Chapter Ten
I walked close to my mate, playing the scared rabbit.
Or Kat, rather. Vasren ate it up, his arm proudly and protectively slung around my shoulders.
Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. This Dragon had no idea what I was capable of.
Even knowing what I'd done, he didn't have an inkling of what I could do.
I was not a man who needed protecting. But Vas was so pleased with my act that we hadn't merely left his suite.
He decided to take me into the main part of Sunsho.
He said I need some new clothes. This was true—my clothes were in Tabaa.
The only outfit I had was what I'd worn to the King's party. So, he was taking me shopping.
As a recreation destination, Sunsho had lots of shopping, activities, and all the advancements Rushao had to offer.
Sparkling fountains dotted every plaza, the streets were immaculate, the sidewalks lined with coastal plants, and the merchants offered the finest wares you could find in all Rushao.
It helped that they were on the coast and got the first pick of merchandise coming off the ships.
I knew all about this, thanks to my legal job as a merchant.
“Everyone is staring at you,” Vasren whispered in my ear. “My dragon doesn't like it, but I do. I like the way they covet what's mine.”
I'll bet you do, asshole, I thought to myself.
Ugh, when did this become about winning and stop being about love?
I guess when I decided to treat it as one of my operations.
Vas was just another target now. Ironically, our relationship had been more real when I was running my game in Kochan.
Now, it was a complete fabrication. Well, except for the fact that I still loved the asshole.
Vas looked at me expectantly.
Oh, right! I was supposed to be shyly pleased by his being pleased.
Ugh. I ducked my head and blushed. But the heat that rose in my cheeks was from anger, not embarrassment.
I hadn't been shy since I was a little boy.
Shyness got you nowhere. Except it did get me somewhere, didn't it? It got me into Vasren's bed.
Vasren smiled.
At least he was happy.
I was well on my way to securing his heart again, so I should be happy too.
That was the goal of all my plotting. Or was it?
Was it real love if Vas fell for his little Kat again?
I now understood why Vas had been so upset about my spending time with his dragon.
The dragon was a part of him, but not the dominant part.
As alpha as the beast was, it was the man who ruled.
It was the same for me and Kat. Hallaxgral as well.
They were masks I wore, but great actors become their characters.
They reach into their souls and psyches to pull out pieces of themselves that resonate with their roles.
Truth is at the heart of every great performance.
And so I had pulled pieces of myself forward to give truth to my masks.
In a way, Kat and Hallaxgral were my inner dragons.
They transformed me when they rose, although not as dramatically as Vasren's dragon did.
Suddenly, I realized that this meant I was meek and submissive.
I was shy and blushing. I was scared. Those pieces of me, formed in childhood, had inspired me to become strong, but they had never left.
They were the part of me that craved Vasren's domination in bed.
The part that shuddered in excitement when he got forceful.
The part that wanted someone to take care of me.
Hallaxgral was a mask as well, made from pieces I had formed in response to injustice.
They were born of fury and frustration. And when they rose, people died.
But I dominated them. I decided when they rose.
“Vasren?” a soft, feminine voice came from ahead of us.
Vasren's hand tightened on my shoulder.
I looked up. Standing before us was a stunning Eljaffna woman.
Her race alone made my heart race, but the way she stared at me turned my swiftly pumping blood cold.
I had executed a group of Eljaffna dream dealers—the men and women who had supplied the frang nectar to Lady Juva for her to use on her human employees.
But no one knew it was I who had planted the bomb in the prison courtyard.
So, her stare had to be about something else.
“Seina,” Vasren said. “It's good to see you. Uh, how have you been?”
Oh, I didn't like Vasren's tone. I jerked my head up to look at him. Now, he was blushing. What the fuck? Holy fucking shit! Was Vas bisexual? This fucking motherfucker! He had never mentioned that. Or her. And she was looking at him in a way that confirmed my suspicions.
“I'm well, thank you,” Seina said. “I thought you'd call on me when you returned from your trip.”
Returned . . . wait. Had they been together before he went after me?! Son of a fucking bitch monster! This bitch-fucking traitor had the nerve to call me a traitor? Fucking Dragons. Gods damn fucking Dragons and their traitorous dicks!
I kept all of that internal ranting from my face as I looked meekly at Vasren, as if hoping he'd explain this woman to me. Oh, my sweet love, tell me it isn't true. You will crush my poor widdle heart.
Motherfucker!
“Um, yes, uh. There has been a development.” Vasren widened his eyes at me. “Seina, this is my mate, Katai. Katai, this is Seina, an old friend of mine.”
“Friend?” Seina and I asked simultaneously. Both of us sounded skeptical, although she had a bite to her tone.
“Fine.” Vasren looked at me. “We were romantically involved, Katai. It's over now.” Then he met her stare. “I'm sorry, Seina. You know how it is with Dragons. Once we find our mate, that's it for us.”
“Yes, I see. I just didn't expect you to find him mere days after we last spoke.”
“Days?” I growled, letting my Kat mask slip. “You were with her days before you came after me? You told me you came to find me because you wanted me back.”
“I did!” Vasren glared from me to her and back again. “But I was also angry with you. And I was hoping . . .”
“You were hoping she was your mate,” I concluded. “And then you could forget about me.”
“Yes,” he whispered. Then he stroked my face. “But thankfully, the Gods know better. You were meant to be mine.”
Oh, I was meant to be his, but he wasn't meant to be mine? Was that it? Motherfucker! This gods damn bisexual, greedy asshole. Pick a sex!
I breathed in and sought calm. “I see.” I looked at Seina. “It was nice to meet you. Will you excuse us? We have plans.” Then I looked pointedly at Vasren.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, I'm sorry, Seina. We should get going. I'm glad we were able to settle things.”
“Settle things?” She lifted her chin. “Yes, all right, Vasren. We are settled. Congratulations on your mating.”
“Thank you,” Vas said stiffly. Then he directed me around the woman. He waited until he had put several feet between us and her before he said, “I'm sorry, my love. I didn't want you to go through that.”
My love, he called me. Oh, now, he was back to being in love with me? What a fucking asshole. He obviously didn't know what love was.
Neither did I, for that matter.
“It's all right,” I returned to my sweet tone. “I understand.”
Vasren sighed. “No, you don't, and you shouldn't. I was angry, as I said. And I wanted to rid myself of all the pain I felt. But I couldn't go through with it.”
“What does that mean?” I stopped walking.
He bent his head, looked to either side, and then urged me closer to a shop wall.
“I took her on four outings. On the fourth, I took her home with me.
I tried to be her, but I couldn't keep an erection.
I ended up letting her feed on me to make it up to her.
I told her it was the wine, but it wasn't. It was you.”
“What?” I whispered.
“Even then, Kat, I belonged to you.” Vas bent his head to bring our foreheads together. “I'm sorry I even tried to be with someone else.”
“Fuck, Vas,” I whispered. “Me too. I'm sorry about King Raventar. I shouldn't have turned to him for help.”
“You should have known I would never hurt you.” He eased back to look at me. “But let's put that behind us. We both made mistakes. I want to move forward.”
All of my internal cursing stopped. He belonged to me? Not just the other way around? Vas admitted it. He wanted to move forward. And he couldn't get it up for that gorgeous blond. All right, maybe he wasn't a bitch-fucker after all.
“I want that too, Vas.” The real me wanted to grab his face and yank him into a kiss, but Kat wouldn't do that. So, I just lifted my chin and allowed him to take control.
He did. With a growl of satisfaction. Vasren pushed me up against the wall with his body while invading my mouth.
For the first time in days, I felt his dragon stir in him, going on alert to guard us while the man took his pleasure.
I dug my fingers into Vasren's back, clawing deep enough to touch his dragon and let the beast know that I was still there—that his little monster loved him as much as I loved the man who ruled us both.
Oh, this was so fucked up.