by Katie Reus
There was a desperation in her eyes that he understood well. His heart opened up at her words. He didn’t want to leave her either. But he wanted her safe more than anything. More than he even wanted to mate with her. Because she was his to protect.
“We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
Her jaw tightened once, but she laid her head on his shoulder, which told him just how tired she must be. “I feel bad that we’re separated from the others. I’m worried about them.”
“Finn is a powerful Alpha. You had to feel it.” It was undeniable. Humans probably even sensed it, though they wouldn’t know why it was they were on edge around the male. Finn would be fine.
She nodded. “I did. There’s only one other wolf I’ve ever met who had that kind of power rolling off him.”
“See? They’ll be fine. They’ll probably just go wolf and hunker down in a den for the night.” It wasn’t in Ian to worry for others. Well, anyone else other than his family or Fiona. And Finn wasn’t the type of male someone worried about. But Ian wasn’t surprised that Fiona was concerned. That was just her nature.
“Tell me about your family,” she murmured.
He stroked a hand down her spine as he held her close. He didn’t want to talk about his family because it would open up the conversation about her own family—and he was pretty damn sure he’d killed her brother earlier. “We’ll talk about that later.” He wanted her to get some sleep. Which made him think… “Are you hungry?”
She shrugged slightly against his chest. “I ate one of those energy bars. I’ll be fine. I don’t want to go hunting for anything.”
Yeah, that wouldn’t be necessary. Concentrating hard, he focused on the one place he always transported food from when in a Hell realm.
“What the—” Fiona jerked back slightly, stared as a plate with a gyro and sautéed vegetables appeared in his hands.
He handed it to her as he concentrated again. A second later a plate of grilled lamb appeared in his hands. “Which one do you want?”
“How the heck did you do that?” she demanded.
A wicked grin spread across his face. “Discovered that trick a decade ago. I can transport some things directly from the human realm—small things. Like furniture, food, stuff like that. There’s a jackass chef I screw with on occasion.” Though it had been close to a year since he’d done it, since he hadn’t been back to a Hell realm in that long.
She blinked and looked down at her gyro. “Wait… So you just transport food from some guy’s restaurant?”
Ian laughed, his grin growing wider. It felt good to mess with that asshole. “Yep.”
“He probably thinks he’s losing his mind.”
Ian shrugged. “He deserves it.”
“What did he do to piss you off?” She apparently decided she didn’t care where he’d gotten it and took a bite.
“I was at a restaurant once with Rory, and the chef—who’s also partial owner—came out into the main restaurant and made one of his waitresses cry. Just berated her for nothing in front of everyone.” It had taken all his restraint not to beat the shit out of the guy or burn him just a bit—Rory had made him see reason. Instead he’d messed with the dude on an epic level for about a year straight. Now he just did it occasionally.
“That’s super mean but also pretty funny.” Shaking her head, she took another bite.
They were silent as they devoured their food. He needed more energy than this but he’d wait until Fiona was asleep and conjure more food from the asshole’s kitchen. The wind outside the cave was the only noise he could hear. No wings flapping overhead, no would-be attackers or predatory creatures trekking up the mountainside.
Once she was done, she set her plate to the side and he did the same with his before pulling her into his arms again. He set his chin on the top of her head, enjoying this quiet with her even at the most inopportune time. “You need rest.”
“I’m not ready to sleep and I want to know what you’ve been up to the past fifty years. I thought about you far too often.” Pain he understood well faintly laced her words.
“I thought about you too. All the time,” he murmured. “Especially when I stroked myself off.”
She jolted at his words and looked up to meet his gaze. Her cheeks were flushed pink and a pale blue fire had started to lick along her arms. “I thought about you when I touched myself too.”
Ah, hell. Yeah, now wasn’t the time to do this. He swallowed hard and realized that his mating manifestation had started to reveal itself. The smoky substance should be hidden enough in the cave, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t spill out of the opening. Not to mention if hers started full force, he didn’t think they’d be able to hide it. Her brilliant blue fire was too bright and would light up the entire mountain. They might as well put up a big neon sign telling their hunters where they were.
“Okay, let’s talk about family.”
She gave him a small grin as her own fire dimmed. “I think that’s probably the smartest idea. Even if it’s not what I want to be doing right now.”
He wanted to ask her what she’d rather be doing, but knew the answer would push him over the edge. “So…family. I met Rory not long after you and I parted ways.” Such a civil way to describe what had happened between them. Not wanting to dwell on the past or to see sadness in her eyes, he continued. “We fought together in supernatural fighting rings for a while, moving from place to place and making as much money as we could. In some instances, we would actually fight each other in the ring so no matter what happened we both came out on top. Then we started making investments with our winnings. Rory is really good with numbers and he taught me.” Ian was still nowhere as good as Rory when it came to investments, but he held his own and they’d both grown damn wealthy over the last fifty years.
Her expression softened as she laid her head back on his chest. “I know I’ve said it, but I’m so happy you found family. Rory seems so protective of Liberty.”
“Yeah. They’re a perfect fit.” Just like he and Fiona were. And he wasn’t letting her go.
“Tell me about your other brother. You said he’s mated to a demigod?” There was a touch of surprise in her voice.
So he told her about his brothers and sister and how having a sister was a little strange. He wanted to go all overprotective on her but she’d made it clear she was strong enough to take care of herself. Didn’t stop him, Rory and Bo from trying.
“You guys threatened to go beat up one of her exes because he stole from her?” Fiona asked after he’d told her a story about Cynara.
“Yep.” Because brothers looked out for their siblings. He knew their threat to hunt down the bastard who’d hurt Cynara was a little psycho from a human standpoint. But not from a supernatural one.
“Do you plan to look for your other brother? The male from the prison cell?” she asked sometime later, her voice soft.
“I don’t know. Probably.” He wanted to know if the male was like him and his brothers. If the guy was more like their father then Ian wanted nothing to do with him. “What about you? I have the information from Finn’s file but it’s bare. And I want to hear it from you anyway.” He didn’t want to read about her life, he wanted to hear what she’d been doing since they’d been apart.
He still couldn’t believe she hadn’t taken another lover but maybe he shouldn’t be surprised since he hadn’t either. And he didn’t care if it was primitive of him—he was glad she hadn’t been with anyone else. That no one had ever touched what was his. Their dragons had chosen even before they’d gotten to know each other. Their dragons were damn smart.
“I don’t want to lie to you.” She was silent for a long moment and he wasn’t sure she would continue so he remained silent, waiting. “My family put me in chains so I wouldn’t chase after you. I was kept in prison. For a year.”
He stilled at the shock of her words. She’d been in chains? Imprisoned? Fire burned the back of his throat and he fought the urge to
let his dragon free. Someone would pay for that very, very soon. He and his brothers would see to it.
“They told me you left almost immediately. And once I was free I didn’t look for you. But I did look at the records of your home and they’d been telling the truth. At least I thought they were. You left days after they’d imprisoned me.” There was so much raw agony in her voice that it shredded him.
All he wanted to do was hunt down her entire clan and destroy them all for the pain they’d caused her—and for what they’d done today. If he’d thought for an instant she’d been kept prisoner, he’d have razed their home to the ground and rescued her all those years ago. But he thought she’d been mated. With another male. Even if it had been what he’d assumed was a loveless mating, she’d been off-limits to him. “If I’d known—”
“I know. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew it would hurt you but I don’t want any secrets between us. Never between us.”
He nodded before gently brushing his lips over hers. “I want to kill every single one of them.” And he just might, once they got out of here.
Her lips pulled into a thin line. “I think you killed one of my brothers.”
Yeah, he thought the same and he didn’t feel any guilt over it. He’d just been avoiding talking about it. “I do too. But I didn’t expect that blue fire.” He’d heard of it, but the way he’d been consumed with the need to protect Fiona had been different than anything he’d felt before. Even decades ago she’d never been in danger—not that he knew of—so that protectiveness had never manifested itself.
“What was that?” Her breath was warm against his chest as she cuddled against him.
“I’ve heard some members of the Stavros pack talk about it. There was a dragon who lived with them for a while and one of their packmates mated with him.” He smiled thinking about Victoria. “She’s a research nerd and discovered something to do with a blue mating fire. I believe it only exhibits itself when someone’s mate or future mate is in dire straits. It can break through another dragon’s natural ability to shield.” He didn’t want to apologize for killing her brother because it would be a lie, but wondered if he should. “He was attacking us, Fiona.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “I know.” Anger glinted in her blue eyes. “And I hope you don’t think I would ever be angry at you. Those people are not my family. They haven’t been my family for a long damn time. I don’t actually care which brother you killed. They might not have put me in chains but they didn’t stop my parents from doing it. And the more I think about it, I realized that whatever dragon was at the ocean with me and Gray had to have either been behind the attack that poisoned me, or at least sanctioned it. My brothers had to have known about it. And when we saw Colm he didn’t mention anything about that poison. Makes me wonder if…”
“If what?”
She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I’m getting worse. I didn’t want to say anything but I almost feel as if my body is weakening, and it makes me wonder if I’m…dying. What if they injected me with what they’ve been injecting in those humans and it has an adverse effect with my chemistry as well? It could be the only reason my brother let me go. Because he assumed I’d die. Technically I guess he didn’t let me go. We escaped. But he let Ava out of the cage and I assume he’d planned to let us free—until things went crazy and he saw you.”
Ian had thought that her brother had let her off fairly easily. She’d invaded this realm and killed his guards and the male had seemed as if he’d let both Fiona and Ava go. It had all seemed too easy. Ian had been so damn desperate to get her out of that castle, he hadn’t cared that Colm hadn’t attacked her on sight. But if her brother thought Fiona would die maybe that was why. Or…maybe he was tracking her? Ian immediately dismissed that thought. If he’d been tracking her, they’d have been located by now.
He clenched his jaw once as his dragon rippled beneath the surface. The remaining brother would pay. “We’ll find out what he did to you. You’re not leaving me. You’re not dying.” He refused to allow it to happen. And if she did, he was going into the afterlife with her. There was simply no question about it. “Let’s get some rest.”
Because they had no idea what tomorrow would bring and they had to be ready.
Chapter 14
52 years ago
“Are you nervous?” Fiona watched Ian, unable to hide her surprise at how tense he was. She’d arrived at his place less than ten minutes ago—after sneaking out of a party one of her clan members had thrown—and he’d offered her a glass of wine. Which he’d nearly spilled. Twice.
Now they were sitting in his living room. Unfortunately. She wanted to get straight to his bedroom and get to the good stuff, but he’d wanted to sit and “talk.” She couldn’t imagine about what though. Tonight was the night, and as far as she knew there wouldn’t be much talking.
“No. Yes.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his head in an out-of-character nervous gesture.
The male was always so damn confident about everything. He walked into a room and simply dominated it. It was just who he was. Hungrily, she watched the way his forearm flexed before he dropped his hand back to his lap. That hand should be on her body.
She’d never seen him like this. She was the virgin, but he seemed more nervous than her. Way more nervous. Maybe he was worried for her? “I’m not going to break.”
“I know,” he rasped out. His gaze dipped to her mouth and she felt the heat in his look all the way to her toes.
And just like that her mating manifestation kicked into high gear, the pale blue fire the same color as her eyes spreading out over her body. It was strange—she’d heard about it from her family but had never witnessed it before.
And there was no controlling it. Not technically. Staying away from Ian would surely control it but not when they were alone together in his house and he was looking at her like he could eat her up. “And why are you sitting all the way over there?” She picked up her glass of red wine and tucked her legs under her on the long couch.
All the furniture in his living room was oversized, just like him.
He didn’t move from the big leather chair. “If I move any closer you’re going to be naked in a few seconds.” His amber eyes glowed brightly and the smoke of his own mating manifestation was already spreading out across the floor.
“How is that a bad thing?” Putting her glass back down, she stood. Enough was enough.
She’d been waiting for this for what felt like forever—since she’d met Ian at least. She’d never imagined a male like Ian could even exist but now that he was in her life, she wasn’t letting him go. She was going to take what was hers and she wanted him to do the same. They belonged together. Soon, just a couple days from now, they would be leaving her clan behind forever. They would never accept him as her mate and she would not live without him.
“What are you doing?” His voice was raspy, unsteady, as he stared at her. His knuckles had turned white as he clutched the sides of his chair.
Slowly, she lifted her peasant blouse over her head, keeping her gaze on him the entire time. Once the shirt was over her head, she tossed it to the floor. Like usual around him, she hadn’t bothered wearing a bra. It made him crazy so she made sure to never wear one. She liked affecting him because he did the same thing to her.
Next, her fingers moved to the button of her jeans.
Ian’s gaze tracked her movements, his breathing harsh as he watched. His erection pushed against his jeans, his reaction to her undeniable.
Seeing how she affected him made her feel powerful, a little more in control. She’d tasted him all over but tonight she was going to feel him inside her. He’d been the one putting the brakes on, wanting her to make sure she was ready to mate. Well damn it, she was ready.
As she shoved her jeans down her legs, revealing that she’d forgone all undergarments, he growled low in his throat.
Oh yeah, that was the reaction she’d been looking for. Sh
e stepped out of her jeans then kicked them away. Cool air rushed over her skin but she barely felt it.
Moving slowly, she strode toward Ian until she was standing directly in front of him. His growl reverberated around the room, his bright amber eyes scorching. When he didn’t make a move to touch her, just sat there like a statue, she cupped her mound.
Aaaand…that snapped him out of it. “Mine,” he growled, yanking her wrist until she fell on top of him, straddling him.
Moaning, she bent to kiss him as he surged up to meet her mouth. He wrapped his arms around her, his callused hands stroking over her arms, back, legs, breasts, anywhere he could touch. Shivers rolled through her as he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
She could feel how much he trembled beneath her as they ate at each other’s mouths. Energy swelled through her and she was vaguely aware of the light show she was making. His place was on the outskirts of the city but he had neighbors a few miles away. If they saw it, they saw it.
She wasn’t stopping.
After trying to release one of the buttons on his shirt—and failing—she ripped all of them free. Moaning, she pressed her breasts to his chest, shuddering as she rubbed her already tight nipples against his rock-hard chest.
He growled something she couldn’t make out against her mouth then stood, carrying her as if she weighed nothing. Seconds later he had her stretched out on the thick, soft bundle of blankets in front of the fireplace.
There was no fire going but they didn’t need the heat.
“I love you, Ian,” she whispered right as his mouth latched onto one breast.
He froze, going impossibly still for a long moment. They’d basically admitted their feelings to each other. At the end of this week they were leaving together and were mating, but they’d never actually used the L word.