by Katie Reus
He crushed his mouth to hers, his tongue invading like a conquering warrior. She’d thought he might build up to it, but he simply took what he wanted. And she loved every second of it.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he hoisted her up. She couldn’t seem to get close enough. Suddenly they were moving to…somewhere.
Seconds later she found herself flat on her back on a giant rug in front of a long unused fireplace. She let out a delighted laugh as he covered her body with his, his expression purely wicked.
She wasn’t sure what she was ready for but she liked this position, liked the weight of him on top of her. And she loved the way he stared at her as if she’d hung the moon.
She reached for him, wrapping her fingers around the back of his neck even as he slanted his mouth over hers once again.
In the back of her head she thought that they should probably find a bedroom or somewhere more private, but screw it.
They were supernaturals. Prima had told them not to disturb her. And she would be able to hear them and stay away because nothing could drag Greer away from this moment.
From Reaper.
She questioned her sanity as he slid his hands under her sweater, quickly and expertly pulling it off. His fingers stroked over her skin, sending shivers spiraling everywhere.
He might have been in Hibernation for a long damn time but he clearly knew what he wanted. Her.
Well, she wanted him undressed too, wanted to feel all that strength against her fingertips. She nipped at his bottom lip as his hands slid over her breasts, her bra. Teasing, hungry, determined.
“What the hell is this thing?” he growled out against her mouth as he lifted his head, staring down at her bra. Before she could answer, one of his claws slipped out and he sliced it through the middle without touching her skin.
She let out a little gasp as her breasts spilled free.
“Mine,” he growled.
Her gasp turned into a moan as he bent his head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. No buildup, just pure wicked Reaper taking what he wanted. God, why was that so hot?
Heat surrounded her, the energy inside her waking up, little arcs of electricity flickering against her skin. This was all strange and new, this wild sensation, and she wasn’t sure if it was just that she hadn’t had sex in ages, or something else. Something…more. Something she didn’t want to think about right now.
He lifted his head once, his eyes sparking with heat before he kissed her again, harder this time.
As their mouths mated, she wondered why the hell she’d been fighting this so hard. Then he cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples into hard little points as he rolled his hips against hers.
Slam!
She jerked at the sound of… Something breaking apart.
Before she had processed what was going on, Reaper was on his feet, his claws out. Covering her breasts, she jumped up next to him and stared into the entryway where their front door was in tatters.
Before she could say anything, a large bearded male with red hair strode into the foyer, actually breathing fire. He was in human form, but little wisps of fire came out of his mouth as he turned to face them. Holy cats.
The male let out a loud growl until he saw Reaper. His claws retracted and the fire turned to smoke. “Reaper?” The male had a thick Celtic accent and similar coloring to Reaper. “What are you doing here?”
Reaper still had his claws out as he eyed the male, strategically placing his body in front of Greer’s half-naked one. “Me? What the fuck are you doing!” Reaper roared, his beast clearly riding close to the surface.
Greer scrambled to grab her sweater for cover, though she had to shrug out of her ruined bra before putting it on.
By the time she’d stood back up, Prima was at the bottom of the stairs, her own eyes full dragon.
She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the mess. “Arthur, what is this?”
“You leave my bed and steal my watch?” he snarled, taking a menacing step toward her.
She lifted up her wrist, the sparkly gold watch glinting under the light from the foyer. “I like this timepiece. It’s shiny—and it’s now mine.”
“Why did you leave my bed?” the male demanded.
She lifted a shoulder, her eyes glinting mischievously. “I got what I wanted. And so did you for that matter. Why are you here? Did you follow me?”
“I wasn’t done,” he snarled. “And you’re not keeping my watch.”
She sniffed, all haughty dragon. “We’ll see about that.”
“Fine. Keep the watch, but you’re coming with me.”
She stepped down the rest of the stairs until she was at the bottom and nearly eye to eye with him, given that she was almost as tall as the giant dragon shifter. “You don’t give me orders.”
“You like it when I give orders.” The male’s words were softly spoken, but loud enough for Greer to hear.
Prima snarled once. “You are going to fix this door. Now. Then I’ll see about joining you in bed again.”
The male snarled once more, more fire coming out of his mouth. “Fine. It will be fixed within the hour. When it’s done, you’d better be back at my place. Naked.”
Prima simply sniffed and turned back toward the stairs but not before shooting a curious glance at Greer and Reaper.
Oh, she was curious about them? Seriously? Greer stared at the mess in the foyer, wondering who the hell this male was and why Prima had stolen from him.
“Prima? Really? That seems like a bold move,” Reaper said to the male he clearly knew.
“I’ve always wanted that female. She is fucking crazy. But so am I.” Arthur looked once at Greer, then back at Reaper. “This is your female, then?”
“I belong to nobody, dumbass,” Greer snapped. This fool had interrupted what would no doubt have been amazing sex and she was more than cranky about it. “And you’d better fix that door quickly before she comes back down.” Greer’s tone was tart, making the big, bearded male throw back his head and laugh as if she’d said the funniest thing in the world. “Can you deal with him and this mess?” she asked Reaper, exasperated.
“Of course.” He didn’t reach for her, but something told her that he wanted to.
“Thank you. I’ll be…somewhere else.” She had no patience for the jerk who’d just destroyed her clan’s front door and she didn’t care to be introduced to him. No, what she wanted was to be naked with Reaper right now and it was taking all of her patience to keep her cool. She’d started to leave the room when he called out to her.
“Greer…”
She turned with what little dignity she could muster—which was hard since she had her shredded bra in her hand. “Yes?”
His eyes were full dragon now, amber and fire. “I’ll come find you when I’m done with him.”
Something about the glint in his eyes had her blushing and feeling like a young dragon, so she simply nodded and hurried past the male who eyed her curiously—but smartly kept a good distance from her.
She heard Reaper tell the male that he was going to “Rip your fucking head off for interrupting,” as she hurried up the stairs, and for some reason that eased the tension inside her. But she suppressed a giggle.
Yeah, she wouldn’t mind ripping that male’s head off too. Or maybe nothing quite that violent, but she was simultaneously annoyed and relieved at the interruption.
She and Reaper had definitely crossed a line and she wasn’t sure they could come back from it.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted to. He was nothing she thought she’d ever wanted but now… Maybe he was exactly what she needed.
Chapter 16
“I don’t like this.” Reaper scanned the third floor of the outdoor bar area they had been “summoned” to. As if he answered to anyone. The only reason he had come was because Greer had told him she was going.
“You don’t like anything right now because you’re a horny bastard.” Prima leaned against the edge of t
he rooftop wall, looking over at the people partying below on the street.
“True enough.” Reaper’s gaze strayed over to where Greer was talking with some shifters she knew from a wolf pack who lived not far from here. They were here on “holiday” or some other nonsense. There were people from the other night here as well, including the half-demon and his demigod mate. He found he liked those two. Apparently the demigod could transport anywhere within seconds so it was easy enough for them to visit the male’s sister.
“So what’s up with you and Greer?” Prima asked, turning back to him.
Streaks of purple raced across the sky as the sun descended. Right now he wished he was flying. Flying with Greer. He had never had a partner to take to the skies with before. Bed partners, yes. Anything else? No. But he wanted to share in everything with the female. Especially now that he had gotten a taste of her. But ever since this morning, he swore that the cosmos had conspired to interfere with them.
“I’m not talking about that with you.” He shot her a sideways glance. “Unless you want to tell me what possessed you to sleep with Arthur?”
She grinned, her dragon flickering wild and free in her gaze. “I did it because I felt like it. And I liked his timepiece.”
He snorted softly, his gaze moving back to Greer. She wore tight black pants that hugged her long, lean legs and perfect ass. She’d worn similar pants before and he found he liked them very much. Anything that showed off her ass, he liked. The bright red top she had on wrapped around her like a second skin, showing off enough of her breasts that all he could think about was ripping it off and seeing her fully naked once again. But that clearly was not happening anytime soon. And that made him cranky. He’d gotten a mere taste and now he had to be patient. Something he was not good at when it came to Greer. “You did not fuck him because you liked his timepiece,” he muttered. That much he knew.
“True enough. He is from our time. He is easygoing and creative in the bedroom. There was no harm in fucking.”
Reaper simply lifted a shoulder. Dragons could be very possessive, and though Arthur was easygoing as she’d said, Reaper had seen the way he looked at Prima. Not to mention he had broken down the door to see her. Though…that was more or less just a dragon being a dragon. “I’m surprised he is even in town. Did you ask him why he found himself in New Orleans?” Reaper found it interesting that Arthur, Damari and Cale were all here since they had all been on his list of dragons to find.
“I asked him why he came to New Orleans of all places and he said it was because he had heard I was here. Can you believe that nonsense? Ridiculous male.” She shook her head and looked back over the ledge down to the streets. Music and laughter filled the air, humans and supernaturals alike enjoying themselves.
“I do believe him.” Reaper’s eyes narrowed as Greer approached a male wolf he did not know and hugged him.
Without another word to Prima, he shoved off the wall and crossed the distance, shoving a couple supernaturals out of the way as he moved. He ignored their grunts of annoyance. Then he was standing next to her, staring hard at the other male who was most definitely Alpha in nature.
The guy lifted an eyebrow at Reaper’s sudden appearance, and that was when Reaper saw the petite female next to him, her arm wrapped around his middle. She looked to be in her early twenties, but he could sense that she was a few hundred years older. And there was something else about her. She had that same calming energy as Greer emanating off her. Rich waves of energy that soothed everything—she was a healer.
Greer smiled up at him. “Reaper, this is Ophelia. She’s a healer like me and part of the Stavros wolf pack. And this is her mate, Gray. He’s a talented artist. We actually have one of his sculptures in the house. It’s the one of the dragon that you commented on in the living room.”
Some of the tension in Reaper eased as he realized the male was mated and not a threat. The male was less than a century old, if Reaper had to guess. But he was still annoyed in general that he couldn’t be alone with Greer right now. Annoyed that he had listened to the summons of a wolf who hadn’t bothered to show up yet. He didn’t follow orders. He led armies. But Greer had said she was coming tonight since King asked, so here he was. Somehow he managed to tug on a cloak of civility and nodded politely at the two of them.
“So I hear that you basically just woke up from a long Hibernation,” Ophelia said. “Like really long. How are you adjusting to things?”
Reaper shifted a step closer to Greer, erasing the small distance between them. He smoothly slid his arm around her shoulders. For some reason he needed to touch her. Okay, not for some reason—he understood exactly why. They were surrounded by far too many supernaturals and he didn’t like it. He needed to be touching her.
He was thankful when she wrapped her arm around him and smiled up at him, her cheeks flushing pink. Gods, that pink. He wanted to see her turn that shade all over when he got her naked next time.
He caught the flicker of surprise in Ophelia’s eyes as he answered. “It is an adjustment. But I find I like this time period. Very much.” He looked down at Greer as he said it, his intention clear. His only regret was that he’d been asleep for so very long while she had been topside.
She blushed again. They definitely needed to get out of here. He wanted to finish what they had started earlier in the day. Arthur was lucky he was walking around right now. Bastard. Or “cock block,” as he’d heard Prima call him, laughing her head off as she had said the words. Apparently that was slang from the current generation. And appropriate for what Arthur was. A stupid cock block. Maybe one day Reaper would return the favor. Yes, he liked that idea very much.
Before Reaper could gently suggest that they leave, King finally came through the entrance to the third story.
Reaper found himself irrationally annoyed with the male. “Let’s see what he wants and get out of here,” he muttered.
Greer lightly pinched his side. “You look a little like you want to take his head off. Calm yourself.”
“I will be polite.”
She gave him a look that said she did not believe him, which was fine. He wasn’t certain he believed himself. Right now he was on a rooftop bar and not naked with Greer. His face was not buried between her legs and she was not coming on his tongue. Someone needed to pay for that.
“If you’ll excuse us,” Greer said, “we need to take care of something.”
Prima joined them at the same time King and a couple of his wolves strode up to Reaper and Greer.
“Thank you for meeting me here. I figured a neutral place like Cynara’s bar was good for everyone. And I apologize for being late,” King said.
“It’s no problem,” Greer said quickly, as if she was worried that Reaper would say something obnoxious.
She was not wrong.
“Why are we here?” Reaper asked. “You are not my Alpha.” Translation: I am doing you a favor by being here.
King’s wolf flickered in his eyes as a wave of power rolled off him.
Reaper unleashed some of his own power, letting the reins slip free and pushing back against the male’s show of strength. He’d been gentle as a fucking kitten since waking. But if this male pushed him, that was over.
King lifted an eyebrow. “I am well aware you are not one of my people. But we’ve been digging since Cynbel’s death—which is why I’m here. So you’re fucking welcome. I think a male named Brennus might be involved in his death. One of my hackers found him on a few cameras somewhere he was not supposed to be. Without going into all the details, he was with Cynbel before his death. And it appeared as if they were arguing. Which might mean nothing, but Brennus has gone to ground. My wolves can’t find him but I know he’s been in the city for a while. And he tried to recruit some dragons I’m friends with.”
“Recruit for what?”
“Some bullshit about dragons being the best and how they should all stick together, blah blah blah. He didn’t get very far in his spiel before they sh
ut him down. But he’s a powerful dragon so I’ve been keeping an eye on him. With him in hiding now…I don’t like it.”
“Thank you for this information,” Reaper said, meaning it.
The wolf nodded. “How long are you planning on staying in town?” The question was neutral enough and Reaper wasn’t sure of the meaning behind it.
He had already told the male he did not want his territory. “As long as I want.” He did not feel like playing nice tonight. He had far too much energy pent up inside him, desperate to get out—desperate to claim Greer.
Greer elbowed him once. And not subtly.
King simply grunted in annoyance and walked away without another word but he didn’t leave the bar area. Instead he approached Ophelia and Gray, greeting the other healer with respect.
“Would you like to leave now?” Reaper asked as he turned to Greer. “I am ready.”
To his surprise she laughed, the sound infectious and intoxicating. And those cheeks were pink again. Would she be pink all over when he brought her pleasure?
“Why do you want to leave?”
Prima laughed aloud. “Because he wants to—”
“Do not finish that sentence,” Reaper ordered Prima. He could only imagine what obnoxious thing would come out of her mouth.
Greer surprised him by tugging his shirt and pulling him closer, her mouth brushing against his ear. “I hope you want to get out of here so we can finally be alone.” Her words were laced with sensual hunger and a little nervousness. But no fear.
Good. He could admit he was nervous too. Something he had never experienced with a woman. He wanted to be gentle with her, but every time he thought of burying himself between her thighs—
A scream ripped through the air, causing them both to step back.
“What the hell?” someone muttered.
There was another scream. Then another. And another. Somewhere in the distance. He focused on that direction as more cries of terror lifted in the air, louder than the raucous party on the street below.
“Oh my God,” Greer breathed out even as he spotted the hulking gray form in the distance, fire arcing through the air, the bright red flames a horrific backdrop to the setting sun.