Scorch(10)

“Sarah, what’s going on?” Wes asked, touching her arm to get her attention. “The way you’ve always talked about your husband, I assumed the two of you had a great relationship.”

“Oh, we do! Devin is my best friend. I love him.” She paused, chewing on her lip. “Can you tell me why you’re asking about him?” she asked me, sounding oddly hopeful.

I couldn’t very well tell her that he was mine.

“I want, uh…” I paused. What was I supposed to say? I wasn’t used to feeling at a loss, and a desperate sense of urgency started to rise up inside me as I searched for the right words.

Sarah was definitely sending out some odd signals. She seemed to want me to be interested in Devin… but even if I was reading her right, how was I supposed to go about telling her that I wanted to fuck her husband? And not just that—although it was true—but that I wanted more. That I wanted to claim him, to fill him with my heat and give him my dragon’s fire, binding him to me forever. That I wanted him to carry my child, and hear him say that he was mine, and never, ever let him go.

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Yeah, no. I definitely couldn’t say all of that to her.

From a human’s perspective, Devin and I were strangers. Sarah would have no reason to believe me if I told her that even though we hadn’t actually met, Devin and I were destined for each other. There was no way to make her understand that I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I would love the man, would lay down my life for him, would cherish him every day that we were together.

Telling Sarah the truth would just end up sounding obsessive, and creepy, and possibly a little stalker-ish.

Even though I hadn’t given her an answer, she seemed to see something in my face that satisfied her. She smiled, nodding decisively as if she’d come to a decision, then said, “Listen, Dev wouldn’t want me to tell you everything, but the truth is that he’s gay, and the other day I think he finally met a guy that he’s interested in. Since you’re asking about him, I’m hoping that maybe that guy was you.” Sarah paused, obviously hoping I would say something.

I gave her a small nod, ridiculously pleased to hear her confirm that Devin had felt something, too. The way he’d run away had fed my doubts, and I wasn’t used to feeling uncertain around men. My dragon rumbled inside me, clearly amused at the idea that fate could have made a mistake.

Sarah smiled and went on. “I don’t know what happened between you two since he only stayed at Elise’s party for a minute, but you obviously made an impression on him. I just don’t want him to give up on this—on you—before he gives it a chance. I know he’s worried about being able to take care of me and Holly and the baby, but I don’t want us to stand in the way of his happiness. Why don’t you let me properly introduce you to him, and we’ll see where it goes?”

I still didn’t understand how Sarah could be so open to the idea of letting me have her husband—whatever the circumstances of their marriage—but that was obviously the case. I felt the tension drain out of me, and my lips curved up in a smile.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as I’d thought.





6





~ Devin ~





“I’m not interested,” I lied, trying to slow my racing heart.

Over the last couple of days, it had been hard to keep my mind off the blond stranger who had made me feel things I’d never imagined—or maybe it was more accurate to say, imagine things that I’d never actually felt—but now he was here, in my home, sitting next to my wife.

His name was Maks, and he had just told me that he wanted to take me out on a date, which made keeping my mind off of him utterly impossible. But I could still do the right thing.

I had just come home from work, and all day I’d felt out of sorts. It had been hard to concentrate on the coding I’d had to get through when I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about That Man. Or, more accurately, about getting fucked by him. Oh, Lord. Ever since I’d first seen him, I had felt feverish and restless and so fucking horny I almost couldn’t stand it. Even when I’d been attracted to other men in the past, I’d never imagined anything as graphic as the visions my mind kept insisting on playing for me every time I closed my eyes over the last couple of days.

And sometimes even when they stayed open.

I’d come home today to find a strange car in the driveway, and even before I’d opened the door I’d somehow known that it would be him. I’d sensed it—the same way I’d been able to feel him moving across the room when I’d run away, before—and it felt inevitable, and right… but that still didn’t mean that I had the right to say yes, even if saying no was the hardest thing I’d ever done.