by Amelia Jade
Aric threw himself to the side as a wickedly tipped black blade sliced through the air where he had just been. Another pair of Outsiders breached the surface and threw themselves upon the defenses waiting there.
“SEAL THE TUNNEL!” Aric screamed, gesturing at the concrete plugs just waiting to plunge down the smooth-sided tunnel and seal it shut. “There are more coming up. We have to stop them now.”
One of the soldiers looked at him, but didn’t move to obey. Aric shook his head at the man’s incompetence. He didn’t know how to release the mighty cylinders or he would do it himself, but now seemed like the perfect time to unleash them. Another Outsider came out of the tunnel. Aric went after it. He lifted a hand to the heavens and with a mighty roar slashed it at the Outsider.
A bolt of true lightning plunged down from the clear sky above, bigger and more massive than anything he’d unleashed before now. It hit the top of the Outsider, its head for lack of a better word, and the creature just disintegrated, unable to contain the power.
Aric threw his head back and screamed his defiance to the gods, letting them know with one sound that he would make them pay for unleashing this evil upon humanity. They didn’t deserve this. There were bad people in the world, true, but there were also good people. People like Kaitlyn.
He spun, looking back down the tunnel. Kaitlyn was underground. There were corridors that led from the main tunnel to her quarters. If one of the Outsiders took a different route, she would be in danger.
Without a second thought he plunged back into the maelstrom, intent on one thing, and one thing only: getting to his mate.
Chapter Fifteen
Kaitlyn
Every minute he was gone her nightmares grew.
She paced back and forth, from the desk to the bathroom entrance and back, over and over. When that didn’t prove to be enough she switched and started going lengthwise, the extra steps giving her more time to think while pacing. Thinking in this case meant worrying, and wondering what was going on outside.
At one point she stopped at the door and pressed her ear to it, trying to see if she could hear anything. It was all quiet though. The doors and walls, thin as they may be, were doing enough to keep out any sounds. At least that meant there was nothing going on right near her room. How had Aric heard anything then?
They’d both experienced the power loss and the shaking of the room. But she couldn’t forget the way his beautiful face had gone slack, slightly cocked to the side and eyes in a thousand-yard stare as he listened to something happening far away. It was a universal expression that took a lot to be misread.
Kaitlyn grew antsier the longer she waited. Her pacing stopped, leaving her in front of the door yet again. “Don’t do it. He told you to stay here for a reason. It’s not safe out there. You felt the place rock. We’re underground. For that to happen something had to go bang, and it wasn’t a little bang either.”
Speaking out loud soothed her for a moment, the sound of her own voice reassuring. It didn’t last long. Kaitlyn waited and listened at the door once more. When she heard nothing after half a minute had passed, she blew out a breath and without thinking about it more, punched the door open button.
It whisked open. She didn’t move right away, giving time for her to take in anything that might be different. The hallway looked the same, no change as far as she could tell. There wasn’t any action right out in front of her room. Stepping out into the hallway she looked up and down it, but it was empty, like it usually was.
“Where should I go now?” she wondered out loud, talking to herself to rein her nerves back in.
Taking several tentative steps toward the corner that led back to the elevator, she stepped slowly and cautiously, trying to move as silently as possible while listening at all times for any noises or sounds of people. There wasn’t even so much as an alarm blaring that she could hear, which was strange.
She reached the elevator without incident, and was waiting for it to come back down to her when the sound of heavy booted feet sounded from ahead of her, down the corridor she hadn’t yet explored. It led deeper into the complex, she knew that much, but that was about all.
Kaitlyn didn’t move for several long moments, the heavy steps coming closer and quicker while she stood still, racked with indecision. Was it a soldier, or someone else? Could she get into a lot of trouble by being out and about right now?
Unsure of everything, she started to back away just as the elevator reached the ground. It chimed to announce its presence, but the normally peaceful noise rang out into the almost silent hallway, spooking Kaitlyn. She turned and fled as fast as she could back to her quarters, slapping the button to close and locking the sounds of footsteps behind her.
Noise roared in her ears as blood thundered into her skull, her panicked heart working overtime. Unsteady on her feet, she worked her way over to the bed and sat down heavily, nearly missing the edge of it. Scooting back, she pulled her knees up to her chest and stared at the door. Aric was going to come back to her. He’d said he would. She needed to trust him now.
The door shuddered under impact.
“Yipe!” She dove from the bed to the floor and tried to get underneath it, only to find that it was resting on a solid box, not a frame like she was used to. Frantically she got to her feet and dashed for the bathroom.
“Kaitlyn!” The voice was muffled, but spoken loud enough to come through the door.
She paused in the entrance to the bathroom, looking over her shoulder. Had she imagined that? The voice sounded again. Aric. It had to be Aric. Faster than she’d moved yet she found herself at the door, hitting the button to open it.
The door slid to the side and she backed up as Aric’s massive figure came through. Was it just her imagination or did he look bigger now? His muscles were swollen with use, and his chest rose and fell swiftly. There was a slight odor of smoke to him, but it was mostly overwhelmed by the sheer scent of man that poured off him. It was slightly reminiscent of sweat, leather, and grit. She couldn’t quantify that last one, but it washed over her in a wave that left her reeling with pulsing need.
“Aric, is everything okay?” she asked, throwing herself into his arms.
He held her tight. “Everything is going to be okay,” he assured her.
“What happened?”
“An explosion. I was helping clear debris. I’m okay though,” he promised, waving off her inspection of his body, including the rips in his clothes and the small cuts across his body.
Kaitlyn didn’t let that stop her. She fussed over him until she was satisfied that he was okay and wasn’t sporting any injuries he didn’t want to tell her about. He had left her to run into danger, and she’d had no idea if he was coming back or not.
“Don’t do that again,” she said, placing a hand on his beating heart, feeling the rhythm of it as he drew her in close again.
“Do what?”
Leave me like that, she thought, stunned at her own feelings. Why did she care so much about his safety? Was it just because it was the right thing to do? Or was there more to it?
“Leave me alone,” she said, amending the line slightly. “I was terrified.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Hormones kicked in then and she started crying unexpectedly. One minute she was just scared and wanting to be held, the next the waterworks began to flow.
“Kaitlyn?” Aric held her shoulders as he looked at her. “Kaitlyn what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said through the waterfall. “I didn’t mean to do this. It’s just…It’s just…”
It’s just that I’m having your child and I was terrified you were going to die and they would never get to know their father.
There. She’d said it. Only to herself, but she’d admitted why she was so fearful for his safety. This new Aric that she was seeing on the business trip, if it was indeed the real him, was the sort of man
she would let into her child’s life. Perhaps even be able to co-parent with.
That was why she couldn’t risk doing anything that might lose him. She needed this side of Aric to stick around. Which meant he needed to stay safe. It also meant that she couldn’t tell him about the child. What if when he found out he reverted back to the old Aric? The asshole version. That wasn’t something she wanted, so Kaitlyn kept quiet, tearing herself apart over the way she was treating this decision, all while trying to convince herself that it was the best one.
“Kiss me,” she said, blinking away the last of the tears. “Kiss me like you were before you left.”
Aric didn’t move, quite obviously trying to figure out whether he should do as she asked, or do something else to try and comfort her.
Kaitlyn took that decision out of his hands when she stepped forward and pulled his head down to her level. They kissed violently, the adrenaline spiking in both of them. She tore at his pants with an urgency borne by the desire not to be interrupted again.
At first he resisted, but she made her desires known, swatting his hands away until he caved. Aric ripped her clothing from her, quite literally tearing it from her body as if it were flimsy paper. She gasped, stunned by the raw need he was showing her.
The rest of his clothes came off and she fell to her knees, gripping his hard cock in one hand, cupping his sac in the other. She didn’t waste any time, licking his shaft and the tip frantically, eagerly. Aric moaned when she took him deep into her mouth, swallowing inch after inch until she could take no more, her nose almost buried in the smooth hair-free skin above the base.
He swelled up even harder in her mouth as she worked her tongue along the underside before pulling back, running her hand up and down the slick shaft, feeling his hardness slide past. He twitched as her fingers slipped up and over his head, a drop of his load touching her tongue.
“Get up here,” he commanded, grabbing her hair and pulling her to her feet with just enough force to be pleasurable and make her feel under his control, but not so hard it hurt. It was sexy and even as she was lifted onto the edge of the bed, she knew that his attentions weren’t necessary.
Kaitlyn was ready to fuck, but Aric had other ideas. His hands slid down and gripped under her waist, lifting her hips to his hungry mouth, leaving only her shoulders resting on the bed. Warm kisses found their way between her legs with the rough eagerness that had defined the past few minutes.
She cried out in ecstasy as he ran his tongue over her clit again and again, starting so softly she could barely feel it, and working the pressure up until she was bucking against his face, begging him not to stop. A violent shudder grew from her stomach and then pushed into her thighs and then exploded out through her body.
Kaitlyn bit down on her arm to stifle the scream her orgasm tried to rip from her. Aric didn’t stop working her clit. Wetness poured down her skin as she writhed in his arms, grabbing her breasts with her free hand, rolling her nipples back and forth while bliss filled her, hammering at her brain until she fell into the bed limp and unable to speak.
Aric stepped up, her juices running from his mouth. He ran a hand across his lips and then rubbed the moisture onto his cock until the tip was glistening. She had a moment to realize what was coming next before the tip pushed its way inside of her.
“Fucckkk,” she moaned, overwhelmed. “You’re so big.”
“I want you,” he stated, thrusting forward another inch.
Kaitlyn shook at the feeling of being split by his hard cock, even as her body adjusted to the size, making it easier for him to slide deep into her. Slide he did, forcing her to take the rest of him with one move. His thumb found her clit and he didn’t pause, rocking back and forth against her while he brought her to the edge yet again, having no mercy as he pummeled her body with pleasure.
“Fuck me harder,” she begged, shivering in anticipation as he withdrew, and crying loudly when he thrust back in. “Yes! Like that!”
He grabbed up both her legs with one huge arm, the muscles flexing. His other hand curled around, trapping his thumb against her clit as he squeezed, then lifting her hips from the bed until her hips were at his level.
Then he fucked her, the motion of thrusting against her doing all the work for his other hand as it bounced and rubbed against her clit. Kaitlyn threw her head back and grabbed both her breasts, eyes watching Aric as he took in the sight. His mouth dropped open slightly and his pupils grew. He liked watching as she touched herself.
The ability to breathe disappeared as yet another orgasm rocked her body. Her back arched so much she thought it was going to snap in half before it bowed out, her core muscles contracting violently, tossing her around without control of her own body as she cried out his name.
“I can’t hold on any longer,” he growled, his hips not moving.
She could sense him growing thicker inside her, ready to spill his load. “Don’t,” she said. “Let go.” She pushed him away from her and slid to her knees between him and the bed, wrapping her fingers around his cock. It was slick with her own wetness and she ran her hand up and down it quickly, looking up at him with big eyes, letting him know it was okay.
Aric didn’t stand a chance. His hips bucked and he pulsed in her grip a moment before he coated her chest and breasts in his load. Her eyes tracked his face, watching it contort with pleasure as she made him cum all over her. His legs shook and the instant he was done he spun away and fell back onto the bed, shaking so violently she could feel it against her back.
She knelt there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of being covered in his load before heading into the bathroom to wipe herself clean. She got the worst of it with a towel and dropped it on the floor. A shower could wait.
Climbing into bed, she fell tiredly into his arms. Without hesitation Aric pulled her tight to him. She was hot, and they were both slightly sticky from the work they’d just done, but neither cared. He held her tight to him, and she basked in the heat of his body, letting it warm her perpetually cold limbs.
Yes, Kaitlyn liked this Aric. The cuddly, protective teddy bear with muscles and smarts. This was the sort of person she could, and was, falling for.
Which is why she was so racked with guilt over keeping the secret to herself. She should tell him the truth. Reveal everything to him. But she couldn’t.
She wanted this side of him to stay for her own selfish reasons. But how long could she keep it going?
Chapter Sixteen
Aric
He awoke with a start.
Idiot! His mad rush back to her quarters to ensure she was protected had resulted in being dragged into bed and then passing out until—he glanced at the clock—the next morning! The fight had taken a lot out of him, and the sex even more, but this was inexcusable. He was a dragon, and he’d been needed.
Instead he’d run off to ensure his own personal interests were looked after, and then fallen into bed with her. He was ashamed of himself, and also thankful that obviously the others had won the fight, or he probably wouldn’t be lying there. Sliding out of bed while doing his best not to awaken Kaitlyn, he grabbed his phone.
There were several missed texts and calls from Colonel Mara, asking him to come meet with her immediately, that it was urgent. The most recent was less than an hour ago asking for him to meet her in the cavern. That was a good sign. It meant the base was under their control at least.
“Aric?”
He turned. Kaitlyn was sitting up in bed, the covers pulled tightly to her neck instead of letting them fall. Either she was cold, or she didn’t feel like exposing herself to him just then. He hoped it was the former; he could help with that.
“Yes?”
“Did you stay the night?”
There was something in her voice that made him fear for telling the truth, but he wasn’t about to start lying to her now. “Yes. We passed out after–” The way her face tightened made him pause. “After. I just woke up now.”
Was she having
regrets? He couldn’t read her face, and his brain was trying to comprehend both that and what might be going on with the Outsiders and Colonel Mara’s need to see him.
“Okay. Can you pass me my shirt?” she pointed to the ground.
“Um, do you have another one?” he asked, picking up the shirt to reveal the rip that had been his method of removing it from her sexy body.
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes ruefully. “I forgot you did that.”
“Me too,” he admitted sheepishly, heading for the door. “I’ll let you get dressed.”
“Thanks.” She made no move to get up from the bed.
Something was off between them. Had it been his staying the night, or was she having second thoughts about them hooking up again? Hopefully she didn’t regret anything, because he certainly didn’t. She was amazing in bed, and her body, so soft and perfect, turned him on even just looking at the curves of her shoulders.
“I’ll see you later,” he said.
“Bye.”
He left, stopping by his quarters briefly to change before he made his way down into the bowels of the complex as fast as he could. Shame built within him as he went. He’d messed two things up the day before. His growing closeness to Kaitlyn, and his position and respect as a dragon with Colonel Mara and the other dragon guards who would have fought.
Emerging into the cavern he saw that the debris from the battle was still all over the place. Most of the human remains were gone, though the battlesuits themselves lay where they had fallen, ripped and torn. A few bodies of the Outsiders remained as well, surrounded by teams of scientists.
“Aric, how nice of you to join us.”
Knuckles popped on his fist as he walked up to the group, ignoring Kallore’s sarcastic greeting. It had been he who had dove from the sky the day before, the giant red dragon that had wreaked so much havoc amongst the Outsiders. It was understandable why he had gone so berserk. His mate was the commander of the base, and her life had been directly threatened by the outbreak.
