Chapter 75
Seventy-Five
Drozel
The sound of my name woke me. Then I heard it again. Rubbing at one eye, I tried to figure out what was going on and heard Meri's sweet little voice. Sylis's silky one followed. When Omden's name was mentioned, I realized they were talking about us.
Sitting up, I stretched, taking my time about waking up.
I'd spent a little time with Lessa last night.
She'd told me all about her sleepover with Meri, and that it certainly had not been a platonic thing.
I was truly happy for her. I also thought their thing was good for Meri, and my little Sparrow deserved a few good things in her life.
From there, I'd gone to arrange things for the militia now camping outside town, and then had come home to get tangled up in bed with Omden while it was still morning. In other words, I'd been a busy man - in the best way. The kind of busy that made me want to take my time about getting out of bed.
Then, from the other room, I heard Sylis say, "Meri, I've never been married! I wouldn't know about such things!"
And the giggle that followed? That little wisp of a woman had become something truly amazing.
When I'd first met her, I hadn't been able to understand how she and Ayla were friends.
I'd assumed it was the sort of thing that would fade away over time, now that they weren't forced to rely on each other.
It hadn't.
Instead, Meri had grown. When I thought about it, I always saw her as some sort of flower, reaching desperately for the light while growing in a pile of rocks, and all it had taken was a little water to make her bloom.
Ayla? She was more like brambles, covered in thorns, but she'd kept Meri's delicate leaves from being destroyed somehow.
They were nothing alike, but they still needed each other. In many ways, they were like Omden and me, and I needed that man so much. I couldn't help but wonder what this Callah girl would be like, but I had a feeling she'd be different from either one.
Then Meri told Sylis, "But you think about it. You know you do!"
"I get stuck at what happens after he pulls me close," Sylis admitted. "I... Meri, the only person I've ever kissed was Tobias, and that doesn't even count. It wasn't even as much as a wedding kiss! I tried, he pulled away, and that was that."
"I used to wish for a man to press me against the wall," Meri said, "and then take what he wanted, you know? Maybe that was because I didn't know either? Because when Gideon tried..."
I snarled under my breath, wishing I could hack that man's balls off and offer them to Meri as a trophy. I'd hang his damned tongue between them, just on principle, then mount it all where she could see and gloat. She fucking deserved nothing less!
"I'm sorry..." Sylis told her, making me like the man a bit more. "That’s why Tobias and Callah are lawfully wedded friends. He hates the idea of hurting her."
"It doesn't always hurt," Meri insisted. "I mean, sometimes it's okay. With the right person, it's amazing."
And now I wondered just how far things had gone with that sleepover she'd had with Lessa. I'd heard a bit, but more about how much Lessa liked her than what exactly they'd done.
"Yeah, but the right person wouldn't push you against the wall," Sylis said.
"But it's wild," Meri insisted, "and passionate. I mean, just imagine if Drozel pinned your arms over your head and kissed you silly?"
"Omden," Sylis corrected. "I think you want Drozel to do that."
Again, Meri giggled. "I like it when he gets growly.
It makes my tummy flip. I mean, I know I shouldn't, and I know he could hurt me, but it's Drozel.
He wouldn't. I think that's the part that makes me have those thoughts.
I just don't know if it's because he wouldn't, or because I shouldn't want him to. "
Yeah, the thought of pushing that girl against the wall, pinning her arms over her head, and kissing the shit out of her?
I could imagine it a little too well. I'd never had a thing for helpless little ladies before, but there was something about Meri that made me finally understand the allure.
Normally, I liked the kicking and clawing sort, but I had a feeling she'd be more of the leaning in, seducing me completely, and putting a knife in my gut if I made the wrong move type.
Dammit, now my dick was getting hard. "Go back to sleep," I grumbled at the thing. "You've had more than your fair share lately." And I rolled out of bed.
Moving would make that sort itself out. I also shouldn't be listening to Meri's private conversation. That girl deserved to have a gentleman in her life, and I was going to be one for her. Omden could be her confidant, and Lessa could be the lover she'd always deserved.
Then again, the idea of both those ladies crawling on me? Fuck!
Reaching down, I gave my dick a squeeze, begging the pressure to release. Then I pulled on a pair of pants. I should grab a shirt, but I needed a shower first. I had a feeling it was near lunchtime, and someone should cook for those two.
But in the living room, Meri and Sylis had moved on to talking about Vestrian. "Speaking it's the easy part," Meri was saying. "And when you start doing it all the time, you forget which language you're using. But reading?"
"I feel like I have to look up every other word," Sylis admitted.
"Oh!" Meri gasped, just as I reached my door. "I have something Kanik gave me. Lessons, he called it and..."
I opened the door, intending on grabbing clean towels from the closet in the hall, but before I could step out, Meri rounded the corner. Seeing me, she sucked in a little breath and her cheeks flushed.
"I didn't know you were awake," she mumbled.
"Barely," I assured her.
And the timid little bird did the last thing I would've expected. She ran her eyes over my chest, taking her time about it. Her teeth caught her lower lip, letting the fullness slide from the grasp slowly - and then she smiled.
Brazenly, right there before me, Meri looked me over like she wanted to devour me. Clenching one hand into a fist, I did my best to ignore it, but that little smile? My almost-limp-again dick liked it too much.
"Don't tempt me, woman," I growled, yanking open the linen closet to grab that towel.
Behind me, Meri huffed. "I'm not fragile, Drozel! Don't treat me like I'm going to break. I'm not some stupid little girl anymore!"
"No?" I slung the towel onto the floor and slammed the door I'd just opened. Then I spun to face her.
She sucked in a breath and stepped back, but the hall wasn't that wide. When she hit the wall, I was there, pressing in even more, holding her in place with my body as my mouth claimed hers.
And she relaxed into me. Her chin lifted, meeting my mouth with hers. I felt her palm slide over my chest as my tongue explored. She was so small I had to bend to kiss her. So delicate that when my hand found her waist, it reached too far around.
So fragile, even if she said she wasn't.
But I couldn't stop. She tasted like tea and honey. She smelled like vanilla and wildflowers. Feeling her against me like this was driving me wild - which meant I had to stop. It may have been the hardest thing I'd ever done.
Straightening a bit broke our kiss, but I couldn't back away. Not yet. I had to say something first.
"Sorry," I breathed, easing my hand away from her waist.
Meri looked up at me with big, dark eyes. Her pupils were blown with desire. Her chest was heaving. Her hand was still halfway in the air, hovering just over my skin.
"I didn't think you wanted to kiss me," she whispered.
She didn't look afraid.
I stepped back, watching her, but that one thing was obvious. I'd just roughed her up a bit, and she looked like she wanted more, but that didn't make sense! I knew what had happened to her. She should be running into the other room, begging Sylis to help her.
Instead, she turned her hand to press against the base of her throat. Her pulse raced up the side of her neck, but when she clenched her thighs together, I realized she was completely turned on. For me.
"I have been trying not to terrorize you," I hissed, closing the distance between us again so Sylis wouldn't overhear this in the other room. "I'm being a fucking gentleman, Meri."
"Stop."
My body rocked with the power of that word. "What?"
"I'm tired of being good!" she snapped. "I'm a Dragon, Drozel. I'm free, and that means I can do what I want. I don't have to be the remnants of what the Moles threw out. I don't need to be a proper wife. I am allowed to be naughty, and just once, I want to - "
I didn't let her finish. I'd heard enough, so I kissed this woman again - and didn't hold back. My hand found her throat, tilting her face where I wanted it. The other caught her hip, pulling her against the immense pressure in my pants, and she leaned in to grind against me.
The growl in my throat proved she was the one in control here, because I was unraveling quickly. This tiny, timid, gentle little creature had me wrapped around her smallest finger. When she caught the waistband of my pants and pulled? I bucked into her, grinding my length against her belly.
That earned me the softest moan, so I shifted my lips from her mouth to her jaw, then her neck, pausing beside her ear.
"I am going to have a shower now, my pretty little Sparrow.
A very cold one so we can both let the blood return to our brains, but you think about this.
I don't just want to kiss you. I want to throw you in my bed.
I want to pin you against the wall in the shower.
I want to bend you over the kitchen counter.
I want to make you scream, Meri, but in pleasure. Never in pain. Do you hear me?"
"Yes," she breathed.
I stole her mouth again, kissing her hard, exactly the way I wanted - but quickly. "I am too much for you. I have tried hard not to scare you, because you deserve to be pampered. A woman like you should be loved, treasured, and protected, but that's not the kind of man I am."
And I turned, snagging the towel off the floor before heading into my room. I needed an ice-cold shower, so it didn't matter if the heat was burning. Cold would get my brain going again.
Then my bedroom door slammed closed. I turned to see Meri standing there.
"Do not ever tell me what I want," she said calmly.
I tossed the towel on my bed and crossed my arms. "Okay."
"I am not fragile."
"You are."
And she squealed in the back of her throat. "I am not! I don't break, Drozel. I'm not big, or strong, or dangerous, but that doesn't make me fragile."
Slowly, I nodded, seeing her point. This woman? She was more like a willow. Each strand was beautiful and delicate, but they didn't break. They bent. They adapted. They withstood things larger trees couldn't and came out just as beautiful on the other side of the biggest storms.
"Okay," I relented.
"And I know what happens between a man and a woman," she continued. "I'm not stupid either. I want to be loved, okay? I want to be happy. I want many, many things, Drozel, and here I'm allowed to have that. I will have it!"
I let my arms relax and closed the distance between us. Gently, I clasped her arms, encouraging her to take the last step to me. When she did, I slid my hands up, cupping both sides of her face and bent, pausing just before my mouth found hers.
"Fragile is not weak, little sparrow."
"I'm not fragile," she whispered, those blue eyes searching mine, and she didn't pull away.
"Okay," I said one more time. "But I'm not going to be the one telling Lessa about this. If you survive that, I'll believe you're the strongest woman I know."
And then I kissed her again, but this time, I didn't rush it. I made love to her mouth the way she deserved. I kissed her until she moaned so sweetly, and then I drank it in, deciding this wouldn't be the last time this happened.