A Way to a Dragon’s Heart (12 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Caleb held a hand out and stopped Xander’s next step once they were close enough to see what she was doing. Sitting there on the edge of the hot tub, legs making lazy circles in the water and head swaying to music, Kryssa had charmed a flock of hummingbirds from the nearby feeder. The tiny wonders flitted and hovered above her cupped hands.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You won’t startle them; they’re almost full and ready to leave.”

Both men sat down slowly beside her and watched until the last of them flew off, and Kryssa let the sugar water seep through her fingers and down her legs. Caleb got into the tub and moved to settle between her knees.

“That was beautiful.” He licked at a line of sugar water. “I didn’t know Dragons could call my little cousins the way Avians do.”

Kryssa rinsed her hands in the water, smiling at both men. “It depends on the Dragon and the little cousin being called. I’m better than others. But it makes sense. You all used to be us…more or less.”

Caleb stared up at her and grinned. “You know, don’t you?” He licked another trail of sugar water. “When did you figure it out?”

She shrugged, and Xander moved closer until his shoulder touched hers. “Hey, Fae-blooded feeling left out here. What do you know? What did you figure out?”

She laid her head on Xander’s shoulder. “Caleb’s scent, the way it feels like he’s always near to shifting, the spot pattern on his spine and that purr back in the living room. His Avian side has a good dose of Saurian characteristics. Specifically, I’m betting one of his shifted forms has scales.” She smiled at Caleb. “Your parents must be over the moon.”

“To say the least.” He laughed. “They were thrilled and shocked, and father cried. I’m glad I flew to Crete instead of trying to tell them on the phone. By the time I knew what was really going on, they’d already left for their vacation, so as soon as I could, I left Kathleen and her mates in charge and went to join them. The entire family hasn’t stopped talking about it since, especially my nephew. I think the little ankle-biter felt sorry for me. Poor Dormant Uncle Caleb who couldn’t shift. Now I’m getting all kinds of free work out of him as his mom puts him to work.”

He reached out and touched Xander’s thigh, smiling to erase the look of guilt tainting his features over the misunderstanding concerning the trip. The smile he got in turn made him laugh, and it came out yet again in a Dragon’s Purr.

“So that’s what that sound means?” Xander asked, bringing them back on topic. He looked to Kryssa. “Does he have scales the way you have feathers?”

Caleb moved closer in wonder. “You have feathers? Where are you hiding feathers in such little clothing?”

She lifted her hips. “Pull.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. Caleb took the waistband of the shorts and pulled them free. Blue and black streaked feathered down caught his eye. He’d brushed his fingers over her pelvis twice before he realized the boldness of such a thing. “Gods, I’m sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t ask.”

She caught his hand as he pulled back and placed it flush against her vulva. “It’s okay. There are a lot of things that come out of Awakening. Lack of personal space and personal boundaries are just the beginning. I wouldn’t have had you pull them off if I didn’t expect you to want to exam me. And you wouldn’t have touched me if I hadn’t scented receptive to it.”

She caressed his hand as she smiled and then laughed suddenly. “You should see your face.”

He looked at Xander and decided a bit of acknowledgement and a confession were in order. “I can’t help it. This is so strange. Watching you eat, watching you move, inhaling your scent, all I think about is getting you naked and in bed, or on any other helpful surface along the way. Now here I am, with my hand cupping your sex, and all I’m thinking about is comfort and acceptance. You gotta give me a minute.”

Xander raised his hand. “If it helps any, I’m thinking about nakedness and sex and helpful surfaces or being a helpful surface. So the entire spectrum is covered.”

Caleb laughed and lowered his head, pressing his forehead to Kryssa’s thigh. He moved his hand, running his thumb over the down as he took steady, deep breaths. “It’s starting to feel different again. My skin is vibrating, like sex but different.”

“You need to shift. Here.”

He lifted his head and watched her take a cupcake. She took a bite and fed him the rest. His body immediately calmed, and he didn’t have to ask. He knew a Therian feeding gesture when he saw one.

She fed him again and pushed him back. “I’ll show you one of mine so you can show me yours.”

Xander looked excited. “A smaller Water Dragon Form?”

“Think more WereDragon.” She lowered herself into the water and moved past Caleb. She gave them her back and lowered herself into the water. Caleb felt it before he saw it, the shimmer and blur of heat off pavement, and then she lifted out of the water.

Scaled, human-like hands tossed the halter to the deck and grabbed the side of the hot tub. Tight black spiral curls had become loose ebony waves rung with feathers at the hairline, and her profile showed a lightly muzzled jaw with still human lips in shape. As she lifted herself out, water beaded down spiral patterned scales of cerulean, onyx and specks of gold. The arrowhead of her tail broke the surface last, deadly and fascinating as Caleb tried to pinpoint what was so different about it. It was as thick as his arm, strong enough to be a battering ram, anchored high and sitting level like a rudder, and yet the way it moved…

“Goddess, you’re beautiful. Is that a prehensile tail?” Xander asked. Just another reason Caleb loved him.

“And more,” Kryssa replied. “You both can touch it.”

Caleb got out and ran a reverent hand along the end of her tail. He smiled as it moved beneath his fingers and the lethal arrowhead nestled in his palm. He cradled it between his hands, examining it as Xander came to stand beside him. As they leaned in, it suddenly bloomed open, the solid triangular broad tip becoming ridged, fingerlike projections webbed on the right side. Within it ran lighter blues, purples and golds, turning the weapon into a macabre and beautiful flower.

“That,” Xander stated, “is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Keep your hand still,” she instructed.

They both watched as the petals moved and grasped Caleb’s hand in a proper handshake.

“A prehensile tail with a hand extension that has an opposable thumb.” Caleb shook his head. “I feel so inadequate in my nifty-factor now.”

“A deals a deal,” Kryssa said, rising from her crouch and turning towards them. She was taller than Xander by half a foot.

“You have breasts, mammalian breasts.” Caleb and Xander reached out in unison and caressed the surrounding area of soft, supple scales and spirals of un-scaled flesh. Her tail moved closed over Xander’s wrist.

“Focus, we’re still waiting for Caleb. If you keep fondling me, we’ll all get distracted and never see it.”

Xander dutifully turned to Caleb, even as his hands took the opportunity to explore the feel of her tail.

“I don’t have a Were form yet. I can only do my full form so far,” Caleb shared. He backed up and shed his shorts. He knew he didn’t have to. They were cotton and natural fibers simply disappeared to wherever the extra bulk and otherness of him went when he looked human. But it seemed right to stand before them naked before showing them something that went deeper than skin.

He couldn’t see the shimmer coming off of him, but he felt the wave roll across his skin and then the sudden freeing release of taking up space, space that was rightly his to have.

“Oh, Caleb,” she whispered.

His shifted ears caught the depth of her appreciation and something more, something he couldn’t name, so far outside of the expected that it wasn’t recognizable.

“Xander,” he purred from a throat that could do little else.

“I’m here,” Xander answered. “I’m overwhelmed between the two of you, but I’m getting used to that.”

They came forward and ran their hands over him. Caleb turned his head and caught their reflection in the patio doors as they caressed and nuzzled against him. It was lovely to watch even if the surface didn’t do him justice.

The deep glossy browns, blacks and pure white of his Osprey raptor heritage overlay his western dragon form, as if bird and dragon had become one. His head was white with a dark mask across his eyes that highlighted the golden honey irises and pale blue nictitating membrane before spilling down the sides of his neck. His underbody shone a pure bright white, broken up with a freckling of dark brown scales across his breastbone and down his front and back legs. His muzzle, talons and tail were glossy black while his topbody and wings were speckled between the three colors.

He did a delicate turn for his ten feet of length, ruffled scaled-and-feathered wings and worked his powerful tail. It was Avian preening at its best.

“What does this mean?” Xander asked. “Did something skip several generations? I mean your coloring is just like your dad’s bird form.”

Caleb lifted a front leg. “Extra light bones as well.” He shook his head, sending a shiver down his entire body. “Still an Avian. Technically, I’m a PseudoDragon.”

“DragonKin,” Kryssa corrected. “You aren’t a pseudo anything. There’s nothing fake about you.”

Both men looked at her. Something in her tone brought Caleb’s head up. He brushed against her in comfort, rubbing scales against scales. Their jeweled skin sang with the contrast. It felt so good and so right he did it a second and a third time. The song called out to him, and he forgot all about comfort. He ducked his head beneath her chin and brushed her down to her feet and back. Her tail caressed along his body and pulled Xander against her, bringing in the contrast of smooth skin along supple scales as he circled them both.

A shimmer, slight but visible, rolled over Kryssa and took him with it. She was smaller, nearly human in proportions but still draconic, the swirl pattern of scales prominent, but alternating with silky flesh. Caleb stood behind her, bipedal, but with scales down his back where wing ridges had been. The dark chocolate mask from eyes to throat had also remained as shimmering gems. He moved against her, and pelvic scales rang out against her.

She leaned back against him and looked over her shoulder to his gaze. “I thought you didn’t have another form.” She smiled.

He ran a hand down her throat. “I guess I didn’t have the right stimulation before now.” He kissed her, his hand gliding from her throat, over the swell of her breast and across the broad expanse of Xander’s shoulder, pulling him closer. He lifted his head and looked at Xander. “Good to see how things have changed.”

He kissed Xander, pressing Kryssa between them. When their mouths parted, they went to work on the delicacy between them. She began to taste them in turn, and Caleb lost track of things as the three of them explored. Kisses became nibbles became light bites and less light bites as different areas called out for varied attention. Instinct and sound guided each to the others until they were a tangle of seeking mouths and searching fingers.

There was softness beneath Caleb’s body. He recognized the mattress from the double papasan swing in the patio’s corner but not how it had gotten there. He moved in Xander’s throat and in turn tongued and suckled Kryssa’s intimate folds. But he wanted more. His body thrummed and sang, and his nerves begged as separation became a burden he could no longer bear. He freed himself from Xander and climbed Kryssa’s body.

“Will you have me?” he asked.

She sat up and kissed Xander, pulling him up against them both.

“He is yours to give,” she whispered against his lips. “May I have him?”

Xander kissed and whispered back, “Please.”

When her mouth met Caleb’s again, he laid back and pulled her astride him. Her hand on Xander brought him against her back, and the three of them found a rhythm to carry them into the night. A Pleasure Link snapped into place. It was not the gentle wrap of sensation and awareness but a bold blending and binding that nearly touched their thoughts to one another.

In lieu of words, Caleb had emotions crash over him. There was wanting, affection and love swirling through both of those above him, but it curled around a pearl of sadness. He didn’t know who it belonged to, perhaps none of them did. But they all did their best to chase it away on a tide of pleasure, comfort and all the safety they could give.

It worked for the moment. But moments pass. Caleb knew sadness and pain had a way of returning until you could confront it. No matter who it belonged to, this would be no different.

Chapter Eighteen

The living room swelled with small items emptied from the truck while the counter disappeared beneath delivery receipts for things still to come. They’d gone shopping in town for the day after the better part of a month spent making love, eating and doing little else. Being unable to fall onto one another at a moment’s whim had translated into buying anything and everything that caught their eye as they went from shop to shop until the sun began to sink. The drive back had been about their purchases and the people they’d go to and the items that would go beautifully in the flat she’d talked Caleb into renovating above the café. The first hour back had become a sorting and prioritizing of the things they’d mail out, those they’d deliver in person when they got back, and those that would remain in the cabin until the renovations were complete.

Kryssa swayed to the music in the background and watched Xander—shirtless as promised for all cooking endeavors—check on the pan of lasagna in the oven and then turn to stare at Caleb organizing the delivery slips. They’d been cute like that all day, and Kryssa loved the chance to step back and observe them taken with one another.

The mission had been accomplished. Xander and Caleb were together and ready to throw in for the long term and all that entailed. It had even come with the bonus of “adding benefits to those friendships”. Kryssa didn’t want it to end. But it had to.

Caleb and Xander needed time alone and time to spend focused on the café instead of her. In business the honeymoon period wore off much too soon. There’d be stresses to face and issues to resolve and coping techniques to work out, but none of that could get done with them frolicking in the cabin, caught up in their own little world. They needed to face each other, and Kryssa had her own messes to put to rest.

Xander caught her watching, and she smiled. “It smells great. Will it be done soon?” She turned back to her part of the inventory slips. When he didn’t answer right away, she looked back over her shoulder. “Hello, Xander?”

He shook his head and smiled. “I’m sorry, I was just looking at you in that skirt and thinking about what I’m about to do.” He walked up and molded himself to her back. “But, yes, it’ll be done soon.”

She laid her head back on his shoulder, stretching her neck in offering. “Do as you will, but I thought we established that the oven timer as a deadline is too much pressure and a no-win situation.”

Caleb moved to the front of her, hugging them both. “If the timer is too much pressure, you’re both not doing something right.”

“He’s got a point,” Xander said. “I think I’ll take my chances.”

His hand found its way under her skirt and dipped between her legs. Kryssa covered it with her own hand, but her thoughts fell more to comfort than sex.

“What’s wrong, Krys?”

A good question, and just like the beginning of their journey, she didn’t have a good answer, but at least this time she could try. “I’m going to miss this when I’m stuck in my office again and the two of you are up here.”

He pulled the side ties on the bikini bottoms. “We could stay another week; maybe push it out to ten days even.”

Kryssa let the bottoms fall away. She told herself it had nothing to do with wanting to get lost in sex rather than discussing the vacation’s end. It had started raining again so the evening swim had been canceled. She didn’t need the bottoms anymore. It was just practical. The fact that sex began to edge everything else out as Xander caressed the soft down and heated skin just couldn’t be helped.

“I like that idea,” Caleb chimed in. “What do you think, Krys?” He pressed his hips forward, pushing Xander’s hand closer.

Her body begged for the distraction the feel of Xander’s skin and the press of Caleb’s body promised. The thin cotton drawstring pants both wore were as good as nothing in slowing things down. They were but a moment away from making the world disappear. Unfortunately the world would just come back.

She forced words past her lips. “I don’t know. As it is I’m wondering if that place is still standing. A whole department left to do work all alone and new clients coming in with no one to direct traffic and make sure it all runs smoothly.”

Caleb bit her shoulder gently and scales flowed to the surface. “There’s no one frightening away temps and throwing clients out of windows either so there’s a plus there somewhere.”

“
One
client,” she corrected. “Who still signed his account with us. Why
does no one
remember that part?” She moved her bottom against Xander’s erection then tilted her pelvis up against his hand and Caleb’s erection. “I’ll call later. If it’s still standing enough for someone to answer the phone, it’ll be okay without me for a while longer.” A turn of her head caught Xander’s mouth and pulled him into a kiss. She let them both up for air and kissed Caleb.

Xander kissed along her neck and suddenly laughed. “We should be careful how carried away we get in here. We haven’t paid the bills on some of this stuff yet. I should obviously keep my hands to myself and away from my credit vouchers at least.”

Laughter broke their kiss, and they looked to him.

“We did some serious damage today,” Xander continued. “I can’t imagine what the bill would look like if we went more than a few hours away from home. We could end up spending the GNP of a small country somewhere with the right motivation.”

It was subtle but there. Kryssa wanted to travel when her sabbatical started. She had a list of places she wanted to see without the prospect of having to get back on the company jet for the next meeting looming over things. It fit Caleb’s wandering nature with a perfection that said he was meant to stand by her side if she’d let him. And if she did so with promise they’d always come home, Xander would follow them both anywhere.

The sabbatical had been the golden ring for so long, the catalyst to no longer being alone. But for the first time since the break-up, she didn’t want to be anywhere other than where she stood. She didn’t care what they called what moved between them. She just wanted to know that it wouldn’t go away under the weight of the real world, and that kind of guarantee would only come by facing it.

“Starting in Europe would be wonderful,” she agreed. “Spend a month touring chef kitchens in Rome and Tuscany, pop over for private cooking lessons in Paris, and then dig up some ancient recipes in Barcelona so we can come back and blow the minds of Port Jacobs for a couple months, then head to India or Japan.”

“First the photo-themed wall, now this. I like how you think,” Caleb said, complimenting her. “I have a ton more recipes I want to research and see about tweaking for a more American palate. I think our South American chocolate line could go deeper, perhaps add an Asian flair.”

Kryssa took a breath and went the practical route. “Once you two spend a few months in the kitchen together, you can prioritize a list and we can compare it to my sabbatical itinerary. It’s not carved in stone so I’m happy to alter it as need be.”

“Does that mean—” Xander stopped as the phone rang. “Don’t get it,” he pleaded.

“I have to,” she reminded him. “Nicky forbid anyone from calling me outside of an emergency like the last one.”

She slipped from between them and grabbed her phone. The tone of voice on the other end said it all. She stepped out onto the patio and paced beneath the awning as the world made its bid for her attention.

She watched them embrace through the glass and couldn’t help but split her focus between the call and making out what they were saying. She caught something about Xander heading back to deal with something to do with the deli, and he countered with his brothers telling him to stay and get a real feel for the café before coming back to discuss things. It sounded like Andrew wanted to come up look at a cabin across the lake, which didn’t make sense because the only cabin they saw for sale while driving around sat on the adjacent property. Maybe as a twin that felt like across the lake.

“Are you listening to me?” the intern asked.

“Of course,” Kryssa assured him. “Go on.” She looked back into the cabin. She’d heard Kathleen’s name, and now Xander had just asked
what if she doesn’t come back
and Caleb said
we’ll go and get her
. Go and get her? Where was Kathleen going? Kryssa was so confused she turned away to look at the falling rain.

“And then Mr. Strix said he’d pull his account unless a senior liaison officer is present for the final deal,” the intern said, near to tears.

Mr
. Strix?
Landon
had threatened to pull the account from the Sydney deal? Where the hell had that come from? Landon barely understood what his own company did let alone the ins and outs of his account at Drake Enterprises. His sister always handled that. Why was he suddenly making decisions about it?

The intern’s voice took on a frantic octave, and Kryssa rushed to soothe him. “Of course, I’m on a plane in two days. I’ll completely handle the Sydney offices, don’t worry. Let them know.”

They looked to her as she glided back to them. “Duty calls. I’ve got to head back tomorrow night, and then I’m off to Sydney.”

“Sydney?” Xander asked. “But we had everything settled in Sydney first. We coordinated with the interns and junior liaison officers and had it squared.”

Kryssa looked away and gave a partial shrug. “There’s concern that a major account will be pulled from the deal last minute.” She did not want to have this conversation, especially on their second to last night.

“I followed the notes to the letter. Did I miss something?” Xander asked.

“No, no.” She set the phone aside and hugged him to her. “You didn’t miss anything. This came up sudden and unexpectedly. We couldn’t have prevented it from here.”

“Could we make some calls?” Caleb asked. “Maybe use the wall unit to conference and reassure them. The interns can run up anything you can’t access from here.”

“It has to be in person. They’re demanding a senior officer be onsite. As a major player, I can’t refuse unless I’m ready to lose this deal, and I can’t drop a ball this big on the eve of a sabbatical.”

Xander looked suspicious. “We talked to all but two of your accounts in the Sydney deal.” His lips pursed like a bad taste overtook him. “Is the client Canid?” he asked like he knew the answer.

“No.” She released him. “The client is Saurian, specifically Dragon.”

He walked over to the counter and placed his hands flat. “He might be reptilian and therefore Saurian, but he’s not a Dragon. More like a snake. Or some ugly little lizard that spits on people.”

Kryssa forced herself not to smile.

“Could someone fill me in?” Caleb asked.

Xander slammed his fist down on the counter. “It’s Landon. He’s screwing things up from an entirely different hemisphere. Now that’s talent.”

“Xander…” she began.

“No,” he interrupted. “He’s doing it on purpose. Caitlin’s notes were flawless, and we covered every concern. This is a ploy to get you to Sydney where there are fewer people to run interference.”

“Wait, he’s still trying to see you?” Caleb asked. “I thought he’d let it go. You can’t give in. I’m sure Dominic would agree to just drop the account.”

Kryssa agreed, but the importance fell on the deal not the individual accounts. If they had another major player to take his place, it would be different and she told them so.

“I just don’t want him to win. At anything,” Xander said.

She walked up to him and slid her arms around his neck. When he bent for a hug, she took his mouth in a hard demanding kiss, physical expression serving where words failed her. His fingers dipped into her wetness and began to work her open while his other hand pulled at the straps of her top and spilled her into his palm. She took him into her hands as well, and they both set to kneading, teasing, and squeezing, all in rhythm, stroking, swirling and opening. Their hands played over each other as Caleb’s played over them both.

The ring of the timer startled her, and she broke the kiss with a breathy laugh. “I told you we didn’t have time.”

Xander ignored the oven and stepped out of the drawstring pants. “I set it to switch over to warm. It’ll keep.” He kicked the white cotton pooled at his feet aside and braced, his legs spread in a wide stance.

Caleb pressed in behind him. “Just consider me a helpful surface.”

Kryssa took his mouth again and drank in the building moans as Xander was stretched, opened and filled by Caleb. His emotions rode high and his Fae blood ran hot, changing his flavor. The Pleasure Bond formed and pulled her in while he still only worked her open with his hand. It hit with an intensity that brought a trace of actual thought, but she only understood one as she guided him into her tight slick confines, lifting her legs over his hips. That one thought over and over again:
forever made flesh
.

It took several long languid strokes for her body to give Xander lead enough to give in to his drive. She tasted his frustration and need across the Bond as he was overwhelmed, his body pounded between theirs in frantic relief.

They ran a race with no loser; all three bodies fighting for a release that would bring the others with it. The sprint toward the finish only heightened the depth of the pleasure cascade to come. Where they would hold off in a longer session, all three surrendered and fell into each other with a completeness that startled her.

Xander spilled into her with an accompanying spill of mystic energy across her skin that splashed across Caleb as well. They were all awash in it, and the air seemed to sparkle at points when Kryssa finally opened her eyes.

“Is it okay if we stay this way a minute?” Xander asked.

“I can stand here all day,” Caleb breathed. “Don’t worry, Xan, I got you both.”

Kryssa inhaled, and Xander shivered as her body shifted just a bit. She brought her legs down but kept him locked within her.

“That was new,” Kryssa noted. “What happened?”

His face went through a handful of different things, but he went with the simplest. “I love you.”

“We love you too.” She nuzzled into him. “That said, mystic energy does not pour out of me or Caleb because we love you. Well, not until near the full moon at least. And didn’t you love us this morning? And when we pulled over on the way back? And, I don’t know,
yesterday
?”