Dray
“No.”
“Yes,” Rhysa shot right back.
“Absolutely not.”
She sighed and it took everything in me to keep my eyes on her face and not the rise and fall of my favorite pair of breasts. “We have to practice this.”
“The fuck we do.” Rhysa had it in her head that if I shifted into my dragon form more often that it would eventually get easier. But she wasn’t the one who became a creature that no longer existed in our world. She wasn’t the one who lost himself each and every time. I was always afraid that this time I wouldn’t come back at all.
“You can lie to yourself until you’re blue in the face, but I know the truth as well as you do. I’m the one that brings you back. I’m the one that dreams with you. I know that the only way to deal with this is to fucking deal with it.”
“Just Wild West style? No game plan, no contingencies?”
Rhysa’s lips thinned. “I know you, big man. I know how that brain of yours works. You seriously think I’m putting myself through this hell just to get pushed away? Of course I have a plan and contingencies.”
Fuck. Of course she did. My Rhysa was brilliant. Unfortunately it didn’t work in my favor this time around. “Let me hear it then.”
“We’ll have Rain on hand. She helped bring you back last time. Our combined powers are hard to beat, even for you. And Sun has agreed to be there as well.”
“He can’t heal me anymore.” Sun was not the Doctor any longer.
“He still has some tricks up his sleeve and he has direct contact with the Doctor if anything should happen that he can’t handle.”
Damn it. She really did have a good plan. “Is there a date and time scheduled?”
“Yes, actually.” She looked everywhere but at me, which meant it was now. She cleared her throat. “They’re here and ready when you are.”
“You’re very sure of your ability to convince me to do things.” The simple fact was that it was almost impossible to tell her no. I loved her to distraction and always wanted to make her happy, even when it pissed me off.
“No, I’m very sure of your loyalty to your House and your position as Head of House. That and your sense of duty. You will be good to no one if you can’t learn to control your dragon.”
Well she had me there.
“And this is just the first attempt. We’ll do this every other day until we start to make progress. We’ll adjust as needed.”
I growled. I always growled when I was angry and couldn’t find it in me to say what I felt without yelling.
“I know,” Rhysa stepped closer and slid her hand against my cheek. “But you’re one of our biggest assets and we need you.”
As usual, she calmed me right back down. “You better kiss me before we do this. I’ll be in no shape afterward.”
She rose up on her tiptoes and pressed her soft lips against mine. My blood heated instantaneously and my constant hunger for her roared from simmering to white hot. Before I knew it I had her pinned to the wall and my tongue in her mouth, though, disappointingly, my dick was still strapped in my jeans. She whimpered, as she always did, clawing at me just as frantically.
Except, unlike me, she tended to hold onto some control. “Dray, we can’t. We don’t have time.”
And this was the crux of the problem. I always got lost in two things: Rhysa and my dragon half. I never wanted to learn to control my feelings for her, but if it was possible to control the dragon inside me, I had to try.
“Fine.” I slid away, the taste of her still hot on my tongue. “Just give me a minute to ah, calm down.” It still amazed me how fast my body reacted to hers. And every time I thought I understood it all, something even more incredible would happen.
I stopped trying to figure it all out and just accepted that Rhysa and I could do amazing things together. Even when I was a dragon. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
We chose the meadow below the house for our experiment. There was still snow on the ground, so everyone was bundled up except me. I, unfortunately, was naked. But Rhysa cleared an area for me to stand without snow.
Rain sat on a bench nearby eating an apple and trying not to look at me. Sun took my vitals and then stepped back. “I know this is uncomfortable, but the data could be helpful.” He attached several sensors to my body in the hopes that at least one would stay put. Rhysa had another in her hand to try and affix to me after I transformed.
“Gigi will be thrilled you tried,” I grunted, every muscle in my body tense against the cold.
Sun smiled and stepped back. “Whenever you’re ready.”
I glanced at Rhysa. It actually made me feel a little better that the smug smile was off her face and now she looked terrified. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry I sprang this on you. I didn’t know what else to do, but now I feel like shit.”
I kissed her forehead just below the knit cap on her head. “It’s fine. You’re right. I’m not mad…anymore.”
She shot me a half-smile. “I’ll make it up to you tonight?”
“Yes. You will.” That electric connection between us sizzled at the promise.
“Okay then. Do your thing.” She took one step back, but no more, wanting to stay close but give my body space to change. My dragon form was not small.
“Bring me back in one piece.”
“I will,” she whispered.
I cracked my neck one way, then the other. My dragon half simmered inside me. I was an expert at containing but absolute crap at putting the genie back in the bottle. I rolled my shoulders, did a couple of air squats, feeling loosened up enough.
Then I let the simmer become a fire. One minute I was Draygus, Head of the House of Wren, and then next…
I was not.
