by Katie Reus
“I think it’s a great idea,” Aurora said, a smile playing across her lips.
Lachlan had come to realize they had a different relationship than Star did with the others, and not just because they were sisters. Star wasn’t Aurora’s Alpha. Aurora was young, likely in her early twenties, but he could sense the Alpha simmering inside her. She just hadn’t fully emerged yet, but it was there, ready and waiting.
Star shot Aurora an annoyed glance before she finally nodded once. Then she turned her back on him, giving him a shot of the most beautiful ass in the world. Unfortunately she had on pants. “I’ll meet you out front in a minute,” she tossed over her shoulder as she hurried back inside.
He frowned at her retreating back, a growl building in his throat. He had the urge to hunt her down, to take her to the ground and pleasure her until she was crying out his name. Bury his face and then his cock between her legs.
“You need to step up your game, dragon,” the one named Brielle said. She shook her head slightly and then pulled out a switchblade and started peeling an apple.
He didn’t respond, simply stalked after Star. Moments later he found her in the front yard, shoving something into a backpack.
“Had you planned to drive there?” It was his understanding that while people were driving right now, it was not as common. He’d only seen a handful of vehicles on the road, but he hadn’t realized that Star’s crew even had one.
She stood and slid the backpack onto her shoulders. “So how does this work?” she asked, ignoring his question. “Do I just climb on your back and hold on to your scales or…”
“I can carry you in my claws or you can ride on my back. Either way is acceptable.”
“Your back it is.”
“For the record, I would like you to ride me in other ways while we are both naked and—”
“Lachlan, you’ve got to stop saying that stuff!” Her cheeks flushed pink and she wouldn’t look him in the eyes.
But he’d gotten her to say his name again. He lifted a shoulder as he started stripping off his clothes. Slowly.
She turned away then, making him smile. She lived with shifters—and was a type of shifter herself if he wasn’t mistaken. She should not be shy about nudity.
“You can watch.” He dropped his voice an octave. “I know you want to.”
“You sure are arrogant.”
Of course he was. “I’m a dragon.”
She snorted and shoved her hands into her jeans pockets but he didn’t miss the way she shot him a quick glance over her shoulder.
His gaze connected with hers and she jerked away, completely giving him her back now. He wanted to tease her some more but instead let the change come over him completely. Magic and pain exploded together into a kaleidoscope of bright colors and then he was himself again.
He stretched his wings out, happy to be in this form. Kidnap mate, take her somewhere safe, his dragon commanded him.
Unfortunately he liked this idea far too much, so he ignored it.
Star turned to him then, and reached back to quickly braid her long ponytail as she walked toward him.
He was glad she hadn’t known how to ride him. It meant that she had not flown with a dragon before. He would be her first. He also wanted to be her last.
She stood staring at him with what he liked to think of as awe for a long moment, before she bundled up his clothes and tucked them into her backpack. When she approached him, she climbed up him in quick, agile movements, as if she’d done it before.
It surprised him and something about it bothered him, something in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t grasp on to what it was. He still remembered her brilliant show of fire at the airport. It had been unlike anything he had ever seen. He didn’t know of any shifters that could control fire—witches, yes. And some rare vampires. But she didn’t smell like either species. She was unique.
That fire show she’d displayed was a very dragon type of thing—she had to be a hybrid of some kind. Maybe…half-demon? Not that he cared. The only thing he cared about was getting more of her kisses. Then all of them. Forever. That one glorious kiss kept replaying in his mind over and over. It was on repeat and making him mad with desire. He put those thoughts on lockdown, however.
As he launched into the air, he was careful to avoid the traps they had set in place. Now that he knew about them, he could easily see the wires, but they’d been skillfully woven into the vegetation and trees. Very smart, much like this whole crew of Star’s.
He took to the air and she didn’t make a peep. Lachlan had expected some kind of yelp of surprise or something, but she simply held on tight as he soared higher into the air. Wind rolled over his scales as he arced upward, far above the trees so that everything below them grew smaller and smaller.
“Head west,” he heard her shout above the wind.
So he did just that, enjoying being in his dragon form even as much as he enjoyed her joining him.
If she wasn’t a dragon hybrid, she might not have any idea how vulnerable he was letting himself be with her right now, letting her ride on his back. He’d never let anyone, save one human female, ride him before. And now Star. Pure instinct was the only reason he was letting her—his dragon recognized her for what she was. His mate.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the destination. From the sky, he spotted the house she indicated clearly. A stilt house, he believed it was called—built up off the ground in case of flooding.
There was a huge grassy area perfect for landing behind it, so he suddenly shot downward, inwardly smiling at her inhalation of breath as he swooped in for a perfect landing.
The grass shimmered out in waves around them, making a faint swishing sound. She dropped from his body moments later and knelt in front of her backpack.
“I hope the ride wasn’t too rough for you?” he asked once he’d shifted to human. He’d been careful, keeping his body angled so that the wind flowed around her instead of pummeling her.
Avoiding his gaze, she handed his bundled clothes to him. A few tendrils of her hair had escaped her braid and were wild around her face. The sight brought back a sudden memory of a different female, after he’d taken her on her first flight with him. She’d thought like Star and had braided her hair to keep it from tangling as well. He resisted the urge to brush the strands back from Star’s face.
“No, it was exhilarating. I—” She abruptly cleared her throat and put distance between them.
He didn’t smell a threat and he didn’t think she did either—especially since her sense of smell seemed to be muted compared to his. No, she clearly hadn’t wanted to tell him something. Sighing to himself, he dressed quickly, surveying the land and house. High off the ground on concrete pillars, the house was painted teal and yellow and had a coastal look to it. There was enough room to park two vehicles underneath the structure, but there weren’t any vehicles in sight.
“Whose place is this?”
She paused, then said, “My aunt’s.”
Surprise filtered through him. As they strode across the grassy patch, he said, “I dinnae scent anyone here. And I didnae see any neighbors for at least a mile or two.”
“Yeah, I saw that too.” She glanced around at the swampy area to the left and then over to a greenhouse to the right of the home.
“Is she expecting you?”
“No. But that’s okay. I guess she’s out of town because I can’t get a hold of her. And she moved recently,” she grumbled. “Luckily I was able to find out her new address from an old friend.” Star went straight for the stairs and he followed suit as she jogged up them. Immediately he spotted the security camera above the door. Star waved at it once before knocking on the door. There was no answer, though considering the faint scents surrounding the place, he hadn’t expected any.
Star waited for a moment, then went to a potted plant and dug her fingers around in it until she found the key.
He simply raised an eyebrow as she unlocked the do
or.
“What? It’s not breaking and entering if I have the key. And she won’t care.”
He simply shrugged and followed her inside as she quickly disarmed the security system. He didn’t care what she did—if she wanted to break the law, he would help her.
The scent inside had a familiarity to it that he recognized as belonging to Star and Aurora as well. It was so subtle, the faintest hint of an underlying thread that said they were the same type of being.
He added all the puzzle pieces he had together, creating a picture of Star. It was an interesting one.
“Stay here and don’t touch anything,” she ordered as she hurried deeper into the house.
He glanced around curiously. There were a lot of brightly colored things everywhere. The furniture was mostly white and sturdy. A patchwork quilt with a starburst of rainbow colors emerging from the middle had been tossed haphazardly onto the back of the couch. The media cabinet underneath an oversized television that had a light layer of dust on it showcased different knickknacks. A bowl of sea glass, a dried starfish, a small vase with dried lavender. There were other little things dotting the room on shelves—some new and others quite old, creating an eclectic image of the owner. Likely someone much older than Star, considering the age of some of the things.
He went to the mantel and looked at an array of pictures, unabashed in his curiosity. He was a dragon after all, and cats had nothing on dragons when it came to being curious.
There were pictures of people he didn’t know, clearly none related to the female, given the different shades of their skin tones. But on one shelf, the woman he assumed was Star’s aunt, because of her frequency in all the pictures with other people, posed with a couple who he guessed were Star’s parents. Because next to them was a Star who was maybe twenty years old, holding a little girl who was definitely Aurora. She couldn’t be more than five in this picture.
“What are you doing?” Star asked from behind him.
“How old were you in that picture?” he asked, not bothering to answer because it was clear what he was doing.
“Nineteen.” There was a wistful note in her voice.
“Aurora was adorable.”
Star grinned at him then. “She really was. And she looks so damn happy here.” Star touched the picture, a riot of emotions playing across her expression.
As he looked at the picture, he frowned as he focused on her aunt. For some reason the dark-haired female looked familiar, as if he should recognize her from somewhere. But he couldn’t place her. “What happened to your parents?” he asked before he could stop himself from asking the question. In all his research, he hadn’t been able to find out much about her—hadn’t even known Aurora was her sister originally. But there was nothing on her parents, much less an aunt. No names, nothing. It was as if they didn’t exist.
Just like that, the half-smile faded and she cleared her throat as she turned away. “They were killed two months after this picture was taken. By dragons.”
Chapter 19
“What happened to the dragons who killed them?” Lachlan asked as Star locked up her aunt’s place. His tone was even, but she could see the simmering anger in his indigo eyes.
She paused, surprised by the question.
“Dead.” Star had hunted them down herself—weeks after she’d gotten Aurora to safety. “There were four of them. All males. I…had to run when they attacked, to get Aurora to safety. But once I regrouped, I found them and killed them one by one.” Her crew had helped her in the actual hunt, but she’d been the one to pick them off. Each one of them had felt her wrath and died screaming in agony. Her parents had still been dead though. And she felt that loss every day.
“Good,” he snarled.
She looked up at him as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “You don’t even know why they came after my family.”
“Dinnae need to ken.” His jaw was set tight as he scanned the horizon, his indigo eyes searching for any sign of danger. “Multiple dragons attacking a family that includes a five-year-old? Besides, everything I ken about you… They deserved what they got. I’m sorry about your parents though. Sorry you were left to deal with everything alone. And…raise your sister, I’m assuming?”
“Yeah,” she said. The sincerity in his voice punched up against that wall she had, creating little cracks. “And thank you. I wasn’t alone at least. My crew—God, we were so young then—they helped me hunt them down while Kartini’s parents took care of Aurora. It was the first time we’d ever acted as a unit. The first time I ever killed anyone.” After that, they’d broken away from the co-op and had naturally formed their own crew.
“You all certainly make up an interesting group.”
She shrugged as they reached the grassy patch he’d landed on before. “We work.”
“Ready?” he asked, and she nodded.
He stripped and shifted—and she had to force herself not to stare at him, to pretend she wasn’t interested in seeing his naked ass again. And…more. She stared a little bit, unable to tear her gaze away from all that bare skin. Heat blossomed inside her as she devoured him with her gaze like a giant perv. Gah. She turned away, giving him a bit of privacy even though she didn’t think he cared if she watched him. But this was for her own sanity.
Once he was in his magnificent dragon form, Star climbed up Lachlan as if she’d done it hundreds of times. It was only the second time she’d ridden a dragon but it felt natural, normal. Which made no sense. But he was so powerful and protective so maybe it was why she wasn’t experiencing any weirdness.
She was disappointed that she hadn’t been able to find what she’d been looking for at her aunt’s house. Not that she’d expected it to be out in the open, but she hadn’t been able to find a safe or anything. If she could just talk to her aunt, get her to call her back. Star had thought about asking around New Orleans after her, but couldn’t get past that intrinsic part that warned her to keep her secrets, to protect her family and herself.
Lachlan stretched out, flapping his wings once as if to ask if she was ready to fly.
She patted him twice and he made a sort of snorting sound which should not have been so adorable on such a fierce-looking animal. But he kind of was. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but fierce and adorable worked well on this huge male with the indigo-colored scales that glittered prettily in the sunlight.
He took to the skies, his takeoff graceful and smooth. She savored the feel of the wind rushing over her, wishing she was free to reveal exactly what she was. Her other half was getting antsy, wanted to come out and play with him—and show off for Lachlan, to show him exactly how beautiful she was. Yep, her beast was not happy.
Suddenly Lachlan’s big body jerked. And then Star saw them.
Three shimmery blurs on the horizon. It had to be camouflaged dragons. Her stomach dropped at the sight of three blurs flying toward them from different directions. She glanced behind them. No one there. Suddenly, they dropped their camouflage, not bothering with it anymore. Dragons.
Her heart lurched in her chest as Lachlan angled upward, flying far and fast, bursting through a cluster of clouds. Realizing that he was hiding them, she held on tight to his heavy, thick scales and buried her face against them.
For a moment, she saw nothing at all except a thick white haze as he glided soundlessly back in the direction of her home through the clouds.
Heart racing, she glanced around them even though the clouds were pea soup thick. It was impossible to see anything, which was good and bad.
He banked left, dipping into another cluster of thick clouds. As the clouds started to thin, giving up all semblance of cover, Lachlan dipped downward, arrowing toward a huge forest and swampy area.
Fire blasted at them from above. The heat licked around her but her natural defenses kept it at bay. For now. Or…maybe Lachlan was somehow protecting her because her clothes didn’t burn. She’d worry about that later.
He twisted midair and blasted
a bright burst of raging hot blue fire at the nearest dragon.
She stared in awe and horror as the attacking dragon burst into flames, its screeches wild and terrifying as it began falling toward the earth in a billowing lump of scales. She’d never seen fire like that, never seen a dragon kill another dragon so quickly and efficiently. Normally dragon fire had to break down the other dragon’s natural shields—and that took time. Immediately, the other two dragons split up, flying in opposite directions.
She wasn’t stupid enough to think they were leaving. And neither was Lachlan. He raced after the closest one. His wings flapped with efficiency as he arrowed toward the giant gold dragon.
Hunkering down, she held on tight and trusted him to take out this threat. As they gained on the other dragon faster, faster, Lachlan let out another burst of bright blue flames, lighting up the entire sky in a brilliant show of color.
The other dragon’s left wing burst into flames under the impact. As the beast started a downward spiral toward the treetops, she turned and realized the other dragon was gaining on them. And it had a rider!
Screw this.
Calling on her own fire, she sent out a burst of her own bright fiery magic, throwing a ball of purple fire straight at the dragon’s chest. The rider held something in his hand. A gun, maybe. Some kind of weapon. Whatever it was, he aimed and fired at them as she released her own fire.
“Lachlan! Behind us!” She shouted on instinct even though he would have heard the dragon.
Her fire missed the beast as it barrel-rolled. The rider held on as she fired at it again. As Lachlan turned, something slammed into his wing. He let out a screech, his head whipping back as he started to fall. Lachlan shot flames upward at them, but the other dragon dodged the attack and started to fly away now. Trying to escape.
“No!” she screamed. Rage filled her as she hauled her hands back and threw another burst of fire at the fleeing dragon.
This time she didn’t miss. Before the beast could fully turn, her fire slammed the dragon right in the face. It screamed, its head flying backward in pain before it whipped around midair and started flying in the other direction. Off-balance, she threw herself forward, clutching at Lachlan’s scales as he flapped furiously, trying to steady them.
