Me?”
“Bronte is also suspicious,” Vivica said. “Do you think she’ll buy into your dragon background? Seriously?”
“Your point?” Darkwyn asked, slipping stacks of black jeans and T-shirts into his duffel bag.
Vivica handed him an open book. “You haven’t learned enough, yet, not to stumble over your own weird truth. Knowledge would make you less clumsy about your past.”
Darkwyn zipped his bag. “With age comes wisdom?”
“One can only hope.”
“I already have enough wisdom to wonder why Bronte doesn’t have a man.” A grating unease ran through him. “She’s too beautiful not to have a protector.”
“I would have told you if she did when you claimed her as your heart mate. By the way, never call yourself her protector. She would be insulted on so many levels. Having a protector is, in some cultures, the mark of a kept woman.”
“I intend to keep her.”
“You tread dangerously. At least learn about how to treat a woman of today.” Vivica handed him the right DVD, and he took it.
Vivica nodded her approval. “Bronte is free to be yours, if she wishes.”
“She does.” Truth was, he did not know as much as he should, but he planned on-the-job training. Yes, he read every night, quite fast, and found pleasure in what he learned in those books. Computer lessons, not so much. “I will catch up with your culture in my own way in my own time.”
Vivica raised her hands in defeat. “What are you planning?” she asked. “I can practically see your mind racing.”
“Does that mean thinking while running?”
“Darkwyn, you need enough knowledge to get past your own weird truth. You’re scaring me. Leave too soon and someone could get hurt.”
“I will apply wisdom to new and old truths.”
“I mean that Zachary or Bronte could get hurt, because of what you do not know.”
“I would never let that happen.”
“I don’t worry about you. You have the strength of ten, heightened hearing and sight, the powers to heal, read minds, and shape-shift, to flee skyward in an extreme emergency. Mind you, try to fly, and you’ll be shot down like a UFO, but that’s beside the point. I’m not sure you would know how to stop if your inner dragon took control, though you do have a keen instinctual insight.”
“Exactly. I sense when someone’s in trouble. Bronte is in trouble.”
“I won’t argue that. What other lessons do you take with you?”
“The basics to live by on this plane. I liked biology, especially the reproductive system, but not theory. I need hands-on experience.” He opened and closed his fists like claws.
She swatted his arm. “You’re such a man.”
Puck made a clucking sound from his cage. “Bronte practice. Grab, grab, grab. Kiss, kiss, kiss.” He squawked in the trumpeting way that announced a pending quote. “Weakness: Certain primal powers of a Tyrant Woman wherewith she holds dominion over the male of her species binding him to the service of her will and paralyzing his rebellious energies.”
Vivica gave the bird a thumbs-down and turned her back on his cage, brow raised. “The cock’s opinionated.”
Darkwyn scoffed. “Do humans eat parrot?”
Puck squawked. “Well shut my mouth!”
Vivica opened his portfolio. “Incredible, you aced the art course. These pictures—Whoa. Provocative. Bronte in a red corset dress, a black mini.”
“I copied them from her website. It says she’s the ‘Vampiress’ who runs Drak’s.”
“True.” Vivica shuffled through his sketches. “You didn’t get these off her website.”
He snatched them from her hand. “Sorry, no. Those came straight from my imagination.”
“She’s nearly wearing clothes, but I can see how you’d get there so fast. Her costume is meant to draw customers, and yes, those customers are mostly male. Do you think you can watch Bronte interact with other men who enjoy her body as much as you do? They ogle her, you know.”
“ ‘Ogle’? I have to look that up. Is it
“Bronte is also suspicious,” Vivica said. “Do you think she’ll buy into your dragon background? Seriously?”
“Your point?” Darkwyn asked, slipping stacks of black jeans and T-shirts into his duffel bag.
Vivica handed him an open book. “You haven’t learned enough, yet, not to stumble over your own weird truth. Knowledge would make you less clumsy about your past.”
Darkwyn zipped his bag. “With age comes wisdom?”
“One can only hope.”
“I already have enough wisdom to wonder why Bronte doesn’t have a man.” A grating unease ran through him. “She’s too beautiful not to have a protector.”
“I would have told you if she did when you claimed her as your heart mate. By the way, never call yourself her protector. She would be insulted on so many levels. Having a protector is, in some cultures, the mark of a kept woman.”
“I intend to keep her.”
“You tread dangerously. At least learn about how to treat a woman of today.” Vivica handed him the right DVD, and he took it.
Vivica nodded her approval. “Bronte is free to be yours, if she wishes.”
“She does.” Truth was, he did not know as much as he should, but he planned on-the-job training. Yes, he read every night, quite fast, and found pleasure in what he learned in those books. Computer lessons, not so much. “I will catch up with your culture in my own way in my own time.”
Vivica raised her hands in defeat. “What are you planning?” she asked. “I can practically see your mind racing.”
“Does that mean thinking while running?”
“Darkwyn, you need enough knowledge to get past your own weird truth. You’re scaring me. Leave too soon and someone could get hurt.”
“I will apply wisdom to new and old truths.”
“I mean that Zachary or Bronte could get hurt, because of what you do not know.”
“I would never let that happen.”
“I don’t worry about you. You have the strength of ten, heightened hearing and sight, the powers to heal, read minds, and shape-shift, to flee skyward in an extreme emergency. Mind you, try to fly, and you’ll be shot down like a UFO, but that’s beside the point. I’m not sure you would know how to stop if your inner dragon took control, though you do have a keen instinctual insight.”
“Exactly. I sense when someone’s in trouble. Bronte is in trouble.”
“I won’t argue that. What other lessons do you take with you?”
“The basics to live by on this plane. I liked biology, especially the reproductive system, but not theory. I need hands-on experience.” He opened and closed his fists like claws.
She swatted his arm. “You’re such a man.”
Puck made a clucking sound from his cage. “Bronte practice. Grab, grab, grab. Kiss, kiss, kiss.” He squawked in the trumpeting way that announced a pending quote. “Weakness: Certain primal powers of a Tyrant Woman wherewith she holds dominion over the male of her species binding him to the service of her will and paralyzing his rebellious energies.”
Vivica gave the bird a thumbs-down and turned her back on his cage, brow raised. “The cock’s opinionated.”
Darkwyn scoffed. “Do humans eat parrot?”
Puck squawked. “Well shut my mouth!”
Vivica opened his portfolio. “Incredible, you aced the art course. These pictures—Whoa. Provocative. Bronte in a red corset dress, a black mini.”
“I copied them from her website. It says she’s the ‘Vampiress’ who runs Drak’s.”
“True.” Vivica shuffled through his sketches. “You didn’t get these off her website.”
He snatched them from her hand. “Sorry, no. Those came straight from my imagination.”
“She’s nearly wearing clothes, but I can see how you’d get there so fast. Her costume is meant to draw customers, and yes, those customers are mostly male. Do you think you can watch Bronte interact with other men who enjoy her body as much as you do? They ogle her, you know.”
“ ‘Ogle’? I have to look that up. Is it
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