by Jadyn Chase
His lips followed my direction. I steered him where I wanted to go. I had to show him I really did want this. The blanket fell away and left him exposed. I almost hesitated to touch his perfect body, but I didn’t come all this way to stop now.
I rolled him onto his back. Now I had him where I wanted him. I could show him what I meant, that I really did want to. I could show him it was really okay to let go of all those old notions about men and women.
I kissed down his jawline to his neck. He craned his head aside and groaned. I nibbled down his throat to his chest. His skin felt so immaculately, satiny soft. His chest strained under my lips. Breathing on him turned me on more than I could believe. I had to have him. Nothing would stop me.
Fortunately, he didn’t try. He relaxed back on the bed and let me kiss him. He let me drag my tongue down his sternum, but when I touched his stomach, he jolted. His hand flew to my neck, “No, Paige!”
I sat up seething with volcanic desire. I pressed him down under my palms. “Shh.”
I straddled him and pulled off my shirt. He writhed under me. His energy fired my blood even more. I wanted every solid inch of him. He was mine to show just how good it could be.
I peeled off my clothes. Now we were both equally naked. I migrated up to his mouth and swam in endless kisses. His breath rasped through his nostrils escalating to the pitch of desire. He wanted this. I just had to take it slow so he didn’t freak out.
I bowed down and kissed his collarbone, his chest, and down, down, to his navel. He moaned in agonized delight hugging my head against his midsection. His pulse thumped just beneath the skin. His whole body stretched tight and ready.
I caressed my cheek down his hip to his stiff member throbbing with heat. I grazed my eyelashes against it just to say hello. He quaked all over. God, he felt good! I could eat him alive, but that would only frighten him. I had to show him. I had to teach him.
My flesh burned between my legs. I wanted to get him inside me and feel his hardness in my juicy center. Not yet. Not yet.
I crawled up his body to his mouth. He tasted hotter than ever. My mind swam in delirium floating in the rapture of that kiss.
Out of nowhere, his hands grazed my sensitive skin. He dragged his fingertips up my sides and I spasmed all over. A blistering rocket explosion of sensation torched through me and I almost climaxed then and there. I whined high and long.
Those wicked fingers dallied up my ribs and touched my breasts. He cradled them in his hot, comforting hands until I couldn’t rest. I squirmed in mounting passion at those maddening hands massaging, discovering, exciting me as never before.
I undulated my spine in every direction. I had to move, but I couldn’t get away with him holding onto me like that. I had to rub my body against something, something hard and unyielding and penetrating.
He ripped his lips off my mouth and burrowed under my arm. His face made contact with my chest and his devouring lips closed around my nipple. His teeth barely brushed the skin and I screamed in torrential sobbing orgasm. I shoved my breast into his mouth, but that could never be enough. Nothing he did would ever be enough again.
Without thinking twice, I swung my leg over him and sat down on his hard shaft. I would go out of my mind if I didn’t feel him inside me right now. The next thing I knew, my muscles clenched around his rigid member and filled my mind to overflowing. I couldn’t think. I could only convulse on successive waves of intoxicated rapture blasting through me one after the other.
He didn’t hesitate again and neither did I. I rocked my pelvis to thrust him deep, deep, deep inside me. God, I needed every inch of him driving me over the edge. He flung his arms around my waist and pumped into me from below. I didn’t have to worry anymore about him being ready or wanting it.
He tightened his bite around my nipple and I completely lost my mind. I shrieked orgasming again and again. I would have slammed myself down on his cock but he did it for me. He pounded until my juices flowed into his hair, and all the time, he kept his mouth locked on my breast to hold me in position.
I arched my spine to drive him into my most secret, delicious spots. His hardness torched me to smithereens. My hair fell over my face and I rocketed into orbit. I couldn’t fight him and I didn’t want to try. I was with him and that was the only place I needed to be.
10
James
I woke up to sunlight streaming through the window. The instant I opened my eyes, I saw Paige sitting on the edge of the bed. The sun blazed on her red hair and lit up her milky white skin. Her magnificent breasts hung free and bare for me to admire, but her face made me pause.
I extended a hand, but I hesitated to touch her. “Is anything wrong?”
She didn’t turn away from the window. “A chopper just went by. It woke me up. I can only assume they’re searching the Cemetery and probably Richmond Park.”
I blinked at her for a moment. It took me a second to decipher what she was talking about. Here I was, in her bed. I spent last night delighting in her body and falling asleep in her sensuous, beautiful arms.
She muttered under her breath as if in a dream. “They must have interviewed witnesses between here and the lab. They must have determined that you changed somewhere around here. They won’t stop looking for you.”
I hoisted myself up on the pillows. “If you think it’s best, Paige, I can leave. I can go somewhere away from here where I won’t put you in danger.”
She spun around fast. Her features hardened into a mask of black determination. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here. Understand? You’re never going anywhere without me. Don’t you even suggest that.”
“All right,” I breathed. “I won’t.”
She compressed her lips. Her hair cascaded over half her face and gave her a devilish, dangerous aspect. “I meant what I said last night, James. I don’t want to lose you again. If you feel you need to leave here or get away from England, or if we realize it’s not safe for you to stay, you have to take me with you. Promise me you won’t ever leave without me.”
Now I did touch her. I had to. I stroked my hand down her arm and back to her cheek. “Very well. I promise. I won’t leave without you. I swear it.”
Her eyes sank closed and she heaved a deep sigh. “Good.”
I would have liked to kiss her and hold her to seal that promise, but she didn’t give me a chance. Before I could stop her, she jumped to her feet and raced to her closet. She yanked out a shirt and tugged it over her chest. “Where are you going?”
“I have to get ready for work tomorrow.” She bolted across the room, snatched something out of a drawer, and kicked her feet into a pair of trousers. “We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
“Work!” I exclaimed. “You said you didn’t want to go back to the lab.”
“That was before. If you’re going to stay here, we have to get our hands on some Depthamol.”
I froze. “What for?”
“You’re not safe around anybody without out. You could bump your head on the doorpost and shift. You could destroy the house and the military would be on your ass in seconds. I have to get some Depthamol and the only place to do that is the lab. That means I have to keep working there as long as you’re hiding out here.”
I reclined back against the headboard and folded my elbow behind me. “That’s simple enough. You already work there.”
“You don’t understand. Sweeney is going to give me a performance review starting Monday. I’m under investigation for possibly helping you escape. I have to be ready for that. I have to prepare my defense so I can make it look like I’m a good little employee who just wants to keep working there.”
“Won’t they notice you stealing Depthamol?” I asked.
She shot me a wild grin. “Hopefully, by the time they put two and two together, you and I will have worked out a way to get you out of the country.”
“We will have worked out a way to get us out of the country, you me
an,” I corrected.
She whizzed out of the room and came back with one of her small machines. She folded her legs on the bed and propped it open. “I have some money saved up. I’m going to set up an off-shore account and transfer my savings there. That way, if we have to flee, we’ll have resources to support ourselves somewhere else.”
I frowned at her. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Paige? There must be a way to convince the military that I’m not a threat so they leave us alone.”
She snorted. “Not bloody likely.”
I settled back and watched her work. She never looked more ravishing. Her disheveled hair made a blazing inferno of red fire around her face. Her eyes flickered across the screen and her fingers tapped away.
I relaxed in the glow of satisfaction. I might be on the run from dangerous elements, but I was never so happy in my life. Her aroma still hovered in my nostrils. The glorious sensation of her breasts and her body moving over me still enraptured my memory. As long as I stayed with her, I could look forward to more nights like last night—as long as I didn’t get caught.
All at once, she gasped. She blinked down at the device and her mouth fell open. “Oh, my God!”
“What?” I leaned forward. “What is it?”
She barely whispered. “Look.”
She swiveled the machine around and I found myself gaping at a picture of myself, my brothers and my sister, and my parents assembled in Dover Castle.
“Listen to this,” she breathed. “Police are still searching for the man who surprised a Dover Castle tour group last week. Witnesses say the intruder came out of nowhere in the famous Castle tunnels and attacked the visitors unawares. The tour guide described the intruder as tall with curly brown hair and a pointed goatee. He spoke a high-society form of English with a clear Kentish accent. He was wearing what appeared to be a period costume from Victorian times. Security personnel tried to subdue the suspect with a taser, but without effect. Witnesses claim he transformed into an unidentified creature before flying away. The investigation continues.”
I stared at her. “Thomas! It must be Thomas. He’s alive! He’s out there somewhere.” I leapt out of bed. “I have to find him! I have to go to him.”
“Hold it!” Her hand shot out and she seized my wrist. “You can’t leave this house.”
“But he’s out there somewhere!” I tried to wrest my arm from her grasp. “He might need my help.”
She tightened her hold. “If you go out there, you’ll be hunted down and killed. Keep still. I might be able to find him from here.”
I collapsed on the bed blinking at nothing. Thomas, my brother! He was alive and flying around out there in dragon form. That meant I wasn’t the only one.
My mind spun. What had really happened to me when I woke up? Where had I been between when I last stood in the Great Armour Hall and when I came to outside Buckingham Palace? Anything was possible.
She spent most of the rest of the day on her machine. She took a break around midday to go out shopping. She came back with some clothes for me and immediately got so absorbed in her work that she didn’t appear to notice me again. I might have been tempted to feel slighted by that, but I reminded myself she was doing this to help me.
I got a book off her shelf and enjoyed some quiet hours to myself. When evening came, she put her machine away and made a meal for us both. We talked things over, but the passion didn’t return until we got into bed for the night.
She cuddled her majestic body against me and breathed into my chest. I closed my eyes in matchless ecstasy and buried my nose in her hair. “Paige dear.”
She chuckled low. “Yes?”
“Do you really think we’ll ever get out of here? Do you really think there’s any hope that we’ll be able to live in peace?”
She breathed slower and deeper. Her voice drifted to my ear from far away. “I don’t know. If the military doesn’t stop looking for you, we’ll leave the country. The good news is that, as long as you’re a dragon, they’ll never be able to capture you. You can just fly away.”
“I hope you’re right. It would be nice to live somewhere without worrying about them lurking around all the time.”
She twisted over on her back and rested her skull on my shoulder. “I’ll go into work tomorrow and see what’s going on.”
“There is one problem with this plan, though,” I offered.
“What’s that?”
“You mentioned giving me Depthamol. If you do that, I won’t be able to fly away. I could be recaptured.”
She wriggled deeper into bed. “I’ll see where the pursuit is up to when I check in with Sweeney. If they stop looking for you, we might not need it. I don’t really mind either way as long as we’re together.”
She lay still for a moment. Her voluptuous form radiated peace and tranquility into my soul. “Paige dear.”
“Hmm.”
I rotated to one side and pressed my lips against her temple. “I love you.”
She rolled toward me and slithered her arms around my neck. She hugged me into her breasts and her lips brushed my cheek. “I love you, too.”
I wanted nothing more than to absorb her into me, to feel that heavenly, supple rapture of her enveloping me into her golden self. Before I could kiss her, she slackened all over and sank into the mattress. In one long breath, the life and animation floated out of her limbs and she lay still. Her chest heaved and her lips pouted open. Her features melted into deep slumber.
I lay awake for hours watching her sleep, but I couldn’t close my eyes. Too many problems and questions plagued me. On the one hand, I had to stay hidden at all costs. I had to avoid shifting into a dragon and the only way to do that was Depthamol. On the other hand, I had to be ready to fly at the drop of a hat. The dragon was my only true defense against the forces out to destroy me.
I couldn’t let anyone take me away from Paige. Like her, I made up my mind never to let anyone or anything part me from her again. I didn’t want to leave England knowing my brothers and parents might be out there somewhere. I would do it in a heartbeat, though, if it meant keeping Paige safe and us staying together. That overruled every other consideration.
I loved her. God, I loved her. I knew it that day I found her first note in my lunch tray. I should have told her then and there. I should have pledged my heart to her. That didn’t matter now. I loved her and I told her so.
She loved me, too. That confirmed in my mind that I would never let her go. I would lose England, my family—anything—but not her. She meant the world to me. I could never find another woman like her. I was certain of that.
11
Paige
I burst into the house. “James! James! Where are you?”
I barreled from one room to the other calling his name. Where was he?
I found him in the bedroom with his nose stuck in the same book. He glanced up. “What is it, Paige dear? Is anything wrong? Did you get the Depthamol?”
“Forget the Depthamol. I found out something so much more important. Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s right! Take a look at this.”
I plopped down cross-legged on the bed and snapped open my laptop. I rotated the screen around so he could see.
He scowled. “What am I looking at?”
“It’s an announcement from Dover Castle. Listen to what it says. Shelton Family Reunion. Alexander Lincoln Shelton of Kent extends a heartfelt invitation to all Shelton Family members to join in celebrating their 120 year anniversary. Festivities to be held in the Great Armour Hall, Dover Castle, 8 PM, 14 May 2020. Don’t you see? Your brother Alexander is calling all the family together. He must have woken up and now he’s trying to locate everybody else that disappeared from the Great Armour Hall. This is it, James! This is your chance to find your family.”
He blinked down at the screen in shock. He didn’t say anything.
I waited, but he didn’t snap out of it. “James? Do you understand? This could be your chance to reunite with them. T
hey might know something about what happened.”
“I understand that, Paige dear.” He still didn’t raise his head.
“Well? Aren’t you happy about this? Why aren’t you excited?”
“I am.” He sat motionless and unseeing.
I wilted at the sight of him. “I thought you’d be a bit more animated about it.”
His gaze drifted to my face. “What about you? You have to come with me.”
“I can’t. There isn’t time.” I jumped up and raced to the closet. “The reunion is tomorrow night. You’ll have to catch the train to Dover and make your way to the Castle.”
He frowned again. “I couldn’t do that alone. I don’t know anything about these modern trains of yours.”
I shook my head. “I can’t go with you. If I don’t show up to work tomorrow morning, Sweeney will get wise and come looking for me. I’m already under a microscope at work. One wrong move will tip them off that I’ve been hiding you. You have to go alone.”
“Well, what about the Depthamol? What if something happens and I shift on the way?”
“I couldn’t get the Depthamol. We’ll just have to hope for the best.”
He didn’t move. The book dangled from his fingertips, forgotten. So slowly I wondered if he might have gone off the deep end, he turned to gaze out the window.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What’s bothering you?”
“I never thought I would see them again—definitely not so soon. What will they be like? What will they think of me?”
“Why should they think anything of you?” I sat down next to him again. I wanted to make him as happy about this as I was. I didn’t see why he wasn’t. “Is it the dragon you’re worried about? From that report we read about Thomas, I would say there’s a high chance they’re going through the same thing. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see you again.”
