by Riley Storm
She barely had a chance to return his smile before he was gone, leaving the two of them alone.
Biting her lip, she sipped on her drink, entirely unsure of what to talk about next. There was so much she just didn’t know, even with the brief history lesson the two had provided.
“I’m sorry,” Victor said at last. “I didn’t listen to Aaric’s warning, and you nearly paid the price. Yes, I got you out, but you should never have been there in the first place. For that, you have my apologies. I will do better.”
“I know,” she said, leaning into him, giving him her vocal and physical reassurance. “I know, Victor. You’re a good man. In here,” she said, placing a hand on his heart.
He reached up to lay his hand over hers. “I will do my best to live up to your faith.”
“I believe you.” She snuggled in closer, enjoying the warmth and firmness of the arm wrapped around her shoulders. It felt good.
After a moment, she reached forward, putting her drink down on the table in front of them, only half-finished. With both hands free, she curled up as close to Victor as possible, drinking in the heat flowing from his body and the solid physical presence.
“What do I do now?” Victor asked after a bit.
There was no self-loathing present that she could detect. No angst. Just a quiet question.
“Those people, they’re all in trouble now because I put them there. I hired them,” he explained at a questioning glance as she looked up at him, head still on his upper chest and shoulder. “I put them to work. I’m not going to sit around and let them come to harm, Cheryl. I have to help them. I’m just not sure how.”
“Easy,” she said. “You find the vampire. You kill him. Anyone who would use another person so callously is evil. They deserve to die. So, you will give it to him,” she said fiercely. “And you won’t hesitate.”
“Oh.”
She laughed at the shock writ on his face. “He tried to use people against me. Tried to kill me to get at you, Victor. Those people, they deserve better, like you said. If the only way to free them is to kill this vampire, then we kill it.”
Cheryl frowned. “How do you kill a vampire? Do the stories from the books work at all?”
Victor cracked the first smile she’d seen on him since before the attack. The first real smile. “Easy there, Van Helsing. One step at a time, shall we?”
“Thank you for coming back for me,” she said quietly, sobering once more. “I...I appreciate it.”
Cupping her chin, Victor leaned over and kissed her softly, lingering and questioning.
A hunger rose up in her, and she took him by the back of his head and pulled his mouth back to hers, arching into him as his tongue parted her lips. Hands slid between her and the couch and across her other side.
She yelped in pleasant surprise as Victor lifted her into his lap, her knees settling on either side of his waist. Biting her lip, she took both sides of his head in her hands and returned the kiss, taking slight control of everything.
Fingers dug into her ass through her dark, skin-tight jeans, squeezing tight.
“So, is this your step one?” she whispered into his ear.
“It is,” Victor said, teeth sinking gently into her neck with playful force. “Would you like to see step two?”
“Yes,” she all but moaned at him as his hands slid up her back.
“Yes, I would.”
Chapter 31
Victor hadn’t realized how badly he wanted her permission to continue until he received it. He grabbed at her clothing with an almost frantic need, driven by urges beyond his complete understanding.
“Hey,” she whispered, placing her hands over his, pinning them to her sides. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
He nodded, not trusting his voice.
“Were you worried about me?” Cheryl asked, stroking his face with long, gentle caresses.
Victor bobbed his head once again. Truthfully, he’d been terrified, not knowing where she was, then seeing her in the grips of the thralls. It had awoken a powerful feeling of possession in him, one that he didn’t fully understand, but knew was directed at her.
“You don’t need to be,” she said, releasing his hands to strip her shirt.
Victor was able to move more smoothly now, reassured by her touch, by her words. He got the shirt off without ripping it, same with her bra. She leaned into him, pressing her bare flesh against his clothing, reminding Victor of all the lush curves that she had underneath.
He stirred in response, jeans growing tighter. Cheryl looked down, sensing his heightened arousal and teasing it further with slow movements of her hips designed to increase the pressure against him.
“I’m going to show you that you don’t need to be worried,” she said.
Victor frowned internally. He had meant to be reassuring her, to make sure Cheryl understood he was here to keep her safe, to do whatever was needed. Yet somehow this astonishing woman had read beyond that, to figure out what he was doing, and provide what he needed.
“This isn’t just about me,” he growled, taking the initiative again with his hands and his mouth.
Cheryl moaned, throwing her head back, long silvery-blonde hair cascading down her back and over her shoulders, partially obscuring his view of her chest. His long fingers moved to delicately push the tresses out of the way so he could cover her upper body in heated kisses.
“Well it’s not just about me either,” she gasped as he took one nipple into his mouth with utmost tenderness.
“We seem to be at an impasse then,” he muttered a moment later, before returning to his ministrations.
“Perhaps,” she said, clutching at the back of his head, pulling him in tight while rocking back and forth, tiny hisses of air escaping her mouth as he swirled his tongue around the hard nub. “Or maybe, we just make it about us.”
Victor pulled back, unable to prevent a wide grin from spreading. “I can work with that,” he agreed.
“Me too. As long as you don’t stop what you were doing,” she ordered, bottom lip curling up under her teeth.
A low rumble escaped his mouth before he resumed his attention to her body, but Victor wasn’t content to stop there. At one point, he picked Cheryl up and flipped her around, pushing her down into the couch, settling on top of her.
She welcomed him, tugging at his neck to bring his mouth closer to kiss him some more.
Victor lost track of time after that, barely noting as the rest of their clothing wound up on the floor or nearby. His focus was less on what they were doing, and more on who he was doing it with.
That was a novelty to him, something he’d never experienced before, and the realization of it came to him slowly. In fact, it was only as he was about to enter her that it clued in.
“I like this,” he growled in her ear, hoping she would understand that he meant he enjoyed doing it with her, not just in general.
“Me too,” she said breathlessly, the words coming at the same instant he slid inside.
He leaned in to kiss her, both of them making sounds of extreme pleasure, unable to contain themselves. It just felt too unbelievable. His groans mixed with her softer, lighter cries as he went deeper.
Cheryl’s tremors as he entered her fully were the only warning he had before she dug her nails in deep into his back, her cries growing louder. Adjusting his position so he could support himself with one hand, he pushed a finger between their hips, his thumb finding her clit as fast as possible.
The sight of her eyes flying open, mouth forming a silent O-shape as he moved his finger in circles nearly resulted in Victor losing control and emptying himself into her then and there.
Squeezing his abs and arms and chest, he frantically fought back the impending orgasm, even as Cheryl’s body was wracked by the very contractions he was trying to avoid. It was an odd contradiction, but Victor wasn’t ready to give in just yet. He wanted to watch her face some more, to hear her moans. Those
were the things that truly pleasured him.
“Victor,” she gasped into his ear once she’d calmed. “I’d forgotten…”
Grinning to himself, he kissed her neck, gently sucking on it, then biting for a moment. She was just so fun to please. Everything Cheryl did or said made him throb with desire, with a need to climax. He fought it back.
“So wet,” he groaned into her ear instead, wanting her to know that he was as aroused as her, that it was her body that made his cock so hard, that he was fighting to restrain himself from going harder.
They stayed in each other’s embrace for some time, luxuriating in the shared experience of lovemaking. Several smaller climaxes wracked Cheryl’s body, each one pushing Victor closer to the edge.
“My turn to do some work,” Cheryl said abruptly, putting both hands on his chest and pushing him back.
Never one to complain about that, Victor sat back into the couch as ordered, watching with unabashed delight as Cheryl settled on top of him again, knees on either side, her entire body pressed into him. She reached back with one hand to grab his cock to position it properly, which had the wonderful effect of pushing her breasts out toward him.
Then he slid back inside her and his mind grew fuzzy. Cheryl’s hips ground back and forth against him in constant rhythm, slow at first as she adjusted to the motion, but then increasing with speed.
The pressure of her walls around him, combined with the visual and auditory stimulations was resulting in a sensory overload. Victor’s fingers tightened around her waist, but he never slowed her.
“It’s okay,” she whispered into his ear, sensing that he was almost done. “I want you.”
He shuddered and, backed by Cheryl’s urgings, Victor let himself lose control. Her name slipped from his mouth and he pulled her in tight, hips thrusting upward out of control.
Cheryl collapsed against him as he fell back into the couch, utterly spent, and it was only then that he realized she too was panting and breathing heavily, her body slumped happily against his broad chest.
“That was good,” she whispered. “I needed that. I needed you.”
“Me too,” he managed to get out. “I didn’t realize just how badly…”
“I know,” she said, stroking his head. “I know. But it’s okay now. We’re safe. You have me. I’m here.”
He smiled and kissed her gently, but in his head, he couldn’t stop wondering what this all meant.
Victor had never experienced anything like this before. The need he felt for Cheryl, on more than just the physical level, was intense beyond his understanding.
What does it mean? And more importantly, what do I do about it?
He just wasn’t sure.
Chapter 32
“I’ll be back soon,” he said, bending over Cheryl to kiss her on the forehead.
“You’re going to talk to Aaric, aren’t you?” she asked, stirring under the covers, the motion pulling them down over her breasts.
Something stirred in his loins but he dismissed it. The time for that had passed. He had more than indulged his own needs.
Right now, there were other people counting on him. People without the strength of his dragon. Victor wasn’t going to let them suffer any longer under the control of the vampire. Not while he could do something about it when they could not.
And not when it’s my fault they’re there in the first place.
His soul was eased, his mind refocused, and he had Cheryl to thank for that on multiple fronts. She seemed to know how to best soothe him, and he found himself forever grateful for the series of events that had brought her into his life.
“Yes,” he said. “We need to act. The Thralls have suffered for long enough.”
“I understand,” she said, taking his hand in both of hers and giving it a tight squeeze. “I’m proud of you.”
He smiled, knowing it was lopsided and crooked, but not caring about it. Cheryl was just that good for him, she made him want to be free and easy.
Finish this first. Then you can enjoy her and see what’s there. But not before.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” he promised, slipping his hand free and stealing from the room while Cheryl yawned and rolled over to go back to sleep.
There was little he wanted to do more than join her, but sometimes duty took precedence. This was one of those times.
Padding through the hallways, he came to Aaric’s door. To his surprise, the other dragon was up and answered shortly after the first knock.
“You can’t sleep either?” was all the greeting Victor got, the door left open.
He entered the room to the smell of coffee. Two mugs sat on the little table in front of the huge sectional Aaric had against one wall.
“Got one for you too,” the fire dragon said, snagging his own half-empty.
“We have to do something,” Victor said without preamble. “We can’t sit around here all safe while the humans suffer.”
Looking up at him, Aaric regarded Victor slowly. “I thought you didn’t care about Plymouth Falls or its people.”
“I didn’t. But I’ve had my eyes opened recently, if you hadn’t noticed,” he drawled, a mixture of sarcasm and irritation that Aaric couldn’t have just let it rest and accept what Victor was saying.
“Just checking, little brother.”
“I’m the same size as you. Just ‘cause you’re half a century older, that doesn’t make you bigger,” Victor muttered, then took a sip of the coffee, feeling the hot liquid burn its way down his throat.
Come on, caffeine, do your magic. Show me a way to solve this that isn’t a straight-up assault on the Thralls designed to draw our vampire buddy out.
“This guy is stronger than the one I fought,” Aaric said quietly. “Judging by how quickly he enthralled all those workers. More than I fought the first time around.” He shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t have any work being done there. I feared this would happen again.”
“I know. I fucked up. Can we move past that?” Victor snarled. “Let’s just figure out how to help them. Then you can keep harping on about how you were right. God.”
Aaric recoiled at the anger. For a moment, Victor thought things were going to devolve between the two of them without Cheryl’s calming presence, but then Aaric surprised him.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. We need to stop butting heads.”
Victor inclined his head once in agreement, the sharp movement indicating he was still irritated, but willing to move on.
“What do we do? I refuse to kill them all. That’s not a solution.”
“I agree,” Aaric said immediately. “Though we don’t have to worry about them finding what they’re looking for at least.”
“You mean the Naagloshiii, don’t you?” Victor asked. “What did you do with it?”
“Eventually, I’m going to dump his tomb down the mine we’re digging and bury him under a fire-blasted layer of solid rock melted around him. But for now, I had to get him out of the construction site.”
“That’s an unusually evasive answer, brother,” Victor growled. “Where is his tomb now, if not at the construction site?”
“Um. In the caverns below with our sleeping brethren?” Aaric said weakly, avoiding looking right at Victor as he answered.
“What! Are you insane? You brought one of them here?” Victor moaned, running his hands over his head.
“Where else was I supposed to take it?” Aaric snapped back, getting to his feet and starting to pace. “What would you have done?”
“Destroyed it?”
“I tried,” Aaric muttered. “Believe me, I tried so very hard, Victor. But the thing is stronger than you could believe. I know we often think of ourselves as the strongest beings on this earth, but we know that’s not really true. Among shifters, yes. But there are more than just our kind out there. Maybe one of the elders could do it. I can’t.”
“Shit,” he muttered, taking the fire dragon at his words. “Okay. So, it’s here. Wher
e we can watch over it. Then we bury it somewhere they’ll never find it. Got it.”
“But they don’t know that yet. Not until they dig up the fake tomb I placed and buried deep in the earth again.”
“So, they’re going to stay at the site,” Victor said, understanding what Aaric was getting at. “Which means we know where to find our vampire friend.”
“Or friends. We can’t assume it’s just one of them. This is the second one to come to our town. Eventually, they’re going to stop coming on their own and come in a group.”
“You’re just so positive today,” Victor grumbled, but he knew the other shifter was right. “So, we can find them there. How do we get them to show themselves?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m going to help.”
Victor spun so fast he sloshed hot coffee on his pants. “Cheryl!” he yelped as the platinum-haired beauty pushed her way into Aaric’s quarters. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping,” she said. “However I can. I’m not just going to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. This is my town too.”
Aaric looked at Victor, an unspoken question in his eyes.
“You try telling her no,” Victor said with a shrug. “I hate it. I don’t want it. It terrifies me. But I’m warning you, if you try to argue with her, you will lose.”
Aaric’s eyes bounced between the two of them for a few seconds, then he snorted with laughter. “I know how that feels, believe it or not.”
Victor looked down, smiling, knowing that Aaric was thinking of his mate, Olivia.
Mate.
It was a word he’d not allowed himself to think of much when he was around Cheryl. That was a line he had not broached yet and wasn’t sure he was ready to. Aaric had told him that when he knew, he would know. So far, Victor couldn’t point to any one moment where he unquestioningly knew, that not only did he want her and only her, but that the feeling was mutual.