The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy (#1-3) (36 page)

His face grew serious, and he reached up to touch my hair before cupping my face. “You’ll always be beautiful to me, Peej, no matter what.” I closed my eyes and sank into his hand. To have someone like Bryn love me, despite the utter mess I knew I was—how did I get to be so lucky?

“I love you,” I murmured, opening my eyes to stare up into his beautiful face.

Bryn’s hands moved down my back, and he pulled me closer to him. “I need you,” he stated gruffly, his voice breaking an octave lower than normal. “Now.”

His words ignited a wave of heat inside me that quickly spread throughout my body. I suddenly needed him now, too. But he didn’t make a move. He just stood there looking down at me with enough heat in his eyes that I was almost afraid he would actually burn me. I bit my lip and pressed my body against the length of his, wrapping my arms around his neck. “So . . .” I prodded. When Bryn was in this kind of mood, I knew he liked to take charge, and I didn’t mind at all, but if he didn’t get a move on it soon, I was going to be the one tearing his clothes off.

“I want it—”

“Rough, I know. I’ve told you before, I’m yours—any way you want me.” My voice came out low and sultry, which let him know exactly how okay I was with letting him take me any way he wanted.

Bryn’s eyes glittered with pure male satisfaction, and without anymore preamble, he whirled me around and pushed me against the wall face first. I braced myself with my hands as he pulled down my pants and underwear all in one motion. A shiver ran down my spine as I stood there waiting, fully exposed to him. And then when he slid into me I called out his name and rocked back into him. The things he made me feel—not just physical pleasure, but emotional intimacy—I knew only he could give me. I’d only fully come to understand that after I’d been with Khol, and I wished I could make Bryn fully understand that as well, because if he did, he would never be jealous. It always felt like Bryn was making love to me even when he was being his most brutal.

“You’re mine,” he growled. “Never forget that.”

“Never,” I gasped out as my whole body shook with ecstasy. It was then that he leaned over and bit my neck in the general area of where neck meets shoulder. And I’m not talking about a love bite. I’m saying that he Bit. My. Neck. His teeth sunk in as he snarled his possession of me again upon my skin, and then I felt him find his own release.

When he finally pulled away from me and released my neck, I whirled around and glared at him. “That. Hurt,” I said with annoyance as I brought my hand up to the tender spot on my neck and pulled it back again. It was covered in blood. I stared wide-eyed at the red liquid and then brought my gaze up to Bryn who looked almost . . . surprised. “You drew blood. What the hell, Bryn?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened.” He looked away sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Peej.”

I pulled up my pants and stalked over to the small mirror that was hanging on the wall. I ground my teeth together when I saw the damage he had done. He’d bitten me so hard that I could clearly see where all his teeth had been, marked by bright red oozing out of the little indentations. “This better not scar,” I said as I met his eyes in the reflection of the mirror. He had come to stand behind me, and his gaze then dropped down to his handiwork, a small smile tugging at his full lips. “Hey. That better not be a smile on your face, Mr. O’Bannon.”

It was then he looked back up at me, and a full, patented smile, complete with dimples, spread across his face. “I don’t know why, but”—he reached his forefinger down and lightly touched my wound—“this makes me happy.”

“You can’t be serious,” I ground out, trying to keep my temper under control. Luckily for Bryn, my energy was so low I wouldn’t accidently set him on fire, because I was that pissed at him in that moment.

He bit his lip in a vain attempt at containing his smile, but it only seemed that much brighter when it slipped his grip. “I can’t help it. Something inside of me feels . . . happy that I bit you, and the thought of you scarring, well”—he looked away from me—“that makes me almost ecstatic.”

I gaped at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I wish I was,” he muttered, running his hand through his hair.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go check on Jenna,” I said as I stalked past Bryn towards the door. He didn’t make any move to stop me and didn’t say anything else.
Smart man.

I swung out of our room and stomped down the hall towards Jenna and Macon’s room. At least I hoped I was, I hadn’t exactly memorized the lay of the land yet.
I’m probably going the wrong way
. I was so caught up in thoughts about why the hell Bryn had bitten me, that I almost ran face first into Khol’s chest. “Oh,” I muttered. “Didn’t see you there.” Why the hell was he standing smack dab in the middle of the hallway anyways?
Stupid dragon.

“His behavior is beginning to concern me,” Khol said softly, worry etching his sculpted face.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew exactly what he was talking about. I absentmindedly brought my hand up to touch the wound on my neck from Bryn’s bite.

“I think you know what I’m referring to,” Khol murmured as he brought his hand up to move mine off of my wound. “You should let me disinfect and bandage that. It could scar.”

I frowned. “I think that’s what he wants—for it to scar.” I looked up to study Khol’s face as his eyebrows arched up to practically skim his hairline.

“Did he say that? That he wants it to scar?”

“Yeah, actually he did. He said something inside of him felt
happy
that he had marked me, and that the thought of me scarring from it made him feel almost
ecstatic.”

Understanding passed over Khol’s face before he schooled his features to appear neutral. “Mmm-hmm,” was all he responded with.

“Oh, don’t give me that. I know that you know what’s going on now. I saw it in your face. You’re not the only one good at reading people, Khol.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at him as his lips quirked up slightly at the corners.

“Very well. It seems that his dragon side is struggling with the disappearance of your
Anam Cara
mark. He feels the need to mark you in some way—any way—to satisfy his dragon half. We need to figure out a solution before his dragon side loses control and he does something reckless.”

A knot of worry twisted in my stomach. “Like what? What could he do?”

“Come.” Khol motioned for me to follow him. “We will talk more as I dress your wound.”

I brought my hand up instinctually to cover Bryn’s mark on me. “No!” I exclaimed. “Just leave it alone.” I couldn’t fight back the unexplained panic that rose up in me at the thought of losing Bryn’s mark.

Khol stopped short to study me, and I backed up a few steps while trying to get my breathing under control. “It appears your dragon side is having some issues as well.”

“No, it’s not,” I snapped. I was angry that Bryn had bitten and marked me, wasn’t I? I mean, wasn’t that why I had stormed out of our room to go check on Jenna to begin with?

Khol quirked one auburn eyebrow at me. “You could have fooled me.”

I exhaled loudly and slumped in on myself. I supposed there was no point in trying to deny it. “Fine. Bryn and I are both having some . . . issues. So what do we do about it?”

“I don’t know,” Khol stated flatly.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” My voice began to climb octaves. “You’re like this ancient dragon, so you have to have run across something like this before, right?”

“In actuality, I have never, in fact, run across a situation even remotely resembling your and Bryn’s.”

“What?” I asked incredulously. “How is that even possible?”

“Most half-blooded dragons end up with full-blooded dragons, and that pretty much solves the problem. With the two of you, only time will reveal the solution—if there is one.” Khol turned his face away from me when he said the last part, causing my pulse to speed up.

“Explain,” I squeaked.

“If you had remained bonded with . . . me for instance . . .” Khol paused long enough so I didn’t miss the longing in his eyes. “Then my magic would have been strong enough to sustain the
Anam Cara
marks for the both of us, until and if yours matured enough to be up for the task. As it is now with the two of you, neither one of you has fully matured into your powers, and it appears that outside of my realm, your human magic is more dominant than your dragon. It could take some time for them to balance out. In the meantime, the dragons inside of you are struggling to clarify the
Anam Cara
bond. Out here, it’s as if you haven’t been fully bonded yet. It’s why the marks didn’t appear the first time you were together sexually, but only appeared when in my realm.”

My heart was pounding in my head. “So theoretically, out here, our
Anam Cara
bond is still in danger.”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” I gulped. “That means that some other dragon could still force me to be his dragon mate.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Khol stated firmly as he stepped forward and tipped my chin back so he could look me full in the eyes. “You have chosen, and I won’t let someone take that away from you.”

“Take your hands off of her,” Bryn growled from behind me. “I’ve heard about enough. I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. She has chosen—and she belongs to me.” Bryn seemed to take up more space than he normally did, and as I turned to face him, I swore that his eyes flashed a bright dragon blue. It happened so quickly, I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it.

“Bryn—Khol was just trying to help. He was—”

Bryn bore down on me, and when he was close enough, he swept me up in his arms. “He was trying to help himself to you is what he was trying to do,” he snarled. “He was trying to take away my mark.”

I looked up pleadingly into Bryn’s face as he moved swiftly back towards our room with me in his arms. “Bryn, please.” And that time when his eyes flashed bright dragon blue, I was sure I wasn’t imagining things. I swiveled my head around to peer at Khol over Bryn’s shoulder, and when I turned my pleading eyes towards him, he took a step back and raised his hands as if to say he wasn’t getting involved. I scowled at him, letting him know it was a little too late for that, but he simply shrugged and disappeared.
Typical.
“Bryn, you acting like this is completely unacceptable. I feel like you’re dragging me back to your cave by my hair.” I ground my teeth in anger when he didn’t even dignify me with a response. I smacked at his chest. “Put me down. Now.”

When we made it back to our room, Bryn deposited me gently on our bed and backed away from me slowly. His face was a mixture of anger and torment, making him appear much older than his eighteen years. “I’m sorry. Again.” He spun around and punched the wall with all his might, causing bits of rock to rain down on him. “You just have to stay away from him—at least for now—until we get this figured out.” His shoulders rose and fell as he tried to get his breathing under control. “It’s just everytime I see you with him, I can’t stop myself from losing it, Peej. I want to kill him. No joke—actually rip him limb from limb.”

Much to my shame, I started to cry. Huge racking sobs tore at my body, and I curled into a ball and hugged myself in the middle of the bed. I was trying to be strong—really, I was—but everything was such a mess. Our families had been kidnapped by crazy aliens hellbent on taking over our world, we’d been forced to go into hiding and drop out of school, Bryn was acting like some sort of overly possessive caveman—I didn’t know who I was any more. I was not currently acting like the new tough me that I so desperately wanted to be—and, and I hated my new hair! Things couldn’t get much worse.

Bryn came and scooped up the little ball that was me and held me in his arms as he stroked my hair. “Things will get better, I promise, Peej.” He chuckled dryly. “Because they can’t really get all that much worse.”

“Bryn, we just don’t have time to figure out all of our dragon bullshit right now, not with everything else that’s going on.” I sobbed into his shirt.

“Yeah, I know,” Bryn said reassuringly. “It’ll work out. I swear it will.” And yet the old feeling that I used to get that just because Bryn promised me something, it would come true wasn’t there anymore. I knew he would do everything in his power to keep his promise to me, just like he always had, but somewhere along the line I had begun to doubt him. None of it was his fault—after all, he was human . . . mostly—I just wished I still believed anything was possible just because he said it was. I guess that meant I was growing up.
Growing up sucks.

“Please do not tell me this weak sniveling
child
is the P.J. you chose over me.” A girl’s voice I didn’t recognize asked sharply from the open door of our room.

“Nala?” Bryn said with surprise. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Why the hell do females keep referring to me as a child?
I lifted my tearstained face from Bryn’s shoulder and blinked away the blur from my eyes. I inhaled sharply and wiped at my face self-consciously because in our doorway stood a friggin’ supermodel, or at least someone who looked like one. She was at least my height, if not taller, with the long, lean muscles of an athlete. She wore black leather pants that were molded to her body, and a matching black leather bustier. Her hair hung long, black, and silky halfway down her back, and her eyes were almost the same bright blue as Bryn’s—except they glowed.
Dragon,
I realized belatedly. She was absolutely gorgeous, and if I wasn’t mistaken, Bryn knew her. I turned my face questioningly towards his and saw that surprise was still the dominant emotion displayed on his, so I decided to take the lead, despite my current emotional breakdown.

“And you are?” I sat up and arched my brows at the girl.

She crossed her arms over her—yes, of course—more ample than my own bosom, and gave me a haughty sneer. “I don’t have to answer to you. Bryn knows me.”

I fought back the urge to say something snarky, and I turned back to Bryn instead. “Well?” I said with annoyance. “Care to fill me in on the random dragon girl who seems to know
you
and that
I
don’t know.” He had to have met her when he was away. There was no other explanation. My stomach knotted at the thought. And then her words from when she first appeared came back to me . . . “Bryn?” His name held all of my unspoken questions, and when I saw the look on his face I knew.
I just knew.
“Oh my God.” I stood, and my hand fluttered to my mouth. “I told you—but you didn’t tell me.
How could you not tell me?”