by Roxie Ray
I had the presence of mind to tell Jury to stop for a small case of beer and added the caveat that I preferred wine coolers. When he knocked on the door, he had a six-pack of each. I didn’t wait for him to come inside before pressing a kiss to his lips.
“You’re an angel,” I said. “It’s pizza night.”
“No cooking?”
I laughed, but sadness crept through it. “I have bad news.”
He set the drinks on the coffee table and put his arms around me without another word.
Which was freaking perfect of him. How had he done such an about-face?
We sat on the couch and I took a deep breath. “I’m going back home tomorrow morning.”
His face fell. “I thought it wasn’t until late tomorrow.”
Burying my face in his shoulder, I moaned. “Me too.” I sat up and explained about the calendar snafu. “It seems so silly to be this upset about a few hours,” I whispered. “But I sure am.”
“So, we have to talk about what we’re going to do tonight,” he said. “Okay. This is definitely a pizza and beer kind of problem.”
While he chewed, I considered the money. But I didn’t want to say anything yet. We’d had a very successful week in Black Claw together. We’d spent a significant amount of time with each other. I felt like I knew him better than I ever could’ve expected after a week.
And I had every intention of coming back and moving here as soon as I could.
But for some reason, I didn’t tell him that. I either wanted to surprise him or tell him later. I wasn’t sure yet.
Long-distance wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. “I’ll come to visit you,” he said. “And we’ll figure out the long-term. Either you can come here, or I’ll come there. Or we’ll go somewhere else. I have family in several states.”
I’d never make him move away from his brothers and parents. “You can’t move away from here. We’ll find a way to make it work,” I said.
But just going for a short time and being away from him made me sad.
“I wish I could just stay,” I said.
His face softened and he put his plate down and gathered me into his arms. As he leaned over to press his lips to mine, his phone chirped.
He stiffened. “That’s our emergency tone,” he said. “Damn it.”
As he read the phone, I furrowed my brow. “What’s going on?”
“My grandfather needs me to help with another mission,” he said. “I was going to tell you I had to leave in the morning, too. But they are asking me to come home tonight.”
I sighed in disappointment. “Our time cut even shorter,” I whispered.
He nodded. “It’s possible my work will take me to Texas. If it does, when it’s over, I’ll come straight to you, okay?”
I nodded and tried not to tear up. We thought we had at least one more full day together. Now it was being cut short, and damn, but it hurt.
I walked him out to the front porch, and he stood in front of me and looked me in the eye.
When tears bubbled up again, Jury’s face softened, and he pulled me into his arms. “I’m so sorry. I was so wrong about you. I regret every harsh word now.”
Another bout of sobs threatened to choke me, but I swallowed them down. His apology meant the world to me. “Thank you,” I whispered, then buried my face in his chest.
When I had myself under control, I looked up at him. “That means a lot.”
He touched his forehead to mine. “I’m not perfect, but I don’t want to hurt anyone innocent. I never want to do that, least of all to my mate.”
I closed the distance between our lips, and we shared one last lingering kiss before he jogged down the porch steps and to his car.
Waving and smiling, I kept my brave face on until he was out of the driveway and headed down the road.
Then, I went back inside and stuffed my face full of greasy pizza until I couldn’t hold another bite. With a sigh, I cleaned up the pizza and spent the evening cleaning the house and packing.
What fun.
16
Jury
As soon as I walked into the airport, I smelled her. “She’s here,” I said.
Maddox looked around the busy terminal. Our local airport was tiny, but it was the only one around for hours, so it stayed busy.
“Abby?” he asked.
I spotted her then and hurried over to stand beside her. “Excuse me,” I said in a deep voice. She whirled around with shock on her face. “Are you a member of the mile-high club?”
She burst out laughing and threw her arms around me. “What are you doing here? I thought you had to go do work for your family?”
I took her hand and shuffled forward with her in the line, belatedly noticing the large luggage trolley beside her. “We were supposed to charter a private plane last night. But they had problems with it, so we switched to this flight. That’s when I came over to see you. Then the pilot fixed the problem with the chartered plane, so they called me home. We’ve been here most of the night waiting because the problem wasn’t fixed after all. We just got back from getting some breakfast when I sme—” I cut myself off. I’d almost announced in a crowded public space that I’d smelled her. “Saw you in line.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you, even for a minute.”
“Not just a minute,” Maddox said behind us. “This is the flight we’re taking, too.”
I looked down at my phone and digital ticket. “Awesome. Let me see your seat?”
Abby handed over her phone. She was in coach, near the back of the plane. I tapped the upgrade button and pulled out my wallet. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making sure you’ll be in business class with me and the family. Maddox is sitting right beside me; you can have his seat.”
Maddox scoffed, but when we both looked back at him, he winked. “I don’t mind.”
We finally made it to the self-serve check-in counter, and then I helped her check all her baggage. When we were down to my backpack and hers, we walked hand-in-hand toward security. The agent in charge of who went into what lane was a wolf and a friend of my family’s. He waved us through the fast-pass lane, even though we didn’t have a fast pass.
“Wow,” she said and shook her hands. “Aren’t we fancy.”
I chuckled and followed her through the metal detectors, then we consulted our tickets. We were right on time to board, and in no time, we were settled in our seats with Abby’s head on my shoulder.
If not for her being there, I might’ve been in danger of falling asleep. The night spent in the airport lounge hadn’t been pleasant.
As it was, Nyx was happy as a clam with Abby on my shoulder, but I kept thinking about how short the flight would be and how soon we’d have to part. And it would hurt again.
When we were in the air and the fasten seatbelt sign went off, Abby turned her head and whispered in my ear. “What was that you said about the mile-high club?”
I looked at her in shock. We were on a fairly small aircraft, and I didn’t know how obvious it would be for us to pull off what she was talking about.
Worried I was jumping the gun, I looked around at my family, who had almost certainly heard her, and found them all busily doing other things. “Are you serious?” I whispered back.
At that point, I didn’t care if they knew. I was going to be a member of the mile-high club.
She climbed over me and once in the aisle, bent over. “Follow me in two minutes.”
I straightened in my seat and tried not to beam as I counted down from 120.
When I hit zero, I jumped up, but then made myself walk as casually as possible. One of the bathroom doors had a red stripe on the handle, and the other had a green. I opened the green one to find Abby grinning like a maniac.
Smushing myself in with her, I pulled her into my arms so there’d be enough room. Airplane bathrooms were the tiniest I’d ever seen. “Are you really sure?” I asked as we shifted so she could reach behind me and lo
ck the door.
She nodded.
“We have to be quiet.” It was loud in there, but there were too many people on the plane with excellent hearing.
She giggled and reached under her skirt to pull her panties down. I moaned, then caught myself and clamped my mouth shut.
My dick hardened in an instant.
With a rebellious look in her eyes, Abby leaned back and grabbed my belt. We were so close together, it was awkward, so I did it myself and pulled out my wallet for a condom. I’d luckily remembered to replace it when I packed my bag. I’d hoped to use it with Abby once we got to Texas and found Rico, but this worked just fine.
She held my dick as I slid the condom on. “You have to hurry,” she whispered. “Or they’ll know.”
I nodded and put my arm under her leg, propping it up on the minuscule sink. Luckily the condom was lubed, but I licked my hand and rubbed her opening anyway. I didn’t want to hurt her with little prep.
As I slid in, as slowly as I could, she threw her head against the back wall and sighed. I caught her as her knee bent against the toilet and she nearly toppled. Using my knees for leverage, instead of moving in and out of her, I moved her on and off of me.
After a minute, she got her footing and I was able to move faster, clutching her hips and squeezing.
She slid her hand between us and pressed her finger against her clit as her breathing sped up and her face flushed.
Her perfect, peach mouth went into an ‘O’ shape and when I felt her clamp down on me, I knew she was coming.
As I watched her orgasm-face, brows furrowed, and gaze glued to mine, I thrust harder and faster. It was all I needed to take me over the edge. The thrill of doing the forbidden was enough to compensate for the time it would have normally taken me to reach a climax.
When I spurted my load into the condom, I pushed deep and pulled Abby against my body, inhaling her scent and thanking my lucky stars we were working things out. I’d never felt a connection like this, and the sex was the best I’d ever had by far.
She was so much more than I originally thought. I hated that there was one single day of missed time because I assumed the worst of her and avoided doing what Nyx wanted me to.
I flushed the condom, and we reassembled our clothes. Abby walked out first, and I again counted to 120 before exiting. When I did, a flight attendant with a severe red lipstick glared at me, but she didn’t say a word, thank goodness. I’d made sure the bathroom was neat and tidy before leaving, so there was no evidence of our rendezvous.
When I sat beside Abby, the buckle seatbelt light came on. “Such a short flight,” she said in disappointment.
“I was thinking the same thing.” I took her hand and rested my cheek on the top of her head.
It was impossible to avoid any more. She wasn’t just my mate. After less than one week with her, I was falling head over heels in love with her.
We didn’t talk much for the rest of the flight, landing, and exiting of the plane. But when we got out past security, I had to go with my family and she had her car parked in the long-term lot. I helped her get her bags, to the irritation of my grandfather, who had wanted us to leave right away.
When they were loaded on the trolley, I put my hands on her neck and kissed her soft, warm lips. “As soon as we take care of our job here, I’ll rent a car and come find you. I know the town; I have your phone number. It shouldn’t take long. And we can decide what to do then, okay?”
She nodded, and I moved my hands upward to swipe away her unshed tears. They spilled over her bottom lid as I ran my thumbs under them. “Don’t cry,” I whispered, even though I wanted to cry myself.
“Jury,” Maverick called from halfway across the airport. He knew I’d hear him.
“I’ve got to go,” I whispered. “My phone will always be on.”
“Please be safe,” she said with big, pleading eyes.
“I have a reason to be now.” After one more kiss, I turned and walked away. Abby filled my mind, my ears, my scent until I walked out the door and it closed behind me. She had to go to a lower lot, and I had a van idling at the curb with my brother at the wheel, and my grandfather glaring at me from the passenger seat. I’d thought he was staying here. I guess the plans changed. It wasn’t like they’d consult me in the matter.
If Rico wasn’t injured, I was going to pop him one for making me leave my mate as soon as I’d found her. If not for this, I would’ve just followed her to Texas until we figured out what to do.
Maddox opened the door, and I jogged over and hopped in. “Sorry. That was harder than I expected.”
Maverick shook his head from the driver’s seat. “I understand.”
Gramps, who had not found his fated mate, though he loved my grandma dearly, didn’t get it. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
We had coordinates plugged into a burner phone for the last location Rico’s phone pinged. I hoped to pick up his scent there and finish this mission quickly.
It took three hours to get to the location, and we pulled to the side of the road. There were black tire tracks on the pavement and the grass on the side of the road was destroyed. There’d been a wreck here.
I smelled him, though. It was harder to track when he was in a vehicle, and I ended up sitting in the car like a dog with my head hanging out to make sure we didn’t go in the wrong direction.
“This would be so much easier if I could fly,” I grumbled.
“Unfortunately, these lands are unclaimed by any dragon,” Gramps said. “We don’t know if there is a safe space for flying anywhere nearby.”
I nodded and kept trying.
Let me help.
Nyx partially shifted our nose so that I could breathe as him. “Oh, that’s better. It’s much stronger now. You can speed up.”
We’d been having to pull off every few miles to let the line of cars go past us because I’d needed them to drive so slowly.
Now Maverick at least could go the speed limit.
“Hang on,” I yelled, then pulled my head back in the car. “There was a burst of smell back there. Turn around and go slow on the shoulder.”
Maverick turned around at the next gas station on the small, two-lane highway, then doubled back. When the smell of Rico got stronger, I had them let me out and jogged across the road. After a few minutes of searching, I found it and walked back to the van.
I handed Gramps the smashed cell phone and climbed in. “That must be when they realized he still had it.”
Maverick turned the van around in the middle of the road and headed south again, as we had been before. I picked up Rico’s scent again. “The cell phone is masking it. Get one of the baggies out.”
Gramps grunted and leaned forward to dig in his backpack. We’d learned when I first started training to keep various bags that could be sealed shut with us to put objects in that would make me nose blind. Such as the phone now.
Rico’s scent disappeared without warning. “Shit,” I whispered. “I’m going to have to shift.”
Maverick found a spot to pull off and he and Gramps turned around in the seat. “You lost it?”
I nodded. “I’ve got to shift. If there’s any chance of picking it up again, I’ll find it.”
He sighed and nodded at Gramps. “I’ll go with you, watch your back. I’ll keep an eye out for humans, trail cameras, and the like while you focus on Rico’s scent.”
We’d discovered that sometimes I got so into the smell that I ignored all else. I’d forget to watch where I was going or pay attention to my surroundings. I’d gotten much better about doing both with extensive training, but it was still my weak point.
Gramps slid over when Mav got out, and we walked into the massive forest bordering the highway. We stripped and put our clothes under a bush, then shifted in the quiet of the trees.
And I picked up Rico’s scent immediately.
Thank goodness our dragons could speak to each other. Nyx told them immediately that we’d found th
e trail, and we set off.
Zephyr, Mav’s dragon, stayed beside Nyx as much as possible in the woods, but occasionally Nyx had to pull ahead. I felt the bump of Zephyr against Nyx, and a few seconds later, Nyx told me what he said.
There’s a trail nearby with a lot of human scent on it, all of it at least hours old. Be aware.
I was beginning to differentiate the smells of the other dragons with Rico, as well. I thought there were three others, but I was so focused on Rico, I could’ve missed one.
I asked Nyx if Zephyr could smell any of it. A few seconds later he told me he couldn’t. The trail was too old.
The scents began to fade, so I retraced my steps and looked up. I realized it was nearly nightfall. I was exhausted and deep in a strange wooded area.
Stepping forward, I stopped again, because the trail disappeared entirely. Damn it. After asking Nyx to relay the message, Maverick sent back that we’d head to the car and find a hotel for the night. We’d have to start again in the morning.
I was afraid it was going to require flight and hopping around the woods to try to pick up the scent again. The only way it disappeared in the middle of the forest like that was if they’d taken flight.
We went back to the car, Maverick leading the way out. We were able to take a straighter, faster route out and quickly changed into our skin and clothes.
When we got in the car, Maverick explained what happened. As his rumbly voice filled the van, I laid my head back against the seat and rested my eyes for just a minute.
When Maddox shook me awake, I followed my family to the suite of rooms they’d rented at a nice-looking hotel. Maddox and I shared a bed to let Perry have one to himself, and Mav and Axel shared to let Gramps have the other in the next room.
Before I slid under the blankets, I called Abby.
“Sorry it’s so late,” I whispered.
“I don’t mind. I was about to text you before I went to sleep. Are you okay?”
With a sigh, I looked out the window at the view of the cars going by on the highway. “Yeah. I wish I was about to get under the covers with you, and I’m frustrated at my cousin, but I’m fine. I’ll check in as often as I can, but I may not for days at a time if this goes long. Don’t worry, okay? It’s just that I might be out of service range.”