Wyvern’s Gold (The Ruins Of Men Book 1)

Chapter 51

Fifty-One

Rymar

A bout halfway through my day, Kanik slipped into the cafe and claimed a space at my bar. I hadn't expected to see him today, though. The last I'd heard, he was going to help Ayla take her first dose of venom.

"Please tell me you didn't leave her home alone?" I asked as I dropped his favorite sandwich in front of him.

He shook his head. "Nah. Zasen convinced Lessa to come measure her for some clothes."

"Lessa?" I asked, a little surprised.

Kanik just nodded his head slowly, took a bite of his sandwich, and then talked around it. "I figured that was my chance for a little break, you know? I mean, I've been the one who keeps getting stuck watching over her."

Yeah, something was off about that.

"And you just left her there with Lessa?" I asked.

"Zasen's there too," he assured me. "Besides, Ayla doesn't really want me around right now."

And now alarm bells were going off. "Kanik, what's going on?"

He groaned. "Ry, I think I screwed up this morning."

"Mhm..." I tugged the plate for his sandwich away, making him pause. "What happened? The whole story, Kanik."

He grabbed the plate and pulled it back. "You know those flowers you got her? Well, I noticed they were almost dried up in the vase, so I picked some wildflowers out back, right? I mean, since she was sleeping in and all."

"Making your move?" I teased.

He huffed at that - but didn't say I was wrong. "Yeah, so when I tried to give them to her, she got defensive. More like tense, I guess? Shy, mostly. Well, I made up her first dose of venom, then was talking to her, and I reached up to push those baby hairs away from her face."

"Mhm..." I was dying to see where this was going.

"And she made it very clear that was improper ," he grumbled.

Okay, that hadn't been what I'd expected. A slap, sure. After all, she'd cracked Zasen good when he'd been too personal. But "improper?" Surely Ayla knew better than that by now!

"So she rejected you?" I asked.

"I wasn't even - " He paused. "Yeah, I guess so. After that, I tried to get her to sit and read with me, but she said she needed to clean the house. I told her I could help, but she said I should read, and then she sorta made sure she was always in whatever room I wasn't in."

"Like she was avoiding you, or like she was trying to be her helpful little self?"

He just shrugged, letting his shoulders bounce too hard.

I reached across the bar to rub his arm sympathetically. "Kanik, she doesn't know what's going on. Give her time."

"Yeah, but I wasn't trying to be an asshole," he explained. "I was just worried about her, because I've heard taking venom the first time isn't easy."

"How'd she do, anyway?" I asked.

That made him glance up at me. "She drank the whole thing. Just chugged it down like we used to with beers as kids. It was so fast, I was still in the other room changing out the flowers."

Okay, I was struggling a bit to keep up. "So you still gave her the flowers?"

He nodded. "She needs pretty things in the house, Rymar. Girly things. I thought that's why you'd bought her the cone flowers?"

"No, I bought those because you and Zasen said she'd been looking at flowers when Adoet jumped her. Ayla was worried she wasn't allowed to be around flowers. So I made sure she knew the flowers weren't the problem. The man was."

"Ah..." He took another bite of his lunch. "Well, she seems to like them, and she asked if they just grew like that."

"Like what?"

"Like flowers?" he guessed. "I honestly don't know. But then she made a comment about our venom being poison, and she sounded a little worried, so I just wanted to comfort her."

"And you pushed her hair back," I said, showing I was now keeping up.

He nodded. "But she did not like it. She didn't relax the way I'd hoped. In fact, she got tense and had that scared look again! But fuck. I'm not about to force myself on some woman who doesn't want me!"

I murmured, accepting that. "I think it's more true to say Ayla doesn't know what she wants yet. She likes spending time with you, though."

"As a friend."

"And friendship is a good place to start with a woman who's been through what she has," I countered. "She also lets you touch her all the time. Zasen doesn't do that. He's always hands-off with her. I'm pretty sure she'd flinch if I tried."

"Are you, though?" he asked. "Trying, I mean?"

I turned to pull up a pair of beers so I wouldn't have to answer. My two closest friends were both into the same girl. Oh, they'd deny it if I asked directly, but I'd seen the way they looked at her. Softly. For a little too long. With half smiles on their lips.

They simply forgot one thing: Ayla needed to be her own woman before she could become anything else. Even a Dragon. That girl had been crushed under too many heels, beaten into submission, and locked into a role that certainly did not fit her.

Clothes would be a good place to start with helping her find her independence. Never mind that Zasen had been adamant he'd handle it. And now, Kanik was saying Zasen had asked Lessa to design things for her?

Well, that was definitely going above and beyond. It was also a fucking stupid move, in my opinion. Sure, the woman might be the best seamstress in Lorsa, but she came with baggage. Our baggage. The kind we'd built up between us when we were all young and dumb.

But if a man wanted to impress a woman, Lessa was the seamstress to call. Everyone knew that - except Ayla. All she'd see were things to wear. The girl wasn't obsessed with items like most people, because she'd never had them. No, what Ayla wanted was information.

"You know..." I said as I passed Kanik a beer and set another where I could reach it easily. "Maybe you should explain to Ayla that touching her isn't sexual?"

"Kinda did," he admitted. "I mean, after she drank the venom, she got short of breath and all but collapsed in the kitchen. I held her, petting her hair and everything before I remembered I was probably making it worse. But when she finally got her breath back, she relaxed into me. So, I explained that people touch. Well, Dragons do." He chuckled once. "You know, ever since the Moles attacked, that's been a phrase that makes her try harder, I think."

"Because she doesn't want to be a Mole," I explained. "She hated them before, but after seeing what they're doing? That woman wants nothing to do with them. She wants to prove herself. I think she also really wants to fit in." I flicked a finger at him. "Which is where you come in."

"Me?" he asked.

"You," I agreed. "See, she probably feels a little lost right now. She isn't sure what's expected of her, but she trusts you. So, if you keep explaining things to her, and backing off when she asks, but also not leaving her because of it? Kanik, be her damned friend, okay? Give her someone to lean on - you - and she'll - "

A pair of hands slammed down onto the counter beside us, cutting me off. We both jumped, but the sandy color of the woman's scaled skin allowed me to identify Lessa before my eyes even found her face. Kanik just groaned and reached for a couple of paper napkins to clean up where his beer had sloshed. I wasn't quite as forgiving.

"Done measuring Ayla?" I asked snidely.

"Duh," she shot back. "And then I came straight here, because you owe me some fucking answers, Rymar."

"About what?" I demanded.

"What the hell is Zasen doing with that Mole girl?" she snapped.

"He's getting her measured for clothes," Kanik replied. "Pretty sure you were there when he said that." A smirk was toying at his lips.

I just shot him a warning look, because taunting Lessa would do neither of us any favors. "Ayla has three good dresses and a fourth that's in tatters."

"But why him !" she hissed, flailing an arm in Kanik's direction. "Why not you, Kanik? How is Zasen wrapped up with the enemy?"

Using both hands, I patted the air, trying to calm her down. "Because that enemy is being very helpful to us," I assured her. "She escaped those men because she hates them exactly as much as you do."

"No one hates them as much as I do. And she's living in your house !" Lessa almost screamed. "In his room!"

Which was when I realized the problem. It wasn't Ayla. Not exactly. It was that the girl wasn't hideous and Zasen had taken an interest in her. He'd let her get close - literally, in this case - which was something Lessa had been trying to do for years now.

"Okay," I said, deciding to just get this out in the open, "so are you more worried that he's spending time with a Mole, or that he isn't spending it with you?"

The look Lessa gave me would've terrified a lesser man. Okay, in truth, it scared me a little too. But Kanik had his face turned down to his beer and was struggling not to smile. No, maybe he wasn't helping me out with this, but Lessa wasn't his problem.

She'd been friends with Zasen and me growing up. We were the ones who'd spent time in her bed. Kanik? He'd been a year younger than us in school, and while he may have known who Lessa was, the pair of them had never meshed well. So I didn't blame him for leaving this for me to deal with, but I also wouldn't have complained if he'd jumped in to help.

"Well?" I pressed, overly aware that she hadn't answered my question.

Lessa finally pulled up one of the chairs at the bar, then dropped into it. "You know how many times I've tried to give Zasen a token?" she asked. "I never even asked for one in return. I just wanted him to wear mine, at least for a little bit. I wanted him to figure out that I saw him as more than some kind of casual fuck. And now this? He moves a Mole woman into his room?!"

"A room he's not using at the moment," I assured her. "Lately, Zasen's either been sleeping on the couch or the floor upstairs."

But Kanik couldn't leave well enough alone. "I didn't think that was the kind of relationship you and Zasen had. Last I heard, you were the one who wanted to keep things casual."

Lessa grumbled and rolled her eyes. "It could have been the kind of relationship we had."

"Really?" I asked her. "Was that before or after you seduced me? Then him, then me, then Tasult, then him, then a few other guys, and then him and me again."

The glare she gave me was almost worse than her screaming. Normally, this woman wasn't the overly dramatic type. Sure, she had no problem speaking her mind, but that was true for most Dragons. Typically, though, Lessa was smart, sensible, and professional - until it came to Zasen.

"But why did it have to be a Mole?" she asked. "You know, I was honestly okay with him turning me down. We've been friends for so long, and while I think we would make a great couple, we all know Zasen can be a little stubborn. I figured I could get my screwing around done before I hit thirty, then worry about settling down. He all but said the same."

"Pretty sure that hasn't changed," I told her.

"But now he's moved a Mole woman in?" she hissed. "A fucking Mole. You know that asshole just offered to pay me double if I'd even come measure her? Oh, and I'm making him pay too. If he thinks he can lead me on - "

"He hasn't led you on," I assured her. "Not any more than I have."

She huffed and waved that away. "You'll screw anyone, Rymar. Pretty sure where you stand on things."

"Oh, but because Zasen doesn't fuck everything that walks, you're worried about him buying clothes for a girl?" Kanik asked.

I wanted to bang my head on the counter. The man had to be intentionally taunting her. "Kanik..." I begged.

He lifted his hands in surrender, but Lessa was already on her next tirade. "Zasen has always been so obsessed with defeating the Moles that he sometimes forgets to live. His entire purpose in life is destroying them. That's why I don't understand any of this. Besides, he knows how I feel about those shits!"

"Lessa, he's just buying clothes for her," I pointed out. "You know, so she won't need to run around the house naked."

And those words made her growl in the back of her throat. "No, killing us isn't enough. Now they're sending their women up here to seduce our men away? I'll fucking kill her first!"

"No," I said, catching her chin in my hands, "you will not. Calm the fuck down, pull your head out of your ass, and we can talk about this. But that girl is my friend. She's under my protection, Lessa - and Kanik's, and Zasen's. You're just jealous, and this is not a good look for you."