“So, you have your own vendetta against Aiden then. How is it that he is unaware that you might want to harm him if he did such a thing to your sister?”
“He doesn’t know she was my sister. My father – let’s just say that he wasn’t the best husband to my mother. His boots inhabited the underside of many other beds than his marital one, I’m afraid. A few years ago, he revealed to me and my brother that we had an illegitimate sister. He was dying and wanted us to make sure she was cared for, as he had been quietly doing for years. Obviously, we failed to keep our promise,” he said, his face full of pain.
“You said you had a brother. Is he in the Guard as well?”
“No, Thomas is a bit more of an overachiever than I am,” Josh replied.
“The young councilman,” Aaron said, suddenly realizing how much the two favored.
“Yes, the youngest ever placed on the Council. He has been encouraging the Council to do something about Aiden, but they are all too scared of him. So, Thomas has been working on a way to take Aiden out, but he has had to be careful. Crossing Aiden is a death sentence and usually without a fair fight.
“So I’ve learned. What is your brother’s plan then?”
“Until you arrived, he wasn’t sure, but now his plan is, most simply put, you.”
“If I am successful,” Aaron replied.
“Yes. There is a chance that you will lose, but we’re hopeful you won’t. While you were out of the room, Thomas convinced the Council that allowing someone to challenge Aiden would be good for the village. His ego will not allow for him to admit a chance of defeat, so Thomas was able to convince him that showing off his might would remind everyone that he was not to be crossed.”
“Doesn’t seem like much of a plan, really.”
“Maybe, but here’s the thing. Aiden puts on an outward air of confidence, but he’s not as confident as he seems. Thomas assured him after everyone was cleared out and they were alone, that he would ensure victory for him by having you poisoned before the event, not enough to kill you, but just enough to make sure you could be defeated.”
“Some things just don’t change, do they?”
“No, they don’t. Of course, Aiden went for it, so when it comes time for the challenge to take place, he believes that he will have the upper hand, but the one who will be poisoned is him.”
“No. I won’t have it,” Aaron replied, shaking his head in disagreement.
“We can’t risk a loss,” Josh told him.
“You won’t have a loss. I fully intend to take him down on fair ground.”
“I don’t know,” Josh said.
“If he is poisoned, I will know, and I will call a halt to the challenge, no matter how much it pains me to do so. I will point out his ailment and have him treated before attempting the challenge against me.”
“You can’t do that,” Josh replied uncertainly.
“I can, and I will. He will know he’s been poisoned. He can’t call it off himself without losing face, but if I do it, he will agree, and while he is getting well enough to fight, he will seek out and punish those who crossed him.”
“You can’t do that! What is wrong with you? We’re trying to help you and, in the process, help all of us!”
“Listen, Josh. I know you’re on my side, on the side of the village we belong to. Your intentions are good, but I don’t want to be like Aiden. That kind of behavior is what this village has become accustomed to, and it must end. I intend to do just that. Not only will I put Aiden in his grave for all he has done, but I will do so with a clear conscience. I can’t do that if I know I killed an incapacitated man.”
“Okay. I get it. I will tell Thomas, and he will do what you ask. However, don’t put it past Aiden to have a backup plan if he thinks Thomas won’t follow through or won’t dose you heavily enough. Don’t eat any food from anyone you don’t trust completely, and that includes some of the people you’ve known all your life. Aiden has his way of making otherwise good people do horrible things to protect themselves.”
“Yes, I can see that he does. Thank you, Josh. I appreciate your help. Now, you best get going before someone sees you here.”
“I will. If you need me for anything, you can trust Tilly, the slight honey blonde girl at the fish market. She will give me any message you give to her and return one from me within the day. I would suggest you just call or text, but Aiden monitors that sort of communication more heavily than anyone realizes.”
“Thank you. I’ll let you know if there is anything more I need, but will do my best not to involve you further. In the event that I don’t pull this off, you’ll need to maintain your cover to carry on the fight.”
“I appreciate that. Goodbye, Aaron.”
“Goodbye,” Aaron replied, showing him to the door, which he looked furtively out of before making a hasty exit with his hood pulled over his head.
Aaron locked the door and stood contemplating what he had just learned for a moment. He wondered just how much he could trust Josh, but something told him that the man was being very honest with him. There was no doubt that Thomas had saved his life with his efforts, even if they were slightly misguided in some aspects. Darkness had begun to fall, and he was not safe here, plus Kate weighed heavily on his mind. Slipping out the back door, he shifted and took flight toward the Isle of Man.
CHAPTER 10
Aaron stood on a remote cliff overlooking the coastline below once he reached his destination. This was always such a beautiful place, but tonight he didn’t feel calmed by it at all. It was very much out of the way to have flown here, but he had to make sure that he wasn’t followed. Risking himself was one thing, but he wasn’t about to lead anyone back to Kate. Once he had determined that he was alone, he set out again, this time stopping in Kearney to check on his family and see if Kate had returned there.
“I haven’t seen her, and I’m incredibly worried,” her mother told him.
“Don’t worry. She’s a smart girl. She’ll be fine. I’m going now to find her and get her back to safety,” he said, giving her a hug before heading back out the door.
Aaron didn’t want her mother to know just how anxious he felt. He wasn’t sure what his next move would be if she wasn’t at the cabin. The thought crossed his mind that Aiden might have been lying about not having found her. Perhaps he had found her and just didn’t want it known. She could be held against her will somewhere or even dead. The thought of either of those made his blood run cold. He was grateful when the cabin came into view below.
He landed with a heavy thud on the ground behind it and shifted, still cautious as he made his way into the back door and began to look around. It was dark and quiet as he made his way to the bedroom and whispered her name.
“Kate?”
“Oh, thank God,” came her voice from behind the false wall within the bedroom closet. “I was beside myself with worry.”
“You aren’t the only one. I didn’t know if you got away or not.”
It was a relief to see her as he flipped on the light and found her walking from the closet toward him. He couldn’t help but note how tired she looked.
“It wasn’t easy. Aiden was on my tail all across the Mournes and well out to sea. There was no place for me to land, and I finally did the only thing I knew to do. I dove into the water and used my remaining speed to shoot me as far as I could go underwater. When I came up, he was nowhere to be seen. I thought he was just waiting for me somewhere, so I bounced around the skies and remote landing spots for a while before finally coming back here. When I heard the thud outside, I was afraid it was him, so I stayed hidden until I heard your voice.”
“I’m sorry for all of this. I’ve so much to tell you,” he said.
“Can it wait until morning? I don’t think I can cope with anything more today.”
“Yes, it can. We should be safe here. It doesn’t appear that either of us were followed well enough for them to find this place.”
“I’m so glad you
’re back,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.
“Let’s go to bed,” he told her.
“Good idea,” she replied, sitting on the edge of it and looking up at him.
Aaron smiled down at her, leaning forward and getting on his knees in front of her. He cupped her chin in his hands and pulled her toward him, kissing her. At first, it was soft, but it quickly grew more passionate as they lost themselves in one another. Kate didn’t resist as he began to strip off her clothes and kiss her breasts, his hand drifting down into her panties to explore her already moist folds.
She moaned against him, the vibrations scattering across his neck as she began unbuttoning his shirt. In a matter of moments, they were naked and fumbling around with one another. Aaron's hand reached out to grab the edge of the bed, disrupting papers and a book on the bedside stand. They fell to the floor as he pressed her down against the bed and entered her, causing a loud gasp to escape her throat.
“God, you are so beautiful. I love you so much, Kate. I wish I had told you that every day since the day I met you,” he groaned as he pushed further into her, making love to her feverishly.
“I love you, too, Aaron,” she moaned against his ear.
The words fell away as they fulfilled their ache for one another. Aaron took his time, putting the events of the day completely out of his mind as he became consumed with his love for her. The world around them fell away as they clung to one another like it was their last day on the planet. His fingers tangled in her hair as their hips rose and fell into one another’s again and again, claiming the other as their own.
“Yesss. You feel so perfect. You’re everything to me,” Kate whispered.
“As are you to me,” he told her, his hips pulsing forward as he exploded inside of her almost simultaneously with her own climax.
Aaron rolled to one side, staring up at the ceiling as he regained his breath. They lay there across the bed, breathless and depleted, enjoying the sounds of one another’s heartbeat and breathing. Finally, Aaron stood up, offering his hand to help her up.
“How about a shower? It’s been a long day, and I think I could probably use one before we curl up together for the night,” he said.
“That sounds good to me. Someone seems to have gotten me all sweaty here at bedtime,” she laughed as she stood up and faced him.
“Are you complaining about it?”
“Oh, no. You’ll never hear me complain about that. I love what you do to me.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Otherwise, it might be a bit of a disappointment.”
“Only a bit of one,” she laughed, kissing him again. They lingered there for a moment and then finally stepped back to look at one another.
“I know we still have a lot to sort out, Kate, but we’re here together, and that’s a start. There’s nothing we can’t work through together. I’m sure of that.”
“I’m sure of that, too,” she replied.
“Okay, let’s get our tushes in the shower and get cleaned up so we can get a good night’s sleep. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a bit of a rough day. It’s time to get a little more presentable,” he said with a broad smile
“Are you saying that I am not presentable?” she laughed.
“I’m saying that you look like someone just ravished you like some sort of wild animal.”
“Shocking!” she laughed, making her way over to the bathroom with him following close behind. She turned on the shower and slipped beneath the hot water as he climbed in beside her, pulling her close to him and kissing her again. Her nipples grew hard as they brushed against his powerful chest, and his lips fell across her neck, kissing his way down her shoulders.
“I’m so glad that you’re here with me. I had no idea how much I needed you until you reappeared into my life.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Aaron. You’re the love of a lifetime. I think you always were. We were just kids and didn’t realize what we meant to one another back then.”
“You’re probably right, but everything I didn’t know back then, I certainly know now. You’re one in a million, and I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in the world.”
“Good to know,” she replied, reaching for the soap to wash his chest and arms.
They took their time beneath the hot water, washing every curve of one another’s body and making love again before climbing out to towel off before bed. Kate stayed behind as he went back out to the bedroom so that she could dry her hair. She walked out a short time later, looking like something out of an erotic painting of the perfect woman he had created in his mind. Her long, dark hair hung over her bare shoulder as her pale skin glistened in the tiny bit of moonlight that filtered through their bedroom window.
“Am I more presentable now?” she teased as she stood by the bed.
“Not really. I liked looking at what a mess I had made of you. It was dead sexy.”
“And I’m not sexy now?”
“You still are, just in a different way.”
“Good to know,” she laughed.
“Come to bed, woman. You’ve already worn me out, and you’re getting me all worked up again.”
“Is there anything wrong with that?” she asked.
“No, I suppose not,” he replied, watching as she slipped beneath the covers beside him.
Pulling her close, he wrapped his much larger, powerful body around her smaller frame. She fit perfectly in the bend of his waist. It felt like she was made precisely for him. Her hair fanned across the pillow below her, imparting its scent all around them. She smelled like a flower he would have picked for her in the meadow when they were kids. Aaron smiled into the darkness as he realized just how sappy he was being.
Perhaps he would marry her one day, if he was able to do so. He knew that with all that was going on, there was a chance he might not make it to any alter in this world with her, but he was determined that he would be with her in whatever lifetime he could hold onto her in. It hurt somewhere deep down to think about things that way, to consider that he might not make it past the event of next week, but he was resolute in his aim to see it through, and if it was meant to be, he would walk away from the fight and back into Kate’s beautiful arms.
CHAPTER 11
Aaron skipped his early morning flight, opting to sleep in instead. It probably wasn’t the best thing he could have done to prepare for the upcoming fight, but he felt emotionally and physically drained from all that had occurred in the past weeks – the past months, for that matter.
“Tell me what happened. How did you get away from Aiden and the Dragon Guard?” Kate asked him.
“I didn’t. They took me in and tossed me in one of those holes beneath the Council buildings. Aiden came down and tried to intimidate me, and then I got taken before the Council.”
“I shouldn’t have left you there alone. I wanted to stay and fight, but I knew we couldn’t take them. I thought if I got away, I could find someone to help us and send them back for you before Aiden could do anything truly awful to you.”
“No. You did the right thing. I was happy not to have you to worry about while I got things sorted out.”
“The Council let you go?” she said incredulously.
“Oh, they didn’t just let me go. They gave me the green light and a week to prepare myself for an official challenge of Aiden.”
“What?! How did you pull that off? You must be a much smoother talker than I ever thought you were!”
“Not even close. All I did was insult them and shout about how screwed up their whole system was. Then, this young councilman stepped up to the plate and pretty much took over the trial from the elders. Next thing I know, I’m being sent to another room while they have some sort of internal discussion, and when I came back, my crime has been reduced to a minimal assault charge, and I was being given the go ahead to challenge Aiden.”
“Oh, my God! Do you think it’s some sort of trap?”
“I did, but then I had a strange visito
r.”
Aaron told her what Josh had confided in him when he had visited the house. Together, they made the decision to stay where they were, hidden from anyone Aiden might send to interfere with Aaron making it to the day of the challenge.
“I don’t want you there for this, Kate,” he told her.
“What? Of course I’m going to be there.”
“No, Kate. Aiden will have his eye right on you if I lose. I need you to stay far away until I can get word to you that it’s over.”
“And if I don’t hear from you?”
“Then you will know that you need to go back to the others and stay far away from the village.”
“I’m not scared of Aiden.”
“I know you aren’t, but you should be. You don’t know what he is capable of. I didn’t either. I mean, I knew about some of his misdeeds and how he rules with an iron fist, but I had no idea just how far his cruelty extended. If I fail, you do not want to be within his grasp. Please just take my word for it.”
“I don’t know, Aaron. I can’t stand the thought of you fighting Aiden and not knowing that you’re okay.”
“Being there won’t change the outcome for me, but being there if that outcome is bad might very well change everything for you. If I go to my grave, I want to know that you’re safe.”
“You aren’t going to your grave. I can’t think like that.”
“And I’m afraid I have to consider that possibility. I can’t afford to get too cocky. My focus has to be on doing what needs to be done to bring Aiden down to his knees.”
“Okay, Aaron. I will stay here if that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want. It’s what I need. Kate, I love you so much. I can’t bear the thought of you being…”
His voice trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Though Josh had not given him the details of his sister’s torment at the hands of Aiden, he could only imagine that it was horrific. The thought of Kate being subjected to such sadism when he couldn’t be there to protect her was just too much to bear.
Loved by a Dragon: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Exiled Dragons Book 2) Page 5
