by Abigail Owen
“Is it true, boss?” Titus demanded. Finn couldn’t blame the guy. The topic of mating was equally hard on him as it was on Finn.
“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“That explains a hell of a lot,” Levi muttered into his coffee.
“Do you think this Graff guy is her mate?” Keighan asked.
Rivin, sitting next to him at the table, smacked him in the back of the head.
“Ow.” Keighan rubbed the back of his head, scowling at his friend. “What the fuck, dude?”
“Figure it out, dumb-ass,” Rivin muttered around a bite of eggs.
Keighan frowned then looked at Finn. “Oh, because you’re already sleeping with her? Maybe you’re her mate.”
That earned him another two smacks. One from Rivin followed up by a harder one from Levi.
“I’m still standing right here, guys,” Delaney snapped.
Then she went to the stove where eggs sat warming in a pan and dished some up for herself, along with bacon and a cup of coffee. Finn knew what that meant. She used cooking and food as a way to tune out anything bad in her life.
Silence reigned until she sat at the table with the others. The team, Finn included, stared as she tucked into her meal.
After a few bites, she glanced up. “What?”
“You’re taking this…well, Peanut.” Levi said slowly.
Delaney sighed. “It’s about par for the course for the last few years of my life. Especially lately.”
To disguise a growl of frustration, Finn moved to get his own breakfast. He hated the thought of how her life had been so nuts that she’d take news like this as just another hit and keep rolling.
“Better call the Alliance,” Levi said.
Finn, his back to the room as he spooned eggs onto a plate, nodded.
“No,” Delaney said. As if she was saying no to another helping.
Finn grumbled as he walked to the table. Here came the stubborn.
Levi glanced between them. “No?”
“I’m not interested in being mated.” She took another bite.
“Good,” Titus said.
She raised her eyebrows at the black dragon shifter.
“I don’t want you to die,” he said. “Better if you just…disappear.”
This time Finn did growl, a low rumble of sound that was clearly a warning. Every man in the room froze.
“No one is disappearing.” Finn stared at Titus, who eventually ducked his head, dropping his gaze.
“The Alliance could help with Graff,” Keighan pointed out.
“The Alliance won’t want to include him in the mating process,” Levi said. “He’s rogue.”
They all looked to Delaney. “He’s not my mate anyway,” she said.
“How can you be sure?” Titus asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Because he makes my skin crawl, even before I knew he was a dragon shifter when he went all weird.” She blinked as the way she’d worded that sank in. “Not that dragon shifters make my skin crawl. You guys are great.”
“We got it,” Levi said dryly.
“Good.” She gave a relieved smile. “Anyway… The thought of sex with that guy makes me want to throw up in my mouth and then find a bucket so I can keep going.”
“Seems pretty clear,” Levi murmured, flicking a glance at Finn.
“What about you, boss?” Keighan asked. “Think maybe you’re her mate?”
Two more smacks upside the head had him shutting up.
…
Delaney did her best to act normal when that question hit. Because from the moment Finn had told her what she was and what it meant, she’d been wondering.
She might be playing it cool for Finn and the guys, but inside she was a hot mess of confusion, and needs, and maybe even hopes. But she barely knew him. He couldn’t be… It didn’t work like that.
Finn ignored Keighan, and she lifted her gaze to the man across the table who watched her with that intensity that had everything inside her clenching.
To hell with his denial, right there in his eyes for them all to see. If she was going to figure out if he was the guy, or the destined mate, or whatever, she needed more time, and more contact. That meant breaking down the walls and rules he’d piled back up the second she went up in flames.
Talking wasn’t going to get her there. She’d known that when his jaw had gone all hard. But could he deny the physical connection between them for long?
She planned to find out. No time like now to start.
“Finn doesn’t think he is,” she said, answering Keighan’s question.
Meanwhile, she toed off one shoe, then lifted her leg, reaching underneath the table. With supreme luck, she didn’t brush up against him until she hit his crotch dead center.
Finn jerked, his plate rattling, and Delaney had to hold back a cackle of laughter. Casually he dropped his hand under the table to circle her ankle with an iron grip. That didn’t stop her from pointing her toes, rubbing up against a part of him that was rock hard. The only part of him not denying her right now.
“Why not?” Levi asked.
Finn blinked, and she could tell he was having to rethink the question. “I don’t plan to ever mate. And we still aren’t totally sure she is one. There’s still no brand on the back of her neck.”
Titus jolted upright. “That can’t be. Are you sure?”
Delaney rubbed his hard-on with her foot and Finn tightened his grip while scooting back. “Spoil sport,” she murmured. Earning her a glare from him and confused frowns from the others.
“I’m sure,” Finn said. “I just checked again.”
“Because if she’s not…” Titus said.
“That’s for the Mating Council to figure out,” Finn said, his mouth a grim slash.
Delaney jerked her foot from his grasp. “I said I’m not going.”
He glared over his coffee cup. “Yes. You are.”
She stood up, hands on the table. “The only way I’m going is if you drag me there by the hair.” She snapped up her plate and put it in the sink before stalking out of the kitchen. The sound of running feet followed her out, and she turned to find Keighan following.
Raised eyebrows asked the question for her.
He gave her a sheepish grimace. “You’re not supposed to be alone.”
Damn Graff. Damn Finn. Damn dragon shifters in general. Because this sucked ass.
She sighed. “Then I suggest you get all hands on deck, because Sera and I are going out shopping today.”
“Shopping,” he repeated without enthusiasm.
“Yup.” If she didn’t do something normal and sane and not related to dragon shifters or her job, she’d lose her shit. She needed to not think about this stuff for a while.
“Finn won’t like it,” Keighan said.
“Finn doesn’t have to come. Apparently, he doesn’t want to come with me anymore, anyway.” She said that last bit loudly, knowing Finn would pick it up.
Keighan closed his eyes on a long-drawn breath. “This will be fun,” he muttered.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“This is nice,” Sera said.
She’d been all about a girl’s shopping trip when Delaney called.
Delaney paused midsip of her hot chocolate. “Mmmm… Except for the bodyguards,” she grumbled.
Eyebrows lifted, Sera glanced around them at each of the four men posted nearby, on high alert. Or whatever.
They hadn’t gone far for their excursion, staying relatively local and visiting the lovely downtown in Placerville. The town boasted a historic section with a long strip of shops and places to eat.
Finn, Aidan, Titus, and Levi had dragged along behind them through every stop. And Delaney had derived a juvenile sense of satisfaction from their disgruntled faces while she and Sera took their time. Especially when neither of them bought anything.
They were both on the edge of broke, but looking at all the pretties lifted Delaney’s spirits. Plus, she got a few ideas fo
r Christmas gifts for Sera that she’d come back to get later.
They’d paused in their window-shopping to eat lunch at a café, and the weather had been pleasant enough to sit outside. Only one table had been available, and she was still pissed enough to want time alone with Sera. The best she got was four irritated dragon shifters standing in various spots on the street.
“I don’t mind the view so much,” Sera murmured as her gaze lingered on Aidan.
For his part, Aidan turned away, ostensibly to check behind him, but Delaney suspected more to put distance between himself and her friend. The dragon shifter would’ve heard that and caught Sera’s glance.
Delaney eyed his back with a tinge of curiosity. He might pretend a disinterest in her friend, but she’d caught a few looks. Sera was harmless—she wasn’t about to jump the man and demand sex or anything—and human. Not to mention a single mother.
Maybe that was his problem?
“I think I’m going to go back to that toy store and get that video game for Blake.”
Sera’s comment pulled Delaney out of her thoughts. “For Christmas?”
Her friend nodded.
“If you get that, I’ll get him the steering wheel that he can use with it.”
Sera leaned forward, placing a hand over Delaney’s. “I can’t let you do that. We both know how much you make.”
Delaney shrugged. “I have a little money socked away.”
Literally. She’d cashed out everything and carried it with her when she moved here. The idea being a quick getaway. Probably something she should’ve done the second Sera’s barn went up in flames. After this was over, she’d think about opening a real bank account again.
Sera gave her a mock narrow look, but let it go. Then her gaze shifted over Delaney’s shoulder. “Blake was sure excited to hang out at the headquarters today.”
That pulled a smile from her. “Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. Rivin and Keighan promised to teach him cool firefighter stuff. I have no idea what. And let him work out with them today. His grandparents are also glad for the break. He can be high energy.”
Delaney grinned at the image of Sera’s little boy lifting weights with the two huge dragon shifters. She didn’t know if all dragon shifters were in the kind of shape every man on the team exhibited, but she sort of doubted it. A glance at Finn, taking in the way his black t-shirt stretched to accommodate the muscles of his arms, stirred things inside her she didn’t want stirred.
Scowling, she shifted to alleviate the sudden warmth shooting to parts of her that damn well needed to turn off. Where had she put that switch?
“He was practically vibrating with excitement,” Sera continued, oblivious to Delaney’s discomfort.
Delaney chuckled. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.” She glanced over at the guys. Maybe she’d tortured Finn enough for now. “After we go get those toys, let’s—”
Something large slammed into her from behind. Delaney yelped as a large arm wrapped around her waist and roughly jerked her out of her chair.
Then nothing.
Silence and stillness seized her system—like everything shut down around her as she was plunged into a black world of nonexistence. Delaney tried to struggle but couldn’t will her body to move. She tried to scream, but no sound would come from her throat. Not even a squeak.
Her heart, at least, was working fine, pounding so hard it hurt as panic flooded her blood with adrenaline.
If she didn’t know better, she would’ve guessed she’d passed out again with another epileptic fit. Except, according to Finn, that’s not what she’d been having all these years. Also, this was different. She was awake and remembering everything as it happened. She was sure of it.
Then, with a whoosh, sound and sight returned and she fell to the ground. She squinted against the bright sun, blinding after total blackness. As her vision cleared, greens and browns came into focus. Trees. The ground slanted at an angle, with large granite boulders peeking out between trees.
The woods. I’m in the woods on a mountain.
A light breeze rustled the pine needles. Other than her rampaging heart, that was the only sound she heard. Her mind caught up with her body as reaction set in and so did logic.
With a gasp, Delaney spun on her knees, coming up into a crouch to face her kidnapper.
He stood there, watching her closely. Graff Hughes.
The man had always been handsome. Like every other dragon shifter she’d ever met. Not as tall as Finn or Levi, he was leaner, more like Titus. Black eyes stared back at her. A black dragon, she realized.
“I’m not your mate,” she spat.
Thick eyebrows winged up. “So, they finally figured it out, huh?”
Slowly, she rose to her feet, taking a step back as she did. “I lit my clothes on fire in front of one of them.”
“Took them long enough.”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t show any brands on my neck.”
Graff frowned at that. “Impossible.”
She didn’t want to let him close, but maybe if she could prove it to him, he’d leave her alone. She turned, lifting her curls up. “Go ahead.”
At first, silence greeted her offer, and she glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows raised.
“Okay,” he said.
“Wait. My shirt’s not fireproof.” She damn well wasn’t walking around naked with him after this. With a quick tug, she pulled her shirt over her head and clutched it to her chest, then lifted her hair again.
Then he stepped closer. He inhaled deeply, that bellows sound signaling the gathering of his fire, then warmth flowed over her, black-tipped flames caressing her skin, but didn’t burn. Nor did it kick off that need to orgasm right then and there as Finn’s flames had done. Rather, she felt more like she’d snuggled up to a cozy fireplace.
“Fuck,” Graff stepped back. “Mother was so sure.”
“What?”
Only he didn’t answer.
Delaney grabbed her shirt and pulled it on before turning to face him. Rather than resigned acceptance, his face twisted with fury that kicked her adrenaline back into high gear.
“They must have a witch to hide my brand from me.”
A witch? Those existed, too? “No. The mark didn’t show for Finn either.”
Fury made his features ugly. Shit. Wrong thing to say. “Finn?” he sneered. “Did you sleep with him?”
Delaney swallowed back words. He wasn’t in any state to be reasoned with.
“Did you?” he demanded, stalking closer.
No matter how much she wanted to, she didn’t turn and run. He was faster, stronger, and she’d only help his predator instincts to kick in.
“Did you, you little slut?”
He backhanded her. Pain exploded through her cheekbone and the momentum tumbled her to the ground.
Graff squatted in front of her, and she tried her best not to flinch back from him. Didn’t men who hit get off on their victim’s fear? She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. Instead, she glared back. Silent. Refusing to even lift her hand to her throbbing face.
“You’re mine.” He shoved a finger in her face. “The Djinn who found you for me promised it would work this time. And as soon as I get you somewhere they can’t find you, we’ll make sure no one can take you from me ever again.”
…
She’s gone.
Burning fury and icy fear slammed through Finn, trying to short-circuit his system as Delaney’s empty chair mocked him. Turned over when that black dragon asshole had yanked her out of it and disappeared into thin-fucking-air, it lay haphazardly on the cement sidewalk.
Reaction kicked in and he ran for that empty spot, having no clue what he’d find. A big load of nothing, most likely. How did you follow a guy who could ghost like that?
A hysterical Sera babbled in Aidan’s arms as he pulled her away from the scene. Humans started to gather, to see what was the matter. Luckily, none had been there to witness Delaney’s disap
pearance.
“She saw a rat,” Finn explained.
“She hates rats,” Levi tacked on.
Curiosity shifted to disinterest as patrons returned inside for their meals or continued along the street for their shopping.
Meanwhile, Titus and Levi both stood beside Finn next to the empty table. He sniffed the air but got nothing. Not a trace of anything except a faint whiff of smoke, and even that would dissipate in a few minutes, he knew from experience with Graff.
The dragon half of him was going berserk. All Finn wanted to do was shift and rip apart the entire world until he found Delaney. Smoke trailed from his nostrils as the raging beast demanded release.
“Boss.” Levi’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Now’s not the time.”
Finn curled his hands into fists and closed his eyes, struggling for control. Graff was going to try to mate her. Gods, he’d kill her when he did. She’d be a pile of ash.
Phoebe’s screams lit inside his head as if he were there in that room with her again. Only now behind his closed eyes, he watched Delaney burn—those dove-gray eyes begging him to stop the pain for her, that gorgeous pale skin turning first to angry red welts before charring black with death. Bile burned as it rose up his throat with fire.
“He’s going to kill her.” Finn’s voice had dropped to a growling rumble.
Levi shook his head. “No. We’ll find her.”
Finn let loose a snarl that made even Levi jump.
“We’ve got to get him out of here,” his Beta muttered, probably to Titus.
“I’ve got it.” He forced his eyes open and didn’t miss Levi’s flinch. His eyes must be pure flame by now. “I’ve got it under control,” he repeated.
No way was he going to lose his shit. That wouldn’t save Delaney.
Training, honed over centuries of fighting, kicked in. “Get me somewhere private. I’ll take to the skies and search in a widening circular pattern. You get back to the house. See if her phone is on. Track it.”
Immediately, they got moving. Aidan practically dragged a softly sobbing Sera with them to where they’d parked the truck in the parking garage a few blocks away, assuring her they’d find Delaney. They got a couple of curious stares. One man stepped in front of them. “You all right, ma’am?”
