The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy (#1-3) (49 page)

“What? You can’t be serious,” Jeremy exclaimed in utter disbelief.

It was then that Jenna decided to make her entrance, and a dramatic one it was indeed. She flung Khol’s door open with such force it slammed against the wall behind it and swung back to hit her in the shoulder. She staggered more from the surprise of it but toppled over none the less and landed on her ass with a look of shock intermingled with anger etched across her face. She looked over at me and blew her bangs out of her face with a puff of exasperated breath. “What’d I miss?”

Jeremy left my side and hurried over to help Jenna to her feet. As soon as they touched, a huge smile spread across her face that left him seeming a bit dazed. I had the sudden urge to look away like I was witnessing something I had no right to, as if the look they shared was meant to be kept behind closed doors.
No us yet
, my ass Jeremy. I’d never seen Jenna look at a guy with the true look of adoration that she was currently giving him, lust yes, but this was definitely more than that. And like a light switched off, Jenna turned her focus from Jeremy to me and narrowed her eyes. “That’s not really a good look for you, you know? I mean if you were going to do something drastic with your hair I would have thought you’d have the sense to consult with me first.” How could I have almost forgotten? Of course my new aversion to mirrors probably helped, not to mention that Jeremy hadn’t said anything. “And what’s up with your eyes?” Jenna’s face pinched together as if my appearance physically pained her, and who knew maybe it did. Although it was probably more likely she was just pained by the fact that she thought I went and had a major makeover without her help.

I raised my hand up to touch my hair self-consciously and fresh tears spilled down my face. “I know it’s awful,” I hiccupped.

Jenna came to stand in front of me and began to study me with her self-proclaimed discerning eyes. “This is why you should have come to me, grasshopper.” Her lips twitched up into a smile. “But no worries, your sensei is here now.”

“You don’t understand. I didn’t do this to myself.” I motioned frantically at my white hair. “She did—the Queen.”

“Huh. Well, she might be a Queen of something but it’s definitely not of colorists.” Ugh. What did I have to do to get her to understand?

Thankfully Jeremy seemed to be quicker on the uptake at the moment. “It’s not dyed, Jenna.” His eyes widened almost imperceptibly as he began studying me as well. “Her energy is different . . . way different. I can almost see the traces of the magic that did it. It’s permanent.”

“That bitch!” Jenna hissed. “She magically fried your hair? What the hell happened when you met with her?” And as if the words took a minute to seep into her consciousness, she whipped her head around to look at Jeremy. “What do you mean it’s permanent? Like P.J.’s hair is like this forever?”

“That’s usually what permanent means,” Jeremy retorted dryly.

Her face scrunched up into a look of pity as she turned back towards me again. “Oh, well, that’s okay. The bright side is that you can pick any color you want to dye it. You’ll have to do it more often to avoid getting white roots, but old people do it all the time so—”

“No!” I exclaimed in frustration. “It’s un-dyable! I’m stuck being a white haired freak for the rest of my very long dragon life!”

“At least you’re only half dragon so you won’t—”

A strangled sound escaped from me as I flung myself face down on Khol’s bed. “Just stop Jenna! Stop!” I screamed into the comforter. “Next maybe you’d like to bring up the fact that I don’t know who the father of my baby is!”

I felt the bed shift, a signal that Jenna had taken up residence next to me and then a moment later more movement meant Jeremy had joined her. “What happened when you met with her?” Jenna exclaimed as if I was the one antagonizing her.
Typical.

“I’ll tell you what happened,” I grumbled as I rolled on my side away from her. “She turned my already screwed up life on its head. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“How about with why the hell did she fry your hair?”

I had to talk about all the things that had been going on with me and I didn’t even care what Jeremy heard, because I knew once I started talking it was all coming out. “I’m one hundred percent dragon. That’s the first thing.” The silence that clung to our little group told me I’d actually managed to shock both Jenna and Jeremy . . . a feat not to be taken lightly. “The second is that the Queen is—was actually my biological mother. She passed on her magic to me, which did this to my hair.” I tugged angrily on a few affronting white strands. “And this to my eyes.” I waved my hand in front of my face demonstratively. “By passing on her magic to me, I’m to be the next dragon Queen, but it also killed her and my father, even longer story, because of what she did. Bryn now has high tailed it for the hills because he thinks he’s
especially
not good enough for me now, and I hooked up with Khol because I realized I love him too. But I still love Bryn and so I’ve discovered that not only am I pregnant with a child who I don’t know who the father is, but I’m the future, or current dragon Queen, I’m really not sure, who is in love with two men at the same time, and—and—apparently I’m a slut now too!” I gasped for air having spit out everything without stopping to breathe or pause once, but it was all out there now.

“You are not a slut,” Jenna stated firmly. “Who said you were? If anyone is in this room, it’s me.”

“Jenna—” Jeremy started, but Jenna cut him off.

“Please, Jeremy, don’t try to argue that I’m not. I know what I am. And so do you. Just because . . . things are developing between us . . . well, it doesn’t change my past.”

“But—”

“No buts about it. We’re going to have to agree to disagree then. Although, I’m sure we can both say that P.J. is not a slut. Who the hell told you that anyways?” Jenna asked me again.

“Me. I told me that I’m a slut. I hooked up with Khol and I’m still involved with Bryn. I just—”

“Oh for Christ’s sake. It has to be the pregnancy hormones that are making you act all crazy. You were a virgin until after you turned eighteen years old. You’ve been with two guys.
Two guys
. Two guys doesn’t make you a slut, P.J.” She paused and chuckled to herself. “Unless, if you were with both of them at once, then maybe I’d be willing to reconsider calling you a slut.”

“Jenna! Of course I wasn’t with both of them at once! You know I’d never do something like that!” Which made me wonder if Jenna had ever been with more than one guy at the same time. Something I so didn’t want to think about.

Her voice took on a far away dreamy tone. “Can you imagine being with Bryn and Khol at the same time?”

“No!” Jeremy and I exclaimed at the same time.

“Talk about ecstasy overload,” Jenna finished up as if Jeremy and I hadn’t just screamed at her to stop. “Anyways . . .” She seemed to internally shake herself. And it was a good thing too, because I couldn’t help but feel just a tad violent towards her for mentally imagining a threesome on herself with the two men
I
was in love with. “You’re not a slut, P.J. Case closed.” She blinked at me a few times, and then another smile crept onto her face. “Wait. When you say
hooked
up with Khol, I’m assuming we’re talking about more than kissing or you wouldn’t be feeling so guilty. So . . . spill it. What happened?” She leaned towards me with an eager expression on her face, which caused me to stuff my face back down into Khol’s comforter.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I said.

“Oh, but you’re going to.” Jenna’s voice had taken on a hard edge. “I’m not leaving until you do.” And I knew she wasn’t bluffing. I knew she’d sit there and pester me until I told her exactly what happened between Khol and me.

My face heated as memories of his intimate kiss skittered across my mind. “Maybe it’s genetic,” I mumbled to myself.

“What is?” Jenna asked.

“Me and my slut like behavior.”

“For the last time . . . you are not a slut,” Jenna practically growled. “You’re just trying to avoid talking about what happened between you and Khol. You’re not fooling me.”

I sighed. “Maybe I am, but that doesn’t change the truth. Khol told me once that dragon females were nearly insatiable when it comes to . . . well, you know. So maybe I just can’t help it.”

“Or you just happen to want Khol and Bryn. If you were a genetic slut then you would have been putting out years ago. And again I will say . . . being with two guys doesn’t make you a slut. Now . . . time to spill what happened between you and Khol. No more subject changes.” Jenna resumed her eager stare.

“Fine,” I grated. “Khol and I . . . well I let Khol . . . he—”

“Just say it!” Jenna demanded. “What? What? What? He what?”

“Well he . . .” I wasn’t sure if I could actually say it out loud. “He . . . kissed me—”

“And!” Jenna leaned forward on the bed, reminding me very much of a vulture waiting to scavenge a body.

“It wasn’t a regular kiss . . .” My whole body flushed, and my heart began to race as I again thought of what I’d let Khol do to me.

“Oh my God! Just spit it out already!”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “He kissed me . . . well . . .” I pointed down towards the general vicinity of my middle, opening my eyes to meet Jenna’s confused brown pools. “Down there,” I hissed, looking at her with meaning.
Come on Speaker—get there faster.

I saw comprehension wash over her as a grin spread across her face. “Holy shit! You let Khol go down on you?” She started bouncing up and down on the bed and I resumed my ostrich head in the sand position . . . a.k.a. my face stuffed into Khol’s comforter.

“You did!” Jenna exclaimed with excitement. “Did you like it? I mean was it good? I need details!”

“I think I’m gonna head out now,” I heard Jeremy mumble. “I got some—stuff to do. I’ll see you guys later.” He scuffled out of the room, his face flushed with embarrassment.

Neither Jenna or I acknowledged Jeremy’s leaving, but as soon as the door clicked shut signaling he was gone, Jenna exploded into girly excitement. “Details! I need details! EEEEEE! I can’t believe you let him do that to you! I’m so proud! Oh wait . . . did you reciprocate? Come on P.J. . . . I need details!”

I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. “Yeah, it was good. Beyond good, I’ve never felt anything like it. Plus, with his magic . . . yeah . . . like I said, I’ve never felt anything like it.” I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. “And no, I didn’t reciprocate.”

“Let me get this straight.” Jenna’s eyes had widened to resemble tiny saucers. “He went down on you, and he didn’t even expect you to do it back?”

“He said he just wanted to help me take the edge off . . . You know, because of the extra hormones I’ve got going on with my pregnancy.”

Jenna flopped back onto the bed beside me with a huge sigh. “He’s got it bad for you. No joke. If that isn’t love then I don’t know what is. Plus, all the other stuff he’s always doing for you, but he’s still a guy, you know. You’re so lucky.” She exhaled a loud demonstrative sigh.

“Macon loves you, and so does Jeremy.”

“Yeah well, Macon acts like reciprocation is his God given right. I used to think it was kind of hot how he took all the control and everything, but now I mostly think it’s annoying.”

“Jeremy wouldn’t do that.” I’d always liked Jeremy and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put in a good word for him. “Jeremy really cares about you, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Jenna waved her hand in the air. “I don’t wanna talk about it. I wanna talk about what you’re gonna do about everything that’s going on with you.”

I scowled in her direction. Typical Jenna. She didn’t want to talk about stuff she wasn’t ready to, but she was always forcing me to divulge information before I was ready. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing you need to do . . . Pick some new colors for your wardrobe because what you’ve got now is so going to clash with your new hair.” She paused as if thinking. “And you’re going to need some new eye makeup. Hey, if Storm from X-Men can look hot with white hair, then you can too. We’ll make it work.”

I started to giggle as I mentally pictured Jenna trying to dress me up in various superhero type costumes. “I’m not a superhero, Jenna. Just—”

She rolled to face me at the same time I rolled to face her. “A Queen.” We both burst into laughter.

“Who would have ever thought our lives would have gotten so complicated?” I said, grasping at my side because I was laughing so hard. It was all so funny because it all . . . wasn’t.

“Certainly not me,” she barked out. “I used to be worried we’d miss out on all the adventures. And”—she clutched at her side too—“I used to worry you’d die a virgin. Ha! Look at you now!”

“Hey! Not funny!” But I couldn’t help but laugh harder. It felt good to just let go of some of the tension with Jenna. It made me feel like some of the weight had been lifted off of my shoulders . . . even if it was only temporary.

A prickling of power slid across my skin causing goose bumps to erupt all over my body. I sucked in a ragged breath a split second before Khol appeared a few feet in front of the bed. “That’s new,” I muttered as I locked eyes with him.

“Oh hey, Khol,” Jenna said. “We were just talking about you.” She giggled. “All good stuff, I promise. But I have a few questions for you . . .”

“Jenna, stop!” God only knew what kind of questions she had for Khol.

She turned to me with an over exaggerated pout. “Fine, then.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’ll just leave you two alone. Just one question first . . .”

“Get out Jenna!” I yelled. “I’ll talk to you later.” I gave her my best stern face, which actually seemed to work.

“Alright,” she said in a singsong voice. “I’ll see you two later.” She practically skipped from the room with delight.

I turned to address Khol, my face heating with embarrassment. “Sorry about that. I—”

Khol stole the words from my mouth with a blinding smile. “It makes me happy to see you smiling again, my little Queen.” He dropped down on his knees in front of me. “I only wish that I had been the one to lighten your mood.” He cupped my face in his large warm hands, his eyes flaring brighter.