Her waist nipped inward—surprisingly small—then flared out to hips perfect for a man to grip as he loved his woman. Manu let his hand drift downward, skimming one breast, her rib cage, her hip. She stirred restlessly, her body silently pleading for more.
Manu wanted to record this moment in his memory to pull out as he grew older. It was her scent that propelled him onward. Rich and heady with a hint of spicy green and musk. He parted her legs farther and fit his body in the V between.
“Please hurry,” she urged.
He kissed an inner thigh, reveling in the silkiness of her skin and the fragrance of the body-wash he used in his shower. He traced his fingers over her intimate flesh, a barely there skim of her cleft. A low moan accompanied the slight lift of her hips.
“Manu.” She shifted her lower body from side-to-side, restless in her quest for his fingers and mouth.
Manu gave into his craving to taste her and ran his tongue along her folds. She hissed, and he wanted to howl in concert. Both he and his taniwha could feast on her for hours. She was wet and ready for a cock. His cock. But building trust with her was important. While other taniwha in the past might have captured their mate and spirited her away to a private, confined place until she acquiesced, this was a modern age. He might be on the bossy side, but he needed Jess to claim him as he claimed her.
When she shuddered against his tongue, he sensed how close she was, her desperation. Manu licked around her swollen clit and inserted a finger into her channel. It slid inside her with ease, her swollen tissues hugging his digit. Manu added another finger and curled them, searching for the patch of flesh that would please her most. He sucked gently at her clit, gradually giving her more. As he kissed and caressed, he stroked her internally.
Her body strained and shuddered, her breaths coming in harsh pants.
Manu continued loving her with his mouth and fingers until her body tensed. She climaxed two seconds later, her pussy pulsing around his two fingers, clenching and releasing rhythmically while he eased up on his contact with her clit.
Gradually, she relaxed, and he withdrew his fingers. He rose up the bed and viewed her expression. Her eyes were closed, her features as tension-free as her body. He kissed her, and her arms curled around his neck as she returned his smooch.
“Are you okay?” he whispered as their lips parted.
“Touch my breasts,” she murmured, her voice dreamy.
“My pleasure, sweetheart.” He shaped one breast with his hands, finishing with the nipple squeezed between his fingers.
Her murmur of approval had him repeating the move on her other breast then he used his mouth.
“Manu,” she whispered. “Make me come again.”
Manu groaned since his jeans held his dick in a strangled position. After a deep breath, he pushed aside his own needs and focused on his mate. Her need was greater, and he’d tend her as long as she required.
“It will be my pleasure.”
And he loved her long into the night.
Jessalyn woke to the ring of a phone. Warm and relaxed, she stretched then froze when she realized another body inhabited the bed with her.
Her eyes popped open, and she turned her head.
“Bloody phone,” Manu grumbled. “Whoever is calling me will get an earful.”
He rolled out of bed, giving her a flash of a naked back. The tattooed dragon on the man’s back brandished his sword and blew her a kiss. Her gaze lowered, and she was almost disappointed when she struck a pair of black boxer-briefs.
“Yes,” Manu barked. “This had better be good.”
He froze as the person on the other end of the call spoke. The masculine rumble reached her, but she couldn’t decipher the actual words. Manu turned to face her, giving her the front view. It was just as perfect as the back. A broad chest with no body hair, olive skin, and muscles that told her he did plenty of physical activity to counteract his inventor work. Probably his flying.
The thought gave her pause. Would he take her flying if she asked? She doubted she’d ever fly, but she could ride on his back. Not one human would witness their flight if she could wear one of his inventions.
“All right,” Manu said. “Find the address, and we’ll visit tonight once Jess finishes work. Good job, Jack.” He hung up and sat on the bed beside her. His expression turned tender as he smoothed the hair from her face. “I have news about your father.”
Jessalyn sat up, grabbing the sheet to cover her naked breasts. She’d pleaded with him to get her off, and he had. Several times without asking anything in return. “What news?”
“Jack has been checking the records we took from your house. He discovered where the money received from the bank went.” Manu paused.
His uncharacteristic indecisiveness warned her of something momentous about to happen. Every muscle in her body clenched. “Tell me.”
“To a Karen Baker. Jack checked the birth records again this morning. Your father has two other children with this Karen Baker. A boy and a girl.”
It took a while for the information to sink in since it made little sense. “Dad had other children?”
“Yes, Jack is positive. Your father is listed on their birth certificates.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell me? Why would he keep this a secret?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. Jack is working on finding an address.”
“None of this makes sense. Wait, will this Karen Baker even know Dad is dead? I didn’t put a notice in the Herald.”
“Hard to know. Once Jack has the details, we’ll visit this woman. Maybe she’ll help answer your questions.”
* * * * *
Thankfully, work kept her busy but her thoughts never strayed far from her father.
Why?
That question rattled through her brain for the entire day. She wiped away the worst of the greasy cooking odor with fragrance-infused wet-wipes and exchanged her clothes for a clean set in the employee’s washroom. A pair of new jeans, an older but tidy blouse from her own wardrobe, and sports shoes, also courtesy of Manu.
At the last moment, she opened the wooden box and pulled out the pendant. Her finger traced the shape of the greenstone fishhook set into the bone, and the churning of her stomach settled. On impulse, she slipped the stout string over her head and tucked the pendant under her blouse. After making certain the mystery key remained safe, she returned the wooden box to her daypack.
With jerky movements, she shoved her clothes on top and went outside to wait for Manu. By the time Manu picked her up, her shock at learning of a second family had shifted to anger.
She had a half-brother and half-sister somewhere in Auckland and her father hadn’t bothered to tell her. Why hadn’t he blended his families? She hadn’t known her mother since she’d died when Jessalyn was two. Instead, her father had visited his second family while leaving her with the babysitter in Piha.
“Have you found an address?” Her first words on entering Manu’s truck.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Jessalyn gazed at him in surprise. “Wouldn’t you be curious to meet your father’s secret family?”
“He kept them hidden for a reason.”
Her incredulity turned to her father’s motivation in keeping quiet. “The logical excuse is that it was against the law. I need answers, Manu.”
“I understand,” he said. “But what if the answers make everything worse?”
“You said Jack traced the money to this woman. Dad didn’t expect to die. He must’ve had a plan, but he’s left me a mess. The why of it is killing me.”
“Let’s go then,” Manu said.
“Where do they live?”
“Howick, overlooking the sea.”
“How do you know that?”
“I recognize the address, and I took a flight over this afternoon.”
The topic of flight distracted her a fraction. “I wish I could fly. What does it feel like?”
“It’s my favorite thing.
I love the wind in my face and soaring on the breeze, the salty brine of the sea. It’s difficult to explain. Have you flown in a small plane?”
“We went on a school trip to Australia when I was ten. That was fun, but it was an Air New Zealand 747.”
“Flying in dragon form is better.”
“Would you take me flying one day? I could ride on your back, couldn’t I?”
Manu frowned. “I’ve never carried another while flying. I suppose it’s possible.”
“Will you think about it?”
“Perhaps.”
Jessalyn fell silent and let Manu navigate the streets and refer to his GPS. Almost half an hour later, they pulled up outside a wooden bungalow. It was an older house and the mature trees reflected this. Garden-beds full of bright yellow pansies and purple petunias bordered a footpath that led to the front door.
“It’s not too late to change your mind.”
Jessalyn shook her head. “I have to learn why Dad kept this family a secret from me. He mentioned nothing in his will.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Thanks.”
Her stomach churned as she made her way up the decorative path. She applied the brass lion-knocker to the door and waited with Manu standing nearby.
A teenager answered, and Jessalyn gasped on seeing him. The male—somewhere in his late teens—was the masculine version of her with brown eyes and skin of the same shade. His black hair flopped into his eyes, and he shoved it aside to peer at her.
Jessalyn swallowed, fearful her knees would fail to support her, and she’d face-plant on the verandah in front of her newly discovered brother. Half-brother.
“Hello,” she croaked.
The boy stared at her, his black brows drawing together. “Mum,” he called.
Footsteps approached, and she again swallowed, her stomach churning in tandem with her racing heart.
The door opened wider and an older Maori woman appeared. She wore office clothes: black trousers and a pale violet blouse. Her long black hair—shot through with silver—sat atop her head in an elegant up-do. Her brown eyes widened on seeing Jessalyn before her features hardened.
“Oh, Jessalyn. What have you done?” Anger coated the woman’s words. She yanked her son back and attempted to shut the door in Jessalyn’s face.
“No,” Manu snapped, and he used brute force to push his way inside. “It’s obvious you don’t want Jessalyn here, but don’t you think you owe her an explanation?”
10 – The Past Rears Its Head
“B-but you’re dead.”
Manu’s grasp of her hand was the sole thing keeping Jessalyn grounded. Her chest had tightened, and she struggled to breathe past her shock and confusion. The lies. The betrayal. She shook her head, then released a forceful breath.
This woman was her mother.
Her real mother.
She’d been alive all this time, and her father had lied to her.
Everything she’d believed…
“Why?” Jessalyn growled as she battled with disbelief, hurt. Rage.
Humarie Brown or Karen Baker—whatever name her mother went by—scowled. “Why are you here? Where is James?”
“He’s dead. A heart attack almost two months ago.”
Jessalyn glimpsed a pained wince, a faint dropping of the perfect posture, but it was brief and fleeting before her mother collected her emotions and abruptly gestured them into a room to their right. A formal reception room with gleaming surfaces and pristine furniture. A foreign mint tang married with the fragrance from the bunch of lavender sitting in a vase on an oak sideboard. Jessalyn’s practiced eye took in the expensive piece of furniture before her gaze flittered to her mother. No, the woman who’d given birth to her.
She’d never been a mother to Jessalyn.
Her brother had silently retreated, and Jessalyn didn’t blame him. Part of her wanted to flee, to escape the hovering storm about to break over her head.
As if he sensed her mindset, Manu reached for her hand again, twined their fingers in silent support, and drew her to a two-seater.
Her mother—Karen—strode over to a single seat, her heels quick and somehow impatient on the wooden flooring.
The rapid clicks—before her mother reached the thick Persian rug and her footsteps silenced—and the blast of angry rejection had Jessalyn tensing further and sitting straighter.
Then Karen sat, her posture perfect again, her attitude still unwelcoming. “Why are you here? And why did you bring him with you?”
Did Karen even care about her?
Jessalyn swallowed while she sensed rather than saw the growing tension in Manu. “Dad died and the finances…” Saying this suddenly seemed disloyal to the parent who had loved and supported her for all these years. “I came to Auckland to sell his vehicle and remaining stock and on impulse, I stayed.”
Her mother didn’t reply but turned her cold gaze to Manu. “How did you become involved with Manu Taniwha?”
“You know Manu?” Jessalyn asked.
Karen’s attention zeroed back in on her. “I know of him. He killed his mother.”
Jessalyn let out an involuntary gasp before risking a glance at Manu. No longer the tender man of the previous evening, he’d reverted to the angry stranger she’d first met in Onehunga. She waited for him to defend himself, to snap and snarl at her mother.
No! This woman had never been her mother. Never. Never. Never. This was the woman who’d given birth to her.
“Nothing to say?” Karen taunted.
Manu wasn’t a murderer. She’d seen and experienced his compassion, watched the way he’d held one of Jack’s babies. She’d ask him for explanations once they left this house.
“Why did you leave me alone on the clifftop? Why did Dad lie and pretend you were dead all this time? You have two other children. I have a brother and a sister.”
Karen jumped to her feet. “You will stay away from them and forget their existence. I didn’t make this sacrifice for you to expose us and place me and my children in danger.”
What about me? Jessalyn swallowed hard and battled her tears.
“How are you in danger?” Manu spoke for the first time, his voice lower and more rumbly than normal. Insistent.
Karen’s mouth twisted. “Don’t bother. That taniwha power won’t work on me.”
“You know about dragons?” Jessalyn asked.
“Taniwha,” Karen snapped. “I am a Kupe. Of course, I know.” Her eyes narrowed, and she darted to Jessalyn. Her cool fingers plucked on the string around Jessalyn’s neck and she pulled out the pendant. “Oh, child.”
Unexpected sorrow filled her voice, a complete turnabout to her initial reception.
Manu’s hand tightened on hers, drawing her attention. “Jess, where did you get that?”
“I found it in the house when I was packing up Dad’s things. Dad had hidden it in a secret compartment. The proportions were off in the drawer. That’s how I noticed.”
Karen laughed, the sound melodic. Genuine—the sort of laugh that spoke of parental amusement. “I told your father he shouldn’t have taught you to work with wood.”
A strange emotional hunger burst free in Jessalyn as she toyed with the cord on her pendant. Weirdly, she craved approval from this woman. This absent parent who’d left her and walked away without a second thought.
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. The lump in her throat refused to shift. The knowledge of her rejection had tremors quaking her body. The knowledge she had siblings who would never know their older sister if this woman had her way. The knowledge this woman held secrets she didn’t want told, didn’t intend to share. She didn’t give a damn about the consequences for Jessalyn.
Tears continued to build behind her eyes, the pressure forceful. Yet again, Jessalyn fought to hold her composure. She refused to crack, to show any more of her pain, her vulnerability to this stern woman.
“Is that the relic?” Manu asked in a strange voice.
> “Yes,” Karen said with a sigh of resignation. “Jessalyn, do you have a taniwha?”
Jessalyn traced the whorls of the greenstone in the pendant, her gaze on Karen, her voice silent.
A strange expression crossed the woman’s face. “My parents told me the relic remains with the chosen until his or her death, but I had a plan. I forced my taniwha to sleep and gave the relic to James. He told me he’d destroyed it. I never realized he’d kept it all this time.”
Karen seemed to drift into the past, remembrance curving her lips, then she gathered herself and an icy persona slid into place. “The relic accepts you. I should’ve guessed since you liked to touch it when you were a baby. It glowed when you played with it. You must go. I and my children will travel to Australia. Once I sell the house, we will not be returning.”
“Why?” The rejection sent her reeling, pummeled her mind, and left her lungs struggling for oxygen.
“The Waaka family cannot know of their existence. They must not learn I am still alive,” Karen said.
“Did they threaten you?” Manu asked.
“They weren’t happy when James and I ran off and married. The tribe was even more concerned when we had a half-breed child, and they threatened to kill James and Jessalyn. Their threats forced James and me to fashion a plan.” She shrugged, the silk-clad shoulder gesture elegant and indifferent. “I died and the problem resolved itself. You’ll be in danger now,” Karen continued, her tone lacking sympathy. “As will my son and daughter, simply because you’re all of my blood. Taniwha have an uncanny way of sensing the relic.”
“I didn’t perceive it,” Manu said. “Why?”
Karen frowned. “You should have.”
They turned their attention to her, their expressions full of questions. Jessalyn tugged at her T-shirt, avoiding their gazes. “The pendant was in a wooden box. A carved box I assumed Dad made. I haven’t worn it before. This is the first time.”
“Ah! James discovered a way to shield the power. It will be the lining or the material. If I were you, I’d return the relic back to the box and bury it in a deep hole where no one will ever find it. The legend behind the relic creates trouble.”
Black Moon Dragon Page 13
