Chapter Eight
Christy was completely conflicted over what had just happened. Part of her could not believe what she had done. Blake might appear human, but there was still that part of her that could not see him as such. He was a monster; well, not exactly, but he was a dragon.
She found Heather curled up on a divan in the room, reading what looked to be a very old book. Heather set the book down as soon as she came in and said, “Oh. Something happened, spill.”
Christy gave her a shamefaced grin. “Maybe you don’t really want to know.”
Heather said, “You slept with him! Oh my God! Have you lost your mind?”
Christy said, “I’m fairly sure I have.”
Heather said, “I thought you hated him.”
Christy said, “I’m pretty sure that’s never really been a deterrent for me when it comes to having sex.”
She flopped down next to Heather and said, “You know the hell of it is, he’s not really that bad of a guy.”
Heather’s arm went around her and hugged her hard. “Oh?”
Christy laced her fingers together and stared at them. “This morning, in the kitchen, even after I threw flour in his face, he never lost his temper with me. I know I push people’s buttons. I’m a smart ass for one thing. I’m hard to deal with for another.”
“You forgot to mention that your prickly, defensive, and always ready to cover the fact that you’re angry or upset with a joke.”
Christy’s eyes rolled in their sockets. Then a small laugh came from her throat. “Can’t lie to my best friend, can I? You know everything about me.”
Heather said, “I do. That’s why I know you’re either seriously regretting this or you’re not at all. I just don’t know which one it is.”
“Maybe both. All he wants is someone to have a baby for him. I am so not that person. The last thing on earth I want is a kid. I mean, I’m not ready for that. Not that I doubt that he’d be happy to take it and raise it without me, but I don’t want that either.”
Heather leaned forward to set the book on the table. She asked, “Have you ever even thought about it? I mean, not just in a no way am I ever doing that way, but in a maybe someday way?”
“No. I never did. I never thought about marriage or kids or any of that.”
“Are you thinking about it now?”
Christy’s mouth dropped open. She sputtered out, “No! Hell no! Are you kidding me? I’m not ready to give up my freedom. I have everything I need! Have a great apartment, a great job, and these boobs—which probably would not be the same after childbirth.”
Heather said, “You’re doing it again. Your boobs aside, would you really not be willing to give up everything you have if you found somebody that truly loved you?”
Christy considered that. “I don’t know. I do know that this isn’t love. What we just did was straight up sex. It was great sex, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not looking for love any more than I am. And I’m not looking to rent out my uterus to him either.”
Heather leaned back into the seat. “Do you know that the Orcs have pretty much declared open warfare? Max is really worried about it.”
Christy nodded. Her eyes went back to the massive rubies and sapphires encrusted into the arm of the chair. “I know. I’m a little nervous about it. I think we need to get the hell out of here as fast as we can and before the Orcs decide to kill us.”
Also, she needed to get the hell out of there as fast as she could before her heart decided to betray her. “We need to find out if maybe we can use the doorway instead of the portal.”
Heather asked, “What doorway?”
Christy quickly filled her in on the doorway in the forest. Heather stood and began to pace around the floor. “Oh. Max never mentioned it.”
“Of course not. He’s trying to talk you into staying here.”
The look of hope on Heather’s face made Christy’s heart contract. It had always been the two of them against the world. Even when Heather had been engaged to Alan, that lousy ex-fiancé of hers, they had been each other’s confidants and support system. But something was happening here; it was changing things, and Christy didn’t like it.
She said, “Are you considering staying here?”
Heather went to the windows, facing away from her. Worry made Christy sit up straight and then leave the place where she sat to go to her friend. She laid a gentle hand on Heather’s back and said, “Seriously, talk to me. You know you can.”
