Chapter 3
Blake had begrudgingly agreed to coffee with the odd female, though he wasn’t sure why he would willingly subject himself to yet more humans. He still couldn’t quite put his finger on why the woman made him so uneasy, but the longer he was with her the less he could think about it. He told himself it must have just been too much chaos around him with all the humans, and the music, trying to quiet the part of himself that was still so on edge.
She led him down the sidewalk to a small diner that was open all the time. Out of the stifling atmosphere of the nightclub he felt less overwhelmed, and was feeling better and better the longer he was away from the place.
She sat across from him at the diner, her legs crossed neatly under the table. Her thin fingers wrapped around a cup of coffee, amber eyes dancing over the top of the cup as she inspected him. “So, you really were out babysitting wolves for the night?” She asked quietly with a laugh, “They have you so wasted here! Mmm, I bet you’re magnificent.”
He could feel the flattery working on his ego, and felt himself warming to the attention slightly.
“Hardly,” Blake replied after taking a sip of coffee, “I just follow orders. No one cares much for what we can and can’t do any more. They just try to keep us manageable and in our place, no rocking the boat. I don’t make waves, I’m just happy they leave me alone most of the time.” It felt odd to him to be speaking so freely with the woman. Her influence on him was still palpable, making him feel more and more at ease as they sat there having what amounted to a friendly conversation for him.
Blake was taken aback when the woman leaned forward and placed a hand on his arm, intense warmth beneath her touch. His eyes flashing with the simultaneous urge to pull away but also yearning for the contact. His usual reaction when people he didn’t know touched him was to recoil, but he could feel the soft pulsing of her power beneath her touch. Blake’s eyes met hers as she smiled up at him. “What are you?” He asked again, sincerely wondering just what kind of Fae he had stumbled across.
She laughed, dismissing his question with a wave of her hand.
“Oh, you know close enough what I am,” she explained with a smile, “I’ve just got a little extra. A small bonus…je ne sais quois.” The French phrase rolled off her tongue effortlessly, betraying a definite familiarity with the language.
For the first time in his life, Blake found himself genuinely interested in learning more about someone. The longer they spoke, the more fascinating he found her. He had lived an extremely solitary life even with his adoptive family, and his dislike and distrust of other species made it rare that he encountered anyone, who he found interesting enough to talk to like that. She somehow put him at ease, melting his generally frigid exterior, and he found himself relaxing more and more into the conversation. His mind clouded in a comfortable warmth he was unaccustomed to, and unable to explain.
“So, what am I to call you then, my fiery new friend?” She asked with a wink before sipping her coffee.
Blake shifted uncomfortably, his long legs brushing hers under the table as he did so. The small amount of contact broke his attention for a moment. His mind flashed with the urge to touch her again, in every place he could imagine. It spoke to all the darkest corners of his mind, and he liked it. It struck him just how odd this whole night had ended up. Blake considered that maybe Riley wasn’t so crazy after all, if this is what it was like to meet a female he desired.
“Blake,” he said deliberately avoiding his last name as it was a source of deep shame for him. He frowned when she continued looking at him expectantly.
She raised one thin eyebrow, gesturing with her hand for him to continue. “Blake. Just ‘Blake’. No last name? You go by one name, like Cher, or Prince?” She asked, clearly teasing with the sarcastic expression on her face.
His face fell in annoyance back into a scowl, irritated that she seemed to be demanding him give his full name. People in the shifter world generally knew his family name, and associated it with what happened to the rest of his family. Not many species were in the dark, when it came to a dragon losing control and killing himself, his wife, and several humans. Blake had grown wary of the look in peoples’ eyes when they made the connection that he was one of “those” Kerrigan dragons.
“I have no idea who that is,” Blake admitted, trying to reason out who the people were she mentioned, “But no, I don’t have just one name. That would be ridiculous, really. My full name is Blakemore Kerrigan, if you must know.” He muttered the words reluctantly as he met her eyes in a challenging glare. He watched her carefully, expecting to see the realization cross her face as it did with most in the shifter community. He was confused when instead she broke out in a sly grin.
“Hmm, makes you sound like a pompous asshole,” she laughed as he squirmed uncomfortably, “Or some sort of soap opera character.” She was pulling crumpled dollar bills from her pocket and tossing them down on the table.
She rose from the table before he could process her reaction. She made such odd references to him all the time. Blake felt like she was half speaking in French again.
The small Fae woman was by far the strangest creature he had ever encountered. A small part of his mind was amused that even standing she was nearly the same height as him when he was seated at the table, she came up just a few inches taller than him.
“Soap opera character?” He asked, frowning at her statement. He had never been told that his name made him sound pompous. Blake had heard of opera before, but he had no idea what a soap opera was. He wasn’t sure what influence washing could possibly have on an opera, and he certainly had no idea what that would have to do with his name. “What is a soap opera?”
A smooth, quiet laugh escaped her as she leaned on the table bringing her face closer to his. “Melodramatic human television shows that lonely human housewives watch. Just think of me as your very own Ms. Carter,” she whispered while holding his eyes with her own. She reached down, pulling his wrist up to examine his watch, her face still a hair’s breadth from his own but her eyes turned down to the watch.
Her face was so close he could feel her breath on his lips, and his body was screaming for her touch. The feeling of her hand on his skin was electric. Blake inhaled a slow, ragged breath. He was unsure what was happening, but was painfully aware he didn’t want her to stop touching him.
“Look at the time,” she sighed before straightening up, “See you around, Blakemore.” His named seemed to linger in her mouth, rolling off her tongue as if it were something secret. The woman turned and walked away from the table, making for the door of the diner quickly, without passing him another glance.
He had no idea who she was talking about with Ms. Carter, having never heard of a soap opera, much less watched one. Before Blake could untangle himself from the low table they had sat at, she was out the door. He felt strangely empty, intrigued, and vastly confused by the whole encounter.
Blake frowned. He had no way to contact her, no way of seeing her again, and didn’t even know her name. He simply could not let that stand. Before he had even made up his mind, he was rising from the table and was walking after her. She was far too interesting to just let her disappear off into the night without even knowing her actual name. For the first time, Blake found himself actively wanting to talk to someone. He made his way for the exit with a feeling of intense need surging through him to find her.
His blood was rushing with an intensity he was used to only when actively hunting, his vision blurring slightly, and the urge to shift was pulling at the edges of his consciousness. Blake suppressed the urge as he was in the middle of a very busy human street, but with a great deal of effort.
His eyes swept up and down the street as he inhaled deeply attempting to catch her scent. It was distinct and didn’t take him long at all to pick up. He pivoted and headed down the street, his arm warm where she had touched him previously. The direction she had gone was in the opposite direction from the night club. Blake was torn. One part of him desperately wanted to find the woman, the other urgently wanted to go the opposite direction.
A faint vibration from the pocket of his jeans broke his concentration as he made up his mind to go after her. He frowned, pulling the device from his pocket and flicked irately at the screen to unlock it. He had three missed calls from Riley. He hadn’t even felt the phone going off.
A frustrated sigh escaped Blake as he dialed his friend. “Where are you?” Blake snapped at his friend as soon as the he picked up the phone, “What do you mean they’re gone?” If the girl’s father didn’t beat his friend into a pulp, Blake was sorely considering it himself. He reluctantly pivoted and headed off in the direction his friend was, though he could feel the pull from the woman urging him to continue his search for her.
***END OF PREVIEW***