His beast slammed against the surface, greedy and hungry. Kennedy belonged to him. She was theirs to love, to keep safe, to make happy. She belonged to him.
Wyatt was so caught off guard by the sudden power of his normally quiet beast that he didn’t realize he was leaning into her. She stared up at him, wide eyed and breathing shallowly. Waves of anticipation rolled off her. They only served to drag him closer.
“Ribs are done!” Jasper announced suddenly and awkwardly.
Wyatt’s head shot up. Everyone on the deck was watching them. Beside him, Kennedy bit her lip. She ducked her head and gave him a sly smile. He didn’t’ care about ribs or potatoes or grilled corn. All he wanted was the woman sitting beside him.
For a moment, he contemplated carrying her to an empty room and having his way with her. Kennedy had said before that she wouldn’t mind, that she wanted him the same way he wanted her right then.
Before he could grab her and run away from all prying eyes, she stood and went to claim a plate of ribs. His beast growled to grab her, to hold her, to steal her away. Wyatt asked the beast why it felt so strongly about her when they’d only known her for a handful of days. He didn’t understand what he felt when he looked at her.
If it was only the novelty of meeting someone truly loving, then he feared it would not last. Yet, if what he felt was the beginning of a mate bond, then there was no reason he should hold himself back any longer.
The beast had no voice, though, and could not give him an answer. All Wyatt had was a tangled web of confusion, like pulling wires from storage only to find they’d all knotted together. He didn’t know where to begin, much less what he wanted.
If he gave himself over to the bond of a mate’s love, would he fall back into the mindset he’d had before? Wyatt thought he wanted a family. He’d wanted the picket fence and smiling wife. What if that wasn’t right? The woman he lusted after didn’t seem like the kind to be happy in the life he’d wanted.
It struck Wyatt that maybe that was where he went wrong. He’d been trying so hard to fill roles in this fantasy he had, that he hadn’t been giving attention to what life was actually trying to give him. Maybe the future before him wasn’t like the fantasy he’d had, but it didn’t seem all that awful.
Not if he could live with someone who truly loved him.
***
“I think I’m going to stay in town,” Kennedy announced.
They were all lounging around the deck. The sun had gone down long ago, but the heat of the dragon men and some thick blankets kept everyone warm. It helped that she held a hot mug between her hands, marshmallows threatening to flow over the rim.
“What makes you say that?” Jasper asked. His voice was slow and calculated, like he fully expected to frighten her away.
Behind her, Wyatt stiffened. This was a decision she hadn’t talked through, but she didn’t think it was one she had to discuss with him. They weren’t officially a couple, so her life was her own. Only she could make decisions for herself.
“I don’t know,” Kennedy answered. “I like it here. Grove calls to me and I’m just not ready to leave it yet.”
Behind her, Wyatt pressed his forehead to her shoulder. She couldn’t read the gesture or his still body behind her, though she desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. His silence on the matter worried her. She was not pushing herself into his life. She wasn’t asking to live in the giant house like Ashton and Makenna did.
In the morning, Kennedy would begin her search for an apartment in town. Her blog would still rake in enough money to keep her set for a while. Until she figured out herself, and her relationship with Wyatt. After that, then she could travel the world again, just not as often. She would always have a home base in Grove.
She liked the idea, letting it warm her like the cup of cocoa in her hands.
“You aren’t going to sell our existence to the tabloids. Are you?” Griffin’s voice was low, nearly a threat.
Beside her, Wyatt growled in response. She placed a hand over his knee. She understood their fear. Kennedy had been an outsider only days ago. They knew nothing about her or her motives with them. The dragon shifters had every right to question her, no matter how it hurt her pride. All she could do was assure them that she wouldn’t betray their secret.
It was safe with her. This was her home now.
Chapter Twelve
“Are you sure you want to stay here?” Wyatt asked her while they were driving back to Grove.
The world outside the windows was dark, nothing more than a dimly illuminated road that twisted before them. She wanted to reach over and take his hand in hers, but she didn’t dare. Not until she knew for sure that he wanted her in return.
Her own desire for him had peaked when he nearly kissed her. She’d wanted it more than anything in her life. Then, when Jasper shouted that his ribs were done, it was like being hit with a bucket of cold water. She had to control herself around Wyatt or else they would never know what was true.
“Like I said, I like Grove. Staying here just feels…right.”
“Even knowing that dragons could burn the town down at any moment?” Wyatt’s voice was strange. She couldn’t quite pin-point what it held, but it made her squirm in her seat.
“But you haven’t. Burnt the town down, I mean. How many years has your family been here and nothing like that has ever happened?”
“Well, that’s not exactly true,” Wyatt said with a frown. “There was a steel dragon who let the rust get to his brain. Or maybe it was slag. Either way, he took half of Grove back when it was a mining town.”
She’d met the dragons who now filled the mountain, met Jasper and Griffin. Ashton. She didn’t think any of them were near a madness like that. Sure, they were a crotchety bunch, but no one had been murderous or evil in any way.
“Why are you trying to scare me away?”
Kennedy feared that Wyatt had finally figured out what he wanted, and it wasn’t her. She’d been obvious about what she wanted. She was near the point of insistent. This could be his way of telling her he wasn’t interested. Not like she was.
Her heart sank until it hit the seat beneath her.
When he said nothing further, she turned away from him to hide the tears burning her eyes. The signals he’d given her at Jasper’s house conflicted with the ones he was giving her now. He’d held her on his lap, nearly kissed her. Kennedy had considered it moving forward, that there was a chance he might want her after all.
“I just don’t want you to make a decision you might regret. That’s all.”
Regret. Like sticking around for a love that would never happen.
The lights of Grove came into view. The strings between each street lamp were glittering with tiny bulbs. Lights behind the shop windows were dim or dark at this time of night. It cast the town in a kind of hush, turning it into a secret place between real life and a dream. She couldn’t deny that she still loved Grove. It was the place of her heart, the place she’d been searching for all along.
But, if Wyatt didn’t want her, then she didn’t know if she could stand being this close to him.
Kennedy straightened when her hotel came into view. She opened the door before Wyatt had completely stopped. He shouted at her, asking her to come back, but she didn’t stop. Her chest ached.
Spending time with his family must have been a test run. Kennedy thought she fit in perfectly, but Wyatt must have disagreed. It didn’t matter. She would leave, like he wanted. Her dream of finding a place in town was slowly shattering, falling apart bit by bit.
“Sir, you can’t park your truck there!” a high-pitched voice squeaked.
The responding growl rippled through the room. Kennedy paused at the elevator. She wanted to leap inside and hide behind the metal doors, to wallow in rejection by herself. Her body had other plans. Her feet were rooted to the marble floor, hand hovering before the elevator button.
She didn’t pr
ess it, but the door slid open all the same. An older man eyed her before seeing Wyatt behind her. The man immediately leapt out of the elevator and scurried away. An arm at her back, Wyatt’s scent flowing over her, guided her inside the elevator. She turned and watched the doors close, rendering them alone together.
Kennedy spun on him. She was about to ask Wyatt why he chased her when he’d been pushing her away only moments ago, when his body crashed into hers. They stumbled back against the wall of the elevator. His lips descended on hers. She couldn’t help the groan of ecstasy that left her.
Wyatt held her face between his hands. Slowly, they fell to her hips, pulling her into him so she could feel every inch of just how badly he wanted her. His tongue pushed between her lips. His tongue delved deep, tasting every inch of her. Confusion tilted the world sideways. She held onto the front of his shirt, just trying to stay upright while she made sense of what was going on.
A groan filled the elevator. It rumbled through her, but it didn’t spark anything. It didn’t set her core on fire or beckon moisture between her legs.
Then, Wyatt jerked back. He went silent, perfectly still. Kennedy opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but he held a finger over his lips. Another groan rippled through the small room. The floor beneath them shook. She nearly fell, but Wyatt held her tight.
Her thundering heart filled her ears. The elevator was malfunctioning. Wyatt lurched toward the control panel to slap the red emergency button, but his movement only made the elevator drop. The sudden plummet sent Kennedy to her knees. She hissed in pain.
The elevator was going to fall. There was nothing she could do. She trembled on the floor, ready to scream to the universe that she wasn’t ready to die yet. Wyatt was the only one who would have heard her. He was the only one who could answer.
He carefully stepped to the center of the room and punched the door in the ceiling. The narrow exit popped open, the metal crunching and slamming against the roof of the elevator. A shudder rippled over the whole contraption. Wyatt paused. His eyes met Kennedy’s. In them, she saw a plea. Or, perhaps it was a confession.
In her panic, she wasn’t able to read whatever he wanted to tell her. It didn’t matter for the molten bronze of his beast flooded the warm honey brown of his eyes. Wyatt knelt before her and slowly, carefully helped her back onto her feet.
“Are you ready? I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” His hands steadied her.
He tilted his head back and peered out the door in the ceiling. “I’m going to lift you through the opening. You have to be very careful.”
Kennedy swallowed and nodded. Fear still numbed her fingers, but she trusted Wyatt. He wasn’t going to let her fall to her death. He lifted her like she was weightless. His easy hold on her helped her to slowly climb through the hole in the ceiling. The elevator shuddered once more, making her stay on her hands and knees.
The shaft was dark. She could see the thick wires that made the elevator move. They groaned and the sound echoed through the narrow space. She wanted to close her eyes and hold her hands over her ears, but she didn’t dare move. Kennedy did nothing until Wyatt pulled himself through the opening.
He leapt and caught the edge of the opening, the impact making the elevator rumble once more. Kennedy squealed. She knew there was no other way for him to follow her, but it still scared her. She still fought against her own mind, nowhere near calm.
“I’m grateful we didn’t get any further in the elevator. Had we gone all the way, the damn thing would have dropped with us in it.” She tried to joke, but her words only rang with truth. Here, there was a chance she wouldn’t die. Had they not noticed the groan of the wires and continued with what they’d been doing, neither would have noticed until it was too late.
She pressed her head against the dusty metal, wishing it was cool enough to center her. Instead, all she managed to do was get dirt on her forehead. She was going to have to exfoliate if she made it through this.
“There’s still time for that,” Wyatt told her.
At first, she gawked at him. Her mind drew a blank until it slowly caught up. Heat washed over her cheeks when she realized he was referring to her suggestion of sex. Wyatt made it sound like they would make it out of this alive, and in one piece. The thought eased her racing heart.
“Certainly not in an elevator,” she mumbled. “I’m taking the stairs for the rest of my life.”
The crunch of metal echoed all around her. Her head snapped up and she saw Wyatt opening the overhead elevator doors with his bare hands. The mechanisms that held the doors in place snapped free and the panels slid apart to reveal the welcoming light of the fourth floor. Wyatt didn’t even break a sweat. He held a hand down to her, but when she tried to stand, her limbs refused to move.
“I said I won’t let anything happen to you,” Wyatt gently reminded her as he scooped her into his arms.
She pressed her face into his neck when he bent his knees. The elevator shook violently. The wires above rippled. It would go down any second. He leapt, and Kennedy screamed.
First, there was darkness. Then, there was light and the shouts of people.
Wyatt hugged her tight. He didn’t put her down, and Kennedy was grateful. She wasn’t ready to stand on her own two feet. Not the way she was shaking. The building shuddered when the elevator hit the ground below. A resounding thump echoed up the elevator shaft, the broken wire bouncing up the walls.
That could have been them. They could have died. Well, she could have died. Or, at the very least, been seriously hurt.
Kennedy whispered her room number as people began to gather around. Downstairs, people were screaming. The sound of firetrucks murmured softly through the walls of the building, but she and Wyatt waited for no one. He carried her to her door where she fumbled for her room key with shaking hands. Once she pulled it free, he took it from her. He had to angle himself awkwardly to insert it into the door but managed it without dumping her on the floor. She laughed at the thought of being dropped after what they’d just lived through. It was nothing in comparison.
Wyatt looked down at her with one brow raised.
She couldn’t help it; she laughed harder.
Kennedy had just lived through one of the most frightening experiences of her life. The only other time that even remotely compared had been her flight from California to Michigan in a snow storm, and even the pilot’s voice had shaken over the intercom. Clearly, she’d survived. Here, too, she’d managed to survive.
She’d been saved by the grace that they’d argued, that Wyatt had felt compelled to chase her down. His presence had been what allowed her to live through the failing elevator. Had he not been there, she wouldn’t have thought to climb through the door in the ceiling. Nor would she have been able to make it past the elevator doors and onto the fourth floor.
“Thank you,” she murmured into his shirt once her laughter had faded.
Wyatt stumbled toward her bed. He crashed onto it with her still in his arms and curled himself around her. She felt him breathe deep, his face hidden in her shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time.
“I don’t know what I would have done,” he said, quietly. “Had that elevator gone down and I…and I…”
She pushed him onto his back, throwing one leg over him so that she could rise and look him in the face. He wouldn’t look her in the eyes, so she grabbed either side of his face and forced his attention upon her.
“But you were there. And you did save me.” She smiled. “Maybe you do like me, after all.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his body. “Of course, I like you. That’s what I was trying to say before everything started to fall to shit.”
Elation made Kennedy feel like a million helium balloons. Had Wyatt not anchored her to the bed, she would have floated to the moon. Those were the words she’d wanted to hear. Okay, maybe not those exact words, but he’d gotten the message across. Wyat
t liked her, the way she liked him.
She twisted in his arms. The hair growing along his jaw was soft beneath her hands. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. A soft rumble began in his chest. She knew it was the beast’s growl, but it reminded her of a cat’s purr. He was happy here, with her hands on him.
Kennedy let her fingers tangle in his hair. She tugged, pulling his head back. His eyes drifted shut and his lips parted. She watched the strong dragon man, strong enough to carry her to safety from a plummeting elevator, become pliable as warm butter in her hands. It sparked a hot thrill in her chest. One that raced low to pool in her core.
“I like you, too,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his.
As if that was the signal he’d been waiting for, Wyatt came to life in her arms. He gripped her and pulled her into his body. His lips parted wide and his tongue plunged into her mouth. She groaned at the ecstasy of it, at feeling her own desire echoed in him. His hands snaked beneath her shirt and found their way to her small breasts.
She pulled back to apologize. She didn’t often wear a bra because there wasn’t much to be held down. Before she could say a word, Wyatt’s thumbs swept over her nipples. The sensation scrambled her mind. Her head fell back. He growled once more, a possessive sound that wrapped her in ties and pulled her further into him.
Kennedy would have melted in his heat if she hadn’t needed a body to experience this. It was so much more than the single kiss at the bar, than the small touches since then. If those had been fireworks, then this was the kind of explosion that could level cities. It shook her and reshaped her world until Wyatt was at the very center.
She knew, now more than ever, that it wasn’t just Grove that called to her, that begged her to stay. It was Wyatt. He was as much a part of this town as he was a part of her. What they had, it had the potential to grow into so much more. She could feel it. There was a pressure growing inside her, it wiggled and shifted.
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