Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2) (5 page)

              The night sky was clear as she headed out to find her meal. She would fill her stomach first then fly over the cities before returning home. It wasn’t long before she had her mea in sight and swooped in to make the kill. The feel of the meat filling her belly rejuvenated her. She felt strong again as she stretched her still growing wings out. It wouldn’t be much longer until she was full grown and able to take a mate.

              She breathed in the cool night air as she sped through the night towards the city nearest to the mountains, Ashme. Serelath lived here with his Qeteran, Kharis, whom she had seen numerous times out flying. Pings of jealousy would course through her when she would see the pair out and wished she had the weight of a Qeteran on her back.

              Flying low over the city, she narrowed her vision until she could clearly see any movement on the ground. For the most part, the city was quiet as the residents of the city prepared to end their day. She happened to catch a glance of Serelath landing as his partner waited. Sadness hit her as she watched the pair dart up into the sky and disappear. Continuing on her flight, she rounded the city one last time before she would to the sea and scout out the town there.

              She was traveling through the valley on her out when she felt a strange pull over come her. Her instincts took over then as she followed in the direction the pull had come from. To her surprise it led her near the big house built into the mountain side. The pull was coming from inside the house! She glided over the house a few times with hopes of seeing who or what was causing the pull. Nothing appeared to give her a clear view, but it was definitely a bonding pull!

              Maybe whoever it was sensed her presence and was scared to show themselves. Thinking that was the reason, Parath flew away from the house and waited. She narrowed her vision even further until she focused on nothing but the house on the mountain. A shadowed figure moved to stand in one of the brightly lit windows.

              It was a female standing there staring out into the night! But…something felt different when she looked at the female. It felt as if…as if the female wasn’t Qeteran! Was it possible she could bond with a female of a different race? She dove in for a closer look.

              The female in the window had eyes that were filled with anger and sorrow. It tore at her heart to see the little female so sad and angry. Who was she angry with? Did she know of Serelath? She was about to fly up to the window when the female suddenly turned away and disappeared farther into the house.

              A wave of excitement rushed through her. Could she have actually found someone she could bond her mind to? Yes! She knew it was true! It had to be!

              As she turned away from the house, she decided she would come back during the day tomorrow. That way the female would be able to see her too. The true test would come when they locked eyes for the first.

Chapter 5

              Kharis spent the next few days sleeping on the sofa. He hadn’t been exactly comfortable considering his legs hung over the edge of the too short piece of furniture. He rolled to a sitting position and rubbed the back of his neck. The lack of sleep was wearing him thin.

              When he had returned to the room the other night, Kelly had been asleep in his bed. He debated for a long time whether or not to climb into the bed with her then decided it was best if he slept on the sofa. Over the course of the last few days she hadn’t uttered a word to him and what made matters worse, she refused to leave to room even when he offered to escort anywhere she wanted to go.

              He glanced to the closed bedroom door. Was she still sleeping? He wanted to go through that door so badly, but his pride kept him from doing so. The first rays of the morning were spilling into the room as he sat there wondering what to do. A sudden sound outside on the balcony drew his attention.

              Through the glass of the double doors, he saw a green dragon hovering over the balcony. He studied the unknown dragon as it kept its eyes on something he couldn’t see.
What the hell? Serelath! Who is this dragon outside my house?

             
The sound of a yawn had reached into his mind before his dragon spoke.
What dragon? I haven’t seen any other dragon hanging around. Go back to sleep. It’s too early to be up.

             
Serelath’s attitude irritated him. He knew that no dragon would ever hurt anyone on Qetera, but it was so unusual for a dragon to be so close to the house he didn’t belong to. He opened the doors and stepped outside. The dragon turned its head to see what the noise was then shot up directly into the air.

              The damn thing was looking into the window of his bedroom! Anger started to bubble up then quickly faded away to be replaced with curiosity.
Why would the dragon want to see his mate? Definitely strange.

             
He shook his head then went back inside. There were more important things he needed to worry about then some dragon trying to get a peek at his mate. He needed to go get dressed and work in his office today. He didn’t want to stray far from the house just in case Kelly needed something or wanted to go somewhere. After all, he was starting to feel guilty for keeping her locked in the room.

******

              Kelly stretched lazily in the big bed. She reached out to touch the pillow next to her and found that Kharis still hadn’t come to sleep in the bed. Apparently, he changed his mind about wanting her. Good! At least now he would leave her in peace and take her back to Yhadell. It was quite lonely being locked in a room with no one to talk to except Kharis, whom she ignored when he did address her, but she was beginning to have conflicting thoughts.

              With a heavy sigh, she sat up in the bed. Another night of tossing and turning had her exhausted. Her mind was always straying to Kharis even when she tried to block him out. When she started to think about the kiss, they shared her body would betray her. Her nipples hardened and she felt a heaviness in her secret spot. Twice now, she had been thrown over his shoulder and twice now she had been able to feel the muscles in his back and ass as she hung upside down. She desperately wanted to run her hands over the muscles that carried her with such ease. Secretly, she had been hoping that he would have returned that first night and take her in his arms and give her another one of those breath taking kisses.

              “No, I can’t think like that,” she told herself. “He doesn’t want you anymore because you did a fine job of pushing him away and telling him you didn’t want him.

What a fool you are
, her mind shouted back.

“What are you talking about? I don’t need anyone. I like being on my own!”

Oh, come on! You know you feel something for the guy! He is freaking hot and he wants you!

“No, he doesn’t. I didn’t get on that transport to search for a husband.”

No, you got on the transport to save your best friend’s life. It just so happens, that you came across a man would do anything for you. He’s not like the men back on Earth. Give him a chance, for crying out loud!

Her mind put up a good argument. “But, what if I take that chance and down the road he doesn’t want me anymore?”

There’s only one way to find out, but from what I can see coming from the hunky alien, is that he is totally devoted to you!

She sat on the edge of the bed and pondered her choices. One, she could keep ignoring Kharis and be lonely for the rest of her life, or she could take a chance and let him in. Maggie had told her many times she needed to let people in. After her grandparents had passed away, she had closed off her heart to everyone but Maggie. Was she ready to open it up again?

“I’ll go see if he’s still sleeping and see where things go from there,” she convinced herself as she walked silently out of the bedroom and to the sofa. He was gone. “Figures,” she mumbled under her breath and put her hands on her hips. She was about to brush her teeth and use the bathroom when something out on the balcony moved. She looked to the doors and nearly fainted with shock. The green dragon was sitting on the railing peering into the room at her.

Hesitantly, she opened the door and stepped out. Her heart was racing but for some reason she had a feeling the dragon wasn’t there to hurt her. She didn’t want to look the great beast in the eye for fear it might be looking for its next meal.

“Uh…Hi,” she called out.

The dragon let out a noise that sounded like a chirp. It spread its beautiful glittering, green wings then folded them back in. It lowered its head as if it were bowing to her.

“What…what are you doing here? Who do you belong to?” She looked the dragon over and assumed this one wasn’t yet full grown. It was definitely smaller than Serelath who was full grown. Without warning, the dragon jumped off the railing and landed closer to her on the balcony. She took a step back in surprised then smiled as the dragon shrunk in size.

“You can do the same thing as Rhaegos and Serelath!” She watched as the dragon shifted down to a size that left it eye level with her. At that point, she had no choice but to look into its eyes as it gazed at her. The big yellow eyes with black pupils widened as she studied the beast. When its pupils dilated to the point of almost covering up all the yellow, she felt something pulling on her mind. It was a strange feeling, one she had never felt before.

She reached out with a shaking hand to touch its snout as she looked it directly in the eyes. She felt it then, a bolt of electricity shot through her, paralyzing her for a moment. When the feeling passed, she was unsure what to do next. Her hand was still out stretched when she heard a voice speaking to her.

I am Parath.

              She jerked her hand back though her eyes never left the dragon’s face. “Parath?”

             
Yes, Parath. I have been searching for you for a longtime. There’s no need to be frightened. I am here as your protector.

             
Now she was really confused. “Protector? From what? And why can I hear you? I can’t hear Serelath.”

             
That is because you are not yet mated to Kharis. Once your first mating has occurred you will be able to hear Serelath through the mind link. It is a special gift given to the mate of our owner.

              “But, why can I hear you? I’m not mated to anyone!” She was getting more confused by the minute.

             
You can hear me because the first dragon of my kind, Livjatan the Life Giver, has given me the gift of having a mind link and you are the chosen one.

             
But I’m not Qeteran. I’m human. I’m from Earth. Besides, has it gone unnoticed that I am female and you are male?

             
That’s where you are wrong, little Earthling. I am a female too.

             
The dragon looked as if she was actually smiling at her. Parath’s pupils had returned to their normal size and her yellow orbs sparkled as if she were laughing.

             
I can tell by the expression on your face that you were unaware that a female dragon can form a mind link with another female? I will admit that it is extremely rare, but it has happened before
.

              Unbelievable! “So, you are…you are…like my dragon?”

              Parath raised her head into the air and let out a great, big puff of smoke.
Yes, I am your dragon.

             
Without thinking about what she was doing, she rushed forward and threw her arms around the dragon’s neck and laid her head on her chest. She could hear a double heart beat as she pressed her cheek to the dragon’s scales. Darkness engulfed her as Parath wrapped her wings around her in sort of hug. She felt an instant connection with the beast as she stood there on the balcony.

              For the rest of the Kelly and Parath talked and revealed things about each other. It felt wonderful to have someone, rather, something to talk to instead of herself. She ignored her meals that were brought to her and waited anxiously for Kharis to return to their room.

             
I hear him coming
.

              She jumped up and ran inside to greet Kharis. She and Parath had come up with a plan to surprise Kharis when he came home. She laughed when she thought about his reaction when she went to talk to him, much less when she showed him Parath.

              Standing next to the sofa, she waited for him to turn around and face. When he did turn around, she saw the weariness written all over his face as well as the bags under his eyes. He was fairly worse than she was. Guilt automatically hit her as she watched him. Her heart wanted to break when he looked at her then turned away. It was now or never.

              “Kharis?”

              He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. “I have to get a change of clothes. I won’t take long.” The sadness he felt was evident all over his face and by the way he walked.

              “Kharis? Can I talk to you for a moment?” God she was so nervous! She prayed she hadn’t pushed him so far away that he would never return to her.

              “If you would like.”

              She waved him over to the sofa. “Let’s sit.” She waited for him to sit first then moved in between his massive thighs to sit on his lap.

              “What are you doing?” he asked.

He refused to touch her, but that was about to change. She used her hand to softly caress the stubble cheek. “Are you…are you okay?” Her eyes searched his face.

“I am fine. There is no need for you to worry about me. I will see to making the arrangement to have you transported back to Yhadell.”

“No.”

His blank expression was priceless. “No?”

“No,” she repeated with a smile. “I want to stay here with you. That is if you still want me.”

His eyes brightened at her words. He instantly pulled her head to him until their lips touched. One hand cradled the back of her head as the kiss became more demanding. His tongue traced her lips and she opened for him, allowing him in. His taste was phenomenal! She angled her body so she could have a better grip on the lips that were making her hot. Their tongues danced then retreated only to return once again. After what seemed like forever, she pulled away breathless.