“I can’t believe it’s over,” JoJo said.
“It has been a true trial,” Hanish said. “But we won.”
Later that evening, they chose to dine together in private after Tor had gone to bed. The two of them sat on opposite sides of the little table in Hanish’s room. He’d had delicacies brought in from the closest five-star restaurant, and they rested together in the peace and quiet of their home.
JoJo adored the taste of lobster and the crusty French bread dripping with garlic and butter. When they finished their meal, they retired to Hanish’s big bathroom and sank into a lavender-scented bubble bath in his deep tub. They sipped champagne and nibbled on chocolate-covered strawberries as they relaxed together in the warm, luxurious water. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close against his strong chest. There was nothing more beautiful and comforting than being enveloped in the warmth of Hanish’s embrace.
“We never finished our discussion,” JoJo teased.
“Our discussion about what?” Hanish asked.
“About who saved whom at the vampire compound.” She gave a little giggle and took a sip of champagne.
Hanish smiled. “I think it was probably a team effort.”
“I can agree on that.” She lifted her champagne flute and clinked it against Hanish’s.
He winked at her and smiled, setting his glass on the side of the tub. She sat hers down too as he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against her mouth. A flood of warm desire spread through her. She groaned with desire and love as he pulled her astride his lap.
He looked into her eyes, cupping her cheek with his wet, sudsy hands. “You are the strongest, most beautiful woman in the entire universe,” he murmured. The adoration and respect in his eyes sent a quiver of excitement through her whole being.
She placed her hands on either side of his face and rested her forehead against his. “I love you more than words can express. I am the luckiest woman alive to have found a man as good and as strong and as brave as you are. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He claimed her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. His tongue slid through her lips as he enveloped her in his big, strong arms. His erection rose underneath her, pressing hard against the soft, wet folds of her core.
She moaned as the liquid heat of their passion rushed down her spine. She slid over his erection, slipping back and forth in the warm, bubbly water. He palmed her breasts, flicking the pads of his thumbs over her erect nipples. As she grinded on his cock, he pressed her swollen clit, and her desire grew with each tilt of her hips.
“I think it’s time to get out of the bath,” Hanish said breathlessly, picking her up. He stood and stepped out of the tub in one swift motion. He wrapped them both in a huge towel and carried her to the bed, where he laid her across the clean, crisp sheets. He slipped under the blankets beside her, cupping her face. He kissed her gently, his hand sliding down her body, caressing her curves. Then his fingers slipped between her thighs, stroking the swollen slit between her legs.
She quivered with arousal as his strong fingers tapped her need. When she opened her legs to him, he grazed her wet core in languid, relaxed strokes. Their kisses were soft and gentle as they tasted and touched each other, taking each other in. JoJo ran her hands over his shoulders and down his back and felt the coiled muscles of his behind.
Hanish’s kiss grew harder, and the stroking of his fingers became more insistent. He slipped a finger inside her as his thumb continued to swirl around her clit. He twirled and twisted his thrumming thumb faster. The rhythm of their kiss accelerated, and his tongue darted in and out of her mouth. JoJo groaned as she came, erupting with a burst of pleasure and lightning behind her eyes.
She drew a sharp breath as Hanish rolled on top of her and slid his cock up and down her slit. She wanted him inside her so desperately. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close, devouring his mouth. Hanish tilted his hips, pressing his cock against her entrance. In an agonizingly slow movement, he slipped inside her, resting at the very entrance of her channel. She growled and gripped the globes of his ass, pulling him toward her. He chuckled and groaned, slipping deeper. They both gasped as his hot, throbbing rod thrust inside her. He found her depths and held her as her body clenched with magnificent release. He kissed her forehead as she panted and groaned with her orgasm.
“Hanish.” She kissed his mouth and his chin. “I love you so much. I love you so much I don’t know what to do.”
“There’s nothing else to do besides love each other.”
“Yes,” she groaned. “Yes.” He drew back his hips and thrust again. “Oh, Hanish. I need this. I need you. Take me, claim me, make me yours.”
Hanish growled and drove hard and deep. A surge of pleasure thundered through her. JoJo arched back, groaning as another orgasm split her body and mind in two. She held on to her gorgeous captain, who guided her into an unfathomable dimension of pleasure, desire, and passion.
Hanish looked deep into her eyes and whispered, “I am going to claim you now, my love. I’m going to make you mine forever.”
JoJo whimpered. “Please.”
Light flashed in his eyes as his hard, thick cock plunged inside her. He leaned down and brushed his razor-sharp fangs over her skin. Her orgasm erupted as he bit down hard on her neck and his semen exploded deep into her core. The mating bite overtook her, and it cut off the breath to her lungs. In that moment of intense climax, the mating venom entered her blood, and they held each other in a passionate, throbbing embrace.
The room disappeared, and they were flying through the night, the world passing by below them. They held hands, smiling and ecstatic to be together. She could feel his strength, his desire, his love. She could feel him to the very depths of her soul. There was so much of him she had not seen or experienced before. The totality of Hanish came into her, and she understood him to his very depths. And she knew that he too was experiencing the full bloom of her whole self.
They settled down on a mountaintop as the sun and moon rose over them in accelerated cycles of time. The wind blew through their hair as summer turned to autumn, then winter, and then spring. The whole world rushed around, and they were at the center, suspended in that moment of complete unison.
“We will always be together like this,” Hanish said.
“Forever,” JoJo said.
Then all at once, they slipped out of that timeless moment and were transported back to their bed, where they lay side by side, sweaty, panting, and holding each other close.
Hanish pulled the covers up over her body and held her against his chest, stroking her hair. He kissed her forehead, took a deep breath, and let it out. “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced.”
“I could never have imagined feeling so connected, so perfectly loved.”
“I have traveled across the universe and waited a million years to experience this moment with you.” Hanish’s words rumbled through his chest as she rested against him. “It was definitely worth it.”
Chapter 24
It took several weeks to get the whole gang back together, but when they finally had it organized and arranged, the crew of the House of Flames and the House of Storms all gathered together in the backyard of the Storm compound. Krista and Penelope arrived, rubbing their rounding bellies and being doted on by their mates. Hanish and Kian stood at the grill, flipping hamburgers, steaks, and hot dogs over the flames. JoJo smelled the scent of grilling meat-and-vegetable shish kebabs, and her mouth watered. She was absolutely starving. As she waited for dinner, she sat down beside Aria and Winnifred.
“Look at the cover art Winnifred painted for the next album,” Aria said, holding up a poster for JoJo to examine. It portrayed a dragon riding in a spaceship.
JoJo giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Don’t you think it’s a bit literal?”
Winnifred laughed. “It’s hip and ironic.”
JoJo smiled at the w
omen who’d become her friends. “I love it.”
“Our tour will be coming to an end soon, and we will be back in the studio to record and write the next album.” Aria seemed relieved to be coming home.
“It will be nice to be home,” Winnifred said. “Aiden and I do prefer a quiet life, after all.”
“I can’t wait to spend time with Dax,” Aria said. “Just the two of us. Being on tour does make it hard to have our private time together.”
“How do you think it went?” Penelope asked, leaning over the table as she sipped her iced tea. “With buffering the human race with your magic.”
“I think the effects are even greater in person,” Aria said. “But what we really need is that vampire vaccine.”
“We’re still working on it,” Flora, Penelope’s sister, said. “Now that I’ve finished my doctorate, I can dedicate my full attention to the project. I’m going to be coming to live at the Flame house, but we are also working here in Zephyr’s lab. He has some instruments we don’t have on our own ship.”
“With the baby coming soon, it will be helpful to have you around,” Penelope said, rubbing her stomach.
“Does that mean you’re going to be around here more often?” Raiden asked, giving Flora a big smile.
She returned his grin. “Yes, it does.”
It was obvious to everyone that the two had an attraction for each other, but every time anyone asked Raiden about it, he said they were just friends. Zephyr came outside and spoke in low tones to Flora, Cato, and Yuki. Then the four of them stood and left.
“You’re going to miss the barbecue,” Penelope called after them.
“We’ll be right back,” Flora called over her shoulder before disappearing through the patio door and into the house.
“They’ve really ramped up the work lately,” Penelope said. “I do hope they find the vaccine before the baby comes. I need Cato’s attention.”
“I know how you feel,” Krista said. She was starting to really round out under her long, flowing dress.
Penelope laughed and snorted, making her laugh harder. “You have three mates.”
“With work and everything, I sometimes think three isn’t enough. At the moment, they can’t decide on how to design the nursery. I’ve told them a million times that it doesn’t matter as long as it’s safe and comfortable. But Akash is determined to raise the child as an academic, and Ragnar is determined that he will be a warrior.”
“What about Yuki?” JoJo asked.
Krista sighed. “Yuki is in the middle. He’s busy with his work on the vaccine and vampire wards and has left Ragnar and Akash to their continuous disagreements. I do hope they have it settled before our son arrives.”
JoJo scooped a spoonful of squash into Tor’s waiting mouth and smiled at her adopted son. She loved him as if he were her own. When she had first come to America to work for Hanish, she never would have imagined feeling so much love for not only his son but also for the man who had brought her there.
She looked up at Hanish, and their eyes met. Their love and connection vibrated between them like a tightly pulled string. His eyes twinkled in the fading sunlight, and JoJo’s heart was filled with a deep sense of contentment.
Seeing Krista and Penelope, JoJo remembered what she had bought at the drugstore a few days ago but hadn’t had time to use yet. She was suspicious that it had happened but didn’t want to get her hopes up. Many changes happened to a Dragon Soul after mating. Her blood had been filled with vampire-killing antibodies, and she had been imbued with a longer life, greater strength, and more control of her physiology. She concluded that her cycle could have been off for any number of reasons. But as the sun set, and everyone sat down with their plates of hamburgers and hot dogs, JoJo didn’t reach for a beer like the others.
After dinner, she couldn’t contain herself a moment longer and hurried upstairs to the bedroom. She opened the pregnancy test and quickly followed the directions. Sitting on the edge of the tub, she stared at the little window on the stick, thinking that there had to be a more technically advanced way to do this. After all, she was surrounded by alien scientists. But as the fluid washed across the indicator window, she saw two little pink lines forming a plus sign. She gasped and covered her mouth with joy, glad that she had this private moment to herself.
She capped the stick and shoved it in her pocket then hurried downstairs to join the rest of the party. Aria was singing, while Aiden strummed his guitar. Winnifred and Dax looked on lovingly as their partners played a new song. JoJo felt a rush of power as Aria’s magic vibrated through the air. As the final notes of the song faded, she ran over to Hanish and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“I have a surprise,” she whispered in his ear.
“What is it?” he asked.
She pulled the pregnancy test out of her pocket and lifted it up for him to see. He grabbed it and stared.
“Really?” He pulled her into his arms. She nodded, her smile so wide it almost hurt. “Oh, JoJo. You’ve made me the happiest man on Earth. No, you’ve made me the happiest man in the universe.” He hugged her tight and held her close before turning to the group. “I have an announcement, everyone. JoJo and I are going to have a child.”
Everyone gathered around, congratulating them on their coming joy. It filled her with so much happiness, it was almost too much to bear.
After the guests had said their goodbyes and retreated to their cars to drive home, Hanish and JoJo put Tor to bed in his nursery. Gazing down at the beautiful little boy, JoJo sighed with pleasure. She had never imagined that her life would be so perfect. JoJo and Hanish’s eyes met. Through their trembling connection, their hearts filled with mutual love for each other and for his son—for their son.
“I thought the day that we mated would be the happiest day of my life,” Hanish said as they stepped out of Tor’s room and turned off the lights. “But today… today is even happier. Everything that we’ve worked for is coming together, and now our family will be complete.”
Hanish and JoJo walked into their bedroom and out onto the balcony overlooking the backyard. The moon shone down, full and bright, and the stars spread out above them like a patchwork blanket. Silhouettes of evergreen trees sparkled in the hazy glow. They held each other close. In that moment, they were in that timeless place again, dancing through the universe, bound to each other for all time with a cord of infinite love.
Hanish cupped her face with his hand and rubbed her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. Leaning in, he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “My love for you is as boundless as eternity, my sweet JoJo. Together, we embark on a journey of a lifetime as protectors of this world. And there is no one I would rather be co-captains with than you.”
Raiden
Chapter 1
Flora Baptiste packed up the last of her things in a cardboard box and taped it up for the journey to the House of Flames. She had finally finished her doctorate at the University of Washington. With the distraction of her schoolwork, she hadn't been able to focus her full attention on discovering a vaccine to protect humans from vampires. With her doctorate done, Flora could prioritize the vaccine, and while at the House of Flames, she would be there to help her twin sister Penelope with the new baby.
Dax and Cato carried her boxes down to the moving van. She followed them out of her condo and downstairs, carrying her computer bag. They slid the door of the van closed with a loud thwack and, as they climbed inside, gave her a nod.
She would miss her condo by Lake Union in Seattle. She would miss the hustle and bustle of the city and the easy access to food and entertainment. She would even miss school. But she had important things to do. Finding the vaccine to the vampires’ bite was monumentally important work. Her move was coming just in time for the birth of her sister’s first child.
Penelope and Flora were more than sisters—they were best friends. They'd had a good-natured competition throughout most of their lives, but about a year before, Flora
had been kidnapped by vampires, and Penelope had saved her life. Since then, they’d been closer than ever, and the competitive feelings that had driven them since their parents died had mellowed. The sisters had come to realize they were on the same team. There was no point in competing with each other anymore when they could do so much more working together.
Flora looked at her condo in the rearview mirror as she drove away, thinking of all the years she and Penelope had lived there growing up. Their great aunt, who’d raised them since they were ten, had left the place to them.
Moving away from Seattle was going to be a difficult transition, but Flora hoped to come back to the condo after the vaccine was discovered. The sisters had discussed selling their home, but Flora wasn’t ready yet. She’d been offered research grants at the university, and she expected to take advantage of them. She didn't know if she wanted to spend the rest of her life living with the dragons out in the middle of nowhere.
Flora followed the van onto the highway, starting the long trip. Penelope lived in a mansion in rural southwestern Washington with her husband, Cato, along with all of the dragons of the House of Flames. It was a nice place to live, with many acres of land, a pool, and a basement theater, but Flora didn’t want to stay there forever.
Cato was a fire dragon. His crew of fire dragons was the first to be awakened on the planet after a million-year slumber in stasis chambers. Flora still had to pinch herself when she thought about it.
The Dragonians—dragons from across the galaxy—had left their dying star, looking for a new home. When they finally discovered Earth, they seeded the planet with the DNA of their ancestors, hoping that one day, the primitive inhabitants of Earth would evolve into intelligent creatures and carry the souls of ancient dragons, becoming Dragon Souls—humans who could be the fated mates of dragons. After the seeding, the dragons went into stasis chambers, where they’d slept for a million years.
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