Broken Gates

“I brought you something,” Khol said with a twinkle in his eyes. He then produced a small rectangular shaped box from behind him.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You’ll just have to open it to find out.”

“Yeah, okay.” I made my way over to him and hesitantly took the box from his outstretched hand. I wasn’t used to getting gifts from men, especially men who’d seen me naked. Except for Bryn, my mind protested, but I quickly pushed the thought aside, and ignored the weird pressure in my earlobes from the small sapphire studs that Bryn had given me for my birthday almost a year ago. The black velvet box creaked its protest as I opened it, and I inhaled sharply at what was inside. Nestled on more black velvet was an enormous red stone surrounded by a dragon with outstretched wings. The dragon itself was intricately made, every small detail etched into the shiny silver metal with care. It was a pendant that I’d never seen the like of, and I was pretty sure I never would again. Fire and Water, I thought numbly, ruby and sapphire. Khol was a Fire dragon, and Bryn a Water dragon. The symbolism was too obvious to be ignored, but I decided to do just that. “That isn’t real, is it?”

Khol snorted. “As if I would gift you with a fake ruby. And that’s not silver, but white gold.” I didn’t miss the pride in Khol’s voice as he informed me of the very expensive gift I was clutching in my hands. “I thought the Queen of us all should have some suitable jewelry to adorn herself with. You will wear it, won’t you?”

“Of course I will.” I usually wasn’t much of a jewelry girl, but for some reason the necklace just seemed to call to me, and the thought of not wearing such a beautiful thing suddenly seemed ridiculous.

“Then let me put it on you.” Khol took the necklace from my hands and stood behind me. I lifted my hair so he could have better access, and he placed the cool metal against my skin and fastened it. He then kissed the back of my neck before I dropped my hair back into place. I shivered belatedly from the combination.

I reached up to caress the pendant that was already heating from the contact with my skin. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“My father gave it to me.” I sucked in a breath as his words tickled my bare shoulder. “He told me to give it one day to the one I love . . . my Anam Cara.”

“Oh. Khol, no—”

“I know you’re not my Anam Cara . . . but no matter what happens, you will always be the one that I love.” His voice had grown ragged and he pulled me back into him, wrapping his arms around me. “Wear it for me . . . please.”

What could I say to that, really? “Okay.”

His hand skimmed up the side of my body and came to rest over the pendant, which was resting conveniently close to my cleavage. “I have more gifts for you, my little Queen.” His voice dipped to a low intimate growl. I merely nodded as my eyes slid shut and his enticing scent spiraled around me. It wasn’t as familiar and comforting as Bryn’s had become to me, but it was on the fast track to being its rival. “Drake,” Khol called, and a feeling of power, definitely with a different feel than Khol’s, ran over my skin. Drake appeared a moment later in front of us holding a large clothing box and a smaller shoebox.

Khol took the boxes from Drake, who shot me a smug smile before dipping down in a low bow before me. “My Queen. It warms the cockles of my heart to see you have decided to cast the baby dragon aside to be with my lord. A wise decision indeed.”

I opened my mouth to protest but Khol beat me to the punchline. “That’s enough Drake. No one asked for your commentary. Leave us.”

Drake dipped lower, his voice almost a whisper, “My apologies, my lord, it won’t happen again.” And with that he took his leave.

Khol met my eyes and held them with his intense gaze. “Don’t read too much into what Drake says, he of course sees things the way he wants them to be.”

I bit my lip and swallowed down the angry words I was about to say. “Yeah, I know. Just as long as all of us are on the same page.” But I wasn’t really sure any of us were on the same page.

“Now open your gifts,” Khol said as he set them on the bed.

I obligingly took the lid off the clothing box first and gasped my surprise. “It’s beautiful.” I giggled with delight. Inside was the most amazing crimson silk dress I’d ever seen. It matched the ruby in my new necklace perfectly. I didn’t bother asking Khol if he’d planned it that way because I knew he did. I pulled the dress out and ran my hands over the luxurious material. “I guess this is for tonight too?”

“Yes. I wanted you to look your new role, and you deserve to be dressed in nothing less than the best silks and jewelry in the world, whether you were a queen or not. Try it on, I want to make sure it fits.”

“Okay,” I said with excitement. I knew it was kind of shallow, especially with everything else that was going on, but I’d never owned such a beautiful dress. Maybe I could blame it on the dragon acquisitiveness that had to be part of my nature since I was in fact one hundred percent dragon. “You’re really putting the hardcore press on me, aren’t you?” I asked with a touch of humor.

But Khol’s eyes were completely serious when he answered, “Yes. I’ve made no secret about the fact that I want you for my own. Now that I know you’re fully dragon, I also know what buttons to push to help grow your affections toward me. My tactics were different when I thought you to be half human.”

Choosing to ignore his mini confession session, I simply wanted to put the dress on so I could feel the soft material against my skin. “Turn around,” I commanded. “So I can—”

“But I have already seen you naked,” Khol protested.

My voice went up an octave. “That’s different. You’re a guy—you don’t understand. Just turn around.” He grumbled under his breath but did what I asked of him. As soon as I double-checked to make sure he wasn’t peaking, I slipped out of my jeans and sweater and into the crimson dream. I realized that it wasn’t the type of dress that I could wear a bra with, or my normal boy cut panties, so I made quick work of removing those garments as well. If the skirt on the dress hadn’t have been so long and flowy I might have felt odd, but in the dress with nothing underneath I felt like some siren from the 40s or 50s. All I needed was one of those long cigarette holders . . . or was that the 20s?

“You look absolutely stunning,” Khol’s voice was warm and seductive. I couldn’t even be bothered by the fact that I hadn’t told him he could turn around yet.

I walked over to the bed to open what I was already sure were a matching pair of shoes, and I wasn’t disappointed. They were a low-heeled set of elegant slippers that actually appeared to exude comfort. I slipped them on and turned to deliver Khol a dazzling smile. “Thank you. It’s all so amazing.” Nothing like a little retail pick-me-up to brighten a girl’s mood.

Khol came to me in a blur of speed, wrapping his arms around me and tipping my face up toward his. “Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” He brushed his lips against mine at first softly before he deepened our kiss, and I was suddenly very aware that I had nothing on underneath my dress.

“You’re just lucky I didn’t do her make-up yet,” Jenna’s petulant voice cut into my Khol induced fog.

He reluctantly pulled away from me, but his heated gaze caused me to flush under its intensity. “I’ll leave the two of you, for now. Call for me when you’re ready.” The question was would I ever be ready? For Khol that is? I was so out of my league with him, and he was playing by a set of rules that I’d barely been introduced to.

“Wow,” Jenna said as she surveyed my new look, compliments of Khol. “Who would have thought any straight man could dress a woman so well.” She nodded her head in approval. “The man knows what he’s doing.” A wicked grin spread across her face. “In more ways than one.”

“Shut up and finish helping me get ready. I don’t need your running commentary,” I said with a small smile threatening to outbreak on my face, I was feeling more than giddy. Khol had really stepped up his game lately, in and out of the bedroom. I went to stand in front of the bathroom mirror again and was surprised by the image that was reflected back at me. I hardly recognized myself. The red of the dress combined with my white hair, and large dragon pendant, made me look completely non-human, but then again I guess I wasn’t . . . human that is. My hair had mostly grown out of the long angled bob it had been cut into and it hung in loose curls just past my shoulders. The gold of my eyes picked up the red of my dress and made them seem more of an amber shade. I would definitely be believable as a dragon Queen if I did say so myself, and the new look was even starting to grow on me . . . a little.

“That’s one hell of a rock. I’m guessing it’s real?” Jenna eyed the ruby centerpiece of my dragon pendant.