by Jules Tyler
McKinzy startled and fell off the bed, “Elijah! Get out!”
He smirked, “It’s okay, boss, I didn’t see...much.”
Adrian choked down a laugh as Elijah made his way back out the front door, “Well, I guess that cat is out of the bag.”
“Or I could eat him,” McKinzy teased.
“I heard that!” Elijah called from the porch.
“I meant it!” She called out.
“Did you really?” Adrian whispered.
“No, but he doesn’t need to know that.” McKinzy winked and she pulled her pants back on, “How are you feeling? Are you gonna need help getting dressed?”
Adrian slipped out of bed and tested his ribs with a feline looking stretch, “No, I should be fine. Just need to take it easy for a little longer.”
“You call what we did earlier ‘taking it easy’?” She giggled.
“No, but I’d call the nap afterwards taking it easy for sure.”
“Mmm, that was nice wasn’t it? Why don’t you go round up the boys and I’ll get started on some food for all of us? We need to find out what Elijah found as well as what the guys heard while they were up at the mess hall,” McKinzy suggested, pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail.
“Sounds good.” Adrian slid out of bed and grabbed a pair of jeans and a grey t shirt from the dresser.
“Do you have any hamburger in the freezer?” McKinzy asked, heading towards the kitchen.
“Yeah, help yourself to whatever you find. Don’t worry about if anyone is picky here, we all eat whatever is served.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried about it anyways. I was just going to scrounge up some burgers and fries.”
“Perfect, keep it simple. I don’t want you overdoing it, either. I’m sure you must be exhausted,” Adrian said with a concerned look on his face.
“I’m fine, silly cat. Now, go get the guys so we can get to work,” McKinzy smirked as she rummaged through the freezer.
Her words didn’t sound right to Adrian, but he chose not to pry. McKinzy would tell him when she was ready. He was sure that dealing with Cole drudged up a bunch of suppressed memories. Don’t leave Mate. His lion snarled from inside of him. Adrian shook his head at the lion. He couldn’t bring himself to smother McKinzy right now. He didn’t want to give her another reason to shut him out and run.
Adrian pushed out the front door to find Elijah seated by the fire with his eyebrows drawn together, staring at what looked like a laptop on the chair in front of him.
“What’s wrong, Elijah, not enough likes on your Facebook page?” Adrian teased.
“Ha, no. I found this laptop in Cole’s cabin. But Duke said he didn’t bring a bag or anything with him when he was dropped off yesterday.”
Adrian thought back to yesterday for a moment before speaking again, “He’s right, he didn’t have anything with him. So how did he get anything like this up here without any of us noticing?”
“I don’t know, I’m still trying to figure out how he got a cell phone up here too.”
“Good point. Speaking of which, did you find the phone? Maybe we could have Duke trace the call back to the other caller.”
Elijah’s mouth drew into a thin line before lifting the laptop to reveal a pile of smashed plastic and metal, “It must’ve gotten crushed when he shifted. I found the pile underneath some shredded clothes.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, so unless we can get into the laptop, we’re back at square one.”
“Well lucky for us, we’ve got Duke with all that handy military knowledge.”
“Yeah.” Elijah paused, “Hey, Boss?”
“What’s wrong, Elijah?”
“You don’t think we have anything to be worried about, do you? Like, you don’t think someone is going to come up here and kill us off do you?”
Adrian felt for the kid, he was the youngest all of them and had plenty ahead of him too. “No, Elijah. I think that they’re really after McKinzy from the little bit I heard of the conversation. But we do need to figure out how to protect her from whoever is looking for her. If they had enough balls to send a dragon up here after her, they must want her badly. The question is why?”
“All good questions for sure,” Elijah said, rubbing his face.
Voices drifted down the dirt road towards them, “Sounds like the guys are done up at the chow hall. Could you fill them in while I go check on McKinzy?”
“Sure thing, boss,” Elijah said, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Adrian strode back to his cabin and poked his head in the door to find McKinzy hunched over the sink, silent sobs shaking her shoulders. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, “Talk to me. What’s wrong.”
McKinzy shook her head violently, “If I start, I won’t be able to stop. This is bad enough. I’ve cried more this week than I have my entire life.”
Turning her around to face him, Adrian brushed a loose strand of hair behind her head, “It’s okay to cry. You just had to battle for you life and mine as well, you’re just in shock.”
“You don’t get it, this isn’t just about Cole.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before the government wiped out my family, they had killed my father. We still don’t know what happened, other than another shifter was involved.”
“What makes you think that?”
“He was covered in claw marks and burns. This was right before the government wiped the entire dragon population off the earth. Everyone else assumed he must’ve been in a brawl with another dragon, but I never believed them. Something was off. It didn’t make sense that he would’ve fought another dragon unless provoked.”
“So you think what happened to your father is somehow linked to what just happened with Cole?” Adrian asked softly, wiping the tears from McKinzy’s eyes.
She nodded, “The only thing that can kill a dragon is another dragon.”
“Hmm, we’re going to factor that in while we are looking for who is behind the attack.”
“I think that Michaelson has something to do with how they found me.”
Adrian’s eyes grew wide, “What?”
He couldn’t believe it. Michaelson was an old grizzly shifter, he hated the government as much as any other shifter. Adrian just couldn’t see him working with them...at least not willingly.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. I’ve stayed in hiding all this time, and no one had been suspicious of me. But I was impulsive and I took this job as a chance to make it easier on my dragon. They must’ve figured me out when I accepted the position.”
“Let me try and see what we can do on that front. I’m curious too because the man I know would never willingly work with the government, especially if it meant hurting another shifter.”
McKinzy straightened, trying to change the subject, “We should probably get these burgers on the grill. Could you do that while I cut up some potatoes and get them fried?”
Adrian kissed her forehead as he reached around to grab the plate of hamburger patties, “Sure thing.”
Chapter Eighteen
Once the potatoes were all cut and fried, McKinzy grabbed a cooler and filled it with ice before sticking beer and Coke in it. Placing the bowl of fries on top of the cooler, she hauled it all outside and set it next to her chair.
“Thank god! Food! I thought I was going to wither away!” Jasper exclaimed as he shoved to his feet to grab a plate.
“I think you should let McKinzy and Adrian grab food first, Jas. I mean, they both did battle a dragon today,” Desmond suggested.
“No, it’s okay guys, go ahead. I’m not hungry, anyways,” McKinzy smiled.
All five guys stopped and looked at her like she had grown a second head, “Not hungry? Is that even a thing?” Elijah asked, eyes wide.
Adrian stood and grabbed two plates from the stack he had set next to the plate of burgers, “Oh no, you don’t. You’re eating woman.”
M
cKinzy sighed, “Fine. Just no mayo, okay?”
“What’s wrong with mayo?” Adrian asked, trying to hide the humor in his voice.
“It looks just like jizz. I’m sorry, but if I want to taste jizz I’ll give you a blow job. I don’t need a jizz filled burger, thank you very much,” McKinzy said matter of factly.
Adrian held his hands up in defeat, “Whatever you say, you’re the boss.”
She nodded, “Damn skippy. Don’t you forget it!”
Chapter Nineteen
Once everyone had eaten, it was time to talk business, “Okay, what did everyone find out from the guys at the chow hall?” Adrian asked.
“Everyone said the same thing, that Cole didn’t even talk to them, let alone look at them.” Desmond reported as the others nodded in agreement.
“Okay good, that means we don’t have to worry about an uprising or anything here on the home front.” McKinzy relaxed a little.
“Elijah, tell everyone what you told me earlier.”
“Okay, so essentially the phone is toast. Everything was squashed when Cole shifted, so we won’t be able to look at the call history. But I did go back to his cabin and I found this laptop. The weird thing is, he didn’t bring anything with him. So either this was left up here for him by someone, or someone met him somewhere and gave it to him.”
“Now the question is, who?” Duke asked from across the firepit.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Did anyone report seeing anything odd last night?” Adrian asked, looking around the circle as everyone shook their heads, “I assume we didn’t see anything from the watchtower last night either?”
“Not a thing, boss. If someone met up with him, they would’ve had to have done it while we were down here for dinner.” Jasper stated.
“That means it would’ve had to have been someone who knows our routine.” Adrian pondered outloud, “What are the chances that someone has been watching us from a distance?”
“Not very good. They would have to have super sight to see us from the closest hilltop,” Desmond pointed out.
“McKinzy thinks that Michaelson could be in on this,” Adrian said, putting his head in his hands.
“I mean it is the only thing that makes sense. Who else would know our nightly routine? Or that McKinzy was even up here?” Duke asked before continuing, “Now I want to know how he knew who she was, or rather, what she is.”
“If he’s involved, I think it was a test. I think they sent Cole up here to see if she truly is a dragon. Who knows how long they’ve had eyes on her, waiting for the right moment to try and coax her dragon out and prove their theory right,” Desmond pondered outloud.
McKinzy was starting to look sick so Adrian decided they needed to decide on a course of action quick, “Duke, is there any way you can get the information off of that laptop without tripping the security feature on it if there is one?”
“I can’t, but I know someone who can. I have some friends from back when I was in the military that specialize in intel and technology. I could call and see if they have time to come up and help with this. They’ve been out as long as I have been.”
“Great, get them up here as soon as possible. In the meantime, everyone is to be on high alert. I want round the clock patrols. I don’t want anyone coming up here unless we know about it first. Do you understand me?” McKinzy asked, the dominance rolling off of her in waves. Everyone nodded in agreement, “Good.”
She made her way to her cabin and slammed the door. Adrian looked around the fire as everyone cleaned up after themselves, “I’m gonna call Michaelson and confirm whether or not he’s in on this.”
“I wouldn’t do that just yet, Boss,” Duke said.
“Why not?” Adrian demanded.
“Because we want them to think Cole is alive. Don’t go showing your cards just yet. I know you’re pissed and you want revenge for your mate, but you’ve gotta think about this from a strategic level. If you call Michaelson and he really is involved, who is to say that the government won’t show up with guns ablazing? Trust me on this, wait it out. Let me get my friend up here and let’s do some digging before we start in on Michaelson.”
“I trust you, brother,” Adrian smiled, leaning his forehead against Duke’s. “Call your friend. I need to figure out who is stupid enough to try to fuck with my mate.”
“Consider it done,” Duke nodded affirmatively.
Adrian turned back towards McKinzy’s cabin. He needed to go to her and make sure she was okay.
McKinzy peeled off her clothes and dropped them to the bathroom floor. She desperately needed a shower. Turning the knob to the hottest setting, she stepped inside and let the water pour over her. Sometimes all she needed to feel better was a hot shower. It always helped her think clearly again. She set about washing her hair before there was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Who is it?” She called, even though she knew the answer.
The door cracked open, “Mind if I join you?”
“Knock yourself out.” She grinned as she rinsed out her hair.
As she poured some coconut-scented body wash onto her sponge, she watched Adrian undress. He really was a sight for sore eyes. She watched his muscles flex and move as he undressed, trying to avoid the pain in her chest as her eyes landed on his bandages. Would the guilt over what had happened to him ever go away?
Adrian stepped in the shower and kissed her gently, “Stop worry about it, beautiful. They’re mostly healed anyways. See?” He started unwrapping the bandages to reveal newly pink scars.
“I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if something worse had happened to you,” she said as he took the sponge from her and started to scrub down her arms.
“You aren’t going to be able to save me from everything, Kinz. You’re going to have to let things go. You can’t live in hiding forever.”
She turned so he could scrub her back, “I know, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to protect you if I can.”
Rubbing in small circles as he worked his way down to her ass he smiled, “I know. Now stop worrying and let me take care of you.” He kissed her on each plump cheek before forcing her to turn to face him.
“Shouldn’t you be taking it easy?” She teased him.
“Shhhh,” he said, putting a finger to his lips with a devilish grin on his face.
Working the soapy sponge slowly from one shoulder to the other, he swirled it around her sensitive nipples before guiding it lower and lower. When he reached her slit, he rubbed his hand over the suds before guiding his hand back and forth against her clit. McKinzy had to choke back a moan.
“Do you like this?” He practically purred as he looked up at her to see the pleasure written all over her face.
She bit her lip and nodded as he dipped his head between her legs.
“I’m gonna make you cum, and then I’m going to worship you more. Can you handle that?”
She moaned her agreement as his tongue brushed over her wet folds.
Swirling his tongue around and around before plunging his middle finger inside, he lost himself in her. Repeating this action over and over, he reached up with both hands and tweaked her nipples in his free hand. Her pleasure throbbing on his tongue and fingers as he worked her higher and higher to climax.
“Don’t stop, please don’t stop,” she begged.
He pumped his fingers inside her faster and faster as he lapped at her clit over and over. He could feel her getting closer before she released a scream of ecstasy. “Yes baby, cum for me.”
Scooping his hands under her ass and standing, he shut the shower off. He needed to be inside of her. Crossing the bathroom floor to the bedside, he laid her down and kissed his way up to her breasts and nibbled on her buds. God, she tastes good. His lion was definitely pleased with himself.
Standing up and guiding the head of his throbbing cock between her legs, he slowly slipped inside her. The pleasure and the agony of going slowly built into a buzzing sensation wi
thin him. He slowly starting building into a faster pace as he rubbed his hand over her clit again and again.
“I’m going to cum again. Don’t stop!” She moaned, running her hands over his chest before digging her nails into his back.
Adrian thrust faster and faster and he felt her pussy tighten around his cock. “I love you,” he groaned.
“Adrian!” She screamed as they found release together.
He emptied himself inside of her before moving them both onto the bed to recover from the aftershocks of their orgasms together. Folding her into his arms, he had never felt more at peace. Even with all of the unknowns going on around them, it felt like home.
“Adrian?” McKinzy whispered.
“Hmm?” He sighed.
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
Duke’s thumb hovered over the green call button as he stared at his phone screen. It had been a long time since he had dialed this number. As familiar as it was, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face the music the answering party would play for him. He hadn’t exactly left things on good terms with Alicia, and this certainly wasn’t a good way to start them off again. But Adrian had almost died today and he wanted to know who was behind Cole being sent up here for McKinzy. Too many questions were unanswered when Cole died and would now remain that way, unless Duke pressed the button.
With that thought, Duke swallowed his pride and called.
“Hello?” the feminine voice on the other end sounded tired.
“Sorry to wake you,” he murmured, the words almost reverent as he spoke to her.
“Duke? What’s wrong?”
“Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?”
“Considering it’s nearly been four years since we spoke, yes.”
“I meant to call sooner. Look. I know I’m not exactly in a position to be asking favors from you, and I would completely understand if you say no to what I’m about to ask…” he trailed off.
“Damn it Duke, spit it out. It’s o’dark thirty, for Pete’s sake!”
“I think that the Firebirds have resurfaced.” The Firebirds were a group of shifter extremists who worked hard to keep the shifters at war with the humans of this country. They were the reason the government had gone after the dragons.
