Bitten by Magic: Agents of SAINT: Book 1 Page 4

  Several purple smudges stood out against her hips, waist, and shoulders, finger-shaped marks where Javier had held her too tightly. She couldn’t blame him for that—they’d both been caught up in the moment, and they weren’t any worse than the tired circles beneath her eyes.

  Yasmin needed aspirin, Gatorade, a shower, and a long day of sleep in her own bed—preferably in that order, but she wouldn’t be picky.

  To waste time, she explored the rest of Javier’s place. He had no guest rooms, only a living room connecting the bedroom to the bungalow’s kitchen. The living room sported an enormous TV and multiple bean bag chairs, as well as a hammock strung in one corner. He had every game system currently on the market and an entertainment stand holding at least a hundred movies.

  The moment she stepped into the kitchen to investigate his fridge, a shrill scream came from a bird perched near the open living room. Apparently, they’d stumbled past the enormous macaw during the night without disturbing it. Or it hadn’t been there.

  “Holy crap.” She jumped, startled, and stared at the bird. Then she realized how ridiculous she had to look to the creature, standing butt naked in the middle of the kitchen. “Nice bird. Pretty bird. I’m just going to get a drink…”

  And maybe raid whatever edible snacks he had on hand, if the giant scarlet-winged bird didn’t scratch her eyes out for making the attempt.

  The macaw flapped his wings and shuffled on the perch before leaning forward to squawk at her again. Then he flew over to a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table and helped himself to one. The window stood open, a cool morning breeze fluttering inside and tossing the diaphanous drapes.

  Edging around the counters, she kept one eye on the bird while she pulled open the fridge doors. The shelves teemed with a variety of meats and little else. A carton of eggs, a near empty gallon of milk, and a sad bowl filled with dried-out rambutans were the only other items she discovered.

  “Ugh, what am I going to do with all this?” Cooking wasn’t on her agenda, so she levitated a banana over to her hands and shot the bird a triumphant look before devouring it. He wasn’t getting her fingers. Not today.

  Hunger pangs abated for the moment, she set out to find something to wear. Going back to the main island in nothing but her birthday suit didn’t seem like a good idea either, and since Javier slept like the dead, she took matters into her own hands. Rummaging through his drawers provided her with a pair of board shorts and a T-shirt that didn’t look like a tent.

  Javier groaned from the bed. “You robbing me now?” His messy black hair fell into his face as he sat up, shoving it back and peering at her with tired green eyes.

  “Borrowing.” She winked and settled everything into place. “I’ll make sure they get back to you in one piece, I promise. Oh, and there’s a bird in your kitchen. Just thought you should know.”

  He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah. Bailador does that sometimes. Kinda has a way of coming and going when he pleases. Did he scare you?”

  “Pfft. Me? Scared? Never.” She fell silent, and he did too.

  Crap. This was awkward all of a sudden in the light of day, not that she’d let it show. “I’m gonna head on back to my bungalow before the girls freak. I figure the last thing we need is your dad tearing up the island looking for me ’cause they reported me missing or something.”

  “Uh. Yeah... good idea. Um… you wanna take a left out the front door and teleport to the main island then, or whatever you witches do. It’s right across the way.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  Before the last word left her lips, Javier sprawled in the bed again and snored. Disappointment sliced through her like a knife.

  He hadn’t even asked her to stay.

  Left alone, she frowned and headed out onto the sand to visualize her teleportation destination. It placed her in the middle of Pearl Cottage.

  Gillian was in the middle of texting, while Amaya applied a layer of red lipstick.

  “Oh shit! Are you wearing his clothes?” Gillian asked, eyes widening and smile broadening.

  Amaya elbowed Gillian in the ribs. “I told you she was going to do it.”

  Yasmin wrinkled her nose at them. “It’s not like I set out from the party expecting I would.”

  “Uh-huh.” Amaya snorted. “You left us with the two lame surfers who didn’t want to talk about anything but how well they could surf and how much they bench press when they’re not on the beach.”

  “What? No moonlit run with the ‘wolves’ or whatever they claimed to be?” she asked, raising her fingers into air quotes.

  Amaya tossed her lip liner and hit Yasmin in the chest. She stuck her tongue out and then groaned as she flopped down on the couch between her pals, leaning back with her eyes closed.

  “So? How was it? Details, woman. Please tell me it was better than listening to this one”—Amaya nudged Gillian with her foot—“all night with those grunters. They weren’t actually brothers, after all. Stupid Alaskan dogs just all look alike.”

  “Wait? Both of them?”

  Gillian shrugged. “You guys said cut wild. It was okay. But we’re talking about you, girl—not me. You boned the creme de la creme of shifters. So, details!”

  Too shy to go into details, Yasmin flashed them a double thumbs-up instead.

  “I thought you were saving it for marriage or something,” Amaya commented.

  Yasmin blushed. “I’ve never said that.” Was that what she’d been waiting for? No, her family wasn’t that old-fashioned. She’d just been waiting on a connection. A true desire. And Javier had met both of those needs. Groaning, she covered her face with her hands and drew up her knees. “Ugh, he didn’t even ask me to stay today, just said bye and went back to sleep.”

  “Oh,” Gillian said, looking awkward. “Maybe he gets so much booty on the island it’s normal—”

  Amaya elbowed her. “I had to kick those two dogs out this morning. They were all in the fridge and everything, eating up all the food. By the way, did you know the fridge is stocked? There’s all kinds of stuff in there.”

  Despite the change of topic, Yasmin’s thoughts returned to Javier. Her friend was right. It wasn’t as if Javier had anything to do but hang out and meet new arrivals. He’d had all the right moves, leading her through her first time like a man who knew what he was doing. And she’d reveled in every moment.

  “In that case, I’m gonna make, I dunno, something. I’m starved. Let’s make it a girls’ night tonight, yeah? We can hit the beach then enjoy the night in on our deck.”

  “Sure,” both friends agreed.

  Yasmin stretched and tried to brush Javier from her mind. They’d both gotten exactly what they wanted from the encounter, but she certainly wouldn’t mind a shower to wash the memory of his touch from her thoughts.

  Javier slept most of the afternoon before he checked in on his parents. He was positive Operation Dragon Cub was their priority activity throughout most of the day, and that they were trying to add to the family.

  Wearing just a pair of board shorts and tropical print shirt, he stepped off the boat and made his way up the trail to the main house. His shoulder burned, hot and flushed like it had been infected.

  Yasmin was a cat shifter, right? He didn’t think he was allergic—didn’t think he could be allergic—but it sure made a weird reaction.

  Instead of a silent house and naked parents running around, he found them lazing on the couch in their pajamas with the family’s pet jaguars on either side of them, a tub of popcorn between them, and a movie on the enormous flat screen. His mom had some sort of purple clay mask on her face.

  Thank goodness. Walking in on them once had been enough for Javier to tread with caution forever.

  “Um... hey guys,” he called out from the doorway.

  “Popcorn, mijo?” his mother offered.

  “Sure.” He flopped down between them and set the bucket on his lap.

  His dad barely glanced from the screen, too preoccupied with the movie t
o look at him, but not so busy he couldn’t start with his usual. “When are you going to come into the office with me one day and learn how I run the accounts?”

  “Uh…”

  “If you’re going to help run the place, you really should,” his mother said. “Of course, if you have something else in mind, we’d love to hear about it so we can support you however we can.”

  He loved his mom for her faith and patience in him. He loved his dad, too, but Teotihuacan could be stubborn and unnecessarily proud to the point of pushing others away. His mom had softened him and rounded the sharp edges over the years.

  “I guess I could help out next time you’re in. I mean, I dunno. Running this place isn’t exactly…”

  “Your dream?” his mom finished for him.

  “Yeah. This is dad’s place. And it’s great like that. Besides, it’s not like you’re going anywhere anytime soon. Dragons are forever.”

  “I certainly hope we aren’t going anywhere,” Teo rumbled. He’d just reached into the popcorn bucket when his nostrils flared, and he stared at his only son. “What in the name of the ancestors happened to your shoulder?”

  The collar of his shirt had fallen open enough to reveal the inflamed, red skin where Yasmin had bit him. Her teeth had landed closer to his throat than he’d realized.

  Heat surged into Javier’s face. He jerked his shirt together. “Nothing. Anyway, uh, I'll go to the main office with you tomorrow,” he blurted out to change the subject, like he wasn’t an adult and capable of making his own choices.

  “What’s wrong with his shoulder?” His mother sat up and twisted around to see, purple face full of concern as she yanked his shirt. “That’s—did someone bite you? Teo, someone bit him. Who was it, mijo? Who were you fighting this time? Did you whoop their ass?”

  Javier knew the moment his father caught on and figured it out. The older dragon’s brows raised toward the top of his head. “Marceline, would you be so kind as to fetch another cerveza please?” he asked politely.

  “You still have beer.”

  Teo chugged the remaining half of the liquid then passed her the empty bottle. “Please.”

  “Fine. But when I come back, I want to know who we are bouncing off this island. I swear, these college kids come and get drunk and don’t know what to do with themselves. These silly scraps for dominance because they know Javier is a dragon.”

  Mortified, Javier sank down into the couch. More than ever, he wished he could melt into the crevices and disappear.

  “A woman bit you,” Teo said the moment Marcy left ear shot. “A shifter woman.”

  “Look, we don’t need to have this talk. I’m an adult, and I’m not going around knocking the tourists up.” Then he remembered how many times he and Yasmin had gone at it, each time without protection, and he groaned again. Jaguar. She’s a jag. I’m a dragon. Totally incompatible though. “It’s not a big deal, okay? A love bite, that’s all.”

  “It’s a love bite, all right,” his father growled. “Did you mark her in return?”

  “What? No. You and Mom both told me what happens if we bite someone during sex. I remembered.” His father relaxed and nodded his head, looking entirely too serious. Javier had seen all kinds of bites and mating marks from dragons throughout his childhood, since all of his family’s friends had brands on their shoulders, necks, or chests. But those were feral looking things that turned golden or silver with the passing years. He’d never seen a fresh one before. This didn’t look anything like that. “She wasn’t a dragon, so it can’t be a brand, right?”

  Teo swore something in one of his ancient languages. Maybe Aztec. Or Mayan.

  Just another aspect of his father’s life that Javier had never bothered explored. A hot spark of shame surged in his face, and he felt like the world’s worst son.

  “All shifters mark their mates,” his father snapped. “It’s not quite the same as a dragon brand, but close enough, and if you’d get off this island and do something with your damned life, you’d know that.”

  Tension tightened Javier’s spine, and his remorse vanished. That stung. What the hell did they expect him to do? He hadn’t asked to be born and raised on an island. Where was he supposed to go?

  His father huffed out a breath and ran his hands through his dark hair. “Who is it? What is she? Maybe we can salvage this before you’re bound to some random, gold-digging tourist.”

  “What the hell, Dad? Salvage what? She’s not a gold digger. I don’t even—she wasn’t even that into me.” After all, she’d been ready to leave and bounce the next morning. She didn't even ask for his phone number. Part of him had hoped she’d return to bed with him. But she hadn’t. And he’d been so damned tired, barely able to remain coherent to give her directions.

  “If she is a stranger to you, how would you know? Many women have come to this island seeking my company. My money. Did you think someone wouldn’t try to trap you?”

  “She didn’t try to trap me, Dad. It’s just a bite... I mean, I’d feel different, right? Stop making a big deal out of it.”

  The older dragon frowned harder. “It is a big deal! So this is how you spend your time? Partying and bringing home women? Allowing this”— he gestured to the bite—“to happen?”

  “You wouldn’t know how I spend my time since you’re too busy running your empire to notice anything I do,” he bit out, only to regret it right away. Teo looked like he’d been struck. He’d even reeled back to stare at him with widened eyes.

  Too proud to apologize, Javier grunted and set the popcorn bucket on the table before getting up.

  “Javier, I have built all of this for you and your mother. Do you know what it was like before she came? We did not have parties or families here.”

  Softening, Javier sighed and let his shoulders drop. “That wasn’t fair of me.” Not that he cared about the families. He only attended the parties to be a good host because his parents said it was the right thing to do. “I better go.”

  Before he could make it beyond the hallway, his mother caught him and squeezed his upper arm. “One moment, Javier.”

  He sighed. “Yes?”

  Marcy hugged him. “Whoever she is, she’d be a fool to let you get away, mijo.”

  “I don’t think she meant to do it, Mom.” Now that they were away from his father, he lowered his voice. “Is it going to go away?” They’d never talked to him about that.

  “It can, yes. At least with dragons, I’m told it can if the marked one is a human and there’s distance put between them, but... I don’t know about other shifters.” She bit her lip. “I can ask my friend River since she’s married to a jaguar.”

  Javier rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe because he hadn’t reciprocated the bite, it would fade in time and those little thoughts lingering in the back of his head about how good Yasmin smelled and how much he wanted to find her just to hug her, would fade away too. Just a hug.

  It didn’t even matter if she wound up beneath him again in bed. He just wanted to be surrounded by her warmth. To feel her dark hair beneath his cheek. She’d given the best embraces, and for a moment, he’d imagined what it was like to be loved by someone who didn’t have his last name and feel obligated to care about him. “Nah. I better go before Dad runs me down for round two.”

  “You sure? It’s no problem.”

  “Yeah, it’s fine.”

  “All right then... And your father means well. He just wants—we both want—you to be happy. I know you have years ahead of you, but we both want more for you than boredom or loneliness. You know? Get out there and find something you love. It doesn’t have to be running this place like your father or taking pictures like me. Just find something to throw your heart into.”

  “I know.” Unfortunately, he hadn’t figured out yet what he loved.

  He hugged his mother again and shuffled outside into the balmy air, wishing he’d at least raided the fridge first to see what leftovers his mother had saved for him. She usually did
the cooking, because after almost three decades, his father still struggled to put together an edible meal.

  “Now what do I do? Do I find her?” he muttered. “Better yet, what do I say once I do find her?”

  Javier climbed into his boat and rowed across the water.

  Chapter Five

  On the third day of her magical vacation, Yasmin stretched out over a lounger on the beach and pulled on her sunglasses. The warm sunshine felt divine against her wet body after an afternoon of playing in the ocean with her girlfriends.

  When a waiter ambled by with fruity cocktails, she claimed a tropical punch spiked with coconut rum and asked for an order of fried fish and plantains.

  Gillian doubled the order and dropped down on the seat beside her. “You know there’s another social tonight. You could catch yourself another island hottie. All the guys seem to only be into you anyway.”

  Yasmin flicked cold water droplets at her in response. “I’m not here to catch island hotties.”

  “But you did.”

  “That was different.” Besides, she may have caught him and marked him, but it wasn’t like Javier had returned the favor. Stung by the cool dismissal the morning after, Yasmin tried to change the subject, “Wanna swim again?”

  Gillian ignored her clumsy attempt at a distraction. “Yeah? What was so different about it? I mean, you finally let go of your V-card.”

  “Shut up,” Yasmin hissed in a whisper, mortified. “Geez, Gill, don’t announce it to the whole world.”

  “What? That you aren’t a virgin anymore? Deflowered virgin over here!” Gillian called out playfully for anyone to hear. No one glanced their direction. “See? No one cares.”

  At that moment, however, Javier wandered by with his hands in the pockets of his board shorts. A red-haired girl in a tiny bikini skipped along at his side, laughing at whatever he said and tossing her lustrous curls over her shoulder before bumping him with her hip.

  Between the outburst he’d clearly heard and the girl nudging him, he stumbled over his feet, the very example of draconic grace, and faceplanted in the sand.