Raiden: House of Storms: Dragon Guardians Book 7

by Grove, Scarlett

  "I didn’t know," he said in a low voice.

  "It's just something I'll have to get through."

  "I'm here if you need anything,” he said, his voice gentle as he gazed at her through his thick eyelashes. In that moment, her heart melted, and she wanted to throw herself into his arms. He was so beautiful, thoughtful, and strong. He had so much integrity and such a sense of duty to a race of creatures that was not even his own. Flora's heart burst so violently it hurt.

  She took a deep, shuddering breath and sighed. "Thank you, Raiden. You're a true friend."

  "You've been a friend to me too. I'll never forget how you've been there for me. You believed me even when no one else did. I would never jeopardize our friendship. I want you to know that nothing could be more valuable than that."

  "I feel the same," she said breathlessly.

  "Good.” His voice was low and full of gravel. He stopped in the door, turning back to her. "If things could be more… if it wouldn't hurt both of us…"

  "What?" She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she wanted to hear him say it.

  "It's nothing.” He gripped the bottle of protein shake. "Forget I said anything.”

  "Wait.” But it was too late. He had already disappeared out the kitchen door.

  Chapter 8

  Raiden met Yuki, Akash, Ragnar, and Hanish on the back lawn behind the mansion. They were going to have their flight-formation practice that day in preparation for the coming battle against the vampires. He looked at his crew and nodded before leaping into the air in his dragon form. The others followed suit behind him. Forming a pattern in the sky, they flew under the cloak of invisibility to prevent being seen by humans on the ground. They could sense each other through their mental link and the imagery that played across the screen of their eyes when they activated it.

  "Form H formation," Hanish said.

  The dragons swooped into a new pattern. "H feet attack," Hanish ordered. The two bottom parts of the H legs swooped down toward the ground.

  "A formation," Hanish ordered, and the dragons on the ground flipped back into the air and formed into another pattern.

  "Spear-tip attack," Hanish said, and the top point of the A formation swooped down to attack.

  After they'd gone through these maneuvers for several hours, their formations and responses were honed and coordinated. Hanish ordered them to break for lunch, and they returned to the mansion, landing on the back lawn and transforming into their human forms. The guys walked into the kitchen, sweaty from their practice. They found JoJo, Zephyr, and Flora already eating turkey sandwiches at the table.

  Raiden wiped his forehead with a towel by the door, and his eyes swept over Flora's face. She was wearing a soft pink cashmere sweater that hugged her curves, with a neck that dipped just low enough for him to see the rise of her breasts underneath. He blinked and gritted his teeth, looking away.

  "How was your formation practice?" JoJo asked, standing from the table to kiss Hanish on the cheek. "Oh, you're sweaty." She wiped his face with a handkerchief from her pocket.

  "It went well. It was a good idea. We haven't had formation practice since awakening. After a million years in stasis, we were all getting a bit rusty."

  "Speak for yourself," Raiden said.

  "I agree with Hanish," Ragnar said, rolling his shoulders. "We haven't been practicing enough."

  "You've all been distracted by your mates and your debates." Raiden gave Akash a sideways glance.

  "Now that we know what the vampires are capable of, we will take this more seriously. We have people to protect.

  "Speaking of people to protect," Yuki said, sliding his finger over his cell phone, "I'm checking in on Krista." He connected with her over FaceTime. She smiled, her face glowing and bright as she greeted him.

  "How are you? Is everything okay?" Yuki asked.

  "I'm just finishing up my work here at the office," Krista said. "I'll be heading home in a few minutes."

  "We'll be back in half an hour," Yuki said.

  "Don't rush back on my account. I'll be just fine. Remember, I have mated Dragon Soul blood. Vampires can't bite me without dying."

  "But the baby… you're so close."

  "You're right. I'll wait for you at the office."

  "We'll be there soon." Yuki put his cell phone back in his pocket. "We should go," he said to the others.

  "Are you concerned that the vampires might try to kidnap Krista's baby?" Hanish asked Yuki, glancing at JoJo.

  "I wouldn't put anything past them. We need to be careful," Akash said.

  "We all need to be careful," Hanish agreed. "We'll see you again tomorrow for training. Bring Krista with you this time so we can keep an eye on her here. Maybe you should think about moving in with us as she gets closer to term."

  "I don't know how Krista would feel about that," Akash said.

  "Our mate has a mind of her own," Yuki said, "and she has work, and her doctor is back in the city."

  "I'm sure if you talked to her, she would see the wisdom in coming to the mansion for protection," Hanish said.

  "We need to go,” Ragnar said.

  Ragnar, Yuki, and Akash quickly left. Hanish and JoJo went to put Tor down for a nap, and Zephyr returned to the basement. Raiden and Flora were left in the kitchen alone together. As she picked at a plate of carrots, he ate a sandwich and potato chips.

  "How is the research going?" he asked.

  "We received a shipment of blood samples this morning, and we're separating the human blood from Dragon Soul blood. It does make a difference in the effect of our vaccine attempts."

  "Should you develop a different vaccine for Dragon Souls than for humans?" Raiden asked.

  "At this point, it seems unnecessary. The failed attempts fail equally in humans and Dragon Souls alike."

  "I'm sorry things aren't going better for you and your work."

  "This isn't about me. This is about the entire planet."

  "I understand,” he said sagely and took another bite of turkey sandwich.

  "We'll have a breakthrough soon," she said. "I'm off to the lab.” She stood from the table.

  He watched her as she rinsed her plate in the sink and put it in the drying rack. "I'll be returning to the gym."

  They left the kitchen together and awkwardly walked out the door at the same time. She bumped into him in the hallway, and he felt a flash of desire surge down his spine. He turned to her, his heart pounding and his breath catching in his throat.

  "Flora," he said, his words choking up.

  "What?"

  "I just…"

  "What is it?" she asked again.

  He hesitated.

  "Tell me what you're thinking.”

  He couldn't verbally express what was inside him. Too many emotions were swirling around. Instead, he swept her into his arms, pulling her tight against him.

  She gasped as her body pressed into his. "Raiden," she murmured, tilting her head back to look up at him.

  Without any more hesitation, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deep and hard. Everything else disappeared. His fears about the vampires, his duty to humanity, and the knowledge that he could never truly love her because she was not his fated mate—it all melted away.

  She was the only woman in the world and the only one who mattered. Fated mates be damned. His inner dragon remained as silent as ever, but Raiden no longer cared. All he wanted was Flora—to share that moment of pleasure with her and to feel her soft, curvy body in his arms.

  His tongue slipped between her lips, exploring the depths of her and the sweet flavor of her breath. He could taste hot chocolate on her tongue, and it was everything he had ever imagined she would taste like—rich and sweet, like Flora.

  He pulled her into a side room and locked the door behind him. He pressed her against the wall, exploring her curves and the soft, supple flesh of her breasts with his hands. He grew hard, his kiss more insistent. He wanted her so badly. He pulled her closer, unab
le to let her go and unable to think straight or care about the repercussions of his actions. And she kissed him back, ravenous, passionate, yearning, and wild, as if she was just as hungry and desperate for him as he was for her.

  "Flora.”

  "Yes, Raiden, yes."

  "I want you so much."

  He pressed his erection to her stomach, and she slid her tongue into his mouth, absorbing him, claiming him. His mind reeled. He didn't want to stop. He turned her around to press her stomach against the wall and slipped his hand into her pants, feeling the soft folds of her body under his fingertips. She groaned, her wet heat insistent as she tilted her hips to give him better access. He found her swollen pleasure bud—the part of a human woman that felt the most intensity of desire—and he twirled his finger over it, eliciting little pants and moans from Flora's throat. He passed his hand under her shirt, grasping her breast as he rolled her nipple between his fingers.

  Raiden pressed his erection against her behind, sliding up and down in the cleft of her ass. He felt her quiver under his touch as her desire built to a breaking point. She bit his finger as he slid it into her mouth. Her body clenched his fingers as she climaxed and groaned against him.

  He held her there as she panted in the afterglow of her orgasm, his cock still throbbing. He wanted to take her, feel her, fill her with his sex. Instead, he let her go, stepping away and pulling back from her pulsing form.

  "Don't stop," she whispered, turning around to throw her arms about his neck. She reached down and began to stroke him. "Don't stop."

  "We need to stop.”

  "Why? What's wrong?"

  "You aren't my fated mate. I don't want to take advantage of you.”

  She kissed him again, hard and passionate. "I don't care about that if you don't"

  "But you're my friend. I can't do that to you."

  "Why don't you let me make that decision?" she whispered, stroking his length.

  "You have no idea how much I want this. But it's wrong. You deserve better."

  "I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with," she said, slipping away. She was disappointed, maybe even a little angry.

  "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started this."

  "It's fine. It's just the stress. We were both looking for relief, and then things happened."

  "We're still friends, then, right?" he asked.

  Flora cupped his cheek in her hand. "Of course. Always… I need to get back to the lab.” She stepped around him and disappeared out the door.

  Raiden stood with his back against the wall, feeling stupid and impotent. He'd hurt her. But Flora was right: they were stressed about the continued disappearance of humans, and they were just trying to blow off steam. But he knew he could never let anything like that happen again. It was wrong and risky and could jeopardize not only their friendship but also their shared mission to protect the world.

  Chapter 9

  Instead of going to the gym, Raiden ran upstairs to his bedroom, his mind reeling with confusion. The taste of Flora’s kiss lingered on his lips, and he couldn't help but feel that it was perfect—they were perfect. He had never felt so much desire and passion. He was more than a thousand years old, and the few seconds in Flora’s arms surpassed all of it.

  He collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. There had to be a reason. He couldn't keep telling himself that they were just friends or that he was lonely or stressed or anything else. He was going to find out for sure, in no uncertain terms, if he and Flora were mates.

  She couldn’t know he was running the test. What if it was negative? He didn't want to hurt or confuse her any more than he already had. He knew how the test was done, and he could ask Zephyr to run it without telling Flora.

  He knew she was down in the basement, working on her experiments with the new batch of human blood. She would probably be there for the rest of the day. He felt guilty and excited at the same time as he hurried down the hallway toward her bedroom. He opened her door and slipped inside, not sure he should really be doing this.

  He took a deep breath and let it out as he closed the door behind him and looked around her bedroom. It smelled of Flora—sweet and spicy with an undertone of citrus, like the perfume she wore that drove him crazy. His inner dragon was mute, refusing to have an opinion one way or the other. But the desire was driving him crazy, and he was so full of questions that he wouldn't be able to relax until he knew the answers.

  Raiden began to scour her bedroom, looking for any possible sources of DNA. The others had used hair samples, which were often easy to find. He went to Flora's bathroom and looked at her hairbrush. There were a few strands of long brown hair stuck in the bristles. He pulled one out and found a follicle, knowing it was the best source of DNA and the way to get the quickest results.

  He dropped it into a plastic bag and let out a deep breath. What was he doing? He shook his head and quickly left her room. Whatever the moral ambiguity of the situation, he had done the deed, and all that was left was to have the analysis completed.

  He hurried downstairs and found Flora and Zephyr busily at work, hunched over the dashboard of the ship’s computer.

  "What is it, Raiden?" Zephyr asked.

  "I was wondering if I could have a word in private," Raiden said.

  "Of course," Zephyr said.

  Flora didn't look up from her work. Zephyr led Raiden into a back room, away from the laboratory, and asked him what was going on.

  "You know how Flora and I are friends…" Raiden started.

  "What is this about?"

  "People have been telling me that they think Flora and I are mates for quite some time, but I always denied it, saying we were just friends. But just now, upstairs, we… were intimate." He looked down. "I feel so ashamed. But at the same time, I can no longer ignore my feelings for her."

  "Why didn't you say something a long time ago?" Zephyr asked.

  "Because my inner dragon has never made any indication that Flora is my mate. I'm beginning to think maybe there's more to it than meets the eye. I've just found a hair sample of hers in her bedroom, and I would like you to run a mating analysis so that I know once and for all if she is or isn't my mate."

  "I can start that right away."

  "I would prefer it if you didn't tell her. We just had a romantic encounter that I feel quite ashamed of. I don't want to make anything of my suspicions until I know for sure.”

  "I will conduct the research with the utmost discretion."

  "Thank you, Zephyr. I knew I could depend on you."

  Raiden left the basement, giving Flora a weak smile on the way out. She didn't comment or even look away from her work. When he made it upstairs, he sat down on the couch and turned on his game console, but all of his feeling for the game was gone. He couldn't work up the motivation to log on and talk to his gaming buddies. His life had just become dreadfully complicated, and the last thing he needed was hazing from a bunch of gamers.

  He dropped the game controller on the ground and hurried upstairs to the gym. After tearing off his shirt, he began punching the punching bag over and over, harder and faster, his anger rising and cresting in a crescendo of anxiety and turmoil. He hoped Flora was his mate with every last breath in his body.

  He knew in that moment, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was in love with her. His dragon be damned. If the beast within didn't know a good thing when he saw it, then he didn't need him. He couldn't ask for more than to be mated to his best friend. She was everything he had ever wanted and more.

  The anger inside him mixed with sadness, and he felt the swell of tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Raiden was not an emotional man. He was not used to feeling such intense sadness to the point of weeping. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried, and now he didn't even quite know what he was feeling. Was it sadness, frustration, or rage?

  After he'd punched his hands raw on the punching bag, he slid down on a bench and took a long drink from his water bottle.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and the unshed tears from the corners of his eyes. When he looked up, he found Flora standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, gazing at him.

  "Did you need something?" he asked.

  "I was just checking on you," she said. "You seemed so upset in the basement. Has there been another rash of kidnappings?"

  "There seem to be hundreds more every day," Raiden said.

  "It's getting harder all the time to stay objective.”

  "Yes, it is. But that's not why I went to speak with Zephyr. I had something important to ask him."

  "Is it anything I can help with?"

  "Not quite yet. I'll let you know when I'm done."

  "Okay, then," she said, seeming a little put out.

  He wanted to tell her the truth but held back. If the mating analysis was negative, he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle his own disappointment, let alone hers. He had to keep it to himself, even though it was killing him to lie.

  "Just know that I'm always here for you," she said. "That's what friends are for."

  "And if you need anything…"

  "I know where to turn." She started toward the door then turned back to face him. "Are you up for a little gaming tonight?"

  "The guys aren't exactly happy with me since I gave up leading the guild.” He wiped sweat from his brow.

  "Maybe just a little one on one?"

  "That would be fun.”

  "Meet you at nine?" She raised an eyebrow, making her look adorably expectant.

  "It's a date," he said.

  She met his gaze with a hopeful expression, pursed her lips, and walked away. This was killing him, and it couldn't be any easier for her. The sooner he knew the truth, the better. Hopefully, when he knew for sure if it was meant to be or just a trick of loneliness and stress, they could get on with their lives. No matter what, he was going to do everything in his power to keep her from being hurt, even if it was to protect her from himself.

  Chapter 10