“I don’t play fair, doll,” he tells me, and I shake my head as I hustle to catch up to him. We run at a normal pace for most of the run. Then, in the last fifteen minutes of our race, he suddenly speeds up, and it's impossible for me to keep up with his pace. I swear under my breath when he quickly disappears from view, and I sprint as fast as I can to the end of the track. When I get there, Korbin is leaning against a tree, drinking water. I stand there gawking as it drips down his chin onto his chest, I can't help myself. In my distracted state, I trip on something and slam onto the ground. Nothing hurts, well my ego does, but I ignore that as I roll onto my back.
“Shit, here,” I hear Korbin says, and he picks me, letting me straighten myself out. He lifts his hand, picking some leaves out of my hair, and then pushing a strand behind my ear. I don’t know what gets into me when he rests his hand on my cheek, but I lean my head into it. I close my eyes for a second and just breathe in his smoky scent. He might not know he is a dragon, but he still smells like one. He still has that comforting scent. When I open my eyes, Korbin is staring at me with such longing and desire, that I can’t look away. Something is changing between us. I should stop it, I should run away from it…but I don’t feel like I can.
“There’s something about you, doll, and I want to know what it is,” he whispers.
“There’s nothing,” I answer, wanting to say there’s nothing that I can tell him.
“Nothing is definitely not a word I’d use to describe you, you are everything but it,” he claims forcefully, sliding his hand from my cheek to my jaw, his thumb lightly skimming across my lips.
“You’re a shameless flirt,” I say, smiling a little tensely. Pulling away, I wipe the dirt off myself and lean down to pick up my water bottle.
“Not usually, but with you, yes,” he replies, watching me carefully as I try to shake off what just happened. What happened to making him remember? This run accomplished nothing.
“We should shower before school,” I say, walking towards the house, and he swiftly catches up.
“I’m going to guess that wasn’t an invite to shower together,” he drawls.
“Nope,” I giggle.
“I can wait. Our date is Saturday, at seven,” he says, running ahead of me and into the house before I can even say no. Damn cocky dragon.
Chapter Six
Isola
Want a ride?” Elias’ sexy voice drifts over to me, making me jump as I walk out the house. I turn, seeing him sitting on a massive motorbike, and I have to make my eyes pull away from his leather covered body. Holy crap, he looks hot. I only know its Elias from his voice, as I can’t see his face under his helmet, but I know he can see me ogling him.
"You have a motorbike... of course you do," I mutter, pulling my coat tighter around me as I glance up at the dark skies. Dagan and Korbin walk past, going down the drive to the bus stop, looking between me and Elias.
“It’s going to rain, you should take the ride,” Korbin suggests. Dagan doesn’t say a word, only staring at me intensely, like he is trying to figure out a puzzle.
"Make your choice, princess," Elias says. I shake my head, knowing I must be mad, and I walk over to Elias. He offers me a spare helmet, and I slide it on before getting onto the back of the bike. It’s a little awkward to get on, being that I’ve never ridden one before, but I do manage. Just not very gracefully.
"You will need to hang on," his voice coming loudly through the helmet, and I realise they must have some kind of walky talky built in them. I’m sure there’s a technical word for it, but it just reminds me of the walky talkies we use to have as kids. I tentatively wrap my hands around his waist, trying not to feel the flat, hard muscles that are under my grip. He grabs my arms, making me slide forward on the seat until my body is wrapped around his and he pulls my hands tighter around him. Elias starts the bike, and I close my eyes as it purrs to life underneath me. We begin to move, flying down the driveway by the sound and feel of it. It’s scary at the start, but once I relax, it's pretty enjoyable. I’m used to flying or moving fast, it’s what dragons do but at much higher heights. I’m still not looking though; my eyes are staying shut.
“Are you going to open your eyes?” Elias asks me after we round a corner.
“Nope,” I reply back, and I hear him laugh through the helmet. It’s oddly relaxing to hear his laugh, hear him so relaxed and happy.
“It’s not that bad, you might like it if you try,” he says, and I gently open one eye and then the next. We are driving through town; the shops and people seem like blurs and it’s incredible.
“It’s so weird, but in a good way,” I say and he laughs, not replying to me. It’s another ten minutes until we are pulling up to the school car park and he stops his bike right near the front of the school. I get off, ignoring the stares from everyone as I pull my helmet off and hand it to Elias. He puts both of them in the space under the seat, and then unzips his riding gear. As he pulls it off, his shirt rides up so I get a glance of his tattoos and the v shape that disappears into his jeans. He puts the outfit in the bike, and grabs his leather jacket, putting it on before slipping his keys into his pocket.
“Are you going to show me around then?” Elias asks after I spend way too long gaping at him. Shit.
“Yeah, sure, so where are you guys from?” I ask, and we start walking up the steps to the front doors. I need to know where they have been for the last two years and why Thorne said he brought them here. I can’t accept that he did, that he helped me in any kind of way.
“A little bit of everywhere, our parents like to travel, but we are stuck here for a while,” he explains, and I wonder who Melody made him think his parents are. I doubt they were travelling anywhere, either. Thorne’s words keep rolling around in my mind. He claimed he kept them safe, so they must have been near him. Maybe they were kept in the castle or something.
“So down here are all the classrooms, and at the end of this hall is the lunch room. On the right is the head teachers office, the reception rooms, and to the left is the toilets,” I say, pointing in each direction as I explain them. He nods, looking around as students walk past us, all watching him. He pulls a piece of paper out his pocket, looking at the table on it.
“I have double English first, what about you?” he asks.
“Same,” I say, and nod my head down the corridor, “it’s this way.”
“Isola!” I hear my name shouted, and turn around to see Michael running over to me. Michael has gold blond hair and a massive build from all the training he does for football. He towers over me when he steps near me.
“Hey Michael,” I reply briskly, wanting to get to class. I need the time to spend thinking of new ways to get the guys to remember me.
“I heard from Hallie that you’re finally coming to one of my party at the end of the month?” he asks, stepping closer. I look over as Elias wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me to his side.
“We will be coming, I’m Elias,” Elias says tensely, holding out a hand for Michael. Michael looks between us, anger flashing over his face but he instantly schools his expression, shaking Elias’ hand.
“You should come and train for the football team, I’m the captain. You have two brothers, right?” he asks.
“He does,” Dagan’s cold voice comes from behind Michael, just moments before he and Korbin step next to Elias and me.
“Cool. Anyway, can’t wait to see you at the party…and your friends can come too,” he says, confusing me a little. I flinch when he steps closer, wrapping his arms around me as he pulls me away from Elias and dragging me to his chest. I swear I hear someone growl, and I can only hope it was one of the guys and their dragon.
“We are going to be late for class,” Dagan says, and you can hear the hostile tone in his voice. Michael lets go, grinning at me before walking away.
“Who is that?” Elias asks.
“Just this guy that goes to school here, Michael," I reply. All the guys watch Michael until he gets to his classroom and disappears from view. I place my hand on Elias shoulder.
“We really will be late for class,” I say, not really caring about being late, but I know I need to distract him from whatever he is thinking. Dagan and Korbin look at me once more before walking off, and Elias steps closer, putting his arm around my waist.