The Pearls (15 page)

She let her hands flow
over the strings the sound that came out was something new. The song that flowed out of her was similar to her other song, but this one was full of love and passion, full of the dreams that she now had. The love she felt toward Kaiden flowed through her fingers into the song.

Justine let them have their moment
. She felt the love in the song and decided to go sit out on the deck.

Kaiden just stared at Zoe while she played, he wanted to grab her face and pull her lips to his. He felt the message behind the song and wanted to fill it.

When Zoe was done she closed her eyes and laid the guitar in her lap, she wanted to soak the song in. The song gave her courage for what she was about to do. When she opened her eyes she stared into Kaiden’s. She lifted her hand to his cheek and gently pulled him to her. Zoe wanted to feel his lips on hers. She wanted to soak him in and the memory of the song with it.

He paused an inch away from her face and raised his hands to
each side of her face and very softly met her lips. As their lips met and danced in a slow song something shifted between them and was cemented in a bond.

Zoe could feel Kaiden inside of her
, all his feelings were laid out for her to feel. That shocked her, if she could feel his, could he feel hers?

Zoe pulled away first and looked at Kaiden in shock. Kaiden stared back with the same look on his face.

“My parents never told me that part and I am sorry, if you weren’t ready for that, I didn’t know about this part.” Kaiden was horrified she was going to run and his emotions clouded out her calm. He felt her emotions as soon as they kissed, but he was so panicked now that his emotions were hiding hers.

“I am not sorry, I have wanted to kiss you and I don’t know how this is possible, but I feel you. D
o you feel me?”

“Yes” Kaiden felt her calm then and relief flooded through him.

“Any other surprises I should expect?”

“Umm the only other one I know of is when we make love
. There will be a strong urge to bite for us and well if we bite while making love we turn, and I don’t think we should turn until we are in a safe location.” Kaiden blurted out and then furiously blushed.

“I agree, but it’s good to know that if the urge arises we can still do it
, we just fight the urge to bite.” Zoe laughed at his embarrassment “I think I should tell you though I have never well done it, as you know I have never had a boyfriend”

Now Kaiden
embarrassment turned to remorse, he knew she hadn’t had a boyfriend but he didn’t expect her to be a virgin. “Don’t worry I don’t want you to feel rushed or that I am pressuring you into anything. I want you to be yourself with me and feel comfortable with me.”

Zoe felt
remorse coming from Kaiden and this confused her, “You’re not a virgin are you?” and she was slammed with instant shame from him, so much so it made her flinch.

“No I am not.
But that was always just sex for me. I have never had a girlfriend and I never took them to my place. I was always looking for you Zoe. I just, on nights that I felt desperate that I would never find you, I didn’t think I just acted, I’m sorry.” He said with regret coursing through him.

“I know I should be jealous, but I am not
. You have a past and so do I. Although they are quite different, I am not upset.” Zoe explained to him. It seemed she was a lot better at feeling his emotions than he was at the moment. Kaiden was clouding her feelings with his own. She placed both her hands on the sides of his face and kissed him. She was telling him that she was not mad or jealous through the kiss.

Justine walked through the door at that moment she had heard everything they talked about
. Not that she wanted to, she was trying to give them privacy, but the fantastic hearing was proving to be an annoyance at the moment.

“So you guys figured out something new huh?” Justine asked totally interested in this new detail.

“Yes we have” Zoe beamed “Seems the first kiss creates a bond and I can feel all of Kaiden’s emotions. Although, he is letting his feelings run wild and not feeling me.” Zoe laughed and gave Kaiden a gentle push.

“So all I have to do is kiss Gabe and I will be able to feel him? Like really feel him? Like if he is in danger or vice versa I will be able to tell?” Justine was totally serious and Zoe could tell she had a plan working inside her head.

“Well we kind of just figured it out so I don’t know for sure.” Kaiden replied solemnly

“Well I want to know. So I guess I am
going to just go find Gabe and if we are in danger and he comes then I will ask him if he saw it or felt it.” And with that Justine ran out the door. Zoe immediately ran after her before Kaiden even realized what Justine meant.

Gabe was on top of the cliff face overlooking the cabin they were staying in. He set himself up a small tent and was making some soup at the fire he made.
Gabe watched them leave the restaurant and go back to the cabin. He was too far to hear what they talked about, but not long after he heard a guitar. The song he faintly heard touched his heart.

Gabe wanted to be with Justine, so much so it ached inside. Gabe knew he was a good looking man, many women told him so when he walked the streets. But he never gave i
n to any of it. He knew there was one woman out there that was made for him. One woman that would make all other women irrelevant. Sure he looked at other women and saw the beauty of them, but they were not Justine. Gabe remembers his parents smiling faces and he has pictures of them, but he was five years old when they sent him with Mary and he doesn’t remember the love.

Knowing that there was one woman for Gabe drove him to be a good man for her. He wanted nothing more than to protect her and cherish her. When he saw Justine from afar
, when she was alone, he could tell she had been wounded in her past. He knew someone had hurt her so much that she wore a constant frown on her face.

Gabe also noticed that once this Kaiden came into the picture that her frown changed
, she now had hope in her eyes. Gabe respected and was thankful for that fact. He was glad Justine now knew what she was and her destiny. He loved her fiercely for learning about it and then facing it head on and not running. Gabe was in awe of the natural strength in Justine.

Onyx Dragons were not known for their strength, they were known for being evasive and unseen. But Justine had a
n inner strength that would rival any Fury Dragon, they were the true fighters. Gabe himself had changed his fate when he learned how to fight.

The night had arrived quickly here on the coast and the chill of the night settled in around Gabe
. He moved closer to the fire to stay warm and watched the house. Justine was outside looking in his direction, no doubt she saw him regardless of the fire, he knew she had excellent night vision as did he and he could see her clearly. Gabe poured his soup in a bowl and started to eat, while he ate he watched. He saw Justine sit up a little straighter like she heard something. She didn’t look around just continued to stare at him, so he continued to eat. A minute later she got up and went inside the cabin. Gabe took this opportunity to unroll his sleeping bag and make his bed up.

As he laid his pillow in place he heard rustling in the trees, the only trees around were near the cabin. Gabe hurried out of the tent and looked toward the cabin and what he saw stunned him and pulled at his heart.

Justine was running at full speed towards him and Zoe was right behind her. Zoe had a smile plastered to her face like she was holding back, but the look on Justine’s face was unwavering determination. He then looked beyond them and saw Kaiden gaining on them. Gabe’s first reaction was that he had done something to them, but the smile on Zoe’s face made him stay put.

“We learned something new!” Zoe yelled out, she wasn’t even winded.

When they got within fifty feet of him Zoe stopped and let Justine come alone. Kaiden stopped right at her side and they turned away. It only took Justine a second to reach him. She stopped running and walked up to him with purpose written all over her face and in her step. It was Gabe’s turn to stand there frozen in place and speechless.

“They realized something he didn’t even know about.” Justine said nodding her head toward Kaiden.

“Just do it Justine” Zoe shouted.

“Do what?” Gabe whispered, shocked that he was even able to speak

“This” Justine said as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him into her and kissed him hard.

Kaiden was so surprised he didn’t do anything at first then he felt the softness of her lips and started to move his lips over hers. The rush he felt from kissing her was unreal to him. He thought he could spend the rest of his life just doing this. As his arms reached around Justine’s waist something happened.

His mind was clouded with fear and wanting. A longing ache he never felt before surrounded him. Gabe pulled away and looked into her eyes and saw everything she was feeling in her eyes.

“What just happened?” Gabe asked breathless

“Did it work?” Justine asked

“I am not sure what you are talking about
.” Gabe said confused.

“Well I feel your confusion so it worked.” Justine said with confidence

“Are you saying what I feel right now is from you?” Gabe was distressed he just wanted her to feel happiness

“You can change that
.” she whispered in his ear

“Oh I plan to, but please explain all this to me”
he begged. This was something unexpected and amazing to him.

Kaiden and Zoe walked up then and stood there in each other’s arms near the fire.

“Well, best I can say is they kissed for the first time. I wasn’t eaves dropping, but kind of hard not to. Well something happened in that kiss and I knew from what Zoe was saying she could all of a sudden feel his emotions. So I thought if that was the case we needed to have that too. With you watching over us and all, I just figured if you can feel me, it would make this a lot easier for you, to do your thing.” Justine looked to the floor while she spoke and found what must be a very interesting rock on the ground.

“Justine, my love” Gabe placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head so she would look in his eyes “My Love, you are a true Onyx Dragon. I don’t think I could love you anymore than I do right at this moment. You have just given me
purpose and a leg up in this fight when it comes to protecting you.” Gabe placed a small kiss on her forehead and felt her heart soar in delight.

“I Love you” she whispered

“And I love you” He pulled her into his arms and held on to her tight

Gabe looked at Kaiden and Zoe and mouthed “
Thank you
” to them. They both nodded and moved a little closer to each other.

“My love I need you to go back to the cabin
. I haven’t seen them at all, but they may find you here, and I want to stay hidden for now. Once you guys get what you need from that lawyer, I want you to head to New Mexico. Get a new car and some fake ids, pay cash for everything, and continue east. When it is safe I will meet up with you guys and stay with you.” Gabe looked straight at Kaiden while speaking

“Are you going to come with us to my home?” Kaiden asked