by Abigail Owen
“Of a sort.”
“And the thing with your hand?” She nodded at his brand.
“Every dragon is marked with the symbol of their king. If the king changes, the symbol changes.”
“Even if you don’t like the new king?”
“Even then.” He shrugged. “But actually, I respect Ladon. Thanatos was not a great king.” Hell, he’d been a paltry king, if Finn were honest.
She frowned. “But you followed him?”
Another shrug. “I serve on this team at the pleasure of the king. The system is not perfect, but the clans are designed to keep dragons safe and to keep from warring with other dragons.”
“But you’re worried,” she said. A statement, not a question.
“What makes you say that?”
She chuckled. “I don’t know. Could’ve been the way you had me leave work early to rush back. Or maybe the fact that you’ve been locked up in your office for a while now. Who’d you call, by the way?”
“The Americas are considered a single colony with a governing body called the Alliance—one man from each clan appointed by his king. We called them first, for guidance.”
“What kind?”
“You are full of questions, aren’t you?”
She smiled. “And you’re not used to having to answer to anyone.” Again, a comment, not a question.
Was he that transparent? “That’s not true. I answer to the Alliance and to my king.”
“Not often, if I had to guess. I bet you’re used to working fairly autonomously. They trust you to get the job done, and you do.”
Scary how well she read him after such a short time together. “What makes you think that?”
Delaney crossed the small space between them, hips swaying. She leaned in and kissed him. “Because I do.”
It took him a second to pull his head out of his pants where his dick had resumed its almost permanent state of erection. “Do what?”
“Trust you.”
Two words had never hit him so hard—like a sucker punch to the gut, his chest constricting with the impact.
Finn was used to people trusting him, relying on him. He wouldn’t lead this team if he couldn’t handle it. But something about Delaney trusting him, admitting that she did so casually, especially now that she knew what he was, scared the hell out of him even as the strangest desire to live up to her expectations crept in behind the clench of panic.
Delaney was staring hard at him. Had she caught that moment when he couldn’t breathe right?
To cover his reaction, he cocked his head. “Why would you do that?”
“I have no idea, but in a short amount of time, I’ve confessed about my fires and let you take on the burden of protecting me from a crazed stalker. I’ve learned dragon shifters exist and that you’re one of them. But somehow that’s okay, because I trust you. Weird, huh?”
She grinned, the twinkle in her eyes saying better than words that she’d caught his reaction, despite his effort to hide it. With seduction in every sway, she sauntered to the door where she paused to glance back at him. “That lasagna will take an hour to bake.”
Then she disappeared down the hall.
Finn fisted his hands. He shouldn’t. Already they were way past casual sex. The way he’d needed to hold her after that phone call with the Alliance should have him running scared. He should let one of the other guys stand guard over her tonight.
Before that thought had even finished forming, he was down the hall.
The hell with that. She was his to protect. The rest he’d figure out later, when Graff was handled, and she had to leave.
Until then, no more thinking.
Chapter Twenty
The ringing of his cell phone pulled Finn out of a deep sleep. Ever since he’d brought Delaney into his bed, he’d slept like never before. After Phoebe, sleep had been an elusive and frustrating thing. Since Delaney, not as much.
Trying not to wake her, he pulled his arm out from under her, smiling as she mumbled a protest at the lack of contact. He rolled toward the edge of the bed where his phone sat on the bedside table. Punching the button to answer, he brought it to his ear. “Hold on.”
With silent steps, he went into the bathroom. “Yes?”
“I understand you have a woman with you who is being targeted by a dragon.”
Finn jerked upright, every part of him going on alert at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. “What do you want, Rune?”
“Is that any way to greet your best friend?”
“Ex-friend. I’m not friends with traitors.”
Silence greeted his words, and Finn could picture the harsh lines of his previous friend’s face contorting with annoyance. Rune’s single-minded focus on his cause had put him where he was. Not Finn’s fault or problem.
“I didn’t call to argue my case,” Rune finally said.
“Why did you call then?”
“To offer a warning.”
Cold dread stole through Finn’s chest. If Rune was warning him, then something bad had to be coming. “Which is?”
“Your secret is out.”
Dread splintered inside his stomach like shattered glass. “Secret?”
“The human you’re harboring.”
Fuck. Finn breathed carefully through his nose, reaching for a control quickly slipping away. “And how did that happen?”
“Not through me,” came the snapped retort.
Finn believed him. Rune, for all his faults, didn’t lie. He ran a hand around the back of his neck. “Any idea how?”
A short silence greeted the question. “Are we friends again?”
Finn almost laughed. Rune had always been able to make him laugh, the unstable motherfucker. “Not a chance.”
The other man chuckled. “That’s too bad.”
Finn looked up, searching for patience on the ceiling of his bathroom but not finding any there. “How out are we talking? I talked to the Alliance today, and they didn’t say anything. Not even a question or a hint.”
He had zero doubt Rune already knew about the call. His network of spies was well informed, a situation Finn worked toward ending as soon as possible.
By itself, harboring a human was not a punishable offence. That human knowing about dragons was another story. However, the Alliance would simply insist on erasing Delaney’s memory. That much time erased risked breaking her mind, a thought that had bile rising up his throat.
“I’m not sure about them, yet. But there was a man here, a mercenary. He’s looking for someone. Something involving unusual fire. He’s coming to you.”
“Because you told him?” The growl in his voice couldn’t be helped.
“No. He’s got his own source.”
“Anything else?” Finn asked.
“Not that I can think of. Except…” A smile entered Rune’s voice. One Finn knew well. “Your new king is an interesting development.”
A dangerous development, and they both knew it.
“It could be worse,” Rune said when Finn didn’t speak.
“Ladon Ormarr is in direct opposition to the most powerful dragon of our age, splitting loyalties and putting all blue dragons under a microscope. Exactly how could it get worse?”
“You could be me.”
Rune wasn’t joking. Finn could picture the grim slash to the black dragon’s mouth as he threw that one out there.
“True.” Finn shook his head. Despite cutting ties and fighting him, he knew Rune hated being on the opposite side of a divide from the team. His only family, essentially.
“Although, the way I see it, the new king works more in my favor than yours.”
He wasn’t wrong. Finn had no doubt that war was about to break out in the clans throughout Europe and Asia. How that affected the colonies, where they lived in mixed communities, like his team, was yet to be seen.
“I’m still here to stop you, my friend,” Finn said. A warning, and a promise. Until the kings and clans settl
ed, Finn would maintain the law in the Americas.
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Why are you calling me with this info about the mercenary? Isn’t breaking up my team part of your goal?” A human could certainly drive a wedge, especially if she was drawing the notice of shady characters and the Alliance.
“Allowing the colonies to govern themselves and dragons to find their mates without a Mating Council involved is my goal. Your team stands in the way of that.”
Finn already knew that. “Dragons need to be ruled.”
“Bullshit.”
As had happened in the past, this particular debate degraded quickly. “You still haven’t answered my question. Why help me?”
“I’m not helping you. I’m helping her.”
Delaney? What the fuck? What did Rune care about a human woman who had a dragon problem?
But the soft click in his ear told him Rune had hung up before he could ask. Bastard. Always one for a dramatic exit.
Again, that niggling suspicion itched under Finn’s skin. Had his original assessment of Delaney been incorrect? Was she a dragon mate?
He blew out a long breath. No way. The need for marks on the neck was definitive. Every single mate had those.
On the other hand, Rune had a soft spot for females in general. He’d always been the first to rescue women in the line of their fires or to try to help a woman in need. Not because he wanted them, he was just that kind of guy.
One who now worked in direct opposition to everything Finn was sworn to protect.
They may have been friends once, but he shouldn’t forget that.
Finn flipped off the light and returned to the bedroom and the woman sleeping peacefully there. Careful not to disturb her, Finn scooted between the sheets and pulled Delaney into him, a treacherous part of him settling at the contact.
With a gentle touch, he brushed her hair away from the back of her neck and pressed a kiss on the exposed skin there. Then he buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. Sunshine and lemon and everything nice.
But no smoky undertone. Not even a hint of it.
Disappointment squared up against relief inside him. If she was a dragon mate he’d have to give her over to the Alliance, who would send her to the Mating Council. She’d either face death, or he’d face ages knowing she was mated to another.
A dark possessiveness curled through him at the thought. She squirmed in his arms and he had to consciously relax his grip.
No. She couldn’t be a dragon mate. Better that she was human anyway. Human he could handle.
…
Sex. The sweet scent of it lay heavy in the air.
The dragon inside him roared a denial. Only one woman slept under this mountain. Which meant Finn had fucked her. Again. Keeping away while they shared a bed, over and over, was driving him mad.
He’s fucking my mate.
To escape the smell, the evidence of Delaney’s betrayal, he ruthlessly controlled the need to decapitate her false lover. Now wasn’t the time. If he did that, he’d have to mate Delaney then and there, and she’d die in his flames for sure. She needed to choose him in her heart, something she’d never do with another man’s stench all over her skin.
Trembling with effort to hold his rage inside, he made his way down the long tunnel that led to a back entrance on the other side of the mountain. He stepped into the silver moonlight, shifted, and took to the skies.
Even then, the effort to fly away, rather than light the entire headquarters on fire, shook his entire body.
Another man dared to touch his mate. A man too stupid, too stuck in the old ways, to realize what she was, what lay beneath him, what he’d been inside. If those sweet moans that filled the mountain each time were any indication, he made her feel good.
That knowledge scraped over his insides like talons ripping out his guts.
Only I should touch that body, should make her come.
A ray of dawning light broke through his roiling fury. Finn Conleth didn’t know what she was. That was the key. The man would never touch her if he knew. She belonged to another, and Finn was too honorable to stand in the way.
He pulled in his wings and flipped before flaring them back wide and pushing at the wind with all his might. He’d been all wrong not enlightening the team about Delaney, keeping that information secret in his arrogance. Now he’d make sure Finn discovered exactly what she was.
That would change everything.
…
Hands moved softly across her back and over her ass, and Delaney arched into the touch even as she slowly came out of sleep.
How she could be ready for more when Finn had kept her up half the night and her body ached in a lovely but real way, she had no idea. But already her blood quickened through her, nerves pulsing to eager life. They hadn’t bothered to keep getting dressed after the second round, which meant he had full access to every inch of her.
“What if I’m not a morning person?” she grumbled, eyes still closed, but unable to keep from smiling.
He feathered a kiss across the back of her neck and she shivered. “Maybe I can make you one?”
Keeping her on her side, back to him, he lifted her leg, lined up at her entrance, and, with excruciatingly slow pumps, he gradually filled her.
At the same time, the hand with access smoothed over her skin, from her hip to her waist and up to pluck at nipples already peaking, eager for the touch.
He nipped at the nape of her neck and electric shocks pinged through her, lighting any nerve not already deliciously awake. Delaney let her head fall back against his shoulder, panting.
That hand moved down her stomach, zooming in on the nub of nerves hidden in her curls. One brush of his finger and she moaned, her hips bucking as she clenched down on the cock pumping inside her.
“Fuck,” Finn breathed into her hair.
But he didn’t speed up. He kept the pace slow and easy, building the sensations in them both if his low groans were anything to go by. Delaney closed her eyes and gave herself over to him.
“Fuck you feel good,” he rasped.
He turned her face toward him, possessing her mouth as thoroughly as he possessed the rest of her body. He let up, both of them breathing hard as they strained closer to the peak.
“Next time I’m going to fuck that pretty mouth of yours.”
That’s all it took. Sensation pulled in tight only to burst outward. Delaney clenched around him gasping at the onslaught of the sudden orgasm, and Finn swore before increasing his pace to catch up, pounding into her until he let out a low groan, his dick thick and pulsing inside her to the same rhythm as the waves still cresting over her.
Finn collapsed over her back as they both caught their breath. Pure satisfaction poured through her. Scientists had it all wrong. Chocolate, as wonderful as it was, could never compare to this high.
“I still say I’m not a morning person,” she mumbled. “But that certainly helps.”
Finn huffed a laugh, then shocked her by suddenly moving, rolling her to face him and pinning her with a mock-stern frown. “Who told you to come, young lady?”
Delaney grinned, unrepentant. “You did.”
He cocked his head. “No, I didn’t.”
She gave him a prim little smile. “What did you expect when you talked about fucking my mouth?”
Finn tossed his head back and laughed, a sound he cut off abruptly with a frown, as if he’d surprised himself. Before she could comment, he resumed a smirk and dropped back into their conversation as if that hadn’t happened. “Dirty words really do it for you, don’t they, luv?”
She lifted a single eyebrow, but let it go. “Apparently.”
While he chuckled, she tried not to get too excited, despite the thrill of connection buzzing through her. Somehow, she got the feeling that this right here—this version of Finn where he laughed and teased and used endearments—was more him than the stern, closed-off man she’d first met while sitting in the back of an amb
ulance.
With a single finger, she traced his smiling mouth. “So tell me. Exactly how old are you?”
He kissed the tip of her finger. “Old enough.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Am I offending you? Tell me.”
Finn traced a finger over the upper swell of one breast and she slapped his hand away. “Distraction is not going to work on me, sir.”
“Stubborn woman,” he grumbled.
She merely tilted her head and waited.
Finn sighed. “I was born in 1409.”
Delaney blinked, trying not to let the shock pinballing through her show on her face, even while she did the math in her head. “You’re over six hundred years old?”
“Yes. But the way dragon shifters age, I’m closer to thirty.”
How was she supposed to even wrap her head around that? Finn watched her closely, though. Was he really worried that she’d react badly?
So she gave an impish grin. “You’ve sure aged well for an old man.”
Finn snorted a laugh. “This old man could show you some things.”
“That sounds like fun for me. You’re on, geezer.”
His eyes twinkling, Finn opened his mouth to respond, but tensed as his cell phone rang. “They can call back.”
But she could tell he hated making the caller wait. Mr. Responsible couldn’t handle not being immediately available in case of emergency. The boss in him, she suspected.
“We need to get up, anyway,” she said.
…
Finn dropped his head to Delaney’s shoulder. Couldn’t the real world have waited a little longer before intruding? In this moment, in this place, with this woman, every heavy burden had fallen away. He had been able to let go of Fallon, Rune, the Alliance, the new king, Graff, and every other thing he was dealing with.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to do that. Just let go.
“Sorry, let me just…” He went to turn off the phone but stopped at the name on the screen. With a grunt, he tossed back the covers and grabbed up the phone, hitting the button quickly to answer. “Fallon?”
“Hey there, brother.”
Thank the fates. “Are you safe?”
“We’re safe.”
A relieved breath burst from him. “Where are you?”