“Thank you.” I wanted to kiss him again, but instead, I just waved and bolted out of the car.
From the sidewalk, I waved until he drove off. Then, I raced to my house. I didn’t slow down until I had locked the door behind me.
There, safe and sound.
And no dragons in sight.
I quickly texted Francesco that I was safe and thanked him, and then rushed to study. At my desk, my laptop was ready and waiting. I booted it up and settled in to creating a password-protected file that contained details about the attack and the dragon who saved me and the three dragon shifters I had met.
I wouldn’t expose the dragons, not unless I had to. Well, actually, it would be there for someone to find if I was dead.
Before I could back out of this, I emailed Detective Hugh Mark and told him that if I disappeared and couldn’t be contacted in any way for over forty-eight hours, there was a message for him in the password-protected file on my laptop.
There. I sat back in my seat and tried to feel better about everything.
Instead, all I felt was lonely for three men. Three dragons.
When I went to bed that night, I wished any one of the three of them were holding me.
Chapter 11
Miguel Ramirez Lopez
I somehow knew the moment Audrey left. It was ridiculous, but I couldn’t deny it. The mansion seemed so much smaller without her. She’d left with Francesco. As glad as I was that Damon hadn’t been the one to take her, I felt bereft. So fucking stupid.
Audrey. Who was she? Why couldn’t I stop thinking about her?
I stalked to my room and found the bottle of old scotch I’d hidden away for a rainy day. It wasn’t a rainy day. The sky was clear, and it was night, but I needed something stronger than just wine.
The more I attempted to not think of her, the more I did. I had swallowed several gulps of the scotch and was now pacing the floor. Abruptly, I stopped, sprawled out on my California king-sized bed, and whipped out my phone. Audrey, Audrey, Audrey…
“Bingo,” I murmured when I found her.
Audrey Wright. She was twenty-seven years old. Graduated from college in three years instead of four. Worked her way up through the ranks to become an investigative journalist. She seemed to be fairly well respected, which absurdly pleased me.
Finding the obituary of her parents saddened me. I knew grief all too well. All three of us dragon leaders had. After all, the Lopez, Marino, and King lines had been the founding fathers of our clan. If our parents hadn’t died, they would be the leaders and not us.
Damon was the oldest of us, with me next. Francesco was the youngest. We were all closer than brothers, the best of friends, and we worked well together. Our differing opinions actually had always served us well and ensured that we came up with the best possible solution for our clan.
And we would again as we faced the Fangs Serpents. I had no doubt about that.
So long as Audrey didn’t distract us.
I found a picture of her from college. She had been a gymnast, and I even found a video of one of her routines. Watching her flip through the air had me picture her doing splits and being able to be bent like a pretzel and all of the wild and crazy sex moves she could handle…
Damn it. Now, I was hard as a rock. I really didn’t want to beat off. I just wanted to plunge deep into her, to fill her with my cum, to make love with her until morning…
This didn’t make any sense. I was so fucking confused. Why was I so attracted to her? I hadn’t given her any of my blood. Damon should be the one nuts over her. Not me. I hadn’t even wanted her in the house in the first place!
And here I was, daydreaming of her pretty little mouth sucking my cock. Fuck me.
I had to get her out of my mind somehow if I was going to figure out how we could get the fucking Fanged Serpents off our backs.
My hand reached down and undid my belt buckle. I’d get her out of my system and then come up with a plan, I vowed to myself as I began to stroke my hard cock.
Chapter 12
Aubrey Wright
After wishing I hadn’t emailed the detective, I got up and showered. Hot water streamed down my body, and I couldn’t help thinking about having someone else wash me. I couldn’t figure out which guy to imagine, so I pictured each of them taking turns with my breasts, my ass, between my legs…
It was stupid. It was the alcohol. This wasn’t me.
Maybe this was a defense mechanism of some kind, that I was projecting the need to have not one but three hot guys on my side. Francesco had literally saved my life. Damon’s blood had healed me. Miguel would’ve done the same if he had the chance. I was certain he would. It was amazing to take in.
It was terrifying too.
By now, I had been in the shower so long that the water was tepid at best. I finished washing up and shampooing and conditioning my hair as quickly as I could. Then, I toweled off and put on panties. Fatigue washed over me so entirely that I didn’t even bother to put on pajamas. I just lay down and went to sleep.
Immediately, Damon was there. Damon King with his smoldering gaze, his set jaw, muscular physique…
How he got into my bed I had no idea, but I snuggled against him. His heart pounded against my ear, the beat strong and solid, maybe a little slower than normal. His embrace was so warm, heating me up. His hands wandered over my back, rubbing me, caressing me, and I remembered I was naked.
It was only then that I realized Damon was too, as I shifted my leg up higher and brushed against something that most definitely wasn’t one of his legs.
Startled, I pulled away slightly. His hand cupped my face and traced down my nose, along my jaw, and then around my lips.
“You are mine,” he whispered before propping up on his elbows to kiss me.
With Francesco, I had felt immediately guilty because I loved his kiss so much. With Damon, all I felt was desire and heat and passion.
Being intimate with Damon meant there wasn’t room for any of the other men in my head. It was just him and me and his body and mine. Nothing else. No one else.
His lips all over my body, my hands exploring his… His entire body felt so warm, but his dragon tattoo felt so incredibly hot. It was as if his dragon lived right there, on that huge tattoo spread over his chest. I adored it. I adored him. He turned me on like no other, and what his mouth could do…
All night long, we were together, and it was more than just sex. We weren’t fucking. It was making love. No, it was even more than that. I loved him. I couldn’t give enough of myself to him. I wanted him to have all of me, every inch.
But every time that I climaxed, my thoughts were wonder. It was in those stolen moments of pure bliss that I did think of Miguel and Francesco. It was wrong, but I did, and yet I didn’t hate myself for it.
Because it wasn’t that I didn’t want Damon or that what we were doing wasn’t enough. I just wanted the other dragons too. Not at the same time, just all of them. One on one.
So selfish of me and that was when I did hate myself, and I woke up with a start. Between my legs was so damp. Damon hadn’t actually been here. We hadn’t made love all night. The sun was beginning to rise, but I was all alone.
Never had I felt the isolation more. Granted, my St. Bernard Rex hadn’t been around in a little while now, scared off by the dragons. I didn’t blame him. Poor guy. He was a monster of a dog, but still, dragons were that much more massive than he was.
I had truly thought Damon had been here, that we had made love again and again. Realizing it had only been a dream depressed me. I had felt so close to him. I might’ve even told him, “I love you,” one of the times when he’d made me come. Instead, he had no idea how I felt.
Then again, I had no idea how I felt either, so maybe that was just as well. I was a bundle of nerves. Until I could figure out what I wanted, which one I wanted, maybe I should stay away from the three of them. It wouldn’t do for me to make a complete fool of myself in front of them.
See? So fucking confusing.
“Better to stay single,” I mumbled to myself as I forced myself to climb out of bed. If I stayed in bed too much longer, my hands were liable to wander and help relieve some of the mounting stress that was building. Not that my fingers would be able to give me the relief I needed. I wanted more.
After some cereal, I got dressed and deliberated my options. Should I call Detective Hugh Mark? Why not?
Before I did, I went outside and checked my rose bushes. I didn’t have a green thumb, not at all, but the bushes had been my mom’s, so I did my best to tend to them. The bushes wrapped around the side of the house, and I happened to look up.
Outside of my bedroom window on the second story were long marks.
Like claw marks.
As if from a dragon.
Chapter 13
Damon King
I didn’t sleep well. At all. Or maybe I slept too well. Too deeply. The dream of making love to Audrey repeatedly played on a loop in my mind. I couldn’t get enough of her, and she even told me, “I love you,” at one point.
I knew it was a dream. I knew it, but I also knew it had to do with the blood I’d given her. We were bonding. It didn’t always happen. If it did, it meant we were supposed to be together. It wasn’t exactly a whole mating thing like some of those silly romance stories have with werewolves. But it did suggest that we were meant to be together.
But even in the dream, I was worried. I was envious of Francesco both in the dream and before I’d fallen asleep. Of course he came back from dropping her off at her place telling Miguel and me about their kiss. Miguel had cursed Francesco out in Spanish. At least I assumed he was cursing at him. He was angry enough to have been damning him to Hell for the rest of time.
I hadn’t said a word. Francesco had made a stupid, off-handed comment about us three always being together, and it made me think of one thing that I wouldn’t dare say out loud.
That we could all love her and share her.
Because that was ridiculous. Because I didn’t think she would go for it. Because I didn’t think they would go for it.
Besides, it would definitely be too much for her. It was all happening so fast for her.
And for me. Then again, that was the nature of the blood bonding.
This last time of making love to Audrey was more intense than the others. I could feel myself sinking away, back toward consciousness, and I struggled to come deep inside her one last time.
“I love you,” I wanted to say, but I said it in my empty room rather than to the dream Audrey.
My sheets were sticking up down my body some. I was so fucking hard right now.
Before I could even think about doing something about my erection, my heart started to thud in my chest, pounding furiously.
Somehow, I just knew that Audrey was in danger.
It was barely morning. I threw on some jeans and a gray t-shirt, not bothering with boxers. I shoved on socks and my sneakers and was out the door in less than a minute. I didn’t even bother to think about waking the others. No way were either one of them awake, and besides, we couldn’t all go running off to save her. At least two of us needed to worry about the clan.
Right now, I was worrying about my heart.
Oh, man. I hadn’t hesitated to give her my blood, but I never thought it through. I never thought we would bond. Not like this. So crazy. But I needed her, and she was in danger. I just knew it.
I rushed to my car, a black Corvette. I zoomed down the street, taking turns tight, tires peeling. Somehow, I just knew where to go. Maybe it was a blood thing. I couldn’t explain it, but I just had a beat on where she was.
My heart started to race, beating more times per minute than the miles per hour my car was clocking, and I was close to hitting one hundred and twenty. There!
Audrey was shooting at a dragon. Every bullet hit, but the dragon’s scales deflected them. None penetrated. Before I could park and get out of the car, the dragon had swooped down and captured her.
I opened my mouth to shout her name, but all that came out was a roar. My dragon was out before I could think twice, and I unfurled my wings. Without hesitating, I took to the sky, racing after the offending dragon when three more appeared, blocking my path.
No!
Like a madman, I attacked the dragons. I tried to char one, clawed at the wings of another, and slapped the face of the third with a wing.
But the one evaded my fire. My claws merely scraped against the wing instead of puncturing it, and the third just shook his head and then countered with a blast of fire.
I jerked out of the way of the blast and dove straight down. This was dangerous, our fighting here. Too many houses and the sun was rising. There wasn’t a cover of night.
What should I do? Try to ignore these three clowns of dragons and tear after the one who took Audrey? Who might already be too far away by now? Or should I lure these guys away from the innocents? Because I knew they would have no qualms killing each and every human who saw them.
I’d just have to hope and pray that my bond to Audrey didn’t die and that I would be able to locate her. Because I knew her. She’d hate me if humans died because of her.
Stay safe, my heart.
I flew away as fast as I could, zigzagging my path so if they blasted fire, I wouldn’t get singed. They tore after me, and as soon as we were away from all buildings and above a dense forest, we ripped into each other. A few claws did more than just scrape my scales, but I dragged the wing of one dragon and spun. I released the dragon to send it flying into another one. The two tangled together, plummeting, and I sent a blast of fire at them.
Crap. I didn’t want to set the forest on fire!
Thankfully, they were falling so fast that the flames didn’t catch on. They crashed through the branches and trees, and a thunderous thud sounded when they hit the ground.
Hopefully, those two were down for the count.
This last dragon was more wary than the others. He was faster too, bobbing and weaving, reminding me of a dragon boxer. I darted and ducked and avoided his blows and then slammed my tail hard on his face. Before the dragon could react, I wrapped my tail around his neck and pulled him close. My claw also dug into his throat, and the dragon soon stopped struggling. He was dead.
The other two hadn’t moved, and I released my hold on this dragon. As he dropped, he shifted back to human. All dragon shifters, if killed as a dragon, reverted to humans. If they died a human, they remained a human.
Down below, I spied three humans. They all were dead.
And I was wounded and bleeding. Wonderful. I labored as I flew back toward the mansion. This was not good. Not at all. And if more of the Fanged Serpents found me, that fight might have a much different result…
Chapter 14
Francesco Marino
I woke up in a wonderful mood. That kiss from Audrey had been unforgettable. Even from just the meeting of our lips a single time, I knew that she had zest and passion unlike any woman I had ever met. Hell, I could tell why she left my car so quickly. She didn’t trust herself around me. Normally, that would have caused me to see about having the lady return to me, but I knew she needed her space. I would not push. She would be back in due time.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told the other two about the kiss. Miguel had cursed me out a hundred different ways in Spanish. Maybe I deserved that. As for Damon, he looked ready to kill me. Yeah, I definitely shouldn’t have said anything, but I had been feeling lighter than a kite afterward. She had made my heart beat again. I had actually not been out on a date in two months. For most guys, that would be the equivalent of three or four years.
I had just finished getting dressed when Miguel burst into my room.
“I could,” he agreed. He was fuming, so angry that I was surprised black smoke didn’t exit his nostrils when he exhaled.
“What is the matter?” I asked.
“I am beyond furious.” He started to pace in my room, his speed far faster than one would typically motor.
“About the kiss? I am sorry. I shouldn’t have told you—”
“Not about the kiss!” Well, yes, that bothered me, but that isn’t why I’m so angry. Two reasons. One, we should have gone after the Fanged Serpents already.”
“I know you wanted that from the start,” I began, but he wasn’t done yet.
“And I failed,” he grumbled, pacing even faster now. “I failed to convince the other clans to join with us against them. That is my fault. I was too… I don’t know. I thought I could rally at least a few to join us, but none would step up.”
“Maybe they have been devastated by the Fanged Serpents before,” I reminded him. “They might not yet be willing to lay themselves out on the line because they haven’t the numbers any longer to be able to. They have to survive somehow.”
“Merely surviving isn’t enough!” Miguel roared. “We must live and live how we choose. With whom we choose.” He jabbed his thumb toward his chest as if to suggest himself and Audrey.
“Yes, well—”
“If you had only agreed with me from the start,” Miguel continued.
“Hey, now,” I protested. “Do not act as if this is my fault. It’s not yours either. We must be rational about this. The Fanged Serpents must be stopped, yes. We are in agreement there, but we must be smart about it. We only have our clan versus theirs. If we are to sur… live afterward, we must do all we can to minimize deaths. Do you agree?”
“Yes,” Miguel said. “Go ahead to the study. Get some scotch in glasses for us. I will go and get Damon.”
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