Dragon Soul

Chapter 14

14

I pushed the glass in Porter's direction. "More!" I demanded.

"Is that really a good idea?" he slurred, swaying from side to side.

Oh wait. That was me.

"Yes, and you have one."

He smiled before pouring another couple of drinks for us. The bottle was now disappointingly empty. I wasn't sure what I'd do when the alcohol ran out. We were having so much fun.

I took my now full drink and swigged a bit down, forgetting all about being nervous and ladylike around him. He should have thought of that before he let me have more drinks. Then again, he seemed to be heading towards drunk just as fast as I was.

Sucker.

"Do you remember when we went up against that giant spider?!"

"And it tried to steal your hat?" I teased, though I knew I had the right mission. It hadn't been an easy one and the loot for completing it had been annoyingly small so we hadn't repeated it.

"That was a nice hat."

"It had a ridiculous red feather in. But you refused to take it out."

"It added a defence point. I wasn't going to get rid of it when I had nothing to change it for."

"It looked so silly. You're an Earth Dragon, not a Fire one." The words were out of my mouth before I'd even thought about it, reminding us both of what we were and the duty we had to do.

Porter's eyes widened but he reached for his drink, taking a deep sip. Not a bad idea. I did the same.

"Do you mind?" he asked softly.

"Mind what?"

"Being an Earth Dragon?"

"I wouldn't know any different," I answered honestly. "I've never been anything other than an Earth Dragon, so I can't tell you if I mind it."

"What about the..."

I c****d my head to the side, waiting for him to finish what he was asking, though I already had a good idea of what that was going to be.

Porter shook his head. "Sorry, just a stray thought." He flashed me a smile that would have any woman on her knees.

Or at least, it made mine weak. I didn't think he'd appeal to a lot of women. Men like Hector were more likely to be a universal type. There was something about him that screamed manly...and chased me away.

"You never told me if you had any siblings." His change of subject was deeply appreciated on my end.

"Nope, I'm an only child."

"And your parents make the most of that?"

I laughed bitterly. "If by that you mean they smother and control me, then yes."

"I get that too. Ever since my brother died. What's the weirdest thing they've made you do?"

"You mean other than force me to eat disgusting vegetable medleys and stews every day?" I felt the smile stretch across my lips.

"Yes. Apart from that."

"Hmm...that would be a toss up between making me dress up as Spyro for Halloween one year and actually locked me in a tower when I got a bad grade at school. Only for a couple of days."

Porter tried to keep a straight face but I could see him struggling and he eventually gave in to bouts of laughter. I cracked a smile myself at the sight and my heart welled up to several times its original size. He was so cute when he laughed. The sound was doing funny things to me. I wanted to hear it more. I wanted to hear it every day, preferably for the rest of my life.

"Where did they even get a tower?" he managed eventually.

"Dad built one for a family a couple of houses over from ours. They had two daughters. He asked them if he could borrow it and stuck me up there and took away the ladder."

"Why didn't you just fly away?" The laughter was still evident in his voice but there was an edge to it that let me know he was semi-serious.

"The opening in the tower wasn't big enough to fit me through and I didn't want the neighbours to find out about my grade."

"Would it really have been that bad if they had?" He sounded genuinely confused and I found myself wondering about what his commune was like. Not for the first time either.

"In our commune, yes it would. Mum would have been devastated. Everything is about appearances for her. She wants it to look like she has the best performing child. To her, it doesn't matter so much what I do in private so long as it never becomes public knowledge."

"You mean like meeting strange dragons in random bars?" There was a twinkle in his eye that couldn't be denied.

"Oh, exactly like this. If she knew I was here, she'd come barging through the door and drag me off home." I shuddered at the thought, half tempted to check my phone. I was sure I'd have a bunch of texts asking where I was already. Probably a missed call or two as well. I'd be subjected to a blazing row when I got home, there was no doubt about it.

I looked into Porter's eyes. Every moment of that argument would be worth it.

"Does that make me your dirty little secret, JJ?" he asked, winking suggestively.

"Would you like to be?" I whispered, my voice raspy.

Damn. Why had I said that? I wasn't that kind of dragon.

And yet, Porter's eyes flicked back to my lips. Maybe it had been the right thing to say. He looked like he wanted to kiss me and surely it was better to have my first kiss with someone I wanted to kiss rather than someone I was forced to?

"I'm going to go get us another bottle," I blurted, grabbing the almost empty bottle of creme de menthe and pouring the dregs into our glasses.

Porter tried to say something but I wasn't about to let him and skipped off back to the bar.

"Can we get another one please, Zara?" I asked the Water Dragon.

"Where did you get this?" She frowned as she studied the bottle in front of me.

"Hector gave it to me," I answered, the heat rising to my cheeks. Why did it matter where we got the bottle from?

"And the two of you drank the whole lot?" Her eyes widened.

"Yep and now we need more." I beamed at her.

"Excuse me just one moment."

I frowned, unsure what she was going to do, other than not give me more crème de menthe. Zara stormed to the end of the bar and slipped out of it. She approached Hector who was talking to an odd pale woman in the corner of the bar.

Without even warning him, she swung her hand around and clipped him on the ear.

"Ouch," I muttered in sympathy.

Hector turned to her and said something I couldn't hear. Zara shrugged and pointed over towards me. Oops. It appeared I'd gotten Hector into trouble. I started to giggle. The last thing I'd expected was for little old boring Janet Jane to get the owner of a bar into trouble.

Maybe Realms&Rebels was having a bad influence on me after all.

I glanced at the blonde man waiting for me at our booth. He was slumped down with his head on the table, his eyes slanted from the alcohol. On my other side, Zara was arguing with the owner and from the looks of it, she was winning.

I was so drunk, I couldn’t even read time anymore or figure out which bus I had to take home.

Yes, Realms&Rebels was definitely influencing me to become a rebel of my own. And I liked it.

I also wanted to drink more. The bottle of crème de menthe was right there. I could just reach over the bar and grab it. But was that stealing? Not if I left money for it, right?

I slammed a twenty down and reached for the neck of the bottle. The glass was cool in my hand as I carried my bounty back to Porter.

“I got more!” I swung the minty drink around and filled our glasses again. “Shhhh, don’t tell Zara.”

“My lips are sealed.” Porter locked his mouth and threw his imaginary key at me.

“How are you going to drink now?” I giggled and reached over the table. I briefly brushed my fingers over his lips before unlocking them. “Now you can drink!”

I refilled his empty glass before it hit the table and threw my own back. The liquid was cold and tingly down my throat and I wondered if I kissed Porter, I’d be able to taste the mint on his lips.

No, bad JJ. I shouldn’t be thinking about kissing him. That was wrong. I wasn’t entirely sure why again, but it was wrong. Or was it? What harm was just one kiss?

I shook the dangerous thoughts out of my head and reached over to my friend again. I brushed my hand over his stubble and grinned. “Click.” I used my pretend key and locked his lips again. If his mouth was closed, I couldn’t kiss him.

Hah. I was so smart.

Porter sniggered, his laugh rumbling through me. “What are you doing?”

“Shhhh, you can’t talk. I locked your lips.”

“Hmm hmm hmmmmm hmm?” he mumbled, his eyes shimmering with joy and mischief.

Zara’s voice trumpeted through the room. “Hey! Did you take another bottle?”

“Quick, hide!” I chortled, jumping off my chair and crawling under the table. Some of the floor’s wood smell hit my nose and made me want to drink even more. I reached up to let my hand wander over the table in search of my drink.

Porter shimmied down, his legs not fitting under the small table. “Why are we hiding?”

“Zara doesn’t want us to drink more.” I pressed his glass in his hands and filled it back up with the green liquid.

“Why not? Drinking is fun,” Porter pouted.

“I know. I should do it more often”, I admitted. My parents didn’t believe in alcohol and while I had a couple of tastes in my teenage years, I’d never be this drunk. I liked it. It silenced Mum’s voice in my head and let me have some real fun.

“I’m too big.”

“No, the table is too small to fit us both.”

“Here, come closer.” Porter’s arm wrapped around my waist and his hand landed on my hip.

My breath froze.

Hesitantly, I leant closer into him and inhaled the smell of summer and earth. The skin under his hand tingled and brought goosebumps to me. There was both comfort and excitement to him, even though I knew those were opposites.

“Another?” I clinked the bottle against his glass in a way to break the tension.

“No, I’m good.” Porter’s breath brushed over my skin and I smelled the mint. “JJ…”

Panic coursed through me. Whatever he was going to say, it sounded like something I shouldn’t hear. Not unless I was going to do something incredibly stupid.

I pressed my hand over his mouth, stealing the rest of his sentence. I couldn’t let him finish.

Despite the darkness under the table, Porter’s eyes shimmered as they stared into mine. His breath hot on my palm, his hand comfortable on my waist. He fit me and I fit him. Why was this wrong again?

Porter wrapped his fingers around my wrist and moved my hand down. “JJ—”

His voice brought shivers down my spine and breathed temptation into me. I studied him tentatively, his jawline, the stubble, the deep eyes. If only...

I brushed my fingers along his lips, an unspoken wish.

No, I couldn’t.

“Click.” I used my pretend key to lock his mouth. Nothing could happen between us. Not with my marriage right around the corner. I wasn’t strong enough for the heartbreak.

Porter kept staring at me, silently. Breathlessly. His eyes captivated mine as he pulled me closer into him. His fingers curled into my waist, his grip on me strong and safe.

Damn it.

I brought my hand to his face again. His stubble tickled my fingertips and I followed the curl of his smile. “Click.”

Drawn together like magnets, Porter inched closer to me. His forehead against mine, his smile reassuring and encouraging.

Encouraged by the mint, I closed the slight gap and captured his lips in my first real kiss. Fireworks exploded in my stomach as I melted into him. He pulled me closer, impossibly closer and I let him. I wanted it.

As if I’d always known, as if I always knew how, I kissed Porter with everything I had. A kiss I should’ve reserved for someone else, a desire I should’ve saved for my future husband. But right here, right in this moment, Porter was everything and anything I wanted. In this moment, I loved him more than I could ever love my promised husband.

Right now, Porter was my everything.