Chase_The Sons of Crosby

by Kathi S. Barton

  “She needs us.” Sliver told him that was right. “No, she doesn’t need us to make her safe, but she needs us to approve of her. To let her know that she’s wanted here. And not just for her magic and sword.”

  “You think?” He said he was sure of it. “Well, then, I think that would be up to you in making her feel better, don’t you?”

  “I might need your help in this.” The little dragon bowed and said he was there for him. “All right. Can you get into my house? I mean, it’s locked up pretty tightly against the weather and such.”

  “You leave it to me, my lord. I can do whatever you need.” Chase told him every trick and every romantic thing he could think of. Then he stopped and looked at Emerald again. “You’ve changed your mind?”

  “Yes. I have. I want you to go to where she’s been living and bring her things to my house. Our house, I mean, to make it more her home than it is now. Whatever you think she needs to be there, I want you to find it for me.” Sliver was nodding, his face full of the smile he had. “And what I really need for you to do for her is make sure that, at all costs, you tell me when I have screwed up or I need to do something for her. I want her happy. I want her to be the happiest being in the world.”

  “Tall order, sir, very tall indeed. But it will be my pleasure to do this. Not just for you, but for her as well. Yes, it will be our pleasure.” Sliver paused. “Her house here in town, it’s gone, along with a great many others since those men came for her. She blew it up, just so they’d not have any clues as to what she might be. I know she’s rebuilding for the people that lived in the place with her, so they’ll have homes nicer than before. But I have an idea where her life is, the things you were talking about, and I’ll go there. This will be wonderful, sir. Very nice indeed.”

  When Sliver flew away, Chase thought about what he’d said. Our pleasure? Then he shrugged. Whatever it took, he was for it.

  Chapter 3

  Walking around the kitchen, Emerald marveled at the things in the large room. There was everything a person could use to cook a large meal, and not have to use the same piece of equipment twice. But the large vases of flowers made her happiest. Emerald’s favorite stem was the orchid.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I had Sliver bring your things here. He said that they had fun doing this for you.” She nodded as she touched her fingers to the light blue of the flower. “I had no idea there were so many different colors of orchids, to tell the truth. He told me that it would be our pleasure to help me, but I had no idea that he would enlist the help of so many. But those…I think those flowers are the prettiest.”

  “Thank you. And yes, there are a great many colors. Millions, I would imagine. They’re beautiful.” Chase nodded and stayed back while she looked around. The dining room, he called it, wasn’t finished; he was having a new floor put in, as well as windows that were stronger. “Did you know that the faeries could come in and finish this in a day? They’d enjoy doing it too. This time of year there isn’t as much for them to do until the flowers begin to bud.”

  “I’ll have to talk to Kilian then. My family plants fields of flowers for them every spring to help them out. It has a nice benefit for us as well. My brother Elliot, he has a nice shop in town that he has plants and such in. I think a few of them help out my other brother, Sean, when he’s cooking, they help out with the fresh vegetables too.” Nodding, she looked out the large picture window that was in the dining room they’d entered, and which had a view of the snow-covered mountain behind the house. “Do you like this room? I wanted to put a fireplace in here, but Dad, he said it might take up too much room.”

  “You could open the doors to the deck area, if you had some doors put in. And bring the warmth in from there. Even put in a fire pit; I’ve seen them around homes. A lot of people use the outdoors like that as another room. I think that’s what I’d do. Have a room out of doors completely devoted to me resting.” He said he’d do that, and Emerald turned to him. “But I love this room. It’s warm with love and friendship. You have your family here, don’t you? I mean, even though you think the room too small.”

  “Yes. We meet once a week at one of the houses we have. Dad, he lives in a condo…he doesn’t care much for yard work and such. I think at one time he did that…landscaping.” She said she had as well. “Me too. I think we’ve done just about everything at some point.”

  “Yes, boredom; it’s hard to overcome if you sit around thinking of how much longer you’re going to be living.” She moved out of the dining room and into the large hallway. From that point, she could see into the living room and the large fireplace there. “You’ve found the armor that I wore.”

  The pieces had been forged of stone. It was heavy to wear, but very strong. It could take a direct hit from a sword or a spear and not touch her skin. However, if she fell, it took too long for her to get upright, and the enemy would be upon her.

  “Sliver said he’d forgotten about it. It took a few of them to bring it in. I think it’s a wonderful piece of history.” She touched it, remembering every nick and mar in it. Not that there were that many, but those there, they were forged in her memory. “You must have been a sight in this thing. Or the other armor that they found too. I especially like the one that is from the medieval times.”

  They were in the living room now. Her swords—and there were quite a few of them—were hung over the fireplace. This place of honor, out where they could be seen, was very touching to her. There were other things on the mantel too. A helmet that had taken a hard blow to her head. A single legging, the other long lost on the battle field. There was a group of knives, most of which had been hand forged by her.

  The couch had a throw on it, made of the fur of an animal she’d felled. It was warm when she threw it over herself, and she had good memories, as well as bad ones, about its usage. Moving by it, she saw her boots, leather ones that had been made from bear skin, sitting next to a pair of homemade snow shoes. A spear that had beads hanging from the handle stood next to the fireplace. Touching those, she knew where each stone had come from, the person who had given it to her, and the reason why. She turned to Chase when the memories became too much for her.

  “I don’t understand why you’ve brought these to your home.” He sat down on the long couch and asked her to have a seat. She moved to the chair across from him. “These things, they don’t look like you. They’re violent, and some of them have been used for wars.”

  “I want them here because they’re a part of your life…along with mine. This home is ours now. The spear that you see there is yours, but on the other side, mine is there as well. I hadn’t thought of my swords to be hung with yours until I saw the ones there that belonged to you. I, too, have fought in many wars; some of them we won, most we did not. But they were fought with passion, and sometimes love.” She nodded and told him the same for her. “I want this house to be a reflection of the two of us. But if you don’t like it, or wish to have these things put away, then—”

  “No, I love them here. Some of them, these things, I’ve not seen or thought of for a great many years. They, like yours, hold good memories as well as bad.” He nodded and asked her if she wanted to see the rest of the house and the things that had been brought. “Not now. What I’d like to do is touch you, and have you touch me. The kiss you gave me this morn, it made me want more from you.”

  When she started to stand, he told her to please stay there. As he made his way to her on his hands and knees, he spoke of the things that he wanted to do to her. With her as well. Her body warmed for him, and when he touched his hands to her legs, she moaned.

  “When you do that, all I can think about is stripping you down and touching you with my tongue. My teeth.” Nodding, she begged him to do it. “I think I’d like to take my time with you, this first time. Have you soft as putty in my hands.”

  “I’m nearly there now.” He laughed, but it wasn’t a making fun of her type…more sexy and romantic. “I know nothing about
sex with mates. I’m sure that it’s different than just to fill a need.”

  “I should hope so too. The thought of taking you, just tossing you to the floor and having my way with you, sounds so wonderful, but there is more to this than that. I want to make you mine in the worst kind of way.”

  She nodded at him as he pulled her panties off. The skirt she had on disappeared as well. Her lower half was naked, but she wasn’t cold. On the contrary, she was burning up.

  Using his teeth, he took the buttons off her blouse. She was weak with need for him by the time he had it and her bra off. Breathing hard, she cried out when he licked her nipple, just the tip, then blew his warm breath over her.

  “You’re very responsive. I think you’re going to love this.” The thought of begging him to hurry entered her mind, but she knew he’d not. Besides, she didn’t think she had the ability to speak right now. When he leaned his head to her pussy after pulling her to the edge of her seat, she moaned again. “I want to taste you. When you come, I’m going to drink deeply of you, and bite you as well.”

  “Yes, please.” Emerald was dizzy from panting so hard. His breath at her nether lips was warmer than she was. His hands rubbing her thighs, her calves, and ankles were making her tenser rather than not. As soon as his tongue touched her clit, suckling it into his mouth, Emerald screamed out her release and begged for more.

  Emerald came so many times by his mouth and his hands that she was weak with it. Her body was soft and warm one moment from a release, and then tight as a drum when he brought her back to the brink of coming again. When she’d had more than she thought a woman could survive, she pulled his head up from her and he smiled.

  “I need you.” He nodded and was suddenly naked. Magic; she knew that he had a great deal of it, but this was perfect. “I’d like to taste you as you did me, Chase. Take you into my mouth and have you come that way.”

  “No, not this time. If you so much as touch me, I’m done. I hurt badly enough now that I think I might explode.” She laughed freely, and her humor at his pain felt good. “You think this is funny, love? Well, let me tell you something. The next time we do this, I’m not going to allow you to come until you’re in this much pain.”

  Laughing with him, she moved off the chair and to the floor where he was. As he sat back, his back at the couch, she crawled up his body and licked his neck, his mouth, and his throat again.

  “Your hands are so rough that I think you have been using them as a stone. And your skin on your chest, it’s hard and flawless.” He told her that he helped at times with some construction crews, and that was why his hands were so hard. The lick to his thigh had him pull her up for a kiss. “You taste of me, Chase. I love that.”

  He kissed her again, deeper this time, his tongue battling with hers in their mouths. When he pulled her forward, not releasing her mouth, she moaned when she felt his cock at her pussy.

  “Slide over me, Emerald, please. I want to watch you riding me.” She did as he asked, and having him fill her so nicely had her coming again. “That’s it, baby, ride me until you come for me. Then I’m going to bite you when you do. I need you.”

  Excitement raced over her body. As soon as she started to ride him, her body a part of his, she bared her neck to him. When he bit her, sinking his fangs deep into her throat, she knew that she’d come hard and was looking forward to it. But she also knew that she needed to taste him too, so that they’d be together forever.

  As soon as her climax took her, screaming out her release with his name, his teeth sank into her flesh and she came again. This time she felt the connection, the bond between them. And when he gave her his wrist, Emerald bit down on it hard enough to feel the bone crack. But the coppery taste of his blood had her coming again. And then again.

  It was too much for her body. Her heart stopped for several beats, as if she’d died to become his. But it mattered little to her if she never breathed again. In this moment, Emerald took him to her heart, where he would remain forever. She was his, he was hers.

  Tiny pinpoints of lights were behind her eyelids. Her body seemed to have come alive. It was as if she had stuck herself, her entire being, into a live wire. That was it, she thought as she tightened again for him. Christ, he would kill her at this rate.

  Emerald let the darkness swallow her up. There might have been a time when she could have fought it off before the third or fourth time she came, but it was too much, her body was spent. And she had fallen in love with her mate.

  ~~~

  “Department of Homeland Security, Agent James Nash speaking.” Jamie tried to find the file that he’d left on his desk last night before leaving for the day. A few seconds of quiet made him pause in his search. “Hello?”

  “Damn it, Nash. Where the fuck is that girl? Have you any more information on her whereabouts than you did before?” Jamie straightened his tie and sat up in his chair. “Well? You’ve had twenty-three months and nothing. Maybe I need to find myself someone else to find her.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to tell him to do it. To find someone else to find the woman. He would have, too, but for the fact that he was going to be a father soon, and the income was helping them make the nursery safe. Jamie counted to ten, then let out a long breath before speaking.

  “I’ve located her in Ohio. She’s still there as far as we can surmise.” He hated his boss. Agent Harold Bates had probably been in the agency since it was formed, he thought. Maybe the building had been built around the nasty old man. “She’s been injured. One of my men shot her.”

  And that had pissed him off. Jamie had told them, several times before chasing her, that they were not to harm her. Not to shoot unless she shot at them first. The fucking ass had told him he’d been under orders from Bates to bring her in at all costs. That was why Jamie thought about finding her alone from now on. To talk, not kill or harm.

  “Injured, but not in our hands. What good does it do for you to tell me that when you don’t have her here and answering questions for me? And with the simple fact that she’s been around for decades, hurting her means jack shit to me.” Jamie wanted to just say fuck you and hang up on the man. “You still there, you moron? Christ, you are one of the worst agents that has ever come across my desk. It’s a wonder that you ended up on my team. I usually recruit the best of the best. I bet you graduated at the end of the line, didn’t you?”

  When the line went dead, he sat there thinking about all the things he could have said to his boss. Fuck off. I’m working as hard as I can. Blow me. And his personal favorite, die, mother fucker. He supposed that the reason that he kept all these comments to himself was because he really liked his job. And contrary to Bate’s belief, he did a good job. Not to mention, Jamie had graduated number one in his class, both at the academy as well as college and high school. Picking up the picture that had started this, he looked at the beautiful woman.

  “Where are you?” He asked her that daily, sometimes more than once a day. But she, like with all the photos he had of her, never answered. This woman had more names than all of the criminals he’d put away. “Just how old are you? Are you immortal, as he thinks you are? Or are you just a very good copy of a woman in your past?”

  That was the million-dollar question. And to his way of thinking, the only thing she’d done wrong in all her life was to come across the desk of his boss. She’d allowed someone to not just take her picture, but had had it in the newspaper a long time ago, back when photography was new, and pictures were in black and white. The one that he had a copy of, one that he rarely looked at, was grainy and dark. The article had been about women’s rights, or some other newsworthy thing.

  With the new facial recognition, her face had popped up a lot over the last few years. To him, there wasn’t any way that this was the same woman from the black and whites he had. But the recent pictures were not just of her, though some of them were close lookalikes, but he knew it was no way in hell the same woman.

  Her name,
the one he had on her file, was Emma Green. It was, he thought, his favorite name she had used. He might have changed his too, the way people kept chasing her. It would be hard to have any sort of life with Homeland after you. By now he was sure that she’d changed it again…she might be going by something similar, but would still be hard to find.

  He knew that her last known address had been in Ohio. Jamie couldn’t believe how she had not only slipped by them, but she had blown up the entire building she’d been living in as well. And not one person had been injured that had lived there. His cars had been, but nothing more than a few scratches. And all the evidence that they might have found in the place had gone up with it. Which, he supposed, was her point. To leave no traces. And she was really good at that as well.

  The file that he had on her was thick with pictures and information on her daily habits, which weren’t all that predictable. There was a list of people that she associated with, two or three at each place that she had lived. Fat lot of good it had done them to find the names. None of them would talk about her, nor would they tell them where she might have gone when she left them.

  No barriers on language either. She spoke to whoever she needed to, and left them with enough goodwill that they never had much to say about her when asked. It was like she was a fart in the wind, as his mom used to say.

  He looked at the picture again. There wasn’t any way to tell if it was her or a relative that looked just like her. Also, and this was what confused him more than anything, what did it matter if it was her or not?

  As far as he could tell, she’d never been arrested. Never had any kind of accident or even a ticket, as Green or any of the other names that she’d used over the last few months. She had jobs where she lived and paid her bills on time, what little she had. Since she’d told the people she associated with that she was basically on the run from someone, there were no hard feelings when she left in a hurry. But his boss had a burr up his ass about this woman, and he wanted her found. In fact, it was something that he’d been working on for the last two years, and nothing else.