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  “If I sleep now, I’ll sleep through my classes. Would it be alright to have a soak?” she asked, biting her lip nervously.

  “Of course, but what’s wrong? Do you not like the tub?”

  “It’s all so…. surreal,” she sighed.

  “I guess I don’t understand how that relates to a bath,” he replied. He strode past her into the bathroom, plugged the tub, and started to fill it.

  “Because...I come from a large family. You had to wake up at the crack of dawn and fight off others for the first shower to have hot water. I have a lot of siblings, my mom and dad, and of course, Gigi. My grandmother Gigi lives at my parent’s house. Here...there’s this tub. A butler. It’s...a little unbelievable for me. Even without the dragon clan.”

  “Jennifer, I realize we just met. But I want you to know that what’s mine is yours, for whatever you need. I know you are an independent person. I’m offering not out of charity, but because I want to share it with you.”

  Jennifer nodded and stepped into the bathroom. She looked around at the cool pale blue marble tiles, and sea foam green accents. She ran her fingertips over the rim of the tub, and Laine shivered. He remembered that it felt like to have those fingers running over him. He was learning that it was her way of grounding herself. When she was overwhelmed, she needed the tactile object to hold onto. It seemed to reassure her that what she was experiencing was real, and if she anchored herself through the storm, she could see herself to the other side.

  Jennifer seemed to forget he was standing there as she peeled off her wet shirt, skirt, panties, and bra. Because she hastily put them back on back at the rooftop, they were twisted on her skin. He imagined it must be uncomfortable, and she dropped them to the floor in a heap and stepped into the tub. Her skin steamed as she sank in. He winced, realizing that she must have been much colder than she let on. He would to have to learn to anticipate her needs and see that they are met, because she was not the kind of woman to ask for anything.

  Jennifer let her head fall back against the edge of the tub and closed her eyes, sighing as the heat seeped into her skin. Laine approached cautiously and quietly so he would not startle her. He knelt beside the tub, wishing he could climb in, but he took the opportunity to gaze down at her. She was resplendent. Her skin reminded him of molten chocolate, and her lips were like caramel candies. He wanted to kiss her again, and found he was licking his lips in anticipation of it. He placed a gentle kiss on her temple, and she murmured something dreamily. Once he realized she had fallen asleep, he quickly disrobed and climbed into the tub, gently lifting her so he could settle himself beneath her.

  She startled from her sleep briefly and he reassured her, “I will wake you when it is time to go to class. I don’t want you to drown. Sleep, I will watch over you.” He was fairly certain she murmured in protest, but she snuggled into his chest. He closed his own eyes, taking more solace in having the woman he desired cradled in his arms than any slumber would provide. He pushed it to the last minute before he gently shook her awake. When she opened her eyes, she took one look at him and screamed.

  Chapter 5

  Jennifer woke up quickly, realized after a moment that none of the events of last night were a dream, and she screamed. She had not meant to, but the intense emotions that had built up over the last twelve hours came pouring out of her. She felt his arms tighten around her and she was being rocked back and forth in the water, which was still warm, even after an hour or so. She suspected it had something to do with Laine and his body temperature. Maybe he was able to emit heat rays through his toes or something. In a moment of clarity, she realized she had no idea who he was, or what he was capable of. She needed to get out of there immediately.

  “I should go. I have to go. I shouldn’t be here,” she stammered. “I don’t even know you. What am I doing here?”

  “Jennifer, calm down,” he pleaded. “Please calm down. It will be all right. I told you, I wouldn’t hurt you. No one here will harm you.”

  “I…I…I need to go. I just need to get out of there,” she was resolute. When she pushed on his chest, he let her go. He was not about to detain her against her will, but it was killing him to let her leave. It felt like someone had just clipped his wings. In the short time he had known her they bonded. He understood now that she was the part of him that was missing. His missing puzzle piece. Sure, he missed his home in the Hudson Valley, but with her, the pain had dulled. If she left, he felt like he was being broken again.

  Jennifer stumbled out of the tub and pulled on her damp clothes, shivering as she hastened out the door. He knew he could not try to stop her, so he waited a moment before he getting out of the tub to follow her. When Jennifer opened the door, his brothers, Corey, and Claire were on the other side of it, debating whether or not to barge in.

  “Let her go if she wants to go,” he told them. They stepped aside, but Claire stood strong. “You didn’t have a choice, Claire. I told Jennifer that she always would.”

  After a moment, Claire nodded and stepped aside. Jennifer glanced back at him once before racing down the stairs. He watched from his bedroom window as she hailed a cab and climbed into the back seat. He wondered if he was ever going to see her again. His brothers came and stood at his side, clapping him on the shoulder. The weight of their palms felt more like the a reminder of his enslavement to this life, one cursed by war and secrecy. He couldn’t bear it anymore. With Jennifer, he felt free for the briefest moment. Now that she was gone, the weight of the world crashed back down on him.

  “I need…” he began, and turned to Drake.

  “Go. We will watch over her, my brother.”

  Crylaine took off running down the steps. He knew it was a risk and a gamble in broad daylight, but he dashed across the street into the park and felt his clothes rip away as he took a running leap and shifted. He darted into the sky, rising high above the clouds so he wouldn’t be seen. He targeted himself north and flew so fast that the joints in his wings hurt.

  He darted toward home where he could breathe again. The suffocating atmosphere of the city was left behind in his wake, and the painful memory of having love ripped away from him returned. He should have anticipated it would be too much too soon, and that a woman whose beliefs were rooted so deeply in her sense of self-security would break under the pressure of having those beliefs shattered. Crylaine knew the risk he took when he opened his mouth and bellowed his frustration to the sky. The jet of fire that erupted was a dead giveaway for any Serpentina who might be patrolling the skies. When he spotted one headed his way with target fixation, he welcomed the distraction as they ripped into one another with claws and fangs. He showed her no mercy, knowing she would show him none as well. He sent her singing carcass plummeting towards the Hudson River, where the weight of her body would sink her to the bottom, only to be discovered centuries later and explained away as a new species of dinosaur.

  He circled around the bend of the river once he took care of the Serpentina. It was too easy for him this time; the need to lash out was too great. He felt villainous, and imagined what Jennifer might say. She might tell him to show mercy because the Serpentina was a female, or that the Serpentina needed a voice to speak for them because they were misunderstood. He should not derive pleasure and relief from killing them. They had, at one time, lived in harmony.

  Laine spotted Hudson House as he rounded the bend and his heart seized up. In place of a magnificent mansion overlooking the Hudson River, a skeleton of the house remained, charred and hollow. His home was reduced to ashes and burnt timbers. He let out a roar of grief, and flew into the cave where their landing tunnel once stood. Serpentina had decimated their home, and torn it down piece by piece in search of an opponent who no longer resided there.

  Laine shifted to human form and knew that glass and stone crunched under his feet, but the pain didn’t register. He ran through the ruins and pushed aside collapsed timbers from the frame of the house. He sank to his knees somewhere around where t
he kitchen once was, and collapsed to his side. Laine rarely cried, and dragon tears were a rarity. But as he lay in the ash and debris, he hugged his knees and cried for the things he lost. He felt bound and chained by the restraints of modern society. Hudson House was a reprieve from it all. Jennifer acted as a soothing balm to the war that raged within him and in the skies on a nightly basis. Now he had lost it all.

  Laine lost track of time as he lay in the rubble, silently sobbing. Tears streaked through the soot that marred his face and fell like raindrops on the ground below him. He found his mind swimming back to reality when he felt a warm palm on his shoulder.

  “Laine?” he must have fallen asleep and this was all a horrible nightmare. He was going to wake and find none of it was real; that was the only way he could explain the sound of Jennifer’s voice calling his name. It was either that or the Serpentina had caught him, were torturing him, and the sound of her voice was the anchor he needed to keep from going insane.

  “Crylaine, can you hear me?” she said his name again. He frowned because the hand on his shoulder wasn’t painful. He expected excruciating pain from the Serpentina.

  “Are you real?” he choked. His throat was raw from tears. He heard her chuckle softly.

  “That is a funny question considering who the mythical creature is around here,” she said. He opened his eyes, and they burned and stung from the ash. He was aware he had injured his feet on the glass, and glanced down at his already battered body from the two nights of fighting the war. He must look terrifying to Jennifer.

  “I’m sorry.” he murmured, and sat up.

  “You’re sorry for being a dragon?” Jennifer was wearing jeans and a maroon t-shirt that made her complexion rosy under the chocolate color. He imagined chocolate covered raspberries and wondered if he tasted her lips, if her lip-gloss would taste like that.

  “Yes?” He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Her face pulled up in surprise.

  “Don’t apologize for being who you are, Crylaine,” she whispered.

  He studied her for a moment. That was the second time she said his full name. He liked how it sounded on her lips.

  “Yes, but it drove you away.” He was still unsure if she was a figment of his imagination, even though he could smell her floral perfume, and felt her hand on his skin.

  “You can’t deny that this is a whole heck of a lot for one woman to cope with in just a few hours. But that does not change the fact that you should never apologize for being who you are. Not to me, not to anyone. Be proud of that. Hell, if I was a dragon, I would march down the street and let all the jerks in this world who think they are better than everyone else know it.”

  “That would defeat the statute of secrecy our kind upholds,” he said.

  “I’m working on a protest to hold outside Drake’s office right now,” she joked.

  Laine laughed, which made her smile. She turned her attention to his pain. “You look awful. What happened here?”

  “The enemy. When they couldn’t find us here. Speaking of, this is really dangerous. You shouldn’t have come. I’m surprised Drake let…” he trailed off, but it was too late.

  “Drake doesn’t let me do anything. No one lets me do anything. I decide. Understood?”

  He nodded, but he still did not understand how or why she was here. “Drake might not have prevented you from coming up, but how did you find the place? Scryos and Arrlien wouldn’t have told you. Claire…” He stopped and nodded. Of course: Claire.

  “She might have accidently left the address in plain view when I went to visit her at her office,” she agreed.

  “Yeah? How did that go?”

  “As well as can be expected,” she told him. “She was completely understanding. She filled me in on everything that happened to her, and what prompted you all to move to the city. Then I went to the library and couldn’t help but wonder if the Serpentina figured out my routine already, or if I existed at all. I saw Mrs. Cavanaugh in her crazy old lady floral print dress helping out a six-year-old boy sign his own library card, and I panicked thinking about the Serpentina attacking my safe place.”

  “I can see why you would worry. I don’t think they are aware of you yet, if that helps.”

  “It does somewhat,” she said, “But then I knew I needed to see you. I needed to talk to you, and in your misogynistic way, assure me that everything was going to be alright.”

  “You think I am a misogynist?” he balked.

  “Maybe that’s not the right word. Umm-old school? Neanderthal? Barbaric? Beastly?” she was in a jovial mood. It helped to lift his spirits from the dark depths they had fallen to.

  “I get the idea, Ms. Thesaurus.” Jennifer giggled.

  “Umm, do you need, like, medical attention?” she looked over his body, and he glanced down. He was bleeding from several wounds on his body from the recent fight.

  “No. These are minor. They will heal in about a day,” he explained.

  “Well, unless you are intending to stay here in the rubble, I don’t want you bleeding all over my car like that.”

  “Fair point. Give me five minutes?” he requested.

  She looked confused. “Sure, but what are you going to do?” she asked. He stood, and she rose with him. Then, he took a running leap toward the Hudson River and dove in headfirst. He heard her shriek, and he knew he needed to be quick. The Serpentina may have heard her, and he wanted to be on the road before they arrived.

  Once he washed off, he climbed the ledge back to the driveway where she waited by her car. She shook her head in disbelief as he approached dripping wet. “I suppose soaking wet is better than bleeding everywhere,” she purse those raspberry chocolate lips. “At least the water will dry and not stain the upholstery in my car.” She tossed a blanket up to him, and he wrapped himself as he climbed into the passenger seat. She sat down in the driver’s seat and buckled up. She waited for him to do so as well.

  “I don’t die in car accidents.”

  “Do we have to argue about everything?” she groaned. “Buckle up, it’s the law.”

  “I told you, I like to get a rise out of you,” he said, smirking.

  “Just you wait, Mr,”she quipped mysteriously.

  “For what?”

  “All is fair in love and war. I met your family. As soon as we get you some clothes, you are going to meet mine.” Crylaine sat back in the seat and pulled the belt over his sore abdomen. He grinned as she put the car in drive. “What’s so funny?”

  “You said in love and in war. You love me?” he responded, wiggling his eyebrows at her. He watched her face turn bright red again. It was the best part about getting her going. She might not be in love with him, but even she could not deny their intense connection beyond the physical. If it were purely physical, she would not have driven an hour north to the Valley to come after him. She didn’t even try to deny it, and decidedly turned the music up louder in an attempted to drown out the obvious screaming of emotions and arousal their bodies were emitting. She was definitely crushing hard, if she wasn’t practically in love already. He could not deny it himself. He had fallen off a lot of things lately: his rocker, his sanity, the cliff into the Hudson. Falling in love didn’t seem so far-fetched.

  Chapter 6

  Jennifer didn’t know what possessed her to come after him, but her parents had not raised her to abandon people with no explanation like that. She was raised to face her problems face on, no matter how difficult they might be, and she ran screaming for the hills at the first sign of trouble with Crylaine. She decided that whatever she had to face, she did not want to do it without him in her life. Whether it was as friend or lover, they would need to work that out, but it did not all need to be decided right then and there. Then, she found him curled in a ball in the rumble of his old home. Here was a male who was top of the food chain, yet he was still vulnerable. He still felt deeply as any other person. The intensity of his emotions, like his true dragon form, could not be contained forever.
/>   Jennifer sang along to soul music in the car, with Laine in tow. She felt the music move through her and she focused on the highway. She was vaguely aware after about twenty minutes that he was watching her, but she continued to focus on the road and sing along. When she finally pulled back onto the street where his brownstone was, it took her about ten minutes to find a parking spot. Eventually, she parked across the street from his home.

  “Well, it looks like you will have to do the mad dash again,” she told him.

  “True. Are you coming with me?” he looked hopeful. She reached down and squeezed his hand.

  “Sure. Ready, set, go!” she giggled as she wrenched open the door and dashed across the street. As she pushed open the wrought iron gate, he scooped up in his arms and bounded up the stairs. A smiling Corey opened the door for them. “Crylaine put me down! Now! I can walk on my own!”

  “When I’m done with you, woman, that will be debatable.” He gave her a playful swat on the butt and she shrieked in protest. Chuckles erupted from the sitting room, and heard Claire gasp as Drake took a page from Crylaine’s book and scooped her up. As Crylaine pushed open his door, she heard Drake kick open his quarters as well. Laine put her down gently in the middle of the room. Suddenly, nothing else mattered but the fact that Laine was kissing her. She wasn’t sure where his tongue ended and hers began. It was a kiss of wills, and whoever won claimed dominance over the situation. Except Jennifer did not know what the stakes were. She was sure that once the chips were claimed, it would have something to do with the luxurious king-sized bed across the room.

  “Crylaaaaine!” she groaned into his mouth as her hands roamed his body, but he captured them and held her exploration at bay.

  “Not yet,” he groaned into her mouth. He began peeling off her t-shirt and practically purred with satisfaction when he hastily freed her breasts from her bra. He ducked his head and teased her with his lips and tongue. His movements sent tendrils of pleasure shooting straight down between her thighs. She rubbed them together in anticipation. When he was done teasing her nipples, he spun her away from him and marched her away from the bed, much to her dismay. He stood her in front of a full-length mirror. She was about to ask what he was doing when he cupped her breasts and massaged them, rolling the nipples gently in his fingers. He let go and slowly ran his hands down her stomach. She watched as he found the button on her jeans. She gazed at his fingers, knowing the pleasure they would bring once he finally pushed her jeans and panties down. Her breath came in short, rapid bursts. The anticipation was killing her, but he enjoyed taking his time. He kissed her neck and lightly bit her earlobes, making her shiver. Then, as he began pushing her jeans down, she felt his lips on her spine as he trailed kisses down her back.