Druid Dreams

by M F Adele

  “Where are you? Why are you just now reaching out to me? What happened to you, York?” Seeing the state that his body was in had me worried for his life. He looked like he’d been starved and beaten. It fueled the fire that held my anger to new heights. The Demon I kept under lock and key crawled to the surface of my skin, ready to rampage through the streets to return to me what was lost. My wolf howled her outrage with her hackles raised and teeth exposed.

  “It’s a long story, Sweetheart, and I’ll tell you all about it, but I don’t have enough power to keep you long. I need you to find me before the new moon. I’m somewhere near the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I can’t explain exactly where, but I’m in a cell underground. I’ve been trying to help you remember what you’ve forgotten, but I’m just not strong enough anymore. Have the Fae open your mind. He can do it but you’ll have to let him in. I’ll see you soon, Sweetheart.” Either his connection or his power was fading with each word, and I caught the barest hint of “I love you” before I lost him completely. The pain in my chest left with it. I was finally able to take a deep breath and push through all his emotions still lingering in my mind. His pain, torment, fear, and his own heartbreak over what we had and what happened between us were so heavy that I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath.

  I used the sides of my hands to wipe my eyes and steadied my head on Stone’s shoulder while I tried to calm down. He had his lean muscled arms wrapped around my waist and above my breasts with my back firmly held flat to his chest. I let myself enjoy the feeling of being held intimately after avoiding it for so long. His body radiated heat. He smelled of spicy cinnamon and charcoal. If I don’t get out of his lap soon I may make us both a bit uncomfortable. I couldn’t stop the swell of thoughts from lashing out. His flaming hands trailing up my spine. His teeth sunk in my shoulder. Him pounding into me from behind while I smothered my face with a pillow to quiet my screams. Nothing but a pair of red pumps on.

  He inclined his head down and buried his face against my neck. He inhaled deeply before I felt his lips morph into a smile on my heated skin. “I was able to see what you were seeing.” His dark confession sent tingling pleasure racing through me.

  “We need to go to Kentucky,” I asserted, but I made no move to leave his lap. I canted my head and his hair tickled my cheek. It was soft and silky, and I wanted to run my fingers through it until it was a tangled mess.

  “Mmm.” His hummed agreement teased the skin where his face still touched me and sent shivers down my back that I didn’t bother trying to hide. The Demon grinned again as he leisurely ran his fingers up and down my arms, goosebumps trailing behind his touch. When he stopped he twined his fingers together with mine and then stood up, bringing me with him.

  I released his hands and twisted my body into him, putting us chest to chest. My peaked nipples rubbed the inside of my bra with the pressure. I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him close and looking up at him with my chin resting on his chest. He skimmed his hot hands across my back. They left behind a path of embers licking at the flesh under my thin shirt. Those sensual shivers wracked through me again, and when he tilted his head down at me he had the most sinful smile playing across his seductive lips.

  A crunching noise sounded from behind me, popping our lust bubble. When I reversed my position in Stone’s arms, I saw Briggs standing before us in all his four-legged glory. His black fur was shining and matted with drying blood. Those forest green eyes sparkled in his large canine face. His exposed teeth translated into a wolf-like grin and would send any lesser beings running for the hills. He’s bulky, broad and beautiful, just like the human skin he wears, but his wolf isn’t as broody as his male counterpart.

  He trotted over to us, nosing Stone’s arms off my body, and sniffed at me for injuries. He pitched his head forward when he looked at my face. I placed my hand between his ears and ran my fingers through his course black fur. He growled low in his throat and I simpered. “Fine, I won’t pet you.” I started to retreat, only stopping for a moment to slap his flank.

  Stone let out a surprised chuckle and I smiled to myself. Briggs struck back by nipping my ass cheek with his front teeth before trotting away with his tail lashing side to side.

  “That’s going to bruise,” I yelled at him, rubbing the sore spot on my ass. Bruises don’t heal as quickly as cuts do. I was going to be sitting on that bruise for an hour while it tried to heal.

  “I’m a little jealous right now,” Stone admitted to me as he jogged to catch up. He tugged my hand into his as we strolled down the path to get back to the gravel parking lot of the campgrounds.

  “You could always rub it for me,” I smirked as I teased him. It backfired completely when that fire-laden hand of his began rubbing circles across the tender flesh of my buttcheek.

  “You're going to be the death of me, aren’t you?” His baritone voice whispered the words in my ear and the throaty quality made my core throb with need.

  “Not intentionally,” I affirmed in a breathy rasp that did nothing to hide my growing need for him. His voice is the sound of sex, and it makes me want to jump him every time he speaks. I don’t care if I just met him today. The tips of his fingers stroked higher and lower with each pass over the bruise until eventually his path started at the waist of my pants and ended at the junction of my thighs. Over and over again.

  The walk back to the car was torturous for me, possibly both of us, but I was quick to decide that if this was what fate had in store for me then I'd be just fine. This is MY Demon with his hands on me. These are MY mates. We may have just met each other, but I couldn’t deny how right it felt to be with them. I knew that would only intensify the longer we were together. Now I need to get MY Druid back.

  Step one: Plan a trip to Kentucky.

  Step two: Save the fucking Druid.

  Step three: Kill him myself.

  And somewhere in between those steps...

  Get rid of this godsdamn ache.

  Sloane

  Saturday Afternoon

  The car ride home was exactly the same way the walk to the car was… agonizing torture. The Demon's dexterous hands were on the steering wheel instead of my thighs. I’m not sure if that makes the ride better or worse. Even though it was only a little over an hour, I felt like I was ready to explode. As I shifted uncomfortably in the back seat Stone eyed me in the rear view mirror. I wanted to throat punch that Demon for the havoc he reeked on my libido. Between that and the pent up frustration from months of self induced orgasms, need was going to kill my immortal soul.

  I glared at him and he fucking smirked at me. I knew then and there that not only was he trouble, but every single one of them were. I would either die horny or I was getting laid tonight. I knew I sounded dramatic. I didn’t care though. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t one to rush into things, but these were my mates. What was that saying about test driving a car before you bought it? Yeah. I’d like to test drive my mates before I sealed a bond with them that would last forever. I don't even know how long forever is. What if it’s like five hundred years and I end up hating their guts!? But we’re stuck together until one of us dies…

  Like that fucking Druid. I cared about him once. Loved him even. Was he good in bed? Yes. Would I be welcoming him into my bed again? Nope. Not for a long damn time, if ever. Would I save his ass from certain death? I sighed as I thought about it. Part of me wanted to let him sweat it out a little longer. The other part of me knew he had been sweating it out for the last two years, and he’d only reached out because he was about to die. That thought made me angry. Why not reach out to me before?

  As if the day hadn’t been hectic enough, the moment we parked in front of my house I noticed Franklin was waiting outside the front door for us. What’s worse? Well, he had two glasses of whiskey, one in each hand. Whiskey is our ‘it’s been a rough day’ drink. As I dragged my ass out of the back seat he took a sip from one. He handed me the other and took my elbow to lead me inside, never sayin
g a word. Stone and Briggs followed us from the front entrance, all the way through the kitchen and into the pantry, where a spice shelf doubled as the hidden entrance to one side of the basement.

  The basement had been spelled soundproof. No audio could penetrate the walls. No security feeds picked up down there. Not even the cell phones would have reception. I knew whatever he was about to tell me wasn't good.

  We pushed into a bubble of sorts at the top of the staircase. It feels a little like walking through electrified water. It made the hairs on my arms and neck stand on end but it didn't hurt. Once you moved past the popping sensation everything would return back to normal.

  We wandered soundlessly down the stairs, listening to the flurry of conversation on the other side of the barrier. When we stepped off the last step, they all ceased talking at once when they spotted me.

  Novak, Vaughn and Palmer all scanned my body, up and down and back again, as Franklin corralled me to the new table that had appeared in the open room since I was down here days ago. Before my ass had time to even hit the seat Vaughn jumped right in.

  “David Preston is dead. Murdered. In his office no more than 24 hours a-“

  “Why didn’t you call me?” My concern was evident in my hushed demand.

  “Your phone went straight to voicemail,” he supplied.

  “Because she threw it out the window after talking to Samuel,” Stone confirmed, like it was the most important detail of the day. “We all did.”

  “Right, we’ve all ditched our phones too, and Franklin gave us new ones before he took Palmer’s laptop. He’s not happy about that, by the way. Now he has to start his spank bank all from scratch.” Novak pouted his lower lip at Palmer. Palmer threw a pen at Novak, hitting him dead in between his eyes.

  “Ouch!” Novak whined as he rubbed at the red mark the flying projectile left.

  “Oh yeah, it's all about ma spank bank and nothin' at all ta do wit' the spells I've been workin' on an' have saved on me lapto-” Palmer defended himself before being cut off.

  “Right.” The other four muttered in unison, disbelief clear on their faces.

  “Okay, let's get back on track. New phones? Great. Murder at CBP? Not so great. Tell me what you saw.”

  Vaughn swallowed hard as Novak rolled his eyes and began to describe the gory scene. “Vaughn can be a bit squeamish, so I gathered everything that I could find that might be useful in the office, then we loaded it up and left.” He finished by pointing to a few stacked boxes on the floor and a computer plugged into a television that had not previously been down here. They’ve been busy.

  “Yeah, and tell them about how you touched the dick.” Vaughn grinned triumphantly.

  “What dick?” Briggs inquired. “You can’t just go around touching dicks, dude.”

  “I think ya mean whose dick,” Palmer replied.

  “It’s not important.” Novak argued.

  “It could be,” Stone countered in a tone that said he was urging him to finish the short story Vaughn started.

  “It’s not!” Novak shouted at them.

  “So, you had to touch the dead guy’s dick?” I clarified just to make sure we understood the situation at hand. I gave him an innocent look and motioned with my head for him to keep talking.

  “Yes, okay?” He conceded. “I needed to get his cell phone and his unattached dick was laying on top of it. It brushed my hand and I’ve scrubbed them until they’re fucking raw. Look!” He showed us his pink palms. We all struggled not to laugh at his expense. “Dead dicks are not my thing. That’s a hard limit for me.” He informed us all.

  He was looking at me so seriously while he confessed that I almost thought about what came out of my mouth next. Ah, fuck it. “Good to know. I’ll mark necrophilia as a no-go with you.” I winked at him after my smart ass remark and his golden orbs flared, not finding the slightest bit of humor in it. “Okay, did you guys find anything on his computer yet? I mean, I’m assuming that’s it,” I pointed out, canting my head in the direction of the other new additions.

  “Of course we brought it,” Novak mused at the same time Vaughn divulged “no, we haven’t found anything on it.”

  “Great, what other news?”

  “Well, what I can tell from all the research on the injections is that it appears that a mage is powerin’ them, but it’s too much power for one mage alone. So, either there’s multiple mages willin ta commit suicide ta see this drug through or the Mage who started it is stealin’ power from other sources. I haven’t had enough time ta find anything else though.” Palmer never looked up from the papers spread out all over the table as he spoke. He was deep in thought and trying to stay on task.

  “Right,” I thought it through slowly, the pieces starting to be more visible to me. I was still missing too many to view the full picture, but if what was happening to York was any part of this- “We need to plan a trip to Kentucky,” I blurted out as I looked at Stone, and he nodded his head. Everyone gave us their undivided attention while waiting for the explanation to my sudden outburst. “We found York, or well, York found me. He told me the rough location of where he’s being held.”

  I streamed some images to their minds. Since I couldn’t read them like other people and supes, I simply left it at the edge of their barriers like postage being delivered to their doorstep. If they wanted it then it was there, but if not then-

  The sharp intakes of breath and muttered curses let me know that they saw the images. They knew we needed to move fast. “He said we have three days until they kill him with the next drain. It’s at least a five hour drive from here to the nearest campground, then miles and miles of park to hike through. Palmer and I can try some locator spells when we get closer, but he gave me the rough estimate of where he is so maybe we can narrow it down from there. The permanent camp he’s in is near water but out of sight. That’s not the best information; however, it does cut the search area down. We need to leave in the morning, so you guys need to get some sleep.”

  “And what are you planning on doing?” Vaughn questioned me with suppressed authority. He wasn’t trying to step on my toes but was clearly used to calling the shots.

  “I’m going to work, of course. I have to be at the club on Friday and Saturday nights.” I arched my brow at him as I spoke. We just talked about this last night.

  “About that, Madam,” Franklin cut in, dread lacing his normally chipper voice, “The usual Saturday night DJ called in while you were gone. It appears he has the human flu.”

  “Oh,” I’m stunned. That's really short notice to find a new DJ. What the fuck is the human flu?

  “Yes, I’ve called around but-“ Franklin began, but Novak’s beaming face drew my attention away from the matter at hand.

  “Why are you smiling like that?” I reluctantly asked him. His mischievous look only grew wider.

  “Well, you see, I wasn’t supposed to be back in town until later tonight, and I had planned to take the weekend off,” he started. This is not the time to have this conversation. I have real issues to deal with.

  “Yes, and?” I questioned him impatiently, not really seeing where he was going with this.

  “Yes, and, Novak Malin at your service, mademoiselle,” he bowed. As he straightened he blew a kiss at me and said “je suis gourmandise.” What the fuck does that mean? I know it’s French, but what-

  “Oh. Ohhhhhh… Wait! Noooo.” My voice rose and fell through so many different levels that I sounded like a teenager while I tried to comprehend what he said. I was stupefied.

  “Is she having a stroke?” Briggs leaned over to ask Palmer.

  “Nah, I don’t think so. She thinks he's havin' 'er on,” Palmer stated emphatically.

  “We thought the same thing. You two made him prove it before you believed him,” Vaughn mentioned as he shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

  “Yeah, I know how she feels,” Stone informed them before he put all his attention on me. “Sloane? You okay, Kitten?”

&n
bsp; I was still staring wide-eyed at Novak. I was pretty sure I hadn’t even blinked. There’s no way he’s the DJ that everyone’s been after. The guy never spoke English at any of his gigs. People were going crazy over him and promoters were paying- No. I have got a shit ton of questions right now.

  “I want to believe you, but also I don’t. I have questions,” I shook my head, lost but finally able to translate what he said. I’m gluttony.

  “Naturally,” he interrupted.

  “You’re French? You speak French?”

  “That’s where you want to start?”

  I threw my hands up. “Uhm, yes. No. I don’t know!”

  “Yes and yes.”

  “And you, Novak,” I pointed at him, “Are the French DJ, DJ Gluttony?” I was filled with disbelief. When did a DJ ever just fall into my lap? What else can these guys do?

  “Also yes.”

  “Are you going to explain any of this?” I propped my elbows on the tabletop and folded my hands under my chin.

  “Are you going to ask me a question where the answer needs to be said in more than a one word statement?” He smarted back to me as he matched my position. Okay, he’s got me there. I filtered through my questions and realized that most of them could wait.

  “Right,” I addressed myself. Flipping to professional Sloane, I started up the negotiations. “Let’s get down to business then. How much is this going to cost me and what are the stipulations that you require?”

  “Hmm,” he reclined his head towards the ceiling as he made a show of thinking about my questions. He subtly adjusted his body so he could face me better before dropping his eyes back to mine. “I'll just require your company… this time.” He smirked at me. “Why don’t you sit in my booth tonight instead of yours? I’ll answer all your questions while I set up, and in between pushing my fancy buttons you can answer mine. Deal?” He waggled his eyebrows and extended his hand across the corner of the table for me to shake. I debated my opinions for a moment, but honestly, spending time with Novak sounded like fun.