He closed the door behind him and didn’t look back. Thankfully, the keys were in the ignition of the truck. Riggs slid into the driver’s side, started the vehicle, and pulled away. The trip to the airfield went quickly. The pilot said nothing when Riggs climbed on board alone and told him they were heading to North Dakota.
Riggs strapped in and was already calling Karina by the time the plane left the ground.
“Yes,” she answered. He loved the sound of her voice, lush and sultry. He wasn’t stupid. He knew she was using him, but he was using her, too, and they both knew it. They were a lot alike.
“There was a slight problem.” He told her about Christian and what had occurred, leaving nothing out.
“You’re on your way to North Dakota.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered her anyway. “Yes.”
“Check the plane when you find it. We need to know where Darius Varkas has been.”
Riggs had planned to check it, but now he’d have to share his information with her, or at least some of it. Time would tell what he held back and what he told her.
“I need to get my people on this,” he reminded her.
While Herman Temple would have been livid at his obvious attempt to get off the phone with her, Karina merely laughed. “You do that. And, Matthew, I’ll be waiting.”
His body tightened and his cock stirred at the sexual promise in her voice. Having sex with Karina was like sleeping with a venomous snake. She was sleek and beautiful and deadly as hell. Was it any wonder he was infatuated with her?
But he wasn’t stupid. He ended the call and contacted his computer guy. “I need a list of every airfield, public and private, in North Dakota. Our plane is somewhere in that state, and we need to find it.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
It was light out when Sarah woke. She had no idea what time it was or even what day, and she really didn’t care. All that mattered was she was alive and with Darius. His arm was wrapped around her and her head was pillowed on his chest. Even in sleep he kept her close.
Sunshine illuminated the space, giving it a warm, cozy glow. She snuggled beneath the covers, feeling more like herself than she had since they’d destroyed the book.
“How are you feeling?” Darius asked. She wasn’t surprised he was awake.
“Good.” She remembered waking several times to go to the bathroom, but other than that, she’d slept very well.
He moved his big hand up and down her back, the motion soothing and comforting. “We have to leave today.”
She sighed and ran her fingers across his chest, tracing the intricate whorls of his tattoo. How could she resist when it was right there? He was still wearing only his jeans, having slept in them. That couldn’t have been comfortable.
He caught her hand and flattened it against his hard chest. His skin was warm, and she kneaded it with her fingertips.
He gave a gruff laugh. “Keep that up and we won’t get out of here anytime soon.”
She loved the way he responded to her every touch. “Is it so dangerous to stay here? We’re safe, aren’t we?”
“For now. But the Knights have more resources than you can imagine. We need to keep moving, stay one step ahead of them.”
She tilted her head back and kissed the strong edge of his jaw. Darius really was magnificent, whether in human or dragon form. “Soon. We’ll go soon. We can even stop and pick up the package on our way out of town. I can change on the plane.”
“Efficient.” He shoved the covers away and lifted her like she weighed nothing at all. She found herself lying on top of him, staring down into his deep, slumberous green eyes.
Her grin slid away when he cupped her ass and squeezed. The shirt she was wearing had been pushed up, leaving her lower half bared. She groaned when he dipped his fingers into her moist depths.
“You’re mine, Sarah.” He kissed her, and she let herself sink into the seductive heat. His lips were firm and supple, his tongue warm and demanding. She gave him everything he wanted and more.
Her entire body thrummed with awareness. He stroked her sensitive folds even as he kissed her almost into oblivion. It was always this way when he touched her. He took her over, made her lose all sense of self.
She wasn’t having it. Not this time. It was her turn to send him reeling. She pushed away, and he immediately withdrew. “Is everything okay? Are you feeling sick? I should have kept my hands to myself,” he muttered.
Her poor drakon. He was extremely aroused. There was no mistaking the thick bulge pressing against her stomach as anything other than his swollen shaft. She pushed back until she was sitting on top of him, perched on his upper thighs.
“You have entirely too much clothing on.” She’d surprised him. She could tell he’d been expecting her to get off him and walk away. Wasn’t happening. This time, she was going to have some fun.
She had the button undone and the zipper almost down when he wrapped his hand around her wrist, shackling it. “Are you sure? We don’t have to do this.”
“Don’t you want me?” She knew he did, but she wanted to hear the words.
He swallowed, the sound audible. “If I wanted you any more than I do, I’d explode.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Then what’s the problem?” She tugged until he released her wrist and she could go back to unzipping his jeans. Having two of her fingers taped made it more difficult, but she managed. She wasn’t about to let a minor injury stop her. His cock was hard and ready. She stroked from root to tip, wringing a deep groan from him.
Sarah climbed off him and grabbed the thick denim. She tugged, and he helped her remove his jeans. When he was totally naked, she gave a hum of pleasure. He really was gorgeous. His magnificent body was bisected by the tattoo that covered the left half of him from his neck down. It made him look primitive and dangerous. He certainly was that, but he was so much more.
“Sarah.” He reached for her but she scrambled out of reach.
“No. I want to touch you. This time I’m in charge.”
The low growl that came from deep in his chest made the fine hair on the back of her neck stir. She wasn’t frightened. Oh no, she was turned on.
“You just lie back and enjoy yourself.”
The scowl on his face suggested he didn’t like that idea. She hesitated but only for a heartbeat. “Trust me. You’ll enjoy this.”
Darius lay still on the mattress, but he was by no means relaxed. Tension radiated from every pore in his big body. She scooted up so she was kneeling by his waist. His chest was incredible. Thick bands of muscle roped the lower half. She skated her fingers over them and drew a loud groan from him.
She let her hands drift higher, tracing every hard line. Muscle rippled beneath his skin in response to her touch.
“Take off the shirt.” His ragged command made her nipples tighten and her pussy clench. She slowly lifted the garment over her head. It wasn’t quite a strip tease, but she did try to make it as provocative as possible.
He moaned her name and reached for her. She held the shirt in front of her and shook her head. “My turn. Remember?”
He grunted but dropped his hands back down onto the mattress with a hard thud. She almost laughed. Her drakon looked so unhappy. She glanced down at his lower half. He might not like not being able to touch her, but he found it arousing.
She tossed aside the shirt.
“Finish it.”
Since wearing only a pair of socks wasn’t particularly sexy, she pulled them off. When she was totally naked, he skimmed his heated gaze over her.
“You’re incredible.”
She felt herself blushing beneath his stare. She’d told him she loved him. And while he hadn’t given the words back to her, she knew he cared for her. That was enough. He’d taken care of her and put her needs before his own. Mine. He’d called her that. She had to remember he wasn’t human, but much more. And he wanted her to stay. Hell, he wanted her to drink his blood so she’d stay young and
be able to be with him.
His actions said more than words ever could. Now it was her turn to show him how much she cared.
She knelt beside him and wrapped her uninjured hand around his cock. He was thick and pulsed with life. She licked her lips, and he groaned. A quick glance told her he wasn’t going to wait much longer.
Sarah lowered her head and stroked her tongue over the mushroom-shaped head, lapping a bead of liquid from the slit. He made a sound that was half pleasure and half pain.
She circled the tip, swirling her tongue around the sensitive ridge before taking the head into her mouth. He yelled her name as she teased him. She released him with a wet pop. “Do you like that?”
He growled, his entire body vibrating. She took that as a yes and went down on him again. She gripped the lower half of his shaft and began to pump her hand up and down. She used her tongue and lips for maximum pleasure. And when she withdrew, she lightly scraped her teeth over his sensitive flesh.
He fisted the bedclothes, tugging at the sheet until it ripped. His hips flexed, jerking upward as she brought her mouth down on him. He tasted salty and warm. She licked her lips and went back for more. His musky smell surrounded her, made her want him even more.
He might not be touching her, but his reaction to her was pushing her close to the edge. She ached for him.
Darius released the abused bed sheet and tangled his fingers in her hair. He gave a gentle tug until she reluctantly released him. “You have to stop.” His chest was rising and falling like a bellows at a forge.
“Why?” She wasn’t ready to stop.
“Why?” He shook his head. “I’m too close, and I want to be inside you.” He dragged her over him, and she moaned when her slick folds rubbed against his erection. He swore, and his fingers dug into her hips. “Guide me home.”
It wasn’t just the words, but the way he said them that made her heart skip a beat. With him holding her steady, she gripped his cock and placed the thick head against her opening. He waited, the tip poised at the entrance to her body.
“Sarah.” Her name came out as a strangled plea.
She pushed down, and his shaft slid inside. She was wet and more than ready to take him. He filled her, stretching the walls of her slick channel, but she didn’t stop until she was seated on his pelvis.
Darius released a sigh of pleasure and slid his hands up to cover her breasts. Her pert nipples stabbed at his palms. He massaged the swollen mounds, seeming to know exactly how much pressure to exert to make it the most pleasurable.
Sarah couldn’t sit still any longer and began to move. She rose up on her knees until several inches slipped out and then she sat down again. His hands moved from her breasts, down her torso to her hips. He gripped them and guided her in a deep, hard rhythm that grew faster and faster.
“Touch yourself. I want to watch you.” His request startled her, but she was so close to coming she didn’t care. She touched her fingers to his mouth and he took them inside, licking and sucking on them. When they were nice and wet, she withdrew and delved between her thighs.
She touched her clit and cried out.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Pretend it’s my fingers on you.” He gripped her hips and kept guiding her up and down his rigid shaft. “Hurry, Sarah.”
His urgency spurred hers. She was so very close. She shut her eyes and sank into the passion. She stroked her clit lightly and then with more pressure. Darius pumped his hips, lifting her right off the bed as he pushed into her. It was fast and furious, with little finesse. Raw need engulfed them both.
Her inner muscles clenched and then began to ripple. She cried out as she came, only vaguely aware of Darius’s roar of pleasure. His shaft seemed to expand and then she felt the flood of his release. She fell forward and let out another cry as her nipples rubbed against his firm chest.
He banded his arms around her and pressed frantic kisses against the top of her head. “I’ll never let you go,” he whispered.
It was as good as a declaration of love. Everything inside her settled, and she truly accepted that the life she’d known was over. They had enemies, and who knew how long they’d have to hide or where they’d have to go, but she didn’t care. As long as they were together, nothing else mattered.
They lay there a long time, both of them catching their breath. As her heartbeat returned to normal, his thundering pulse also calmed. Darius stroked her back and arms and butt. She wasn’t even sure he was aware of the fact he was touching her. He was very tactile, and she enjoyed that part of his nature.
Finally, he sighed, and she knew what was coming. “We have to leave, don’t we?”
“Yes.”
She was disappointed but didn’t want him to know. “Where will we go next?”
He grazed his fingers down the center of her spine. Her inner muscles automatically clenched, and his cock flexed inside her. He might have just come, but he was still hard.
“I’m not sure. Maybe we’ll go east again.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” She wasn’t sure there was anywhere safe.
“Staying in one place is dangerous. We should be fine as long as we keep moving.” He was silent for a long time. “We need to dump the plane.”
“Why? How will we travel?”
“We’ve landed in two fairly public places—in North Carolina and here in North Dakota. People have seen us whether we realize it or not. And people talk.”
She shivered at the realization of just how exposed they were. In this age of satellite imagining, GPS, and cell phones, there really wasn’t anywhere to truly hide.
He tightened his arms around her. “Hey, don’t worry. I have a lot of places we can stay, and I know the most remote spots in the country, areas where most people don’t dare to venture.”
“Do you have a Batcave like Tarrant?” She actually missed the place.
He slowly withdrew, and both of them moaned at the separation. Darius rolled off the bed and then gathered her in his arms. “No one has a place quite like Tarrant.”
She laughed as he carried her into the bathroom. “No, I suppose not.”
“We’ll keep moving and start making plans. We need to get rid of Temple and his people and find out who is in charge of the Knights.”
“Offensive, not defensive.” It made sense. It wasn’t like he could hide anymore.
“Exactly.” He set her on the vanity, and she sucked in her breath as her butt hit the cool countertop. “Once we’re in the air, I’ll make plans to dump the plane and get us a vehicle. I’m thinking it might be time to pay Ezra a visit.”
Darius stepped away from her to turn on the shower. As amazing as the view was—and it was spectacular—it was his words that captured her attention. “Your brother?”
“He’s got a place in Maine. Almost as isolated as Tarrant’s, but we can drive there once we ditch the plane.”
She slid off the counter and went to Darius. “Is it safe for us to go to him?” She knew the last thing he wanted to do was put one of his brothers in jeopardy.
“At this point, I’m not sure.” He pulled her into the shower, and she stepped beneath the spray, letting the water warm her chilled skin. “I’ll talk to Tarrant and Ezra about it. We all have to be careful. No telling what the Knights know about any of us.”
She grabbed the soap and began to wash. “The faster we’re out of here, the better.” She couldn’t help but worry. It was as though there was some internal clock ticking down, warning that time was running out.
…
Riggs had his seat belt off and was at the door the second the plane landed. He opened the hatch, shoved out the small set of folding stairs, and was on the tarmac in seconds. There it was. The plane they’d been chasing all over the country. It was amazing what you could find out when you offered a monetary reward. Some local aviation buff had remembered seeing the small plane fly overhead not quite two days ago. The timing fit, so Riggs had come to check it out and found the small, pr
ivate landing strip.
He approached the plane cautiously. Although he didn’t think Darius Varkas would have it booby-trapped, it paid to be vigilant. He signaled his men to spread out and wait. They were all well trained and heavily armed. No one was getting on that plane but him.
It didn’t take him long to gain access. The interior was what one would expect from an executive jet. The seats were leather and the interior spacious. He ignored it and went straight to the cockpit. He slid into the pilot’s seat and accessed the instrumentation. “Damn.”
Nothing to show where they’d been, but that was to be expected. Varkas was smart. But was he smart enough?
Riggs knew they’d flown to North Carolina after they left New York, but where had they been in the time between? He needed the flight data recorder, or the black box, as most people called it, even though it was orange.
Riggs looked around, not really expecting to find anything. He was just about to give up when he noticed the portable aviation GPS mounted on the co-pilot’s side. It was turned on and fully functional. “Gotcha.”
Riggs smiled. Things were looking up. He accessed the history and noted where the plane had been.
He wanted to use his phone to check the coordinates but didn’t dare. He knew the Knights were monitoring him. They kept an eye on everyone’s phones, but more so since the security slipup with Sarah Anderson. If the idiot guard hadn’t been texting, he would have seen Sarah sneaking around the corridors of Temple’s home, and none of this would have happened.
He pulled a notebook out of his pocket and jotted down coordinates. From what he could tell, the plane had been in Washington State, somewhere in the Cascade Mountains. It would be interesting to see who or what was there. It might only be a pit stop like this place, or it could be something more. Either way, he’d find out.
He needed to find Varkas and the book, but there was no way of knowing if Varkas and the woman still had it. All he knew was if it was out there, he wanted it. He’d spent a couple of years now doing Herman Temple’s dirty work. The man liked to think he was a big deal, but he was weak. He depended on others to do what needed to be done.
Drakon's Promise (Blood of the Drakon) Page 27
