by Susan Arden
Seeing Mom and Dad in this fragile state solidified Shay’s desire to stop Necrodemas. She’d had quite the time losing her security team in the mall, but she’d done a little fancy footwork. She’d slipped out the rear exit from the lingerie store to her real destination, a spell caster, and away from the two wolf sentinels who’d opted to wait several feet from the entrance. She’d been smart enough to leave a piece of cardboard stuffed into the jamb so she could reenter an hour later, with her security squad none the wiser. Now, the expression on their faces was tense. Her brother would owe them big time she bet for doing mall duty, especially when she informed them she planned on doing more shopping … all week long.
“It was fun,” Sher replied. “Hope you got everything you were looking for.”
“I did, thanks to you.” Shay was now the proud owner of a vial of truth serum and the incantation to say in order to get Necrodemas to spill his effing guts. Not that Sherry had given it to her, but she gave her the address to a reputable botánica shop in walking distance to the mall, where she conversed privately with the spell caster owner. The owner assured that what she’d shared was held in the highest confidence and Sher backed that up: what was disclosed between a caster and her client couldn’t ever be relayed without strict and severe consequences from the Sisterhood Council. There were rules for spell casters. Lucky for Shay.
“How about a movie tomorrow night?” Sherry asked. “We’ll gorge and cry. Best therapy.”
Shay laughed. “Chick-flick and candy! Sure thing. My treat.”
Striding back into the Den, she greeted the doormen with a wide smile and cheerfully declined their help with her shopping bags. Instead, she bolted up the stairs and nodded to the sentinels who stood outside the door to the suite with their serious falcon gazes. They weren’t the most gregarious shifters, but then most birds of prey weren’t much into talk. Those guys were going to be a slight problem in how they hovered while she was here, but she counted on telling them she was going down to the restaurant later for dinner. So far they seemed to use cell phones to convey her whereabouts. The only unknown was going out the door through the restaurant kitchen. Hopefully there wasn’t a sentry posted at the back door, but if there was a guard, her newly acquired white chef’s jacket, apron, and chef’s hat from the uniform store at the mall would make her look like kitchen staff. No one would see that disguise coming.
She shut the door and immediately her gaze zoned in on the crystal vase of calla lilies that had been moved and the file box on the table. Shawn had stuck to his word and had the box of folders delivered. After dropping the shopping bags on the sofa, she snagged a bottle of water from the fridge and walked up to the table, pulled out a chair, and set the box on the floor.
One by freaking one, she removed each labeled file folder and read through the contents. The muscles along her neck and shoulders were pulled taut and she rotated her chin first to the left in a small circle, then to the right.
She tapped her fingers on top of the folder that pinned Dimitri to the bank account that had made a payment to Pestrolii’s henchmen, a day before her parents were run off the road a few miles from their house. There was an encrypted message with the location and date, matching the horrific accident. Her parents’ car along with the other car had careened off the road and down the side of the mountain, landing on a narrow cliff. Both cars were recovered and gone over with a fine tooth comb. The other car, a nondescript Buick, had been wiped clean, but not clean enough. It had been tracked back to a mechanic on the payroll of the Unruled.
After hours of leafing through pages and pages of information, some stamped as intel, she gathered that Shawn had acquired more than most of the documents from her very hardheaded and very closed mouth dragon fiancé. She wasn’t surprised Drake was trying to keep her out of the loop. She couldn’t be upset, given she wasn’t exactly being upfront with him in her need to settle a score on her own.
But spending time reading wasn’t the same as action. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure about how much physical distance impacted mind linking after she sampled Drake’s powerful ability to transverse realms. She couldn’t expose opening a channel to him, or he might intercept her thoughts. Whenever they mind linked, she was well aware of when he tapped into her brain, just as he recognized when she linked with him. She’d have to be vigilant for any signs he might traverse the structure of her brain, and she could alter her thoughts. Give him the mental slip. He expected that she’d dive into these files. She smiled to herself, a little deviously. If he perceived her thoughts about Necrodemas, she’d play it off as stemming from these files. Priceless. She mentally slapped herself on the back. Good one, Shay.
Drake said he’d be in a meeting this afternoon—family business—and she bet that was code for his dragon challenge. Well, two could delve into important stealth business, she told herself. She’d camped out here, which meant she’d better get cracking on a to-do list for tonight. Luckily she’d had the foresight to ask Sherry where to pick up some dark clothing and Sherry had suggested an everyday maternity shop in the mall. Shay scored with two pairs of jeans—one dark and the other black—with expanding panels along the hips. A black silk turtleneck wasn’t exactly sleuthing gear, but it would work. Unless she switched to primal form, then clothing became optional. But she’d have to have a place to stow her things or go streaking through Downtown Denver. Right now, she looked to be in her final month of pregnancy if she were carrying one baby, let alone twins, and if caught in the city limits as a leopardess, she’d be hauled away to a detainment center—a risk she didn’t want to entertain.
Don’t fret, Scarlett and Hunter, she mused. Since yesterday, she’d started to mull over baby names. She patted her expanding belly, convinced she couldn’t wait. Not another day.
It felt oddly centering to walk across the room and sift through the clothing, deciding what to wear. Another step in the task of stalking Dimitri. She’d have to work fast if she was going to figure out a way inside Necrodemas’s home with her only weapon being a dinner knife from the kitchenette. He lived in a posh neighborhood where upscale homes came with high tech security systems.
The simple approach suited her capabilities. She’d knock on his front door. He’d never suspect she had the capabilities of doing something gutsy in her condition. She could say she was there on Council business and excuse her rudeness in not phoning ahead.
And that’s where her plan kinda petered. What was she going to do with him once she got hold of the jackass besides getting him to own up to being the scum of the earth? She wasn’t a stone cold killer. Was she? Even as a leopard she’d never gone on a hunt. Never been allowed to, thanks to her parents. She studied her manicured nails, staring for a beat at her most wonderful engagement ring. But no, on the skin of her hands there wasn’t a callus to speak of. Her hands didn’t show signs of doing much manual labor at all. The closest she’d come was at the bar, lifting and toting the barrels of beer.
She might not be a hardcore kick-ass type, but she damn well knew if she got the goods on Necrodemas then she’d let the humans deal with him. It would be enough to get that moron to confess, then let justice be served by the officials who by rights should be doing this work. Not off to Vegas for a boys’ night out. Her hands would remain clean and with that thought she smiled.
When her cell phone buzzed she flinched. Holy Moses, what if it were Drake and he’d caught her red-handed plotting the fall of Necrodemas? She glanced at her cell with Drake’s number displayed. Not yet five in Oregon and hours before his final challenge according to the one she’d overheard.
“Hello!” she spat out nervously, answering her phone.
“Baby.” Drake’s deep voice evoked a rise in her heart rate and she gripped the phone, afraid she’d drop the darn thing. “What are you up to?”
Okay, take a deep breath. “Reading,” she replied, attempting to control her voice from screeching and demanding to know what he was up to. “But now I’m so ready for
a break. And you … how goes it? Still neck deep in family affairs? Nothing dangerous I hope.” Shay, shut up!
“Missing you,” he returned.
Her heart clenched and she whispered, “I can’t wait for you to return.”
He chuckled. “I’ll be there but wish it was sooner than tomorrow. I’m harder than forged steel and titanium combined.”
“I don’t have anything to compare with that visual … other than I’m sitting here on my way to getting naked, my legs are spread, and I’m so, so wet and wishing you were here right now.”
“Holy fuck! You win with the best visual.”
“Don’t know about that. Are you really hard?”
“So much, I’m on my way back to my room to take care of some business. We could both take care of some mutual business together … if you’re game.”
Shay rose from the table and moved into the bedroom, discarding her sweater and stepping out of her skirt. If he was game for some phone sex, that meant he was safe. Why not enjoy a sexy moment before tonight? She was on edge, adrenaline coursing through her veins, and she held the phone in a vise grip. “Sure. I am if you are.”
“What are you wearing?”
“Umm … ” She trailed her fingers down from her waist. “Panties, bra, and boots.”
“Jesus. Shay, take off the bra and panties. Now. Then get on the bed, lay back, and open those beautiful thighs of yours.”
“What about you?” she asked in a husky voice. She’d never had phone sex and this was so delectably hot.
“I’m standing inside my suite with my cock in hand.”
She scrambled out of her lingerie and on to the bed. “I followed your directions. Now what?”
“Christ, I miss you so fucking much.” His deep voice spread over her senses like warmed caramel. “Stroke your fingers once across your clit.”
“Just once. I need more.”
“Once Shay, and then stop.”
She touched herself and melted. Oh my God.
From one stroke, she felt the pulsations inside her body … his body. They were linked. Twelve hundred miles of physical distance, but they were so very close—a heartbeat away from the arousal rippling under her skin. She could feel his pleasure twine with hers. “Again,” he said in a gravelly voice. “Touch yourself baby, and make yourself come.”
She arched upward, her body bowing as she stroked down her swollen and wet flesh. A moan burst from her, and she didn’t hold back. “Drake, I’m about to shatter. Please.”
“How wet are you?” he growled.
“Drenched,” she panted, putting him on speakerphone and setting her cell on the bed. She plucked her nipples. This was maddening and she was ready to scream his name. How was this possible? Her body felt commanded, like he was thrusting into her—hard and steady with his dragon tempo and force.
“Come for me, baby. All over your fingers.”
“And you?” she groaned
“I’m right there with you. God, Shay. It’s like I’m fucking you with my mind.”
“Oh Drake, I’m there!”
For seconds, she still felt him. Each stroke he delivered. She felt him handling his dick and the pleasure he derived, and then when he orgasmed, she climaxed again.
“Holy fuck!” he groaned. “Best phone sex.”
She chuckled. “First time for me.”
“It won’t be the last, I can assure you,” he rasped. “What are you up to tonight?”
Her eyes flashed open. “Err … I had a big day shopping.”
“Then order in food and relax. How about the babies?”
She looked down at her abdomen and watched the rippling of her flesh as their children somersaulted. “Very, very active. I believe they are going to give us a run for our money when they finally get here. We’d better invest in sneakers. Lots of them.”
“We’ll be ready,” he grunted, now sounding more relaxed albeit hoarse.
• • •
What was his little leopardess up to with that rise in the pitch of her voice that caught his attention when she’d answered the phone? He mused, walking toward his closet and unbuttoning his shirt. In an hour he’d be headed to the ring of fire within the magickal land in the Gifford Pinchot Forest, far inside the volcanic depths of Mount St. Helen’s.
He’d traveled there as a sentry for his brothers, during their claiming challenge. This was the last step to accept and assert his rightful place in the universe as an eternal. Tonight, he’d breach the guarded citadel where his family kept their horde, leading a group of phoenix shifters, foul-mouthed and with even fouler moods. It had been a years at least since he’d last laid eyes on the keeper of their horde during his older brother’s claiming, and now it was his turn to accept the challenge of the Hood Jinni, a genie who’d served his family and kept not only their horde safe, but was the keeper of the dragon flame, and his family’s history records. Every male dragon had gone through the challenge, but not all had survived.
But if he did, his inheritance would be his to control and even more inviting was the fact that the Hood Jinni would serve to protect Shay and his children. That one factor was worth walking through the firestorms of hell to have the Jinni on board his team, a type of security no one would overcome—not even Dark Fae. According to his family’s pledge, their Jinni could only be used to assist them for their personal protection, not used as a magickal pit bull. He couldn’t sic the genie on anyone who made the dumbass decision to annoy him or his mate, but he and Shay would have their homes warded against any intruders—human or preternatural—as well as access to his family’s riches as rightful heirs.
With that on his plate, Drake fought pushing aside his promise to remain on the periphery of Shay’s thoughts, staying free from the deeper corridors of her mind and her inner most personal mental imagery. But he could, easily, when they were this enmeshed. During sex, she’d more than likely be unaware he’d crossed her intellectual boundaries—but that equated to breaking her trust. Fuck!
And what if she did the same to him and found out where he was headed? What he was up against. If he survived the Jinni, he’d have hell to pay to one leopardess dragon for all of eternity. That equation was all shades of fucked up.
He punched in Shawn’s number. “Hey, what’s up?” he barked. “Thought you were back at your parents’?”
“I am.” He inhaled. “Need a favor.”
“Boy, you’re gonna owe me something terrible when this is all said and done. But hell, I guess you marrying my sister moves you into the category of family.”
“It’s about your lovely sister,” he shot back, then scrubbed a hand over his face.
“We talked earlier and everything was fine. Did something happen?” Shawn’s voice flared. “I should have known when she blew off my dinner invitation.”
“Hold on. I just spoke with her and she said she’s fine. So simmer the hell down and listen.”
“Gotcha.”
“Look,” he began gruffly. “It’s more like an itch I can’t scratch. An instinct. Christ, this must sound like I’m whipped.”
“Well past whipped,” Shawn replied, snorting.
“Fuck, you sound like Noah.”
“Bullshit. That’ll be the day. How is that cynical fucker? He still working with you?”
He rolled his eyes. “We’re tight, but that’s beside the point. If you don’t mind … can you check on her?”
“You’re joking. Aren’t you?”
“Naw. I’m up the side of a mountain and as you’re aware Shay’s at the Den. It’s not that I don’t trust your guys, but there are a few too many unknowns.”
Hell, maybe it’s the wrong time to be in holed up here. His family might not understand but wouldn’t be the first time.
Shawn chortled loudly. “My guys are drawing straws on who gets Shay duty. It’s what they call it. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my sister, but she’s putting it to them with shopping and not just a random run, but a full day.”
“She’s a mother-to-be extraordinaire. Isn’t that what pregnant women do? She had Fin and Slade waiting for over an hour outside a store in the mall today. Then she tried to give them the slip but they tailed her down the street to some spell caster’s shop in Old Town. They didn’t let on, but Fin questioned the shop owner who said it was some girly stuff. No biggie.”
Drake stiffened completely; billowing puffs of smoke exited his mouth. I need to calm the fuck down. Just because Shay had him scurrying during the summer and she’d slipped his team, didn’t mean she was doing the same now—well not exactly. She was up to her old tricks, but only to visit a spell caster. “Did she come out with any shopping bags?” he asked suddenly.
“Only about a dozen filled up Sherry’s car.”
Okay. Maybe she was shopping. He’d been gone for less than two days and besides visiting her parents, Shay had spent her time shopping. It could happen. “Can you check on her and keep a few tabs on her? She read through the information you delivered.”
“Ah. And you think she might get an idea and act on it. Shay’s always been rebellious, but to go looking for trouble when she’s pregnant?”
“She’s even more stubborn and easier to rile after seeing your mom. Wouldn’t you after reading the intel?” He raked his fingers through his hair, walking into his closet and shrugging out of his shirt, and looking for something to throw on for the challenge.
“If I wasn’t in charge of the justice council, I’d kick his teeth in,” Shawn growled. “If something happens to my father, I honestly don’t know if I can continue working for the council.”
