by Maggie Ryan
“Steady,” Draco murmured.
Red glowing eyes locked on mine, shining through the dark tint of the window of the police cruiser. I could see the pure evil that radiated from within the burning coals and yet I didn’t cringe away.
With my right hand tightly gripping the blade in a fist, I brought the butt of the handle to the center of my chest, right over the word ‘Ray’s.’ I held it steady against my breastbone, as Baal had taught me for short range throws. Taking a deep breath, I began to count down from three in my head. The cruiser kept pace with us. I was only at two when the car suddenly came at us, bumping us from the side. The impact jolted me, but the blade remained where I held it.
As the car went back into its lane, without a thought in my mind, I threw the blade as hard as I could, right at the center of the tinted window. The blade traveled at a velocity I had not been able to achieve before. The glass shattered, the window exploding.
“Duck down and hold tight,” Draco commanded.
I wanted to look, to see the demon I had killed face to face. But I obeyed Draco’s orders, curling into a ball, my head tucked down by my knees. I braced myself for impact.
I could feel the cold rush of wind cease; the window was up. Feeling the car shift to the right, I was surprised by how slight the impact was when the Escalade hit the cruiser. I could barely feel it. I heard the honking of horns, and the sound of the cruiser running off the road.
“You can sit up. All is well.”
I quickly shot up, looking for the cruiser. Only a few seconds had passed with me crouched down in my seat, but now the car was far behind us. In the ditch it sat tilted on its side, wheels spinning in the air. No other cars had been harmed—thank the Gods.
Taking a deep breath, I sat back in my seat, fingers clenching the edges of the cushion. I watched the road as Draco weaved in and out of traffic, driving fast and leaving behind the witnesses of our attack.
“How did you manage to get so far ahead?”
“Excellent driving skills. I had to get us out of there fast, before a driver had time to pick up a cell and snap a picture of the car or report the wreck.”
Looking over my shoulder once more, the cruiser was now barely visible. “I think you achieved your goal.
“And you, yours. Excellent work.”
The adrenaline slowly eased from my body, my eyes staring out the window. The scenery began to change as we entered upstate New York. The hills rose higher, the sides of the highway now lined with high stone walls. The terrain was rockier, the trees denser.
Danger behind us, the surroundings serene, I took a deep, relaxing breath. I was exhausted. On top of that, the food coma I had been resisting began to take over. Snuggling down, still wrapped in my coat, I leaned my head against the window.
I could feel Draco’s stare on me. “Lean your chair back. You need rest. I think your little marathon lunch wore you out,” he said with a chuckle.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, my lids growing heavy.
“Cassie.” I’d be darned if Draco hadn’t been picking up Deo’s ‘stern father’ tone. The single word, spoken in that way, was nothing short of a command.
“I’m too stuffed to move,” I whined.
I heard the blinker of the turn signal before I realized what was happening. Draco smoothly pulled the Escalade over on the side of the highway. I looked over to see his handsome face appear in my opened door. His eyes were laughing.
I expected a cold breeze to blow in the opened door, but Draco’s broad frame blocked out the cold. He seemed to almost radiate heat. Leaning over me, he unbuckled my seatbelt.
“Sit up,” he said, shrugging out of his light sweater.
I sat up. His sweater now in his hand, he wore only a black under tee over his tan trousers.
“Let’s get your coat off.”
Evidently let’s meant him. After unbuttoning my coat, he helped me shrug out of it. I muttered under my breath, “I may not be a dragon but that doesn’t make me a baby.”
“Not a baby, just my little princess,” he mused with a smile. Reaching his hand under my seat, Draco shifted the backrest so that it was reclining as far back as it would go.
“Lie down, you will be much more comfortable.”
I lay down, feeling as if I were in a dentist’s chair. Towering over me, Draco was looking pleased by his patient’s obedience. Balling up his sweater, he said, “Lift,” and placed it beneath my head like a pillow. Taking my coat from my lap, he spread it over me like a blanket. Then, he refastened my seatbelt.
Raising a brow at me, he asked in a knowing voice, “Better?”
“Much better, thanks,” I admitted sheepishly. Though I was thoroughly embarrassed by my guardian’s childlike care of me, I was incredibly comfortable. Suddenly drowsy, I could barely keep my eyelids open.
Throwing me a satisfied smile and pressing a quick kiss to my lips, Draco shut the door. He was in his seat and we were back on the highway in a matter of seconds.
“Another hour and a half to the castle. Sleep well, sweet one,” Draco said softly and like the good girl I was, I drifted off.
Chapter Nine
Cassandra
I awoke to the crunch of gravel under the tires of the Escalade. Sitting up quickly, I wiped the sleep from my eyes. Of course, just as it had been the last time I was driven up the castle, my mouth was damp from heavy slumber. “Oh, no,” I muttered to myself as I reached for Draco’s sweater on the headrest of the seat. As I feared, there was a moist spot on the front of his beautiful cream-colored cashmere sweater.
A deep chuckle made my cheeks burn as Draco smiled over me. “Sleep well?” he asked.
“I’m sorry about your sweater,” I mumbled.
“It’s okay. You were sleeping so deeply, you were snoring as well as drooling, I’m afraid.”
“Ugh, so I was annoying as well as gross,” I groaned, hitting the palm of my hand against my forehead.
“It was adorable,” Draco said quietly.
How could one not love a man who thought so? I’m sure I wouldn’t find a snorting, slobbering dead-to-the-world lump of a travel companion the least bit attractive, but, hey, if this gorgeous Greek believed differently, who was I to attempt to change his mind.
Giving him a soft smile as I moved my seat back into an upright position, I said, “I can’t believe I slept through the drive, again. I missed going under the arcading of the entrance. I loved that.”
“Shall we go back?” Draco asked.
“Would you mind?” I loved the way Draco longed to please me—seeming to receive joy from doing little things to make me happy. With Deo it was the big, romantic gestures that made a girl swoon. With Draco, it was the quieter everyday sweet things. I was a lucky woman to have both.
“Not at all.” Looking over his shoulder out the rear window, Draco reversed, going back down the hill. Childish, I know, but I closed my eyes, not wanted it to see until we were approaching Ravensloft again.
When I felt the car shift and begin pulling up the steep hill, I leaned forward in my seat as the two turrets appeared. The stone wall that wrapped its way around the castle had the curving entrance that met the towers. Copper weather vanes that had long since weathered to a beautiful teal patina stood proudly atop each one. I held my breath, making a wish as we slowly made our way under the arcading.
“Why do you hold your breath?” Draco asked softly.
He missed no detail. “I, um, make a wish when I go under bridges,” I admitted.
“What did you wish for?”
“Deo’s safety,” I breathed, looking out my window. I ached for the strong arms of both my husbands around me during this unsettling time. “For the three of us to be together again, soon.”
“Ah. I wish for that as well.”
Now fully awake, I could enjoy the view of the stunning castle.
“Your eyes are so wide. It’s like the first time you saw this place.”
“I can’t help it. It’s ench
anting.”
“You hold the wonder of a child,” Draco murmured, almost too quietly for me to hear.
“Is that an insult or a compliment?” I grumbled.
“Have I ever insulted you?”
“No. But there is a first time for everything. Being called ‘childlike’ isn’t exactly a compliment for a woman who is one of New Jersey’s top lawyers.”
“Was.”
I sighed. “Was. Yes. Thank you for the reminder. Now what am I?”
Draco put the car into park. “A demon-fighting princess, of course. And my mate. Much better.” Taking the bandolier from the floor of the car where it was lying, he carefully folded the velvet over the remaining knives, placing the bundle into the glovebox. “A dagger-wielding woman, at that,” Draco added. Clicking the latch of the box, he consulted something he pulled from his pocket. “Deo will arrive in a quarter of an hour.”
Leaning over Draco, I tried to get a closer look at the black box he held. I had seen it once before, in the Escalade, held by Baal. At the time I had thought it a GPS system, but that was before I knew there was magic involved in the Ambrosia family.
“What is that?” I asked, reaching for the box.
Draco playfully slapped my hand and pulled the box further away from me. “Not for you, princess.”
Sitting back in my seat, I said, “Just another one of the Ambrosia family secrets, I guess. I’d think you all would start sharing more of your secrets with me by now. Doesn’t the princess get to make demands?”
That got Draco laughing. “You are quite demanding as it is.”
“I am not,” I protested indignantly, which resulted in Draco laughing harder.
“Not funny,” I pouted. “Laugh while you can, Dragon. Our mate is going to tear you limb from limb when he gets here.”
“Mind your tongue,” Draco said, no longer laughing as a dark look washed over his face that made me swallow hard. I hadn’t meant to anger him. I was just about to express that very fact when his expression softened and though he didn’t appear amused, he was again his stoic self. “Let us go into the castle to wait.”
I couldn’t help myself. I had to get in one more jibe. “You sure? You might be safer locked in this car.”
Ignoring me, Draco exited the car, shooting me a glance as he slipped the black box safely into his trouser pocket. Coming around to my side of the car, Draco opened my door for me, as he always did.
“May I have my sweater?” he asked, holding his hand out to me.
“Um, it’s damp. Are you sure?”
“I think Deo would find it terribly informal of me to be escorting our wife into our family castle donned in only a tee shirt.”
I looked over the garment in question. It was a tight black undershirt, and it clung to his muscular chest like a second skin.
“True,” I said, feeling a blush rise in my cheeks. Handing him the sweater, our fingertips brushed one another’s. Draco’s warm eyes considered mine for a long moment. Breaking the gaze, he pulled the sweater on over his head. As he did, the hem of his shirt rose, exposing the bare, taut skin of his stomach. A tiny bit of the bottom edge of his tattoo peeked out.
Images from our nights together warmed my mind and my body, just from the briefest glance at his perfect skin on which was inked the real work of art. The memory of the black swirls of the magnificent creature, of tracing the lines with my fingertips—my tongue—had my belly quivering, my sex moistening, and me unable to contain a soft mewl. I didn’t understand how I could have forgotten what I’d been holding deep inside my bottom, but I was certainly aware of it now as my darkest channel clutched at the glass that filled it. From the way my mate paused with his sweater half on, I knew he was aware of the rush of arousal that threatened to consume me.
Still shy in the newness of our relationship, I looked away, my face burning.
Once fully clothed, Draco reached out his hand again, this time to take mine. A shiver ran through me as he wrapped his hand around mine, helping me out of the car.
When my feet were planted on the ground, and the car door shut, Draco gave me a reassuring smile. “If Deo is angry, it will only be with me, Cassie.” He kissed my forehead, then took my hand in his and led me up the great stone stairs of the castle.
The massive wooden door stood before us. Lifting the large brass latch, Draco opened the door, gesturing for me to walk in.
I stepped over the threshold with my head already tilted, excited to look up and take in the magnificent fresco that covered the ceiling. I was instantly lost in the beauty of the familiar paintings of wolves and angels and demons.
A blood-curdling scream suddenly pierced the air, jerking me out of my admiration of the art, my heart thumping in my chest. Releasing Draco’s arm, I jumped almost a meter in the air, startled by the ungodly sound. My body tensed as I prepared for attack.
Looking to where the noise had originated, a shocked laugh caught in my throat as I saw the ugliest, most unkempt cat I had ever seen in my life.
The creature let out another screech, batting its mangy paw at me. The cat’s coat looked like, well… like mud that had been smeared and trampled through. Various shades of matted brown splotches covered its body, with round, bald patches of missing fur. His one yellow eye glared at me. The socket of the other eye was sewn shut. One ear was torn, the other bent. Having fully warned me of his dislike, the cat gave me a snooty sniff, then turned and walked away, his stub of a tail wagging as he did.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Dirtbag.”
“Dirtbag? That is the most aptly named animal I have ever met.”
“Margaret’s cat,” Draco answered matter-of-factly.
“Makes sense why it hates me so much, then. Margaret must have been talking trash about me to it.”
“Not ‘it,’ he. And you would do well to not talk badly about him in front of Margaret. Dirtbag is the only creature Margaret loves more than Alekos.”
A jovial voice rang out in the foyer. “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!”
I would know that voice anywhere. “Alekos!” I called, springing from my place by the door to meet him.
Deo’s amiable younger brother stood in the foyer, arms stretched out wide to catch me. I didn’t hesitate to fling myself at him.
Grabbing me into a tight hug, he said, “God, I’ve missed you, little sister.” Though we were both twenty-four, Alekos took great pleasure in the fact that he was two months older than me. He never tired of joking about his being my senior.
Holding me at arm’s length, Alekos looked me over. One of his bronze curls hung over his brown eyes. A wide, white smile spread across his tanned face as he said, “You look well, I see your mates have been taking good care of you.” His smile spread even further, his dimple showing as he looked over my shoulder and laid eyes on Draco.
Giving me another tight hug, Alekos released me. He walked over to where Draco stood.
“Dragon,” Alekos said, holding his hand out to Draco. “Welcome back to the castle.” Alekos’ warm eyes shone as he spoke.
“I trust you have been taking loving care of Margaret in our absence,” Draco said.
“Ah, she has taken care of me,” Alekos said, patting his flat stomach. “She feeds me six times a day.”
“Nourishing her growing boy,” Draco teased.
“The advantage of youth, old man,” Alekos said. “I don’t have to watch every calorie I put into my mouth.”
I giggled, listening to the two banter back and forth. At thirty, Draco was far from being an ‘old man’ as well as being one incredibly put together specimen of pure alpha. Then again, those Greek genes assured every male in this family could make your mouth water. I gasped when I felt my hand being grabbed.
“Speaking of food, let’s go ask Auntie Maggie for a snack,” Alekos said.
“No, I’m not hungry,” I said.
“I definitely heard you moaning,” Alekos countered, his eyebrow quirking.
“There is time. Let’s go to the kitchen. Draco will call you when Deo arrives, I am sure of it,” Alekos said, shooting Draco a worried look.
“Of course, princess. Go along,” Draco said, giving a firm nod of his head.
I pulled my hand out of the grasp of Alekos. “I will wait here,” I said stubbornly.
Alekos’ smile did not reach his eyes. “Margaret has missed you. Come, Cassandra.”
I gave a frustrated laugh. “We all know that is a lie,” I said huffily. “Even her cat hates me.”
Draco walked over to where Alekos and I stood. His brow furrowed, his jaw clenched as he looked down at me, his arm sliding around my waist. When his hand dropped to pat against the center of my ass, I knew it was a reminder of my vow to obey.
“Cassandra, go with Alekos. Now.” His gaze was unwavering, his eyes narrowing at me, daring me to challenge him.
I was saved from having to decide whether to continue to protest or submit when the front door to the castle banged open.
“How dare you,” Deo’s booming voice roared.
Whipping my head around, I saw my Deo taking large, fast strides toward Draco. Rage was washed over his face.
Instinctively, I threw my body in front of Draco.
“Deo, stop!” I cried.
His eyes focusing on me, Deo stopped his advance.
“Cassandra,” he breathed.
I ran over to meet him. Deo’s strong arms wrapped tightly around me. The warmth and power of my mate melted me to the core. I curled up into the cocoon of his broad chest, resting my head over his heart.
I could feel Deo breathing in my scent as he smoothed my hair. “Babygirl,” he said, the endearment sounding like a prayer on his tongue.
Resting his chin on the top of my head, Deo tightened his arms around me.
