Chapter Thirty-One
Levi
T wo days passed.
Two perfect, beautiful days that Sarah, Jakub, and I shared as a family. Bonding and growing, learning how to coexist as a unit of three. I loved every second of it. Being a father didn’t come naturally, but I found I loved the challenge. I loved expanding my mind, forcing it to think in different ways to answer the demands a four-year-old had of it.
Now, as I watched Sarah put Jakub to bed, whispering in his ear as he giggled, I took a moment to mourn everything I’d lost, through my own neglect and assumption that things between Sarah and I had been nothing but physical all those years ago and not something more. Something deeper. My dragon rumbled contentedly in my mind as it always did when either of them occupied my deeper thoughts. The only thing it wanted now was more. More Sarah. More Jakub. More kids.
I tried to imagine what she would look like as her belly grew full and her body prepared to nourish the life within. My shorts grew tighter at the image. There had been no more real talk of a second child, and I didn’t push it. They were still settling into their new life in their new home. It wasn’t like moving to the next town over. It was something wildly different. They needed time to adjust to their new life before we began properly expanding it.
A cool breeze wafted down the hallway. Not much, a hint of fresh air, nothing more. But it was enough.
Easing off the doorjamb, I ghosted down the hallway, silent as death. Somewhere in the condo, a window or door had been opened, letting new air inside. Nobody was calling out or announcing themselves.
Why not?
A prickly sensation worked its way down my spine one vertebra at a time.
Nothing was out of place in the common area. There were no figures waiting to rush down the hallway. My brain was filling me with all sorts of doomsday scenarios.
The sovereign had discovered our plans and sent a team to arrest me. Or worse, kill me.
The loyalists had infiltrated our ranks and done much the same.
Any number of other terrible situations presented themselves.
What eventually presented itself before me was not any of that. As I scoured the condo for intruders, a fresh waft of air drifted past. I immediately spun, facing the door to the roof.
“Hello, Levi,” a throaty voice purred followed by one long, bare leg stepping through the entry, bringing with it a tall, scantily clad blonde. She stepped into the condo, a picture of grace and sensuality, somehow managing to drape herself across the structural features of my condo while looking fantastic.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as Lydia approached. She wore lingerie as red as my scales.
I doubted it was a coincidence.
“I’m here to show you what awaits you,” she breathed, not slowing as she entered my personal space.
Stiffening, I tried to back up, but my shoulders hit a wall. She had me pinned.
“What are you talking about?” I tried to sound dismissive, uncaring.
But it was hard with a nearly six-foot seductress intent on keeping me where I was, using all her assets to take control by more basic and instinctual means. So, I failed in my attempt, and from the glitter of success in her heavily painted eyes, she knew it.
“All these years,” she purred. “You’ve been such a good boy. Waiting, keeping your distance. But you won’t have to do that any longer.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
“Do this, and I can be yours,” she whispered, bringing one knee up to the wall next to me and breathing the words into my ear. “All of me. Every. Single. Inch. Yours .”
A much younger Levi cried out in excitement at the chance to live out his fantasy. Something I’d at one time wanted more than anything else.
Yet, at that moment, a mask was lifted. Not from my eyes, but from Lydia. I truly saw her for the first time. What she had become.
Using her body to try to get me to join the palace assault when she knew I’d taken a human woman? It wasn’t all that outlandish. Many dragons would think of Sarah as little more than a concubine, a pleasure toy I kept around until she wore out her fun.
Lydia knew better, but that wasn’t the true ugliness that twisted around her, manifesting right in front of me.
She knew how much her choice had hurt me when we were younger. How hard I’d worked to be able to stay friends with Malakai. It hadn’t been easy. There were weeks, months even, when being around the pair had caused physical pain. Debilitating, at times, because of the sudden and shocking decision she’d made seemingly out of nowhere.
Now, she came to my house in the middle of the night dressed like that and tried to offer me something she’d taken away? Dangling it over my head like a carrot. A trap that had no exit. I knew if I even thought about taking a bite, I would never be the same again.
“I’m not going,” I said.
I’d like to pretend it was easy, that I’d simply kicked one ankle out from under her and dropped her to the floor before tossing her out a window. But I didn’t. Too much of my past was caught up with the woman, and my limbs remained locked up and unresponsive.
The disgust within me grew, however, with every word she said.
“I’m right here,” she purred. “Look at me. I’m ready to be all yours, Levi. Your Lydia, just like you always dreamed. Don’t you want me?”
I snorted. “That ship sailed a long time ago.” I almost asked her where Malakai was and if he knew what she was up to.
The question died before it formed as yet another painful conclusion hammered its way into my skull.
He knows she’s here. He knows. Which means all this is planned. Purposeful.
They were using me. My best friend had sent his mate to use her body to seduce me into following through with his plan and abandoning everything I had here.
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Lydia murmured, pressing her body against me. “I can feel your heart hammering in your chest. Your cock in your pants. It’s right there. Use it , Levi. Take me as I am and make me yours. Mmmmm.”
My interest retreated further at the false moan.
“Laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?” I replied.
“I like it thick.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, now, it’s just becoming comical. Lydia. It’s not happening .”
“Are you sure?” she pushed, leaning in and running her tongue along the edge of my ear.
“Positive,” I growled.
“It’s okay. Take your time. Think about it. Think about me ,” she said, pressing her lips to my cheek, leaving them there for an extra second. “I’ll be here for you. Whenever you want to come and take me.”
Her hand dipped between us, heading for my cock.
Something in me snapped as she blew past a line. My fingers closed around her wrist, and I lifted her hand off me, using it as leverage to push her away.
“No,” I said firmly. “Understood?”
Lydia looked ready to respond, but movement from the hallway caught her attention.
“Dad?”
My stomach turned to ice, sharp icicles digging deep in horror as we both turned to see Jakub standing in the hallway, empty water glass in hand.
A second later, Sarah was there. Her eyes flared white at the sight of Lydia so close to me with so little clothing on.
“Oh, my goodness ,” Lydia exclaimed softly with false care. “And who is this little cutie?”
She took a step toward Jakub, who retreated toward his mom.
“Lydia,” I said sharply.
Her head whipped around as a wicked grin meant only for me took shape across her features. A smile that was anything but polite and kind, it was full of promised maliciousness and evil.
The truest look at the woman I’d gotten yet. A vile snake wrapped in an attractive outer layer.
“Get out of my house,” I hissed at her. “And don’t ever come back.”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” she pouted, pursing her lips together.
I took a step toward her. “ Now .”
“Fine,” she said haughtily, sniffing at the air and prancing on her long legs toward the door. “But you just know he’s going to want an introduction. And I’ll get mine then as well.”
Then she was gone, leaving my stomach to roil with unease at the promise contained in her words.
“A real charmer,” Sarah said coldly. “Why didn’t you ask her to stay?”
“Huh?” I asked, my thoughts about what might come next totally derailed by Sarah’s attitude.
“You two certainly looked cozy enough for it,” she said, spinning on her heel and taking Jakub back to bed, the empty water cup completely forgotten.
I stared after her, completely lost.
What had I done wrong?