Desire blossomed in his eyes, and he sighed with pleasure. Grabbing her as soon as she was close enough, he pulled her into his arms, crushed her to his chest, and lowered his mouth to hers. Passion exploded between them, and a hard knot of pleasure began to form deep inside her.
Suddenly, she had the uncontrollable need to feel Taylor’s naked skin beneath her hands, and she started pulling at his clothes. He chuckled a little and broke the kiss long enough to help her strip off his shirt and pants, then pulled her back into his arms.
“When we walked into the room earlier, all I wanted to do was strip you naked and drive myself into you, but now I think I want to take my time. I think I’ll peel this off you one inch at a time,” he said, gripping the negligee at her hips and raising it just a little bit.
The thrill that rushed through her nearly took her to her knees. Taylor swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, laid her down, then stood over her, letting his eyes roam over her.
Willow thought her heart was going to come bursting out of her chest, anticipation making her throb deep inside when she saw his erection, and she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and taking it in her hand.
Taylor groaned, and need washed over her, making her bolder. Getting up on her knees, she gripped him firmly in her hands and flicked the tip of her tongue across the end of his swollen manhood. Then she opened her mouth just as she’d done earlier that night, looked up at Taylor, and slid her mouth over him.
He moaned deep in his throat and threaded his fingers through her hair and thrust his hips, driving himself deeper into her mouth. Another rush of need broke over her as he thrust his hips, moaning with pleasure, but then he stopped and gently pushed her back on the bed.
“As wonderful as that was, I’m not done with you yet,” he said, scooting her up further on the bed. “We still have this between us.”
Willow’s heart began to pound in her chest when he reached for the bottom of the gown and began slowly sliding it up her legs. “I wonder what we’ll find under here?” he asked.
She couldn’t help but squirm as the fabric slowly slid up her legs, his hand brushing her skin so lightly it made goosebumps rise all over her body. When he got to the juncture of her thighs, he gently pushed her legs apart and ran his hands down one leg and up the other. When his finger slid between her folds and gently stoked her once, her hips came up off the bed, and she gasped, pleasure flooding her.
But he slid his hand up her stomach, the fabric of her gown sliding easily over her skin. When her breasts were finally exposed, his mouth clamped down on one hard nipple, and then the other, the rush of pleasure so intense she grabbed his shoulders and dug her nails in.
Desperate for more, she spread her legs, needing his touch, ready to beg. But before she could open her mouth, he slid between her legs, pushed her knees apart, and dipped his head down. The first touch of his hot tongue on her swollen button was all it took for her to tumble into oblivion.
She bucked under him as the glorious sensations filled her body, but Taylor didn’t stop; he drove one finger inside her and began coaxing her out onto the ledge again. Pleasure consumed her; it radiated out from her very center and filled her until it was all that she was, all that she knew.
Just as she started to tumble over the edge, Taylor pulled away from her, making her whimper. But he grabbed her hips and drove himself into her, filling her so deeply with the first stroke that she burst around him. He groaned in pleasure as her body surrounded him, her muscles squeezing him, her moisture pouring over him.
He drove himself into her over and over until his body exploded with pleasure. Each wave stronger than the last, his breath coming in short gasps, until one colossal wave took him over the edge and into ecstasy.
Spent, they collapsed in a tangled heap of arms and legs, their chests heaving, their bodies heated with passion. When he was able to move, Taylor untangled himself from Willow, then pulled her into his arms. She sighed in contentment, her body still humming, then laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
***Taylor***
Taylor woke first the next morning, rolled out of bed without waking Willow, and put on his clothes. It was his turn to provide breakfast, and he was glad that all he had to do was pop into the kitchen and use his good looks to get what he wanted. It also didn’t hurt that he was known as a very good tipper.
Fifteen minutes later, he shoved the door open with his hip and carried an overflowing tray into the room. Willow sat up sleepy and smiled at him. “Oh, you have breakfast,” she said, sitting all the way up in bed, the sheet falling to reveal her breasts.
For a second, he forgot about the food as all the blood in his body rushed to his groin. But he pushed the desire away, knowing they didn’t have time. “For a second there, I almost forgot about breakfast. That’s the second time you’ve almost made me drop a tray of food.”
Willow pulled the sheet up over her breasts, then her cheeks turned pink. “Taylor, behave yourself,” she said.
He just managed to control himself, and an hour later they were waiting in the entryway for Steven to join them. They were headed to the bus station to retrieve the evidence they needed and then to meet Daniel and Natasha, who were on their way to the city.
It hadn’t been a pleasant conversation when he’d finally called Daniel, but his brother hadn’t stayed mad long when he heard that they’d found Steven. “This was exactly what I was hoping for,” he said. “Now we can go to the council and demand change.”
They made their way downtown again, circling the bus station several times before Taylor found a parking space he was happy with. “I want to be able to get out of here quickly if we need to,” he said when Willow shot him a questioning look.
She just nodded her head and went back to looking out the window. Steven was in the back seat, notebook in his hands, poring over it like he’d never seen it before. “I’ve been going over and over this, and I think I’m ready to put together the final draft, something the council can’t help but take notice of.”
Taylor looked at his old professor in the rearview mirror and decided that he seemed back to normal, more like the man he used to know. There were none of the ramblings they’d heard the day before, and his eyes were bright and clear, and he couldn’t help but wonder what the man had been through for the last few years.
When they finally got out of the car and headed for the terminal, Willow got a strange look on her face and stopped walking. She stared up at the building for a few moments, then said, “Something about this place feels off to me. I can’t pinpoint what it is, but we’d better be careful. Maybe we should have waited for Daniel.”
Taylor looked up at the building. “We don’t have to go in now if you’re feeling that strongly,” he said, not about to discount anything Willow felt; magic or not, she was an amazingly perceptive woman.
Willow shook her head. “It’s just a feeling, I guess; let’s just get this done,” she said.
The bus station was crowded when they walked through the big double doors, and Taylor grabbed Willow’s hand so they wouldn’t be separated in the crowds. Steven didn’t even notice the milling throng of people, just plowed through them, so intent on getting to the locker that he barely apologized to anyone when he ran into them.
One man ran right into him, nearly knocking them both off their feet, then shouted at Steven and pushed him away. But Steven only shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way. Taylor had never been in the bus station, hadn’t understood just how huge the place was, and twice they nearly lost the professor.
He finally turned and walked through a door into an open room that had once held a restaurant, but now was empty except for a bank of lockers on one side. It was quiet in the little section of the building, the bustling crowds left behind, and Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. But his relief didn’t last long as the sense that they weren’t alone soon began to creep up on him.
Looking around the room, he wis
hed Steven would hurry, but the man was sorting through his pockets looking for the key as if they had all the time in the world. When he finally found the key, his hands were shaking too badly. Willow had to step up and insert it into the lock for him.
“Thank you, my dear. I’m so nervous,” he said, smiling at her.
Willow smiled back at him, then looked back at Taylor, who’d stepped up next to them but was still scanning the room. It occurred to him then that it would be easy for someone to block the door and trap them. But he pushed the thought away, knowing that they’d be gone in only a few minutes.
Steven pulled two large black cases out of the locker, then turned and grinned at them. “This is it, all my research and the notes to go with it,” he said, setting them on the ground.
He started to open them, but Taylor said, “That can wait until we get back to the hotel.”
Steven looked a little disappointed but nodded. “I suppose that would be for the best.”
Taylor was just reaching for one of the cases when a voice said, “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be the best option for me.”
They all froze and together turned to the source of the voice, but Taylor didn’t have to look to know who was speaking. When he saw Lucas standing in the door with a woman who looked a lot like Amanda, he could only stare, his mind whirling with the possibilities of escape.
He knew he had to buy some time, had to stall long enough to come up with a plan, so he asked, “Lucas, what do you want?”
Chapter Twenty
***Willow***
Willow stared at Lucas, unable to move, her heart pounding in her chest, fear making it hard to breathe. But then Taylor stepped in front of her, and she snapped out of it, pushed the fear aside, and took a deep breath, wishing for her magic. When she felt nothing, she knew that she was on her own, that she couldn’t rely on her magic to save them.
“Did you really think I was going to let you take what belongs to me?” Lucas asked with a sneer on his face. “I put a lot of time into Willow, and I never waste my time.”
“She’s not yours, Lucas,” Taylor said, putting his hands on his hips. “I’m not going to let you touch her.”
Lucas laughed. “You think you can stop me? You can’t even shift yet; you’re just a normal human,” he said. Then he turned to Willow. “Let’s go, Willow.”
Willow shook her head. “I’m not going with you, Lucas. I don’t belong with you and Amanda isn’t here to put a spell on me.”
“Ah, but you haven’t met April, Amanda’s twin sister,” Lucas said, gesturing to the woman standing slightly behind him. “Amanda may be beyond my reach, but April has proved just as willing to aid my cause.”
April gave Willow a smile that instead of making her face look more pleasing, made her look just as evil as she was and she found herself stepping back a few steps. She bumped into Steven, who’d been standing right behind her, his eyes huge in his face, but he seemed to come to his senses.
“We need to get to the door,” he whispered, then started inching toward the door.
But that caught Lucas’s attention, and a smile spread across his face. “Ah, Professor Miller, I almost forgot you were here in all the excitement of my reunion with Willow,” he said, stepping forward, away from the door.
Steven took a few more steps along the side of the room toward the door, luring Lucas away, so Willow mirrored his movement. But then Lucas stopped. “Enough of this cat and mouse. Professor Miller, bring those cases over here.”
“I’m not going to do that; you’ll have to come get them,” Steven said, gripping the handles tighter. “And don’t forget that I’m a dragon shifter too, and I’m well past twenty-five.”
Lucas laughed. “Don’t worry, professor, I’ve taken that into consideration,” he said, then snapped his fingers at April. “Make him come over here with those bags.”
April mumbled a spell, and Steven’s face went blank, then he started walking toward Lucas. Willow raised her hands in the air and said the only blocking spell she could remember, pulling energy from the room around her and hoping it was enough. When Steven stopped walking and turned his head to look at her, she wanted to shout with glee, but then he started for Lucas again, and her heart sank.
It only took him a few more steps to reach Lucas, who ripped the cases out of Steven’s hand and then backhanded him. Steven flew across the room and landed on the floor in a heap, and Willow thought she saw a flash of something gold roll across the ground.
“Now that I have that little piece of business taken care of, I think we should get back to the issue of Willow,” Lucas said, setting the cases on the ground.
Willow looked over at Taylor, who was still standing between her and Lucas. “I’m not going with you, Lucas,” she repeated her earlier words.
“Oh, but I think you will,” he said, then gestured to April.
April raised her arms in the air and began to recite the same spell she herself had used not that long ago, and she braced herself for the feeling of numbness that would soon come. But long seconds went by, and nothing happened, then she began to feel a strange warmth surrounding her as if she’d been wrapped in a warm blanket.
“Why isn’t it working?” Lucas screamed at April, who’d raised her voice until she was practically screaming, and sweat was beading on her forehead.
Finally, she lowered her arms, and gasping for breath, said, “There’s something protecting her; you told me her magic was gone.”
“She’s being protected by something far stronger than even the evil you possess,” a melodious female voice said from the shadows behind them.
“Who’s there? Show yourself,” Lucas demanded.
A beautiful young gypsy woman stepped out of the shadows and nodded her head at Taylor and Willow. Willow immediately felt warmth coming from the woman; it spread through her, giving her a sense of comfort only Taylor had been able to bring her before.
She gasped, meeting the woman’s eyes, feeling a connection she couldn’t explain. But the moment was broken by Lucas, who screamed, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“All you need to know is that I’m here to protect the child,” the woman said.
Willow looked around the room for the child the woman was talking about, then realized that she was staring at her. A strange stirring deep inside her startled her for a second, but soon a feeling of intense love spread through her, and the stirring stopped. She looked down at her stomach and then back at the woman as understanding washed over her.
She reached out and took Taylor’s hand and put it on her stomach and said, “She means our child.”
His eyes got big, and then a huge grin spread across his face. “A baby?” he finally asked.
Willow nodded, surer then ever, and would have thrown herself into his arms but Lucas, who’d been watching, his mouth hanging open the entire time, tipped up his head and screamed in frustration. When he lowered his head, he was breathing hard, his composure completely gone, and April was slowly backing away from him.
“I will not let the prophecy come true; this will be my world someday, mine and mine alone,” he said through clenched teeth. Then he turned to April. “Kill her.”
April shook her head. “I can’t; she’s protected.”
Lucas took several heaving breaths, staring at April with hatred, then turned back to them. “Then kill him,” he said, pointing to Taylor.
***Taylor***
Taylor felt the impact of Lucas’s words deep in his chest and knew that it would be easy for either of them to kill him. But he stood tall and waited for the blow to come, his hand holding Willow’s tightly, unable to do anything else. Then he felt his anger begin to grow and realized that he wasn’t ready to leave Willow yet, that he wasn’t just going to stand there while they were ripped apart once again.
April was grinning at him, clearly prolonging the moment, but Lucas screamed at her again. “With pleasure,” she said.
When she began recitin
g a spell, Willow gasped and looked over at him. “I don’t think I can do anything to stop her, but I’ll try,” she said, “I love you, Taylor. I’ve loved you through history, and I’ll love you until the end of the universe.”
Just as April finished the spell, she raised her hands and little pinpricks of light began to form in the center. The little dots of light grew and began spinning sending sparks flying, the air crackling with energy. Soon, the light formed two balls in the palm of her hands and Taylor turned to Willow, wanting her to be the last thing he saw.
“I love you too, Willow, and I want you to take care of our child. Love him enough for both of us,” he said.
The balls of flaming light left April’s palms, headed straight for him, but at the last minute, Willow stepped in front of him. The impact sent her flying across the room, where she skidded to a stop and lay still, her chest not moving.
Taylor was suddenly filled with searing rage, the kind of rage that he’d only felt once before in his life, and he sucked in a deep breath. His body began to tremble, the room began to shimmer, and he wondered if April was putting a spell on him, but then suddenly everything went black.
When the world came back into focus, it looked different, and he felt different. He took a few stumbling steps before he realized that he’d shifted, that he was a dragon and not a man. Looking around the room, he saw April and Lucas shrink back from him, but then Lucas snarled at him and shifted.
For the first time in his life, he was face to face with another dragon shifter, and a bolt of fear raced through him. But then he saw Willow lying on the floor, the rage returned, making a surge of power erupt deep inside him. Lifting his head, he wailed out his rage before attacking Lucas.
Dragon's Flame (Dragons Secret Society Book 3) Page 12
