by Lolita Lopez
“Griffin?” She spotted his cousin’s phone on the floor, only barely visible under the quilt, and bent down to retrieve it.
Griffin swore. “His wallet and keys were gone from the bowl by the door where he usually keeps them. He left in a hurry if he forgot his phone.”
She hesitated before asking, “Do you think it was the dreams? Maybe he figured out who was causing them and went to find him or her.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” His fingers tightened around the phone. “He promised he wouldn’t do anything stupid. He promised me he’d wait for me.”
“The dreams might have been from someone who needed help. What if he couldn’t wait for you?”
Griffin growled. “I should have been with him! I should have been available to help him.”
She flinched as his words washed over her. He wasn’t blaming her directly, but it was her outrageous request that had separated him from his family.
“No,” he said quickly and slipped his arms around her waist. “I’m not blaming you or upset with you. I’m upset with the situation.” He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. “Whatever happens with Mad, I don’t regret locking myself away with you.”
She believed him. Resting her head against his chest, she listened to the reassuring beat of his heart. “What are you going to do about him?”
“I’ll call Stig and Ignatius. They’ll get a team together and start looking for him.”
“Do you think he’s gone far?”
Griffin shrugged. “I’m not sure. I can’t…I can’t feel him. Usually, I’m aware of his presence. It’s like a beacon in the back of my mind. Right now, there’s nothing.”
She felt his arms tighten around her. Neither of them dared to voice aloud what they both feared. If Griffin couldn’t feel Mad, maybe the man was already dead. She closed her eyes and silently prayed for his safety. The two dragons were like brothers. Griffin would never forgive himself if something terrible had happened to his best friend.
While Griff made the necessary phone calls, Avani poked around downstairs. She found a stack of books on meditation and dreaming next to his laptop on the couch. Plopping down on the well-worn leather cushions, she flipped through the books and noted the places he’d highlighted or tagged with sticky notes.
She opened his laptop and waited for the screen to awaken. There were a dozen tabs open on his Internet browser. All but the last two were sites dedicated to interpreting dreams. When she opened a tab that revealed a poster for a missing college student and another for a resort in Cozumel, she began to piece together Mad’s sudden disappearance. “Griffin, I think I found something.”
In a flash, her dragon mate bounded down the stairs and slid onto the couch. “What is it?”
“It’s a poster that’s been circulated online for a coed named Ivy Morales who went missing on spring break in Cozumel.” She turned the laptop screen toward him. “Does she look familiar? Do you guys know her?”
Griffin visibly jerked as his gaze registered the young woman’s face. He paled and practically jumped off the couch. “I need to call Stig back.”
Avani’s chest constricted. “What’s wrong, Griffin? Who is this girl?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “You were probably only nine or ten when it happened, but there was a couple—a mixed couple—who had a child.”
“Wait.” She held up her hand. “A dragon and a Knight?”
“Yes. The woman was a dragon and her lover was a Knight. They had to be madly in love with each other to risk everything to be together.”
Suddenly her crazy plan to seduce Griffin to save her species didn’t seem so wild. “That must have taken some serious courage.”
“It did.”
“Did you know the dragon woman?”
He shook his head. “She belonged to Niko’s tribe, but I wasn’t very familiar with her.”
“And the Knight?”
“He belonged to the Seer’s line.”
Her eyes widened slightly. The Knight blood was the oldest, purest, and strongest in that line. It was the reason they could see glimpses of the future.
“When their pregnancy was discovered, all hell broke loose. Ignatius had ordered us to remain neutral when it came to the couple, but when it became clear they would have a child, we took them into protective custody.”
“Why?”
“We feared the child would be gifted. We needed to make sure she was on our side, not theirs.”
“But?” Griffin’s tone told her there was something very ugly about to be said.
“They managed to escape when the baby was a few weeks old. The mother was weak from birth and the Knights were able to close in on the couple.” He wiped his hand down his face. “By the time we reached them, they’d already killed the mother and were in the process of torturing the Knight who had fathered the child. He didn’t survive the night.”
“And the baby?”
A faraway expression crossed his face. “Ignatius wanted her to have a chance at a normal life. Niko treated her with some concoction he’d cooked up in his lab to suppress the Seer blood within her. When it was safe, Ignatius had her adopted by a human couple so she would be raised away from the war, away from all the blood and madness.”
Avani looked back at the laptop screen. “You think this girl is her?”
He stared at the image on the screen. “She looks just like her mother, and the baby’s name was Ivy.” He sighed heavily. “Niko used some of Mad’s blood in the treatment he devised for the baby. What if that’s why she’s connected with him now?”
Avani didn’t have an answer for that one. “You need to find out if Ignatius or Niko kept in touch with her adoptive family. If this is her and she went missing on vacation, it wasn’t simple foul play, Griffin. You know it was them.”
“And Mad has probably walked right into a damn trap.” Growling with frustration, he gazed at the window and cursed softly before handing her his keys. “Go get your purse out of my truck and lock it up. We’re staying here tonight.”
“Here?” She glanced around Mad’s home. “Is it safe?”
“We don’t know how powerful this girl is, and if she’s under the control of the Knights, she could be mining Mad for information if he’s been caught. I won’t risk driving back to your place this close to sunset. We’d be out in the open. I have to know you’re well-protected.” His expression softened and he caressed her cheek. “Mad has an underground cell. It won’t be as comfortable as your place, but we’ll make do. Once I inform Stig and Ignatius of our plans, they’ll do their best to get here as quickly as possible to stand guard over us, just in case.”
Though not thrilled by the idea of roughing it in Mad’s underground bunker, she recognized that Griffin was trying to keep them both safe. Knowing how upset he was about Mad’s disappearance, she didn’t argue with him. Instead, Avani hurried out to Griffin’s truck to grab her purse and lock the doors. Back in the house, she found him lugging a twin-sized mattress downstairs. As if reading her mind, he explained, “I won’t have you sleeping on cold, hard cement. No one needs the guest room anyway.”
“Thank you.”
He stopped just long enough to peck her cheek. “See what you can find in the fridge for a quick dinner but don’t get your hopes up. Mad’s the kind of guy who only knows how to barbecue or make sandwiches.”
She watched him disappear into a hallway closet that had a false back before heading into the kitchen. The water rings on the countertop made her fingers itch, but the refrigerator was immaculately clean. Griffin hadn’t been joking about the food situation. There were stacks of frozen steaks, pork loin chops, and other heavy meat cuts in the freezer, and she’d found deli meat and other sandwich necessities in the fridge.
Her stomach growled with hunger as she fixed a stack of sandwiches for him and a smaller, normal-sized portion for herself. Those long sultry nights with Griffin were revving up her metabolism. She didn’t think
she’d eaten in a month what she’d devoured already in the last few days.
Wondering if that was a positive sign, Avani allowed her hand to drift to her belly. It seemed too much to hope that they’d managed to succeed already. There were still five nights including tonight in her mating phase. From her research, ovulation usually occurred around the fifth or sixth night.
“Are you all right?” Griffin filled up the doorway of the kitchen. Even in Mad’s home where care had been taken to make the rooms bigger and the doors taller, he seemed to dwarf everything.
“Perfectly all right,” she said with a smile. “Here.”
He took his plate and hers and placed them on the small kitchen table. Clasping her hand, he dragged her close and threaded his hands through her loose hair. After their impromptu tryst, she’d left it down for him. He teased his mouth across hers before letting his hand glide down her front. His hand curved along her flat stomach and he smiled. “You worry too much.”
“This is a big deal. Shouldn’t I be worried?”
“Avani,” he said her name so gently, “even if it doesn’t work this time, there’s always the next time.”
“And if that one fails?” She gnawed her lower lip. “It will be three years before I ovulate again.”
His sexy grin threw her off-kilter. “Then we’ll have three years of practice under our belts.”
Despite her fear of failing at conceiving, she couldn’t help but smile at him. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It’s not easy. But that doesn’t mean we have to stress ourselves out, Avani.” He nuzzled her neck before kissing her again. “We’re in this for the long haul. I have faith that it will happen when it’s the right time.”
Surrendering to his warm embrace, she let Griffin’s calm, practical outlook settle her mind. Safe in his strong arms, she knew there was nothing she couldn’t face with him in her corner.
*
Griff checked the house one last time before ducking into the closet and sliding into the hidden compartment there. Earlier, fitting the mattress down the narrow vertical chute had been a tight squeeze. The metal ladder was slippery under his hands and the wet, metallic scent made him want to sneeze. Getting Avani to go down the ladder hadn’t been easy. To call her reaction displeased was the understatement of the century.
He found her pacing the small space lit by harsh halogen lights. The cell was only twenty feet by twenty feet and lacked all comforts. The only modern conveniences were a toilet and sink in one corner. He caught her eyeing them with disdain.
“Where did this guy shop for his building supplies? A prison surplus store?”
He started to chuckle but then wondered if she was right. The stainless steel throne and sink looked awfully similar to the types installed in prison cells. “Hell, knowing Mad, anything is possible.”
She rubbed the back of her neck and made a strange hissing noise. His eyes widened at the animal-like sound. She glanced at him and licked her lips. Already her irises were that odd shade of yellow-green. “I need you to touch me. I’m finding it much harder to hold back tonight.”
Griff rushed to her. The sun hadn’t even fully set yet, and already she was displaying the more serpentlike characteristics of the Naga species. The erotic scent of her arousal swirled around him. Her skin burned beneath his hands. He suspected that she was beginning the hormonal surge to cause ovulation. Not wanting to get her hopes up or make her any more anxious, he kept that suspicion to himself.
“You smell like heaven.” He peppered light kisses along her cheek and jaw and the side of her neck. “I can’t wait to get you naked so I can feast on you.”
She shivered in his arms and rose up on tiptoes to press their lips together. He could spend an eternity like this, holding her in his arms and plundering her mouth. Carefully, he guided her down onto the makeshift bed. They tore at one another’s clothing until their naked bodies touched.
When Avani pushed on his shoulders, he got the message and rolled onto his back. In an instant, she was on top of him. Though he’d typically been the aggressor, tonight she embraced the more dominant role. He was more than happy to indulge her desire, and he groaned as she nibbled her way down his chest.
Kneeling between his legs, she grasped his cock in one hand and cupped his balls. Her small hands felt so damn good on him. She stroked up and down with just the right amount of pressure and speed while massaging his sac. When she wrapped her wet lips around his shaft, Griff growled and fisted the sheets in his hands. The urge to thrust up into her mouth nearly toppled him but he managed to muscle it into submission.
The hand curled around his erection accompanied the movements of her mouth. He was much too thick and long for her to take all of him, but she found a workaround by using her fingers and palm to stimulate him. Whispering her name like a prayer, he sifted his fingers through her hair and rose up on one elbow to watch her. He burned the image of her sucking his cock into his brain.
The suction of her hot, moist mouth pushed him too close to the edge, and he pulled away from her. That swollen pout called to him. He made sure to claim her with a sensual kiss, darting his tongue between her lips until she panted with need.
Desperate to get between her thighs, he turned her onto her back and shoved her legs wide apart. He descended upon that juicy pink berry of a clit and lavished it with oral attention. Honey dripped from her core and eased the penetration of his fingers. He thrust into her slowly and rubbed against the spot along her inner wall that made her toes curl.
Gasping, she clawed at his shoulders while he ate her pussy. He hummed hungrily against her clitoris and fluttered his tongue over the little nub. Settling into a steady rhythm, he licked circles around it until he felt her thighs tensing. Certain she was close, he sped up his flicking and worked his fingers in and out of her soaking channel a bit faster.
With a howl of delight, she came hard. He relished the feel of her going wild under his mouth. His cock throbbed and became hard as titanium as he imagined her pussy gripping his shaft the same way it now gripped his fingers.
Overwhelmed by the desire to hear her shrieking with ecstasy, he tore his mouth away from her delicious sex and roughly flipped Avani onto her belly. She cried out with surprise but quickly rose up on her knees. The sight of her sexy, wiggling ass enticed him like no other. He dropped ticklish kisses along her spine before gripping her hips and driving home with one punishing thrust.
“Griffin!” She shouted his name and pushed back against him. “Be rough with me,” she begged, her voice so husky with need. “Fuck me. Fuck me hard.”
In all their time together, she’d never been so brazen. Hearing such dirty words from her did wicked things to him. He gave her exactly what she wanted. Jackhammering her tight passage, he unleashed the side of him he’d kept hidden away from her and let her feel the full extent of his lust for her. “Take me,” he urged. “Take all of me, Vonny.”
She whimpered at his use of a nickname. It was the first time he’d spoken it aloud, but he’d been thinking of her as his Vonny for some time now.
“Griffin.” She groaned his name and reached back to scratch at his thigh. “Please. Please!”
“Touch your clit. Come for me.” He snapped his hips and pounded her even deeper and faster now. “Come for me, Vonny.”
She couldn’t deny him any request. Her hand slipped between her thighs. The vixen stretched her hand back far enough to run her fingers over his sac. He growled like a feral beast at the unexpected sensation of her soft hand moving over his balls. A second later, her fingers were gone. She rubbed her clit and chased another climax while he drove into her again and again.
Her shriek of pleasure nearly shattered his eardrums this time. He had to bite his lip and stare at the ceiling to keep from coming with her. She threatened his control, but he managed to hold his orgasm at bay for a little while longer.
She still trembled and panted for air when he slid out of her and gently rolled her onto her
back. Settling between her thighs, he sheathed himself with a slow, easy thrust. Her head tipped back and her lips parted on a rapturous sigh. He kissed her neck, running his lips over the spot where her pulse beat rapidly before pushing up onto his knees.
With a hand on her lower belly, he fucked her with long, leisurely strokes. He marveled at the sight of his paler skin against hers. Together like this, they made such a strikingly beautiful image. Like some luscious goddess, she gazed up at him with reddened lips and eyes the color of peridot. In that moment, he realized how much he’d come to love her.
Falling forward, he pinned her body beneath his and smothered her with kisses. She arched into him, pressing her breasts against his chest. The dusky peaks grazed his skin as their tongues danced. Cupping her face, he held her gaze as he made love to her. He wanted her to see the depth of his affection toward her.
As they chased the dizzying heights of pleasure together, their mouths met again. Cheek to cheek and hand in hand, they climaxed with such force. The rippling waves of her orgasmic contractions milked his seed.
Still awash in the euphoria of his climax, he jerked at the painful piercing sensation suddenly gripping his neck. A millisecond later, Griff realized Avani had bitten him. He didn’t dare move a muscle in fear of tearing his throat.
Immediately, he experienced a gut-wrenching burst of shame and guilt as he shared her horrified emotions. Her mouth yanked away from him and she turned her head, burying her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. Oh, God! I’m so sorry.”
Hissing with discomfort, he put a hand to his bleeding neck. The area had gone numb. A quiver of panic coursed through him. “Is your venom deadly to dragons?”
Sobbing now, she cried from behind her hands. “No.”
Comforted by the thought that he wasn’t about to die, Griff gently pried her hands from her face. She refused to meet his gaze until he carefully grasped her chin and forced her. The sight of two razor sharp fangs peeking out from her upper lip stunned him. His blood stained her pout but he pushed down the shock rolling through him so she wouldn’t feel it. Shame still radiated from her in such brutal waves of embarrassment.
