Chapter 6
Milo
Milo had seen countless dragons shift in front of him. It was nothing new. But Rowan’s size, his color, the suddenness with which it happened… He hadn’t known all that was possible.
All the other transformations Milo had seen looked smooth.
Seamless. As if the person breathed in their humanity and exhaled a winged beast to fill the space.
Rowan’s shift looked nothing like that. His dragon ripped its way out of his body as if it was beyond his control, bursting out of his skin like a supernova.
His bright, ruby red color made looking directly at him almost painful.
His claws shredded the bar top, and the massive wings that stretched out on either side of him knocked barstools and drinks and people out of the way.
They were leathery and so bright it looked as if they were on fire.
The ends sported sharp bones similar to Rowan’s claws, and while thin, they looked nearly indestructible.
Rowan was breathing hard, his scale-covered chest heaving and snake-like eyes blazing.
Milo watched as he leaned forward, the rumble in his chest making the floor beneath their feet vibrate. They sucked in a breath in sync, but while Milo did it to steady himself, Rowan was gearing up for something else entirely.
His elongated jaw opened, rows of sharp teeth backlit by the flames rising from Rowan’s throat.
Oh…
Oh shit…
Milo snapped his head back around, realizing Rowan was about to spit fire. Right into Jackson’s face. He jumped into action, watching in horror as a column of fire licked its way across the bar toward Jackson.
He reacted before he could think about what he was doing.
The fancy silver bucket of half-melted ice was right there, so he picked it up and chucked it directly into Rowan’s face.
The fire went out.
Steam rose with a loud hiss.
Jackson squealed and scampered away, tab unpaid…yet again.
And Rowan stood, drenched and confused, tiny puffs of dark gray smoke escaping his nostrils as he blinked those blazing eyes in shock.
One of his wings came forward to swipe across his face, brushing the water and the chips of ice stuck to his scales away.
He turned toward Milo slowly. It would have been menacing if he hadn’t looked like a drowned housecat.
“You.” Milo pointed a finger at his stupid nose. “Come with me.”
He marched toward the staff bathroom behind the bar. He didn’t turn to check if Rowan was following. He fucking better be.
He heard wings scraping along the floor dejectedly and it made him feel slightly better. Rowan should feel dejected. He should feel ashamed. And he should be sorry. Motherfucker was ruining Milo’s life left right and center.
Milo heard Rowan shuffle his gigantic form through the narrow bathroom doorway and then the door closed behind them.
Milo spun on his heel, absolutely enraged.
“What the fuck is your problem?” He pointed at Rowan, rolling his eyes when he found him clawing at an ice chip stuck under one of the scales on his nose that wasn’t melting as fast as the others against his fiery skin.
He was almost cross-eyed, focusing on the chip, and his large dragon mouth was hanging open in concentration. “Oh for fuck’s…”
He strode toward him, swatting the claw away and hooking his finger around one exposed fang to bring his head lower.
“You run an entire company?” Milo asked, pushing his pinky underneath the scale, gently enough not to break it. “You manage a bajillion employees? YOU? It’s wild. You barely seem competent enough to breathe without explicit instructions.”
He finally managed to reach the ice chip and melt it with his finger before coaxing it out. It slid down Rowan’s nose and into the tattered remnants of his collar, and Milo absolutely did not follow it down his chest. His massive, ripped, hot—absolutely not.
“There,” Milo said. “Are we okay enough now to actually change back and explain what the hell you think you’re doing?”
He watched Rowan shake himself off and pull back his dragon features until they disappeared. His wings retracted, the nose drew back in and reshaped into a human one, the fangs disappeared.
The claws stayed though. The red scales still burned on his skin. And those blazing eyes were now focused on him entirely.
“What am I doing?” Rowan asked, and Milo saw the fury in his eyes.
The fuck was he mad about? He was the source of all the mess and he was the one getting angry?
The absolute nerve of him was astonishing!
“I’m trying to do my job!! I’m trying to meet my deadlines and deliver results and all you’ve been doing for months now is making it impossible. ”
“Well excuse me for not wanting to live under a bridge!” Milo screeched.
“For trying to save a gaggle of geriatrics from living under one with me. Gee, it must be so difficult for YOU to earn all that money by ruining people’s lives and destroying their homes.
However will you survive?? Oh I know…by blowing fire IN MY PLACE OF WORK! ”
He lifted his chin to glare at Rowan and found him tilting his head at him, staring at his eyes.
“WHAT?” he barked, and Rowan pointed a claw at his face. “Are you threatening me now? On top of everything else?”
“Jesus Christ, you’re completely unhinged,” Rowan said finally. “I’m not threatening you. You’re just showing your dragon and I was going to point it out!”
“I’M NOT A DRAGON!” Milo snapped, turning to the mirror and glaring at his very human reflection. He leaned against the small sink and lowered his head between his shoulders. “I’d fucking know if I was…right?”
His voice should not have sounded as small as it was.
He felt movement behind him. Heard Rowan shift on his feet and shuffle in the small space. And only then did he realize Rowan was naked. Like…actually buck naked behind him.
He could see a full leg and a hint of a dangerously deep V-line peeking out from behind Milo’s reflection.
“Put some fucking clothes on,” he said, even though he wasn’t completely sure he wanted that. It was nice having that chest to look at. Made him feel better.
Rowan only seemed to realize his state of dress after Milo pointed it out and he hurried toward a vending machine in the corner of the bathroom, a flush working itself all the way down his neck.
He located his wallet in the remains of a pocket trailing after him from the scrap of fabric still wrapped around his ankle, put some money into the machine, and accepted a pair of paper-thin pants and a tank top.
He stuffed himself into them, and Milo swore he could hear the seams ripping.
“I’m dressed.” The words carried a boatload of embarrassment Rowan couldn’t hide.
“Congratulations,” Milo said with a huff, refusing to be softened by it.
“Were you really not aware?” Rowan asked, bringing them back to the earlier conversation.
Milo looked up and caught his own eyes in the mirror.
“I grew up in the human foster system.” He frowned at the personal detail that spilled from his lips.
Rowan didn’t need any ammo to use against him.
And yet, the small, cramped bathroom somehow felt like the perfect setting to just spill his guts.
“I have no records of my parents. I never showed any traits or shifted. I’m human. ”
“But you’re not,” Rowan said.
Milo felt exhausted. “So I’ve been told. All fucking day.”
“Someone else said it?”
“My best friend,” he said. “And Ethel, one of the old-timers in the building.”
“And nobody ever mentioned anything before?”
“Apparently they all thought I’m a sensitive little flower who would implode if it came up, so they just kept quiet about it.” Milo lifted a hand to run it through his hair and looked at Rowan as if he held all the answers. “Is that even possible? That I’ve lived my whole life not knowing?”
“I’m pretty sure all kinds of things are possible.” Rowan shrugged.
“Thank you, newspaper horoscope section on legs.” He gave Rowan a once-over and decided something on the spot. “How do I get it to happen?”
“Get what to happen?”
“The dragon thing,” Milo said.
A crease settled between Rowan’s brows. “It just does when you want it to. I can’t really explain it when it’s as natural as breathing to me.”
“You are so helpful.”
“I’ve never had to train a dragon to be a dragon, so forgive me for not being a walking instruction manual,” Rowan grumbled. “But from what I’ve seen so far, anger helps you.”
“Not right now,” Milo said.
“Maybe you’re not angry enough?”
“Oh, I’m downright pissed,” Milo said. “But it’s not happening, so what now?”
“I know teenage dragons sometimes shift without much control over it during intense emotions.” Rowan said it like he was reciting information from a book.
“Like?”
“Happiness,” Rowan said.
“Do I look happy to you?”
“Grief.”
“Nobody’s died…yet.”
“Exhaustion.”
“Running on a gallon of coffee and five cans of Red Bull.”
“Jealousy.”
“Nope.”
“Arousal.”
“What?”
“What, what?”
“I have to be horny to be a dragon?” Milo asked.
A small blush bled into Rowan’s cheeks and across the freckles on his nose. “I didn’t say you had to be, I’m just stating facts. Fuck, there’s something wrong with you.”
“Insulting me isn’t a turn-on,” Milo said.
“I’m not trying to turn you on!” Rowan snapped.
“Well why the fuck not? I thought you were helping me figure out how to do this dragon thing.”
“You want me to…”
“Dragonize me, bitch!” Milo spread his arms wide, back still turned to Rowan, and the next thing he knew, his hips were being gripped tight by hands tipped with sharp claws, there was a massive body glued to his back, and someone’s heartbeat was thundering against his spine.
Heat was traveling down his neck, and he realized it was Rowan blowing hot breath onto his skin.
Rowan was growling lightly; a deep rumble in his chest that made Milo’s bones rattle vibrate in sync until he was leaning back and melting into his hold.
“What—”
“You asked for this,” Rowan growled into his ear, pinning him to the sink and caging him between it and his body. “You keep pushing and pushing until you shove people over the edge.”
A sharp canine nipped at the shell of Milo’s ear and he whimpered, feeling himself hardening in his jeans.
He tilted his head.
Made room.
Frowned at himself but did nothing to stop himself. He arched his back and pushed his ass further into Rowan’s hips, feeling him just as hard.
“I…”
“No,” Rowan said. “You’ve talked enough, I think. I listened. So now I’ll give you what you asked for.”
Milo whimpered. He actually fucking whimpered as his knees buckled underneath him and Rowan’s strong hands gripped him tighter to keep him upright. Rowan rolled his hips forward, one thumb sneaking under the hem of his shirt.
A claw caught the skin over Milo’s hipbone.
Quicksilver, snake-like eyes flashed at him in the mirror. Eyes he’d never seen before. His own, but so unfamiliar.
He gasped in shock.
And nearly fell when Rowan pushed him away and fled the bathroom, leaving Milo alone to come to terms with the fact that he was, in fact, a fucking dragon.
Notes:
Anyone want a DRAGONIZE ME, BITCH sticker? No? Just us? Okay then.