This is a long chapter, but an important one I think. Hope you enjoy reading it.

Chapter 9

Leni was restless and nervous; despite everything she tried, she couldn't get to sleep. Warm milk and a hot bath followed by a cup of camomile tea did little to ease the tension and the curious sense of emptiness she felt. Unbidden, thoughts of Ryodan's kiss scorched her mind like a summer wildfire, and they tormented her.

The nerve endings in her mouth and throat still retained the memory of his touch. Lightly tracing the route of his kisses on the delicate skin of her throat with one soft fingertip, she summoned the feeling of his hot, wet, wicked tongue as it traveled along the vein in her throat. She thought about how her body jumped when he did that. She could feel once again the goose bumps and the wonderful silvery shivers that moved up and down her body spine.

She relived the feathery soft feeling of his breath in her ear, and how he smelled and tasted. She hugged herself and recalled the extraordinary heat of his big body and how good it felt to be in his arms. His kisses left her breathless, and she didn't care. When Ryodan pulled away from her, his warmth and been swiftly replaced by cold and a strong sense of abandonment.

She remembered the sense of rightness being in Ryodan's arms until she remembered the look of confusion and disgust on his face. She made herself remember her deep sense of mortification and embarrassment when he told her to stay away from him. She was furious at herself for acting like a loved starved puppy when he kissed. He wanted to prove to her that he could make her desire him anytime he wanted, and with so little effort on his part, he had done just that. She had easily fallen for his game without so much as a whisper of resistance, and that really filled her with shame.

Finally, around four in the morning, she fell asleep, but even in her dreams. Thoughts of Ryodan tormented her. She dreamed of making love with him in his big bed in a dark underground bedroom. He called out her name and whispered how much he loved her. Oh yes, they both knew he was going to abandon her soon for another woman whom he loved and lost a long time ago.

In her dream, Leni didn't want to hear Ryodan say those words. If she had been just someone he merely cared for, she could have accepted the fact he was leaving her to go to a woman he actually loved. She wanted him to be happy. Knowing that he loved the other woman, made losing him seem bearable, but Knowing that Ryodan loved her, and still would leave her, was inconceivable. it broke her.

She loved Ryodan with all her heart, and he knew it. He was everything she wanted. He was a part of her very being, but did not feel the same. His declaration of love came too late in their relationship. Instead of filling her with joy, it filled her with an aching sadness. It broke her heart; she didn't know if she would ever recover.

The next morning, Bridget drove Leni went to see her dress designer, Kay Bailey. The designer, an up and coming young woman, who was trying to make a name for herself in the fashion industry, was designing Bridget's wedding dress and those of all her attendants. Although given very short notice, the dress was partially finished, and Bridget sat for the first fitting.

The dress was a lovely off the shoulder, ivory peau de sois creation with seed pearls sown into the bodice and skirt. The bodice hugged Bridget's shapely body and flared into a wide full skirt. It was the most stunning wedding dress that Leni had ever seen. When Bridget put it on, Leni took in an audible breath. The dress reminded her of a beautiful ball gown worn by women during the nineteenth century, and Bridget looked like a queen in it. It cost a fortune, and Leni loved it.

"Oh Bridey, you look so beautiful! You look like a fairy princess just like Gran always said." Bridget's cheeks pinked at the praise from her cousin.

After trying on her gown, Bridget asked Miss Bailey to bring out the dress she had selected for Leni, and her bridesmaids, and Leni tried it on. It was a simple, but elegant green china silk sheath trimmed in a lighter shade of green. A softly draped neckline showed off the bounty of her cleavage and her graceful long neck. Thin spaghetti straps emphasized her well rounded shoulders and upper arms toned by hours at the gym. The bodice ended at a tight waistline. The full length skirt was formfitting, but had a fan of pleats extending from the knee to the hem in back. An elegant boxy bow in the same trim as the bodice sat just above the pleats. The material was soft and shiny; it hung attractively as she moved.

Leni adored the dress until she saw the price tag. She did a quick mental calculation. The dress cost about $5,000; that was almost as much as Leni made in a month working as a nurse. The idea of paying that much for a dress horrified her.

"That's too much, Bridget. It's too expensive for a dress I will never wear again. Can't I wear something cheaper?" she exclaimed.

"But Munchkin, this is what all my attendants are going to wear, and anyway, I am paying for it." Bridget argued with her cousin.

Leni was insistent. "The other two girls are models like you. $5,000 is nothing to them, but it is to me. Like I said, I will never wear it again; frankly, I would be afraid to do so. I know you can afford it, but paying that kind of money is really such a waste. There has to be something else that will do, but is much cheaper."

After several minutes, Bridget realized Leni was not going to give in, so she asked Miss Bailey to show Leni something else. With a moue of displeasure that darkened her stern visage, Miss Bailey pulled out a dress that cost only $2,000. "I cannot do anything cheaper than this," she sniffed and glared at Leni with a disappointed frown.

The second dress was a lighter green that matched the trim on the bridesmaids' dresses. It also was a full length sheath. The skirt had a slit up the front to the knees making it easy to walk in elegant high heels. One shoulder was covered under a thin one inch strap; the other was totally bare. Leni's beautiful arms and shoulders would still be shown to their best advantage in this dress too. The dress was plainer, but made of the same material as the first. Leni liked it almost as much.

Bridget and Leni looked at each other and smiled. "We'll take it," they both said at the same time.

That afternoon, Leni, Bridget met Sean at their Uncle Mary's pub. Leni had agreed to sing that night and the following night, but only if Bridget and Sean performed too. Bridget had a pleasing soprano voice and could play the piano. Sean played piano and most string instruments as did Leni.

Leni had reasons for inviting her cousins to perform with her. They were both exceptionally good singers and musicians, and Sean had asked her to allow him to play with her. He was trying to impress a couple of girls he met at school.. Being the good cousin she was. Leni was more than happy to help him out. It wouldn't be the first time they performed together: when she visited during the summer, Bridget sometimes accompanied Leni on her weekend gigs and sang backup with Vixen. Last summer, Sean had done the same and played the guitar, dobro and banjo.

Sean loved music off all kinds, but he really liked the hard beating rhythms of old rock songs that Leni liked. Although he would not admit to his sophisticated college friends, he liked American Country music almost as much as Leni and Uncle Martin. The lead guitarist of her uncle's band was a big fan of older rock and roll groups like the Holly's and Credence Clearwater and had taught him those songs. Since the age of seventeen, Sean sometimes performed on weekends with Uncle Marty and his band just for fun.

At eight o'clock that night, Tegan and Bridget were sitting alone at a four top table talking about the wedding. Leni was sitting with Sean and a group of his friends, both male and female, at a table nearby. One of the guys at the table, Denny, a small wiry blonde of about twenty five decided to teach Leni to play pool.

Leni demurred, but Denny insisted. With a resigned smile on her face, she agreed and for two games, she barely hit a ball at all. After Leni scratched the eight ball several times and held her cue stick as if it were about to bite her, she managed to nudge three balls into the side pocket. Denny wanted to play a third game. Again Leni demurred. This time Denny not only insisted, he bet ten pounds against a kiss that he would beat her. Denny was in a good mood, so he let her go first. Leni cleared the table in less than a minute, and Denny looked stunned.

For the next hour, Leni played pool with four other guys, two more college kids, and two obviously blue collar types. All of them were sure they could beat the little blonde, and all of them made the same bet: ten pounds against a kiss. Leni beat them all; she cleaned their clocks. At the end of the hour, she was more than sixty pounds richer than when she walked into the pub.

Leni walked back to Sean's table and ordered a round. Fanning the notes in her hand, Before she sat down, Leni turned to Bridget, who had been watching the whole thing with a grin on her face. "Did you learn anything tonight, Munchkin?" Bridget asked her American cousin. She knew Leni was really, really good at playing pool, but she also knew that Leni didn't show off her skill, unless she thought someone was trying to take advantage of her.

"Oh, yes I did, Bridey. I learned Irish guys are easy." Leni laughed delightedly as she turned back to the table and sat down. There were two untouched shots of whiskey in front of her seat. She grabbed one, chugged it down and slammed the glass on the table. Leni wasn't much of a drinker, but the guys had bought her the whiskey to celebrate her victories at the pool table, and she was gracious enough to accept their gesture.

The liquor burned her throat, and she coughed. Denny reached over and slapped her on the back, and the guys at the table laughed uproariously. At the same time, a tingling awareness made Leni turnaround. "Oops!" she said just before her heart froze in her chest for a second. She felt a blush starting to redden her cheeks.

Ryodan, Lor and Angus and three women were walking toward the table where Tegan sat with Bridget. They were less than ten feet away, and they were all staring at her. Leni was sure they had heard her too. Ryodan's unusual dark eyes were angry tonight; they bored into her with a look of strong disapproval. His lips were tightened into a frown, as if he was judging her and found her wanting.

Who the hell do you think you are? She thought as she raised her chin in defiance. She narrowed her eyes, held his gaze and dared him to say something to her.

What the hell is he doing here and with a date, no less? What is he trying to prove? She asked herself silently. Ryodan knew she was going to sing here tonight. Bridget had told him so last night. After this morning, she didn't think she was going to see him again until the wedding.

All three of the huge, dark handsome men were escorting gorgeous women, so Tegan and Bridget pulled two tables together and moved the chairs around. The three men and their dates sat down with Bridget and Tegan at the end closest to Leni, Sean and his friends.

Ryodan's date was a thirtyish tall brunette with long, wavy, deep mahogany brown hair and grayish green eyes. Leni recognized the woman: she was Deidre Mills. She worked for the BBC and was a reporter on one of Dublin's most noted news broadcasts. Leni watched the program every morning; she didn't think the woman was particularly good at her job.

Deidre Mills was glamorous in a way that Leni knew she could never be. She was stunningly beautiful and sophisticated. Her hair and makeup were flawless. A brilliant, but brittle smile was pasted on wide full lips that were painted Fire Engine Red to match her long manicured nails. She was wearing an expensive sexy red designer dress, a short faux fur jacket and five inch stiletto heel. Her neck and ears dripped with diamonds. Another diamond on her right hand looked large enough to choke a horse.

She was exactly the type of woman Ryodan liked to show off, and to bed, but she not the kind of woman who normally spent time in a place like Marty's Pub. The working class pub generally catered to the middle class, blue collar types and tourists. It was neither posh enough, nor decadent enough for a social climber like Deidrer; it was too low class for her. She was an ambitious woman determined to on the move up the ladder and was definitely more the Chester's type.

Leni looked down at her own clothing and found it lacking. She had on the type of clothing that millions of women her age wore to a bar. She wore a pair of low rider jeans, that fit snugly around her hips and thighs, showing off her high, firm butt and long legs (long for a petite woman, anyway) off to an advantage. Black high heeled leather boots encased her feet and trim calves.

A rose pink, v-neck short sleeved top ended a few inches above her navel. Her jeans and top left an expanse of soft creamy white skin exposed, showing a small unicorn tattoo to the left and just a little above of her "innie" belly button. She had gotten the tattoo on a dare with Bridget last summer. Her only jewelry was the simple gold loops in her ears and her gold Fae cuff. There was no way she could compete with the beautiful woman Ryodan had on his arm, so she brushed away the feelings of jealousy and inadequacy and laughed at a joke Denny just told.

A few minutes later, Leni, Bridget and Sean took to the stage with Uncle Marty and his band. The band started off with some rock songs from the sixties and seventies and a few Johnny Cash songs. At first, Bridget was playing the piano and Leni an electric guitar and Sean a dobro. All three were singing back up to the lead singer, Jay.

Bridget was sedate and cool as always, but music always became part of Leni. She felt it in her blood; she could not hold still if she wanted to when she performed. She danced, jumped, wiggled her butt and undulated her hips to the beat of the music as she played. So did Sean and the other players. Ryodan didn't like that one bit.

"Saturday night I was downtown working for the FBI. Sitting in a nest of bad men. Whiskey bottles piling high." Jay, started rocking out to "Tall Cool Woman in a Black Dress" an old Hollies tune. His voice was perfect for the rock and roll song. The audience started stamping their feet with the music.

Since Bridget was dressed in a slinky short black dress, Leni put down her guitar, grabbed the tall blonde and started dancing a jitterbug with a lot of extra pelvis action. As Leni swung and twirled with her cousin around, Bridget let loose and got into it. With her long blonde hair flying, she turned, moved and swung and undulated with the guitars and drums. The girls looked sexy; the crowd went wild. The men, especially the college boys in the crowd, started clapping in time with the music and whistling.

For the first half hour of the set, Tegan sat and watched Bridget, Leni and Sean as they performed. All three had had exceptional dancing and musical talents which were only enhanced by their Fae heritage. Bridget was tall, cool and radiated with beauty as she played and sang. The smaller Leni was irrepressible, a ball of fire on stage, but Sean was the only one who radiated Fae in Tegan's mind.

Spending as much time around them as he did, Tegan knew that the two girls both possessed a certain amount of Fae magic, but Sean was of particular interest to him. He strongly doubted that either Bridget or Sean knew of their Fae blood. From the Fae cuff on her arm, he was sure that Leni did; still, he considered all three innocent of any guilt.

Of all the Draghar, only Tegan knew that the three cousins had Fae blood in their veins. He had suspected as much the night he met Bridget; his suspicions were confirmed the moment he met her brother, Sean. The boy was the human image of Danal, a Fae prince Tegan had met more than three thousand years before.

Sean had the Fae beauty of Danal, but he was not aware of the powerful magic that he had within him. If Tegan was right, he soon would be. It was that was not at all unusual that a human/Fae child did not realize their magical potential until they matured. When fully mature, Sean would be a force to be reckoned with; because of his Fae blood, he would be much more powerful than any MacKeltar druid, but less powerful than a Draghar. His was a power that needed to be trained and guided, or it could become dangerous and deadly if misused. Although Sean barely tolerated him now, Tegan hoped one day he would be the one to teach Sean how to use his magic.

There was no question that Danal was an ancestor to the three cousins. Three thousand years ago, Danal was the husband of Rhianna's first cousin, Lyrra, who died in childbirth. Danal loved his human wife and stayed with her; he did not abandon her after seducing her like most Fae males did. Tegan considered Danal a good man. A thousand years later, Danal was married again to a woman named Alanna; they were soul mates like he and Rhianna; Ryodan suspected that she was the first for Danal. Alanna was pregnant when she died too, but Tegan did not know how.

How far back Danal was in their ancestry, he didn't know, but he guessed he was a grandfather or great grandfather. Tegan had met both of Bridget's parents, and neither one showed any evidence of Fae blood nor of Fae magic. That wasn't unusual since the genes often skipped generations. After meeting Leni, Tegan knew that the Fae genes were definitely on the maternal side of the family. He began to ask questions about Catriona O'Gallagher, Bridget's maternal grandmother.

Although Draghar and Fae had been enemies for millennia, it did not matter to Tegan that Bridget was part Fae; she was his soul mate. He loved her more than he loved his own life. Unlike the other Draghar, he did not automatically hate the Fae, because he had known many good ones like Danal.

After Ryodan's wife, Zayida, and the others were hunted down and raped by Unseelie nobles and after the Unseelie King slaughtered them along with other Draghar males and their half Draghar children, Tegan fought alongside the remaining Draghar warriors. With them, he hunted the Unseelie abominations and meted out a justice that was swift and unmerciful. With them, he searched for the Unseelie King, but the monster who betrayed them had hidden somewhere within the Faery realm and could not be found.

Later, when the remaining nine Draghar males hunted down, raped and murdered the wives and children of many Seelie princes and nobles, Tegan was the only one who did not participate in that savagery. He had enough lives on his conscience. Like other Draghar warriors, he warred in the name of his king, the same king who became the Unseelie King.

He had raped and murdered both human and Fae women as a warning to their king's enemies, but after he met Rhianna. He never touched another human or Fae woman in anger. Although he fought fiercely in many battles since and would willingly do so in the future, he never again needlessly slaughtered another. His soul mate, Rhianna, then later, Mhairi and Breanna, had taught him love; they taught him to value human life. To become the soulless monster that he once was would disgrace their memories.

Unlike his fellow Draghar warriors, Tegan did not blame the Seelie Fae for what happened. Even though Seelie participated in the Wild Hunt for thousands of years, that time it was the Unseelie monsters who hunted and raped their women, not Seelie. The Unseelie monsters had been created by the Unseelie King. The Draghar alone were responsible for the Unseelie King; he was their king first, and he was Draghar like them.

The others did not agree with Tegan, so he kept the Bridget's Fae heritage from them; the fact that she had any trace of Fae blood was enough to condemn her in their eyes. More than likely they would have found a reason to kill her. If they suspected his deceit, they would have considered him a traitor and killed him too.

It wasn't hard to keep his secret though, he suspected that Danal had devised an unusually strong Fae spell to keep the Draghar from sensing his grandchildren's magic and non-human blood. Once he met Bridget, he added his own magic spell to Danal's. He did the same with Sean and Leni.

Now he sat and watched Bridget dance with her cousin. She was beautiful and graceful, and he was proud of her. He started to rise to dance with her. Thinking that Tegan was going to start a fight with one of the boisterous men surrounding the stage, clapping, stamping and whistling at Bridget and Leni, Ryodan put his hand on Tegan's arm. The big Draghar gently brushed it off and walked up to the stage.

The human males naturally got out of Tegan's way as he passed; they could sense the raw power of the big man, even if they didn't know exactly why. Leni saw Tegan coming toward her and Bridget. He winked at her, and she nodded back. Twirling Bridget around one more time, Leni swung her cousin into Tegan's arms and stepped back as the two danced.

Tegan was the largest of the Draghar males, but he moved his huge body with a grace that any ballet dancer would envy. The band replayed the song, but with a harder, more primitive beat. Bridget and Tegan could not have had better dance partners. Where Tegan moved, Bridget effortlessly followed. Their bodies instinctively moved in sync with one another.

Tegan turned Bridget so her back was to him. While their hips swayed erotically together, she slowly moved her left arm up around his neck. He gently ran his fingertips down the side of her arm, under her breast to her right hand. Grasping her hand and whirling her under his arm to face him, he brought her body up against his. His left arm supported her body while he arched her into a deep dip. In his arms her seemingly boneless spine rose and fell gracefully to the beat of the music. With her body in a perfect dancer's arch, Bridget's long pale blonde hair flared out behind her.

Pulling her up against him, Tegan put one big thigh between her legs and one hand on her hip and swayed with her. They danced close, but their bodies never touched. Their dance was sensual, but not lewd, erotic but not lascivious. It was a dance of two people who loved each other, and it was one of the most sensual things Leni had ever seen; she hadn't expected that Bridget would ever dance so freely and intimately with a man in public. She felt a small thrill, and she understood what Tegan was doing: with his movements, he was claiming Bridget. He was telling the other men in the pub to stay away from her, and Bridget did the same with her dance.

When the song finished, the band started playing the much slower "All I Need Is the Air That I Breathe." Tegan pulled Bridget close to him and began a slow dance. The two stared deeply into each others eyes as they danced. Leni was hypnotized by the aura that surrounded the two; it seemed magical. Others too stared.

By this time, Sean came to stand beside Leni to watch his sister and Tegan dance. "Did you believe Gran when she told us about soul mates, Leni? You know there is something about Tegan that makes my hair stand on end. Bridey said they were soul mates, and I didn't believe her, but look at them. They are meant to be together, aren't they? Have you ever seen two people as much in love?" The nineteen year old boy asked his older cousin; he seemed amazed at that discovery.

"Only once. Only once." Leni acknowledged. She was thinking about Gran and Danal in the kitchen. Bridget and Tegan had that same look; the look of two souls that loved and recognized each other. The love that shown between was palpable like a living breathing thing. "I believe they are soul mates. I want to be loved like that." she whispered. Sean nodded in agreement. "I do too," he said.

"Wow, Beanpole. You're finally growing up." she said as a rush of affection for Sean rose in her heart. She and Bridget were like twins, but her love for Sean was no less. She reached up and tousled his chocolate brown hair.

Sean felt the same rush of affection, but being a young male, he was a little embarrassed by it. Grabbing Leni around the waist, he lifted her up as he hugged her tightly against his side and gave her a soft rub on the head with his knuckles. The music changed again to another fast song. Sean grabbed Leni's hand and whirled her onto the dance floor. "Come on cousin. Let's show these lads how to dance."

Leni had shown Sean how to dance about five years before when he wanted to impress a girl in his class he wanted to date. He wanted to learn the jitterbug, the two step, the waltz and the fox trot. These were the kinds of dances most young teenage boys wouldn't be caught dead doing, but Sean wanted to appear more sophisticated and worldly. He had asked Bridget, but she had no time for her younger brother whom she considered a big pest at that time. Leni was a great dancer and she took pity on the love struck adolescent. With his natural grace, Sean had been an able student, and the task had been fun. The gorgeous, nineteen year old boy dancing with her now was even better than before. She knew they made a great team: the college girls at his table and the twenty something women in the pub were eyeing Sean as if he was a big hunk of milk chocolate, and they were all ready to take a big bite out of him.

At the Draghar table, Ryodan watched at Leni as she sang and moved on the stage. Her movements were really no different than any good performer, but he hated the way she danced and strutted her stuff. It made him uncomfortable; he squirmed in his seat. He hated the way her bare skin showed between the bottom of her blouse and the top of her low rider jeans. He hated the way her jeans hugged her hips; her butt looked so high and softly rounded and completely touchable.

Her stomach was flat, and the little unicorn tattooed on her abdomen moved as she danced; it was just begging to be kissed. Thoughts of his teeth and tongue licking and nipping the delicate skin around her navel until she cried out made him sigh deep in his throat. He could feel his body becoming very aroused and shifted his position to hide it. He didn't like that either.

He got angry and frustrated. The way he felt about Leni confused him. He wanted her kiss her senseless one minute and absolutely strangle her the next. He was more attracted to her than the beautiful woman at his side. She made him feel things he knew he shouldn't feel. He tried everything he could to find fault with the little blonde to break the attraction he felt.

He told himself that she was dancing in a way that no decent woman would. He worked hard to convince himself that Leni was acting like a little slut, and it outraged him. He wanted to make her stop. It took every ounce of will power he could muster to stay in his seat. He wanted to go up and drag her off the stage and shake some sense into her before she got raped.

Even more, he wanted to smash and crush every male who looked at her, including her cousin, Sean. His hands fisted in anticipation of how good it would feel to connect with their leering faces and bash them to a pulpy mess. If Leni had danced with any man the way Bridget was dancing with Tegan, he knew would have killed the guy.

He heard Leni and Sean talking. He hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but his keen hearing easily picked up their conversation. He was envious of the clear love and affection between the two cousins. They were more than cousins, that much was apparent; they were friends in a way he never had been with a woman. He resented the easy way they treated each other; that made him just as jealous as knowing other men were thinking lewd thoughts of her. He didn't like the way Leni and Sean danced together; they were so good together; clearly they had done this many times before.

Ryodan cursed himself for coming here tonight; it was a foolish thing to do. He told himself he was going to stay far away from Leni, and hoped she stayed away from him. Even so, when Lor and Angus said they were joining Tegan to hear her sing tonight, he invited himself along. After what happened when he took her home this monring, he didn't want Leni to think he actually wanted to see her again, so he grabbed the first hot looking woman he saw and brought her along as his date. He was determined that Leni knew that he wasn't wasting anytime thinking about her.

His eyes found her the minute he walked into the door. He saw her laughing and talking to small wiry blonde male of about twenty five in the back near the pool tables. The two of them walked back to a table with Bridget's brother, Sean and several college kids sat. The guy had his hand on Leni's arm. Evidently, she wasn't wasting any time thinking about him either. That really pissed him off.

Instantly, a rush of jealousy and a strong urge to smash the human male's face in made his fists tingle. When he had told Leni to stay away from him last night, he meant it. Now, after seeing her laughing and enjoying herself with another man, he wasn't so sure. When Leni made the remark about Irishmen being easy, his mood changed again, and he got angry all over again. He decided he was right after all.

He kept feeling that way right up until the time Leni did her first solo at the end of the set. This time, she didn't dance. She stood very still using her arms and hands for emphasis. The patrons of the bar, both men and women, stilled at the change in tempo,

"I can feel you watching.

I can feel your eyes on me.

I can hear you whisper, and I just get so weak.

But, I'm a little bit scared. It's been a long time

since I let my guard down and let someone inside.

You don't need to wonder, 'cause tonight you'll get it all.

When the night closes in, I'm gonna pull you so close.

Hold you so tight, gonna let it all go.

And you can do what you want.

You can take me right here.

'Cause I knew from the start,

I was gonna love you with all my heart.

Take my hand now, and I'm ready to begin.

Though it makes me crazy when your fingers touch my skin.

And I know what you want, and you know what I need.

There's no reason to pretend that we don't know what this means...

Leni sang the song slowly with emotion. Her violet eyes were half closed as if she were secretly talking to her lover. Her strong, lovely alto voice soared then lowered almost to a whisper, but through it all, she viscerally connected with the audience. The crowd hushed as more men and women moved to the stage to watch and listen. It was more than a love song; it was a song of surrender. The crowd around the stage seemed enraptured with the words of the tender love song. Each woman seemed to imagine herself singing to her lover. Each man seemed to imagine his lover singing to him.

As Leni sang, she reached out in front of her. A vision of Ryodan inexplicably appeared in her mind. He was embracing her, kissing her, his hands caressing her,. She could not stop herself; she opened her eyes and stared directly at Ryodan. He was watching her too; his dark eyes were intent and luminous. His eyes called to her; they lured her. He was the only person she saw in the room; everyone and everything else faded away. He seemed to be surrounded by a golden aura. She was mesmerized by what she saw.

Ryodan's eyes were deep and mysterious. Somehow, he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. She felt liquid heat build within her inner core, yet she she trembled as icy thrill raced up her spine. Their eyes held for long moments before she was able to look away, trembling as she did so. For a split second her legs felt as if they were not capable of holding her upright. She felt a bead of sweat on her brow; for a minute, she could not breathe. She was filled with confusion at the intensity of what she felt.

A strangely erotic ennui came over Ryodan; his chest tightened and he could feel his heart pounding rapidly. Unaware of what he was doing, he began to cast to Leni sending his pheromones toward her, luring her like a Draghar female. When it happened the night before at Chester's, he hadn't realized what he was doing then either.

As Ryodan exuded his pheromones, the others at the table became uncomfortable. The three human females had no idea of what was happening, or why they were so fidgety and nervous, but Tegan, Lor and Angus knew exactly what was happening. The scent of Ryodan's pheromones was at a level so low that the human sense of smell could never detect them, but the Draghar males easily could. They were keenly aware that the scent of Ryodan's pheromones could set them off as well. Four Draghar males casting in such close quarters could become a deadly affair.

Tegan suggested the women go to the ladies room and freshen up; they jumped at the chance to get away from the table. He grabbed Ryodan's arm and shook it. "Ry, what are you doing? You are casting again; you just can't seem to help yourself when Leni's around; can you?." he said harshly.

"What... what... I..." Ryodan's mind came back to the present. He realized what he was doing and clamped down on himself hard.

Lor and Angus stared at him; they were just as angry as Tegan. The consequences of Ryodan's unconscious act could have meant trouble for them all.

"He almost shifted at the airport, Te. That human girl is making him crazy. She is dangerous. Why don't you fuck her and just get it over with before you out us all, Ry?" Angus snarled.

"You're casting a human female? We don't have to do that; they come to us on their own. Angus is right: just fuck her and get her out of your system." Lor added.

"Nobody is fucking anybody unless she agrees to it." Tegan growled.

"It's none of your damn business, Te. I told you that last night." Ryodan growled back.

"She's Bridget's cousin, and that makes it my business. I told you last night to leave Leni alone, Ry, but it's clear she gets to you in a way I have never seen a human woman get to you before. I can see she feels something for you, too. She's family now, and under my protection. If you really care about her, and she decides she wants you, I won't interfere, but you better treat her with respect, and flaunting one of your whores in her face is not the way to do it. I already warned you. I won't let you hurt her, and I mean it." Tegan said.

"I'm not going to hurt her, Te. In fact, I don't intend to ever see her again." Ryodan replied as the women came back to the table. He asked Deidre to dance; the two moved to the dance floor,and Ryodan was all over her. After the dance, he moved the two of them to a smaller booth along the back wall and began to grope her in a very pubic display.

Deidre openly responded to him; she had no problems groping and kissing a man in public. She had canoodled publicly with many men, and she liked the attention it got her in the scandal sheets. She felt it raised her desirability in her profession.

She had wanted to capture Ryodan's attention for a long time, but he seemed too busy to notice her. Besides, Moira always seemed to be around. The word around Chester's was that Moira was history, so maybe she had a chance now. Laughing seductively and batting her long mascaraed eyelashes at him, she coyly asked him if he wanted to go to her apartment for a nightcap.

Ryodan stood up and put Deidre's jacket around her shoulders. He walked toward the door with his tongue stuck down her throat, kissing her deeply. His large left hand was visibly thrust down the front of her low cut dress. He was feeling her up in front of everyone, but Deidre only gave a sultry laugh. There was no mistaking their intentions, and Ryodan wanted Leni to see. He planned to fuck Deidre or someone else like her tonight and every night until he forgot all about her.