by Amelia Jade
“It would appear so.”
“I can’t take back what I said now, Stoen. I just can’t. Too many people have disappeared at the hands of these assholes. We still don’t know why, unless you have any ideas?”
Stoen shook his head. “I can’t fathom what a bunch of shifters would want with humans. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against you, but we’re stronger, faster, more resilient. There’s an argument to be made about intelligence, but—and I don’t mean this rudely—they’re not kidnapping top scientists. I’m just as confused as you.”
“So what do we do?” She sniffled, wiping the tears this time. “That’s my brother.”
“What we do,” he growled, his tone vicious and filled with unbridled anger, “is make them regret the day they ever messed with my mate.”
“But how, Stoen?”
“By going back there, and killing them.” Eyes of glowing silver stared at her. “Every. Last. One.”
Chapter Eleven
Stoen
Their return to the airport came with far less fanfare. There was no group of cars that came racing after the plane, no crazy stunts to be pulled. Instead they landed in the dead of night under a thick cloud cover. He’d made a very discreet call to a friend of his who would pick them up, before taking them straight to Coltaine, the head Magistrate. If there was anyone who could shed some light on the mystery of what the shifters were up to, it would be him.
“Best get this into the hangar as soon as possible,” he told Don, the pilot. “The fewer people that see that we’re back, the better.”
“Not a problem. As soon as your carcass is down the stairs we’ll be heading indoors.”
Stoen grinned. “You’re a good man, Don. Thanks for making all these flights.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how much you’re paying me for all this overtime?”
He frowned. “No. Should I?”
Don coughed and looked away. “It’s not very much.”
Stoen laughed. Dragons took care of their employees. “Stay safe. I don’t know how long we’ll be, so go home, see your wife. I’ll give you as much warning as I can if we need to make a hasty departure, but I suspect we’ll be staying for a bit this time.”
Don nodded. They shook hands, and then Stoen descended the stairs, looking around to ensure everything was clear. Rose followed behind, silent, brooding. She’d been that way for the final few hours of their flight. He knew she was nervous about her brother, but despite his assurances that they would get him back unharmed, she was still afraid for his safety.
Stoen couldn’t blame her. Family was important. They were often the ones that could be trusted the most.
A black SUV awaited them. When they neared, the driver’s door opened and a familiar face got out.
“Who’s that?” Rose asked.
“That,” he started to say, before the stranger interrupted them.
“Cousin!”
“Hello, Correll. How was the drive?”
“Bah, perfectly pleasant. What’s a little fog between relatives! Come here!”
Stoen maintained a stoic façade as his exuberant younger cousin jumped over—yes, over—the car and ran up to him to give him a hug.
“It’s so good to see you! Thanks for calling me.”
Rose, he noticed, was looking back and forth between the two of them. “You’re cousins?”
“You bet. I’m Correll, pleasure to meet you Rose. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“No you haven’t,” Stoen said with a frown. “You didn’t know she existed until I called you while I was on the plane. I told you her name.”
“This guy,” Correll joked, tossing a thumb in Stoen’s direction. “He’s ridiculous isn’t he? Come on, you can have shotgun.” He snared Rose by the arm and guided her to the car.
Stoen just bit back a laugh as Rose incredulously looked back over her shoulder at him. Correll was a character, there was no doubt about that. But he was also someone that could be trusted, and right now that was important.
“So, where to?” Correll asked once they were all settled in, already guiding the SUV off the tarmac. Behind them the plane headed for the private hangar off to the side.
“The Enclave,” Stoen told him. “I need to speak to Coltaine. The Magistrates will want to know about this.”
“All right, home time!” Correll exclaimed, bouncing in his seat with the exuberance of youth.
Stoen wasn’t old by dragon standards—barely past the century mark—but Correll was an absolute youngster, only in his mid-forties. He was still growing, something Stoen teased him about quite often.
Rose looked back at him nervously. “The Magistrates?”
“Dragon police,” he reminded her. “They oversee the area, make sure that the other dragons and the other shifters that live here are behaving.”
“No,” she replied instantly. “We can’t go there.”
“What? Why not?”
“You saw the message,” she said. “No police. No, we can’t go to your Magistrates or this Coltaine.”
“Rose…” He tried to argue with her, but she was adamant.
“Absolutely not. I shouldn’t have even let you bring Correll into this.”
“I’m blood,” the younger dragon said with a quiet fierceness that made Stoen proud.
“We have no idea what or who we’re up against, is my point,” Rose said, looking at them both. “There are already corrupt individuals on the police force, and we know that they’re working with wolf shifters. We’ve been attacked by them.”
Correll shrugged. “So?”
Rose looked frustrated. “The more people that are involved, the better chance word gets back to them. They have my brother captive. I’m not going to risk him coming to harm, okay?”
“Okay,” Stoen assured her, reaching up to squeeze her shoulders. “What do you want to do next?”
“Next?” She yawned while finishing the question. “Next we need to sleep. Accommodations. A hotel, somewhere away from the population.”
“I know just the place!” Correll said before Stoen could get a word in. “A tourist resort up in the mountains there.” He pointed off to the left. “It mostly caters to skiers in the winter, so it’ll be slow right now.”
“Works for me. Take us there, driver!” Rose joked imperiously, pointing a commanding finger in the same direction.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Correll replied, sitting up straight.
Sighing heavily, Stoen sank back into the seat. Maybe he’d made a mistake asking Correll to accompany them.
***
“Hey,” he called after Rose as the door to their room closed behind them.
She was already halfway to the bedroom.
“What is it, Stoen?”
Shaking his head, he kicked off his shoes and walked over to her, taking her wrist. “Come here.”
“Listen, I’m not sure I’m in the mood—”
He placed a finger to her lips. “Shhh.”
Without another word he pulled her onto the bed and placed her in a sitting position closer to the wall. Then he scrambled up into the softer comforters, tossing pillows aside to make room for his bulk. Back firmly seated against the headrest, he reached forward, grabbed her hips, and casually pulled her back between his legs.
“What are you…Ooohh.”
Grinning to himself, Stoen kept quiet as his fingers dug into her neck, feeling the tension in the muscles so strongly that even he as an untrained masseuse could detect it. Making a scene about it now would distract her, so he kept his lips glued together and just worked on her.
Neck. Traps. Shoulders and delts. They all received a once-over from his hands. Her shirt was in the way, but before he could figure out a way to suggest she remove it Rose reached down and pulled it up and over. Taking a cue from that he carefully slid the bra straps from her shoulders, without making any move to actually remove
the piece of clothing. Right now was about her relaxation, not about seduction, and she needed to know that. To trust that he wasn’t attempting to make a move.
“You’re good at this,” she purred as he found a particularly tight spot and worked on it with gentle but unrelenting pressure.
“Good. Now be quiet and let me focus on you,” he growled.
“Yes, sir.” She fell silent, resting her arms on his knees.
The comfortable contact between them was more than enough to put a smile on his face, but it also spurred a reaction in the rest of his body. The touch of his mate was undeniable, and his dragon slithered to life, starting a low burn between his legs that he wouldn’t be able to ignore forever. The shower started to call his name, whether for a cold shock or some alone time, he wasn’t entirely sure.
Now more than ever Stoen wanted to take his mate, to mate with her and show her his love, but he couldn’t. Not with all the stress she was under; that just wasn’t fair of him. It would just put more pressure on her shoulders, and that wasn’t something Stoen was going to do. They would come together in due time, when the pair of them were ready and outside circumstances didn’t interfere.
“We need a plan of attack,” she said softly.
Stoen growled, digging his thumbs in deeper. “Now is not the time to think about that.”
“I’m not going to be able to relax if I don’t have any idea what to do.”
“I have a plan,” he said fiercely. “Attack.”
“Stoen…”
“I’m serious. We draw them out. I need to see the pictures, and we need the originals. That’s the next step of the plan. Once they come to confront us, I’ll know what we’re up against, and I can free your brother. It’s that simple.”
“Okay…”
“Now will you relax and let me work?” he asked, squeezing a little harder.
Rose hissed. “Yes, just keep doing what you’re doing. It feels so nice.”
Bringing his head forward, he spoke into her ear from behind. “That’s the point you know.”
She giggled. “Really? And here I thought you were trying to get into my pants.”
“I promise that’s not what I’m trying to do,” he assured her.
To his surprise Rose slumped forward. “You don’t want to?” she asked.
Was she upset by that? Stoen’s hands stopped moving as he tried to puzzle everything out. He’d been worried about staying good, about not trying to make a move for her sake. Now had he screwed up by not trying to sleep with her?
Why do women have to be so confusing?
“It’s not a matter of want,” he said, deciding to move ahead with as much confidence in the confusing situation as he could muster. “I just didn’t want to put pressure on you.”
“I see.” She leaned back into him, giving Stoen a fantastic view down her shoulders to the soft curves of her breasts, still contained by a bit of pesky fabric.
“So do I.”
Either Rose didn’t get the joke or just didn’t acknowledge it. It didn’t matter, truthfully. His brain was suddenly distracted by her fingers gliding up and down his legs anyway.
“Are you sure? We’re in a hotel, there’s only one bed, and we have it all to ourselves.”
Stoen felt a little guilty going along with it. Her brother was in danger, and the two of them were going to have sex? Shouldn’t he take the higher road and wait?
Rose’s fingernails scraped up the inside of his leg past his knee, shattering any last hesitation he had. His mate was an adult, fully capable of making her own decisions. If this was what she wanted, Stoen was not going to stop her. He’d given her a way out, but she was proving she was still consenting.
That was all the urging he needed.
“Do you have any ideas of what we could do?” he whispered, slipping his hands over her shoulders and cupping her breasts through the plain black fabric.
Moaning, Rose pushed herself back into him even harder, her head and upper body writhing sensually from side to side. Hands wrapped themselves around the back of his head and pulled, forcing him to kiss her upside down. She let out the faintest gasp as their mouths pulled apart and pressed back together.
It was the smallest thing, but it acted like a switch in his brain, fully releasing his arousal. Heat rushed through his veins like spring flooding down a mountain river. Stoen needed her, and needed her now.
Easy. Take your time. Don’t rush it. Not this time.
Focus on her.
“I have a few things in mind that might kill some time.” Rose arched her back, sticking out her already magnificent chest.
Eager to glimpse the softness beneath her bra, he fumbled momentarily with the clasp before it sprang away with an energy that surprised them both. Rose giggled and shrugged it off, flinging it to land somewhere on the floor unseen.
Kissing her neck to distract her for a second, Stoen’s hands ran up her sides before cupping her breasts evenly and gently rubbing her now-erect nipples between two fingers. Making wordless sounds of enjoyment while pressed against him, Rose contributed to the moment was well, twisting one arm around so that she could push it up behind her and between his legs.
He groaned happily when her fingers found what they were looking for, tracing the outline of his cock through his jeans. Nibbling gently on her neck while he explored not only her exposed chest, but every inch of her that he could, Stoen eventually let one hand drift between her legs. She was still wearing pants, but that didn’t matter. Pressing just hard enough for her to feel the touch he listened to his mate, aroused further by the sound she was making for him.
There was nothing more erotic than hearing and watching a woman enjoy herself. When he was the one causing her pure pleasure, it was even better. Knowing that this was his mate and she was losing herself in sinful ecstasy brought on by his touch was almost more than he could take. That combined with the way her hand continued to stroke his length was threatening to make him lose control.
He thought about saying something, but decided the moment could do without words. Everything that needed to be said was being said with body language.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Rose told him, reaching down to undo her pants. “I need to feel you against me completely.”
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe some things could be said with words.
Chapter Twelve
Rose
The eagerness of her actions surprised Rose, and made her feel slightly guilty.
Now didn’t seem like the time to indulge in primordial urges with Stoen, but if she were honest, they were heading into danger and they might not get another chance at it. The last thing she wanted was to regret not making a move when there was time.
Neither of them were going to do anything more that night. It was too late, and they needed to sleep. That was the truth of the matter, and so she forced herself to relax and enjoy it. He was hot, and the simple touch of his fingers was driving her crazy already. Rose couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the night might be like.
“Let me.” He spoke into her ear with the lightest of sounds, but it was the movement of his hands as he undid the buttons and slipped her pants down from around her waist that had her aching for more. Always more.
“Nuh-uh,” she said, denying him as he tried to remove her underwear. “You first.”
Getting up from the bed, she pulled him to a standing position, the backs of his knees against the bed. Pulling his shirt over his head she paused to admire the sculpted lines of his muscles. The swoop of his pecs, and the way his stomach angled into that delicious V-shape before disappearing under his jeans.
Tearing at his belt with a vengeance she quickly yanked jeans and boxers down around his ankles, acutely aware of the thick, solid cock now hanging free between his legs. It was like the muscles of his stomach formed an arrow, pointing right to it. And boy was that some advertising she could get behind.
“Oh
my.” The words came out without her meaning to, involuntary and clichéd to hell and back.
The smirk on Stoen’s face told her he appreciated it anyway.
“Do you mind if I take them all the way off?” He was already kicking his pants over his ankles, not waiting for her permission. But they were stuck, bunched up from her quick-drop, and he hopped around slightly off balance as he worked the fabric free.
Rose couldn’t quite smother a giggle as she watched his dick bounce around.
“It’s the helicopter!”
Stoen came to an abrupt halt, the motion not doing anything to stop the wild bouncing, and Rose absolutely lost it when the look on his face registered. Her laughter came hard and fast, and she staggered past him and fell onto the bed, curled up in a near-naked ball as she shook violently.
Noises told her Stoen was finishing undressing, and then the bed shook as he dropped his massive frame onto it.
Her laughter became a hiss as he curled up behind her, pressing himself between her legs. He was so big and hard, and suddenly she forgot what she was laughing about.
“I think it’s time to get rid of these.” With a growl Stoen ripped her underwear off, not bothering to take the time to pull them down.
She made a tiny cry of surprise as the fabric parted and he pushed a hand between her legs. His fingers might have been a little rough in spreading her legs, a show of control, but the delicate slide of his finger across her wet opening made it clear it was all an act. Stoen was in control, but he was in control of her pleasure, something she was more than willing to surrender to him.
“Fuck, that feels good,” she moaned as he parted her swollen folds and gently inserted the finger, hooking his thumb around to continue rubbing her sensitive clit.
His head pushed between her shoulder and neck, hot air washing across her skin seconds before his teeth bit down. Rose cried out, her entire body on fire, every nerve end throbbing, begging to be touched by him. It didn’t matter if it was her ear, neck, nipple, arm, side, or leg… anywhere his body touched hers was greeted with a shivering explosion of pleasure that eventually settled between her legs, though she didn’t think it would stay contained for much longer.
