Stealing the Dragon’s Heart by Kiersten Fay

29

With no opponents stepping up to challenge Zeek—Aidan was far too comfortable with Onnika cuddled sweetly in his lap—he switched the screen to watch race highlights. Priya and Vin had left to go “rest up,” as they put it, but the glances they’d been shooting each other suggested something else was on their minds.

Once again, Onnika’s image was plastered all over the screen. Apparently, her flight with the dragon was the talking point of the evening. She seemed to have enchanted the fans with her fiery spirit and daring stunts…just as she had enchanted him and his crew.

After a bit of commentary from the announcers, they replayed the moment when Onnika walked right up to him in dragon form, not a pinch of trepidation in her step, and seated herself upon his back as though it was her rightful place.

A more fearless creature he’d never encountered.

Watching the two of them in action from the camera’s angle was surreal. Either those flying cameras had great zoom capabilities, or they’d been hovering closer than he’d realized. Every time they caught a glimpse of Onnika up in the air with him, she’d had a huge smile on her face and her eyes were bright with excitement, her irises flashing silver in the sunlight.

“Your eyes do that a lot,” Zeek observed. “Is that normal for…whatever you are?”

Curiously, Onnika’s cheeks flushed. “Is what normal? My eyes aren’t doing anything weird. That’s just the light or a lens flare or something.”

“Oh.” Zeek dropped it, but Aidan wondered about the sudden rigidness in her body. He noticed she hadn’t corrected the whatever you are part of Zeek’s statement, so she was no longer clinging to the ruse that she was Pakovian, but she still wore those holo-cuffs on her ears, hiding something of her identity. He wondered what it would take for her to reveal herself to him completely. The mystery was a acidy mix in his mind.

She yawned and shifted on his lap, drawing her body closer to his. Her scent was intoxicating, like spring air in the evening, just before night blossoms bloomed. “You should turn this off, Zeek. Unless you want my head to get even bigger than it already is.”

“Could the universe even survive that?” Zeek retorted.

“Only if it pleases me,” she haughtily replied.

Zeek laughed and ended the feed. “Can’t have your ego going supernova. Not unless I can harness the power of it.”

“Go harness yourself, why don’t you,” Aidan interjected. He wanted her all to himself. He was barely resisting claiming those supple lips of hers.

“Maybe later,” Zeek replied cheekily. “Smells like dinner’s ready.” He was right. The scent of something delicious wafted in from the mess hall.

When Zeek’s stomach carried him away, Onnika moved to follow, but Aidan grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his lap. “Finally I have you alone.”

That sly grin of hers slid into place as her eyes lit with playful excitement. “And just what is it you plan to do with me?”

“Everything,” he muttered, running his lips over the soft skin of her bare shoulder.

She shivered at the caress. “That’s going to take some time.”

“Only if we do it right.”

She shifted so that she was facing him, her knees planted on either side of his hips. Her palms came up to gently frame his face as she pressed their lips together.

Her boldness and passion flooded him with satisfaction. It all seemed so effortless with her, as if all he had to do was think of what he wanted and she would give it to him. She’d practically stepped straight out of his deepest fantasies, haunting him with her beauty and fire.

She pulled back slightly to tease his lips with a light brushing of hers before setting in again. He groaned and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, their tongues twisting and coiling in an ancient seductive dance derived of carnal hunger. Before breaking the kiss, she nipped him lightly, sending a jolt of lust down his spine. They were both breathless. His skin prickled with acute awareness, and wherever she touched him, he burned.

He gazed at her in wonder. Her eyes were bright with desire and her lips were slightly swollen. “Where did you come from?” he breathed.

She only gave him a mysterious smile, one that warned him he might never find out. Worse, she could disappear from his life as quickly as she’d appeared. She’d spoken of leaving before, of parting ways, but her earlier questions made him wonder if she was considering taking up with them in a long-term sense. If that was the case, he’d find a way to keep them all together, if only for that reason. Oh, how he wanted to ask her to stay with him. But he needed complete honesty from her. There could be no secrets between them.

He gazed at her ear-cuffs. The holo-glam technology was superb. He couldn’t tell where her real flesh ended and the holo-glam began. How much of her appearance did it conceal? Perhaps her eyes weren’t truly that sparkling shade of blue, or her hair as white as the softest snow. He wished she would reveal her true self to him…trust him with her secrets. His longing was unbearable.

Without thinking, he reached up to tap her ear-cuff. “How about we take these off?”

She jumped off him so fast he experienced an unsettling moment of disorientation. Cold air flooded over him, made frostier by her look of betrayal. She now stood several feet away from him, covering her ears and affecting a stance that suggested she feared he might advance on her.

An infuriating mixture of shame and disappointment ground its way through his blood; shame that he’d alarmed her and put her on the defensive; disappointment because by now she should realize she needn’t fear him.

“You don’t have to hide yourself from me,” he snapped, his displeasure tumbling out in the guise of anger.

“Don’t I? You still don’t trust me, yet you think I should trust you?”

“I’ve done everything in my power to earn your trust,” he argued, rising to stand.

“As I have.”

He gave her a withering look. As he spoke, he ticked off his fingers. “You stole from me, you stole from Zeek, you lied to get onto my ship, and, oh yeah, you’re still hiding your identity from me.”

“Yes, I lied to get onto your ship, but for good reason, which I told you about. And yes, I stole, but again, I had good reason. It was all to protect us and keep us safe. Since then, I’ve helped you and the crew in any way I can. And my identity is my own personal business. Period. But do you know what I haven’t done? I haven’t hidden my intentions from you.”

“That’s debatable. Are you suggesting I have?”

“Twice now you’ve tried to remove my holo-gear without permission. And you keep digging about my past, trying to figure out where I’m from. You won’t stop until you do.”

“That’s not true.” He wished the statement didn’t ring false, even to him.

“You ordered Ash and Lear to get closer to Caryn so they could try to trick her into giving something away.”

“How did you…who told you that?”

“No one told me.”

“Then how could you know that?”

“Notice how you’re not denying it?”

He ran his hands through his hair and paced. “This secret you keep is like a wall between us. I only want it out of the way.”

“That isn’t your decision to make.”

“Isn’t it? When I’m the one keeping you safe? I deserve to know the truth.”

She retreated another step, looking crestfallen, and he knew he’d said the exact wrong thing.

Her words came out in a dull, yet resigned, tone. “If you don’t like it, we can leave. It’s that simple.”

He sighed in frustration. “That’s not what I want.”

“I know.” The glossy shine to her eyes cut him to the bone. “You don’t want much. Just everything. Just all of me. The shitty thing is, that’s only what you think you want, but you don’t. Not really. You want the fantasy. The beautiful, exciting, mysterious stranger who lights up your world.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Was that all she thought she meant to him?

“It’s not me. Not the whole me. It’s only what I let you see. The parts of me I know you’ll like. You said it yourself, I’m good at manipulating people. I’ve done it all my life. I do it over and over, until it doesn’t work anymore, and then I move on. Well, maybe it’s time to move on.”

His gut wrenched. “You’re making this a bigger deal than it is.”

“Perhaps.” Her gaze lowered to the floor. “I’m not sure. All I know is that I’ve been screwed over a lot by people I thought I could trust.”

“You can trust me.”

“Funny. Of all the people I’ve ever trusted, not one of them said ‘you can’t trust me’. But the one thing I’m sure of? You don’t want me. Not the real me. Not the ugly bits. The damaged thief who lies and cheats and steals whenever it suits her. You don’t want that.” She emphasized her words with a shake of her head. “But that’s part of who I am. Stone to chisel; it’s part of how I was shaped. I know it’s not always right. I know I’m flawed, but it’s how I survive. I’ll do whatever I have to, whenever I have to.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that for you anymore. I can take care of you, if you’ll just let me. If you’ll just trust me.”

“How can I, when you do things like order Ash and Lear to cozy up to Caryn for information? They’ll get nothing from her, by the way. She’s not as weak as you all might believe.”

He glanced away, avoiding her penetrating glare. He’d feared they were being too obvious. Apparently, he’d been right. “The more I know, the better I can protect you both.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Aidan pondered how this evening had gone south so fast. “Just because you had a bad experience in the past doesn’t mean you will with me.”

“Not a bad experience. Many.” She sighed and shook her head in a resigned manner. “Look, I’m sorry I led you on. But I think it’s time for me and Caryn to depart.”

A sharpness in his chest twisted painfully, gouging flesh and gristle. She’d confirmed his fear. She hadn’t truly wanted him.

Adding another cruel turn to the blade, she pivoted and headed for the door, walking away from him. Something vile burned in his esophagus.

“So this is who you are?” he called. “A coward? The girl who runs away when things get tough?”

She halted and offered her profile. “I’m the girl who survives.”