They reached the top of the hill. The path curved around, snaking through a wall of trees before leading them to an open ledge. From there, they could see the whole town and even the Montoya hills in the distance. To the east, the Barnes farms sprawled like a patchwork blanket. Baylee sat on the edge, the heels of her boots tapping the stone cliff face as she looked up at Gale.
A slow smile crossed his face as he looked out over their territories.
“I’m going to make a confession,” Gale said.
Baylee held her breath, unsure of what he might say. She’d thought she had the gumption to turn the tables against him, but her defenses had fallen along the way. Being around Gale made her more comfortable than she should have been.
“I wanted to make you hurt for what you did yesterday,” Gale said without looking at her. When he met her gaze, she saw how his eyes wavered with indecision. “I don’t know…”
His sentence hung, unfinished, but Baylee understood. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Instead of telling him that, she patted the ground next to herself. She missed the warmth that radiated off his body and wanted to bask in it for a little while longer before they had to part ways.
Whatever it was they had, it wasn’t sustainable. Baylee told herself over and over that this would have to end. They would have to force themselves to walk away because of decades of history that didn’t even involve them. How unfair was that?
She studied him as he dropped to sit beside her. There was a small scar on his cheek, nearly covered by the beard starting to grow along his jaw. She watched his Adam’s apple bob nervously. He put a hand on her thigh and stroked his thumb over her knee. Then his brow furrowed, and his gaze slid to where his hand sat, as if he hadn’t meant to touch her.
Her dragon trilled inside her. Baylee wished she knew what that meant. Of course, the beast was excited, but was there more to this than the simple pleasure of touch?
She expected him to pull away. Or, more dramatic even, fling himself off the cliff, shift forms, and fly away.
Instead, Gale squeezed and kept his hand on her. His touch made her heart race. Uncertainty and excitement turned into a whirlwind inside of her that tied her tongue. She leaned into his shoulder and savored the moment instead of trying to talk.
She wasn’t falling for Gale Montoya. That was out of the question. This was an act of defiance and nothing more. Baylee didn’t want to straddle his lap and rest her hands against his collarbones so she could feel his chest muscles flex as he moved to hold her. No. She didn’t want that at all.
“Tell me about yourself,” Gale said.
“What more do you need to know? I’m a Barnes seductress, an omen of ruination for you. Isn’t that all there is to me?” The bitterness of her statement lingered on her tongue.
“You said you’re running out of time. What do you want to do before your parents make you choose a mate?” Though his words remained steady, his fingers dug into her thigh almost possessively as he said mate.
Baylee tried not to think about what that could mean, but her thoughts kept returning to his grip because she didn’t want him to let go. She didn’t want to marry the dragon man her mother had invited over this weekend. Her life was her own, and if she had her way, she would explore whatever it was that she felt when Gale looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I had all these big plans when I got Mom to compromise with me. But four years have slipped by now, and I’m directionless. I haven’t even tried any of the things I wanted to do.”
She traced the back of his hand, following the rough skin over his knuckles and the veins that led toward his wrist. Gale shuddered, and she smiled.
“What did you have in mind?” he asked, breathlessly.
She heard a double meaning in his words. She could tell him how she wanted to push him back onto the earth and straddle him. She could tease him with all the things she would do out here with the sky as their witness.
Instead, Baylee said, “I thought about painting landscapes for a while. I thought about becoming a tattoo artist. I even thought about claiming a bit of the farmland to cultivate flowers for my own floral business. None of that happened.”
Gale turned his hand over. Baylee continued to trace the lines of his palm, making him shiver when her fingertips strayed toward the inside of his wrist. She ran her finger along the leather cuff wrapped around it.
“That’s an odd bucket list,” Gale whispered, his attention on her fingertip against his skin.
It was a bucket list, wasn’t it? Baylee could live such a long time as a dragon shifter. The oldest of them sometimes lived two centuries, depending on circumstances. Baylee might not get to stick around that long, but she had so many years ahead of her. Yet, here she was, trying to fit an entire life into a handful of years.
“To me, it sounds like you want to make things. I don’t see anything wrong with wanting to leave your mark on the world, especially if your family makes you feel like you can’t do that.”
Baylee stiffened.
Gale cringed. “What did I say that was wrong?”
“No, that’s not…You didn’t say anything wrong. If anything, you hit the nail on the head.” Baylee chewed her lower lip before stealing a glance at Gale. “How is it that we should be enemies, but you’ve taken one look at me and understood what no one else has been able to get?”
His eyes filled with the light of his beast. She watched it swirl as his gaze dropped to her lips. “We’ve crossed all sorts of boundaries in the past twenty-four hours. I’ve seen sides of you no one else has.”
“Oh, fuck off,” she said, trying to be flippant and funny.
The light in his eyes brightened. The corner of his mouth lifted. “I’d like to fuck you instead.”
As he leaned into her space, Baylee shrank back until she found herself flat against the ground. Gale hovered over her, locks of his mahogany hair hanging around his face. His talon necklace grazed her chest as he lowered towards her.
She meant to put her hands against his chest to stop him, but she wound her arms around his neck instead. He pressed his face into the curve of her neck. His hot breath washed over her skin and made her want to rise into him. She managed to contain herself until Gale nipped her neck.
“I want more and more of you by the moment,” Gale said into her skin. “I want to know you inside and out. This need is too much. Will I ever get you out of my system?”
Her blood turned hot. She dug her nails into him and drew a growl from his lips. He shoved an arm beneath her, pulled her away from the ledge, and covered her with his body. The weight of him against her shouldn’t have felt as safe as it did, as right as it did.
She wrapped her legs around him to hold him where he belonged. Gale’s growl never ceased. The sound of his beast drew hers to the surface. No man had ever roused her dragon like this. Every inch of her body crackled with unspent energy. Like fire, it gave her two choices—succumb to it or be consumed.
Gale thrust, grinding against her. Waves of sensation crashed from her core to her heart, making her fear that when the wave washed out, it would carry her heart back to Gale. She clung tight to her emotions and refused to give them up.
She, too, needed to get this man out of her system. If they gave in and let the fire burn, then perhaps they would both walk away with no need to return ever again. The fires would raze the discontent tangling their thoughts and feelings. Once the turmoil burned away, they would be able to move on with their lives.
Well, that was the idea.
Every small touch, every bite, every whisper stoked the flames. When Baylee thought it could not get any hotter, Gale found a new sweet spot. He kissed the hollow between her collarbones. His fingers danced down her waist. He pressed his knee between her legs.
When would the water come? What would put her out and allow her to rest?
Just as Gale’s lips finally reached hers, a ringtone cut through the air. Baylee froze. F
or a moment, she considered ignoring the call. She didn’t have to answer every single time someone wanted to find her.
But she’d been hiding all morning. If she stayed hidden for much longer, they would send out a search party, and someone would find out that she’d been hiding with Gale. Now that she needed more of him, she hated the thought of getting caught and having this clandestine affair fall apart before she got what she wanted.
With a sigh, she put her hands against Gale’s chest. He stopped and hung his head. Baylee put her finger to her lips as she wriggled to get her phone from her pocket. Gale moved down her body and rested his head against her stomach. Without thinking, she reached to play with his hair.
“Stop running away and just tell Mom that you don’t like this guy,” Jensen said when Baylee answered the phone.
She bit her tongue. Jensen didn’t understand. She had almost no say. So long as this dragon man turned out to be a half-decent guy with enough interest in Baylee, there was a strong chance their mother would hand her off. While Jensen got to have his pick, Baylee’s hands were tied.
Laying low and avoiding this guy was her best option. If she tried to be feisty, there was always the chance that the guy had a fetish for that kind of thing. She’d heard of dragon men who liked to break their headstrong mates. The thought made her shudder.
Gale lifted his head, a question poised on his lips. Baylee immediately glared at him. If he even breathed, then Jensen would hear him.
“Tell her I’ll be home in a little while.”
Jensen grumbled. “What’s a little while? Mom is getting restless.”
The temptation to throw her phone into the wilderness below and scream her heart out was almost overwhelming. Gale’s fingers, constantly moving against her waist, kept her grounded.
“Twenty minutes?” she asked, hopeful.
Jensen groaned on the other end. “Sure. I’ll run interference, but I can’t promise Mom won’t send Callum or Theo to find you in the meantime.”
All she wanted was time to herself. She didn’t want suitors invading her home, reminding her that there was a ticking clock that she couldn’t silence no matter how hard she tried. Tears gathered in her eyes. Her hands were tied.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said, defeated, and ended the call.
All the fire that she and Gale had conjured had turned to ashes. Limp and tired, she sank into the earth and prayed it would rise up to cover her. Maybe if she turned to the ground and fell into a deep slumber, then everyone would leave her alone for a while.
Gale took her hand and turned it palm out. She watched as he brought her wrist to his mouth and placed a featherlight kiss against her skin. Her lips parted, her breath leaving her. She didn’t know how such a simple gesture could turn her inside out.
She’d had partners before, but none left her feeling like this. They didn’t steal the air from her lungs or make her heart race. They never left her wanting more, wanting to know if they might steal her heart if she didn’t guard it.
“I have to go.”
“Mhm,” Gale mumbled into her skin.
She bit down on her lip, almost hard enough to draw blood, when desire overtook her again. His breath, the rumble of his voice, the barest brush of his beard. It was all too much. And yet, it wasn’t enough.
“Can we…” she hesitated. “Can we try again? Another day?”
Gale rose, putting his weight on his hands as he crawled on top of her again. She reached for him because she couldn’t help but touch him when he was so close. His beast growled inside him as his eyes roved over her.
For a moment, she feared the worst. This would be the end. She’d strayed too close to a Montoya, and now he would finish what he’d set out to do. But would that be so bad? She reveled in how he felt against her, even though the threat of doom loomed ahead. She would rather go out with a bang than be forgotten in the background of another’s life.
Gale’s arms tensed, muscles straining when he slowly lowered himself. Baylee moved to kiss him, but he shifted his weight to one arm and took her by the hair to tilt her head back. His teeth met the vulnerable skin of her throat.
A moan slipped out of her, unbidden. She clenched her fists in his shirtsleeves while wave after wave of want tore through her.
“We’ll finish this tomorrow night,” Gale said. He rose and met her gaze.
“Good. I want to be rid of you just as much as you want to be rid of me,” she lied.
Gale chuckled and sat back on his haunches, leaving Baylee’s hands empty and her body unprotected. Immediately, she wanted him back. She wanted him pressed against her, holding her down and hiding her from the world.
But she didn’t ask for more. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair to make sure she didn’t look like she’d just fraternized with the enemy. Now that she thought about it, she should shift and roll in the dirt for a bit to change her scent. But that wouldn’t do anything to get Gale out of her clothing.
She’d never had to hide something so big before. There had been little things over the years, like her candy smuggling business in elementary school that made her enough money to buy a handheld gaming system, but nothing like this.
She couldn’t tell anyone about Gale or the feelings he stirred inside her. She couldn’t tell anyone that every step away from him felt like a step in the wrong direction. His orbit pulled her back so that she might have the company of someone who listened to her. His dragon enticed her and pulled her own beast to the surface.
Gale could be a very dangerous addiction if she wasn’t careful.
4
Gale’s dragon thrashed as he watched Baylee walk away. The beast would have had him grab her and carry her away to safety. Gale told himself that was his sex drive talking. He only wanted to protect her so that he could get what he wanted from her. That was it.
His heart didn’t ache for the trapped girl trying to find her way out of a cage with no doors. He felt nothing for the girl whose dreams were only to create.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
The beast’s fire seared his skin from the inside out. It urged him to go and take Baylee home. He couldn’t imagine the look on Cash’s face when he opened the door and found the Barnes woman on their couch. Cash would burn the house down.
Baylee wasn’t the only one boxed in by their legacy. Her story sounded much like his own. Gale’s mother asked him when he was going to find a nice girl and give her grandchildren. Since his mother was a human woman, she didn’t pressure him to continue the Montoya name. She only wanted to hear the laughter of small children again.
His extended family, however, were in the process of finding mates for him and Cash. They had a list of dragon women from around the nation, even a few from Canada. Gale had given it a glance, though he could glean nothing about a person from their name scrawled on a piece of paper. Cash had ignored it altogether.
Gale wished that something would distract his family for a while. He didn’t know what would pull their focus from the incessant matchmaking, but if they had something else to deal with, then they wouldn’t pay attention while Gale finished what he’d started with Baylee.
Once he got what he wanted from her, then he would be free. His dragon wouldn’t roar at him and berate him for not going with her. He would have his life, his beast, and his mind back.
Gale ripped off his shirt and let his beast loose. The creature rushed forward and slammed talons into the earth. The beast’s tail lashed against the tree branches overhead, making leaves rain down. For a moment, both Gale and the beast thought about tracking Baylee to make sure she got home safe.
The Barnes woman didn’t need him, though. She was on her own territory, surrounded by her family who would never let her far from their leash. Though he hated to admit it, that did mean she would always be protected.
But never happy.
The thought weighed him down. He could tell himself that it was not his job to save her, but he couldn’t shake free of th
e urge to do so. The beast saved him by taking to the skies. It sensed something on the horizon. Not a threat that the beast could see, but an instinct that sparked along his bones.
Gale flew towards the mines. It had been quite some time since he’d visited them. The family business had died once Logan Montoya had taken to the ground. The family patriarch who’d been brutally betrayed by his Barnes lover had turned to the mines in order to sleep his misery away.
Ever since then, they’d had to halt mining. They could not afford to have anyone discover a sleeping dragon hidden in the earth. If a human found Logan and disturbed his peace, they would risk revealing the existence of shifters to the world. Or, risk losing workers to a dragon who might be deranged.
Just as Gale landed, the ground beneath him shook. Startled, he leapt into the air. He looked around for the source of the tremor. Perhaps his uncle’s ex-wife was having another tantrum. If anyone thought that witches and dragons were bad matches, they’d never seen what happened when a dragon tried to court a fae woman.
But the woman was nowhere to be seen. Gale paused and listened, but he heard only the shifting groan of rock against rock. He listened to stones tumbling in the mines below, plinking one on top of the other and knew that there was something happening in there.
Of course, Gale’s first thought was of Logan, but he knew that once a dragon began hibernation there was little that could wake them. Perhaps Logan wanted to move locations. Gale waited, straining for the sound of a dragon’s movement. There was no way he wouldn’t be able to hear Logan’s footsteps.
But, he heard nothing. The earth stopped rumbling, and everything returned to normal. Gale must have arrived just as a tunnel collapsed. The mines were old and deteriorating. His family hadn’t been able to keep up with them.
Gale had hoped that Logan would wake from his slumber and keep the Montoya family busy so that he could explore what he felt for Baylee, but Gale wasn’t so lucky.
He had to let go of whatever he and Baylee had because it wasn’t going to work out. Not in the long run.
Conquered Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 1) Page 3
