by Dana Lyons
Look how beautiful you are! I am so lucky.
In animal form, they displayed their joy. Rhys flapped and jumped, dancing on the big dining table. Quinn managed a half-sideways back flip with bright eyes while his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Simon stretched belly up and rolled back and forth on the floor, the tip of his tail at ease, his front paws reaching out to snag her foot.
She dropped to the floor and they gathered around her. Simon purred and his tail wrapped around her hips. Quinn nudged his head under her hand. Rhys stroked her thigh with his head.
Everyone happy?
Yip. Purr. Caw.
Peace and contentment gathered in her mind. Can we live with this?
Yes. I can. It’s great, princess.
Finally, we have a home.
And got a promotion, Rhys added.
“Up and get dressed,” she said, standing. “Last man arriving for kitchen duty and dinner gets the clean-up.”
In a burst of transitioning energy, all three shifted in front of her. Having sexually made the link with Rhys, she couldn’t help but cast her eye on Quinn and Simon. She smiled as their bare butts disappeared out the kitchen door.
Dinner was powerhouse food—porterhouse steaks cooked a perfect medium rare from Simon on the grill, and cheesy potatoes au gratin from Quinn. Rhys helped her throw together a salad.
After they cleared their plates, and pushed back with groans, she announced, “Tomorrow, I want the three of you to take the train to New York.”
“What are we supposed to do in New York?” Simon asked.
“All you have to do is have lunch, buy me something, and come home.”
Quinn nudged Rhys. “She’s up to something, isn’t she?”
Rhys nodded. “I don’t know what, but you can count on it.”
“Does this have anything to do with Martin?” Simon asked.
“Yes, but indirectly.” She went silent—a mistake, she was learning.
“You going to talk about it, princess?”
“Enquiring minds want to know?” She joked, but it fell flat under three piercing gazes. “Martin was sad. What I experienced of his emotion was more than I could bear. I don’t know how he lived with it all his life. Considering his childhood, I’m not surprised at his actions.” She asked Rhys, “What did he say to you on the walkway, when he jerked free?”
Rhys stared at the table for a long time, working up a frown. “Did you tell him anything about us? About Nobility?”
She went rigid. Alarm, like piano wire, tightened in her gut. She licked her lips. “No. Why?”
“He said, ‘I know your secret, raven.’”
Dreya sucked in a gasp. “I told him nothing. How …?”
Simon cleared his throat. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but along with a camera in our front room and one over the front door, there was one in the bathroom.”
“He had three cameras on us?” she asked, astonished. “Oh, no.”
“That means everything he recorded,” Simon began.
“Jarvis has,” Rhys finished.
“But there wasn’t one in the bedroom, right?” she asked, holding her breath.
“No.”
“Whew,” she gasped, “then there’s no video of you three in animal form. But how did he know?” She glanced at Rhys and her stomach sank with his expression. “What? What did you do, Rhys?”
“I got up one night to pee.” He glanced up, his face filled with guilt. “Before coming back to bed, I transitioned in the bathroom and hopped on the sink to look in the mirror.” He lifted one shoulder. “It’s a bird thing, you know, mirrors. I was expressing my animal DNA.”
Dreya slapped a hand over her mouth. Somewhere in Jarvis’ possession was their one-way ticket to Draco Station. She exhaled through pursed lips. “I’ve long suspected Jarvis knows more than he admits.” She nibbled on her lip, afraid of what to say. “He texted me, wants to meet tomorrow.”
“What does he want?” Rhys asked.
“He didn’t say. Just wants me to meet him at the Pentagon. We’re going into a hardened room, meaning we’re going to talk about something secret. Maybe it’s about us.”
That night they transitioned and slept with her in her bedroom. This was their first night all in one bed since Martin. I’m so glad to have you here.
Never alone again.
Never.
Never.
* * *
She met Jarvis at the Pentagon. He secured their passes, and they walked through a series of security stops. As they progressed to the elevator, everyone they passed had words with Jarvis.
“Good to see you, sir.”
“Hey old man, you still alive?”
“I’ll be damned, Jarvis; I heard you retired.”
“Well, as I live and breathe, is that really you?”
By the time the elevator doors closed, she had a new impression of her boss, one even more formidable than she already had.
They rode down and got off on the bottom floor. A security guard at the door of their hardened room examined their passes. With a curt nod, the door was opened and they walked in.
She’d been in a hardened room before, some portable in a military field, some emergency erected at a crime scene. But never had she felt so encapsulated as when the door closed and the room sealed with a hiss.
A plain table and two chairs waited. Jarvis indicated for her to sit. She couldn’t help a pinch of anxiety, all things considered. “Sir. Why are we here?”
While he’d gone to some trouble to arrange this meeting, he still fought to get the words out. He tightened his lips, cleared his throat, and coughed before saying, “I read Lazar’s file. I’ve seen the video of Morgan from the Nash cameras.”
He spoke of her greatest fear—their secret revealed.
Her heart rattled with a surge of adrenaline. She quickly looked down to hide her shock. Her hands trembled. The potential opened a black chasm at her feet; one misstep and down they would go. “Who else knows?”
“I confiscated the Nash file and erased the entire section of Morgan’s transformation.” He nodded, adding, “I believe they heard me shout ‘Sweet Jehoshaphat’ all the way to Boston.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Even though I read the file, I didn’t believe it, until I saw the video.”
She dared to ask, “You know what we are? What we do? You understand we’re—”
“Illegal on Earth?” He pulled an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and placed it on the table. He pushed it towards her.
The envelope was embossed with the Presidential Seal. The gold of the seal glittered in the low light, enticing. A long list of possibilities bloomed in her mind, and she fought the urge to duck and run, as if in a fire fight. But she had to ask, Nobility was too curious. She tapped the envelope with one finger. “What’s this, sir?”
“Your pardon, including Morgan, Kingston, and Sinclair.”
“And the conditions of this pardon?” She pursed her lips in preparation for a long exhale.
He smiled, but not from humor. “You’re a little too bright, Dreya.”
“Gifts from the government never come without a price tag. What do ‘they’ want?”
“They want to use your skills.”
‘Use your skills’ was a rabbit hole, but she couldn’t pass on a presidential pardon. “Agreed.” She slid the envelop to her side of the table and parked her hands on it. “Anything else?”
“Your team will report to me personally. You’ll work on your own. No more coming in to the office.”
The potential excited her beyond her wildest dreams. Her heart ran fast and her mouth turned dry. There was only one thing she needed to know. Rhys, are you getting all this?
Coming in loud and clear.
Can Quinn and Simon hear me?
A silence bloomed before he answered. No.
Now we know what hard-wired means.
It means never alone, baby. Never alone.
“We accept
your offer,” she said. “When do we start?”
“I’ll have more for you in a couple days. Intel is coming in on something we’re watching in Europe.”
She studied his face. I have a bad feeling here. He’s a man with many secrets, not just ours.
Do we have a choice?
Knowing there was no alternative, she said, “We’ll wait to hear from you.”
After breakfast on the third day after meeting with Jarvis, Dreya stared at her cell phone, wondering what catastrophic intel Jarvis was going to deliver.
“You worry too much,” Rhys said. “I told you you’re going to get those lines on your forehead.”
“Can you imagine the secrets that man possesses?” She set the phone down, daring it not to ring. “We’re just one of his secrets. How does he sleep at night?”
“Who?” Quinn asked, joining them.
“Jarvis.”
He coughed and glanced about before whispering, “That man scares me. And I don’t scare easy.”
Simon nudged him in the ribs. “With you on that, bro.”
“Well, he’s our boss and he knows about us. We are at his disposal.” She chuckled. “He said he hollered ‘Sweet Jehoshaphat’ when he saw Rhys in the Nash video.”
Quiet settled as they waited. A hum of thought bounded through their minds, echoing into hers.
I’m glad you two consummated, princess.
Me, too, I’m just not—
We understand.
The phone rang and she picked it up. Jarvis’ name appeared on the screen. “Yes, sir. Good morning.”
“Love, I hope you and your team are ready to travel. Look on your monitor—I’m sending you a photo we just got in.”
The monitor filled with an image of two men talking in a parking lot, both facing the camera.
“The man on the left is Sacha Ivanov, a Russian billionaire,” Jarvis said.
Dreya recognized Ivanov. But it was the other face that took her breath.
Lazar!
THE END
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About the Author
Dana Lyons was voted one of 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading in 2015 and 2016. She is multi-published with full length novels and novellas in ebook and print. She has also co-authored with USAToday/NYT Best Seller Margo Bond Collins.
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More books by Dana Lyons:
Transformation Dreya Love Book 1 ~ Surviving attempted murder by genetic modification left FBI Special Agent Dreya Love with a new life. Now she just has to stay alive.
Transformation Dreya Love Book 1
FBI Special Agent Dreya Love prefers to work alone. But when her friend, a senator’s daughter, is killed, she’s forced to partner with Detective Rhys Morgan, or get assigned to ‘the backside of hell.’ More deaths with bodies matching their first victim brings Interpol Agent Quinn Kingston to the team.
As their investigation uncovers a secret genetic research program, a government cover-up, and a warning to ‘walk away,’ the case turns deadly.
The hunt for a killer, a boutique drug, and an unearthly ingredient unite these three in ways they couldn’t imagine. Soon, they discover the truth leads to a hell they never knew existed.
Transformation Dreya Love Book 1
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Blood and Fire Dreya Love Book 2 ~ Welcome to the backside of hell—Draco Station.
Blood and Fire Dreya Love Book 2
On Draco Station, an ultra-secret installation over the planet Draco Prime, mining Vulkillium is a mega billion-dollar business. But to work the surface you need a special kind of human—a Draco Demon.
When bodies start turning up on the space station, Dreya Love and her team set out to investigate, and meet Dr. Anthony Lazar. Dr. Lazar is brilliant. Unfortunately for humanity, he’s also insane. He has a vision of humanity’s future and the tools to implement his twisted ideals. After all, he is smarter than God.
A madman, a dragon with dreams of blood and fire, and a sheriff with a grudge—they all complicate the search for answers. If Dreya’s not careful, she and her team could end up dead ... or worse.
DREYA LOVE BLOOD AND FIRE … a slow burn.
Follow Special Agent Dreya Love and her men, Rhys Morgan, and Quinn Kingston as their lives entwine … in ways they could never imagine.
Dana Lyons combines crime mystery, reverse harem, and shape shifters for an exciting out-of-this-world paranormal romance … with a double dash of the unexpected!
Blood and Fire Dreya Love Book 2
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Sole Survivor Dreya Love Book 4 ~ A haunted forest, a broken man, a pack fighting for survival.
Sole Survivor Dreya Love Book 4
Sole Survivor Dreya Love Book 4 ~ A haunted forest, a broken man, a pack fighting for survival.
Can Dreya and the boys heal Quinn’s pain, or is staying a wolf the only answer for him?
Sasha Ivanov, sold as a young boy into slavery, becomes a monster in the relentless drive to never be a victim again. Deemed the worst of the worst by Dr. Anthony Lazar, the geneticist who wants to remake the human race, Sasha discovers he will never be the same.
Quinn Kingston knows what Dr. Lazar can do from personal experience. But as a Nobilized and highly evolved human, is he able to forgive Ivanov of the most heinous acts?
Sole Survivor Dreya Love Book 4
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Nobility Dreya Love Book 5 ~ Simon and the team pursue a betrayal from his past and stumble upon a diabolical plot for global genocide.
Nobility Dreya Love Book 5
As they endeavor to stop this, clues lead them to a prominent list of participants … all above the law.
In this thrilling final book in the series, the team comes to understand what it means to be a pack … and to be Nobilized.
Find your heroes in this reverse harem, shifter, crime thriller series. A strong intelligent woman, three alpha males, an inseparable pack. If you want deep romance slow burning until it catches fire, with enough twists to keep you on your toes, you’ll love Dreya Love!
Books 1-4 FREE in KU.
Book 5, Nobility, series final, now on Pre-order
Nobility
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More books by Dana Lyons:
Heart of the Druae ~ Archaeologist Eric Beck travels back in time to Stonehenge and meets his soul mate. The results are complications of the heart. Available in audio.
A Love Reborn ~ A modern tale of ancient love, magic, and betrayal. Phoenix Donovan has two new men in her life. One is her killer—from a past life. The other, a lover trying to save her life before she gets killed … again.
The Rosetta Coin ~ Ancient artifacts, an alien pursuer, and a man haunted by choices he’s made, all come together in a life and death confrontation. Now available in Audible audiobook and read by Mike Nelson.
The Road to Babylon ~ In the sequel to The Rosetta Coin, the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy sets the stage for mankind’s final showdown with evil. Also available in audio.
Timeless ~ Alex McNeill has lost her husband, Royce. The path to finding him takes her to Ireland … 1612!
To see more of my books, with links to post reviews, my website is:
http://www.paranormalromancebookauthor.com/
Dana Lyons Stories No One Else Could Write
