by Donna Grant
She shook from the need tightening within her, and Aiden hadn’t truly touched her yet. He very gently lifted each of her feet until the panties were completely removed.
And then his hands were on her legs again. His touch was firm but smooth as he skimmed his hands from her ankles to her thighs.
He gave her little warning before he lifted one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder. His touch was soft as he ran his fingers through her curls.
Britt placed her hands flat on the wall in an effort to keep herself upright while her heart hammered in her chest. She groaned when he skimmed her clitoris, the little nub aching for more.
Aiden moaned when he felt how wet Britt was. He plunged a finger inside her, stroking her tight core as her soft cries filled the cottage.
He added a second finger, her fingers digging into his shoulders. His cock jumped when he grazed her clit and heard her cry out.
There was no more waiting. He had to have her, had to claim her. Medieval thinking or not, that was the truth of it.
Aiden removed his fingers from her the same time he shrugged her leg off his shoulder. And in one fluid motion, he stood.
There were no words. Just frantic fumbling of their fingers on his pants and kisses frenzied by the need burning within them.
When his pants were finally unbuttoned and unzipped, Britt stopped him in his tracks with her hand upon his length. He stood stock-still while her hand ran up and down his arousal.
Then it became too much. He grabbed her hips and lifted her. Instantly her legs locked around his waist.
Britt felt the head of Aiden’s cock against her flesh a second before his hips thrust forward. She gasped as the hard, hot length of him slid inside her.
For several moments they stood as they were. He pulled out of her until only the head of his arousal remained. Then he thrust inside her again.
She clung to him, their gazes clashed as their bodies began to move. In and out he pumped, her body tightening with each stroke of his rod.
The urgency, the need driving them pushed them. The sound of their bodies meeting and their harsh breaths filled the room.
Britt’s legs constricted when he began to pound ruthlessly into her until, a heartbeat later, her climax claimed her. Her mouth opened to scream her release when Aiden kissed her to keep her silent.
Not even that could diminish the bliss that was her orgasm. She was floating on a cloud of pleasure so amazing she knew she would never come down.
Aiden never stopped thrusting. He prolonged her climax until his own claimed him. It was fierce as it ripped through him, his seed spilling inside her.
He buried his face in her neck, his body slick with sweat. Aiden wanted to do nothing more than find a bed and make love to her again and again. But reality crashed upon them with the sounds of approaching feet.
Aiden lifted his head to find Britt smiling at him. She ran a hand down his face to smooth away his hair before she kissed him.
“I don’t regret this. I’ve never been happier, and if you ruin it by telling me it was a mistake, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.”
He grinned and gave her a quick kiss. “I was going to say I wish we were alone with a bed so I could take you to it.”
“Oh, now, that sounds wonderful,” she said wistfully.
Aiden pulled out of her and released her legs. There was so much he needed to say to her, but before he could, the door opened.
He shifted so that he was between whoever had just come in and Britt. She hastily lowered her dress while he buttoned his pants.
With a wink, she walked around him and began talking to Galen. Aiden reached to button his shirt when he noticed all but one of the buttons was gone. He spotted several on the floor around him.
He inhaled and just as he was about to turn around, he spotted the silver lace panties on the floor. Aiden bent and put them in his pocket as he stood.
Only to find his father standing behind and to the side of Galen, watching him.
“Anything?” Aiden asked.
Quinn’s gaze raked across the area. “It’s quiet. Too quiet. Wallace should’ve found us by now.”
“Let’s give ourselves some credit,” Britt said. “Besides, I’m in no hurry for him to show up.”
“Nay,” Fallon said as he suddenly appeared in the room beside them. “But he’s coming. Let’s try to get you all out of here.”
They all quickly stepped forward except for Aiden. “What about Phelan?”
“He has other business,” Galen said cryptically.
Which Aiden knew meant Charon. Whatever was going on there, Phelan wouldn’t leave Charon to go it alone.
Aiden took his place between Britt and Galen. Fallon put his hands on Galen’s and Quinn’s shoulders to take them out of there, but nothing happened. Just as before.
“Fuck!” Fallon shouted, and spun away.
Footsteps running toward the cottage filled the silence that followed. A second later and Phelan flung open the front door.
“I just spoke with Charon. He has a plan.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Charon watched Con as he stared out the windows of his office. Charon had laid out his plan for Constantine, and now all that remained was Con’s approval.
Of course, Con didn’t know that Charon had already told the plan to Phelan.
“You want to have the battle here,” Con said.
It wasn’t a question. More of a statement, but it was the humor in his tone that caught Charon off guard. “You offered your help. My concern was keeping the identities of you and your Kings a secret.”
“And you think having the battle here will do that?”
Charon glanced at both Guy and Banan, who stood off to the side. Neither King so much as batted an eye. Charon then glanced over at Hal, the green dragon he’d seen earlier, and another King by the name of Laith.
The solidarity of the men reminded him of the Warriors at MacLeod Castle. Further proof that Charon had no one but himself to count on.
Phelan was the closest thing he had to a friend, but Charon didn’t know if Phelan would allow himself to be called friend. Not to mention that Phelan was notoriously difficult to get ahold of if he didn’t want to be found.
“You know these glens and mountains,” Charon said. “Wallace knows nothing of you, and we can use that as an advantage. A surprise attack he’ll never see coming.”
Con clasped his hands behind his back. “There’s no doubt you’re a good battle strategist. I think it’s one of the reasons your god chose you.”
Charon looked at the floor. He didn’t know what Con was getting at, but he didn’t like—nor want—to talk of his past. “If you say so.”
“I say so.” Con chuckled then. “You’re immortal, Charon, but you’ve lived only six hundred years. I’ve lived for thousands of millennia. I’ve seen countless battles and wars. I’ve even watched you fight as a Warrior. I know what I’m talking about.”
“Then the problem is?”
“Cheeky bastard,” Guy mumbled with a grin.
Charon scratched his cheek with only his middle finger, causing Guy to have to cough to cover up his laughter. Banan, Hal, and Laith all ducked their heads to hide their smiles.
Con turned to face Charon. “You seem verra confident that Wallace can be beaten. Have you forgotten the outbreak in Edinburgh? Five more people have died, including a little boy.”
The cocky grin Charon had worn a moment before dropped as anger took its place. He was careful to keep his god tamped down, because while he wasn’t afraid of the Kings, he needed their help.
“While you and the other Kings have whiled away your years in luxury and privacy, the Warriors have defended the entire fucking planet from evil. I have no’ forgotten a damned thing. We’ve lost friends, innocents, and our families because none of you did a thing about Deirdre.”
“She wasna a priority.”
The fury Charon kept tightly controlled erupted. F
angs filled his mouth the same instant his claws elongated from his fingers. He didn’t need to look down to know his skin had turned copper.
“Wasna a priority?” Charon repeated in a low, dangerous voice. “Do you know the havoc she wrought? Can you even comprehend what she did to us and the other Druids? Or were you too wrapped up in no’ having your precious dragons to order around?”
Con leaned forward, his hands resting on his desk as his lip curled in anger.
“Struck a nerve, did I?” Charon taunted.
Con tucked his chin, and Charon bent his legs ready to fight when the door was thrown open and Laura rushed in to stand before him.
Her hands were braced against his chest, and even though Charon had his lips peeled back as he growled, it didn’t seem to faze her.
“Enough,” she said. When neither he nor Con relented, she tried again. This time she yelled. “Enough!”
Hal crossed his arms over his chest. “Brave woman.”
Charon straightened, but he didn’t tamp down his god. He had come to the Kings for help, but it looked as if he had ruined that.
Perhaps Phelan had been correct when he said neither he nor Charon were meant to be a part of anything.
“Look at me,” Laura coaxed Charon.
He wasn’t ready to give any ground to Con, but Laura wasn’t giving up.
“Charon, look at me,” she demanded in a louder tone.
He blew out a harsh breath and lowered his gaze to her. “You shouldna be here.”
“And where should I be while you and our new friends are about to fight? Luckily for you, Cassie happened to be walking by and heard the exchange. She came to get me.”
Hal rolled his eyes and shifted from one foot to another. “Happened to be walking by, my arse,” he mumbled.
Laura could feel the fury rolling off Charon in waves. He stood against five Dragon Kings without so much as a tremor. His copper skin glistened in the lightning flashes, and he was careful to keep his claws away from her.
She let her hand trail down his chest before she turned and faced Con. “Charon is right. You stood by while thousands died. Did I hear wrong, or were you able to shift from dragon to human so you could protect the humans?”
“Humans doona need protecting. It’s the rest of the world that needs protecting from them,” Con said with his teeth clenched. He pushed away from his desk and glared at Charon.
Laura sighed. She had hoped by coming into the office, she might help defuse the situation, but she’d been wrong. She faced Charon, knowing she had one more chance with him.
“It’s bloody difficult to admit we need them and they don’t need us, but you wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t think they could help.”
Charon’s eyes lowered to her. She looked into the copper eyes, waiting for his decision. To her amazement, she watched the copper bleed away to reveal the deep chocolate color of his eyes she knew so well.
He took her hand in his, the claws and copper skin gone, before he said, “You’re right. We do need them.”
Laura had seen Charon calmly break apart fights in the pub, effortlessly broker deals with liquor distributors, and methodically woo women. She’d even seen him bravely stand up against Jason Wallace.
And through it all, she had known the loyal, steadfast, honorable man that he was. He made her heart pound and her blood heat. He made her believe in herself, but more importantly, she believed in him.
“Whatever happens, I’ll stand beside you,” she told him. “I don’t know how to work my magic, but I’ll use what I can.”
His lips lifted in a half smile that sent her stomach fluttering. “Thank you. Go back to the room. I’ll return shortly.”
Laura started to walk away when she paused, and then turned back to Charon. She rose up and gave him a quick hard kiss on the lips before she glanced at Con over her shoulder. Then she walked out of the office and softly closed the door behind her.
“What a woman,” Laith said with a whistle.
Charon looked at the door after Laura left. “You’ve no idea.”
He wanted to follow her back to the room and make slow, sweet love to her for days. Instead, he had to smooth over his loss of temper to the one person who could turn the tide of the war.
With his mind full of ways to try to talk Con into helping, Charon turned back to the King of Kings to find Con standing in front of him with a glass of whisky held out.
Charon took it and drained the glass in one swallow. “A twenty-five-year single malt.”
“You know your whisky,” Con said.
He shrugged. “I had no right to say those things to you.”
“Actually, you had every right,” Con said as he leaned his hips back against the desk. “It’s something I’ve told myself for centuries. But it’s also a balance we must keep.”
Banan moved a chair so that he could sit down. “The simple truth is that we can no’ interfere with every war that crops up, no matter how much we might want to.”
“It was a heated debate about whether we should take Deirdre out,” Hal said.
Laith walked over to the sideboard and grabbed the decanter of whisky and four more glasses. He handed Hal, Banan, and Guy each a glass before refilling Charon’s. “In the end, we saw the MacLeods escape. We were counting on them taking a stand.”
“And if they had no’?” Charon asked.
Con shrugged. “We probably would’ve taken Deirdre out ourselves, but then what would’ve happened to all the Warriors? The next question would’ve been, do we kill all of you as well?”
Charon swirled the liquid in his glass. “It’s easy for me to say what you should’ve done, but I think I understand now.”
“Each of you suffered, but look where you are now,” Guy said.
Charon snorted. “Fighting yet another drough. This one is stronger than Deirdre and Declan combined. How is that possible? Deirdre was alive for a thousand years and stole magic from countless Druids. How can Jason Wallace, who has been drough for just a year, be so powerful?”
“A verra good question,” Banan said. “One I’ve been asking myself.”
Con set down his glass and braced his hands on either side of him on the desk. “You are no’ afraid of us, are you?”
“Nay. You could kill me with barely a thought, I know, but I survived having my god unbound, killing my own father, unimaginable torture for decades at Deirdre’s hand, and controlling my god. I’ve been in battles with droughs, wyrran, Warriors, and humans. Twice now I’ve died by drough blood, and twice I was somehow brought back. There isna much I’m afraid of, but you are no’ one of them.”
Con’s smile was huge as he looked at Charon. “Good. Now, tell me your plan on how to get Wallace here.”
“That’s the easy part. He’s following Aiden and Britt. Britt is apparently some genius who studies blood. She’s found something, and Wallace doesna want her to share it with the rest of us.”
“Or learn more,” Hal added.
Charon nodded. “Precisely. He’s done a spell so that Fallon can no’ teleport them somewhere else. Right now they’re north of Oban, hiding in one of Galen’s old cottages he used.”
“Wallace might have prevented Fallon from helping, but I doubt Wallace factored in something a tad larger getting Aiden and Britt out,” Guy said with a sly grin.
All five smiled at Guy’s meaning.
“We willna have a lot of time to get them,” Con said.
Charon finished off his whisky. “I think we need to bring Fallon here first.”
“Get everyone no’ a King out of Dreagan. Except your mates,” Con amended before Hal could speak up. “Close off the road, and wake the rest of the Kings. We’re going to need them.”
“The rest?” Charon asked.
Banan winked. “Did we no’ tell you how many of us there are?”
“Nay.”
“Another time, perhaps,” Guy said with a wide smile.
“What about the distillery? Wi
ll you shut it down?” Charon asked.
Con shook his head. “Some will run the distillery as needed while others fight. We survived years without the aid of humans. We can again. Now, I think it’s time you called Fallon.”
Charon drew out his phone and quickly dialed Fallon, who answered in the middle of the first ring.
“Charon? What’s this plan Phelan is talking about?”
Charon smiled into the phone. “It’ll be quicker if I show you instead of telling you.”
“You told Phelan.”
He hadn’t told Phelan all of it, just that he wanted to bring everyone to one location where the selmyr were. “Please,” Charon said.
The sound of a sigh could be heard through the phone. “Where are you?”
“Dreagan.”
There was a long pause before Fallon asked, “Did you say Dreagan?”
“I did. I need you here immediately.”
“I’ve no’ been there. You know that. I can no’ jump somewhere I’ve no’ been.”
But Charon had already thought of that. “Let me talk to Galen. I’ll describe it to him. He’ll envision it, and then you can jump here.”
“It’s worth a try, I suppose,” Fallon said.
A moment later, Galen was on the phone. Charon described the parking lot of Dreagan to exact proportions as he and the five Dragon Kings walked out of the house to await them.
“Galen? Did it work?” Charon asked.
By the time he got the last word out, Fallon was standing in front of him. The leader of the Warriors did a quick glance around before he looked at Charon, and then each of the men on either side of him.
“Welcome to Dreagan, Fallon MacLeod,” Con said as he stepped forward. “I’m Constantine. King of the Dragon Kings.”
Fallon’s gaze jerked to Charon, who gave a nod of his head and pointed upward. They all looked up as a huge amber dragon soared over them.
“Shite,” Fallon mumbled in awe.
Charon couldn’t stop his grin. “They’re going to help us. We’re going to get rid of Jason Wallace once and for all.”
Fallon lowered his gaze to look at Con before he shifted his eyes to Charon. “And what of the outbreak of whatever it is Wallace caused in Edinburgh? I need Warriors there to protect the Druids who are trying to use their magic to stop what Wallace has done.”
