Challenging Love (Drekinn Book Five)

by Jana Leigh

  “We will deal with you later,” the guard said gruffly and then locked the door again. The dumbass never questioned why the door was unlocked, Vivi thought.

  “What the hell?" Vivi whispered.

  “What the hell took you so long?" Shelly muttered.

  “Something is wrong with Brenda,” Vivi said.

  “Bren?” Shelly said and followed the sniffling sound. “Honey, what is wrong.”

  “They're alive,” Brenda cried and flung herself into Shelly’s arms.

  “Who is, honey?” Shelly and Vivi asked and looked at each other confused.

  Brenda pulled back and stared at her friends and said, “We have to save them.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Pilar stood next to her brother and waited for the signal to shift. They planned on shifting and flying over the fence, she would drop Brooks down on the roof, while Phillip would drop Simon, together they would go inside while the others took out the guards outside. If at all possible, they would get everyone out.

  The building could be locked down remotely; however, the black SUVs in the front of the building hopefully meant that someone was here who didn’t want to get locked in. They would fight before they locked it down. Long enough for them to get the women out.

  Calix gave her strict instructions on staying safe. She grinned at the bond that had already grown between them. She had waited for this her whole life and now that she had it, she was scared to lose it. It was scary to think about really. Everything she had done over the years had led them to this moment. Where things were beginning to come together.

  “I have been having flashes,” Phillip finally said. “I told Rissa and Simon already, but I wanted to talk to you before I talk to the others.”

  “Really?” Pilar said.

  “Yeah, it is weird, and I am not sure what they mean. I just wanted to tell you,” Phillip said softly.

  “I haven’t, but I wish I would,” Pilar admitted.

  Brooks came up beside her and put an arm around her and kissed her head. After all this, she finally felt the closeness to the man, and not just the mating pull. They had crossed a threshold when they finally mated.

  “You will,” Brooks said. “I was looking at spells again that may help.”

  “None of them have worked,” Pilar said.

  “You never know though, we will not stop until we pen your memories,” Brooks said firmly.

  “Can you feel anything?” Simon asked.

  Brooks closed his eyes and then frowned. “There is a witch there.”

  “A witch?” Phillip said slowly.

  “Uh, yeah,” Brooks said and then turned his head, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “What doesn’t?” Pilar said.

  Before he could answer all hell broke loose in the yard. They watched as Shelly ran around the side of the building in her wolf form with a guard chasing her. Then more men poured out of the front of the building. It didn’t take them long to surround her. Pilar grinned when she watched Shelly bite a man.

  “Should we go?” Simon asked.

  “No, they said to let them get into the building,” Phillip said.

  “I don’t like being out here with our ass in the wind,” Simon said.

  “Yeah, but Shelly is still out here. If they take her somewhere else while we are going in, we would have a fucking mess.” Pilar laughed.

  “Shift,” Brooks said as they dragged a kicking and screaming Shelly through the front door. Kade howled into the night and they knew it was time.

  Pilar and Phillip shifted and Brooks grinned. He couldn’t wait until Calix saw her in her dragon form. They hadn’t had a chance to shift with each other yet. He was looking forward to seeing his face. She was gorgeous. Her golden hue was nothing short of majestic. She was large, which is why they hadn’t had time to shift together, they needed a lot of room.

  Brooks petted her side and she nuzzled his head. “Ready, sweetheart.”

  Simon laughed and said, “Yeah, baby,” to Phillip who blew smoke out of his nose at him. Even though Simon was an eagle, he didn’t shift. It would have taken too long on the roof.

  The two dragons uncurled their wings and rose in the air, plucking their mates with their talons and flying over the facility. They dropped their mates gently on the roof and then swung around and landed in front of the door where a platoon of men stood in shock.

  “What the hell?!” one of them screamed as they tried to run.

  *****

  Kade and the others broke through the back gate already shifted and ready for battle. They met the guards who were trying to run from Pilar and Phillip and the battle was on. The good thing was, the guards had not really been trained in how to fight shifters in their animal form. The bad thing was, they had weapons.

  He howled in warning when he heard the first gun discharge. The Drekinn Pack split in half and circled the men. One at a time they chose a guard to attack, it didn’t really take that long to disarm the guards. When they were done, they heard the alarm and knew they called in the cavalry. Running to the front of the building, they saw Pilar and Phillip following three SUVs down the road as whole a line of trucks holding more men came up.

  “They are gonna lock it!” Calix yelled as he shifted and ran for the door, once locked they would not get in or out. They would have to bring the women up the air shaft, and that would take time, time they didn’t have.

  *****

  "Shit,” Vivi said and looked out the door again. Brenda had pulled herself together enough to explain in halting words who was in the facility. None of the women wanted to leave them, but they were going to have to. Kade and Calli were here.

  “Use your powers, tell them we will be back. Simon and Brooks are here,” Vivi said.

  Brenda nodded and with tears in her eyes, she contacted the prisoners. It broke her heart to hear them after she thought they were dead, to tell them they had to leave.

  *****

  Richard paused in the yard and looked back and stood in shock. He felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. A connection he thought was dead.

  He ran for the door that Calix was holding and helped. When Brenda, Vivi, and Shelly stumbled out with Simon and Brooks, he grabbed his mate by the shoulders.

  “Is it true?” Richard choked out and Brenda could only nod and cry.

  “We need to get out of here!” Kade yelled and pointed to the trucks entering in the gate.

  “Shift and meet back at the compound,” Calli ordered.

  “Wait,” Simon yelled. “There is someone in the hallway.”

  They turned and watched a bedraggled man run toward them. Vivi sucked in a breath and whispered to Victor. It was Shelly, who yelled and ran with her mate toward the man.

  “Ari?!” Shelly yelled and Paul grabbed the man as he fell.

  “Who the hell is this?!” Declan yelled and helped Paul with the man who was now unconscious.

  “He is from our pack,” Paul said. “We thought he was dead.”

  “How long has he been missing?” Nik said.

  “Since the wars,” Shelly said and they began to run.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Calix waited for his mates to come into the room. He had arrived back before them; the place was in an uproar with the injured man who was now in the same cottage where Calix had recovered. He wanted to talk to Pilar and Brooks about what they had seen in the facility. The rooms there had been filled with stuff nightmares were made of. Simon had been pissed when they opened the first door trying to find the moms, the man had explained. The walls had been lined with chains and cuffs, he had said and described them to the group.

  Calix heard the door open and turned. Pilar and Brooks stood for a moment and then Pilar ran across the room with a sob and threw herself into his arms. Calix buried his face in her neck and held on as she cried. He felt Brooks join them and the man just wrapped his arms around them both.

  He didn’t know how long they stood there but it didn’t
matter. They needed to decompress after what they had seen and what they had done. It was a catch twenty-two really.

  “I hate this,” Pilar said into his neck and Calix sighed and pulled back and looked at her in the eyes.

  “Tell me,” he whispered.

  “When they saw us, I seriously thought they would give up. I mean, humans against dragons, what the fuck were they thinking?!” Pilar yelled and turned to look at Brooks who was nodding in sympathy.

  They knew there was going to be bloodshed, they all did, it didn’t make it any easier to take a life. Calix stood helplessly as Pilar paced.

  “Stupid, so stupid. I have seen enough bloodshed to last a lifetime, for what? Because we want to live a normal life in the open,” Pilar raged.

  “Babe, we can’t dwell on that. We need to move forward and think about what we need to do. We will make this right,” Brooks whispered.

  “How? I don’t like killing people, especially humans, do you know what they are going to say? Oh, the big bad dragon burned the humans in a fit of rage. How long have I hid because of these accusations. And in one fell swoop, we are right back there,” Pilar cried.

  “It can't be helped, none of this can. Listen, we are in this together, and I swear we will make this right,” Calix said.

  “What about the people still there, do you think they are going to take out their anger on us out on them?” Pilar asked.

  “Possibly, which is why we are going to do everything our power to get them out,” Brooks said and stepped to her.

  “Tomorrow,” Calix said and stepped to her other side. “We are meeting in the morning, tonight is for healing.”

  “Oh really?” Pilar said, narrowing her eyes.

  “We need to relax, regroup, and refocus,” Calix said firmly.

  “So my meltdown is what…on hold?” Pilar said.

  “How about we release the tension and then talk about it? I need to feel our connection,” Brooks admitted and she felt a prickle of need. She felt it too, the need to be close to people you loved. Shit, she loved them so much, and the thought of going through this without them was scarier than with them. And they were right, they needed to reconnect, remember what was important.

  “Clothes—off—now,” Pilar yelled and quickly began throwing her clothes off.

  “Hey!” Brooks complained as her arm hit him in the nose, but Calix began undressing. She felt Brooks moving as well and sighed, it would be okay.

  Pilar paused to watch Calix’s powerful physique reveal itself yet again. Damn, he was sexy. She then turned to Brooks who stood on the other side, just as naked and grinned. “Two for the price of one.” She laughed when they fell on her like they were ravenous. Taking the trio down on the floor.

  Brooks took her breasts again and laughed when she arched to him, threw her head back, and moaned. Calix turned her head and kissed her passionately while Brooks aroused her body more.

  The hard, puckered points, burrowed deeper into his twisting, pinching grip as his mate swayed and panted against him. It wasn’t enough, not with that sweet, little pussy beckoning him with wet kisses every time her hips rolled and bumped into his. Releasing one of her breasts, he slid a hand down over the curve of her waist, tracing the flare of her hips before discovering the softly padded flesh of her ass. He pushed her to move her hips as he sucked on her nipples, he quickly found her already wet pussy and sank two fingers in, making her thrash and moan as he set a fast pace.

  Calix reached between them and began kissing her other breast as he pushed a finger through her folds and found her peaked clit. He rubbed slowly at first and then finally set the same pace as Brooks.

  It was enough to make her gasp and buck. Her motions grew frenzied as her head tipped back, her parted lips releasing mews of both need and pleasure that matched the escalating speed of her body against his. Brooks could feel the tension in her body building toward release.

  Grasping her neck in a firm hold, Calix forced her head back until he could stare down into her heavy-lidded gaze and watch those beautiful features as she came undone in their arms. Both of them watching her expression of sedation.

  “Gorgeous,” Calix said.

  They switched places, though this time Calix tended to her breasts and Brooks moved lower and flipped her legs over his shoulders and grinned up at her. “I need a little snack. I want some of that sweet cream.”

  Damn, they were sexy, Pilar thought, and let her body feel the rush of passion once again overtake her. Brooks bent down and swiped his tongue through her slit and she almost came again, she was still so sensitive. He lapped up her juices until she was writhing again beneath them.

  The motion had her keening and tensing as he forced her to ride him right through one climax and into the blooming clouds of another. Incoherent pleas fell all around him, driving Calix’s hunger to taste the sounds slipping from her lips.

  Sealing the lush curves of her mouth with his own, he tried to go slowly, to commit the feel and flavor of her kiss to his memory. Pilar wouldn’t allow him that little treasure. Too wild to be denied, she locked her lips around his tongue and sucked the control right out of him.

  With nothing left but the fiery burn of naked need ruling their actions, Calix repeatedly plundered the sweet, moist depths of her mouth until she jerked and bucked in his arms. The motions mimicked what Brooks was doing down below and she felt the need to come running over her.

  Brooks wanted to give it to her, to push her over that edge and watch her completely lose control, to hear her climax, feel it as it flowed into his mouth. His hand spanned over her ass, bouncing her up with his mouth faster and faster until she tore her mouth away from Calix to pant out moans of her escalating pleasure.

  Her arms twined around Calix’s shoulders, her nails digging into his muscles. She clung to him even as her hips lifted under Brooks’s prodding, leaving Calix’s hand just enough room to slide along the seam of her ass and discover her hot desire.

  “Your pussy is so soft, so hot, so wet. It begs for my touch,” he whispered to her.

  Brooks slid his finger upward, through the thick river of her cream to the opening from which it wept. At just the brush of his fingertip, he felt the tiny opening contract and gasp in a silent plea to be filled. He answered the plea with a deep thrust of three fingers, deep into her clenching sheath.

  Then she fell over the edge, screamed her release, and sank back to the bed. Calix and Brooks looked at each other and smiled.

  “You are so fucking amazing,” Brooks said.

  For a second, Pilar thought she might actually crumble to the floor. The hard male body she’d been leaning against shifted.

  Clenched on the second overwhelming wave of pleasure, Pilar’s world split wide as a scream shot from the depths of her very soul at the feel of a soft tongue licking straight up her slit.

  “Mine,” Calix growled and they switched places again.

  The word growled against her tender folds, tickling her swollen flesh with its barely human sound.

  Lured by the slow, sensual discovery of her nether lips, her head rolled across the hard bone of a man’s shoulder. When her forehead bumped into a rigid jawline, her eyes fluttered open. She was trapped, pinned between two men, and completely at their mercy. Pilar knew they’d have none. Silently, she rejoiced in that fact, eagerly rousing to the primitive need for her mates.

  Her submission whimpered out of her as Brooks lifted his hands to capture her breasts in his rough grip. The slow, sultry dance her mate had turned her body to with his intimate kiss changed in that second, becoming ragged and desperate with a mere pinching tug on her breasts at the same moment the hard edge of her other mate’s teeth scraped over her clit.

  The tiny assaults electrified her, making her jerk out of rhythm. The two large, callus-tipped hands on her breasts jerked her back into the solid warmth of her mate’s strength, while Brooks’s kiss disintegrated from a sweet exploration to a ravenous devouring.

  Relentlessly he
toyed with her clit, licking, nibbling, sucking on the little bundle of nerves until she cried out, blindly fighting the hold of the man behind her as her body erupted into wracking shudders. She could hear the incoherent words tumbling out of her lips as she tried to beg, plead, to say anything that would bring the moment to a head and release her from the bone-crushing tension spiraling out of her womb.

  “I’m going to own your body, your soul, and this pussy will call me master forever after,” he growled out that pledge, taking possession of her weeping folds with his hand.

  Sliding his palm around the voluptuous curve of her ass, he sent his fingers down to discover the already lubricated entrance to her backside, from her own juices.

  “Please,” Pilar shuddered, convulsing with her need. Calix could feel every one of her tight muscles trembling under the strain as she clawed at Brooks, constantly begging for more.

  “More what?” Brooks growled against her ear, making her cry out in denial as his hand abandoned her ass.

  “No. No, don’t stop!”

  Heedless of her plea, Calix ground his erection along the sweet trail that divided them. “You sure this isn’t want you want?”

  “Oh, God, yes,” Pilar panted. Her muscles tensed, clamping down until her ass clung to his hard length in a tempting offer.

  “Then that’s what you’ll have,” Brooks vowed. “I’ll feed you every inch of me until you’re so packed full of cock you don’t know where we end and you begin.”

  “Please let it be,” Pilar whispered back with such strained hope that Brooks actually found a smile.

  “Then you’re willing to be claimed as our mate? Again?” Calix whispered into her ear.

  “Please,” Pilar whimpered, twining her fingers in Calix’s hair to tug on his head. “Kiss me again.”

  “We will give you all that you want. Will you accept our claim?” Calix asked.

  She held him breathless for a long pause before her answer slipped out, a barely there sound. “Yes.