by Sky Winters
Hoxson raised a flame-red eyebrow.
"And how many other dragons you know, exactly?"
"Um, other than you?" asked Adie, thinking it over. "None, really. I mean, I think. You know how secretive you guys are."
Hoxson gave Adie a look that seemed to suggest he wanted to follow up on that answer. Then he strode out of the room, snatching his white t-shirt up from where it lay on the back of a nearby chair. He pulled it on over his body and Adie felt a tinge of disappointment as he covered up his gorgeous physique.
Adie followed him through the narrow hallways of her tiny house. The two of them headed to the kitchen.
"Just go have a seat on the porch," she said. "I'll get the booze."
Hoxson nodded and headed out through the front door. Adie pulled open the fridge and took out two cold beers in glass bottles. The drinks in hand, she leaned back against the kitchen counter and watched through the front windows of her living room as Hoxson took a seat on the patio.
She thought about just how many years it'd been since she'd seen him, since he'd left without a word one day. And now, he was back in her life as though he'd just fallen from the sky. Adie had no idea how she was supposed to deal with this.
"Here," she said, stepping out onto the porch and handing Hoxson his beer.
"Thanks," he said, cracking it open and taking a long sip.
Adie watched as Hoxson drank, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed in a way she couldn't help but stare at. She knew this would all be so much easier if he'd gotten fat or something, if he wasn't the same gorgeous specimen of a man that she'd fallen in love with all those years ago.
"Goddamn, that's fucking good," he said, holding the beer out in front of him and looking at the label.
"Just some domestic crap," Adie said.
A moment of silence hung over them as Adie's gaze drifted out onto the wide stretch of the front lawn. There wasn't another house for a mile, and that's just how she liked it. The early evening wind blew through the branches of the sycamore trees, rustling them gently. The air was a perfect, cool late spring evening in California.
"Okay," she said. "You've got to cut the shit. Why are you here?"
"I told you," he said. "I'm here for work."
"Yeah, but what kind of work?" she asked. "Something tells me you're not exactly a traveling salesman or something."
"You got the traveling part right," he said.
He took another sip of his beer and thought the matter over.
"I can't tell you," he said. "Secret shit. But you could tell me just what you've been up to since I've been gone. Starwood seems like it's changed quite a bit."
"Oh, you want a little history lesson?" Adie asked, opening her own beer.
"That'd be nice."
"You know, if you didn't just up and leave a decade ago, you'd have been around to see just what changed around here."
Adie felt her emotions begin to creep into her words. She checked herself, not wanting to let her frustration at Hoxson get the better of her. Hoxson turned to her, his expression grave.
"I had to leave," he said. "And you're just going to have to leave it at that."
"'Leave it at that'," said Adie. "You say it like it's so simple. I thought we had something, Hoxson, that you and I had something special. And, I mean, we did have something…that little agreement of ours."
Hoxson raised his eyebrows.
"You're not serious, are you? That little pact we'd made?"
"I am," she said. "I mean, I'm not serious about going through with it, but it's what we'd agreed."
"Adie," said Hoxson. "We were kids in love. Barely adults. Just because we'd agreed to get married in ten years if both of us were still single…it's just insane."
Adie checked herself again.
"I just told you I wasn't serious about going through with it!" she said.
Thought as the words left her mouth, she didn't know how much of them she really meant.
"I'm just saying, that's what we agreed on."
"Tell me again," said Hoxson, a smirk on his face. "I want to hear the words come out of your mouth."
"You don't remember?"
"Humor me."
"Back when you and I were dating, God, it'd been a year into what we had. You started to get strange and distant, I remember it clearly now. I started to wonder if it was your way of letting me know things were about to end between us. I was getting so fucking nervous; part of me wanted to break up with you just so I could get it over with."
He took a sip of his beer and tapped the bottle with his fingertips.
"Then one day, out of the blue, you told me that you wanted to make an agreement. A little pact, just between the two of us. That if anything split us apart, that we'd find each other, one day, eventually. And if you and I were still single, that we'd get married."
"And what'd you say?" asked Hoxson.
"I said ‘of course!' What else would some doe-eyed teenage girl say when the coolest fucking guy in school made a pledge like that. But I didn't think it meant that you had one foot out the door."
Hoxson let her words hang in the air for a moment before responding.
"I…did what I had to do," he said.
"Oh, and that's supposed to make things all better?"
"It's all I can say," he said, his eyes fixed ahead.
Adie realized this was the best she was going to get out of him.
"Just words," she said. "Just telling me what I wanted to hear."
More silence. Hoxson drained the rest of his beer and headed back inside to grab another. Fresh beer in hand, he cracked it open and spoke.
"Then, I suppose, at the very least, I could tell you why I'm here."
Adie snorted.
"Let's hear it."
CHAPTER 3
Hoxson was distracted. It was strange enough that he'd woken up in the home of Adie Raine, but he wasn't expecting her to be just as goddamn good-looking as she'd always been. Even more, actually – she'd lost the last bit of baby fat from her cheeks and she'd come into the full bloom of her womanhood.
Her straw-blonde hair hung loosely onto her bare shoulders, the color as bright as the sun. Her heart-shaped face framed her features perfectly, her grass-green eyes as sensual and inviting as ever, her nose small and pert, and her full, Cupid's bow lips just begging for a kiss.
And her body was still something else. Hoxson found himself staring forward as he talked to her; all it took was one glance at her slender, shapely physique for his cock to start twitching in his jeans. She wore a small crop-top shirt that showed off her toned stomach, and her denim short-shorts put her lovely legs on full display.
Hoxson found himself wondering just what was going to be on his mind after he drained a couple more of these beers.
"Why I'm here," he said, snapping himself back to the present moment. "Well, you know how one of the things we loved about Starwood was how laid-back it was? How shifters could just live here and not have to worry about any of that bullshit drama like in San Francisco or LA?"
"Damn right," she said. "One of the few shifter cities in the country where we didn't have to constantly navigate power plays."
"Well, I think that's all about to change."
"It already has with these damn bears moving in. But I've heard about biker bear gangs moving into cities before. Usually, they just cause a scene for a little while before getting bored and moving on."
"But these bears have stayed put," said Hoxson. "And now they've gone quiet."
"That's right," said Adie. "Damnedest thing. Biker bears keeping a low profile? Whoever heard of such a thing?"
"Okay," said Adie, raising her hands, the fingers of one wrapped around her beer. "But why do you care about all of this? You just here out of a sense of curiosity?"
"No," said Hoxson. "I'm a merc."
"A ‘merc'?" she said, totally confused.
"A mercenary. I do…dirty work for money."
"Are you seriou
s?" asked Adie, her green eyes going wide. "Like, you kill people for cash?"
"Now, I'm not a damn assassin," he said. "But yes, me and my team have killed our fair share of people during our time together. We're called the Silver Talon Mercenaries, and we're one of the top dragon outfits in New York."
"As in the city?" she asked. "You're here all the way from New York?"
Hoxson nodded. "Yep. We got a call for a job from a client in San Francisco. Said that they've heard rumors that shifter activity has been getting strange here around Starwood. Thinking it might be being used as some kind of staging area for shifter clans in the city."
Adie said nothing, taking this all in.
"So, I gotta ask you – anything weird going on around here other than the bear gangs?"
Adie looked away for a moment, thinking hard.
"There's my new job, I suppose."
"Your new job?" asked Hoxson. "What kind of new job?"
"There's this family that bought up some big tract of land outside of town with one of those old mansions on it. They moved in a couple months ago, getting the place remolded. And once they were done, they hired a few girls from here in town to work as maids there."
Hoxson sat up straight, thinking very carefully about all of this.
"And are they shifters?"
Adie shook her head.
"No way to know. They're very, very secretive. We come to clean the place up when they're not there. Haven't even met them; they did their hiring through some assistant. And he's the one we talk to if we need anything."
"What's this family's name?"
"The Mendozas," she said. "Rich as hell. But I've got no idea where they get their money."
"And you didn't think there was anything strange about this family moving in?"
"Why would I?" she asked. "Not like it's unheard of for rich families to buy up these old mansions and move out of the city. Not like they've got some witch's den or drug lab in there or something."
"That you know of."
Adie rolled her eyes.
"As far as I can tell, they're on the level. Why – what're you thinking?"
Hoxson thought for a moment.
"I need to know if you can get me into that house."
Adie's eyes went wide.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Just let you into that place? Why?"
"The reason I'm here by myself is because I'm the team's recon specialist. I move into places, check out the scene, and get intel before the rest of the Silver Talons make a move. So, maybe this rich family's just some shifters who want to get away from the city, like other shifters in Starwood. Or maybe they're just some wealthy humans. But between the bears and them, I'm starting to think there might be something more going on than we're thinking."
"I can't just let you into the house," said Adie. "They've got major security at that place."
"Even more suspicious."
"Or they're just careful – who knows. But they check me and the other girls pretty damn heavily when we arrive and when we leave. Not sure how I'd sneak you in, even if I wanted to."
"Adie, I'm not asking you to smuggle me in your damn purse or anything; you just need to lead me to the mansion; I'll do the rest."
"I don't know," said Adie. "Every vibe I get from these people makes me think they're not the type to be screwed with like that."
"All the more reason to check it out. If it's nothing, then it's nothing."
Hoxson watched Adie carefully. Part of him wondered if the woman he'd known since he was a teenager could be hiding something from him. So far, however, she seemed to him to be on the level.
"And why would I do that?" she asked. "Why would I risk my job just to help you out?"
"Because the clients who hired us for this job seem to think that there's a good chance major shit's going to be happening here in Starwood. I mean, think about it – it's a quiet shifter town; a perfect place to stage some kind of operation away from anyone in the cities."
"What kind of ‘major shit'?" asked Adie, suddenly sounding very worried.
She stood up and walked over to the railing over her porch. Adie put her palms on the edge and leaned forward. Hoxson couldn't help but take a long look at the hint of her ass that peeked out from underneath the hem of her shorts. His cock was already starting to throb.
Hoxson took a deep breath and focused back on the mission. He stood up from his seat, took a long swig of his beer, and walked over to Adie. As soon as he took his place next to her, her scent, that rich fox scent that always smelled to him like sex and ice cream, flooded into his nose. The smell brought back a powerful wave of nostalgia, and he could picture, with perfect clarity, just how Adie's face used to look when they fucked back in the day.
"Could be nothing," he said, trying to calm down Adie. "Could just be some paranoid family in San Francisco getting worried over nothing. But my job isn't to figure out if they're spending their money in a smart way; my job is to do what they ask. And that involves me taking a peek inside that house."
Adie turned to Hoxson. They were standing close now, and the fabric covering her ample breasts grazed Hoxson's arm as she turned in place. Hoxson swallowed hard, now not sure for how long he'd be able to keep his hands off Adie.
"This Friday," said Adie, "most of the non-work crew will be out of the house. If you just had to scout the place, that'd be the day to do it."
"Perfect," said Hoxson.
It was Thursday, so that gave him time to prepare.
Standing there, he could feel the heat from Adie's body. He took in another long draw of air through his nostrils, smelling her scent one more time.
"You'll just have to stay out of trouble until then," she said. "If you can manage it."
"I can keep a low profile when I want to," said Hoxson. "I only went out to the bar to see what kind of reaction me coming back to town would have."
Adie's eyes flicked over the bruises on Hoxson's arms.
"And did you get the reaction you were hoping for?" she asked, a small grin tugging at the side of her mouth.
"I figured some people would be pissed off to see me, but I didn't expect some random bears to be all up in my shit."
"And then we've got all this to deal with," said Adie.
Hoxson turned toward her and raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean ‘all this'?"
"This between you and me?" she said, seeming shocked that Hoxson didn't know exactly what she was talking about.
"What…what you wanna talk about?" Hoxson asked.
Adie balled up her hands into small, hard fists and brought one down hard on Hoxson's chest. Hoxson could only smirk at her little display.
"You've come back into my life after nearly a decade and act like it's nothing!"
"Still haven't answered my question."
Adie let out a little squeal of anger that Hoxson couldn't help but find pretty damn adorable.
"You can be a real prick, you know that?" she said. "I'm sure you had your big, important fucking reasons why you left, but you have no idea how hard that was for me. The first love of my life abandoning me out of the blue after we'd all but pledged our lives to one another…it was hard."
Hoxson said nothing, figuring she just needed to get it all off her chest.
Truth was, Hoxson didn't know how to deal with all of this. He knew what he did, and, deep down, he'd always wondered just what would happen if he ever saw Adie again. And now that he got his answer, he wondered why it was even a mystery to begin with – she was pissed.
"And not even a fucking word from you! For all I knew, you were dead, that your smart-ass mouth had finally pissed off the wrong person."
"I'm here now," said Hoxson.
"Yeah, you are. For now. And only because you've got a job to do. A job that you need me for."
Adie's little spat of anger had caused a few stray strands of hair of fall over her eyes. It made Hoxson think of how she used to look after they'd fuck, with her hair all mus
sed. His heart was beginning to beat faster, and he felt his self-control dwindling by the second.
"Here's the deal," she said. "You want my help, then you'd better stick around, at least for a while. No running off without telling me what you're doing."
"Stick around, huh?" Hoxson asked, turning to Adie and looking down at her.
"Um, uh, yeah!" she said, her eyes going wide as she realized just how close Hoxson was to her.
However overwhelmed he was getting from Adie, Hoxson could tell that she was feeling at least that. He watched her swallow hard, her eyes now wide. She looked up at him, her tongue dragging slowly over her lips.
"You'd better let me know…before you do anything…drastic…"
Then, without another word, Hoxson leaned in and kissed her hard.
CHAPTER 4
Adie was shocked. Her eyes went wide as soon as Hoxson's lips touched hers. But almost instantly, the sensation of his skin on hers lulled her into an almost intoxicated state. His strange dragon scent flooded her senses, and his strong, rough hands clamped down hard on her arms. She closed her eyes and soon fell into the kiss.
But only for a moment.
Adie regained her senses and pushed herself away.
"What…what are you doing?" she asked, looking up at Hoxson.
A sly little smirk formed on his lips.
"I can't fucking resist," he said. "You just look so goddamn good."
Adie felt her blood thump through her veins. And in spite of her shock, she felt her pussy grow wetter, her arousal in spite of her protest.
"This is…this is a bad idea," said Adie, tucking her stray hair behind her ear. "You're just now back in town; I haven't seen you for almost a decade. And now you're in my home and…trying to kiss me?"
"'Trying' implies that I didn't do it," said Hoxson, not deterred at all by Adie's words.
Adie's mind raced with doubt and uncertainty. Her mind conjured up a million reasons why Hoxson kissing her wasn't right, why she should've just pulled her hand back and slapped him hard on the cheek for what he'd done to her, for thinking that he could leave her without a word and show up years later as though nothing had even happened.
But in spite of all of this, the thrill from the kiss, the tight and hot pressure down below, the pounding of blood in her veins – these were all she could focus on.
