Page 5 of Dragon Rivals of New York (Dragons of New York #3)

Chapter 5

Sora

I can’t believe I just did that! Not that I did much. Jethro did most of the work while Kyro held me up. Two men! I just got off with two men! Who am I?

My parents would freak. They’re not the only ones. Pretty much everyone who knows me would never believe that “good little Sora” just got off with two men in public.

My body is still quivering, my face feels hot, and my legs are like cooked noodles. I’d probably fall over if Jethro and Kyro weren’t both holding me up.

“Water.” Kyro’s single word sentence makes me realize how thirsty I am. Finley and I danced for a good hour or more before the guys showed up, and after what just happened, I’m certainly dehydrated.

Jethro buttons the top button on my skirt, smooths down my shirt, and scoops me into his arms. He carries me off the dance floor, back to the table where Jeslyn, Midas, and the rest of the group are hanging out. Everyone except Finley and Cyrus. I glance around and find them on the dance floor, making out more than dancing.

A deep blush warms my skin despite what I just did on that same dance floor. I’m still not used to seeing such public displays of affection. A manic laugh bubbles from my chest, nervous embarrassment catching up to me now that some of the tension’s been released. I just did a lot more than a little public kissing.

What the hell was I thinking?

It was like they wove this magic spell over me and made the rest of the crowd disappear. Huh, do dragons have magic? I don’t think so, but maybe I should ask Finley.

I guess as of tomorrow, she’ll know for sure.

The wedding will happen in the late morning, and then they’ll all fly to some dragon temple for the ceremony that will turn Finley into a dragon. The priestess still hasn’t decided if she’ll allow me to come. It’s supposed to be dragons only.

If I mated Jethro—or Kyro, I guess—I could go. But since I haven’t chosen to do that, I’m on a wavering guest list that changes every day based on the current mood of the priestess .

Jethro sits down with me in his lap, and Kyro shows up out of nowhere, holding the biggest glass of water I’ve ever seen.

“Did you three have fun?” Jeslyn asks.

Is there an innuendo in her tone or is she honestly wondering? Can she tell how much fun we just had? Well, I had. I guess Kyro and Jethro didn’t have quite the same experience I did.

I should do something about that. Glancing around, I look for some place quiet where I can return the… shit, no. My therapist’s voice rings in my mind.

You don’t need to earn or pay back every bit of affection you’re shown. It wasn’t your fault he cheated on you.

Still… I feel responsible for them and their pleasure, guilty for taking without giving anything back.

Yeah, guess that lesson hasn’t sunk in yet.

I take a deep breath before answering. “It was great.”

My voice comes out like the squeak of a mouse. Jethro brings his lips to the side of my throat. “The most fun I’ve had since the first week I met you.”

When we first met, I was a little tipsy after lunch with Finley and Cyrus, so Jethro drove me back to my apartment. I was newly divorced. I’d only slept with one man. And I was determined to have a one-night stand. I basically threw myself at Jethro.

To my utter disappointment, he was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t try anything, but he stayed, made sure I ate, drank water, took advil, and napped. It’s when I woke up completely sober that he more than gave in. The man destroyed me. My first one-night stand ruined me for all future attempts.

And believe me, I’ve made attempts. Finley worries that I’ve counter corrected too far from my strict conservative upbringing, concerned that I might end up going home with a serial killer or getting a STI.

Truthfully, my attempts haven’t been much more than attempts. Most of them failed, never making it to bed. A few succeeded, if success is just sex. Only one man made me come, and after Jethro, it was just… meh.

But experimenting and experiencing things—even when they aren’t so great—is what I want. For so long, my sexuality was something someone else controlled. First my parents. Then my husband. My sexuality was something that was for someone else. Pleasure was something to distrust because it led to sin. Urges were to be stuffed down and ignored, or hidden, like the way my husband hid his affair.

Now, for the first time in my life, I’m in control of my sexuality. I get to choose when I feel pleasure and with whom.

Speaking of… my gaze lifts to Ky ro, who’s towering over me, still holding that glass of water.

“Drink.” His abrupt command lights up some primal part of me I don’t understand. There’s the slightest curl to the right side of his mouth when he sees me obey.

“Good girl,” Jethro whispers in my ear.

“Don’t call me that.” I say, surprised by my guttural reaction. I don’t want to be the good girl anymore. Being the good girl got me nowhere. No, that’s not true. It got me depressed, anxious, and exhausted. It’s too hard to maintain. The expectations were too high. No matter what I did, I could never reach them.

“What do you want to be, then, lovely, if not my good girl?”

I don’t know how to answer him. It’s been more than a year since I found out my husband was cheating on me, a year since I divorced him, and I still feel like I’m floundering, adrift without the tethers that used to support me, trying to figure out who I am in this new reality.

For a while, I told myself I wanted to be the bad girl. Okay, yeah, Finley was right. I counter corrected and went a little extreme. I even tried out some light degradation and having guys call me a slut, and while it was a little fun for a moment, it left me feeling kind of hollow afterwards. Especially when the guys would up and leave immediately, and I’d be left with all the negative connotations the word carried, even if I was trying to reclaim it.

Degradation wasn’t really for me.

But I don’t want the pressure of praise and being called “good.” Good requires perpetual vigilance to keep from slipping into “not good enough.”

“Well?” Jethro hums in my ear and a shiver races the noise.

“Huh?” Oh yeah, he asked a question. “I don’t know. Just don’t call me good girl.”

“Would you rather be our dirty little slut?” Jethro’s voice is low, too quiet for anyone except me to hear. But Kyro is staring down at me with an intensity that makes me wonder if he heard the whispered words.

Heat burns my cheeks. Okay, maybe there’s some part of me that likes the idea of being his naughty, slutty, wanton bad girl. It sounds different coming from him. Less derogatory and more like a challenge, or an invitation.

But ultimately, I want to be something more than just “good” or “bad.” I shake my head. “Just call me Sora.”

“Alright, lovely Sora.” He kisses my neck.

“It’s time to go,” Midas says, standing and holding out his hand to help his wife to her feet. I’d nearly forgotten they were at the table with us .

I frown. “I thought you were going to stay the night with Finley and me.”

“I was.” Jeslyn gives a little laugh. “But…”

Her husband’s possessive arm around her waist communicates what she doesn’t say. The guys showing up changes things.

“We should really let the babysitter go home, anyway.” The way she’s smiling at Midas makes it clear she’s not going home just to relieve the babysitter.

I stand up and give her a hug. The other two men who came in with Cyrus—I don’t remember their names—say their goodbyes as well.

Finley and Cyrus have disappeared somewhere now, so it doesn’t seem like either of them mind that the party is breaking up early.

“Can I take you home?” Kyro asks after everyone but Jethro is gone.

“No.”

Kyro’s expression sags.

“Can I?” Jethro shoots Kyro a cocky grin.

“No. I’m going with Finley. She’s coming over for a sleepover before the wedding tomorrow.” I just need to figure out where she’s run off to, then we can be on our way to eating ice cream and watching Nora Ephron movies.

“Will you enter the pools with me tomorrow?” Jethro asks.

Kyro sucks in a breath.

It’s not the first time he’s asked me this question, but this time it’s layered with so much more. I know what it’ll mean for him if I say no. What it’ll mean for Kyro, too. Shit, what am I going to do? Sure, they shared me tonight, but it’s clear they hate each other. I doubt they want to be in a throuple for hundreds of years. Shit, what am I even thinking? I can’t be in a throuple. That’s for sixteen-year-old kids who don’t know what they want and have no sense of commitment yet. I’m not like that snarky character from Parks and Recreation with her two boyfriends. What was her name again? April. Yeah, April.

I don’t even know if the priests and priestesses will let me mate two different dragons.

“I can’t answer that yet,” I whisper.

Kyro’s brows turn down. “You know what it means if you refuse?”

My guts twist like a rung out rag. A bitter taste fills my mouth. Now, I’m not just dooming Jethro with my choice. I’m dooming Kyro, too.

“You’d let us both go mad?” Kyro asks, gaze hard.

My guilt turns to anger in a second. I won’t be shamed, bullied, or blackmailed into a marriage—more than a marriage, a magical lifelong bond that will last centuries.

I’ve made most of my adult decisions because of someone else, what they want, what they need, what they think is right. People have backed me into corners and controlled me too many times. Not again.

“I don’t want either of you to get hurt, no.” I hold my chin high. “But I also refuse to ignore and surrender my own needs and desires.”

“What is it you need and desire, lovely?” Jethro asks.

“That’s just it!” My voice is a little too loud and a few people turn to look at us. Jethro takes my arm and pulls me into a darker, quieter corner. Kyro follows.

“I don’t know what I want or what I need,” I whisper. “I’m only just figuring it out, and getting into a permanent relationship isn’t the way to do that.” Jethro knows some of this already, but I say it anyway for Kyro’s benefit. “I got together with my ex in ninth grade. We dated all through high school and college. He led in everything. And I followed. If he liked a certain type of movie, that’s what we saw. If he thought my dress was too short, I changed. I didn’t even realize I hate country and love rap until we got divorced. I’d exclusively listened to country music with him before that.” My words come fast. “There’s so much I’ve never experienced, so much I don’t know. I can’t get sucked into someone else’s orbit and lose myself again. I just… I can’t.” My cheeks are wet, but I don’t know when I started crying.

“Hey, hey, come here.” Kyro pulls me into a hug that swallows me and all the emotion I just threw at him. “I’m sorry.” His breath fans the top of my head. “I don’t want you to lose yourself.”

“Neither do I.” Jethro steps closer, and Kyro pulls me away. Jethro rolls his eyes. “We could help you, lovely. I can’t speak for Kyro, but I have no plans to take experiences away from you. I want to give you everything, Ara’ha. Everything.”

“One week.” Kyro’s gravelly voice sounds above me, and I tilt my head to look up at him. “In one week, I can give you enough experiences to know what you need, what you like, what you…” he swallows, “love.”

“I like this plan,” Jethro says. “Give us one week to woo you.”

I know exactly why they’re saying one week. That’s all we have for me to decide. Goddess Week starts tomorrow. A week from now, my choice will be made.

“We’re going to convince you that you don’t need to be single to find yourself. With the right partners—”

“Partner,” Kyro growls.

“With the right partners ,” Jethro reiterates, “you don’t have to live in shadows or make yourself small. Trust me, we can give you more experiences in the next week than you’ve had in the past year.”

“Say yes,” Kyro whispers against my hair.

“How? I mean, what will it look like? What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing tonight.” Kyro kisses my temple and lets go of me.

He and Jethro share a look before Jethro lays a soft kiss at the corner of my lips. “You have plans with your friend tonight. We won’t get in the way of that.”

“Go have fun.” Kyro spins me toward the dance floor and pats my ass. “Go.”

“What about you two?” I look between them.

Kyro gives Jethro a menacing scowl. “We have things to discuss.”