Page 25 of Under the Dragon's Spell
"Give me one reason I shouldn't just walk out," I said.
"Oh, you absolutely should." He took a step toward me and then another, until he was close enough for me to reach out and grab him and kiss him. I didn't do that, but damn if I didn't want to. "But you won't." He shot me a smile as if he knew exactly what was going on in my head. "Because I made you a promise, and you want me to fulfill it."
"When?" I asked.
"Soon."
"I need something better than that."
He regarded me for a moment, and then he closed the last bit of distance between us and kissed me. A surprised sound escaped me, and then I shuddered against him as his tongue swept over my lips, encouraging me to open up. After a second, I did. His kiss was just like him. Forceful, demanding, and yet somehow toeing the line between too little and too much. I wanted more of him. I wanted him to push deeper. But he didn't give me more. Instead he broke away, looked into my eyes, said, "We'll continue this," and then he left the room.
When I got back to my room, someone knocked on my door, only seconds after I'd entered. I sighed, but said: "Come in."
I'd feared it might be Tyrel or his mother or someone equally unwelcome at this moment. But it turned out to be Michael.
"Oh," I greeted him. "It's you."
"Yeah." He scratched his neck as he closed the door behind himself. "Who were you expecting to see?"
I shook my head. "Never mind."
His expression grew serious. "I was just wondering if you were in trouble or something. With Will just leaving this morning and Tyrel catching up with you in the hallway…"
I smiled at him. Michael genuinely was a good soul. With anyone else, I might have suspected they would be happy to see me go and see the competition shrink, but not the boy who loved fairy tales. "Don't worry," I told him. "I'm alright. Although I'm afraid Tyrel's mother really doesn't like me."
"She did give you the last date spot."
"Yeah." I stroked my hand through my hair. The thought of having to watch the man I wanted go on all these dates with all these men really didn't sit well with me. He'd said he wanted me, he'd made me a promise, but he'd never said he didn't want all these other guys. I had peculiar powers, yeah, but would that be enough to keep him attracted to me when he had a taste of all the others first? "It's your turn tonight, isn't it?"
"Yes, we're going out for dinner."
I tried to keep my smile up. Tyrel couldn't easily manipulate me, but he could get Michael to do whatever he wanted. Would he?
"Are you nervous?" I asked.
"Maybe a little. I don't know. I feel like I should be more nervous than I am, but it's like…"
"Like what?"
Michael shook his head. "I get this feeling like he's already made up his mind anyway, and we're just going through the motions to please his mother now. Like this is all a big farce."
He might not be too far off there. "We don't know that. You still have a chance."
"He was in your room last night, wasn't he?"
Shit. I was pretty sure no one was supposed to know that. Tyrel had said he wasn't allowed in here, but now Paul and Tyrel's motherandMichael knew. He must have heard.
"The walls aren't that thick," he said, confirming my suspicions.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"I don't know. I feel like I'm not playing fair." I sat on my bed and rested my head in my hands, breathing in deeply.
"Don't worry. It was always clear that he'd only pick one of us in the end."
"Yeah, I know that, but…" It still felt somewhat unfair that I was being given an advantage because I'd been born with a natural resistance to powers I hadn't even known existed until a few days ago. It wasn't anything I'd done.
