by Honor James
Right. Slade’s voice was serious again. Coming to you.
Getting close enough Rayne clawed at the other beast, tearing up the scales that protected the soft under skin. Anything to give them an edge. For if the beast was trying to heal he couldn’t focus to hurt them. Or that was Rayne’s hope. It was five minutes later when he spotted Slade, bloody and weaving but on his feet.
“All right, now what?” the man yelled up at him.
I’ve peeled back some scales. You need to slam sharp objects in under them, hurt him. Make him fucking bleed!
“Uh, right,” Slade spun around in a circle below him. “Got it,” he threw a thumbs-up that had Rayne groaning. A moment later a tree, a whole tree, came slamming into Nathaniel’s side. It drove in deep. Having been snapped at an angle from its roots, it went in like a spear. The other Dragon did not like that.
Slade! Rayne screamed when Nathaniel beat the Sorcerer away with his tail. A blow that sent him flying twenty feet up and at least a good fifty away. You are going to fucking pay for that, asshole. Slamming down onto the Dragon trying to get up Rayne grabbed the tree in his claws and pushed with everything he had.
Nathaniel’s head whipped around, his teeth finding Rayne’s shoulder. But he didn’t care. He was close, close to the beast’s heart. That’s why Nathaniel was fighting so fucking hard. He knew he was going to die. Pushing harder, Rayne dug his other claws into the beast to give him a better purchase. Gritting his teeth to the agony of scales being torn free, he didn’t care what damage Nathaniel wrought.
Turning to meet the beast’s eyes, Rayne shot him a toothy Dragon grin. “Fuck you, asshole.” His words were distorted, sizzling and yet perfectly understandable. One final shove and the light died in Nathaniel’s eyes, the teeth releasing Rayne and the body slumping.
Letting the tree go Rayne tried to use his wings but one wasn’t working. Fucking Nathaniel had gotten a piece of it. Stumbling off the other beast Rayne shifted back to man and instantly regretted it. His shoulder was on fire, his arm nearly shredded right off his body. In a minute he’d shift back and start healing, but first he had to ensure that this was fully finished and Nate would never rise again. “Quincy,” he said through his teeth into the comms. “I need someone with a couple of grenades to my position. Nathaniel’s down and I want him permanently dismembered.”
Silence reigned for a moment before shouts of joy went up. Rayne had a hard time hearing Quincy over the noise. “Mac is on his way to you. Good fucking job, buddy!”
“Yeah, yeah.” He stumbled and went to a knee. Fuck! He was losing blood fast. Before he lost more he shifted back to the Dragon. He was still woozy but he could work with it. He had to find Slade and fast. Gods only knew what damage he’d taken.
Only once Mac and Sully arrived, shoved a couple grenades into the downed Dragon and exploded them did he move off. He left Mac to report that Nathaniel was officially down and out of that battle and any other. He had other worries, like his partner. Walking toward the spot he’d last seen Slade before he’d vanished, he shoved through the brush easily. Once he found the other man he shifted back into his human form, thankfully no longer gushing blood, and stumbled his way.
“Slade! Talk to me buddy!” he demanded as he reached the limp form.
“I fucking hate Dragons.” The words were slurred, mangled even, but the heat behind them was clear.
Chuckling Rayne sat down next to him. “Rayne and Slade are accounted for, Quincy. Send in the cleanup crew.”
“Copy that, Rayne, copy that.”
Chapter Fourteen
Rayne leaned heavily against the side of the tree that had the top snapped off and gasped for air. His hand moved to touch Slade’s head and then he dropped down to his haunches in front of his friend. “Come on, man, out of it. I need you to snap out of it. Our ride is nearly here and I’m fucked up enough that I can’t carry your sorry ass into the back of it, mister, so come on. To your feet, man.”
Groaning Slade blinked his eyes and, trying to focus, shut his eyes after a minute. “Fuck you, Dragon,” he slurred out between his fat lips. He was pretty sure he’d been decked by a Dragon tail but he honestly couldn’t remember. Given how badly his entire body hurt he’d bet on it though.
“Parker is having a kitten right now, Slade. Come on, dude,” Rayne muttered and moved toward the SUV that pulled up. When he saw her piling out he groaned. “Well fuck,” he muttered. “Hey, baby.” Giving Parker a kiss on her cheek, he brushed his knuckles to her throat and said, “Be easy on him, baby, he’s in rough shape.”
“Yeah I bet.” She couldn’t see but she could smell blood all around them. “Slade?” She called out and took a step from her Dragon. “Come on, honey, please talk to me?” she whispered and then said to the Guards around her, “Help him, you big dorks.”
“Oh Gods please don’t,” Slade muttered on a groan. “Nobody touch me,” he warned, seeing large shapes moving his way. “Don’t touch,” he snapped before he moaned in pain. “Just leave me here in my fucking misery, just for a little while.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone,” Parker replied and stepped toward his voice. “I need to bring you home with me please,” she told him with another sigh. “Come on, Slade, I need you, babe. Please,” she whispered.
Whimpering he gave in. “Fine, but gently please,” he said, allowing the Dragon Guards to take his arms and pull him up to his feet. Groaning as they dragged him Gods only knew where Slade let his head drop and he passed out, the blessed darkness taking him under.
Parker was put into the truck first in the back and when Slade was put into her lap she ran her fingers over his cheek and hair. “My poor Sorcerer,” she whispered softly and when she felt Rayne sliding in behind her she leaned against him. “How bad is he, really? No lies, no protecting me. Talk to me, honey. How bad is he?”
“He took a beating but didn’t once break, Parker,” he told her honestly. Stroking his hand over her hair Rayne pressed his face into her neck. “He’s got a couple broken bones, mostly a lot of lacerations and bruises and a bunch of dislocated fingers that I set before his hand swelled up. He’s going to need a few days to recover but he’ll live. He just won’t be a happy fellow between now and then.”
“As long as he will live that is all that matters,” she told him honestly and sighed. “How about you, Rayne? How are you doing, babe?” she asked softly. “You seem to be in slightly better shape than Slade is in.” She wanted to ask about the others as well but right now she was focused on her guys.
“A few cracked ribs and I’ll have one hell of a nasty shiner, but I’ll live. I’ll be walking a little funny, too, for a couple of days but nothing to worry about, just a pulled hamstring, damn well tripped over something and did my own version of an oopsie daisy.”
Parker smiled at that and nodded. “Well as long as you are, for the most part, okay.” Her fingers once more stroked Slade’s cheeks. “Do you want to tell me about it? Are Quincy and Talon all right? And the others?”
“All are banged up to varying degrees but we all survived and Nathaniel didn’t. That’s all that matters. Unfortunately we still have a little cleaning up to do. One of his soldiers got out of there at the beginning of the fight and vanished. But Nathaniel is dead, love. You never have to worry about him again,” Rayne assured her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
She felt such an intense and incredible relief that she pressed back against him. “Thank you,” she whispered. “‘Thank you’ just is such a tame word but it’s the only one that I have. Thank you for taking him out because you’ve saved not only my life, our lives, but the lives of so very many others in this world.”
“Wasn’t me,” Rayne told her honestly. “I thought for sure it would be Talon or Quincy. But it was Slade. Nathaniel said something to him, I don’t know what, but there was this moment of complete clarity, where you could have heard a pin drop and all I knew was it was going to be bad just from the look of absolute horror on Nathaniel’s
face. Then Slade slammed him with something that did something bizarre to his body, turned him inside out and shredded him or something. Whatever it was it was permanent and painful if the screams were anything to go by.”
“Oh God.” Parker’s fingers went to her lips and she chewed them. “Oh boy, my poor Slade. I’m so sorry.”
Watching as Slade shifted in his unconscious state Rayne gave Parker a squeeze. “He’ll live and he did it for you, love.” Rayne still wanted to know what Nathaniel had said to Slade to put the Sorcerer in such an icy rage as what he’d witnessed, but he supposed he might never truly know for sure.
“Well whatever it was, I don’t ever want to know please.” Parker wasn’t sure if she would survive knowing just what it was that had caused her Slade to go off the deep end. “I’m just so very happy that it’s over,” she whispered. “Now we get to have our happily ever after, right?”
“Well, in actuality, we get our meds, bandages, and nurses and then after we’re all healed we can do the happy-ever-after stuff.” Rayne grinned and then chuckled against her cheek. “Don’t worry, darling. We’re all beaten up at the moment but we will survive and rise again.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “Because I want our forever after, Rayne. I want to have a lifetime of happiness and joy with you and Slade. We all deserve it.”
“Course we do, darling, and now we have the chance to have that.” He smiled against her temple. Pressing a kiss to her skin he gave her a squeeze before leaning his head back. “I’m going to catch a nap, love. Wake me when we get there.”
“No worries. Go ahead,” Parker whispered, and leaning against Rayne, she continued to stroke her fingers over Slade’s cheek and hair.
Chapter Fifteen
“Stop bitching,” Parker muttered. “I mean it, Slade. Stop bitching or I’m going to smack your hand again. Now, enough. You are staying in bed for another day and that’s all there is to that. I am worried about you and you will do what I’m asking because you love me and don’t want me to worry. Period.”
Staring at her in horror, he rubbed his sore knuckles and looked past her to Rayne. “Rayne, bro, help me out here. Tell her I’m good to get up, will ya?” he asked in near desperation. Catching Parker’s hands he glared up at her. “Seriously, woman, stop hitting me damn it.”
“No. I don’t want you hurt again, Slade, and until I’m sure that you are completely and totally better I don’t want you moving. You scared the bejesus out of me, darling, and I really and truly don’t want that to happen again. I don’t like being scared. Honey, I love you like crazy and knowing that you were as hurt as you were just killed part of me. Please, just for me?”
Turning his gaze from Parker to Rayne, who was standing with arms crossed and a smirk on his face, Slade let out an aggrieved sigh. “Fine. But only today, this is it. I’m fucking going nuts in this bed damn it. I want up so I will give you today but I’m up tonight. Besides, I’m tired of take-out and whatever the hell it was Rayne made the other night. I want real food, damn it.”
Parker smiled and winked at him. “I love you, too, honey.” Moving Parker curled up close to him. “How about I stay in bed with you, darling? Rayne can go and do his, well, whatever it is that he has to do and you and I can just lay here in bed and just rest and relax together?”
“Now there is an excellent plan,” Slade said with a grin to the Dragon. Lifting a hand he gave a little finger wave and snickered. “Dragon breath is a little grumpy I think,” he murmured to her. “I’m pretty sure he had other plans that you managed to foil in all your adorable innocence to snuggle with me.”
“He will live,” Parker said with a smile. “I love that man and he’s been taking some serious advantage of having you down and out.” Not that she was complaining. “Honestly it’s been a hell of a lot of fun, but I miss having you as well, Slade. I need you, so very much.”
“I’ve missed you, too, darling,” he told her softly, pressing a kiss to her hair and giving her a squeeze. “It sucks sleeping alone but I get it. I wasn’t exactly all happy and lovable to be around. I’m also going to apologize to you, darling. I was pissy for the first couple of days instead of being appreciative of all you were doing for me.”
“It’s okay.” That first few days she had been ready to beat him black and blue herself. He had been vicious at times, grumpy all the others. “I think that we should have a bed made for us,” she blurted. “For all three of us. A custom bed would be wonderful. What do you think?”
“The one Rayne has is fairly large,” he pointed out and then sighed. “But I think you’re right. Maybe we should have one that’s a little wider made. Be nice to have the option to stretch out on occasion without the fear of falling off the bed.”
“I agree completely. I think that a larger one would be perfect. I want to have you both in bed with me, always. I happen to really and truly love having you guys holding me when we sleep, moving from one of your arms to the other. I happen to really love it a lot.”
“Well we’ll talk with Rayne and see where he got this last one done. We’ll have to go to the same place I’m sure. Especially given it will be a special order once more,” Slade told her quietly. “And we’ll need to figure out how much bigger we want.”
“I agree. I would love to have it maybe half again as big as Rayne’s current bed. His is really big and I love it but half again larger would be perfect, don’t you think, honey?” she asked with a happy smile. “That way we have lots of roll-about room.”
“I do like the idea of rolling-around room,” he agreed with a chuckle. “I think the room will take it, but it’s going to take a while to have it built. They have to custom make the top mattress and we need to figure out if we can even get it in here. Hell, I have no idea how Rayne got that one in let alone how we’re going to get it out.”
Parker shrugged. “He took the wall out. He told me already.” She winked at him and then moved in closer to him. “He will have to take a wall out again, but if he does we can maybe extend his bedroom and put a hot tub out on the deck?”
“Add more room to the enormous house?” he asked curiously and then shrugged. “Why the hell not? He’s got more than enough space and having a hot tub we can all sit in out on the deck would be a nice addition.”
“Exactly. I want to have a hot tub readily accessible to us. It will have to be one that’s a lower temp and higher bubble but I would love it all the same.” She couldn’t do really hot water at all, not with the scars that covered her body but she loved bubbles from a hot tub.
“They have adjustable temperatures, doll. We’ll just put it on a lock so that you don’t ever have to worry about getting burned.” Hugging her to him he kissed her cheek and grinned. “But having you all warm and wet is a good thing so I’m totally down for that.”
“I love being all nice and warm, too. I happen to really love having you in and close to me.” She rubbed her cheek to his shoulder and asked, “I really and truly think that you need to be able to give me a rub, darling man. What do you think? A rubdown sound good to you, too?”
“Well I can give you a foot massage I suppose,” he told her. “But since I’ve been forbidden to otherwise do anything else I can’t give you a full rubdown.” Slade smiled at her and rubbed a finger over her cheek. “Now if someone was to lift my suspension so I could do more…” He trailed off.
“You are a temptation, Slade, but I’m just not sure.” Parker wavered. “I want to, believe me I want to lift it very much but I’m worried about you, babe. I am worried that you will do too much too fast.”
“Then never mind,” he told her quietly. He wouldn’t pressure her into giving in no matter how much he wanted to be up and moving around. She felt strongly about him staying in bed for a while longer so he’d hold up to his end of the bargain. “I love you, Parker,” he whispered against her cheek. “Never forget it, babe.”
“I love you, too, Slade. I hope that you know that, too, honey,” she said with a sm
ile. “I love you, honey, I only do what I do because I worry for you and when you came home and didn’t wake for nearly twenty hours I was beside myself.” She had gone nearly crazy because he hadn’t woken for so very long.
“I was rather tired,” he pointed out quietly to her. Rolling onto his side he drew her in closer to him. “I took a hell of a beating, sugar, and used a lot of energy, not the sort of thing you just jump back up from, no matter how good you are.”
“But you didn’t move, Slade. At times I had to keep touching you to make sure that you were breathing. You scared the hell out of me, honey,” she whispered. “I love you so very much and it would kill me if you hadn’t woken up. Yes, I would still have the bond with Rayne, and yes, I love him but without you”—she shook her head—“Slade, I couldn’t go on without you.”
“Shh,” he whispered, stroking her hair gently. “I’m right here, Parker, and I’m tough as hell to kill if you haven’t realized by now. Besides, I knew you were waiting so I was working on getting better just for you, darling, I promise.”
“Good,” she whispered and stroked her fingers over his chest lightly. “I am very happy that you knew that I was here. I did of course take time to be with Rayne, but you likely expected that, so that’s neither here nor there, right?”
“Of course I expected it, sugar,” he told her honestly. “You and he had to reconnect and strengthen the bond between the two of you. But of course I knew when you were here. I felt you touching me, the sound of your voice, and just the heat of your body as you lay next to me.”
“I’m glad.” Parker hated when he was unconscious. He hadn’t even touched her mind in sleep and that had scared the hell out of her. “I hope and pray that we never, ever have anything like that happen again. I don’t think that I would be able to survive it if so.”