He nodded and ignored his emotional response to her leaving. “Stay safe. I’ll see you again soon.”
“Damn straight.” She gave Viv a quick hug. “Take care of him, sister dragon.”
Viv nodded. “You bet. Watch your back, Erica.”
“No worries.” She winked. “I got this.”
A short chant later, she vanished.
“Why do I get the feeling she’s taking the whole world on her shoulders?” Viv murmured.
“Because she is.” He shook his head and frowned. “And we won’t know how much until this is all said and done. Assuming the right side wins.”
“Oh, we’ll win,” Viv ground out as her eyes met his. “Don’t doubt it for a sec.”
Kage appreciated her optimism but didn’t have as much faith. He had spent years cozying up to Hallstein so knew better than most how truly bat shit crazy the guy was. “C’mon, beautiful.” He scooped her up and headed for the bed. “Let’s get some shut-eye.”
She gave him a knowing look as he lay her down. “Somehow I don’t see us getting much rest.”
He murmured a chant and removed their clothes. Hell, he loved her body. All those damn curves. “You might be right.”
She pretty much ensured that when she stroked his cock a few times before replacing her talented hands with an equally talented mouth.
“Shit,” he choked out, caught between closing his eyes in bliss and watching her work her magic. Damn, she could use her tongue. When she suctioned her cheeks and looked up at him, he knew she was reminding him of that cocktail straw. How much he had been looking forward to this moment back then.
Suddenly desperate, he wrapped his hands in her hair. That, it seemed, turned her on even more because the sweet scent of her arousal hit the air and she started to squirm. Hell, she had a deep-throat technique that blew his mind. And dragons could hold their breath for far longer than most, so he didn’t need to worry about suffocating her.
Pleased by his dominance, she gripped his thighs.
It was hot, fast and by far, the best damn blow job of his life. By the time he roared and let go, both were glistening with sweat, their dragon sheen obvious. She swallowed everything he had to offer, licked her lips as if she’d never tasted anything so good then crawled on top of him.
She proceeded to lick, stroke and caress everything from his waist up as if appreciating a fine delicacy. Her fingers explored every indentation of muscle as though she were mapping him out in her mind. Committing every last inch to memory.
By the time she slid on to his cock, he was more than ready.
This time he let her have all the control as she gripped his shoulders and rode him. Not to say he didn’t grip things too. From her round ass to her soft, curvy hips. Soon enough, he realized he’d only seen a sampling of how well she could move when they were on the dance floor.
The woman could do things with her body that flat-out drove him crazy.
Not just that, but like Viv did when she danced, she had a way of teasing and tempting. She’d get him close then back off. Right to the edge. Again and again. By the time she finally decided to give him what he needed, his muscles were locked, and he was clenching his teeth with desperation.
“Are you ready to take what you need, mate,” she whispered in his ear, her tone lusty and hoarse. “Are you ready to give me what I deserve for making you wait so long?”
“Fuck, yeah,” he managed before he flipped her and took over. After that, it was a mad dash to the finish line. He slammed into her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She raked her nails down his back as he drove her right up the headboard.
When she climaxed with a roar, he pressed deep, locked up and roared even louder. Both shook for a long time as they let go and relaxed back onto the bed. Then everything went a little hazy. Not just their human half but their dragons were experiencing a sense of euphoria. Contentment. More than anything, it gave him a strong sense of no longer being alone.
He was so caught up in the feeling that it never even occurred to him that their dragons might take over for a bit after they drifted off. More than that, how dangerous it might be if they did.
When his phone rang, his eyes shot open.
He had shifted.
Kage lifted his head and assessed his surroundings. It was late day, and he was wrapped around a smaller black dragon. Vivienne. Just as surprised, her head shot up, and their eyes met.
There was nothing quite as powerful as that moment. To see her dragon through his dragon eyes. To feel the immense connection they shared.
Then the phone rang again. For that matter, it hadn’t stopped ringing.
“Something’s wrong,” he said into her mind as he shifted and she followed suit.
By the time he got to his phone, it had stopped ringing, but a text had come through from Julie.
CALL ME NOW! THERE’S TROUBLE!
Chapter Seventeen
VIV SKIPPED CALLING and connected with Julie via Skype. She could always gather more from a conversation when she saw the person. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Where are you?”
“Maine.”
“Damn, that’s what I was afraid of.” Julie offered Kage a little wave. “Hey, good to see you again…the next day…after your date…but still together.”
“Jules, focus,” Viv said. “I take it you’ve been following what’s happening with Kage and I or you wouldn’t have sent that text.”
“Yeah, good thing you called from his number before so I could get in touch,” Julie chastised. “Not cool taking off without your phone.”
“Just focus, Jules,” Viv pressed. “What’s happening and how do you know about it?”
“Grant, of course.” She looked between them. “He says trouble’s heading your way. Big trouble. You need to get to Winter Harbor. That’s the only place you’ll be safe.”
“We’re already here.”
“Oh, phew.” Julie slumped with relief. “So you’re at the chalet?”
“Well, no, not quite.”
“What do you mean, not quite?”
“She means we’re close but not there,” Kage said.
“When we shifted, we likely alerted Hallstein to our exact whereabouts,” he said into Viv’s mind.
Super.
Distress lit Julie’s eyes, and her face turned red. That only happened when really bad things were happening. “Viv, both of you need to get the fuck out of there right now. If the enemy gets either of you, everything’s at stake.” Her eyes rounded. “Most especially the lives of your people here.”
Julie wasn’t one to swear so when she dropped the F bomb, it meant real trouble.
“All right, we’re going,” Viv assured.
“What?” Kage shook his head. “I can’t go to the chalet. They don’t know me. And I’m sure as hell not gonna lead Hallstein there.”
“If Grant says that’s where you need to go,” Julie said, “then you should already be gone!”
“I don’t have to listen to—”
That’s all he managed to get out before it sounded like a bomb went off upstairs and massive amounts of glass shattered.
Sonofabitch.
“Time to go,” Kage said. “I’ll keep her safe, Julie.”
He disconnected, then murmured a chant to destroy the phone so Hallstein couldn’t track it back to her.
“Kage!” Hallstein roared. “Get your ass up here, dragon.”
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath as he murmured a chant and dressed both of them for combat. Supple leather from head to toe. “I hope you can fight.”
“I’m Viking, and you’re in my mind.” Viv nodded. “So you know I can.” She looked around. “I was always good with a double-bladed axe. Got one of those?”
His thoughts hit her hard. How impressed he was. The love he felt. His surprise at that. Love. But he felt it. Soul deep. It didn’t matter that they’d just met. He had already known her for a lifetime.
&
nbsp; A knowing grin curled her lips. “You’re not a romantic, my ass. But I think we better focus on—”
“Kage,” Hallstein roared again. “Bring her to me traitor and I might make your death swift.”
“Sorry. Most of my weapons are down south and manifesting one with magic would take more time than we’ve got.” He gestured at the walls. “Grab whatever works best and let’s go.”
“You got it.” She opted for a small mace and a handful of daggers that she tucked here and there. “Ready?”
Kage looked her up and down. “You want a gun?”
“Naw, I’m more of a hands on kind of girl.” She grinned. “Call me old fashioned.”
He nodded, opting for several daggers, a few guns and one hell of a sword.
She kept grinning. “I see you’re more the eclectic type.”
“Something like that.” He clenched his jaw, frowned and met her eyes. “Be careful, Viv. I don’t wanna lose you—”
“Then don’t,” she interrupted. “Let’s go kick his slimy ass instead.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He raced up the stairs. “Follow me.”
She knew when they arrived at the top that they had sorely underestimated what they were up against. Not just Hallstein was waiting for them but four more monstrous male dragons. And all of them looked like they were eager to take Kage out so that they could get their hands on her.
“I’ve got to admit,” Hallstein murmured as his eyes locked on Kage. “I’ve made some mistakes since this war started, but you’re my biggest.” Viv was surprised to see some authentic regret mixed in with all the raging hatred. “I trusted you. I let you close.”
Kage said nothing but assessed everything with a practiced eye. He might not be Viking in this life, but he was all warrior.
“Why trust you, though?” Hallstein chuckled, the sound dark and demented. “I should’ve seen right through it when you mated with a fucking Sigdir!”
“Best damn move I ever made,” Kage growled.
Viv shifted her stance until she was back to back with Kage. It was better to fight as a team than get separated. Good thing she did because Hallstein and his crew wasted no time. She had continued practicing with her kin over the years to stay sharp, but there was nothing like the rush of a genuine battle.
Like any quality fighting, things went down fast.
She grinned and dodged multiple daggers, spun, crouched, aimed and whipped one straight into a guy’s forehead. Kage nodded his approval as the man fell to his knees then flat on his face. Seconds later he whipped a dagger into another’s thigh before he sliced the guy’s throat open with his sword.
Two down.
Three to go.
Three, she realized very quickly, that were worth a hundred.
“Outside of me, these are his best men,” Kage said into her mind. “And Hallstein sure as hell isn’t striking me as weakened right now even though we’re in Maine. So if I call retreat, you better damn well listen, got it?”
“Retreat to where?”
“I don’t know yet…just trust me.”
Her eyes met his. “Always.”
After that, the fighting got ferocious. Not only did everyone move supernaturally fast, but they were battling on a floor of broken glass. Viv spun her mace, nicked a guy’s temple just long enough to kick him in the groin. Evidently born with balls of steel, it barely fazed him as he kept coming at her.
In the meantime, Kage fought off both the other guy and Hallstein. Sometimes it was a flat out swordfight, other times a fistfight. It was brutal and fast. The more they all warred, the slicker the floor became with blood. No matter how much you stabbed and sliced these guys, they kept coming.
It was Kage who finally managed to take down guy number three with a bullet to the brain. Viv flinched. Not pretty. But effective. Outside of that, the guns were about as useless as the other weapons.
It seemed being down three of his best dragons pushed Hallstein over the edge because he did something Kage clearly hadn’t anticipated. He roared with blasphemous rage and started to shift right along with the other guy.
“Retreat!” Kage roared.
They had no place to go but back down into the basement as Hallstein and his minion shifted, and the house exploded.
“Where are we supposed to go now?” Viv cried. “We’re trapped!”
All she could think about were the people she had let down. The family who had trusted her.
“The chalet.” His eyes met her. “We’ll be safe there…you’ll be safe.”
“But won’t you lead Hallstein straight to your sisters?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“That’s what Erica meant when she said to trust my instincts,” he said. “It’s time to go home. It’s time to reunite and harness all the power we can if we hope to win the war.” He shook his head. “And home’s wherever my sisters are.” Their eyes held. “Wherever you are, Viv.”
“There you go again with that romantic side you don’t have.” She offered a lopsided grin. “All right, mate, I can only assume you have a way out of here. Care to share?”
“Hell, yeah.” His eyes went to the window, and he murmured a chant. “Time to shift and haul ass.”
Seconds later, the window imploded and water came rushing in.
Chapter Eighteen
KAGE PROTECTED VIV from the initial spatter of glass and rush of water then they launched into the night sky. He had never flown outside of his dreams. Had never imagined how exhilarating it would feel. Yet still, he knew he had to remain focused.
Hallstein and his sidekick were right behind them, and he needed to keep her safe.
“Stay ahead of me, Viv,” he said. “And don’t use magic to cloak yourself from human eyes. It’ll weaken you. Just remain in the cloud cover if you can.”
“Screw that, I’m not staying in front of you.” She sailed alongside him. “We fight together, and we go down together. I lost you once. Do you seriously think I’m going to let that happen again?”
“So you’ll die and leave your people behind?”
“Sounds like you’re willing to do the same for me, mate,” she reminded. “So why don’t we focus less on how bad the threat is and instead focus on how we’re gonna seriously kick the enemies’ asses.”
“Crazy dragon,” he muttered, more impressed than ever but at the same time furious. He didn’t want her to die at their hands. Worse yet, be taken alive.
“Yeah, well, I feel the same way,” she said, reading his thoughts. “And I’ve got the benefit of having flown before. You? You’re ready to battle in the skies your first time out.”
“Negative,” he said. “You forget I’m a pilot.” He shifted his body and flapped his wings. “Believe it or not, I’m in better control now than I was in a jet. Feels great.”
He could only hope they’d stay off military radar long enough to get where they needed to go.
“Oh, but the conversations I never thought I’d have with a Norse dragon,” Viv said, but he heard the smile in her voice.
“American dragon,” he reminded, just as humored though the enemy was bearing down on them. “And damn proud.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She chuckled as she angled her body and shot up into the cloud cover. “C’mon soldier, let’s lose these two, eh?”
Kage was beside her in seconds, grateful for the storm rolling in. The moisture in the clouds would work a lot like the pool water and make it harder for Hallstein to track them. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, and the wind shear was unpredictable. Typically, he would have avoided navigating into something like this because he was flying an expensive government issued plane, but now he wasn’t.
And it was one hell of a rush.
But not enough to distract him from keeping her safe.
“They’re coming up on our left flank,” he said. “Which works out perfectly because the chalet’s on our right. Time to descend.”
“Got it,” she replied.
When she banked right and headed down, he followed. He knew better than to hope the choppy wind would slow Hallstein. He was a seasoned dragon who could outfly anyone. Or so he had always boasted. As it turned out, he was arrogant for a reason.
They had no sooner burst from the cloudbank when the enemy and his sidekick intercepted. Kage was surprised Halstein played it like he did. He would have thought they’d have gone after the bigger threat first. Kage. But they split up their attack. The other guy slammed into Kage and Hallstein went after Viv.
Shit.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down.
Yet as he fought and clawed the prick that had sideswiped him, something happened. It almost looked like Hallstein touched pure poison when his dragon came in contact with Viv. When he released her, Kage saw the perfect opportunity.
“The chalet’s right down there.” He looked at the sweeping house sitting on the shore and pushed it into her mind. “Now go!”
He didn’t bother waiting for a response, but flipped the guy he was battling so that they both slammed into Hallstein. This would give Viv a chance to make a break for it. Seconds later, he and the bad guys started plummeting, but Kage kept fighting. The only problem? Due to how violent the wind shear had become and the forceful way the enemy had pushed away from her, Viv was in a tailspin and heading right for the chalet.
“I’m okay,” she managed to say into his mind. “Just focus on beating them, Kage. Please. I don’t want to lose you. Not again…”
“Viv, don’t,” he roared as she pushed all the inner strength she had left into him then completely lost control. It was no small thing taking on the strength of an original dragon. The minute he did he knew that this was why Hallstein was unable to touch her.
She was a breed of dragon he didn’t expect.
One that might just help them win this war.
Or at least her and their families.
Because extra strength or not, as he battled with Hallstein and his lackey, Kage knew this was a no-win situation. He’d been in enough bar fights to recognize when he was out powered and outnumbered. And this was ten times worse.
Paranormal Dating Agency: Her Wounded Dragon (Viking Ancestors' Kin, Book 4.5) (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 9
