Sadie glanced up at her, nodded, then set to work ripping pieces of fabric and redoing the bandages. Her red blouse clung to her form. She was pretty for a woman with horns on her head.
"Once we get him to the cabin, I can do more." Sadie didn't wait for an acknowledgment. She took off her clothes, shoved them into the bag, and threw the bag at Bailey. She caught it and glared at the woman as she shifted into a horse.
"I suppose you want me to lift him up on you?"
Sadie neighed at her. Of course she did. Bailey's arms already protested having to lift Dante again, but she managed. Sadie clip clopped forward as Dante lay across her back. How many animals could they shift into? The horse still carried the horns. Did all shifters have that kind of defect? Bailey's groaned in her mind, not wanting to worry about it anymore. She wasn't sure what would happen, but despite her fatigue, she wouldn't be able to rest until she knew he was okay.
CHAPTER TEN
Dante groaned. A burning pain engulfed where the knife bit into his back and stomach. He rolled over, attempting to swallow the aching pain. His mouth was so dry. Blurry light invaded when he opened his eyes. A comforter covered him. It smelled like him. Dante blinked several times attempting to bring his setting into focus. His bedroom. Daylight. How had he gotten here? Where was Bailey? Did she make it? So, help him if Tony managed to get to her, he'd rip his head off. It didn't matter if Bailey saw his race as the enemy, she was his.
Voices filtered into the room, two females and one male. Dante's ears twitched as he moved the blanket. One of them sounded like Bailey. He held his stomach and sat up on the bed. When he looked down at the wound, there was just an angry red scar. A healer had been here, but that didn't fix the pain of the blade leaching his magic from his soul. At least the primal weapon hadn’t been in him long, or he’d have no magic left. He would feel the ache for the rest of his immortal life. A normal human weapon would have left a mark, but not pain. The primal blade wasn't a normal weapon. It was forged to keep his race under control, to keep those who turned primal from hurting people or other Khimairans. What would the Bellers do now that their blade had his alpha blood mixed with magic on it? He was different from the others. He was the head...the lion. What would his blood do for the Bellers? Dante slid the thought from his mind. He’d worry about it if it came down to it.
Loose sweats covered his lower half. He turned his head to the door at the sound of Bailey laughing. He could pick her voice up anywhere. He instantly went hard, his beast side roared in his head, wanting to make her his. The Leo design on his chest, the brand of the zodiac glyph, pulsed.
Baseball. He needed to concentrate on anything but her. He mentally shoved ice over his lust and took a few deep breaths. He imagined the ugliest human he'd ever seen and held the picture in his mind until he could comfortably stand. He had no intention of heading downstairs in loose pants. He removed the sweats and grabbed a pair of jeans from the dresser beside the door. He growled slipping one leg in and then the other. At least if he hardened he could control where his stiff went rather than just spring forward in front of everyone.
Dante pulled the bedroom door open and slowly made his way across the hall stomping down the stairs. The floor groaned under his weight and the people talking hushed. There was a male in his house with his mate. His inner beast bared sharp, pointed teeth in his head.
"Dante?" the healer, Sadie, asked. Her slender frame came into view from around the corner. She was sensitive about her horns in human form so he was careful not to notice them. Her birth defect was a sore spot. Those horns followed her no matter what she shifted into. Dante pushed down his anger, trying to leash his monster inside. "The Maiden is here."
As Sadie said the words, Riva came around the living room corner at his left to stand beside Sadie at the bottom of the stairs. Her all white attire made her stand out, not that her long black hair and grey eyes didn't already. Rumor had it she always wore white, even her animal forms were white in fur, hence her maiden nickname.
"Riva." Dante attempted a smile.
"Our area in Wyoming needs your help. Bellers are crawling after our portal entrance, they've taken our portal guardian hostage. We need a healer and maybe one other to join us, someone capable and far from going primal. I came through the portal to you as soon as I could." Her eyes scanned Dante's form as if she hadn't expected her king to be harmed.
"Sadie will go back with you and you can pick any other you need too." Sadie's eyes nearly bulged. "When do you need them to go?"
"As soon as possible. If you don't mind I have a friend who moved up here, I'll see if he can go back with me. You coming Sadie?" Riva rose an eyebrow, as if challenger her to say no. Dante couldn't fathom what had transpired between the two women already.
Sadie glared. "I'll meet you later, I have a king to be sure is attended to first." Sadie sounded as if every word was clipped.
"Suit yourself, I've got your number and can see myself out." She glanced at Dante and bowed her head slightly, more a sign of respect than anything.
Dante grunted and walked past the women into the kitchen. His gaze scanned for Bailey. She sat on a tall stool at the center island. He suppressed a groan at the mere sight of her. Her black ringlets caressed bare shoulders, which the little dragon she’d made come to life snuggled into. His fingers itched to wrap the locks around his hands and pull her head back, arching her body. The purple tank top hugged her breasts, conforming so well he could make out the outline of her bra. And damn the cleavage. When he finally moved up to look into her eyes, he swallowed the need, trying to drown it with anything else. A blush had dusted Bailey's high cheekbones and the darkened green of her eyes nearly did him in. He wanted to see that look below him. Dante blatantly stared her down until she looked away. He wanted her to know he desired her. Hoped she could feel his need coming off him.
She hadn't killed him when she could have. Hell, Bailey might have left him for dead, so somewhere in her heart, or maybe her head, she recognized he wasn't the enemy. "Thank you for coming back for me, Bailey." He could use this to his advantage to pull her completely to the Khimairan side. She would help him rule his people and for all his worth, he wanted her to love them as he did.
Bailey cleared her throat. "Yeah well, leaving people behind isn't my thing." She stared at the counter.
Sadie walked around to stand beside the island. She glanced from Dante to Bailey and back. "I assume you are healing well? Want to tell us what the hell happened." Sadie's gaze went to his chest and flicked back up. A smirk graced her face. Anyone who saw the invoked Leo zodiac glyph would know it was given by the gods, a star reborn inside him, showing he had found his mate. Dante considered he might have left his shirt off on purpose, to display it, especially with the other male in the house.
“How long have I been down?” Dante asked, noting last he knew it had been night until he woke up in his room.
“A day. We’ve had breakfast even.” Sadie smiled.
"I for one," Trevon walked into the kitchen from the living room, "would like to know why you didn't call for back up. You too good for me now?" Trevon, Dante's oldest friend, licked something off the blade of his knife. He had his worn cowboy hat tilted up. Why wasn't he able to smell him in the house? He should have smelled all of them. Had the primal blade soured some part of him when Tony stuck it in during their fight?
Dante should have known he'd show up. Trevon always looked for a fight. By the glint in his bright blue eyes and the way his muscles bulged, Trevon wanted to go off hunting the Bellers. Dante couldn't let that happen. Trevon was close to turning. He could feel it coming off him. A gentle vibration, as if he'd barely contained his dragon form long enough to be indoors and speaking. Though, from his nonchalant look, most Khimairans and humans would think he didn't have a care in the world.
"There wasn't time, plus with the portal down, how'd you expect to get to me?"
"Where there's a will, there's a way as the humans say." Trevon leaned again
st the wall, putting one cowboy boot up against it. He looked Dante straight in the eyes as if challenging him to say something about his boot being on the wall. Dante let it go though, not because it didn't bother him, but because it would cause Trevon to go off. Calm Trevon was a good Trevon and, ruler of the Khimairans or not, Dante didn't feel like having his house trashed. It was easier to let it go, be the bigger beast so to speak. Instead, Dante raised an eyebrow and frowned at his friend.
"All right, pups." Sadie interrupted their stare down. "Get along now. I'd like to know how a human managed to get to you."
"The primal blade and dark ritual magic. Tony reeked of it. I'm not sure there's much human left in him." Dante glanced over to Sadie. He leaned his palms into the counter top. "I'd also like to know how he knew anything about Nadia and the shop, as he all but admitted he killed her."
"Wait, that thing was human?" Bailey asked. Her gaze shot up.
Did she have to speak so alluringly? He growled before catching himself. His lion paced back and forth inside him, anxious to be free, lusting for his mate, and angry another male was in his presence with his mate unclaimed friend or not didn't matter to his beast. All three of them snapped their heads up to Dante. Trevon moved his foot off the wall.
"He was at one point in time." Dante locked his gaze on Bailey's. By the gods, she was beautiful with her eyes wide, innocent of how all of this worked. A burning need surged forward again. It would continually get worse and worse, until he either lost it, or was able to take her...preferably from behind. The image of Bailey beneath him on the counter with her pants down to her ankles made him hard. He was thankful a counter stood between them.
"Where's the blade now?" Sadie asked breaking the silence.
"I think they still have it. And my blood mixed with alpha magic on the steel." Dante ripped his gaze from Bailey to see Sadie. Her face blanched. "I'm pretty sure whatever they do with it won't be good." They had never gotten close enough to get him with the knife, but that was before he had a mate to protect. He wouldn't feel bad about taking a knife to the gut so she could get away. Even if it hurt his soul.
"That explains why I felt the tear in your soul." Sadie brought a hand to her neck and rubbed along the front. "It's damaged you. You will have side effects. I can’t be sure what exactly, maybe some loss in sensory skills, you were lucky they didn’t take very much of your magic or soul. It’s possible it might not be permanent effects, though. We will just have to wait and see." She spoke matter of fact, like any doctor might in the human cities.
His sense of smell had been impacted, but he wasn't going to reveal that weakness. He still smelled things like the coffee on the counter, but it was dulled...probably more human.
"With your girl here not taught in our ways, it's a wonder either of you made it out alive. She really Nadia's niece? I mean sure she looks like her, but she isn't as attuned as our Nadia," Trevon said.
"I am not his girl." Bailey turned to Trevon. Her ponytail whipped around with her movements. The dragon fluttered and repositioned on her shoulder blowing tendrils of smoke out of its snout. Her entire body had tensed and those lean muscles of hers taunted him. He could almost feel her legs being wrapped around him. His pants restricted him to an almost painful amount.
"Trevon, don't you have better things to do than sit here and cause a fight?" Dante sighed. He needed to keep control.
"No." Trevon folded his knife and stuck it along his belt.
Bailey stood, pulled her ponytail tight, and stalked up to Trevon. Jealousy lashed out in Dante, she was showing him attention...facing Trevon. And while he was also proud she would be brave enough to face another Khimairan despite her qualms about them, he was enraged she was within touching distance of another male.
Trevon towered over her, but she didn't seem to care. "Let me ease your fears there, buddy. I may not have been around my aunt much, but I learn quick, and you weren't the one who saved Dante's ass. I dragged him at dead weight through the entire store, hauling his naked ass over my shoulders and down the stairs. You can show me a bit of respect for that if nothing else." Bailey poked him in the chest.
She'd carried him at dead weight? If he had taken a drink, he would have spit it out in shock. She had more in her than he thought. The look on Trevon's face told Dante he felt the same. She was one of the most unexpected people he'd come across. By the gods, it turned him on. There was no way he'd let her go.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Bailey glared at Trevon. Sadie had called him to help with Dante yesterday, though for the life of her, she didn't understand why. The man was a menace. Rude even. Sadie at least understood what Bailey had done and only Dante knew what she truly left in that shop. Perhaps Khimairans were not her enemy, but this guy racked up the points to being one.
Trevon's hands went up in surrender. "At least you have some fire and can hold your own. Nadia had that too." He smirked. Bailey wanted to slap it off his face.
"Maybe we should head out." Sadie pulled at Trevon, removing him from Bailey's direct finger poking. She tugged him harder with a fake smile. "Bailey, we should hang out, I wasn't great friends with Nadia, but that’s my fault not hers." She yanked Trevon passed the island in what looked like an attempt to get him to leave with her.
"All right, female. I can walk myself out. He looked back at Bailey and tipped his hat. "Nice to meet you, darlin'."
Bailey rose a brow. "Likewise." She crossed her arms over her chest. As the front door shut, leaving her alone in the house with Dante, Bailey felt a warmth at her back. She gulped. Dante was right behind her. When he'd sauntered in as if nothing happened in those damn tight jeans and no shirt, heat flooded her. Just looking into the man's golden gaze made her ache for him. She shouldn't. She knew it. But the way he moved, the way he spoke, her insides turned to mush even if she didn't want them to. Damn her betraying body. How dare it? Bailey tried to hold onto the anger even as Dante inched a little closer.
She felt the hot whisper before she heard Dante.
"Did you really carry me naked on your back?" His words were so low, so hot along her skin. Heat pooled between her legs. Damn it, she didn't react like this to guys! Anger. She needed to hold on to anger in order to stay sane near him.
Bailey moved forward, walking around the island. Her dragon flew off her shoulder and settled on the counter. She had to keep something between them. Once she felt sure enough to turn, she did. But he was there, and her hands met his hard form. Dante growled, or purred, or purr-growled she wasn't sure but it was so sexy. The sound nearly made her moan. What the hell was he doing to her? Despite her brain telling her to back away, Bailey didn't. Instead, she stared at his chest. The light dusting of hair intrigued her and the mark...the strange yet familiar brand on him took all of her attention. Her fingertips moved. She watched them, but couldn't seem to stop herself. She traced the circle slowly and then the tail.
Dante shivered beneath her touch. He grabbed the hand tracing the mark, and her gaze darted up to his. She nearly melted. He looked at her as if she were something to be devoured. His golden gaze dark, hooded, needy. Heat came off him in waves. His hand was hot on hers. He kept a firm grip, pushing her palm all the way down on his mark. He closed his eyes and groaned as if he gained pleasure off just that place being touched. Bailey didn't allow herself to stop, to think. When his molten gaze fell upon her again, she was lost to him. It didn't matter what he was. She had saved him in the shop for more than she kept telling everyone. In this moment...she wanted him, and somewhere inside she'd known she could be with him, he'd given himself up for her and while Bailey wanted to keep her walls up, he managed to tear them down in a single moment. Everything she was taught was wrong about his race.
She was shocked when his lips found hers. Hot. Soft. Encouraging. She should have pushed him away, but she couldn't. She wanted this; she had been seeking this kind of touch. Not a single man before him evoked this kind of reaction from her. Her entire body lit up for him. She was sensitive
everywhere. Her lips parted and his tongue slipped between them, exploring, diving, deepening their connection with each pass. She clung to him. Wanting. Needing. Hoping. Everything scrambled in her head. Reality fell away until it was him and her, spinning in desire.
He broke the kiss and nipped down her neck. His fist wrapped in her hair and pulled her back, exposing her throat and it was the most seductive, hot thing she'd ever allowed. She was vulnerable to him. He was a beast inside, which made him even more alluring to her. God, she wanted him. Dante grabbed her by the waist and lifted her to the counter, still exposing her neck. She naturally wrapped her legs around him and drew him into her. The friction from their clothes adding fire to her want. She felt wanton, wild with him. Bailey rocked her hips into him, and could feel him hard between her legs. She ached to have him deep within her. His eyes were locked on her arched back form. He wanted her, she could see it as his jaw clenched as he thrust toward her. His strong presence, dominate and wild, spoke to her. She wanted to be his. God, how she wanted him. What if she let go? Didn't worry about what the future might hold? What if she let him in?
"You didn't answer me." His voice had dropped an octave and if it was hot before, it dripped desire now. He let go of her hair and leaned over, pressing her into the counter with his bare chest.
"What was the question?" Bailey tried to remember but his heat kept her mind in a daze.
"Did you really carry me out of the shop and to my home?" His eyes bored into her. Why did he need to know so badly?
"Yes." Bailey licked her lips and rocked into him again, wanting that friction to continue.
His lips were mere centimeters away from hers. His breath hot as he spoke. "Let me properly thank you."
Untamed: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Leo (Dark Khimairans Book 1) Page 6
