Though she desperately needed more, she put her hands against his chest. Every time they met, their encounters ended in a flurry of physical attention. She needed to slow down, even if that meant disappointing Gale tonight.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. She waited for him to press for more or take the moment to prepare to enter her. Instead, his eyes drifted shut and he dragged in a deep, but ragged breath.
“Slower,” he said.
Baylee’s brows furrowed. She studied him, unsure of what he meant.
“You want to go slower,” he said, clearly strained.
She let out a relieved breath. Gale must have heard it because he hung his head over her shoulder. His fingers dug into the ground on either side of her head, then slowly relaxed.
“Slower. I can do slower. I can go at whatever pace you want. If stopping is what you want, I can do that, too.”
Baylee blinked back tears. She wasn’t used to people listening to her. In her own world, she wasn’t just the youngest, but the most likely to cause trouble. All eyes were on her. When she spoke up, her family could be all too quick to shut her down.
Though they loved her, what they wanted for her wasn’t the best, even if they thought so. She wanted this. She wanted someone who could read her like an open book, who didn’t make her want to close the cover and hide away.
“Can we…just snuggle and talk?” she asked. “I like this, the skin on skin. It’s nice.”
He laughed into her shoulder. “Sure, but I can’t make any promise that my erection will go away.”
She warmed, pleased. Not that she would tell him that. The admission would only get things heated again. When he lowered himself so that more of his body touched hers, his weight a comforting presence, she nearly moaned with delight.
“I’m sorry for what I did to your house,” she whispered.
“Don’t be sorry. It was funny. Don’t do it again, though.” He paused. His body trembled, but it took her a moment to realize that his beast was growling and that he was holding back the sound. “I don’t like the idea of you getting caught, little star.”
He said it again. Two small words did things to her that she didn’t even know were possible. She swallowed and nodded. Though he couldn’t see her, she knew he’d understood the gesture.
“Do you think…” She bit her lip and shook her head.
No. That couldn’t be right.
But Gale rose and looked her in the eye. He lifted a brow, a mixture of curiosity and concern crossing his face.
She exhaled. “What if this is punishment for what Logan and Elliana did? They defied fate so fate decided to punish their descendants.”
“Well,” he said. “Logan and Elliana don’t have any direct descendants. Neither bore children before they left this world. So, I don’t think this has anything to do with that.”
Baylee wasn’t convinced. They still had the blood of the star-crossed lovers that turned their families against one another. She had no way of telling what fate had planned for either of them, but she feared that it was pushing them toward ruin.
They’d nearly gotten caught earlier. Had Gale not reacted so quickly, then Cash would have found them together. Of course, they could have tried all sorts of excuses, but it would have been an unbelievable mess.
Did she continue on this path and tempt fate? Her heart begged her to give this a chance, but Baylee didn’t want to see Gale get hurt. There was a risk that Gale’s family would turn on him if they saw the two of them together. She knew that Montoyas could be cruel, especially when it came to any member of the Barnes family.
As Gale moved behind her and pulled her tight into his chest, her beast purred happily. The creature inside her would never let Gale go. Even if he vanished from her life forever, she would never forget him. This short time with him would leave her changed.
“How do we make this last?” Baylee asked, not yet ready to give up even though the world was against them.
Gale didn’t answer. He nibbled her ear while his fingers pressed into her skin. The way he squeezed her tight made her breath shudder.
She had seen what the Montoya family was capable of. Theo’s scars were a warning to all Barnes dragons. But Gale wouldn’t hurt her. She knew he would never—but that wouldn’t stop his family from hurting her. She could place her trust in him, but they were outnumbered on either side.
“Whose house are you going to deface next?” Gale asked.
He’d changed the subject, but she couldn’t blame him. If she used all her energy dreading the catastrophe ahead, then she would never be able to enjoy the moments they had.
“I was thinking of leaving Theo a present,” she said. “He doesn’t go out much, so I’m going to see how long it takes him to notice. After that, I’m painting I’m a big pussy on my brother’s truck.”
“You’re such a loving sister,” Gale said into her ear.
A shiver raced through her. She laughed it off, trying not to fall into the sea of need growing inside her.
“Do you like spray paint? As a medium? That’s what it’s called, right?”
She remained silent for a moment, knowing that if she told the truth, he would be disappointed. She was so tired of being a disappointment. For most of her teenage years, she’d claimed the label as her own so that no one could use it against her, but it had grown heavy in the past years. She regretted ever leaning into it.
“Not quite what you were looking for, then?”
When she heard no hint of frustration or exhaustion in Gale’s voice, she said, “It’s fun, but not what I want to do all the time.”
He’d spent money on her only so she could tell him that she wasn’t really all that interested in what he’d given her. She couldn’t believe what she’d told him.
But Gale didn’t seem all that bothered. “Hm…I guess we’ll have to try something new.”
She craned her neck, trying to get a look at him. “You’re not bothered?”
“I knew that this would be a process. I didn’t expect to hand you something that would solve all your problems. This is going to include a lot of trial and error before you find what actually makes you happy.”
Baylee was stunned. “You want to…help me?”
For the first time in her life, Baylee had an anchor. Her family’s expectations had been chains, holding her back from what she could have been. They’d been gilded with love, but they were still chains. What Gale offered her had weight, but it wasn’t holding her back.
He grounded her and kept her from drifting uselessly as time passed her by. He wanted to see her succeed, wanted to be a part of that journey to success. Excitement made her wriggle with joy. Gale laughed and held her tighter.
“I can…” be anyone I want to be. She didn’t finish her sentence, afraid that if she spoke it into the universe that fate would come by and snatch it away.
But the thought remained. It gave her energy. It gave her power.
She sat up and looked down at the man still naked on the ground beside her. “Why me? What is it about me that makes you want to do this?”
“You are completely inexplicable. I won’t have an answer for any question you ask. Not yet.”
That crackle of frustration returned. She wanted to know what kept him here. Of course, she could look to his groin and find evidence of obvious sexual attraction, but she wanted more. She wanted to crawl inside him and see if this could be the beginnings of love.
She only hoped that it wasn’t a mate bond.
If these feelings were an indication of something as permanent and inescapable as a mate bond, then they were trapped. Baylee didn’t like the thought of being with anyone else. It made her beast snarl angrily. She wanted to sink her claws into this man and hold onto him forever, but those instincts could get them in trouble.
Every corner they rounded could hold trouble. As much as she hated reminding herself, she needed to remain vigilant.
“I should get going,” she said. She lowered
her gaze to the ground. “Charlie is still at the house.”
Gale’s growl echoed in the grove. “Charlie?”
“He gave me an option…” Should she tell him? Should she have even brought it up?
Gale sat up. He cupped her cheek, his hand rough and demanding, and drew her attention back up to him. The light of his beast dominated his eyes. “Don’t do anything you don’t want to do. I can protect you. No one can force you to do anything so long as I’m around.”
She reached up to hold his arm. As much as she wished that were true, Gale’s promise would only get them in trouble. She had to end this before it became a problem.
Or, she could accept Charlie’s offer and take what she wanted from her life. She could have the romance she wanted. All she had to do was tell Gale.
Something kept her lips sealed, though. Now wasn’t the right time. She wanted this night to end happily so that she could hold onto it forever.
7
Gale felt eyes on him. His beast snarled as he turned and scanned his surroundings. The darkness obscured whoever was stalking him, but an unfamiliar scent hung on the air. One of the Barnes dragons must have caught him near Baylee and prowled after him to catch them in the act.
Lip curling, Gale leashed his beast. The creature would fight tooth and nail to see her smile again, but to the beast, that meant being with her. Gale knew that sometimes, staying away would keep her safer, no matter how much he hated it.
So, he jammed his hands into his pockets and kept walking. He wanted whoever was watching to think that Gale just needed a breath of fresh air. Living with Cash wasn’t easy, so that was a believable farce in his mind.
The feeling of being watched never quite went away. His beast carved through him. Pain split Gale in half. He stumbled and reached for his head. A throb took up residence in his skull. The beast rioted inside him.
Turn.
Fight.
Protect your mate.
Gale couldn’t risk outing their relationship, though. He held back the beast as long as he could, though it pained him to do so. When she mentioned another man’s name, his beast had reacted before he could. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone cornering her and pushing her into a decision she wasn’t ready for.
Perhaps that was it. Gale had fallen for her because he wanted to protect her. Baylee wasn’t weak, but she was stuck in circumstances that she didn’t want. He wanted to dive in and whisk her away from it all so she could be happy.
Gale had a history of wanting to be a white knight. Before anyone else could volunteer to be Cash’s roommate, Gale had already moved in. He kept tabs on Cash’s moods and was there to be the man’s punching bag when nights got bad. Cash always expected Gale to be pissed, but it left him oddly satisfied.
Like, he’d done the right thing. Gale wanted to be the reason that someone was happier.
He wanted to be more than just another dragon destined to reproduce to keep the lineage going.
He shook free from his thoughts. The feeling of being watched hadn’t gone away. He wished the stalker would step out and confront him. His skin crawled as his beast tried to pinpoint the invisible threat.
But hands grabbed him by the shoulders. Startled, Gale growled and shoved.
Cash staggered back from him.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” Gale had been so distracted that he hadn’t even noticed his own cousin in front of him.
Cash straightened. “I’d like to ask you the same thing.”
Gale’s beast tensed. The invisible threat hadn’t left. Someone watched them from a distance, splitting Gale’s attention between them and Cash’s interrogation. Gale didn’t need this right now. He could handle one or the other, not both at the same time.
“I needed to stretch my wings,” Gale said, nonchalantly.
Cash narrowed his eyes at him. “I have to tell you, the signs aren’t adding up in your favor.”
“That was cryptic as hell. What are you trying to insinuate?” Gale couldn’t push Cash any further away.
Cash needed someone in his life, or his beast would riot from the loneliness. They’d all seen it happen. If Gale couldn’t convince Cash that there wasn’t any funny business going on, then Cash would be the one to suffer.
When it came down to it, Gale had to choose the Montoyas over any feelings he might have. His beast hated the idea. It tried to rebel, but Gale held firm. He masked his beast’s wrath as he looked Cash dead in the eye.
Montoyas first.
No matter how much it pained him.
“If you wanted to come with me, then all you had to do was ask,” Gale said. “I assumed you had a gig tonight, or I would have extended an invitation.”
Cash crossed his arms over his chest. “I canceled my show tonight to see what you’ve been up to this whole time.”
Well, that explained a lot. If Cash didn’t play music, his beast could get restless and grumpy. The split between Cash and his beast wasn’t so broad as it was for other dragons. Gale suspected that their thoughts often bled into one another to create one beast.
Gale was lucky that he’d grabbed clothes from one of the hidden caches in the area before walking home. Baylee’s scent was buried under the smell of wilderness and lingering fabric softener. However, if Cash leaned in too close, he would catch wind of it.
“You know, I found a nice little spot in the woods tonight,” Cash began. “It’s a little cliff that looks out over the whole town. There’s just one thing that I don’t get.”
Gale’s heart thumped. His beast wanted to claw its way out of him and silence Cash. Gale’s handle on the dragon inside himself was growing tenuous. One misstep, and the creature would escape.
Cash’s nose wrinkled. “That whole place smelled of Barnes dragons, but I also smelled you there. What were you doing on Barnes’ territory?”
Gale sucked in a breath through his nose while his beast thrashed his heart. Claws raked at him from the inside. Scorching pain burned away at him.
One. Wrong. Move.
That was all that was needed for everything to fall apart.
Cash watched him expectantly, but Gale couldn’t speak. If he did, flames would fall from his tongue. As it was, the beast’s fire had climbed into his throat. It burned there, ready to be unleashed upon the world.
Finally, Cash sighed. “You can trust me. You know that, right?”
Gale realized he couldn’t. Though he loved his cousin, Gale couldn’t tell anyone with the Montoya name about what was happening in his life. They each had a duty to protect the family from the Barnes women. If they didn’t uphold that, then the family would refuse to trust them.
The Old Lizard would strip them of everything that was entitled to them. Their standing in the family and the inheritance that kept them afloat would be stripped. Gale couldn’t do that to his cousin.
“The hills have been silent,” Cash said as he turned away. He looked back, waiting for Gale to follow him.
At first, Gale had no idea what that meant. He was still caught up in his dragon’s wrath. Cash’s words meant nothing while Gale endured flames and pain.
“The Old Lizard thinks that it has to do with Logan,” Cash said.
Gale blinked. His beast stilled. “What did you say?”
Cash shrugged. “The Old Lizard has a theory that the tremors in the mines weren’t from a collapse. He thinks that Logan has woken up. I think that the old man is senile and needs to be removed from the head of the family before he costs us the last of what we have.”
Since Logan retreated to the Montoya Mines, the family had been steadily bleeding money. Over the course of time, they tried to reallocate their funds to generate more income, but it never seemed to stop dwindling. Most of their losses came from the old man’s investments.
“If Logan came back, then the Old Lizard would lose his place in the family. Logan would resume his position as leader of the clan,” Cash reminded him.
“That isn’t going to ha
ppen. Logan went to ground because a Barnes woman broke his heart. He’s never going to wake.”
Cash stopped and gave Gale a look he couldn’t decipher. “Is that what you’re going to do?”
“Shove it,” Gale grumbled.
He should have realized it earlier, but now Gale knew that Cash had his suspicions. Gale had been caught up in his beast’s outbursts. Just when he thought he’d escaped outing himself, Cash reminded him that he wasn’t very good at keeping secrets.
Baylee stared down at the piece of paper on the kitchen table. Her heart sank all the way down to her feet where it sat, deflated and useless. Someone, she didn’t know who, had taken it upon themselves to pick up a marriage license.
The house was dark since everyone had either gone out or gone to bed for the evening. Alone, she snatched it up and pursed her lips. A small plume of fire sprang from her lips to ignite the corner of the paper. Basking in the light of the flames, she brought it to the sink and let it burn.
“I only want what I think is best for you,” her mother said.
Baylee dropped the paper and turned to face her mother. The license sputtered and crackled behind her while her mother watched with disapproval.
“I’m an adult,” Baylee said. “I can make my own decisions.”
Her mother said nothing.
“You went through this yourself. Don’t you remember what it felt like to be plucked from your life and shoved into someone else’s world? Why can’t you let me do this on my own time?”
Her mother’s lips formed a grim line. She entered the room, pulled out a kitchen chair, and patted it before taking the one beside it. Baylee didn’t move. She held her place near the sink, where the smoke of the burning marriage license curled in the air.
“I don’t want you to miss out on anything,” Mom said.
Baylee’s jaw clenched tight. Forcing her to choose a husband and settle down was the whole reason she would miss out on anything.
“I remember when I married into this family. It was scary, at first. That didn’t last long because I was gifted Jensen. I realized that I would never be alone so long as I had my children. You and your brother are the greatest things to have ever happened to me.”
Conquered Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 1) Page 6
