Page 20 of Dragon Rivals of New York (Dragons of New York #3)

Chapter 20

Sora

“ M iss Sora?” A little girl in pigtails comes up to stand next to my desk.

I should start having them call me by my last name, but when I started here eight months ago, I still hadn’t changed it, and I couldn’t bear to hear my ex husband’s name every time a student addressed me.

“Yes, Madeleine?”

“There’s a strange man standing by the gate.”

I stop myself from cursing just in time. “Thank you for telling me, Madeleine.”

The students are all supposed to be working on an alphabet tracing page, but a few boys are goofing off in the back, so I stop at their desks before making my way to the window.

I told Jethro and Kyro I couldn’t take the time off work, but really, I needed some space after everything that happened this weekend. When I woke up at the sex club, Kyro showed us a pocket door that led to a little bathroom. Jethro showered with me, washing my hair again, while Kyro disappeared for a bit. When he came back, he was clean and dressed.

By that time, it was two in the morning. I was still a little shaky and more than a little overwhelmed, so I told them I wanted to sleep in my own bed and go to work today. I needed the normality. But I agreed to have Kyro pick me up after work, since it’s his day with me, according to the ridiculous schedule they worked out.

Is that how it’ll be if we all three mate? Would I just be passed back and forth between them, splitting my days and my heart? Separate lives with the occasional threesome? That’s not what I want.

“Miss Sora?” Another student grabs my attention as I walk past, and I stop to get them a fresh paper, since they pressed too hard when erasing and tore through the sheet.

When I finally make it to the window, I’m surprised to see a man I don’t recognize rather than Kyro waiting for me. There’s something about him that sets me on edge, a casualness that beguiles power. I can’t say how I can tell, but I know he’s a dragon .

His eyes catch mine and the look he gives me sends a chill through my blood.

Calmly, I walk back to my desk, dig my phone out of the drawer where I keep my personal things, and call Kyro.

“Keep working on your tracing,” I say to my class as it rings. “I’m just going to be in the hall for a minute.” There are windows on the doors, so I can still see in and keep an eye on them.

I should probably call the principal instead, but if I’m right, and that man is a dragon, Kyro and Jethro might be better fit to handle it. He picks up on the first ring, which is when I realize he’s going to be all the way in New Jersey and I should have called Jethro.

“Ara’ha? What’s wrong? Aren’t you at work?”

“Yeah, I am. It’s just…” How do I say this without sounding paranoid? “There’s a man outside staring at my window. He’s been there long enough to freak out one of the kids and—”

“I’m on my way.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m probably overreacting.” Manny would tell me I’m being irrational again.

Silence.

I pull the phone away from my ear and realize the call ended. He must have hung up. I should still tell the principal, but I hesitate and walk back to the window. A minute later, Kyro is strolling around the side of the building. He must not have been in New Jersey after all. That makes me smile. I like that he wanted to be close to me, but also still gave me the space I asked for.

He pauses when he sees the man, gaze narrowing. They talk for a few minutes and then the man leaves. But not before casting one last glance at me with a menacing look in his eyes.

A little hand tugs on my blouse. “Is it time to go home yet?”

“Not yet, Liam. How about you show me your paper?” I guide him back to his desk.

After gathering all the students’ papers and getting them in a circle for story time, there’s a knock at the door. It opens a moment later, revealing Mr. Renalds, the security guard from the front desk, and Kyro.

“Man here said he was givin’ a presentation to the class today, but you didn’t have any guests on the schedule.” Mr. Renalds keeps his hand on the doorknob. “You know him?”

“Yes, um, yes. He’s going to tell the kids about…” Shit. What kind of expertise does Kyro have? He runs a sex club, which he clearly can’t talk about. “Um…”

“Dragon lore,” he says with a smirk .

“Right, yes,” I step toward the door. “We’re doing a unit on fairytales and mythology.” Guess I’m going to have to write a new curriculum now.

“Alright, next time ‘member to give us a heads up about guests.”

“Of course,” I say, trying not to show how flustered I am. “I’m so sorry. I—”

He’s already leaving and shuts the door before I can finish my sentence.

“Are we really gonna learn about dragons?” Liam asks, excitement in his eyes.

Kyro crosses to the little circle of students. His normal scowl, nowhere to be seen, replaced by a genuine smile that lights his entire face. He takes a seat on the floor and immediately starts asking the kids what they’ve heard about dragons before. I might be more flabbergasted by this than I was by him owning a sex club.

While I stare slack-jawed, he tells the kids stories of different dragon legends from different geographical regions, pointing things out on the map on the wall as he goes. He’s more animated than I’ve ever seen him. And my ovaries are freaking the fuck out.

By the end of story time, the kids are begging for him to stay the rest of the day. The look he gives me is just as pleading. There’s only an hour left, so I agree. He stays, helping me with little things around the classroom, until parents come to pick up their kids.

“You’re really good with kids,” I say after everyone’s gone, and it’s just us straightening up the room and prepping things for tomorrow.

“You sound surprised.”

“Yeah, sorry. I just didn’t expect it. You’re so…” Sheepishly, I search for the right word.

“Unfriendly. Intimidating. Menacing.” He stops laying out graded papers on each desk and keeps his back to me. “I’ve been called all those things before.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to say.” I can see why he’d be called those things, but they also don’t exactly fit with the man I’m getting to know. “It’s just you’ve got this bad boy vibe that exudes sexual energy. A guy who gets in fist fights and rides a motorcycle and has sex in public.”

He turns to look at me and crosses his arms as he leans against my desk. “I do have a motorcycle. Love a good fist fight. And sex where you might get caught is one of the great thrills in life. More my thing than straight up exhibitionism.” He looks down at his crossed arms. “But I also love kids and want to be a dad. ”

“You do?” Why is my voice tight? I’ve always wanted kids. It was one of the reasons I didn’t hesitate when Manny asked me to marry him so young. I wanted to be a young mom and eventually a young grandma. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life apart from being a wife and mom. It was my dream. A doting husband and two perfect children I stayed home to raise.

I know it’s a small dream and some people would scoff at it, but it was mine. Well, I thought so— I think so —it’s hard to tell what’s yours and what’s not when you’re conditioned from such an early age to think that marriage and kids are an ideal every woman should strive for.

But I do love kids. It’s why I love this job.

“Do you know much about the Silver Horde?” Kyro asks.

I shake my head and hop up to sit on top of my desk.

“We’ve been dying off. Fewer kids born each year because fewer people are finding their mates.” I wrinkle my brows, wondering what having kids has to do with finding mates, but he continues, “Dragons can only have children with their mates.”

“Wait, are you saying…?”

“If you don’t mate with either Jethro or me, we won’t have children. At least, not biological children. And the horde only allows adoptions of dragon children without parents, which there aren’t a lot of.”

Shit. I feel as if a bomb was just dropped. I pull my knees up to my chest, not caring that I’m wearing a skirt, just wanting to curl in on myself. How could I rob these men of a mate and a family?

“Then, I guess there isn’t really a choice here.”

“Fuck.” Kyro leaves where he’s leaning against the side of the desk and comes to stand in front of me. He grips just under my chin and lifts my head so I can’t look away. “You don’t have to give me or anyone else your body or your autonomy just because I want kids.”

“I want them, too.”

The sigh he lets out is almost relief, but the look in his eyes is too sharp. “I didn’t tell you that to try to convince you. I mean, I do want to convince you. Fuck. I’m messing this all up.” His grip on me tightens, tilting my jaw higher. “You can’t make this decision just out of guilt. Don’t feel guilty for setting boundaries for yourself.”

“You can’t just command me not to feel guilty.” I wish he could. It would make my life a lot easier. I’m not sure I would even know how to make a decision without it being based on guilt. Nearly every decision I’ve made in my life has been tainted by it. I even felt guilty about getting divorced, despite everything that happened.

Kyro studies me for a long minute, nods once, then lets go of my jaw. He doesn’t step away, though. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a tight hug that has tears springing to my eyes. They warned me last night that I might be more teary than usual after my sub drop, but I didn’t expect to feel this emotional.

After what could be minutes or hours, he kisses the top of my head and steps back. I slide off the desk, but a wave of dizziness has me wobbling on my feet.

“Have you had anything to eat today?” He steadies me with his hands on my arms.

I skipped lunch to call a kid’s parents about a behavioral issue and skipped breakfast because my roommate left a bunch of dishes in the sink from the weekend. She works two jobs, so I cleaned up, but by the time I finished, I was running late.

“I’m fine,” I say.

He pulls back and hunches over to bring our faces in alignment. “What did you eat, Sora?”

“Nothing, okay,” I huff. “But it’s fine. We can go get something now.”

“You need to take care of yourself.”

He sounds like my therapist. She says the not-so-subtle result of being taught the body is evil is that it encourages us to think it’s righteous to ignore the body's needs, to go without sleep and food and other physical necessities. It becomes a sign of pride when someone skips a meal or water or sleep in order to “serve.” They’re choosing the higher good. The “proverbs woman” wakes before everyone else, goes to bed after everyone else, and gives everything to everyone else. She isn’t selfish.

Plus, there’s the shame attached to the body in both the secular and spiritual cultures I grew up in. This is New York. Women don’t age here. They get Botox and boob jobs. The natural needs, desires, and consequences of having a body are shameful. My therapist tells me I’m making progress and letting go of these things, but it feels slow, and those beliefs run so deep they aren’t always even conscious.

The first time I told a parent I couldn’t talk to them because I was on my lunch break and needed to eat, I cried because I felt like I was being selfish and they would hate me.

I’ve come a long way since then. I’m more stable, more confident in myself and my decisions, but taking care of myself is still difficult, especially when it’s put in opposition to caring for someone else. Like my roommate or one of my students.

“There was too much to do,” I whisper. “I’m really fine. ”

Kyro kisses my lips, my jaw, slowly making his way to my ear. “You don’t have to earn your existence, Ara’ha.”

My breath catches in my throat. Because it feels like a lie. I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it.

But I want to.