Adam grasped her wrist. “Take us up again. I’ll be able to figure out where we are once I see the lay of the land. And head North.”
Karey found the Big Dipper in the sky and nodded. “Okay. I can do that.”
“Fort Stinky Butt,” Adam groaned as he closed his eyes briefly. “It’ll have medical supplies that you can use to take care of this. And hopefully, Stephen’s still there… and he can get the others.”
Karey nodded. She shifted back, her wolf flowing easily to take over her body. Her fires were low, though, and forcing the wings to emerge was difficult. By the time Adam was on her back once more and they were above the trees, a headache spiked up the back of her neck and wrapped around her skull. Her wings felt leaden, but it was her fault that Adam was so injured now and on blockers so he couldn’t even heal.
She dug way deep, wrapping herself in strength she didn’t even know she had and pressed forward. The night deepened around her, chilling her as her feeble fires tried to keep her warm. She couldn’t even imagine how much worse it would be for Adam.
But, just as she felt like she was going to fail once more, Adam pointed. “There. Land there.”
Gratefully, she angled herself downward. She landed lightly just outside of Fort Stinky Butt and shifted back to her human form. Her wolf collapsed in her chest, exhausted. It let out a pleased yip, though, and Karey pressed a hand to her chest with a smile.
“We made it.”
“Yeah. Now—Fuck.”
Karey looked up. She had been so exhausted that it didn’t even register until now that the lights inside the cabin had turned on. And now the door was opening. Adam pulled himself up, shielding her from the eyes of the people who stepped out. The Blaze Ops. And behind them, Maura, with Stephen leaning against her.
“Well,” Adam mumbled. “At least we know we’ve got help.”
***
Maura allowed her to patch up Adam with the supplies in the cabin before giving her more blockers. Karey didn’t even have the strength to resent it, not now. She was so tired that when Adam was put into the bed to rest and recover from the surgery, she crawled right in beside him.
“You don’t get to—” started Stephen, looking ready to spit fire, but Maura pressed a hand to his chest.
“She can stay up here. For now, at least.” Maura frowned at the two of them. “But please consider yourself under arrest.”
Karey nodded meekly. No less than she’d expected.
Maura jabbed her finger at Adam. “You as well.”
“Even after I got shot?” Adam complained.
Stephen rolled his eyes. Evan yanked him out of the room before he could start talking, though. Eugene and Liam followed them out, leaving Maura and Patrick. Where was Fiona? Probably taking care of things at the Academy. Actually, it was more surprising that Maura was here. Had there been another attack?
“So.” Patrick glared first at her and then at Adam. “What happened?”
Karey opened her mouth. And then everything came rushing in. The knowledge of who she killed. How she killed them. Everything. Sobs hit her so hard and unexpectedly she couldn’t breathe. She curled against Adam’s side, burying her face into his shoulder. She hated crying in front of Patrick and Maura just as much as she hated the reasons for her crying.
Her father was a terrible man. She shouldn’t feel bad for killing him, should she? She didn’t even have any good memories to fall back on.
But that didn’t stop the shriveling shame, the guilt, the feeling that she had done something terrible that couldn’t be undone.
Adam’s arms wrapped around her gently, pulling her closer. “Things have… changed.”
“Changed how?” Maura’s voice was hard and deadly, sounding wrong from such a soft-looking, beautiful woman.
Karey felt that powerful aura coming off her strongly, though, and shuddered. She peeked up and met the leopard shifter’s eye. “I killed him.”
“Who?”
Karey forced herself to take a deep breath, even though her throat hurt something terrible. “My father. And his Betas. They were in a meeting and I was sent to make coffee and I put arsenic in it. I… oh, god!” She pressed her hands to her temples as a terrible thought struck her. “My father said he’d built up an immunity to arsenic. The others, they probably did the same thing. They might still be alive and angrier than ever! Oh, god! What have I done?”
If they were so angry, they might not even care about fighting for who became the next Alpha. They might just all launch an attack. Go after any and all targets they had. Kill indiscriminatingly. If she had failed to kill them…
Her breathing was starting to go out of control, but she gripped Adam’s hand and tried to mimic the way he pulled his own breaths in and out. Having him so near helped stabilize her and she managed to calm her thoughts enough to remember that it wasn’t just the arsenic she had used against her father.
“At least he’s dead,” she whispered. “At least he won’t be coming after us again.”
Adam’s arms tightened around her. “No.”
And despite how much guilt and shame she’d felt for killing her father, her heart sank upon hearing that word. “No?”
“No. He was moving when we were leaving. You choked him enough for him to go unconscious, but he’s not dead. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have stopped you so I could end him but…”
“Well,” Patrick said, his voice low and harsh. “I suppose that changes nothing, does it?”
“No. It doesn’t,” Maura agreed. “All we have is your claim that there was a failed assassination attempt. Although, if your arsenic worked, we’ll be able to find out soon enough if the Betas are dead. But both of you are under arrest. And it's going to stay that way. Understood?”
Karey nodded, but Adam only held her tighter.
What was he thinking? He said that he couldn’t trust her after everything that happened. Had that changed…? No… She put aside all thoughts and took comfort in the warmth he gave her right now. She was done thinking. Done trying to figure this out. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep next to her mate.
And so that was exactly what she did.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A good sleep allowed Adam to come off the blockers enough so that his fires were starting to warm him again when his eyes opened. He lay there, one arm firmly around Karey. His shoulder hurt like hell, but his head was clear. Everything was still a jumbled mess of thoughts, but he was able to sort through them one at a time to figure out what it was he needed to be certain of.
First, he knew with every ounce of his body and deep into his bones that Karey did not want to live in the Pack any longer. She was telling the truth when she said she wanted to take them down. She’d been using the situation to her advantage when her father caught them in the cave. The attack on them wasn’t some elaborate trap; her father really did want to kill her.
He shifted slightly, moving to stroke her hair. Karey let out a sigh and when he looked at her, he saw her eyes open and peering up at him.
“Do you want me to leave?” she asked, her voice low.
“No.” His arm wrapped a little tighter around her waist. “I want you to stay here with me. Because I’ve come to a decision. I’m done not trusting you. I want you to know that. From now on, I believe every word you say.”
Karey’s eyes widened.
“I know, it’s quite a bit different from my attitude earlier.” He grimaced as he remembered pushing her against the wall. “I should never have put my hands on you like that. I’m sorry. I know that sorry isn’t good enough for something like that… only actions. So, I will not do it again. I’m sorry that I let things become physical.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean when I pushed you against the wall.”
“That?” Karey’s cheeks flushed. “That was nothing.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Karey ducked her head. She opened her mouth, then closed it
again. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. I don’t really understand but I kind of do and I can see it’s important to you. I accept your apology, and I trust you won’t do it again.”
Adam managed a small smile. Of course, after all she’d been through that wouldn’t seem like such a big thing. But it was. He might not have hurt her, but he put his hands on her without permission, in anger, and had restricted her movement, again out of anger. That was inexcusable.
“What I don’t understand,” she mumbled, “is how you can trust me from now on. How can you believe what I’m saying?”
Adam touched her chin, bringing her gaze back up to him. “Because when I doubt, it’s more that I’m doubting myself. I’ve let myself become so worried about being taken advantage of and being hurt that I’ve stopped knowing how to trust my gut. I love you and so I was wondering if I was losing my grip because of that.”
Karey licked her lips. “You love me?”
“Yeah. I do.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I think I love you, too, Adam.”
His fires soared with elation even as worry snaked around in the pit of his stomach. Her expression and tone didn’t match the words she was saying. He stroked the hair from her face, his brow furrowing in worry.
“I’m not sure I know how to love, though. I’m not sure if I recognize what’s real or if I’m feeling this way because I know that you care. You were the first man I ever knew who treated me with kindness, who was actually concerned for me. So, what if I’m just mistaking gratitude for love? What if what I’m feeling isn’t real? I’m not even sure I know what love means.”
Adam nodded slowly. He understood that. He’d gone through something similar when he was first understanding just how bad his home life was. “And that’s okay. We can take this slow. I’ll give you the space and time you need to figure it out. And if you come to the decision that you don’t love me, then I will back off.”
Karey’s eyes glimmered with tears. “Only we don’t have time for that, do we?”
His brow furrowed.
“We’re both under arrest. We’re going to be sent to jail. So we don’t have the time for me to figure out if it’s real or not.”
He gripped her hip a little tighter. “It’s not going to come to that. Once the Alpha has been taken down for good, they’ll see what we did and why. We might face some jail time, but it’s not going to be for the rest of our lives. I promise you that. And hey, maybe the time apart will do us good.”
He tried to smile, to show her he was confident in his words, but her tears only increased.
“I don’t want to wait,” she whispered in his ear. “I don’t care if they’re right outside the door. I want to give you what you gave me. I want to make love. Right now.”
Adam’s whole body tightened even as his eyes widened. But as he gazed into her beautiful eyes, leading him straight to her beautiful soul, he found that he couldn’t tell her no. So he kissed her, lightly, gently, as he pulled her close to him. A twinge went up his shoulder, but he pushed that aside.
“We’ll have to be quiet,” he murmured into her lips. “And you’ll have to be on top.”
Karey nodded, looking a little uncertain. Adam smiled at her, moving so he was laying on his back. He took one of her hands a ran it down over his abdomen, his muscles twitching with anticipation. Her hand massaged him as they exchanged more kisses. He hardened under her touch, moaning at how right this felt.
“Shh,” Karey whispered, then clapped a hand over her mouth as she glanced at the door.
Adam held in his snickers as he reached under the blankets to find her hips. They’d given her an oversized shirt and pants that were so loose it didn’t take long for him to remove them. As she undid his jeans and tugged them down, his hands roamed all over her body. When that overextended his injured shoulder, he satisfied himself holding one breast in his good hand.
She grasped him, her eyes darkening with lust. Her hand moved a little too quickly, and he grasped her wrist and helped her set the pace he liked. He let his head fall back, sighing in delight. Her kisses were more confident, even if she was a little hesitant with the rest of it. He whispered in her ear what he liked, and she did the best she could. It was clear she was inexperienced, but Adam didn’t mind that.
He was just too happy to have her here. Even though the future was far from certain, as long as they had this here, today, it was all they needed. Tomorrow would take care of itself.
Karey kissed up his neck and to his ear. “Should I use my mouth? Like that woman did in the video?”
Adam considered, then shook his head. “I’m not overly fond of getting oral sex, and I’d rather your mouth stay near mine. Now let me at your clit so I can get you ready. I don’t want this to hurt you.”
Karey giggled, going pink, but adjusted herself as suggested. She continued to stroke him while he found her, making soft circles as she grew wetter. When her eyes were rolling into the back of her head and shivers were running down her spine in time with her pants, he caught her in a long, deep kiss and put a hand on her hip.
“Straddle me.”
Karey put one leg over him then hesitated. “Are you sure I won’t crush you?”
Adam grinned at her. “Don’t worry. You’re not going to do that. Now straddle me. Just like that. Take me in your hand… that’s right.” He moaned as everything tightened, his fires building higher. “Spit into your palm and get me nice and slick. You’re wet, but I wanna make sure—”
She did as he told her and he bucked his hips, pleasure coursing through him. He reached for her with both hands and nearly cried out as his injured shoulder protested. Karey put one hand over his mouth while pinning his wrist to the bed with the other. She chewed her lip as she glanced at the door but there was no indication that anybody had heard them.
“You keep that hand right there,” Karey told him firmly. She moved her hand from his mouth. “Now what do I do?”
“Take me again,” Adam panted. “Now ease me inside of you. That’s it,” he encouraged gently. “Take it as slowly as you need. If it hurts, just back up a little. Don’t move too fast.”
Entering her was like walking through the pearly gates. Adam panted, grasping the sheets beneath him as she eased down until he was fully seated in her. Her eyes were dark, her cheeks red. One of her hands ran down her hip, as though trying to feel him from the outside as well. She shivered, and he smiled up at her.
She smiled back. “Now what?”
“Now rock your hips. Find what feels good for you and keep doing it.”
Karey moved in small circles. She found her rhythm quickly, grinding against him. Adam panted as pleasure washed all the way through him. The world narrowed down to just the two of them. His fingers touched her lips, her neck, her breasts. Her gaze remained locked on his as her breathing became quicker and quicker. He fought his arousal, wanting this to be good for her.
It was only when she spasmed above him, collapsing down over him as she clenched around him that he allowed himself release. He filled her, his good arm wrapped around her waist as he thrust up, his own pleasure blinding him.
The door flew open.
Adam gripped Karey tighter as she looked up, a questioning cry on her lips. Stephen froze in the doorway, the entirety of the Blaze Ops behind him. Adam groaned as he yanked the blankets up. Karey gasped and rolled off him; he popped out of her, and she gave a short cry of pain.
“You’d better get dressed,” Stephen snarled, flames flickering in his mouth. “The Alpha’s on his way.”
He slammed the door shut. There was no time to try to talk about what happened. No time to talk about how the Alpha had found them or what he was coming for. Adam and Karey dashed about, quickly redressing.
When they emerged from the bedroom, Stephen glared hatefully at Karey. Adam stepped in front of her protectively. There was no time to argue about it, though, because at that moment a deep voice boomed from outside the cabin.
“Karey Fish
er,” the Alpha roared. “You are a traitor and a murderer. You are charged with the death of Frazer, George, Carl, and Gerald. For their deaths you shall die, too.”
“The Betas,” Karey breathed. “It did work…”
She shivered, and Adam drew her in closer.
“Maura Rizzoli. I have given you plenty of chances to stand down your worthless vendetta against me, and you have only spurned my attempts at charity. For this, you shall die.”
Maura snarled under her breath.
Adam’s flames flared hotter, fighting against the blockers still in his system.
“As for the rest of you dragons… I will not allow you to interfere with my work any longer. Surrender or die with the bitches.”
“Fuck you!” Stephen shouted from where he stood at a window. “The only bitch dying today is you!”
Adam reached to pull him back, but it was too late. He had already crashed through the window. And the wolves charged.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Adam pushed Karey down into a corner with the sofa pressed close against her.
“Stay here,” he rasped, smoke streaming from his mouth. Shouts and cries and screams echoed from outside where the rest of the Blaze Ops had charged out to meet her father’s forces.
She grabbed his wrist. “But you’re on blockers.”
“And that’s why Fiona trains us to not be reliant on our abilities to shift.” He gave her a quick kiss and pulled away.
Karey cried out, reaching for him, but he was gone.
She huddled behind the couch, the sounds crashing into her ears. Maura crouched beside her, claws extending from her fingers. She rocked where she was, as though fighting the urge to get out there and fight. Patrick had been the one to tell her to get behind the couch and stay there—they were gunning for her, and he didn’t want her in the middle of the fray when they couldn’t protect her.
“Fuck this,” Maura hissed, starting to rise.
Karey grabbed her and dragged her back. “No!”
Dragon's Prisoner: A Curvy Girl Military Romance (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 4) Page 16
