Chapter Six – Ian
Ian stretched his wings, enjoying the feel of air against his scales as he drifted lazily through black clouds. Lightning flashed over his body, giving him a pleasant tingling feeling as his body absorbed the shock. It was only on days like this, when the skies were black and thick with clouds, that he dared take his Dragon form outside and actually fly.
It had been almost a month since he took in Lydia and Amber. He hadn't found any indication about what the demons were planning, but he had been working with Lydia to try to unlock her inborn talents as a Paladin.
She was meant to be able to channel heaven's fire through her body as defense and to lock into the flow of the earth to heal wounds, but so far the best she could do was withstand the puffs of fire he sent at her. That in itself was quite impressive, but with their timeline, it wasn't enough. She needed to be able to defend herself against the demons when they attacked again – because they would attack again.
Amber remained terrified of him. He always made sure that Lydia was with him if he ever needed to talk to the chef, and he tried to make himself smaller and less intimidating near her. Sometimes it seemed to be working, other times he didn't think anything would help. Mostly, Amber stayed in her room. He had given her a new phone and was worried that she was going to call the cops on him. It would be a headache to sort out, but so far nothing had happened.
Another burst of lightning skittered over his skin, making his blue-green scales glow. Maybe he had been hasty in asking her instead of Lydia to be his mate. He had thought Lydia was too loud for him and that Amber's calmer personality would suit him better, but now he realized she wasn't so much calm as more frightened.
After three hundred years, he needed someone who would call him out on his behavior, not recoil before him. Lydia wasn't afraid to do that. Not to mention she was also incredibly sexy… Not that that mattered.
His mind made up, he dropped from the sky, keeping his wings tucked in tight to his body to fall as quickly as possible. He hit hard, sending a plume of debris and dirt shooting up from where he landed. Maybe a little harder than he intended. The joint in his left wing cramped. As a Dragon, he was nearly invulnerable, but that hurt a little.
Shaking it off, he clambered out of the crater he made and shifted. The rain on his skin felt like a high-powered shower turned to ice-cold. Too bad this form wasn't as strong as when he was a dragon. Still, he grinned as he jogged naked across the yard, stopping in the garage to dry off and dress before he entered the house itself.
He quickly made his way to Lydia's room and threw open the door. She squealed, jumping, and put her hand to her heart. "What are you doing?"
Hmm… Maybe this wasn't the way to do this. Ian pressed on. It wasn't like he had another reason to be here. "I realized I made a mistake asking Amber to be my mate. I should have asked you."
"Uh... okay?"
Ian stared at her.
She stared back.
"Well?"
Lydia scratched her head. "Well, what?"
"Well, will you be my mate? I'm rich."
Lydia opened her mouth and closed it again. Massaging her temples, she shook her head. "Yeah, no. You can't just walk in here and be all, 'Be my mate. I'm rich.' It doesn't work like that."
"So, you don't want to be my mate." A pang of disappointment hit him in the stomach. "But you are sexually attracted to me. I can tell by your reaction to our kiss."
"That's not the point. We could jump into bed right now and have mind-blowing sex, but that doesn't mean we have any sort of emotional connection. A relationship needs more than sex. You're three hundred years old. You should know this. Three hundred. You're too old for me."
Ian shifted from side to side and shrugged. "Anti-social misanthrope here. Keeping up with human conventions isn't exactly my strong point. The mind-blowing sex part sounds good, though."
He grinned when she flushed. Humans were cuter than he had given them credit for, he was finding. At least this human was. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, hesitating, but shook her head.
"We can't. This is an uncomfortable situation to begin with, and I'm not going to make it more complicated." Her gaze fastened on his mouth. "Besides, I have a policy not to date assholes."
"Not asking for a date. I'm asking you to be my partner for life and the mother of my children." Ian moved forward, encouraged by the way her pupils dilated. He could almost taste her arousal in the air. "And as for emotional connections… Well, those take time to develop, right? We're already bound together by this whole demon thing… Makes sense for it to be—"
She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. She practically climbed up his body. He laughed into her mouth, gripping her ass with his hands. Her body was hot and warm against him, her weight pressing down on his hips at just the right angle. She started wiggling her pelvis, grinding against him, and he groaned.
"What happened to no sex?"
"No sex," she confirmed, diving into his neck. Sparks flew under his skin where she mouthed him. "Just making out."
He carried her to the bed and laid her down before draping himself over her. Her thighs hugged his hips as he found her breasts with his hands, kneading them. Lydia's eyes slid shut and she moaned, arching herself to him. He loved the sight of her, her pink lips slightly parted, her wicked tongue just poking through her teeth, a flush rising up her neck and cheeks. So damned sexy.
Ian growled at the thought of anybody hurting her and claimed her mouth again. He didn't care what those demons were after – Lydia Crawford was not going to be their victim.
Lydia grasped his shirt, rolling her hips upwards to increase the friction between them. Ian groaned as it became hard to think. He didn't want this to ever end. He wanted to tear off her clothes and have her in every way possible – but she said she didn't want the same. His groan of pleasure turned to one of disappointment as he gripped her hips, stopping her.
"What?" she panted. "Is something wrong?"
"If we don't stop, we won't," Ian whispered. He longed to kiss her again, but that would defeat the purpose of stopping her. "So… Do I go now, or do you become my mate?"
Lydia groaned. "Can't we have the sex without the mating?"
"No."
"Fine." She sighed and wiggled her way free. Flushed cheeks and tousled hair looked good on her. "If it has to be both or neither, then it's neither."
She sounded as disappointed as he felt, but Ian nodded. He stood, straightened his shirt, and ran a hand through his hair. "I should probably go do some work anyway."
"Okay."
Lydia pulled her shirt down over her midriff. When had it ridden up? Ian stared at the creamy strip of skin still visible and licked his lips. Maybe he should just… no. No, she was right. Maybe he didn't know human conventions are well as he ought to, but if they were going to have children together, the least they could do was make sure they actually liked each other.
The door slammed open. Lydia jumped. Ian turned, to see Amber. The chef had a large knife in her hand, which she pointed at him. Her face was pale, her hand shaking.
Ian frowned. "What are you doing?"
"You stay away from her!" Amber blurted. "You just stay away from her. We're leaving. You can't stop us."
"Amber, calm down." Lydia scrambled from the bed. "We're not going anywhere. It's not safe out there."
Amber brandished the knife at Ian as he shifted. "That's what he wants you to think! He just wants to keep us prisoners until he can seduce us both. Don't you see? He's evil! Dragons are evil. They always have been and they always will be."
Those were the words that killed his family. Ian growled at Amber's accusation.
"Amber, no—"
Everything happened quickly, within a single breath. Lydia reached for her friend, and Ian reached for the knife. Amber screamed. Lunging forward, she stabbed him in the chest. The knife skittered over his ribs to sink into his stomach. She screamed again and dropped the knife. It wobbled, barely stuck in. Blood spurted everywhere and Ian roared in pain. Sparks flew from his mouth. Smoke curled from his wounds.
"Amber!" Lydia shouted. "What is wrong with you?"
"He was attacking me! We have to go! We have to go now."
"No." Lydia shook Amber off as the redhead grabbed her arm. She pressed her hand to Ian's gushing wounds.
"I'm fine," he tried to say but swayed on the spot. Okay, maybe he wasn't fine. His blood spilled all over Lydia. She caught him as he slumped. She was stronger than she looked.
Amber stared at them for a moment before she shook her head and backed away. "I'm not staying. I'm not staying!"
She fled. Lydia called after her, but she didn't turn back. Just as well. Ian leaned heavily against Lydia, unaccustomed to the burning pain shooting through him. Had the blade been poisoned? No matter – he just needed to be able to transform and he'd be fine.
"We need to go upstairs," he choked.
"Upstairs?"
"Third floor. More room."
His head spun as he stumbled for the door. Lydia was saying something, but he couldn’t understand her. Who knew that a knife would hurt this bad? It wasn't even a deep cut. Just… He glanced down. Oh. A flap of skin hung loosely from his body. The knife had filleted his ribs. That explained it.
He nearly passed out before they got to the elevator, but managed to stay conscious long enough for Lydia to get him to the open floor where he could shift without breaking anything. It took a bit of a fight, but he got her to stay in the elevator as he stumbled to the middle of the floor. As he began to shift, an image flashed before his eyes.
Lydia lay in a grassy field. The wind gently blew strands of her hair over her face. Blue skies reflected in her eyes. She gasped for breath, blood bubbling from her lips. A spear stuck through her body, the ground turning to mud beneath her. Demons closed in from all sides.
Ian fell to his knees and screamed.