking to you?” Vikter asked, patting his sister on the back.
“No. She’s being super nice and acting like nothing’s wrong, but I see the sadness in her eyes,” she wailed. “We did that.” She pulled away from him, tears staining her cheeks. “We have to fix it.
You
have to fix it.”
Great. Just what he needed. “Razzy, she’s fine. Trust me.”
She shook her head and pulled away from him. “She’s not fine, and if you don’t fix this then I will!”
He watched her run out of his office. He ran restless fingers through his short hair and growled. “Great. Fucking great.”
Brecc sat up and sighed. “I told you to talk to her. Tell her what’s going on. You’d be surprised. She might be just what you need.”
He didn’t even know what he needed at this point. Between his dragon fighting him for control and his emotional desire for more time with Becca, he didn’t know what to do.