Playing with Fire (10 page)

Their respective bodyguards lined up behind them as the wyverns slipped into a language I didn’t understand.

‘‘What are they speaking?’’ I asked Aisling, as she hoisted herself to her feet.

‘‘Bah. Baby’s sitting right on my bladder. Hmm? Oh, that’s Zilant.’’ She smiled at my look of confusion. ‘‘I only just found out about it myself. It’s a language that all dragons were taught centuries ago, so that members of different septs could understand one another. It’s pretty much unused now that most of them speak English. Zilant had something to do with the origins of the black dragons—it’s a region in Russia, evidently, and took the name from there.’’

The two wyverns were still going at it, arguing with occasional intercessions from their bodyguards.

‘‘Are they always like that?’’ I couldn’t help but ask.

Aisling smiled at me. ‘‘Pretty much so. They’re arrogant to a man, and bossy, and they always think their way is the only way. . . .’’ She tossed a fond look toward the dark-haired green wyvern. ‘‘But they’re also absolutely unswerving in their devotion. I know this whole thing with Gabriel has probably made you feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you, but he really is a sweetie, and I doubt if you’ll have the trouble with him that I had with Drake. He was absolutely impossible when I first met him.’’

‘‘I heard that!’’ the man in question said, interrupting his argument long enough to shoot a potent glare at Aisling.

She blew him a kiss, then excused herself and went off to the bathroom.

I started to edge my way out of the room. I made it to the stairs before Gabriel turned his head to notice I was nearly out of the room.

‘‘Mate!’’ he said, frowning.

‘‘Mate?’’ A voice came from behind me on the stairs. Cyrene stood there, her face puzzled as she glanced around the room. ‘‘You can’t mean . . . May? A mate? A dragon’s mate?’’

‘‘I thought you were tired and taking a nap,’’ I said, hurrying up to her.

‘‘I had a quick bath instead. I feel much better, although I’m confused about what’s going on here. Did that delicious Gabriel call you ‘mate’?’’

I opened my mouth to explain, but found it hard to put things in a manner that sounded like anything but mindless babble. ‘‘Er . . .’’

‘‘That is correct,’’ Gabriel said, moving over to stand next to me. He didn’t touch me, but he didn’t need to—to my embarrassment, I found myself leaning toward him, as if he was a lodestone and I was a magnet. ‘‘May is my mate.’’

‘‘But she can’t be!’’ Cyrene said, shaking her head as she marched over to us.

‘‘She can’t?’’ Gabriel asked, looking from her to me. ‘‘Why can’t she?’’

Gods, he was handsome. That warm brown skin, those liquid silver eyes, along with a strong jaw and gently squared chin that for some reason made me feel suspiciously weak in the knees. But he was a dragon, a wyvern, and I was Cyrene’s shadow. I moved a step away and tried to ignore the sorrow that filled me.

‘‘Why can’t she?’’ Cyrene looked at him as if he was insane. ‘‘Because she doesn’t like men, that’s why. She’s never had sex.’’

My face burned as I closed my eyes for a minute, fighting with the desire to shadow. ‘‘Cyrene, no one is interested in this.’’

‘‘Well, I certainly think Gabriel is going to be interested if he’s under the delusion that you are his mate! I know it’s hard for you to be open about this, but evidently there is a major misunderstanding about you. We owe it to them to be truthful; these people are our friends, after all.’’

‘‘István broke your neck,’’ I pointed out, momentarily sidetracked from the hell my life had suddenly become.

‘‘Yes, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it,’’ she said, turning to him. ‘‘You didn’t, did you?’’

István nodded, frowned, then shook his head. ‘‘I thought you were attacking Jim.’’

‘‘There, you see? You know I would never want to put you on the spot, dear Mayling, but now is not the time for shyness. Do not be afraid to admit the truth.’’

‘‘Oh, gods,’’ I swore to myself, sinking into the nearest chair.
Why me
? my mind shrieked. Why did Cyrene pick now to bring up this issue?

‘‘I . . .’’ Gabriel looked as stupefied as just about everyone else. ‘‘Are you sure?’’ he finally asked Cyrene, his confused gaze on me.

‘‘Oh, yes,’’ Cyrene answered, taking up a position next to me in order, undoubtedly, to show support. ‘‘I’m quite sure. May’s never been with a man physically, even though more than a few have wanted her.’’

‘‘The things I miss while I’m in the bathroom,’’ Aisling murmured as she took her seat again.

I hunched over, dropping my head to my hands in mortification, regretting to the very depths of my being the day I had the bright idea of telling Cyrene that I had never had, and never would have, a sexual relationship with a man. ‘‘Please, Cyrene! No more!’’

‘‘So wait, she’s a virgin?’’ Jim asked in an awestruck voice, coming over to snuffle my hands. ‘‘Wow. I haven’t seen a professional virgin since we were in Hungary.’’

‘‘Well, not strictly speaking, because when she was created, I wasn’t . . . er . . .’’ Cyrene had a rare and lamentably late moment of circumspection, and thankfully stopped that line of thought before I died of embarrassment right there before her.

I could feel Gabriel’s speculative gaze on me. I peered at him through my fingers. He examined me for a moment, then winked.

I wanted to die all over again.

‘‘Well, that’s really . . . um . . . I’m not quite sure what to say to that,’’ Aisling said.

‘‘You said she hasn’t been with men, but you guys aren’t . . . you know,
girlfriends
, are you?’’ Jim asked, continuing to sniff me.

I smacked at its nose, glaring at it before I turned the look on my twin as she said in an indignant tone, ‘‘Of course we’re not lovers! I
created
her! Making love to her would be like . . . like . . . like having sex with my own clone!’’

‘‘Well, you know, some people might find that kind of kinky and yet oddly attractive. I, myself—ow!’’

‘‘Silence!’’ Aisling said, shaking a rolled-up magazine at the demon.

‘‘Cy, please!’’ I begged. ‘‘Now that you’ve shredded what remains of my dignity, can we move on?’’

She patted my hand. ‘‘I’m just trying to help clear things up. It’s not fair to Gabriel that he not know the truth if he believes you are his mate.’’

My lips twitched as I tried to decide if I wanted to burst into laughter or tears.

‘‘That’s OK,’’ Jim said, leaning against me, leaving a little puddle of drool on the top of my shoe. ‘‘We won’t think bad of you just because no one’s ever parked the pink Plymouth in your garage of love.’’

‘‘Jim!’’ Aisling said, whapping it on the butt with the magazine.

‘‘What? I said it politely! Would you have preferred ‘ride the skin bus to Tuna Town’?’’

‘‘No!’’

I wondered if it would be possible to strangle a demon to death.

‘‘Windsurfing on Mount Baldy?’’

‘‘That’s it!’’ Aisling bellowed, pointing a finger at the demon. ‘‘One more euphemism, and you’re spending a week in the Akasha.’’

‘‘I think it’s time we leave,’’ I said at the same time, standing up to grab Cyrene’s arm.

‘‘I’m so sorry for Jim’s rudeness,’’ Aisling apologized.

‘‘Her twin started it,’’ the dog said, although it shut up quickly enough when Aisling shot it a look that promised retribution.

‘‘I don’t see what you’re so upset about,’’ Cyrene told me, frowning slightly. ‘‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of—’’

‘‘Cy!’’ I yelled, praying the ground would open up before me and swallow me whole.

‘‘May’s sexual experience, or lack of it, doesn’t matter at all,’’ Gabriel pronounced, his voice wrapping itself around me as he moved closer, not quite touching me, but close enough that I could feel his body heat again. ‘‘She is my mate regardless.’’

‘‘No, you don’t understand,’’ Cyrene interrupted, tugging his sleeve. ‘‘The problem isn’t that she hasn’t been with any men before . . . the problem is that she doesn’t
like
men.’’

You could have heard a feather drop in the silence that followed. Every single pair of eyes but Cyrene’s turned to me.

I groaned to myself and thought seriously of murdering my twin.

‘‘She . . . doesn’t?’’ Gabriel asked, disbelief rife in his voice.

‘‘No, she doesn’t. She told me so herself. But you know that she’s my twin, yes? My identical twin? An exact copy of me? So perhaps I’m the real mate, and you just got confused because May is so much like me.’’

Chapter Seven

‘‘So let me get this straight—May’s a virgin lesbian doppelganger wyvern’s mate?’’ Jim pursed its lips as it looked me over before turning to its demon lord. ‘‘I think she’s got even you beat, Ash.’’

I had finally had enough. I stood up and looked sternly at everyone present, but mostly at the man standing next to me. ‘‘I am
not
a virgin, nor a lesbian! I
am
a doppelganger, but the wyvern’s mate question is not proven.’’

‘‘You drank the dragon’s blood without any ill effect,’’ Drake mused, his arm around his wife.

‘‘I’m immortal. It can’t kill me like it could a mortal,’’ I pointed out.

‘‘Yes, but you kissed Gabriel without any problem,’’ Aisling said. ‘‘Even an immortal would have been affected if she wasn’t a mate. I’m afraid that’s a pretty good indicator.’’

Hrmph. ‘‘Do you mean to say that no other woman has ever survived a kiss from you?’’ I asked Gabriel, disbelief dripping from my voice.

‘‘On the contrary, I’ve never killed a woman I’ve kissed.’’ He leaned closer to me, his eyes blazing like sunlight off a polished mirror. ‘‘But there have been a few close calls.’’

Gods, but he smelled good. My body went into a full-fledged battle with my mind, the former wanting to grab his head and kiss that knowing half smile right off his face, the latter pointing out that one kiss could hardly be decisive.

‘‘You’re right,’’ he said, almost against my lips. ‘‘More is definitely better in this case.’’

‘‘Stop reading my mind,’’ I whispered, groaning to myself when his lips curved into a smile.

‘‘No woman has ever taken my fire,’’ he murmured as I stared into those glorious eyes. I teetered on the brink of indecision, wanting more than anything else at that moment to taste him again, to feel his body pressed against mine, to revel in his closeness, but the sane corner of my mind worried that if I gave in, I’d have to face facts that I’d be much better off avoiding. ‘‘Tell me you want it.’’

I tilted my head just a smidgen, just enough to allow my lips to caress his. That’s all it took. With a low-pitched primal noise that seemed to emanate deep from within his chest, his mouth claimed mine, the fire pouring out of him and into me. His lips were hotter than I remembered, hotter than I thought possible, moving over mine in a fashion that left me both satisfied and craving more.

‘‘More,’’ I murmured, my hands in his hair, tugging on the dreadlocks. I was dimly aware that I was behaving in a manner wholly at odds with my normally unemotional self, but there was something about him that seemed to release all the inhibitions I usually held.

That thought scared me to my toenails.

Dragon fire whipped around me, spiraling up from my toes to my waist as Gabriel kissed me with a thoroughness that left no secrets undiscovered. I was shocked at the depths of my desire for him, a man I’d just met. I couldn’t hide from the fact that I wanted him, all of him, with a hunger that left me weak with sudden need. I moaned into his mouth as his fingers dug into my hips, pulling me tighter against the hard lines of his body. He tasted like fire, hot and exciting and dangerous, and I wanted more. The fire grew around me, twisting my desire higher, building my need until I thought it was going to burst from me in a primitive cry. The fire roared from me back to him, leaving me a blazing brand that threatened to burst into a million incandescent sparks.

‘‘Sweet May,’’ he groaned into my mouth as he rubbed my hips against his. ‘‘Sweet, sweet mate.’’

The words pierced my being like little bullets of ice, slicing through my almost out-of-control desire and returning me to reality with a shock that left me reeling.

With a cry, I pushed back, pulling my mouth away from his. ‘‘Don’t call me that,’’ I said, my voice hoarse and shaky.

Confusion filled his eyes.

I shadowed and twisted out of his arms, backing away a few steps. I touched my lips with a trembling hand, feeling empty inside, as if I’d lost something integral to myself.

‘‘May?’’ he asked, taking a step toward me, evidently seeing me despite the darkness of the evening. ‘‘What’s wrong?’’

‘‘Nothing. I just . . . I just don’t like that word,’’ I answered, clearing my throat and glancing around.

Everyone was standing where they had been before Gabriel sucked all my attention from the room, their faces displaying varying emotions.

Cyrene turned shocked eyes to me, but I sensed an underlying emotion that didn’t make any sense to me: pain.

‘‘I’m sorry,’’ I said, feeling the need to apologize. ‘‘I didn’t mean to turn the evening into a peep show.’’

‘‘You—’’ Cyrene started to say, then stopped, biting her lip as she looked away.

‘‘I liked it,’’ Jim said, plopping its big butt down next to a chair. ‘‘You don’t often get to see a wyvern claiming a mate. It’s better than Skinemax. Is there going to be an encore? If there is, can you hold off until I make some popcorn?’’

Aisling spoke a few hurried words and, before the demon could do more than open its mouth in protest, banished it to the Akasha. ‘‘I’m sorry about Jim. I think a little time-out is in order. I’m afraid, though, that it might be right about one thing.’’

I slid a glance toward Gabriel. He was watching me with an intensity that both flattered me and made me uncomfortable. ‘‘Yes, I’m afraid that it is. . . . It would seem that despite the fact that I’m a doppelganger, I appear to be your mate.’’