He stumbled over to a bench, sat down, and closed his eyes, searching for calm, but Sebastian’s words still echoed in his head, bringing with them a wave of panic and dread. The emotions only fueled the dragon inside him, and it fought to get out, sending waves of magic surging through him even as he fought to calm it. He’d always known about his mother’s family, knew whose grandchild he was, but after all these years, it was still a shock to have it thrown in his face as if he was to blame.
Taking a deep breath, he searched for control, pulling onhis reserve of strength, but the dragon still fought him, unwilling to give up without satisfaction. He was becoming desperate when the back doors opened and Emily stepped outside, her eyes searching for him in the darkness. She paused for a second when she spotted him, then started slowly walking toward him, a hesitation in her step.
She sat down next to him, reached over, and took his hand without a word. He instantly felt a wave of calm wash over him, making it easier to breathe. The dragon became less agitated the longer they sat there; his magic slowly began to fade, and the tension began to drain from his body. When it was over, he let out a long sigh and then looked over at Emily, who was patiently watching the stars above them but turned to him when she felt his eyes on her.
“Are you okay?” she finally asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”
When he didn’t answer right away, she shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, we can just sit here,” she said. “I just thought…well, sometimes it helps to talk…that’s all.”
He took a deep breath, looked into her eyes, saw only compassion, and decided to take a risk and trust her. “I knew that I had family around here, I just didn’t think I’d run into any of them,” he said. “It’s a long story, but my grandfather disowned my mother when she got pregnant with me, and she had to flee her home with nothing but the clothes on her back. She took refuge with a rival family, and we’ve lived there ever since. Neither of us wants anything to do with them, and I thought they felt the same way.”
“Oh, Taylor, I’m sorry that’s awful,” Emily said, scooting a little closer to him. “What happened to your father?”
“He was killed…in an accident,” he said, trying to be careful with his words, knowing he couldn’t tell her the full truth. “I never knew him; he was gone before I was born.”
“I know what it’s like growing up with only one parent; they do the best they can, but it’s never enough,” she said, leaning her head against his arm, sending another wave of calm through him. “It sucks that you and your mom had to go through all of that, and now your cousin shows up…well, I’m not sure what he’s trying to do.”
“Me either, but if it’s to piss me off, he’s doing a good job of it,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry you got wrapped up in all this. People are going to be gossiping about it for a while.”
“I don’t care about that, I just want to make sure that you’re okay,” she said, looking over at him, her compassion filling him with warmth. “Maybe we should go back inside; I’m sure your friends are worried about you, too.”
“I’m not so sure about that. None of the guys knew the truth about me, and they’re probably not very happy with me right now. The last thing I want to do is go back in there,” he said, then sighed. “But I might as well get it over with.”
“They’re not mad at you, Taylor, they’re just worried,” Emily said. “I was in there with them, remember?”
“I’d be pissed if I was them,” he said, getting to his feet. “I should have told them the truth a long time ago.”
“Well, you can fix that right now,” she said, taking his hand. “And I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”
He realized that wasn’t possible, that she couldn’t be there when he talked to his friends, and knew he’d have to wait until they got back to the fraternity house anyway. “That’s sweet of you, but I think our talk will have to wait until later tonight,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I hope you understand, it’s nothing personal, it just needs to be the eight of us.”
She looked a little hurt and disappointed. “Of course, I understand. You don’t need me there getting in the way,” shesaid. “In fact, this feels like a good time to end the night. I just need to grab my purse, and I’ll head home.”
“You don’t have to, it’s still early,” he said, feeling guilty. “We could dance some more.”
“I’m sure you don’t feel like dancing,” she said, patting him on the chest. “I had fun tonight, but I think you need to talk to your friends.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, then waited until she nodded. “Okay, then that means you lost the bet.”
It took her a second to react, and he couldn’t help but smile. “I did not, we didn’t get to finish,” she cried, shaking her head. “We called it off, and no one won.”
“It was your idea to call it a night,” he pointed out, the smile getting bigger. “You gave up, we didn’t call it off.”
***Emily***
“I gave up because I was worried about you, that doesn’t count,” Emily protested, the look in his eyes making thrills rush through her. “We’ll just have to finish the bet later or something.”
“Nope, that’s not going to work, you said it yourself, you gave up, it doesn’t matter why,” Taylor said, shaking his head with a mischievous look on his face that did nothing to cool the desire racing through her. “The deal was I get to pick my prize.”
“You didn’t win…” she tried to protest, but he was already reaching for her. “You didn’t…”
“Shhh…” he said, putting one finger over her lips. “I’m going to claim my prize, and I can’t do it if you're still talking.”
When his hands came up to cup her face, she knew that was the moment she should protest, but his eyes found hers, and all she could do was stare up at him, heart pounding,breath caught in her throat. Taylor smiled at her, then leaned down, brushed his lips across hers, and her lungs emptied out with a whoosh when a wave of pleasure unlike anything she’d ever felt washed over her.
With a groan of satisfaction as if he’d been waiting to kiss her for a long time, his lips found hers again as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Caught up in the amazing sensation of his tongue slowly exploring her mouth, the world around her melted away, and a growing hunger sparked to life deep in her loins. Unprepared for the depth of the pleasure consuming her from just one kiss, she was powerless to stop him and found herself clinging to him.
The sound of the door to the reception hall opening finally broke them apart, but it was several seconds before she could think, let alone speak. “I think we’re even now,” she said, unwilling to let him see just how deeply she’d been affected by his kiss. “I think I should go home.”
