by Jill Haven
When I made it to the front of the line, I gave the flight attendant my brightest smile. Tall, dark, and handsome, just the way I liked them. “Aren’t you cute?”
A flush formed on his sharp cheekbones and to my disappointment my dick didn’t even twitch. I kept my face as bright as ever, leaning forward to give him a wink. “Just checking out—I mean, checking in.” I gave him a long look up and down, and still nothing.
I was going to have to have a long conversation with my dick after this.
Instead I flirted some more—a habit almost as easy as breathing—then returned to Ten, who was standing not far from the gates. “You can’t keep it in your pants, can you?”
“Business class upgrades for free.” I offered him his boarding pass, a smirk brightening my expression even though I didn’t entirely feel it. “When you look as good as I do, it’s an obligation to share it with others.”
Ten just shook his head. “Fated mates or not, I don’t think you’ll ever end up with one. You can’t even keep it in your pants for ten minutes.”
“It’s what you do out of your pants that counts the most,” I said faux-seriously. Ten seemed to give up after that, so as we made our way through the gates and toward our flight, I made sure I was myself. Flirting, cracking jokes, anything and everything to distract him from how I had been acting before this. It wasn’t entirely successful to ease the worry that had burrowed itself under my breastbone.
While Beau was hot, he was so much more than that. He was lithe and muscled and gorgeous and stubborn. The urge to protect him was telling me to run outside, shift into my dragon form, and fly to Georgia as fast as I could, exposure rules be damned. I grimaced and rubbed my hand across the ache in my heart, trying to ease it somehow. It didn’t help.
Shit. I was in a lot of trouble.
“Don’t fuck the omega, Ace,” Ten said, his voice a warning as I pulled up to the curb.
“He’s got a cute ass,” I said airily. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I wrap my dick up. No babies for me.”
Ten punched me in the arm, hard enough to smart but not enough to do any damage. “You’re such an immature idiot.”
I shrugged, not wanting to argue. I was a lot of things, and this was just one of them. Ignoring the questions that still hung in the air, I shifted into work mode. “You’re going to stay in Peddleton and look around, and I’ll head to the omega’s.”
“And you’ll keep your dick to yourself.”
“You never let me do anything fun.” I smirked.
Ten shook his head, but he pushed open the door and got out. He’d go scout the area, see if he could find any leads on the dragons we were hunting, and I would see what information I could get from Beau—and see if I could scent who was around.
Driving farther into town, I cracked my window, curious to see what I could find out. There were the usual town smells, various restaurants, bakeries, and unwashed humans. Underneath it all was the dark, charcoal-smoke of dragons. It was deeper than Ten’s scent, darker, like it was from dying charcoals. Whoever the dragons were, they’d been in town long enough their scent still lingered.
Another long sniff told me they weren’t still in town, otherwise, I’d feel them. I let out my breath and then turned back to driving, leaving the window down just in case. It wasn’t a long drive to Beau’s farm and about a half mile away I started smelling dragons again. It was the same charcoal-smoke scent, except this had malice as an undercurrent. Dragons had been there and they’d come there with a purpose.
I parked and got out of the car, slamming the door behind me. My dragon was stirring inside me, wanting to go hunt down the interlopers and rip them to pieces for daring to even get close to what was mine. I growled, not able to stop the aggression and not particularly wanting to.
What made it worse was that there were no lights on in the house, no sounds of anyone moving around. I had told Beau to stay put, but as seemed to be a theme with the divine omegas, they weren’t particularly keen on listening. The fact that I felt a pang of fondness underneath all the irritation was concerning. I was just doing my job. I was looking out for him, ensuring that he was safe. It was getting more difficult to convince myself of that.
I stalked around his house, shifting just enough that my hearing and sight were enhanced. My sense of smell was already good enough. Underneath the earthy smoke was the sweet, vanilla, baby-powder-like scent of omega, along with a dash of fear. I bared my teeth. Whenever Beau had been there last, he’d been afraid.
Without meaning to, I started to shift, my hands wanting to turn into talons and my dragon so close to tracking the scent, to hunting them down so I could present Beau with the gift of their eradication. Scales slid down my arms like water and I crouched down, willing my skeleton to take on its dragon form.
Distantly I heard humans and I shook myself, dragging myself back to the present. I shifted back to human, even though I didn’t like the lack of senses the body came with. Forcing my mind back to what I needed to focus on, I walked to the side where I could see a boarded-up window. That must have been their entry point. The deep earthiness under the smoky scent meant Earth Dragons, most likely. The more complicated question was if it was a pair of rogue dragons after the divine omega on their own, or if they were going after Beau as a clan.
It gave me some relief to know that Beau was still in the area. He may not have stayed in his house like I told him to, but he was nearby. The ache that burrowed its way into my chest eased slightly, but it was still there, waiting for me to leave so the loss could cripple me. I grimaced, rubbing my chest as if it would do something to soothe it. It didn’t.
I’d never felt that way for anyone, and I had met—and slept with—a lot of dragons. If I wasn’t related to them, they were fair game. It had never felt like this. I wanted to write it off as something else. Maybe I was getting sick. Maybe I was going crazy. But I had been around Bishop when he was with Evan, seen Mason and Seth reunited after Seth had nearly died. I had even pored over what little information we had managed to get from Blodwen about the divine omegas. The logical conclusion was that Beau was my fated mate.
My dragon rumbled inside of me, wanting to go find Beau, grab him, mark him, keep him safe. Make him mine, and not just in theory.
I gritted my teeth. That wasn’t why I was there. Fated mates or not, I wasn’t going to worry about it. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t a relationship guy. That much had been obvious from the start when my clan had been murdered and Ten and I were left alone, too young to survive on our own. The Blood Dragons had taken us in, and eventually we had ended up working with Bishop before branching out on our own. We had family, but not really.
Being a mercenary wasn’t fun and games, no matter how cocky I acted. I had seen friends come and go, liked people only to see them die. It was rare we lost a dragon nowadays, but it had happened, and I was tired of having my heart ripped out. The divine omegas were still human, even though they had dragon blood. I’d seen what happened to dragons who loved and lost, who fought to keep going forward when they wanted to crumble. It was easier to just avoid it altogether. Love wasn’t worth it.
A growl rumbled in my chest, a message from the dragon part of me simmering under the surface that it didn’t care about trivial things like that. It just wanted its mate. My mind flashed to Beau, his body laid out in front of me, being able to worship him, take him, claim him, mate him.
Now I was standing in front of his house with a hard-on. Excellent.
Not.
I stopped myself from running a hand through my hair and messing it up. It was still styled after the flight, somehow, and romantic intentions or not, there was a part of me that wanted to look as good as I always did. It wasn’t for him. Nope. While I’d joked with Ten about getting laid, that wasn’t in my plans for the moment.
No, this trip I would be serious. Responsible. It was the right thing to do, sticking by Beau and making sure he was okay. It was practically chivalrous. I was being a
gentleman.
The fact I wanted to fuck him was completely irrelevant.
3
Beau
I was covered in dirt and seeds when one of my workers caught my attention. Sighing, I straightened up. I’d told my second in command not to bother me until I was done unless something was seriously wrong. While we did most of our work with tractors and plows, sometimes there was no substitute for doing things by hand. The fact that it eased the nerves simmering under my skin was a secondary benefit. Whether I was more anxious over Ace arriving or the break-in, I wasn’t sure.
“There’s someone at your house, boss,” the man said, looking both amused and curious. “He’s pretty hot.”
Was it possible for your stomach to rise and fall at the same time? Because that’s what mine did. “What does he look like?” I tried not to get ahead of myself. Maybe it wasn’t Ace. Maybe it was one of the people who’d tried to break in the night before.
Yeah, right.
“Blond, sunglasses, dressed in black and probably frying in this weather.” The farmhand looked amused. “I don’t think he’s a local.”
I sighed. “Thanks. I’ll go talk to him.” I kept my face casual, but my insides were chaotic. Nerves battled with anticipation which battled with fear. He was just there because he wanted to fuck me, I reminded myself sternly. That was all the dragons wanted. Especially ones like Ace. Eventually he would leave and I’d forget him and life would move on.
I rolled my eyes at myself. Sure. Ace was anything but forgettable.
Taking my gloves off and tucking them in the back pocket of my jeans, I turned in the direction of my house, a warm fluttering in my chest that hadn’t been there before. It seemed stronger every step I took in Ace’s direction, like I was reacting to his presence. I scowled, but it was more out of embarrassment than anything else. I didn’t like someone having such a strong pull on me.
A loud whistle drew my attention. Jerking myself out of my thoughts, I wasn’t surprised to see Ace sauntering toward me, sunglasses on, hands in his dark pockets and a swagger in his step. I almost swallowed my tongue, my heart getting even more ridiculous. There was a sort of warmth flooding out from my heart, like just being this close to him told me everything would be okay. He looked even better than he had last time I’d seen him. His skin had a tan now, his blond hair sun-kissed and styled.
Ace stopped not far from my house, making me walk the rest of the way. I tried to keep my scowl, but it wasn’t going very well. Instead, all I wanted to do was move into his arms, bury my face in his neck and wait until he made everything okay. Whatever the instincts were, I didn’t like them.
As I got within a few feet, he pulled his sunglasses off, those captivating bright blue eyes homing in on me like I was all he could see. Then his distractingly plush mouth curved into a smile that made my cock twitch in my jeans. “Hey, pretty eyes. Long time no see,” Ace drawled.
It wasn’t the first time I’d gotten a compliment on my amber eyes and I doubted it would be the last. Usually I just shrugged them off. But this? This had me blushing. I scuffed my foot across the ground, my cheeks pink and a pleasant heat flooding me. He was pleased with me, how I looked.
Internally I kicked myself. What was wrong with me? There was a hesitant part of me that was channeling my grandparents. They’d always insisted that not every dragon was like my father or my father’s clan, ready to kick someone out when they got inconvenient. Ace had gone out of his way to fly down to help, just because I’d asked.
“Don’t any of you omegas understand orders?” Ace raised an unimpressed eyebrow, folding his sunglasses before tucking them into the collar of his shirt.
I blinked at him, the heat of pleasing him tempered with embarrassment. “What?”
“What part of stay indoors don’t you understand?” He crossed his arms over his chest, but there was a smile playing at his lips. If he was scolding me, he wasn’t serious about it.
The warmth in my chest pulsed happily, like it knew Ace was worried about me and that was a good thing. I pressed the heel of my palm to the spot where it ached the most, trying to soothe it. It didn’t help.
“Despite what you think, my work doesn’t disappear just because you’re coming,” I snarked back, feeling off-footed. Then I went over what I’d said in my head and groaned internally.
“Oh, you bet the world disappears if I come, because you’d be out of your mind with pleasure,” Ace purred, moving closer.
I wanted to take a step back. I tried to take a step back. Instead my traitorous feet stayed where they were, my cheeks a bright red and my cock tenting my jeans. I wanted to let him touch me, take me, have me. When he reached out and cupped the side of my face with one of his stupidly large hands, it sent a blend of electricity and warmth straight down to my already hard dick. I bit back a groan.
That moment hung between us for what felt like an eternity, before Ace broke the connection and took a step back. My breath hitched and I felt like I’d run a marathon. A quick glance at his pants showed he was in the same predicament I was in, but it didn’t seem to bother him.
The cockiness faded from his expression, his eyes turning serious in a way I hadn’t seen before. “Are you okay?” Ace asked, his tone low.
I stared at him for a long moment, surprised that he genuinely cared. I was so used to being on my own that I’d forgotten what it was like to have someone on my side, looking out for me.
Not that I needed him, because I didn’t.
When I opened my mouth, what came out wasn’t what I had intended. “I’m afraid they’ll come back,” I admitted. My eyes widened. While it was the truth, it definitely wasn’t something I had planned to tell him.
Ace’s eyes softened, and that strange connection between us pulsed with a comfort that wasn’t my own. Clearing my throat, I turned my head away. “The front door’s this way.” I didn’t look at him as I made my way around the house, unlocking the door and opening it. “I don’t know where they were talking from, but I thought it was the front room.” I gave him the rundown on what they’d said, just in time for his eyes to go wide, then narrowed.
“There are bullet holes—”
“That was me,” I said calmly.
Ace’s scowl darkened, and for a second his musky aura threatened to overtake me. I shook it off as best I could, leaning against the counter and crossing my arms. “You confronted them?” he asked darkly.
“I stood in my bedroom with my gun, and shot the floor to make them run away,” I answered. I could feel the anger simmering under his skin, but it thrilled me instead of scaring me. I knew what Ace was, knew he was much stronger than I was and could end me in a second if he wanted to. But I also knew with complete certainty that he would never hurt me. “They never touched me.”
Ace took a step toward me, his arm jerking out in an aborted movement like he’d wanted to touch me. I inhaled sharply, both wanting to move away and stay still at the same time. Instead he cleared his throat and took a step back, crouching down to examine the footprints in my kitchen. “What window did they break?”
“This one.” I walked him to the far end of the living room, showing him the window I had spent part of the evening boarding up. He frowned, his eyes moving rapidly as he took in the room, my house, everything. I felt oddly vulnerable. As the silence stretched out longer, that itch in my chest started fluttering, like I needed to do something or I would go crazy. “Did you come by yourself?” I blurted out.
Ace lifted his head to look at me, his eyes narrowing a touch. “Ten’s in town, scoping out the area.”
“Is he safe out there?” I shifted my weight from foot to foot, desperately trying to come up with something, anything, to distract myself from whatever it was about Ace that was calling to me.
Ace stilled, his gaze raking over me. “Why are you so concerned about Ten?” His voice was darker, gravelly, like a growl instead of speech. It was like how Bishop spoke, but the deep tone felt almost out of place with
the normally light-hearted Ace.
If anything, he sounded…jealous. Which didn’t make any sense, because there was no reason for him to be jealous. He didn’t like me; I didn’t like him. Much. “You usually move in groups,” I answered with a shrug.
He stared at me for a minute, like he was trying to tell what I meant by that, what I wasn’t saying. Good luck with that, I thought, because I had no idea.
“Ten’s stronger than he looks,” Ace answered finally, his gaze still locked on mine. We stood there staring at each other, and it was like the world fell away, leaving just the two of us. One of my hands curled into a fist, not letting myself reach out for him.
The ringing of the doorbell snapped me out of it. Apprehension flashed across my face, my back stiffening as I turned in its direction.
“It’s Ten,” Ace said, his lips curving into a fond smile. There was something underneath it, something I didn’t want to think about, but I did let myself watch him as he sauntered to the front door and opened it.
His ass really did look nice in those jeans.
The door cracked open, sending a spark of fear down my spine, but it was just Ten who walked inside, looking exactly the same as he had last time I saw him. It was difficult not to stare at the scar on the side of his face, to wonder what had happened to him that marked him so badly, but I dragged my attention back to his brown eyes instead.
“I caught a scent,” Ten said, looking at Ace and then at me. There was something calculating in his gaze, like he could see something that I couldn’t. I straightened up, crossing my arms over my chest and lifting my chin. I didn’t like being left in the dark.
As if sensing my unease, Ace moved closer to me, his elbow just bumping mine. An electric shock raced up my arm, adrenaline and heat flooding through my body. Then I blushed. Freakin’ blushed. I ducked my head, but I didn’t move away. He was distracting, and no matter how much I wanted to shove him and run, my body urged me to stay by his side, let him protect me. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other in an attempt to drag my mind away from that thought. There was too much of me that wanted to let things go, to let Ace take over, and it made me uncomfortable.
