by Honor James
“Okay, that would be best. That way you can write them down, and then the day after we will worry about translation. I mean it. We will take time with this.” Time was something they were short on, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was ensuring that he didn’t hurt himself doing this.
He growled softly at her, but it was more of a playful sound. Viper slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close. “And how, my dear, do you intend to keep me from doing it all in one day, might I ask?”
Ladon leaned on the counter with a grin. “I’m interested in hearing this, as well.”
“Well I was thinking that if I got naked and then got you naked, it would make you forget absolutely everything that there was to think of. What do you think? Me getting you naked would work? Or should I also ensure that my mouth is brought to the party as well?”
“Yeah, Viper,” Ladon taunted. “Would her mouth need to be brought in on this action?”
With a quick move Viper cuffed Ladon over his head, sending the man off in a fit of cursing. “If you happen to wander by naked, I think I might be able to drag my attention away for a bit of time. Depends on how convincing you are in whatever you have planned in your head, Violet.”
“Ah, well then, I think that I could somehow do something that would cause you to want to be with me instead of a musty old book. I’m pretty positive that between me being naked and touching you that things would be very, very good.”
“I think it could be. How were you planning on touching me? A touch can tell a lot, you realize, it all depends on how you are feeling in the moment and what your goal is. I look forward to seeing if you can distract me. Tomorrow, though. For now, let’s finish getting our meal ready and eat.”
“Yes, because all that I’m accomplishing right now is distracting myself. Right now the thing that keeps running through my mind is getting naked and getting you both naked with me. I know, I know. I’m a bad girl,” she said with her hand up.
“You’re not bad,” Viper said quietly. He drew her in closer and kissed her gently. Nipping at her lip, he tugged gently before kissing her again softly. “After dinner we will sit around the fire and relax.”
“That sounds good. We will just relax and unwind.” Because tomorrow would come all too soon, and they both knew it. “Okay. Food.” She pulled back from Viper after giving him a kiss on his cheek. “I love you, big guy,” she whispered, and then moved away so that she could help Ladon with the frozen treats and the salads.
Viper caught her hand and pulled her back in. He stared into her eyes and then kissed her. Really kissed her. His free hand cupped her cheek as he held her for the kiss. I love you, too, sweetheart, whispered through her mind as he lifted his head.
That had Violet shivering. That whisper of his love through their own personal connection. It was perfect and everything she had wanted and needed from him in that moment. She pulled back from him with a smile on her face and nodded. Giving him one last squeeze to his hand, she pulled back and began to help Ladon.
He let her go and went to attend to the meat, pulling everything from the brown paper wrappers. Together they created their meal for the evening.
Chapter Eleven
“That’s it,” Viper announced the next evening. He shut the large book as he rubbed at his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Now all we have to do is piece it together in the right order and then decipher it. Shouldn’t be too bad, given how far off his meds the Priest obviously was.”
Violet looked at the written words before her and felt sick. She had her arms wrapped around her middle and moved from her heels to toes and back again. “The question is, how do we know what order it goes into? I mean, really.” She gestured to the slips of written paper. “How do we know what goes where, and if we are getting it right or not?”
“Hell if I know,” he muttered.
Ladon leaned on the table and turned the sheets around so he could see them. Chewing his lip he began to move them around one at a time, sometimes in little groups. He put an elbow down and squinted. “At a wild guess, I’m guessing the fact they are numbered for the most part helps.” He smiled up at her and pointed to a sheet. The first word was “one.” “There’s about six like this, a list of sorts, but after that I’m stumped.”
“Are you kidding me?” Violet moved to look at the papers and literally smacked her head. “Son of a bitch. He’s right. One…twenty-five…crap. We need to get them lined up.” She looked to Viper and cocked her head to the side. “Not you, though. You need to get a drink and get something cold on the back of your neck so that you can get that headache that’s building under control, love.”
He nodded and pushed up from his chair. He touched her arm gently for a moment before going past her into the kitchen. She heard him digging around, and then it was quiet on that front.
“We still have a problem here, Vi,” Ladon said. “They aren’t all numbered. They don’t even all have a number in the wording. Although,” he said slowly. “Hang on a second,” he muttered.
Quickly Ladon began to rearrange them all, moving them into a line until he settled the last one in place. “What do you think?” he asked with a grin. “This starts with one, this has the word two in it, this is three syllables per word, this one makes a reference to the number four, this has five words, and so forth.”
“I think you have something,” Violet said with a grin and moved to hug Ladon’s arm. “Okay. Let’s leave it for now.” Mostly because she saw the words of death to the Queen and so on. She didn’t like it. At all. “I can’t,” she whispered when Ladon looked to argue with her. “Please?”
He frowned at her, looked at the words, and then nodded. “All right,” he said softly. “I’ll pin them down so I don’t have to figure this out again. For now, why don’t you go and get a drink, too, Vi. You look a little pale, sweetheart.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and licked her lips. “This will be good, we know what we are facing now, and that’s what’s important,” she said honestly. “Now then, we should all get a drink. Will you join us soon?”
He nodded and leaned into her, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Shouldn’t take me more than a couple of minutes. Go. Check on Viper, too, he looked more than a little green.” Touching her cheek, he tipped his head as he dropped his hand and faced the table again.
“Sounds good.” Violet turned from Ladon and went to where she saw Viper heading off to. Once she found him, she put her hand on the center of his back and rubbed her hand up and down his spine. “You okay?”
Nodding slowly, he smiled slightly. “Yeah, I’m good. I just want to lie down for a while. I was going to flop down on the bed for a bit, lights off, drapes closed, so it’s nice and dark. Do you want to join me?” he asked softly.
“Sure.” She moved to the windows first and began to close them. She then closed the bathroom door and kicked her shoes off. Closing the bedroom door almost fully, she climbed into bed with him and curled up against him. “I love you,” she whispered, her fingers lightly stroking his hair and neck.
“Gods, that feels good,” he groaned out softly. “You can keep petting me for as long as you like.” Turning toward her, he drew her in closer, wiggling down a little in the bed so he could put his face in her neck. She felt his breath on her skin as his body began to relax.
Violet shifted slightly so that she could do just that. She began to pet him, allowing her fingers to move gently over his back and neck. “Just tell me what you need, and it’s yours,” she whispered softly and continued, hoping he would fall asleep to escape the pain.
“Just this, Violet,” he said, his voice a low hum. “You touching me is all I need. It’s soothing to feel the love you have, stroking my senses.” He nipped at her skin lightly before hugging her in tighter. His one hand was lazily drawing random designs on her back as his breathing slowed little by little.
“I will always give you all of me. I love you, and it hurts me to see you in pain. I’m j
ust glad I can help, even a small bit,” she told him as softly as she could, in deference to his headache.
“It’s not as small as you seem to believe, Violet. Your touch alone is more than enough to help ease any aches and pains. The sensation of your soul brushing to mine is further comfort,” he told her gently. She felt the bite of his teeth to her jaw before he pressed a kiss to the same spot. “Never doubt how amazing you are, little mate.”
“I’m glad that I am able to do that for you. I happen to love you, and when you hurt that makes me hurt. So, it’s my goal for you to hurt as little as possible. I would much rather have my snarling and amazing Draygon than the one who’s hurting.”
She felt his snort as he squeezed her closer. “I don’t snarl,” he protested. She could hear the amusement in his voice, though. “I’m not hurting all that badly, either. It’s more of a dull ache at this point. A hint of a headache, nothing more, promise.”
“It’s okay to snarl, I happen to think that it’s sexy as hell,” she whispered to him and continued to stroke her fingers over his hair and down his neck. “Now, no more talking. Rest for a bit, Viper. Rest while you can, darling.”
He shivered against her body, his arms tightening around her. “Do that again,” he demanded quietly. When she did, he let out a throaty growl and a low moan full of need. “Again,” he whispered. With a nip to her throat, she felt him smiling against her skin a moment before the hot, wet sweep of his tongue slid up her neck.
Violet moaned when he licked the side of her neck. “We are supposed to be resting, letting you get over your headache.” She rubbed her leg up and down his thigh, need and desperation clear. “Again?” She whispered and stroked him once more, realizing her Dragyon had a sensitive spot on the back of his neck and loving it.
“Gods, yes, again,” he moaned. One of his hands was sliding up under her shirt, his palm pressed to her spine as he nuzzled her skin. “Fuck, that feels good,” he murmured. Nibbling at her skin he breathed in deeply, flicking his tongue out over her skin again.
“So glad, because that feels amazing as well,” Vi answered in kind, her low moan and sound of deep appreciation echoing his. “I love when you touch me. When your hands move over my skin.”
“I just like feeling your skin against mine,” he said softly. “It’s so smooth and soft, a sensual delight. Which doesn’t mean you get to stop petting me, woman. Keep petting me, and I’ll keep petting you. Otherwise I’ll assume you just want me to go to sleep.”
“I think that is a very fair trade-off. I will pet you all that you can possibly want,” she said with a grin and wiggled just a bit so that she could be closer to him. Her hands again began to stroke him and massage his too tight muscles at his shoulders.
Viper let out another long groan, the muscles she was massaging starting to loosen. “Gods, you are good at that,” he said. It also earned her another slow, long lick to her throat with a bit of nibbling along the way.
“I’m glad that I am. I studied massage with a Swedish monk for a while.” She had done a lot of things while on Earth. “And I plan on using everything that I can in order to make you always feel good Viper. You and Ladon both.”
“Just be yourself with us,” he said softly. He leaned back to look in her eyes. Cupping her cheek, he brushed his thumb over her skin lightly. “All we want is you, Violet. Our mate. There’s a lot that comes with that, but we’re not looking for a housekeeper, maid, or anything like that. Be you, sweetheart. Nothing more, nothing less,” he told her with a smile.
That had her smiling, and she nodded. “I am me, Viper. For now and always. Good and bad, I’m me. You aren’t getting rid of me anytime soon at all.” She shivered when he brushed his thumb over her skin and bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to be a housekeeper or maid. I just want to be yours.”
“You are,” he whispered. Cupping her head, he pulled her in for a kiss. He kept it light, playful, and yet sensual as he teased her mouth. Slowly he drew back, brushing his lips to her cheek before moving back to his previous position. “Of course, as our mate, this involves intensive and detailed petting of your mates. So quit shirking your duty, woman.”
“Right, sorry.” She was grinning when she added, “Sir.” She began to tease him, stroke him, and pet him. Her nails from time to time would rake along his skin, which caused him to shudder and moan. “You should be sleeping,” she admonished him with a grin.
“Practically am,” he said, his words nearly intelligible. “Keep that up and I will be before too much longer. So please, keep that up,” he told her. His hand, back up under her shift, was spread wide over her skin with his thumb moving back and forth lazily.
Violet did just that. She began to gently caress his head and shoulders, rubbing his neck from time to time as well. When she felt his breathing evening out and the deeper breaths of sleep, she smiled. Closing her eyes, she continued to stroke him and fell into a sleep right along with him.
Chapter Twelve
“We’ve got company,” Ladon said. He was looking out the window from his spot on the sofa. Between the two of them, they’d been working at getting the prophecy lined up in the correct order. He’d gotten most done the night before but there were still a half dozen that seemed rather random in nature. “Viper!” he bellowed.
“I see him,” her other mate said as he came into the room. “Keep working, you two, I’ll go and greet him, and we’ll be back momentarily.”
Ladon waved at him as he went back to frowning down at the sheets of paper on the coffee table between them.
Violet frowned and looked at Ladon. “Okay, I’m lost. Who is the visitor? I didn’t see anyone, but you guys obviously did. So come on. Out with it,” she said and moved another piece of the prophecy to its designated position.
“It’s just Drakos,” he told her. He did look at her, though, with a grin. “I keep forgetting you don’t have the same hearing we do. Sorry, sweetheart. He’s just landing now, they should be in soon, though.”
“Ah, okay. Yes, I don’t have your hearing.” She shifted so that she was closer to Ladon and lay her head on his knee. Looking up at him, she grinned. “I’m happy. Are you happy?” she asked suddenly, out of the blue.
He shot her a confused look and nodded. “Yeah, I’m happy. Shouldn’t I be? Or is this one of those female trick questions to screw with my mind? Should I be saying I’m not, even though I am? Damn it, woman, now you’ve got me all paranoid here. Why the question?”
“Nope, just wanted to know if you were as happy as I am,” she said with a grin and shifted so that she could rise to her knees. Leaning in, she kissed him. She didn’t go about it all sly and coyly, she full on just kissed him.
One of his arms came around her, hauling her up against his body as he sat up. Settling her on his lap, he nibbled on her lips as he slid his hand up into her hair. Tipping her head, he took the kiss deeper.
Violet shifted so that she had a leg on each side of his thigh, her front to his and moved against him as she kissed him. When she pulled back, she looked down into his eyes and grinned. “Goodness, I love kissing you. I could make a career out of kissing and touching you.” Which was the honest to goodness truth.
“As entertaining as that sounds, I think you might want to rethink it just a little,” a new and way too familiar voice said.
“Oops,” Ladon muttered. “Should’ve heard them coming.”
“You would have if you hadn’t been distracted by your mate,” Drakos said. He grinned at Violet and wiggled his eyebrows. “I see you’re not finding it such a hardship to be saddled by your mates as you once thought, Vi.”
“True. Still scared out of my mind,” she admitted with a shrug. “Worried that I’m going to die at any given moment in time, which is why we are working on this.” She gestured to the words that were on the table. “Trying to figure it out and hopefully not dying in the process.”
“You’re not going to die,” Drakos said softly. “I am glad that you found the ful
l prophecy, though. I hated not being able to give you the whole thing, but I had no clue where it was hidden. Viper told me how he found it. Takes some serious dedication to read through one of the Priests’ books in two days. Damn things are made to put you to sleep.”
“It gave him a massive headache instead of sleep,” Violet said and reached out to touch Viper in turn. “So what brings you by, Drakos?” She asked with a smile to her old friend. “Not that it’s not good to see you, because it is and you know that. But what’s up?”
“Thought I’d check in with you,” he said with a shrug. “I had a morning off, so I was over visiting with Drake and getting some time in with my granddaughter. It was her naptime, though, so I figured since I had some spare time I’d come see you. Also I thought I’d see if I could be of any help with the prophecy.”
“Thank you.” Violet bowed her head at the massive Draygon. “Please, have a seat, and we will begin working through this. What we’ve figured out is that the priest hid the full prophecy throughout the entire book. There are number words in each passage so we are just now putting them in order. Good times, right?”
“Well, it’s more than that,” Ladon said. “There are number words, there are also set amounts of syllables per word per section, references to numbers, and a number of other things. It got us to this point. Now the issue is there are a number of leftover sections, no references, nothing that says put me in here, nada. Yet we know for a fact we are missing chunks just from the numbering system he was going with.”
Drakos settled into a chair and peered down at the pieces of paper. “I’m assuming you still have this in the original Draconian?”
“Yeah,” Viper said. He lifted the stack and passed it over. “I figured it would come in handy in case I translated a word wrong based on what little info I had at the time. I know for a fact that it could alter depending on the structure and context prior, but without the proper context in how this was written—”
