6. Kadia

Kaida heard footsteps on the stairs, and her skin broke out in a sweat. Quickly, Kaida shoved her G-strings and thongs underneath a small pile of shirts in her drawer before Beckett entered their room. Shoving the drawer back into place and turning to face him with a bright red face, the mist of sweat on her skin grew to full-on droplets. Kaida put her hands behind her back and tried to look as innocent as possible. Beckett smirked at her and leaned a little to look around her. From how fast she moved, Kaida glanced back to see if a panty or two was hanging outside the drawer and was relieved not to see any.

Kaida cleared her throat, and he flashed her a full-toothed grin, "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing. Why would I be hiding something?"

"Your face is about as red as Blaze’s dragon right now. You must be hiding something after trying to close that drawer just because I entered the room."

Kaida’s cheeks felt hot. Damn it. My body betrayed me.

"I’m not hiding anything. I am just trying to unpack," Kaida replied while she bent over to grab a few shirts from a box, "You just startled me. That’s all."

"Then why were you blushing?"

"That’s what happens when I get scared!"

The rumble inside of his chest had Kaida rubbing her thighs together. There was always something about that rumble that made her want him. It did not help that she felt the heat from his body right behind her. The throbbing that started in between her legs as he whispered, "You’re cute when you lie," made her weak in the knees.

"I still have a lot of unpacking to do," she told him as she tried to remain focused.

Beckett kissed her neck, "You have all day to do that."

Kaida sighed and leaned her head to give him more access. Beckett took advantage of her gesture and kissed her neck all the way down to her shoulder. Kaida moaned as he manipulated his magic to make his lips cold. The feel of it against her warm skin sent a ripple of goosebumps down her back. She felt his teeth scrape against her shoulder, and another moan escaped her lips. When he snaked his arm to the front of her body and squeezed her breast while he kissed his way back up her neck, she was nearly panting.

Then Beckett let her go and stepped back. The absence of his warmth made her shiver. She turned to face him, and he was wearing a smirk.

"A little taste of what is to come later. You’re right. You should finish unpacking so we have all the room needed tonight."

"That was mean."

"I can’t be nice all the time. There’s no fun in that." Beckett chuckled and left the room.

Kaida let out a growl when she heard his footsteps on the stairs. Beckett continued to chuckle as he made his way back down to the lower level. Kaida continued to growl out her frustration until she shook it off.

We could always tie him up and leave him there after we tortured him, her dragon mentioned as Kaida returned to unpacking.

That does sound like a good idea. Just torture him like he did me and then leave him there.

I think we should. Sounds like fun. We could do it now!

I need to finish unpacking first.

Well, hurry up. We have a mate to torture.

Kaida rolled her eyes and continued to put things away. Without help, it would take all day to finish this. She did not realize how much stuff she had accumulated in such a short amount of time on the island. Mostly clothes, but that made some sense to her. With Azulia knowing how to make clothes, things would show up in her closet daily. Kaida was just thankful it was only sometimes dresses. Now that she wasn’t the Queen to be, it was nice to dress down in something easy like a t-shirt and pants.

"I don’t understand you! Why would you bring her here?!"

Blaze’s screaming tantrum from downstairs practically rattled the walls, making Kaida drop the dress she had been holding. Kaida froze as she waited for an answer from Beckett. Even though she bore his mark, Kaida feared that one of these times, Blaze causing a fight would make him realize she wasn’t worth fighting for.

"She is my mate, Blaze! When are you going to get that through your thick-ass skull? What would you do if you had a mate?"

"I wouldn’t accept her as my mate if my brothers hated her! I would reject her! This is more important than a damn mate! We grew up together! We RULE this island TOGETHER!"

Kaida made her way to stand at the top of the stairs. Blaze’s anger formed a cloud inside the house. She could feel it all the way upstairs. He was going to fight until he got his way.

Does he have that much influence over Beckett? Would my mate reject me just because Blaze hates me this much?

"You’re insane. Do you understand that people who are rejected are sent here? The people we ’rule’ are broken-hearted when they arrive here, and it is our job to make them feel like they have a home here. So, with that in mind, you would still reject your mate?"

"Yes! Why would any of that matter? Our brotherhood matters to me! Apparently, it doesn’t to you!"

Blaze’s words cut through Kaida like a knife. She hated Blaze, but part of her thought he was still decent. Being ruled by the fire element was a challenging thing. Azulia explained to Kaida that it causes some people to feel their emotions so strongly that it makes them a little... ill-tempered. But this felt like more than that. Blaze argued with Beckett, every step of the way, that his reaction to Kaida moving in wasn’t just because his emotions were hard to ignore. Blaze hated her, and it didn’t seem like there was a way to fix that.

We could always get rid of him.

Yeah, like that will go over well.

Kaida couldn’t focus on the task at hand anymore. The yelling continued, and there was no way Kaida could ignore it.

"What gives you the right to invite her to live with us? To mark her! We have always talked to one another about large decisions like this all our lives. What would cause you to not talk this out with us extensively before you just marked her?"

He is trying to convince Beckett to reconsider being with me.

He is an ass. Beckett knows this.

That doesn’t mean he won’t listen to someone he has known his entire life.

"Do you hear yourself right now? You are talking as if you understand what it means to find your mate. You have no idea what this is like. You wouldn’t be able to just ignore the fact that you have a mate. You wouldn’t be able to say, ’Hey guys, I have a mate, but I’ll reject her if you don’t like her.’ It doesn’t work that way!"

I told you.

"That’s how it should be!"

Ugh, is he going to stop?

Kaida couldn’t sit at the top of the stairs any longer. A bubble of anger was starting to boil inside of her chest. She didn’t need to have Beckett fight her battles for her. Kaida walked briskly down the stairs and into the room where Beckett and Blaze were standing. It was the room with the billiards table with Beckett on one side and Blaze on the other. Blaze was nearly as red as his dragon, while Beckett looked like he was having a casual conversation.

Blaze heard her enter the room and gave her a look filled with hate, "Oh great. Now she is here."

"What is your problem with me, Blaze?" Kaida’s voice held more courage than she felt she had right about then.

"You belong in your precious castle having tea parties and balls. Not here."

Kaida felt her dragon rise to the surface and let out a vicious growl. Blaze had no idea about what he was talking about. He knew nothing about her or where she belonged. Since the day she was dropped here and found the girls, she had felt more at home than she ever did inside the castle in Dragaal. She had always felt awkward and like she had to be put together all the damn time. Not here. The only expectation here was to survive, and Kaida had been able to do that just fine without the eyes of the kingdom on her every second of every day.

"You don’t know shit about me, so those words mean nothing. Maybe you are the one who doesn’t belong around here."

"Shut your fucking mouth, Groundy."

Kaida and Beckett both growled at Blaze. The crackling of energy around Kaida’s hands drew her attention. Her magic was inside her palm, ready to be thrown at Blaze if she wished. The only thing stopping her was the idea of her magic missing and blowing up the house. She didn’t know much about her magic, but she did remember how powerful it was when she used it on the beach.

"What the fuck? What is going on?"

Arlo’s voice behind her made Kaida jump. She was so focused on Blaze that she allowed herself to have her back to anyone who walked through the door. When she turned around, Arlo and Esen were behind her with confused looks on their faces.

If this were a battle, I’d be dead.

Blaze is more of an enemy than these two.

"I’m trying to convince our friend and brother that moving this one in is a horrible mistake."

"Jeez, Blaze. Not this again," Arlo practically whined as he stepped around Kaida to enter the room. Arlo briskly touched her skin with her in the doorway as he entered the room. A surge of heat danced across her skin as they connected for a brief second. Kaida looked up at him to see if he felt the same thing she did, but his face gave nothing away. Esen did the same thing after Arlo, and he, too, brushed up against her. The same wave of heat fluttered her senses, and Kaida forgot that she was now in a room full of men, and that three of them didn’t approve of her, including the two who had just made her feel an unlikely sensation.

Wait. Did Arlo just sound like he was complaining that Blaze was talking about me again?

"Yes. Again. I will keep bringing it up until it reaches his simple-minded brain that she is not welcome here."

Beck lifted his hand and pointed at Blaze. Arlo cut him off before he could say what he wanted.

"You’re the only one who feels that strongly, Blaze."

Blaze looked at Arlo with a look that made Kaida take a step back. Arlo remained calm and looked at Blaze with compassion. Kaida wasn’t sure what changed in Arlo, but she could sense, with that look, that he had changed sides.

"I think you need to drop this, Blaze. Esen and I have been talking. It is not worth losing Beck over. She is his mate. There is nothing we can do about that. Kaida is not here to destroy us like you think she is. The Great Dragon chose her for Beckett. We need to respect that."

"WHAT?!"

Arlo stood his ground with Esen at his back. The air sizzled with tension as Blaze’s face turned red again. Kaida looked over at Beckett; his face did not look as worried as she thought it should have. Kaida took a step closer to him as fear rose inside of her. With how red Blaze looked, she was waiting for him to shift.

"This does not seem like the hill to die on. If we do continue with this, we could lose Beck. He is not going to choose us over his mate. If you were thinking with your head and not your dick, you would see it that way too."

"You are way out of line!" Blaze yelled while pointing his finger at Arlo. "I am not thinking with my dick!"

"Really, dude? It seems that way. When you are thinking with that thing, you tend to go off half-cocked," Esen said and then added, “Pun intended.”

Blaze practically roared and slammed his fist down onto the table. When it cracked in half, and the pieces fell onto the floor, everyone jumped back as the billiard balls flew in every direction.

"Calm down!" Beckett yelled at Blaze.

"No! You three are now on the same side? Since when? What the fuck changed?" Blaze pointed at Arlo and Esen.

Kaida sneaked over to stand next to Beckett. He tucked her into his side, and Kaida leaned into him to feel more secure about being in this room with an angry, overgrown lizard willing to spew fire at anything that upset him.

Arlo glanced in Kaida’s direction, and she could feel something spark inside her. This look was so different from the usual one she got from Arlo. It wasn’t a look of pity either. It was something more. It was almost like he wished he could be alone with her. The moment was brief before he looked back at Blaze, but Kaida knew he held her stare long enough that she didn’t make it up. He looked at her, and something was going through his mind.

"Her dragon emerged, Blaze. You thought she wasn’t good enough for Beck because she was dragonless. That isn’t the case anymore. I’m done fighting. There is something greater than us at work here. The Great Dragon spoke by making them soulmates. To go against them," Arlo glanced at both of them with a smile that didn’t quite make it to a full one, "is to go against The Great Dragon. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a fight we will lose."

"I agree with Arlo. This isn’t the right thing to do anymore. Kaida belongs to Beckett. I’m not fighting this, either. She belongs here. With him," Esen added.

Flames erupted from Blaze’s palms and grew with intensity as his face contorted with anger. Kaida wasn’t sure what to do and looked to Beckett for an answer.

"Blaze... we are in our house. Do not let go of your magic!" Beckett yelled, but it was the worst thing he could have done.

Blaze turned his attention to Beckett, and his eyes fell on Kaida. The flames were no longer just in his hands but climbed up his arms and chest. Kaida felt her dragon come to the surface, but Beckett grabbed her hand, which seemed to allow a flood of calmness to rush through her. Her dragon immediately relaxed, and the feeling went away.

Then, a fireball was thrown at her.

Thankfully, Beckett shot a stream of water at the same time, making the fire burst into mist.

Yikes! I need to go!

Kaida looked at the door only a few feet away, whereas Blaze was further back into the room. There was no questioning what she should do anymore as Kaida quickly darted toward the door.

She heard a commotion behind her, but Beckett’s voice was louder.

"Keep going! We can handle this!"

Once outside, Kaida was able to breathe again. There was still a ruckus inside, but she knew she didn’t have to worry about anything unless Blaze emerged from the house or his dragon did. Kaida continued walking down to the gazebo Beckett had taken her to that day just to give herself distance from the house.

What was all that about?

Clearly, we get under the Ember Dragon’s skin.

I don’t even know why.

You may not ever know if he continues this way. Next time, I will step in.

Kaida’s mind went to the look Arlo had given her. There was so much in just that one look. Kaida only wished she could ask him about it. Then there was the fact that he and Esen defended her against Blaze.

Something is going on. I need to talk to them...but how do I do that without looking like I am betraying Beckett?

“Kaida?”