Violca's Dragon
Page 9
“Okay V, will call you soon so we can have lunch.”
“Okay, talk to you later.” Hanging up, Violca smiles, feeling better having talked to AnnaBelle. Brandon and AnnaBelle can always make her smile, even when it’s something as simple as a phone call.
Chapter 21
Chase watches the girls for a little bit, smiling when he sees Violca pull up to the house. Waiting a few minutes before calling her, the sound of her voice instantly makes him smile. “Hey V, its Chase.”
“Hi Chase. How are you?”
“I’m good, I was just wondering if you and your sisters wanted to go out for dinner tonight? Italian, maybe?”
“Thanks, sounds great.”
“Great, I was doing errands and should be there in about twenty minutes, if that is okay?”
After she agrees, they hang up and he looks at the clock on the phone. He sees Angyalka white head bounce past one of the windows before seeing her in her room. Waiting long enough, he starts his vehicle and pulls up to her driveway. Getting out of the car, he sees the front door open and Sari run outs to great him. As she jumps into his arms, he laughs. “Hi Sari, how was school today?”
She smiles, blushing. “It was okay.” Chase wonders if her blush has anything to do with her possibly shocking that kid in class. He didn’t see anything else the rest of the day but found he could not totally explain how she did what she did. It could have been static electricity, but with the look on her face, he thought it was intentional.
“Just okay, huh?” He grins when she blushes more, nodding.
When he gets to the door, Angyalka comes running to him. “Chase!” she yells, throwing her arms around his legs. Smiling, he bends down and picks her up too.
“Hey Angel, how is my other favorite girl?” Angyalka giggles, but before she answers Violca comes out of the hallway, wearing a pair of blue jeans that hug her curves nicely and a black, scoop neck top. Chase loves that Violca has her hair down, and she smiles when she sees him.
“Girls, go get your shoes on.” Chase releases them and they both run down the hall. Laughing, Violca smiles at him. “You spoil them, you know.”
Chase winks at her and smiles when he sees a small blush covering her cheeks. Closing the door behind him, he walks over to her and brushes his lips against hers. “So how was work today?”
Violca shrugs. “It was okay.” When they hear the girls running back down the hall, Violca steps away from Chase. Eva and Kati come out smiling and greet him. “You mentioned Italian did you have a place in mind?”
Chase shakes his head. “I saw a place not too far from here, unless you girls have somewhere else you prefer.”
“You might have seen Mama Mia’s down the street. They’re pretty good,” Eva says.
“That should be good, is everyone ready?” Violca asks. The girls nod and they head out. Chase offers to drive since his SUV has enough room for all of them, and Violca gives him directions.
Chase knows Scott is sitting outside watching while they have dinner. Scott was having a hard time staying away from Kati and worried that his outburst the other day would make her scared of him. He also wanted Chase to talk to Violca, especially after what he told him about Sari in school.
They enjoy their dinner, Angyalka and Sari keeping the conversation light and full of laughter. Chase enjoys listening to them and watching the dynamics between them. Violca wasn’t that much older than Eva and Kati, and the role Violca has with them is different than the one she has with Angyalka and Sari.
After dinner, Chase takes them home and helps Violca get the younger two girls ready for bed. Eva and Kati smile at him, saying they are going to their room. Eva winks at him before heading down the hall, and he smiles. He likes Eva. She is very outgoing and seems to be encouraging Violca and him to be alone.
Violca comes back from the kitchen with a beer, catching Eva’s wink. “Subtle,” Violca mumbles and Chase laughs.
“I don’t think she even tries.” Chase replies, smiling at her when she sits next to him, pulling her legs up under her.
“No, she doesn’t. One of her many, many charms.”
Chase slides his arm around her and can’t help but chuckle.
“I think it’s amazing how you take care of your sisters. Tell me about your parents. What did they do?”
Violca tilts her head, and he can see her thinking about it for a minute. “My parents were a very adorable couple who met when they were quite young, actually. My dad said he knew when he met my mom. He was just in the third grade but he said he knew that he was going to marry her.”
“Your mom must have made quite an impression.”
She nods. “There was something about my mom that drew people to her. She actually went to school to be a teacher but after I was born they decided she would stay home. My dad was an accountant to several big companies that paid him very well because he was known for his honesty and ability to help people increase their bottom lines without layoffs.”
Chase’s finger slides up and down her neck, gently playing with her earlobe. “Your father sounds like a very smart man.”
“He was. He worshiped my mother and adored us girls.” She looks up at him and he can see her breath catch when he traces her ear. “He never seemed to mind having only daughters. He said he knew that we would be as wonderful and gifted as our mom and that no boy would compare.”
Leaning down, he brushes his lips against hers. “Like I said, very smart man.” Chase feels her lips curl up in a smile, and he uses his hand on her neck to tilt her head up as he gently deepens the kiss. When she sighs he gently coaxes her tongue into his mouth and sucks on it. Violca turns more to him, and he moans as he pulls her closer, his hand sliding up and down Violca’s back.
They continue to kiss, Chase slowly lowering her onto her back on the couch. His hips cradled between her thighs, he pulls up one leg, his hand continuing down until he cups her firm butt, angling her up more as he gently grinds against her.
Breaking the kiss, he puts his forehead against her, panting softly. Chase gently kisses her again, smiling as he tries to catch his breath. He pulls back, brushing her hair from her face. He notices she is biting her bottom lip, indicating she’s nervous. “What are you thinking about?”
“The last boyfriend I had was two years ago when my parents passed away. He dumped me when I moved back into the house and started raising my sisters.” Taking a deep breath, she continues on, “I haven’t been with anyone since and never in my parents’ house.”
Chase smiles and brushes his lips against hers before slowly sitting up, pulling her with him. “Your boyfriend was an idiot.” Violca smiles at that comment and he looks into her violet eyes and can see her nervousness. His dragon wants to reassure her, nuzzle her neck, letting her know that everything is okay. “How about if I go home tonight and we take things slowly and see what happens?”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Chase grins and kisses her on the nose. “Not at all.” Standing up, he reaches down and pulls her up. “I personally am happy your ex was an idiot and easily scared off.” He kisses her gently. “Can I call you tomorrow?”
Violca nods.
“Make sure to lock the door when I leave.” He pulls her to him one more time for a kiss. Her response makes him hungry for more. He breaks the kiss before he goes too far. “Sweet dreams Violca.”
A light blush spreads across her face. “Good night, Chase.”
He walks out the door, smiling when he hears her lock it behind him. Looking at his watch, he gets into his SUV and drives around the corner. His watch will not be over for a few more hours. He can still taste Violca on his lips, his cock is still hard so he squeezes himself trying to relieve some of the pressure and thinks this is going to be a long night.
Chapter 22
Violca wakes up the next morning feeling again like the dream of her mother was real and like she was really trying to talk to her. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she hears th
e door open and turns to see Angyalka standing in her doorway in her pink nightgown, her pale hair flowing around like a halo. “Hey, Angel, what are you doing up?”
“Can we take the cat with us?” Angyalka says, rubbing her eyes until Violca pats the bed next to her. Angyalka climbs in, and Violca thinks about what her sister just said.
“Honey, what cat and where would we take it?”
“The big black cat that likes Kati. I don’t think he would like it if we left him here while we went to go play at the lake,” Angyalka says matter of factly.
Violca tries to think of any cat hanging around the house. Not remembering one, she smiles indulgently. “I think the cat will be okay if we leave it here for a few days.” Thinking more about what Angel said, she tries to remember telling any of the girls about possibly going to the lake. “Angel, sweetie, what makes you think we are going to the lake?”
“We went in my dream.” Violca brushes the hair back from her sister’s face. Every once in a while Angyalka says something about things she couldn’t possibly have any idea about. At first, Violca, Eva and Kati thought she overheard something and just repeated it, but other times they could not explain it and tried to ignore it.
“I was thinking about going to the lake, would you like to go?” Violca asks, glancing at the clock, realizing that her alarm is going to be going off soon.
Angyalka nods and Violca smiles at her. “I think we should go too. If you want, you can get a little more sleep while I take a shower, okay, munchkin.” Violca kisses her on the nose before getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom to take a shower.
When she’s done she steps into the kitchen, happy to see everyone getting ready for school and having breakfast. “Hey, what would you guys think about us taking a long weekend to go to the lake?”
Sari immediately jumps up. “I want to go!”
Eva puts the last sandwich in the bag, “Long weekend…does that mean we get to miss school?”
Violca taps her fingers on the counter. “Does anyone have a test coming up?”
Both girls shake their heads no and Violca smiles. “If you are all okay with it, why don’t we go tomorrow?”
Everyone agrees. Violca knows she has a ton of vacation and sick hours she never uses so getting off will not be a problem. After breakfast, she kisses Angyalka and Sari on the forehead and hugs Eva and Kati before running out the door.
At work, Violca parks her car and heads to the front door. When she gets close, she sees Brandon standing there with a cup holder, holding two Starbucks cups and a bag in his hands. “What are you doing here?” she says, hugging him tight. “I thought you were busy on a case.”
Releasing her, Brandon looks down at her, his blue eyes sparkling, his smile so bright she can see his dimple on his cheek. “I was, we caught him V.”
He hugs her again using the arm holding the bag. When he releases her, he holds up the coffee. “I bought you a cup of coffee and a muffin.”
Grinning, she grabs the coffee and the bag. “We should celebrate later.”
“How about this weekend? I actually have a few days off and thought I could come over and maybe BBQ at the house,” Brandon says.
“Oh, we can’t this weekend. I decided to take the girls to the lake to stay at the cabin for a long weekend.” Violca takes a sip of her coffee, sighing happily. She goes through the glass doors, Brandon following her, “How about you come with us?”
She sees Brandon thinking about it as he walks her to her desk. “Stuck with you and the girls in a cabin by the lake?” Violca raises an eyebrow and Brandon laughs. “Sounds perfect, I’ve missed everyone. When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow morning, think you can have stuff packed by then?”
“Yep.” Brandon leans across the desk and kisses her on the nose. “I’ll call you tonight, don’t tell the girls, I want to surprise them.”
“Okay.”
Brandon laughs, then turns, practically running into Scott, who is standing close behind him. Scott frowns at him and Brandon smiles politely before leaving out the sliding glass doors. Taking her muffin out of the bag, Violca smiles at Scott. “You don’t look very happy to be here today, rough night?”
“No, more like a rough couple of nights.”
Violca smiles politely, thinking he must be talking about his brother.
“You look happy. I take it your friend brought you breakfast.”
Violca hears the slight emphasis on the word friend and smiles. Most people had a hard time believing she had a guy as a best friend. “He did. He was excited to finish a case and wanted to share the good news.”
“Have you two ever...” Scott’s voice trails off and Violca smiles at him.
“No, we have not. I have known him since we were both little kids.”
“Friends are important,” he says before going back to his desk.
Violca takes a few small bites of her muffin between phone calls, enjoying her coffee. Calling up to HR she lets them know that she will not be in for a few days.
Linda comes down in the afternoon to relieve her for lunch. “Hey, I hear a rumor you are going to take a few days off.”
Violca grabs her purse. “Yeah, taking the girls to the cabin up at the lake.”
“That should be fun. Are you bringing that guy who has been coming around here.”
Violca shakes her head before saying, “No he is not going.”
Linda makes a tsking sound. “That’s too bad.”
Laughing, Violca heads out the sliding glass door. Eva packed a lunch for her that morning and she is going to enjoy it on the bench near the park. Eating her lunch, she notices two the squirrels playing in the trees above her head.
After a few minutes one of them runs in front of her, stops, and sits up on its back legs, looking at her. Biting off a piece of her apple, she tosses it toward the squirrel. The small piece lands between her and the squirrel, who runs to take it. A little surprised that the squirrel doesn’t immediately run away, she bites off another small piece and tosses it in the squirrel’s direction. The other squirrel runs over and takes it, both watching her before someone walks past, scaring them away.
Finishing her lunch, she throws away her trash and walks back to the office. Glancing past the door she notices that the guy she saw yesterday is standing there. His head is turned and she can see the scorpion tattoo on his neck has writing around it. He looks in her direction, smiling at her, and again she feels a chill. Quickly walking through the sliding glass door, she hopes he is gone before she gets off.
Chapter 23
Chase receives a text from Scott telling him he overheard Violca talking to her friend Brandon and that they were talking about going to a cabin near a lake for a long weekend. His dragon growls in the back of his head, not liking the fact that Violca has made plans with another male to go away for the weekend.
Kassandra listed a cabin that the family owns in northern California. The cabin is at the base of a mountain, near a lake. If they drive he figures it will take about ten to twelve hours to get there. Kassandra is monitoring the girls’ finances and since she didn’t report any big purchases he assumes that is where they will be going. He decides to call Violca after everyone gets out of school to see if she will tell him where she is going and if possible to get invited.
Chase follows the girls home, meeting Eryk around the block. “Hey, how was school?”
“I managed to get a few classes switched so I can be in some of Eva’s classes and managed to run into Kati between some of hers.”
Chase nods, wishing the young girls’ classes were closer together. “Have those guys been giving Kati a hard time?”
Eryk grins, his eyes lighting up. “Not since we had our little chat the other day.”
Nodding happily at that comment, Chase can’t help but grin back. “Did Kati mention going to the cabin this weekend?”
Eryk nods. “Yeah, said her sister woke up this morning and asked them. So they’re taking a lon
g weekend to go to their family’s cabin.”
Picking up his phone, Chase debates about calling Violca now or waiting until she gets off. Deciding to wait, he nods to Eryk. “You should go home, I’ll take over watching the girls for now.”
Eryk nods, getting into his car and driving off. Chase moves his vehicle, parking so he can still see the girls’ house and keep an eye on things. Scott was paying close attention to Violca and took some pictures of her at lunch feeding two squirrels. He also took a snap picture of a guy who seemed to scare Violca when she was coming back from lunch. The tattoo on the guy’s neck looks similar to ones demons use to mark those that work for them. The picture is a little blurry so he can’t make it all out, but Scott is going to try and see if he can get another picture and stay closer to Violca just in case he is right about the tattoo.
Viktor, their king, is not happy about how things are progressing. Kassandra has passed on a message wanting them to hurry up and prove that these are either the girls they’re looking for, or not. If not, he wants them to come back and get ready. His brother’s army is growing and harassing dragons and other supernaturals, trying to get them to align with him.
With about thirty minutes left before Violca gets off, Chase decides to go ahead and call her. “Wilson, Wilson, and Associates, this is Violca. How may I help you?” The sound of her voice makes him smile.
“Violca, hi, it’s Chase.” He asks how she is doing, tries to keep the conversation light. “I was wondering what your plans are for the weekend?” He finally asks.
There is a pause before she speaks up. “I am actually taking the girls to a cabin we have up north, it’s near a lake and thought a small mini vacation would be nice.”
“That sounds fun, just you and the girls, or are they bringing friends with them?”
Violca laughs. “No, the four girls are enough. An old friend of mine is coming, but that’s it.” There is a pause for a second before she continues, “What about you, any plans this weekend?”