Into Forever

by Danielle James

  No, Samuel didn’t want to let go. He wanted to drink and drink until he was full and at this point, he didn’t think that would happen for a long time.

  “You promised not to hurt me,” Jessica said. Sebastian growled right beside Samuel. He moved only his eyes to see that the hulking vampire was poised and ready to strike. His pale eyes were damned near glowing with rage, and Samuel felt the fog of bliss in his mind begin to clear. He had Jessica’s wrist in his mouth and her husband was about to go all Terminator on him if he didn’t let go.

  As hungry as Samuel was feeling, the instinct to survive was stronger, and he released her arm quickly. Sebastian yanked Jessica away from him and once they were across the room, he bent her head back and sank his teeth into her neck. He never took his eyes off Samuel as he drank from his wife. The look he was sending told Samuel that she belonged to him and there was no room for argument.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “No, you did well,” Angel told him.

  “Sebastian is about to kill me,” Samuel reminded him.

  “No, he is not.” Angel let go of Samuel’s arm. “He is only making sure you know that was a one-time thing.”

  “Yeah,” Samuel agreed. He would not be doing that again.

  “Now, let’s see what you’re made of,” Leigh said, taking his hand. She dragged him out of the house and onto the beach behind the house.

  “What are we doing?” Samuel asked.

  Leigh didn’t answer him. Instead, she reared back her fist and let it snap forward. She nailed him in the face and he stumbled back with the force of it. “What the hell?” he demanded.

  He heard the men laughing as they filed outside to watch. “Leigh is nearly indestructible,” Rebel said. “I wouldn’t let her push you around.”

  “You want me to hit your wife?” Samuel asked incredulously. Was he fucking serious?

  Rebel laughed. “I ain’t worried about her man,” he said. “I’m worried about you. She could fucking kill your stupid ass while you are worrying about your morals.”

  Just as he finished the sentence, Leigh let her fist fly again. This time, it connected with Samuel’s temple.

  Stars exploded behind his eyes. “You gonna take it like a pussy?” she snarled in his face. “Come on! You have to defend yourself. I won’t keep going easy on you.”

  She was going easy on him? Samuel shook his head. He had known the very first day he met Leigh when she stormed into his office that she was a spitfire. He never imagined he was going to be on the receiving end of it. He looked to the brothers to see if anyone was going to protest. Brea stood beside them, giggling. What the fuck had he gotten himself into?

  “Look Cop, I will kill you if you don’t get a hold of some self-preservation. You think that if you were in a fight for your life, that the other person would give a fuck if you were a man or a woman? Hell no. She would kill you on principle, and I am about to do the same. Don’t make us sorry we changed you.” She backed up off his grill just long enough to take another swing at him.

  This time, Samuel was expecting it. He dodged her fist, but just barely. She grinned at him and swung again. This time, he moved his whole body. He thought about moving to the other side of the beach, and then he was there. It was like he moved with only a thought.

  “Now that’s better,” she said with an eager smile. “Let’s get this party started.” She bent her knees and lunged for him.

  Samuel watched her come for him, still stunned by the speed of his movement. Before he knew what was going on, Leigh was on top of him again. She was running at him and at the last second ducked her whole torso and rammed her shoulder into his stomach.

  “Ooof,” was all that came out of his mouth as they toppled to the ground. He tried to move away from her, but she was fast. She had her legs wrapped around his and her arm around his neck before he could devise a plan of action. And if that weren’t enough, all the guys were watching him get his ass kicked by a girl. A dragon girl, but a girl just the same, was getting the better of him.

  He rolled them both over to the side and Leigh wiggled until she could get free. But she didn’t run from him, instead, she managed to get behind him and pinned him to the ground. He was on his stomach with her knee in his back, both of his arms being pulled back to nearly the point of dislocation. Here he was, a brand new vampire, in an iron wrestling hold, and he was eating sand. Oh what would the guys at the precinct think of him now?

  He heard one of the guys laugh. “Come on Sam!” Leigh yelled at him. “You gotta do better than that!” “Man, she is going to hand you your balls for supper if you don’t man up!” Rebel yelled.

  Samuel had to do something. He didn’t want to hurt her, but this was going too far. He would not be the laughing stock in this situation. He heard himself growling and he yanked his legs until they were underneath him. He arched his back and threw both Leigh and himself backward until he landed on top of her. He felt slightly bad when he heard the breath leave her lungs, but at least she let go of his arms.

  He jumped to his feet and made distance between the two of them. Leigh stood and brushed the sand off her pants. Her hair was covered in sand and her eyes were bright yellow. He knew he had pissed her off.

  “Can’t I spar with one of you guys?” he asked as she stalked back toward him.

  “We have found that sparring with Leigh is not only healthy, but it helps her let off some steam. A lot less things catch fire around the house this way, if you know what I mean.”

  Oh he knew, but he didn’t like it. Given the way Leigh was looking at him, he was getting ready to be kindling for one of her fires. She was almost close enough to him to cause some damage, and so he yelled at her to just stop.

  “Stop Leigh!” he said, putting his hand out in front of him, palm facing Leigh. She kept coming for him and when she was only inches from his hand, she stopped.

  She started forward again and again, she stopped. The look on her face changed from Kill to what the fuck? She kept trying to move for him, but she was stopped by some invisible barrier. The confused look quickly changed to royally pissed off.

  Leigh shrieked in frustration and smoke began to fill the air. “Oh shit,” someone said; maybe it was Samuel, he couldn’t be sure. He was too busy to figure it out on account that Leigh was catching fire herself. Samuel watched in panic-stricken terror as the petite woman was engulfed in flames before his eyes. He watched the flames grow hotter and hotter and reach higher in the sky.

  He could hear someone yelling for him, but it was drowned out by the roar of the flames. And then, when the flames receded, the sounds were drowned out by the pissed off roar of a mighty black dragon.

  Samuel had seen Leigh’s dragon form before, but never up close, and never when she was pissed off. This was beyond scary. It was terrifying. No wonder no one fucked with her! He realized he was still holding his hand up and dropped it to his side. The dragon made a face that Sam thought was a sly smile, and began stalking him. He moved in circles as the dragon followed his every step. Every now and then, just for good measure, she snorted and smoke rolled out and covered Samuel.

  “Somebody do something!” Brea was yelling. He heard her, but couldn’t look at her. He also heard the guys saying that Samuel was on his own with this one.

  Leigh threw her head back and roared so loud that the ground shook beneath Samuel’s feet. Fire shot from her massive mouth and licked toward the night sky. He felt the sweat bead on his forehead and his heart was hammering in his chest.

  Surely Leigh wouldn’t kill him.

  And then she leapt into the sky, spreading her wings and circling overhead. It was magnificent. And then, she returned her attention to Samuel. The huge dragon nose-dived from the sky right in Samuel’s direction. Fire was rolling out of her mouth and his flight or fight instinct kicked into high gear. Of course, it was the flight instinct that won.

  Sam took off at top speed away from the fiery death he was sure to suffer. Leigh was
hot on his heels.

  He darted this way and that, but the dragon proved to be far more agile than a creature her size should be.

  At one point, Leigh came within an inch of plowing him over as she passed over his head. The wind created by her wings knocked him off his feet and he rolled onto his back. He watched as Leigh dived for him with her mouth open. He was going to die. He knew it.

  And then he heard it. A baby crying. The dragon stopped her attack immediately and jerked her head toward the sound. Samuel looked as well and saw Brea holding Toni in her arms. Leigh dropped to her feet and stomped toward Brea.

  “No!” Samuel yelled. He got to his feet and rushed toward Brea. The dragon turned her head and snapped her teeth at him. Samuel stopped and watched.

  Leigh sniffed the baby with her huge dragon nose and the baby began to giggle. Then Leigh looked at Brea, who was not afraid by the way, and didn’t that smack of injustice as far as Samuel was concerned. Brea sat the baby gently on the sand and Samuel watched as something magical happened.

  The little one was surrounded by mist and then fire, just like her mother. When it was over, a tiny baby dragon stood in the sand. Leigh roared into the night and the little dragon did the same. When Leigh spread her wings and jumped into the sky, the little black dragon followed. He watched as the two flew circles in the sky above the house.

  “That is really something,” Samuel said, awestruck.

  “Yeah,” Brea said, standing beside him.

  “How did you know she wouldn’t hurt you?” he asked Brea.

  “Oh Leigh would never hurt me,” she said, still watching the sky.

  Samuel turned his eyes away from the pair of dragons and looked at Brea. “I was never in any real danger was I?” he asked. He even felt kind of stupid for freaking out.

  “Oh no, I said she would never hurt me. I’m pretty sure she meant to kill you,” Brea told him, dead serious.

  Oh damn, Samuel thought. “I guess I should thank you then,” he finally said.

  Brea smiled at him. “Yes, you should.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  “Man, that was intense,” Gage said as Leigh walked out of the house and joined the rest of her family on the beach. Rebel, Samuel, and Gage were sitting at the metal outdoor table, and she pulled a chair out and sat her butt down in it.

  “Well, it sure wore Toni out,” she said. “I never thought of taking her for a flight. She really loved it.” After they landed, she had taken the baby inside and put her down for the night.

  Rebel scooted his chair closer to his wife and took her hand. “See? I told you that you already had everything you needed to bond with her. You just had to figure it out.”

  “Yeah I guess so. I needed to fly anyway.” She turned her attention to Samuel. “Sorry about that, by the way. I guess I got a little out of control.”

  Samuel grunted but didn’t say anything. With his luck, he would piss her off again, and that wasn’t something he was looking forward to doing ever again. Not. Ever.

  “Yeah you were really laying the smack down on him,” Gage chuckled. “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.”

  Leigh turned to him and smiled. “Oh really. That’s too bad,” she said, “because you’re next.”

  “What?” Gage asked pushing his chair back.

  “You are more powerful than you let us believe. You need practice with that power. How long has it been since you used it?”

  “I don’t even know,” he answered honestly. “Not for a long time.”

  “See? Practice will help you.”

  “I don’t need to use it.” Gage sat back in his chair.

  “Oh really now,” Leigh said, getting closer to him. “You want Serena back, right?”

  “Of course I do,” said, narrowing his eyes at her.

  “And let’s just suppose that when we find her, Prince Adeer isn’t willing to just hand her over. Because you know, Princes are always giving up their women just because someone else wants them.” Her sarcasm was hanging thick in the air. “Do you really think that this is going to go down peacefully?” “I will fight for her if I need to,” Gage snarled. How dare she even suggest he wouldn’t fight for his mate?

  “Then we need to be as strong as we can be!” Leigh yelled at him. “The Fey are not some big bunch of teddy bears! They could and would destroy us.”

  “We have fought them before.”

  “Yeah we did,” Leigh agreed. “But we had Serena with us to help counter their magic. Do you think he is going to let you within ten feet of her? And even if he did, do you really expect Serena to fight her family? Do you think she would kill her own mother just to be with you? Would you even ask that of her?”

  Gage dropped his head. He hadn’t considered that part yet. All he had thought of was to find her and bring her back by whatever means necessary. He hadn’t thought of all the details yet. And Leigh was right. He couldn’t ask Serena to fight against her own mother, even if the scary bitch was wrong.

  “Well,” he finally said, “At least we have you.”

  “Yeah but even I am not all-powerful. I can still kick your ass though.” Leigh gave him a playful punch on the arm. “Look, Angel is making calls and Jacque and Frankie are doing whatever research they can to try and find the location of the wedding. The Adeer palace is well hidden and we don’t seem to be in the circle of trust.”

  “We have to find it,” Gage said. He knew that there was a small chance they could secure an invite if Angel played his politician card right. “Why doesn’t Angel just ask for an invitation from Anora?”

  “Duh,” Leigh snapped. “He tried that already. She said she appreciated the gesture, but it was not necessary; which was her way of telling him to fuck off.”

  “That fucking sucks,” Gage mumbled. “So what, are we gonna just crash the ceremony?”

  “Hopefully we won’t have to. If we can find their tribe or whatever, we can try talking to them first. If not, maybe we can just kidnap Serena right out from under them.” Leigh pushed her hair behind her ear. “I hope we don’t have to do that, but if we do, I am prepared to fly her anywhere in the world when the time comes.”

  “And then we would be facing all-out war,” Rebel said as he took Leigh’s hand in his own. He set both their hands on his knee.

  “I don’t want it to come to that,” Gage said. Kidnapping Serena was definitely a bad idea. Not only would the Prince’s tribe declare war, but so would Serena’s. It wasn’t worth the lives of his family for a few stolen days, or hell, hours. If they were going to fight, it would be for a permanent solution.

  “And you gonna sit there and tell me that if they won’t let her go, you’re gonna just sit back and wave goodbye to your mate?” Rebel asked. He leaned forward in his chair and tipped his Stetson back so that he could look Gage straight in the eyes.

  Gage turned the thought over in his head for a moment. The part of him that wanted peace for his family wanted to say yes, he would let her go. But he knew by the way his stomach turned and his vision turned red with rage that he would not let her go. He would slaughter anyone who tried to stop him from taking her.

  “Yeah,” Rebel said, sitting back in his chair again, “that’s what I thought.”

  “I am so sorry guys,” Gage said. And he was. This was all his fault. If he had only listened to Serena’s mother when she told him to stay away from her daughter, this wouldn’t be happening now. But how could he live his life not knowing his mate? He did meet her and he did fall in love with her.

  Rebel shook his head and waved off the apology. “Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness. You no longer have the luxury of being weak. You are a king and you are going to have to start acting like one if you want her back.”

  Gage nodded. He understood. He didn’t like it, but he understood it. He was going to have to man up. “What do you think I should be doing now?”

  “Well,” Leigh said, “you could start by explaining how you can make an invisible wall wit
h a wave of your hand. And, why the fuck the newbie can do it too?”

  “I have always been able to do it,” Gage answered. “I just never had the opportunity or need to before. I have used it, but not where anyone could see me. I tried when Antonio…”

  “I know,” Rebel cut him off. “There was nothing any of us could have done about that.”

  “Look,” Leigh told him, “We have all made some pretty ignorant decisions in the past. You are not immune. The thing is, we have to deal with it. I swear, not one of you men have gone about getting your mate in a normal manner! I mean, what’s wrong with asking a girl out for dinner and a movie?”

  “Would you have accepted if I had asked you?” Rebel smiled.

  “Hell no,” Leigh replied, “But you were creepy.”

  Gage laughed. He loved the easy banter his family had between one another. Samuel wasn’t laughing, but he would come around. He was part of the family as well.

  It felt good to laugh. He had been so worried lately that he hadn’t laughed in far too long. He hadn’t even pranked anyone in the past few months. He hadn’t felt like himself since the last time he and Serena were together. In fact, he wasn’t feeling himself right now either. He felt a bit light headed and spacy.

  “I think I’m going to go inside for a bit,” he told them.

  “What’s up?” Rebel asked.

  “Man, you don’t look so good,” Samuel said. “I know that look.”

  Gage had gotten to his feet while his family was talking, but he was having a hard time hearing them. It sounded like the ocean had moved up out of its bed and directly into Gage’s ear canal. He shook his head to try to clear it, but it only got worse. The last thing he remembered was hearing Leigh curse at him and then, blackness.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Gage felt something cool on his head and someone was holding his hand. He opened his eyes to find Frankie and Jessica sitting on either side of him. “Ugh,” he groaned.

  “Hey, bout time you woke up,” Jessica said. “What the heck was that all about?”