Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Nine

Natalie

I clung to the door, terrified but not willing to show it. Cass was driving like we stole the car—which, technically, we had—and I was just along for the ride. He was grinning this sweet, boyish smile of pure joy, and I didn’t want to interrupt this intimate moment he was having with this car.

After about ten minutes of reaching speeds I didn't even want to know, he looked over at me and frowned like he'd forgotten I was with him. I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin. "You probably don’t want to go that fast."

The butterflies in my stomach disagreed, swirling in the excitement. "It's okay. You were having fun."

"Finn has never let me drive it," he admitted. "I've only known how to drive for a couple of years."

"Well he really didn’t let you drive it this time either," I pointed out.

"Gideon said I could, and he's Alpha, so that’s good enough for me."

"So they’re brothers, but how does it all work? I can tell Gideon is the leader."

"Like I said, Gideon is the Alpha. He leads the pack with his Luna, Eris, and his Beta, Finn. Their youngest brother, Leo, will be the Gamma someday, but he’s at college right now."

He sighed, his lips curling in a sad smile.

"Leo. You miss him?"

Cass shrugged. "If I had a best friend, it would be him."

"So werewolves, I mean wolf shifters, sorry. They go to college?"

"Not often, but he and his mate Enid wanted to go. They deserve to do whatever they want. They saved the world."

I wanted to ask more questions, but something…a delicious new scent invaded my nose.

"Oh my God, do you smell that?" I asked, inhaling deeply.

He sniffed, glancing around. "No. Smell what?"

"I don’t know, I just smell something." I'd worked the perfume counter at a mall in college, and was good at identifying cologne scents. With another inhale, I closed my eyes and said, "It's like citrus and fresh leather…with undertones of clove and amber. Mmm, god. It's so good."

He laughed this silly little giggle, and I glanced over.

"What?"

"Your sense of smell must be improving as the curse wears off."

"Oh. Why? What's that smell?"

His grin broadened and my cheeks flushed.

"It’s you, isn’t it? Is that your cologne?"

"No cologne, that's just me. Me and my natural musk," he said, lifting his brows twice.

"Wow," I said, unsure what else I could possibly say to improve the situation in my favor. The feeling was similar to when you thought someone was waving at you, so you waved back, only to realize they were waving at someone behind you.

Cass

I tried to stop grinning, but it was too funny.

Crux said, 'See, she loves our scent. Just stop the car, and bend her over the hood—'

'My gods! Why are you so horny for this girl?' I interrupted before he could finish.

'I like pretty things,' he said, purring.

Natalie laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. I glanced over. She certainly was a pretty thing, I couldn't argue against that.

"How long is the drive?" she asked.

"About an hour." If I'd opted to fly, it would’ve taken ten minutes. I didn’t think she was ready for that yet. "You can sleep if you want."

I looked over and saw that she was ahead of me, her breathing was already slowing and getting more even. One of those people who can fall asleep instantly and anywhere. I was jealous, as sleep never came easy for me.

Maybe she was just exhausted. I felt bad for locking her in the dungeon last night, but there was no way I could’ve known she wasn’t working for Morga.

My eyes drifted back over, unable to stop. Her face was so familiar to me, and so beautiful. Down her body. The delicate curves of her breasts and stomach. I cleared my throat and looked back at the road. If I crashed this car, Finn certainly would find a way to kill me.

‘Moon Goddess, if this is the path I’m supposed to take, just give me a sign, please,’ I prayed.

I had become incredibly superstitious since the war when the answer to a riddle that we couldn’t solve was placed in my lap by sheer chance. Without the answer, there would’ve been life and death consequences and a much different, much darker outcome. It was divine intervention, and no one would convince me otherwise.

I listened to her soft breathing the rest of the way, entranced by it.

"How’s your head?" I asked, when the jerking of the car woke her as we parked outside the fae city.

She rubbed her eyes. "Better, actually, than it was."

Natalie peered out the front window. "Woah, are those…houses?"

"Yes, most of them. The inner fae city is developing alongside the human world, but out here they like to keep it traditional."

The ancient fae architecture was unique and certainly nothing like what Natalie could’ve ever seen. They used their magic and affinity with nature to live in nature. Multi-level community homes were crafted in enormous trees, hollowed out but still living. Smaller homes were made inside various colored mushrooms that had been made to grow to an extraordinarily large size.

"We’re walking a couple of streets over," I said, and got out to open her door for her.

"Wow, this is incredible," she said, sniffing and smiling.

"Enjoying that new sense of smell?"

"Yes," she admitted without hesitation, inhaling again.

I led her down a side street and then we turned and walked until we intersected the Main Street of the town. There were shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs. It was still a little early for the clubs to be open, but the street bustled as busily as it always did. Fae never stopped the hustle.

Natalie stepped closer to me and grabbed my arm, which I secretly enjoyed. The crowd was all supernaturals, probably unnerving her. There were witches in their black robes selling spells and potions. Others offered divination services like palm reading and tarot. Their dark clothing contrasted with the fae who dressed brightly, even the men. Bright yellows, blues, pinks and oranges swarmed in a sea of people in front of us. The fae were tall and usually slender—but not always. They had bigger eyes than humans and pointed ears, as Natalie had already discovered. They were the most graceful and nimble of all the supernaturals and those that trained as warriors were unmatched in skill.

Not many of them became warriors though because that was serious business. They were fun-loving people who liked to enjoy life. They partied basically all of the time, and the more alcohol and drugs available the better. I liked being around them, they made it easy to forget.

Several sprites, who had recently repaired their relationship with the fae, buzzed around. They were the size of small children and had clear wings, like those of a dragonfly. Crux and I could never hope to move like they did with those wings, so quickly. Each sprite was born with a season and their looks reflected it. Orange for autumn, white for winter, green for spring, and yellow for summer. Their clothes, hair, lips, and eyes were all colored in accordance with the season they were born in.

There were some wolf shifters, as well, although they just looked like regular people.

"This is crazy," Natalie said behind me.

"Nadaria’s shop is this way. It will be okay, just stay close."

She was less frightened than I thought and stubbornly refused to stay close. She let her new nose lead her and insisted on stopping and looking at several things. A dozen times at least, I had to save her from the pushy shopkeepers peddling their wares.

"I said stay close," I scolded, after having to talk our way out of a tarot reading.

"Do you smell that?" she asked, ignoring me. Again.

I inhaled. The sweet scent of baked honey.

"Yes."

"Let's get some. I'll pay you back if you ever return my wallet." She had my hand, pulling me towards the little open cafe where the smell permeated the air.

My heart was thudding hard against my chest wall. She looked exactly like Elizabeth from this angle, and I didn't like where we were headed. I always avoided this place on purpose.

We sat at a little table and a young fae server approached. She looked at me and blushed, and then chose to focus on Natalie instead.

"Hello! Welcome to Good Ol’ Days, all your favorite tastes from the past. Do you know what you want, or would you like a menu?"

"What is that sweet smell?" Natalie asked.

"Oh that’s Zed’s baking. His honey cakes are famous."

"Can we try those?"

"Of course! Two honey cakes."

"Just one is fine," I said.

"And coffee?" Natalie asked, like she wasn't sure they'd have it.

"I’ll have coffee too, please," I told the server. She blushed at the eye contact and then nodded, hurrying away.

"Do you always have that effect on women?" Natalie asked.

"What do you mean?" I said, playing dumb.

"That poor girl couldn’t even look at you, she was so flustered. And pretty much every woman in the dining room at that pack house had eyes for you."

I shrugged, knowing exactly the effect I had on women, but I didn’t like talking about it with Natalie.

"They were coming right out of the oven!" our server said as she laid the fresh honey cake in front of us. "And coffee, cream and sugar."

Natalie said, "Looks great, thank you."

I barely heard her. A memory flooded my mind as I stared at the cake, watching the steam rise.

"Look, Cassian, I’ve found these honey cakes for us," she said, proudly presenting them.

"Stolen them ye mean. Ye can’t keep doing this, Elizabeth, they’ll ‘ave your hand," I scolded her in a whisper.

"They ‘ave to catch me first!" she whispered back with a grin, giggling. Her curls bounced around her face. I wanted to touch them.

"A crazy wench, ye are," I teased, laughing.

"Cassian! None for ye now!" she said, slapping my arm and getting up to leave with the cakes.

"Now don’t be contrary! Elizabeth! Just a bite!"

She ran, giggling, and I chased her…

"Cass? Cass? Are you okay?"

Fingers snapped in my face, and I blinked.

Natalie stared at me. Her curls were around her face, and I wanted to touch them.

I cleared my throat. "Yes, I’m fine, sorry."

Natalie

Cass was being weird. Again. At least the cakes were incredible. Seriously, I wondered if Zed catered to the human world because I would order these for the next company Christmas party in a heartbeat—

Cass offered me his hand. "Dance with me?"

I nearly choked on the last bite of honeycake.

"What? No. Cass, I do not dance. No. No way."

The music was old, which went to the theme of the restaurant. Something from the civil war era. Other people were indeed dancing to it on a small dance floor, and it looked like a waltz, but I really had no idea.

"I can’t dance like that. Why are you standing? Sit down, right now! No. No, no, no, Cass."

He was on his feet and grabbed my hand.

"It’s okay, I'll lead you." His eyes lit up and he added, "I'll teach you."

I was still shaking my head, but he pulled me up.

"I despise you," I hissed as he led me that way.

"See like this, step back, side, forward, side," he said, showing me the steps. "It's fun!"

He put his simmering right hand on my waist and I rested my left hand on his shoulder like everyone else was doing. He grabbed my right hand with his left and smiled. We started the steps he showed me, and I kept saying, "Sorry. Sorry... sorry," because I was kicking his toes.

When I finally started to feel comfortable, he took me off guard and spun me. I laughed, tripping over myself, but he spun me again. He hadn't been lying. He knew what he was doing, and somehow, he made it seem like I did too. I relaxed, letting him lead me, and we flowed around the dance floor.

My cheeks hurt from the broad smile I couldn't shake. I looked up at him only to find him staring down at me, watching me. The icy blue of his eyes was bright, and his dark hair hung forward over his brow. Out of habit, I held eye contact with him, never wanting to be one to shy away. It was a mistake because the world melted around us, and my breath started to shake. I could hear the music and the pounding of my pulse. Spontaneity had never been my cup of tea, but my heart danced with us, a happy little beat.

The song ended and he pushed his arm around my lower back and pulled me closer to him, so my chest pressed against him. The air felt heavy between us, a sense of desire blossoming out of nowhere and taking my breath away. His eyes dropped, staring at my lips, and I blinked.

This man was about to kiss me, and I would probably die if he did. Well, goodbye world, it was a good run.

He reached up to cup my cheek, or so I thought, but he brushed his thumb over the edge of my mouth and said, "You've got a little crumb here."

"What?" I exclaimed, reaching up so hard to wipe it I almost slapped myself. "And you waited that entire time to tell me?"

"It's okay. I wanted to get it for you," he said, chuckling and chewing on his bottom lip. "I just couldn't decide how."

I stared at him, but he added, "Thank you for the dance. We should go. Nadaria's is right down here."