Chapter 2 - Kaius

The market is closed for the night, and Julie is bent over a box at the end of the aisle, reaching for something that has her bent over completely. I walk down the aisle slowly and come up behind her. My hands slide around the curve of her hips, and I pull her body flush against me. She stands and leans her head back, and that chaotic auburn hair drops to the side as she rolls her head a little.

She's shorter than me by about a hand's length, and it's just the right height to align her nice, round ass right where I want it. As my hands roam her curves, I can't help but think that her body feels perfect. Softness and curves everywhere, and muscle underneath her arms and legs.

A sigh escapes her, and it causes her chest to rise and fall dramatically as she grinds her hips hard and slow against my cock. My hand slides slowly up from her hip underneath the edge of her shirt, bunching it up against my arm as I move it further up toward her chest. Her nipple tightens under my touch beneath the lace of her bra as my hand encompasses her breast whole. Again, she's flawless. A little more than a handful.

I bend and kiss my way from her shoulder up her neck. My teeth graze the area just beneath her ear, and a tiny gasp of my name slips from her lips. I thrust forward against the curve of her ass and am greeted by her pushing back against me in answer.

In a flurry of hands, she's pulling at the buttons of her jeans and yanking them down to bare that soft, white round skin to me. I want to bury myself in her, hard and fast. She's panting, begging for me as I free myself. I run a hand up her back slowly as I position myself behind her, drawing it back only to smack firmly against her ass cheek. She arches and gasps, and I…

Light blinds me, and reality crashes back. My dick twitches at the thoughts still flooding my brain. It was just another dream. My breathing is ragged and sweat beads on my face and neck. Damn it. The sheets are crumpled around my waist, and I'm rock hard. Again. This is the third morning in a row I've woken up like this. It's been the same thing every night since the day I caught Julie from falling at the store.

I still can't push that feeling of her body flush against me out of my mind. She's haunting my waking and non-waking moments, and at this point, I'm going to need some sort of relief before I go crazy. I close my eyes and try to handle the very real erection the dream has caused, but my mind is still fixated on her. Light green eyes, pale skin, damn freckles, and soft curves.

I need to get this human out from under my skin. I have absolutely no business obsessing over her like some mate-stricken, soppy romantic. I could understand the attraction if she were another dragon shifter, but a human? There shouldn't be this kind of draw. The sheer ridiculousness of the situation makes the entire act of jerking off to relieve the frustration irritate me more.

I finish and push myself out of bed, still frustrated but at least not miserable and throbbing like when I woke up. I make my way to the small bathroom and wash up, trying to clear my head.It doesn't help that she"s going to be here at Cyrus and Lena's today. A whole day of her and the rest of Lena's human friends hanging around with the pretense of finishing painting the cabins that we are building for the team and dislocated families from the clan around the property.

I'm not particularly open to relationships, human or shifter. The last time I'd tried to open myself up like that, it ended so badly that I spent the following six years in a tailspin. My mind slips back to thoughts of that time.

I had joined the Kostos clan when I turned eighteen. Their main horde is in the Carribean and the sun and sand, combined with their reputation as a powerful clan was extremely appealing.

Weeks of grueling challenges, fighting my way up their ranks enough to even warrant entry into their clan had nearly killed me. Kelsie, my ex, had been the main reason that I survived it. She'd somehow taken pity on me, using her healing abilities to help me after some of the particularly difficult challenges. I'd thought she was really genuinely interested, thought I was "in love".

Once I let her in though, and told her what my abilities really are, she sold me out to their leader so quickly, I was out on my own, before I knew it. All over again.

I'd bounced from clan to clan, feeling like an outsider and trying desperately to find a place where I felt like I could just be myself. Soleilus, with Candara and Cyrus as a leader, is the first time I've had anything that felt close.

I'm pulling on jeans as a harsh knock echoes through the space of the room I"m staying in. With nothing but a bed and dresser in the room, the sound bounces off the walls harshly. I run a hand over my head roughly, trying to force myself to wake up as I pull the door open to find Rufus standing there with his hand raised to knock again.

"Oh good, you're up. I thought I was going to have to come in and drag you out. The ladies are arriving, and you're the straggler again. You know what that means."

"Oh man, Lena duty? I've had her all week."

"Hey, I don't make the rules, Man."

Cyrus's new rule is that the last of us to report for the day on these project days has to spend the day babysitting his wife. Normally, I would argue that's not a bad deal since Lena is decently funny. However, her pregnancy has somehow turned her into the most reckless, independent pain in the ass to walk the earth. It doesn't help that she"s developing decent control of her electric abilities, and she just zaps you when you argue with her about something.

I grab a shirt and follow Rufus, closing the door behind me with a sigh. I know the new cabins are a necessity. I'm also beyond ready to be done with "community bonding" as forced manual labor. I would rather be out on a mission, patrolling, or just about anywhere other than stuck inside all day.

Worse, stuck inside with a bunch of humans I need to keep myself secret from and a bunch of people from the clan that I don't know. Definitely anywhere but near her.

I pull the stretchy black t-shirt over my head and pull it down across my stomach when my eyes meet with a startlingly familiar pair of green eyes. Julie. Her full lips are parted a little, which has my mind running straight back down the ideas of where else I'd like those lips.

Julie's hair is up again in an unruly knot on top of her head, with little auburn strands sneaking out around her face and neck. The idea that I need to see it down, falling around her face, won't leave me. The dark-framed glasses she wears seem to just highlight how bright the green is in her eyes. There's a smattering of freckles that cover every inch of her that's visible. I want to see where else they go. She's in a little tank top with denim overalls pulled over it.

Stop it. You will not sit here and obsess over a human. Control yourself.

Blood is rushing south. I'm getting hard again at the thoughts of my dream this morning and the sheer proximity to her. She bends to coat a paintbrush in the soft cream color going on the walls of the building we're in. The soft curve of her breasts, white and freckled, peek over the edge of her top.

Damn it.

"The rule is to babysit Lena," Rufus laughs, elbowing me in the rib, "Not stare at Julie's tits."

"Not likely. There'd have to be something there to stare at in the first place," I snap back, cracking a forced grin as I glance at him.

That's right. Joke about it. Deflect. No one will know you're lusting after the human. Sure.

The clatter of a brush dropping into a paint tray causes me to turn back in Julie's direction to find her flushed red and turning away. I feel a sharp smack of someone's hand on the back of my head, followed by a jolt of electricity.

"Don't be a dick," Lena scolds as she bends awkwardly, trying to reach a paint can. I stoop and pick it up for her and wait for her to tell me where she wants it. She's only six months pregnant, but I swear if I couldn't hear the single fast heartbeat, I would think she was having twins with how big her stomach has gotten.

"I didn't mean—"

"Oh, you didn't mean?" their taller friend, Georgia, snaps at me, sticking her hands on her hips. "Is there a filter between your brain and mouth? No, that would assume you have a filter to begin with and a brain beyond the tiny one in your pants."

I'm not even sure how to respond to her. Georgia is odd. She's taller than me by a couple of inches. I would guess more than half a foot taller than Julie. They're very different. Where Julie's all soft curves and quiet, curious eyes, Georgia is this hard, brash tomboy who has no problem challenging anyone. It makes me curious as to how their friendship works.

"It's a joke. She just needs to lighten up," I sigh, knowing that I'm likely to lose this fight. Lena gestures, and I follow her with the paint cans and set them down between her, Bernadette, and Sarah. Now, all four of them round on me as Georgia closes in behind me.

Well, shit.

"Don't joke about people's bodies. You don't know her. Julie has had her share of crappy guys judging, and she doesn't need someone like you making her feel less than worthy. Cut the shit, or I'll show Rufus how to get even with you for the raccoon." Georgia's tone gives me the powerful impression she does not like me. She seems extremely protective of Julie, and from the looks on the other women's faces, they all are.

"You could just share that with me anyway," Rufus calls from his side of the room, "I'm so sick of my clothes smelling like peanuts. The ridiculous hell-beast just follows me now, anyway."

"Hey, if I can't make jokes, he can't call Roscoe a hell-beast. Roscoe's sensitive, too," I challenge and immediately regret my choices. Lena's hand connects with the back of my head again.

"I don't understand how you can stand up for the damn raccoon's honor but then treat people around you like they're your walking punchline," Georgia says. She shakes her head and turns back to a tray of paint, dropping a brush in it. She turns and takes off in the direction Julie had left in.

The girls all turn back to their tasks with glares, sighs, and some more muttered grumbles, but Lena's intense eyes are still on me. I feel like she can see through me, and it makes me want to squirm under her scrutiny. I cross my arms defensively and shake my head.

"What?"

"You know what," she says quietly, and I don't like the eerie look in her eyes. I swear if I didn't know better, I'd think she could read minds.

"Don't know what you're talking about. Are we going to get to work?"

"Sure, Kai. You're right. You know nothing. You're certainly not the one who was staring at her to begin with, like she was something right out of a daydream. You couldn't possibly be struggling with feelings about what you want. You certainly aren't doing the bullshit macho avoidance thing about it all. Sure, let's paint."

Lena raises a single black eyebrow and shakes her head as I bend to pick up a brush and hand it to her. Damn it. I swear she's better at seeing through my bullshit than anyone. I hand her the brush I grabbed for her and a paint cup.

"Yeah, let's paint."

This is far safer than talking about what I'm actually thinking. My brain spirals back down that trail of green eyes and white skin, and I can't shake the feeling that I'm in serious trouble.