by G. K. DeRosa
Hmm. Just one way then. I supposed that was good. The idea of Talon having free rein into my dark inner thoughts was enough to send me into a tailspin.
With a few more turns down identical hallways, we finally reached the foyer of the director’s office. Ella stopped in front of the door and gave Talon a smile. “I’ll leave you here. It was good seeing you again, T. If all goes well with your inmate, maybe we’ll get to see more of each other.”
Talon returned the warm smile and again my insides churned. “I hope so. Thanks again, Ella.”
She gave me a quick nod and walked away. I couldn’t help but notice Talon’s gaze trailing her cute little figure as she sauntered down the hall.
My mouth opened and I almost said something entirely out of line, but luckily, Maxim’s assistant appeared at the doorway and cut me off.
“The director is ready for you.”
Talon nodded and returned her tight smile, and I followed him back into the intimidating man’s office. The big tiger shifter glanced up from his computer, his amber irises drilling into me. “Sit.” He pointed to the two club chairs in front of his sprawling mahogany desk.
At least he allowed us to sit this time.
Fidgeting with my fingers, I folded into the supple leather.
Maxim pivoted his weighty gaze to Talon and drummed his thick fingers on the wood. “I was just reviewing the footage and it’s… interesting.” His stony expression didn’t give away an ounce of emotion either way. Did I pass or fail? Come on, spit it out. “While her fighting skills are good, they’re not remarkable. And her powers—well, her demon abilities could come in handy, but they could also be a liability if left unchecked. As for the magic you spoke of, I saw nothing of it in the second trial.”
I opened my mouth to object, but Talon’s hand squeezed my knee under the table. Not only did my jaw snap shut, I also nearly jumped out of my seat at the unexpected touch.
“As I mentioned earlier,” Talon began, “I’m still working with Azara on her magical abilities. As is the case with most half-bloods, they tend to develop a bit later, but I assure you, they’ll be worth the wait.”
The director’s dark brows furrowed as his lips pursed. “I don’t know, Talon. From everything I’ve read about this girl, she seems like more of a liability to the agency than anything else.”
Talon slid forward in his seat, planting his palms on Maxim’s desk. “She’s not, sir, I assure you. You can hold me personally responsible for her. I know I can mold her into a formidable asset.”
The tiger glanced at his screen then back at Talon and a quick look at me. “We were watching the same video footage, right? Though her soul-procuring abilities are impressive, even they seem out of control. She would’ve easily finished off the demon if you hadn’t intervened.”
Talon’s expression hardened. “Isn’t that what you wanted anyway? One less demon in lock-up, right, sir?”
Maxim snorted and sat back in his high-backed chair. He steepled his fingers together as his golden irises bounced back and forth between the two of us. “If it was anyone else, Talon, I’d send them packing. But I trust you and your ability to judge character, not to mention your talent as a trainer. How about this—I give you two weeks to work with the girl. If I’m impressed, she can begin training with the squad. Then if all goes well, we’ll have her ten-year sentence commuted to two years with the agency.”
My brows nearly hit my hairline. I had to resist the urge to jump across the desk and wrap my arms around the gruff beast. Instead, I muttered a thank you and waited on Talon to make a move.
He rose and extended his hand to the director. “I appreciate your trust in me, Maxim, and I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Let’s hope not, Talon. The last thing I need is your girl taking out the rest of your squad.”
“My squad?” He cleared his throat to cover the hitch in his voice.
“Well, you didn’t think I’d let her loose on some other unsuspecting squad, did you?”
Talon shook his head, watching me from the corner of his eye. “No, of course not.” He huffed out a breath. “She’ll fit right in.”
I finally pushed myself out of the chair and forced my eyes to the intimidating man’s. “Thanks for giving me the chance, director. I promise I’ll work hard to prove Talon right.”
Maxim released the hard set of his jaw to mutter a barely audible, “Good.” Then he pointed at the door. I didn’t waste another second to scamper out of there.
Chapter Eleven
A week later and my magic was still in hiding. Talon had pulled some of his scariest moves, but for some reason, my brain no longer believed he’d actually hurt me. This bond was ruining everything.
I’d been so desperate I even begged GG to remove the binding spell. My grandfather flat out refused. Apparently, the chance of outing myself as a female warlock was worse than me spending ten years in Darkblood Prison.
“You’re not focusing, Azara!” Talon’s snarl tore me away from my inner musings as I hurled another dagger at the target on the wall.
“Yes, I am,” I growled back, sending another one flying end over end, the sharp whine cutting the air. It pierced the bullseye with a satisfying thunk. “See?” I whirled on him with a smug grin.
“Luck,” he muttered under his breath.
I traipsed toward the target to collect the strewn weapons and begin the tedious exercise again, but Talon stopped me.
“Maybe we’ve been going about this all wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been trying to scare the magic out of you because that’s what worked in the past, but we never tried the more obvious approach.” He glanced at the daggers. “Why don’t you try something easy, like recalling those blades back to you?”
“Okay…” I popped my hands on my hips and cleared my mind, hoping the words to the spell would magically tumble from my lips. I focused at the shiny weapons and envisioned them flying toward me. My brows knitted together, and beads of sweat formed across my forehead. Nothing.
With an exasperated sigh, Talon stomped over to stand beside me. “Why don’t you try ‘venitem armem’?”
The foreign words sounded oddly familiar. “How do you know that spell?”
“I’m not completely clueless to the ways of your magical brethren. Don’t forget most squads are made up of members from each of the houses of Azar. That includes members of the Coven.”
“Right.” He probably learned that little gem from Ella. My half-Fae half-witch cousin was supposedly pretty powerful. I pushed down the uncalled-for twinge of envy the thought provoked and focused on the daggers once more. “Venitem armem,” I called out.
The stupid blades didn’t even twitch.
“Try again but with more feeling this time.”
Feeling… I’d give him feeling. We’ll see how he feels when I punch him in the throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled a long, cleansing breath like Melzor had taught me before a yoga session. I visualized the words of the spell, and the daggers rising in the air and floating toward me. “Venitem armem, venitem armem.”
A sharp scrape along the floor made my eyes pop open. One of the daggers inched toward me, the blade grinding along the cement. I screeched and jumped up and down, and it clattered to the floor. “Did you see that? Did you see that?”
“Yeah, yeah, I saw.”
I wrapped my arms around Talon’s neck as giddiness rushed my insides. Jumping up and down, a tiny smile cracked his lips as I tugged him along for the ride with my legs clinging around his torso. When the thrill had passed and I finally stopped, I slid down his bare chest. When I hit the floor, I made the mistake of glancing up, and my mouth nearly brushed his lips.
He cleared his throat and took a step back, unraveling my arms from his neck. “That’s probably not a good idea,” he murmured.
My brain agreed with him, but my body had other plans. Apparently, so did my mouth. “You keep promising me a talk about th
is”—I pointed back and forth between us—“but somehow, we keep getting interrupted.”
“Convenient, right?” He ran his palm over the back of his neck and shifted from foot to foot.
I shot him my best glare, planting my hands on my hips. “Or we could talk about our weird mental connection or maybe even Vander. You owe me lots of explanations actually…”
He grunted and slid down to the floor, a shock of dark hair tumbling over his forehead. I clasped my hands together to keep from reaching out and tucking it behind his ear. “You’re right, I do.”
I folded down across from him, keeping some much-needed space between us. With all the training lately, our connection was only getting stronger. I’d heard his thoughts more than once in this session alone. Sure, it was fun overhearing his naughty contemplations about me, but it wasn’t fun when we couldn’t act on them. “So?”
He raked his hand through his wild locks and huffed out a breath as if talking about this was causing him physical pain. “The mental communication thing only happens with mates,” he spat out. “So I don’t understand how that could be possible. The blood exchange bonded us, but we haven’t consummated the relationship.”
My breath hitched at the word relationship. Stupid, because I knew he didn’t mean anything by it. My cheeks heated and I flipped my hair forward, hoping to hide behind the dark curtain.
“Anyway, the closer we get, the stronger the bond becomes. And I mean that by both physical proximity and emotional closeness. There’s not much we can do about the former given our bunking situation and the latter…” His words fell away as his mouth twisted into a pout.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. The idea of getting close to me is too abhorrent for you to even consider.”
I blinked, and his face was only an inch away from mine. Whoa, when did that happen?
“Stop saying that,” he growled, his breath ghosting over my lips. “There’s nothing abhorrent about you, Azara. What you did—or rather what you were somehow forced to do is what I couldn’t stand. But now that we know there’s more to the story and Vander’s alive, things are different.”
My heart soared at his words regardless of how much I tried to tamp down on the excitement. I didn’t want to care about this dragon douche, and I hated how helpless I was to stop myself. “And because of the blood bond…” I murmured.
“Yes, that too.”
Silence stretched between us, and I fiddled with a hangnail on my thumb. Talon hadn’t moved, he still sat only a few inches awat. It would be so easy to reach out and pull his lips to mine. From the lusty vibes seeping through the bond, I knew he wouldn’t resist. Every day it was becoming harder and harder to fight.
I glanced up, and Talon’s face loomed ever closer. His eyes captured mine, and I was swept up in the bottomless blazing silver. His hand slowly moved to my cheek, and the rough pad of his thumb caressed my skin. My heart flip-flopped in my chest at the gentle touch.
“I’m tired of fighting this,” he muttered, the gruff edge to his tone making my insides quiver.
His words, coupled with his smoldering irises, were a second away from melting me into an incoherent puddle. I leaned into his palm, relishing the feel of his flesh against mine. I was so tired of fighting this too. As infuriating as the dragon was, he was all I could think about. His face was the first thing I saw in the morning and the last before I drifted off to sleep. His blood thrummed through my veins, a constant link to the mercurial man. But that was it, it was only because he gave me his blood a few weeks ago to save my life. Prior to that, he hated me.
I jerked back as his lips swept over mine. “I can’t keep doing this, Talon.” I shook my head as hot tears burned my eyes. “You give me an inch and then you take back a foot. We keep coming back to this, but we both know it’s not real.”
His eyes widened as he sat back on his haunches, surprise oozing through the bond. He threw his head from side to side and grunted. “I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Of course you’re not. You’re a dragon, and you’re used to all this blood bond stuff. I’m not. This all feels like some sort of magical entrapment, like an arranged marriage for modern times.” I’d never understood this fated mates stuff—demons and witches didn’t have anything like that. Not like shifters and Fae.
A pang of hurt streaked across my chest, and it wasn’t mine.
Talon leapt up and marched to the door. “If this is causing you so much discomfort, I’ll see what I can do to cut its lingering effects as soon as possible.”
All the air siphoned from my lungs and I was left gaping, staring at Talon’s broad shoulders as he jerked the training room door open. “Talon, stop!”
He didn’t spare me a backward glance as he stormed across the threshold.
“Stop!” I shouted louder this time, and energy crackled across my outstretched hand.
He halted mid-stride.
“Talon?” I jumped up and raced across the room. When I reached my dragon bodyguard, I nearly burst into laughter. His face was frozen in a half-snarl, half-look of surprise. His eyes were wide, and his lips were twisted into a scowl. His chest muscles were tense, beads of sweat glistening along his torso and all perfectly unmoving.
I waved my hand across his face, but he didn’t even flinch. “Hello? Talon, can you hear me?”
An evil grin split my lips. Omg, I froze him! I’d have to figure out how to undo this later, but right now, I was going to have a little fun. Because I deserved it after that conversation. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. I pried his jaw open with my tongue and slid it between his teeth. Though his lips didn’t respond to my advances, they remained soft and supple. Digging my fingers into the hair on the back of his neck, I pressed my body against his. The feel of his bare chest against my flimsy tank top sent my nerve endings on fire.
A long minute later, I stepped back and ran my hands over his firm pectorals, delving down over his cut abs, reveling in every dip and valley. When I reached the sharp V dipping into his jersey shorts, I paused, my fingers dancing along the soft skin beneath the waistband.
Don’t stop. Talon’s rough voice echoed across my mind. I gasped and jumped back. Glancing up to meet his eyes as heat blossomed over my cheeks, I was met with the same vacant stare.
“Can you hear me?” I whispered.
His expression didn’t change, but I heard his voice loud and clear. Yes.
“I’m so sorry, Talon. I didn’t mean to freeze you,” I started babbling. “And about the other stuff, I swear I wasn’t going to do anything weird.”
A deep chuckle resonated in my head and filled me with the most ridiculous happiness.
“And please don’t get rid of the bond.” I stared down at my feet which was stupid because Talon was still frozen. “I’ve gotten used to you in my blood, in my gut, in my head, at my side. Everywhere.” I leaned closer and laced my arms around his waist. “I don’t know what this thing is between us, but I’d like to find out more if you’re willing.”
As inappropriate as all of this is, I don’t think I have a choice. You’re a part of me now, Azara.
With the side of my face pressed against his chest, his heartbeat roared across my eardrum. My own pulse picked up as if trying to match the erratic staccato. I rose to my tiptoes once more and swept my lips against his. I was having way too much fun with this.
I nibbled on his lower lip, and a sharp groan slipped from Talon’s mouth.
Not fair. He grumbled in my head.
Which of course only spurred me on. I dropped kisses down the column of his neck, sweeping my tongue over the soft skin by his collarbone and nibbling on his earlobe.
Azara, unfreeze me.
“Don’t know how. Sorry.” I worked my way down his chest, running my tongue over his perfectly carved abs. My hands roamed his back until they landed on his sculpted butt and took in two big handfuls. I giggled mischievously as he muttered obscenities in my head.
I reached the waistband of his sh
orts, and my tongue danced along the edge. A deep moan reverberated in my mind and sent a wave of goose bumps over my flesh. I pressed closer, and heat unfurled in my core as his hardness rubbed against me.
Holy dragon babies! I needed to stop before this got out of control. I hissed out a breath and took a step back. Every coiled nerve-ending in my body cursed me out, but I forced myself away.
“I guess I should try to figure out how to unfreeze you, huh?”
Yes. Definitely. Even in my head, his voice was a raspy pant.
“Right. Okay, let me think back to what I did.” I’d only wanted to stop him from leaving. I didn’t remember any spell or anything. I simply thought it, and it happened. My magic was definitely tied to my emotions, I had to figure out how to get a better handle on them. I threw my hands out and shouted, “Unfreeze!”
Talon’s vacant expression remained the same.
Fudge. “Hold on, let me try again.” This time I closed my eyes and envisioned the bare-chested Talon with his arms around my waist, matching each stroke of my tongue, his hands exploring my body. A swirl of heat ignited, and I turned my thoughts inward. “Unfreeze,” I whispered.
A warm hand settled on my hip, big fingers stroking my skin. My eyes snapped open and met a pair of smoldering silver ones. “It’s about time your magic showed up.”
“I guess it just needed the right motivation.” I smirked as he tugged me closer.
“Oh, I’ll give it motivation.” Talon’s lips claimed mine, and my blood hummed. He wrapped my legs around his torso and toted me back inside the training room. He slammed the door shut with his foot as he continued his assault on my lips.
When my back hit the floor mat, my lids fluttered closed. Talon hovered over me, worshipping every part of me with his tongue. Time stood still as we explored each other inch by inch. Minutes flew by, maybe even hours.
The building fire blossomed between us with each soft touch, each gentle nip. I arched up against him as his hips bored down, grinding. A moan escaped my clenched lips as he rocked harder against me.
