Page 18 of The Dragon's Gambit
Reiya made a bold decision and leaned in, kissing him on the cheek. She watched his eyes flicker again toward her. She couldn’t tell what it meant, but she felt incredibly excited. She had trudged into unknown territory. “Thank you. I know I wouldn’t have been able to sleep without you.” She suddenly felt a bit shy. She glanced at him from beneath her lashes and bit her bottom lip, watching him staring at her. He reached up and gently stroked her cheek, all the while gazing at her intensely. Reiya felt the evil heat rise to her cheeks again as she began to lose herself in his gaze. She felt weak. She wanted him. She wanted his attention and affection. She wanted him to hold her in his embrace every night. Unconsciously, she licked her lips, her body giving him an invitation, if he chose to accept it.
“Reiya, how about breakfast …” Xander opened the door and then locked his eyes onto Lee. He took in his position and stared at him, waiting for a response. “You want to tell me what went on here last night? Maybe I should have placed you in my room for safekeeping.” Xander heard Lee snarl at him as he pulled away from Reiya, standing up from the bed.
“He stayed with me to help me sleep,” Reiya said calmly as she eased herself out of bed. The calmness was a ruse, because her heart was drumming loudly. She could feel the tension between the two men. They clearly still hadn’t worked out their issues from yesterday. “I think it’s best, if we’re all going to be around each other, that you two lose the tension. I mean, it’s pretty thick, and you two are supposed to be like brothers, right?” Reiya walked up and put her hand on Lee’s arm. Xander laughed, and Lee soon joined him. “Reiya, you are too cute. This isn’t tension between us. This is normal. This is just what it feels like being near powerful dragons. The fact is, we’re both leaders. Neither one of us does well with being told what to do. Lee and I may have some things to work out, but trust me, everything is good between us.”
Lee patted Reiya on the head playfully and grinned down at her. She sighed and looked at the two men. They were both enjoying her naïvety when it came to them, which reminded her of something. “Does everyone here know who you are?” She looked up at Lee curiously.
“Yes, everyone here knows who I am.” He smiled down at her. He thought her curiosity was adorable. “They tend to give me a wide berth out of reverence. No one wants to anger a deity, you know? Except for Xander here, and the Sage. Those two have no problems poking at me with a stick.” Lee looked over at Xander with some minor annoyance.
“Am I going to be a problem for you two?” Reiya paused, looking at the two of them, who didn’t understand what shewas asking. “It’s just that I noticed yesterday, I got a lot of … interesting looks being around Xander. Will it be a problem to be close to you two?”
Lee snorted in irritation while Xander nodded his head, chuckling. “Probably. I’m sure there’ll be many who are jealous and confused about it. However, Levi and I have never cared to follow along with the rest of the dragons and their pretentious code. The risks will be readily known by all. If anyone dares touch you, they will be risking death. Levi isn’t a very forgiving deity as it is, let alone when it comes to the girl he gifted as his summon. And then, as for me …” Xander looked at Reiya intently. “Well, no one touches what’s important to me without consequences.”
Reiya giggled. “How am I important to you? We just met.”
Xander glanced up at Lee before returning her gaze. “I think you can already feel that we’re connected, right?” Xander winked at her with a crooked smile on his face.
Reiya knew what he was talking about. She felt like she’d known Xander forever and that they were close. It was like being with Brody. He was familiar. She didn’t know what it meant, though. Was he really serious before, when he alluded to the possibility that he might be her mate? She was sure he was joking then. She couldn’t help but feel confused about this. After all, dragons didn’t intermix, so how would that work? Then there was Lee. What about how she felt about him? She was connected to him also, but she always thought that was because he was her summon. She didn’t have her wolf screaming who her mate was. She hated being the last one to know things, and by the look of it, she was, yet again.
“You … you both know something that I don’t, don’t you?” Reiya looked at Lee, her sapphire eyes gazing at him with confusion. She felt his strong hand on her head, and he bent down, resting his forehead onto hers.
“Nothing you need to be concerned about, Reiya. You just continue being you.”
He was right. She tended to overthink things at times. Whatever it was that they knew, it was probably nothing. She was going to just continue to be herself and just wait and see. It was okay to be attracted to others. This didn’t mean they were your mate. How many girlfriends had Hunter had? Not one of them was his mate—well, that she knew of. He hadn’t found his mate yet, either.
A loud roar rippled down the hall.That would be Brody.Reiya quickly dashed past Xander and out the door. The last thing she needed was to break up a fight between him and a dragon. She saw him standing in the distance, blocked by a couple of guards. There was also a man dressed in purple who was sneering at him.
“Brody!” Reiya ran past the guards and into him. He wrapped his big arms around her and pulled her into his embrace.
“Reiya! Are you okay?” Brody asked, and she nodded quickly. He sighed, instantly feeling better. He felt anxious being away from her. He could live in the dragon kingdom or wherever, as long as he was with her. He pulled away from her and looked her over. He raised an eye at her and frowned. “Reiya, you have another’s scent on you … and it’s strong.”
“That’d be me.” Xander walked up and dismissed the guards. “Don’t worry, I went easy on her.”
Brody narrowed his eyes at Xander. He knew that the clothes smelled of him, but that wasn’t the only scent coming from her. His eyes flicked to Levi as he approached. Before he could say anything, a voice came from behind Brody.
“Where do you want all these bags?” one of the dragon guards asked, looking at Xander.
“Wow! How did you carry all of those here on one hippogryph?” Reiya asked, looking at everything.
“Two others came here with me so that we could drop everything off.” Brody walked back to grab a couple of bags. He would be speaking with Levi later.
“I’ll show you where we’ll put the teddy bear. He’ll be in the next room over. I’m debating on whether I should just save time and put the princess’ stuff in my room now …” Xander smirked as he listened to the two men growl in disapproval.
“Aww, you’re giving me your room? How sweet,” Reiya teased back as she scrunched up her nose at him.
Xander chuckled and swung his arm around her shoulder. “I already told you. You’re welcome to share my room with me whenever you want. Come along, let’s get these things to where they belong.”
“Yes, and then I need to take another shower. No offense, but I have some of your scent on me and I prefer my own. Plus, we wouldn’t want people to start gossiping already,” Reiya teased. She was enjoying this playful banter with Xander.
“Actually, that’s what I was going for. I don’t need any other dragon fancying you. We need to get you branded so that they know you’re off limits.” Xander tugged her along, back down the long hallway.
“Branded?” Reiya raised her eyes up to him questionably.
“Yes, branded … a mating mark is how werewolves define it.” Xander smirked at her while she popped her shoulder into his chest playfully.
“Well, then, just point me in the direction of the single dragons so I can choose one.” Reiya turned and looked back as Brody growled.
“This is not the type of conversation I want to listen to. I’ve done well to keep the wolves away from her, and I’ll continue to do it with the dragons. I don’t want no slime balls messing around with my sister,” Brody grunted out as he hauled the luggage into her room.
