Compelled (The Secrets of Dragons Book 1) (7 page)

“I agree,” she cooed as her body cooled. “I want to curl up with you and go to sleep.”

He smiled. “Sorry, the best I can offer is Eric. If we stay here too long the guard is going to come over to see what we are doing.”

She had completely forgotten they were parked in a store lot. “Oh, that sucks. I guess I’ll get up.”

“You don’t have to. Stay here and rest. You’re going to need your strength later.”

Alex drew her into a luxurious kiss and then rolled her to the bed. As he got up to get dressed, Eric came in with a cloth and wiped down her pussy and ass. That was a new experience. She hadn’t been cleaned since she was an infant, and she certainly didn’t remember it.

Alex disappeared back out into the main room and Eric threw the washcloth into the bathroom. He shut the door and then came back in, crawling into bed with her. Within moments, she felt the motorhome moving and knew she should get up. Instead, she cuddled back into Eric’s arms, glad when he pulled the blanket around her. She was freezing again.

****

“Is she sleeping?” Alex asked as Eric sat in the co-pilot’s seat.

“Yeah, I don’t think we were on the road five minutes and she crashed. I waited a while so as not to wake her when I rose. I also tucked an extra quilt around her. The bedroom gets chilled when we’re moving.”

“I know. I felt it. Luke called while you were in bed.”

“What did he want?” asked Eric with a note of anger in his tone.

Eric was insanely jealous of Luke and there was no reason for it. Well, maybe there was, but he had never let on about how much he longed to be with Luke on occasion. Part of him belonged to Luke and there was nothing either of them could do about the connection. “He wanted to tell me that the bedroom is almost finished. They’re currently working on the kitchen. I asked him about those tiles I was looking at in the magazine, and he’s trying to find them.”

“Oh,” Eric said as he visibly relaxed into the seat. “So? What’s the consensus on Lou?”

He indulged Eric by allowing him to change the subject back to Lou. They could talk to Luke later in person. “It’s exactly what I thought it would be. She’s perfect. I haven’t come that hard in forever.”

“Me neither. Damn, she felt so good. Can we switch up next time? I would love to feel her pussy.”

“No problem. I have to wonder how she’s going to react to us fucking. She said the other ménage the two men weren’t involved.”

“You’re right. That should be interesting.”

Alex nodded. “I think we should tie her up and make her watch.”

Eric chuckled. “You have always enjoyed being watched.”

Alex grinned. It was the truth. Long ago he had almost been arrested a few times for public indecency. Now it was impossible because of the changes to his skin during sex. The physical alterations would mean only having sex in their shadowed bedroom where Lou wouldn’t be able to see them clearly. That also presented a problem with his plan unless he had Eric keep his shirt on. He could work out the dynamics of the act before they did it. “I really want to have sex with her again.”

“Yeah, no shit. I want to fuck her silly and then go back for more. We just have to be careful. We don’t want to leave her sore and reluctant to do it again.”

“I’m well aware of that, Eric.” The boy was head over heels in love with Lou, but he was trying to remain level headed about the entire relationship. They had no idea if she would bolt when they told her the truth. Then she would have to be made to forget it and they would have no more contact from that day forward. “Do you ever dream of Lilly?”

The depth of Eric’s sigh resonated over the low music on the radio. “I try to keep her from my mind, but it doesn’t always happen. Too bad we can’t forget.”

“Yeah. I agree, but it’s not possible. Our brains hold eternal information. It does have its downside.”

“It’s hard being so close to home and knowing we can’t go visit.”

“We’ll go. One way or another, we always find our way home.”

****

Lou wandered out to sit on the sofa. She snapped her seatbelt on. “Where are we?”

“We just crossed into Virginia. Eric called and got us a reservation near the beach. We should be there in an hour or so. How did you sleep?”

“Amazingly well. Thank you. How’s the drive been?”

He chuckled. “Thankfully boring. We haven’t even hit a traffic jam. Knock on wood.”

She yawned. “Shit, how can I still be tired?” The question was rhetorical, and didn’t require an answer, so she didn’t receive one. Lou flipped up the footrest on the chair knowing the open recliner blocked all access to the bathroom with the slideout pulled in for travel. Taking the pillow from beside her, she puffed it under her head and closed her eyes. The boat-like rock of the RV indicated it was windy, and they were on an open stretch of highway. The repetitive movement slowly lulled her back to sleep, despite her urge to remain awake.

****

Leaning closer to Alex, Eric whispered, “I think we have a problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Remember we were warned our mating scent has an overly calming effect on some humans? I think Lou is one of them.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She just fell back to sleep.”

“Oh, shit. So she’s gonna want to sleep for ten or twelve hours every time we have sex?”

Eric had no idea of the exact time span, but if that were the case, then it was possible. “I don’t know. What do we do about it?”

Alex shrugged. “Make love with the window open. It’s not like we don’t generate a ton of heat during sex.”

She would flip, but there was no way to explain the nuances of what they were, without explaining the entire thing. “That might help. Maybe we could stop and buy her a nose plug.” He barely finished the sentence without laughing. The mental image was enough in itself to be funny.

Alex laughed, shaking his head. “I’m sure that would go over well.”

Back to the seriousness of the conversation. “It can’t hurt her, can it?”

“I don’t know.” Alex was silent as he drove and when a rest stop came up, he pulled into it. Shutting the motor off, he took out his phone. He scrolled through the contacts and hit one, but Eric had no need to know who he was calling. It was Yassie.

****

“Evening.”

“Yes, it is.” Yassie replied. “To what do I owe the honor? Don’t you usually go to your sister’s for Easter?”

“Not something I want to discuss right now. I have a question.”

“Okay.” Yassie’s tone relayed concern. It wasn’t as if he or Eric usually called for a petty reason.

“You told us once about the scent sleep. Can you give me more details?”

“May I ask why?”

“Eric and I met someone, and we did—for the first time earlier. She fell asleep about five minutes later, slept for four hours. Got up long enough to move to the sofa and then was back asleep. Should we be worried?”

“Did you use protection?” he asked in an angry tone.

That was a hell of a question. “Of course we did. We aren’t stupid.”

“I didn’t say you were. I just know passion runs hot.”

Alex had to laugh. “That’s an understatement. Eric and I have been like rabbits whenever she wasn’t around because we wanted to wait for a good time.” Of course
the good time
had been in a store parking lot. It would hopefully become a funny private joke on some future day.

“That’s amusing. Is she displaying any other problems besides sleeping?”

“I don’t know. She wasn’t awake long enough to say much.”

Yassie hummed in consideration. “Can she smell it? It’s more possible she will have a profound problem with your scent if she can consciously smell the odor of sex.”

Eric was glaring at him, and he put the phone on speaker. “She briefly mentioned a smell when she first met us, but nothing more. Has she said anything to you, Eric?”

Eric slowly shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Find out when she wakes up.”

“Did she seem drifty after sex?”

“I don’t think so.” Again he looked at Eric. Eric shrugged. “No, but she was shivering quite badly.”

“Shivering?” Yassie said as a question and comment at the same time.

“Yeah,” Eric replied. “It was chilly in the bedroom, but she acted as if she were freezing. I covered her up and then cuddled up to her back, but it took a while for her to warm up.”

“Have you told her?”

“No. We don’t completely trust her yet.”

“Then I suggest you either stay away from her or find trust. Ask her if she can smell you and if she can, she has severe scent sickness. It will become more dramatic as time goes on. Eventually it will send her into a sleep from which she will never wake up.”

Alex stared at his phone. “Are you serious?”

“I am.”

“Why would nature give us that trait?”

“It’s said scent sickness is caused for two reasons. If the person is your enemy, then your scent is caused by anger. It’s a protection thing like a squid that releases ink. If they’re your heartmate, the scent forces you claim them or give them up. It takes the guesswork out of mating.”

That was not extremely helpful. “I don’t think she’s an enemy.”

“You would already know. Has she ever incited rage in you?”

“No.” He had never even really been mad at Lou. “How will we know if she’s my heartmate or Eric’s?”

Yassie sighed heavily. “The only way I know of is to make love to her separately and see who she smells. Of course that will take her one step closer to comatose.”

This was a no-win situation. “I guess it’s something to consider. We may be bringing her up sooner than expected.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing you then. Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Thank you, Yassie.”

“Stay blessed you two.” Yassie clicked off and Alex set the phone down.

“I guess we had better hit the road. See if you can cancel our reservation. We need to get home and figure this out.”

Eric simply nodded, but Alex could tell by the look on his face they were having similar thoughts. Did they want to tell Lou the truth, or break things off? It was an impossible dilemma to solve.

Chapter Six

Lou opened her eyes, stunned she had fallen asleep. They were still moving, so she hadn’t slept for long. “Where are we?”

“Jacksonville.”

“Florida?” she asked. “I thought we were stopping in Virginia.” It also meant it was almost morning and she has slept an additional ten hours or so.

“We were,” replied Eric. “I’m not feeling well and we decided to just go home. Are you feeling ill?”

She actually felt great. “No, not at all.”

“That’s good.”

Eric turned back to look out the window, and she frowned. Had something happened while she was asleep? “Eric, what’s wrong?”

“I’m just queasy.”

She didn’t know what difference it would make where they stayed. It wasn’t like they were going home to a house. He would be sick in the RV either way. It was also not what she meant, but maybe turning to look at her was throwing his equilibrium off and making him feel worse. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“We’ll be home soon,” said Alex, but she wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or Eric.

“I’m stunned I slept so long.”

“You obviously needed the sleep.”

Sleep yes—she did a quick calculation in her mind. She had slept fourteen hours and had only been awake about six hours before that. Was she ill that she required such an unthinkable amount of rest? She didn’t feel sick. Lou got up and went to the bathroom.

When she swaggered back into the main room, she stopped behind Eric’s seat, rocking back and forth with the flow of the vehicle. “Do you want to go lie down? I can sit here.”

“No, it will make me sicker.”

It had never made him sick before.

“Please go sit down,” Alex said. “It’s not safe for you to be standing up.”

She had obviously lost her standing as copilot. Normally Eric would be all too happy to sprawl out on the sofa after almost twenty-four hours with no sleep. “Did something happen while I was sleeping?”

“No,” Alex said flatly. “We’re just trying to get home before rush hour starts.”

That made sense. They obviously weren’t in a mood to talk. Lou got up and got her phone from her purse. It surprised her neither man turned around to see what she was doing. She sat back down and opened the screen. There were a few messages from Facebook, and she took the time to read them and respond. Around her, she took note of the cabin getting lighter as the sun came up. The silence was unnerving and she suddenly longed to be home. Having no idea what else to do, she opened up her Facebook account and started to scroll through the posts. There were some funny memes and some of the posts were interesting. It was also a way to pass the time in the dead silence of the RV.

She took note of a post where a woman was bitching up a storm about a man who had slept with her and then blown her off. Was that what was happening to her? Had the men gotten what they wanted and were no longer interested? It didn’t make sense because Alex was the one who put sex on hold. Had it been whatever happened at his sister’s house? He had never told her the details. Was it possible he considered what his sister had said and decided she was right? More likely she was overreacting and stressing out over nothing. They were simply tired. Lou shut the internet down and opened one of her games. She was still playing when she felt them slow to a stop. Looking out the window, she saw they had just gotten off the highway. Within ten minutes or so they would be back at the campground. What would happen then, she had no idea.

****

Alex backed into the spot in the first shot. He turned the motor off and turned on the automatic leveling system. It meant all three of them had to sit perfectly still or the movement would throw off the stabilizers. The sound stopped and he felt Lou get up. Eric stood and walked past her into the bathroom. He was going to hide out and let him do all the dirty work.
Thanks, Eric
. Alex got up to open the door. “I’ve gotta get this set up. If you don’t mind, could you go home? Eric and I are beat, and I’m sure you aren’t tired.

“I’m not. Is everything okay? It seems like something isn’t right between us. The two of you are being absolutely icy to me. Did I do something?”

“No, you didn’t do anything, Lou. We’re just tired.” It was a cheesy excuse for now. They had briefly discussed what to do, but had come up with nothing. They had also been concerned she would wake up and hear them talking so they had dropped their discussion. After twenty hours on the road he really was tired. This was not how the trip was meant to go, but right now to be around her was dangerous. She was also waiting for a kiss, and he needed to give her one. To completely blow her off would be heartless and neither of them wanted to lose her. The problem was keeping her, when they couldn’t have sex, which she would now be expecting. Even to be around her would be a turn on and produce pheromones.

“Don’t look so broken. I’m not telling you to go fuck yourself; we just want to get some sleep.”

“Okay. I guess I’m overreacting.”

She really wasn’t, but he couldn’t tell her that. He and Eric needed to figure out their move, and they couldn’t do that with her around. “Sweetie,” he said stroking her cheek and pushing back her hair. “There’s no reason to overreact. We’ll give you a call when we wake up. Not a big deal, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. I have some laundry to do anyway, and I’m sure my house needs to be cleaned. I’ve been buzzing in and out for weeks and haven’t done much.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said with a reassuring smile. Leaning forward, he gave her a sweet kiss with as little use of tongue as possible. When he pulled back, she smiled so hopefully it was acceptable and reassuring.

“Tell Eric I hope he’s feeling better.”

“I’m sure he will be.” Alex took a step forward. “I need to go get this thing plugged in and such.”

“Oh,” Lou said with a giggle. She turned and stepped outside. “Do you want help?”

There really wasn’t anything for her to do, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to have her hang around. “You can keep me company.”

They walked around the RV together and he opened the hatch. Alex handed her the plug to get the electric connected and then pulled out the hose for the water. It was over by the electric hook up and he barely turned around. Lou was holding out her hand for the hose. All it left him to do was to connect the run off for the gray water. He pulled the top off the receptacle in the ground and screwed his hose into the hole. Walking back to the RV he pulled the handle to let the water flow. It was currently empty, but once he turned the water on they would need it.

Lou strolled back over and stood beside him. “See more hands make it go quicker. Now you can go get some sleep. Maybe we can fool around later.”

Unlikely.
“We’ll see how Eric feels. If he’s still sick it might be a better idea if you slept at home. You don’t want to get sick.”

Her pleasant expression faded like a wilting flower. The utter dejection that seemed to radiate from her face was absolutely horrible. It made him feel incredibly bad. How the hell were they going to do this? “Do you want to get sick?”

“No…”

“Then cheer up. It’s not the end of the world to spend a night or two at home. I’m only thinking about what’s best for you.” That was the dead honest truth. That had been his consuming thought since he spoke to Yassie. “I even have a question for you to ponder. What do you think about cryptids?”

She frowned deeply. “What the hell is a cryptid?”

“Loch Ness, unicorns, devils, werewolves. Any creature that may or may not exist, but cannot be proven by science.”

“I don’t have to ponder that. I think there are things out there that not only haven’t been discovered, but we haven’t even thought about them existing. I would love to meet a unicorn or a shifter. It would be so cool.” Her smile was back, beaming from her beautiful face. “Why the question?”

“It was just something I was thinking about while I was driving.” Leaning forward he gave her another kiss. “I’m going to bed. Thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome. Any time. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Lou.”
Love you.
The words popped into his head unbidden and unconsidered. Did he love her? Did Eric? He did. He needed to talk to Eric now, not later. He gave her cheek a soft caress and then turned and walked back around the RV. Once inside, he shut the door and locked it before pulling the shade down over the window.

Eric was sitting on the end of the bed staring out. “So what happened?”

“I’m fucking in love with her.” Alex said wandering into the bedroom.

“So am I. I think I have been all along. Is this a new revelation to you?”

“Yes. I hadn’t even seriously considered it until the words popped into my head. Why didn’t you say something?” It was a completely ridiculous question, and he immediately laughed.

“What did you want me to say? Hey, Alex, you’re in love with Lou.”

“I don’t know. I’m really tired. I guess you’re pretty much the only one I’ve ever been in love with. It’s not something I sit around daydreaming will happen someday.”

“So you wanted a female for us, but never considered loving her?”

He was right. “I guess the two are supposed to go together.” This entire conversation was ridiculous. He turned and dropped back onto the bed. “I don’t know how to explain it. I knew I liked Lou. I just didn’t know I loved her. The words just came into my head. I don’t want to live without her. I don’t want her to be asleep all the time. We have to tell her.”

“I know. I was thinking the same thing.”

The decision had been made. “I think we should get some sleep and then call her when we get up. This isn’t something I want to do when my head is fogged over from lack of sleep.”

“I agree.” Eric got up and slid off his clothing before climbing into bed.

Alex really wanted to take a shower, but he was just too tired. He got undressed and crawled under the blankets, throwing off all but the lightest one. The bedroom would become cooler as the night came on, but for right now the RV was a comfortable temperature. Rolling to his side, he leaned and gave Eric a very arousing kiss. He tasted really good, but his body simply wasn’t up to having sex.

Eric moaned. “Damn, that felt good. My dick says let’s play, but my brain says go away.”

Alex laughed. “Agreed. Goodnight, Eric.”

“Goodnight.”

****

Lou wandered into the house. Goose bumps rose on her arms as she looked around. She wasn’t sure why, but the house was giving her a major case of the creeps. There didn’t appear to be anything out of place, but something was wrong.

She cautiously walked into the kitchen. She had done the dishes before they left, and they were still sitting in the drain board. Lou walked into the bathroom and then into the bedroom. Joe was lying on the bed with his hands tucked behind his head. He often slept that way, although she had no idea how. If it were her, her hands would go numb and it would wake her up. Walking across the room, she leaned over and shook him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing and how did you get in?”

“My key didn’t seem to want to work. I jimmied the lock on the garage door. Where the hell have
you
been?”

“I was with friends,” Lou replied, although they were far more than friends. “It’s no longer any of your business. Where is the teenybopper?”

“She isn’t a teenybopper. She’s twenty-three. We broke up.”

“Aww…” she cooed while playing her teeny tiny imaginary violin to verify she didn’t give a shit. “Good. Now you can collect your shit and get the hell out.”

He sat part way up, his leering eyes and pinched lips clearly displaying his disbelief. It was a familiar expression. “Are you kidding me? I’ve only been gone a month; don’t tell me you have your panties in a bunch over it. We had an open relationship.”

“No, we didn’t. You were living with me and it was supposed to be monogamous. You took off with your teenybopper and I found someone else. Now, please pack your things and leave.”

“And where the hell do you expect me to go?”

“I really don’t give a shit, Joe. Go find a hotel. That’s where you were when we met. Put your shit in your car and go sleep in it for all I care.” He was not moving.

“It’s in the shop. I probably won’t get it back until Wednesday or Thursday. Maybe I’ll move out then.”

That wasn’t what she wanted. “Call a cab. I’ll even pay for it.” Joe was pushing her buttons, and if worse came to worst, she would call the cops.

“And do what? Be stuck at the hotel until I get my car back? It’s far more comfortable here.”

“If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.” She wanted him out now, not later.

“On what charges? I have mail delivered here, which gives me residency. If you push me, I’ll hang out and make you evict me. Now be a good little girl and go make me a cup of coffee.”

Lou wanted to scream at him and she did. “Go make your own fucking coffee. I want you out on Wednesday, and don’t take anything that isn’t yours, Joe.”

“Sure thing, sugar.”

She stormed out of the room and went to make herself coffee. When it was done, she purposely turned the brewer off before going to sit out on the porch. This was going to be a problem. Lou didn’t want Joe alone in the house, but she couldn’t bring Alex and Eric here with Joe around. That meant she couldn’t see them for the next three days until Joe moved out, if he moved out. Lou wanted to cry.