The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy (#1-3) (52 page)

Khol stood and glowered at her. “I didn’t ask for him to send you.”

She smiled at him in a flirtatious way. “But maybe you should give me a chance before sending me away.”

“I don’t want what you’re offering me . . . at least not from you.” Khol’s green illuminated eyes sparked with anger.

Shannon approached him with more confidence. “No, but I can help ease your pain. Help you forget her, for I am dragon after all.” She came to stand in front of him and dropped the dress that she had been wearing, showing that she had nothing on underneath. When Khol didn’t say anything, she obviously took it as a step in the right direction, so she sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back in a blatant offering.

In a blur of motion, Khol snatched her up by the arms and pinned her to the wall. “Not on the bed,” he commanded, his voice dipping to sound inhuman. She stood up on her tiptoes and tried to kiss him, his response was to flip her around and push her face first into the wall.

“Yes, you don’t have to be gentle with me—”

“Don’t speak,” Khol snarled. He unbuckled his pants with one hand while still holding Shannon up against the wall with the other. He closed his eyes and slid into her. She moaned her delight, which only seemed to annoy Khol more. “I said not to speak—not even a sound.” I was completely and utterly taken aback. I’d known the aftermath of Shannon and Khol’s coupling, but I’d at least thought he’d been somewhat decent to her while they were together. Boy was I wrong. With his eyes firmly shut he moved in and out of her sensually. He even let go of her wrists to wrap her hair around his fist. Things from that point on seemed to go pretty smoothly until Khol broke his silence with a moaned profession of love . . . for me.

I was suddenly staring into Khol’s illuminated green eyes, the live version, the vision fading as fast as it had come. My heart clenched at the realization of what I had just witnessed. I’d asked to know why Khol hadn’t hooked up with Jenna, and my new powers, in a roundabout way, had shown me. He had used Shannon, and apparently even pretended she was me, or at least tried. He didn’t want to do that to Jenna, my friend.

“Khol—” I started.

“I wish you wouldn’t have seen that,” Khol’s voice was somber. “I was not at my best then . . . right after it happened.”

“I had no idea.” Apparently about a lot of things. One of which was how deeply Khol had loved me even then. Would it have made a difference then? No. But now was a whole different story. I reached around him and pulled at the gumband that was holding his hair back and then entangled my hands in his long auburn hair that spilled around his shoulders. I studied him as he studied me. He was so otherworldly in his dragon beauty. He could have been the inspiration for romance novel covers everywhere, but he was the real thing . . . and mine . . . if I really wanted him for keeps. He’d never forsaken me, not truly, not even when he thought I was mated to Bryn for good. “I love you,” I said just before I brought my lips up to take control of his. I thought about giving myself to him right then and there, to ending the dilemma of who I would be mated to once and for all, but then uncertainty began to snake its way up my spine and into my system. I loved Bryn too. He’d been the most important person in my life since the age of five. Was I really willing to throw that all away for someone I hadn’t even known for an entire year yet?
Bryn threw you away, not the other way around.
A very helpful, or not so helpful voice, depending on how I looked at it, whispered in my head.

Khol broke our kiss and pulled away. “Not now—not like this—not until you’re sure.”

“But I thought you told Bryn you would take advantage if my will slipped, even for a second.
It’s slipping
.” I looked at him with meaning, partly wondering if the dropping my dress trick that Shannon had employed would work for me.

“I meant it when I said it.” He placed his hands on the straps of my dress, obviously guessing what I was thinking. “But now that I might actually be able to have you the way I want you, with no doubts”—he cupped my face in both of his large warm hands and stared into my eyes with flames igniting in his irises—“I want that. More than you can imagine.” I just stared at him and swallowed, not knowing what to say, and trying to
not
listen to what my body was telling me to do. Which pretty much entailed destroying all clothes that were keeping us apart at the moment. “I’ll let Drake know you’re ready for the announcement to be made. Do any last minute things . . . You have five minutes.” And then he pulled a Khol and popped out of existence.

Great.
Things just kept getting more and more complicated. What other kinds of drama would my new powers bring to me? It was probably better not to ask.

I shifted nervously as I stood next to Khol waiting to be announced. We had traveled to his lair, a place we hadn’t been to for some time, because apparently we didn’t have any rooms that were big enough or appropriate for the proclamation that I was the next dragon Queen back at the compound. Of course, the actual journey had been almost instantaneous since Khol had just transported me there with his dragon powers. Again I found myself wondering why I didn’t seem to have the ability to transport myself. I thought it was the coolest dragon power I’d seen so far and I wanted it, damn it! I made a mental note to ask Khol about it later.

“Is this all really necessary?” I whispered to Khol. “It all feels beyond ridiculous.”

He delivered me a patronizing smile that made me want to swipe it off his face. “Yes, it’s important to make yourself known. To gain the loyalty of all the factions. This is the easiest way to go about it.”

“But who says they’re all just going to bow down to me? Not much has changed except for my hair and eye color. And the last time I checked, I wasn’t getting much respect around here.”

“Your hair and eye color is undeniable proof of your powers, none can dispute them. And with your powers comes the mantel of Queen.” He took my hand and laced it with his. “I know you don’t feel it yet, but you will one day be what your true mother was to all of us before, and you will be adored beyond all measure.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t feel very all knowing and adored beyond measure right now,” I grumbled.

Khol dipped his head to skim his soft supple lips against my temple. “I already adore you beyond all measure.” His voice broke an octave lower and my stomach did a little flip flop. I was going to have to have a chat with my traitorous body a little bit later.

Khol suddenly straightened up and placed my hand over his arm and began to move towards the huge oak door in front of us. “It’s time,” he said.

“But I didn’t hear anything. How do you know?” In fact, it had just occurred to me that I hadn’t heard anything, not even people, or I guess dragons talking.

“There’s a sound proofing spell on this room. Drake informed me through telepathy that it was time,” Khol stated matter-of-factly, as he continued moving me forward.

“Oh,” I mumbled as my witty response.

I gripped his arm tighter and followed close beside him, my nerves beginning to ratchet up. At least I didn’t have to worry about my morning sickness deciding to make an appearance, so I could also announce that I was pregnant in front of a bunch of dragons I didn’t know. Khol paused and looked down at me, his eyes trying to assure me that everything would be okay, and then he pulled the door open. The noise of the room hit me like a physical force and I had to concentrate not to stagger back. Khol wasn’t kidding about the soundproofing spell. But as soon as I stepped into the room with Khol, all talking and noise abruptly stopped, as if the spell had fallen back around everyone again. I swear if someone had dropped a pin I would have heard it. I kept my eyes straightforward and tried not to look at anyone because I had the distinct feeling everyone in the room was staring. I could feel their eyes burning into me.

“Look at her hair!” some unknown voice called out. And then the room erupted into chaos.

“I thought you said I was gonna be announced,” I grated through clenched teeth at Khol.

“And you are.” He led me up to the front of the room where I was then forced to face the crowd. I dug my nails into Khol’s arm, pretty sure I was going to draw blood, but he didn’t make any protests. There were so many dragons in the room, more than I thought still existed by the way Khol had talked in the past. And all the factions were represented . . . Red, Black, Silver, and Gold. “Behold . . . our new Queen,” Khol’s voice washed over the crowd and one by one, they began to drop down on their knees to show deference to me. Once it seemed like everyone had taken the plunge, even Khol himself dropped to one knee in front of me, clasping my hand to his forehead. I began to tremble, not knowing what to do. My eyes skimmed over the crowd—most of the dragons’ eyes were facing the floor, but I immediately caught the gaze of one dragon in particular who was not studying the marble, or maybe I should say half dragon . . . Bryn. He was staring at me, a look of anguish swirling in his sea storm eyes. When he realized I was looking back, he flicked his eyes to the floor as well. My chest constricted, and I fought to keep my composure. It shouldn’t be this way, Bryn should be standing beside me, like he always has, not kneeling down before me like everyone else in the crowd. And Jenna? Where was Jenna? I didn’t see her anywhere. I know we’d had a little bit of a falling out, but I wanted her beside me too. It suddenly felt like I was losing everyone I held dear to me.

“Tell them they can rise,” Khol whispered under his breath.

“Oh,” I said. “Right.” I was in so over my head. “You may all rise.” Everyone began slowly lumbering to their feet and Khol repositioned himself beside me and intertwined my fingers with his again. I tightened my grip on his hand as if he were my only lifeline. And maybe he was. “What should I do now?” I whispered to Khol under my breath, while still staring straight ahead.

“If you wish, I will speak for you. It is not unheard of to have a trusted advisor to do so,” he whispered back.

“Yeah, do that.” I sighed with relief.

Khol stepped forward and dropped my hand and I had to fight the urge to reach for it.
Ugh. Pathetic.
“Our Queen wishes me to speak on her behalf.” Khol delivered the crowd a charming smile. “She is a little overwhelmed by all of this. As I’m sure you all can understand.” A few chuckles were heard in response and a low buzz of conversation resumed in the room. I took that as a good sign. “I’m sure all of you are wondering how this all came about, and I will tell you . . .”

A little while later I found myself back in my own room, much to Khol’s dismay, and sprawled out on my bed. I couldn’t help but feel small in it since it still hadn’t been that long since I had shared it with Bryn. Here I was . . . a friggin’ dragon Queen . . . and I’d never felt so tiny and alone in all of my life. But I didn’t want to begin relying on Khol the way that I had relied on Bryn. I would take a mate, and in him I wanted a partner, not someone that had to constantly take care of me. Why did it always seem like the men in my life wanted to take care of me? Or maybe because they were both at least part dragon, it was in their nature? And if that were the case, then would I constantly have to fight my own nature to not let them?

A knock on my door made me scramble up into a sitting position. “Come in,” I called, hoping it was either Khol or Bryn. Or maybe even Jenna. I really needed to fix things with her. I just didn’t have the energy to make the first move at the moment. I heaved a sigh of disappointment when a small female dragon with short-cropped silver hair stepped into view. I inclined my head inquisitively at her and she bowed down in front of me, which was pretty low because I was sitting.

“My Queen," she greeted.

I studied the top of her head for a moment, and jealously that she got to have silver hair, which was so pretty, while I got stuck with white, spiked through my system. Why the hell did I have to be stuck with white hair? “Yes,” I responded, not outwardly showing any of my inner angst.
Go me!