by Roxie Ray
I had one more call to make. Bethany picked up when I was about to hang up. “Hey, Abby, what’s up?”
“Bethany! Please tell me you have a rental house available and would be willing to let me move in until I can get my hands on some money to pay the deposit and first month’s rent?”
She burst out laughing. “Slow down. I have a house available for long-term renting. It’s not furnished though.”
“That’s okay,” I exclaimed. “I’ll have my stuff brought up.”
“And I like you, but what do you mean getting your hands on some money? I have to consider my business before a friendship.”
“Oh, yes, of course. I’m being given my inheritance early, which is buying me time to find a job. I don’t have any savings of my own to speak of.”
“Well, that I can get behind! That’s great.” She paused. “Hey, didn’t you say you’re a preschool teacher?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I noticed today when I picked Tiffany up that they have a sign on the door at her daycare. I don’t think it’s a preschool so much as a daycare, but I can give you their number.”
“That’s amazing. Text it to me?”
“Sure. Let me know when you’ll be in town and we can get you the key to the house. I’m so happy you’re moving here.”
“Me too, Bethany. So much.”
Jury still hadn’t told me he wanted me there, but I wasn’t entirely moving for him. I wanted to be near Harley and Nana, and after being kidnapped by those rogue dragons, I wanted to be in Black Claw, where the protection of the clan would be around me all the time. Sure, I knew the stories. Harley had told me what had happened to her, Ava, and Charlotte. It was dangerous being the mate of a dragon. But I was the mate, whether I liked it or not. That made me forever vulnerable. Black Claw was the safest place for me.
When the text came through from Bethany with the daycare’s phone number, I called and asked to set up an interview. The owner agreed to one in four days, so that gave me plenty of time to get us all back to Black Claw. She also gave me her email to send my resume.
The only thing that would make this day better would be if Jury woke up and confessed his undying love for me and begged me to move to Black Claw so I could surprise him with the news.
When I walked back into my apartment, Jury was sitting on the side of the bed, and he looked a million times better than he had the day before. “Hey, you,” he said softly.
Maddox cleared his throat. “Now that he’s awake, I’ll go inform the family and get our flights situated. Everyone else left to take Rico home and get back to their mates.”
I smiled at Jury, but when Maddox stepped outside, I followed him. “One sec,” I told Jury before stepping in the hall.
“Can he hear me out here?” I asked.
Maddox shrugged. “Maybe, but not at this low voice. Probably.”
“Can you get me a flight, too? I can pay you back in a week or so.” I felt like a heel for asking for money, but I knew I’d have it very soon.
“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “I guess I can do that.”
Without another word, he turned and darted down the stairs. Weird. He’d been really uncomfortable about doing it. I’d have to apologize and pay him back as soon as I possibly could. Maybe I had enough in checking and in my purse to cobble together however much it ended up being and get it back to him today.
When I re-entered the apartment, Jury was at the kitchen table, eating brownies. I sat across from him, ready to spill all I’d planned out during his nap. But first… “How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Perfect.” He grinned and leaned over the table to press a kiss to my lips. “Hungry.”
He tasted like the brownies. I touched my finger to my bottom lip and smiled. “Dinner will be ready very soon.”
“Abby.” Jury set his brownie down and took my hands. “I’m so sorry about the way I left here. I shouldn’t have tried to push you away. If I’d not been such an idiot, I would’ve told you the truth, or at least more of it, and asked you to leave at the same time. All I could think about was getting away from you to draw them away.”
I knew that. I’d already forgiven him. “You didn’t make the best choice in the moment, no. But I forgive you on one condition.”
He nodded. “Anything. What is it?”
“No more secrets. I’m the daughter of a dragon. I only knew him a few years, but he taught me everything he knew. He said he hoped to find me a good match with another of our kind, and that I’d be the mother of my own dragons one day. I know it all. I’m not some human shocked by the news and who has to accept it and come to terms with it.”
He moved around the table to sit in the seat directly beside mine. “You’re right. I’m a fool. No more secrets. As soon as we get some time to ourselves, we will sit down and tell each other everything, even if it takes a week, okay? Anything between now and then isn’t a secret, it’s just on hold until we have privacy.”
That made me smile, a big, goofy smile, because in all this talk of secrets, I still had a big one. I opened my mouth to tell him the big news, but he held up one finger. “One more thing,” he said.
After sucking in a deep breath, he looked me in the eye and got serious. “Abby, I know you have a great job here. And if you want, I’ll stay here with you. I can do my school from your couch on my laptop. But I want to ask you to come back to Black Claw with me. Come with us, now. I asked Maddox to go ahead and get a flight for you.”
So that was why Maddox was so weird when I asked him. He’d already been asked by Jury. I opened my mouth to explain our coincidence, but he just barreled on.
He was pretty wonderful, but I was going to have to teach him some conversation manners.
“I know, it was presumptuous of me. But I can keep you safe in Black Claw. We have much better protection and there are more of us there. You and I, here alone, would be vulnerable. But if you really can’t stand the thought of leaving, I’ll stay here with you.”
I sat with my mouth closed and eyebrows raised. “Are you finished?”
He nodded with wide, pleading eyes.
“When I stepped into the hall, I asked Maddox to get me a ticket to Black Claw with you guys. I had to ask him to loan me the money, though.”
Jury opened his mouth, no doubt to say he’d pay for it, but this time I put my finger on his lips to shut him up.
“I have a surprise,” I said. “Shut up and listen.”
He nodded behind my finger, so I lowered it. “My grandmother left me some money. It’s more than enough to pay for me to move all my stuff to Black Claw. I’ve already arranged a rental house, and I have a job interview at a daycare. And it might be enough, if I get a job fast enough, to pay for my first few semesters of college.”
Oh, my gosh. I had my college savings. I could pay for the flight out of that. I’d forgotten all about it.
“Can I talk again?” Jury whispered as I berated myself for forgetting about that little stash at the local bank.
“Yes,” I said happily.
Jury pulled me into his arms and lap. He pressed his face to my cheek and inhaled deeply. With the tip of one finger, he turned my head to face him. Our noses were so close they almost touched. “I love you, Abby. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Not because you’re my mate or because Nyx chose you. But because you’re strong and resilient. You’re generous and funny and fucking hot.”
I giggled at that. And I loved that he hadn’t led with my outer appearance. “I love you, too,” I whispered.
“Don’t I get to hear why?” He popped a kiss to my lips to show he was teasing. “I have a surprise of my own. I was waiting until the right time to tell you in case you thought it was an overreach, but here.”
He pulled out his phone and circled me with his arms. Looking around me, he scrolled through some emails until he found the one he wanted. “Read that.”
I took his phone and read the first line.
Tuition credit has been
placed in the account of one Abigail Morgan for the upcoming semester. Please register...
It went on talking about registration and class schedules. I looked at Jury in shock. “What did you do?”
He kissed me again. “Money is no longer an issue, Abby. You’re mine. You wanted to be mine before you knew that, before now.”
“I knew your family was wealthy,” I said. “And it had no bearing on my feelings for you.”
He chuckled. “I know. But we aren’t just wealthy. I have enough money to cover that semester in my checking account and it didn’t even hurt to pay it.”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “I would’ve paid for the entire thing, but I wasn’t sure if you’d like this school. Once you know where you want to go, it’s yours.”
I sat back and considered the situation. Should I accept the money? If he was telling the truth and the money was so vast that they’d never notice it gone, that made it easier. But I hadn’t earned it.
“Jury, I don’t know if I can accept,” I said.
“That’s fine, too. We can live off of what we earn, if you’d prefer.”
My jaw dropped. “Really?”
He shrugged. “Sure. My family’s money is always there if we need it or want to dip into it. But I’m going to work for the National Park Service, hopefully, and you’re going to be a teacher. We’ll be fine.”
“And I can pay the tuition back?”
He nodded. “Whatever you want. The world is yours, Abby.”
I threw my arms around him and pressed our bodies together, hugging him for all I was worth. “I love you even more for that, Jury.” He was willing to live whatever way made me happiest. I didn’t know how to express how grateful I was. Much of my life had been spent trying to please or escape others. My mother, then my father.
Now Jury was telling me it was all about me and what I wanted. I felt selfish, but at the same time, like my life had finally begun.
22
Jury
I sipped my beer and watched Abby holding Harley and Stefan’s baby. She’d been born the day we returned home, and Abby got there just in time to hold Harley’s hand as she delivered. With all that had gone on toward the end of Harley’s pregnancy, her shower had been postponed several times. As soon as she’d given permission for the baby to be allowed out of the house, my mother had put together a big cookout at the manor.
She’d outdone herself. Half the town was there, congratulating Harley and Stefan. I didn’t think they’d realized how many people loved them.
Unfortunately, nobody had been able to get my mate to give up the baby, little Giselle Marie. I’d enjoyed watching her with a baby in her arms.
We’d discussed children and both wanted at least two, but not for a while. That didn’t mean we couldn’t spoil the two new babies in the family in the meantime, though.
And it didn’t mean I couldn’t admire how natural Abby looked with a baby in her arms. She was nurturing and loving. She’d be a great mother one day. Hopefully, I’d hold up my end of the deal when I was a father.
I’d been putting off the claiming bite, but I wasn’t sure why. We’d packed her apartment last week, and as soon as we oversaw the movers loading the truck, we flew back and prepared for their arrival at the rental house.
We had the money to buy or build any house in the state but living in the small rental with Abby seemed perfect while we got settled. We’d already packed my stuff and Maddox and Stefan had moved it for us while we were in Texas. Rico had helped some. Gramps had sent him to stay with Mom and Dad. He said they’d raised three wonderful sons and maybe they could work some sense into Rico’s head. But he was still recovering from his extreme beating.
It took two exhausting days, but we did it. The house was put together, if a bit sparse. It was mostly Abby’s stuff, but I couldn’t wait to spoil her and buy her all the pretty things her heart desired for her home, our home.
Not depending on my family money to live on didn’t mean I couldn’t buy her presents with it.
As she cooed at Giselle, I hit my limit.
I had to have her as my own, officially. I couldn’t wait another day. I tossed the bottle in the trash and walked to the circle of women all fussing over Giselle and Chase, my little nephew. “Ladies,” I greeted. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Abby and I have an engagement we must get to. We have to say our goodbyes now.”
My mother stood and looped her arm through mine. “Son, you’re not fooling anybody.” She kissed my cheek. “Go on.”
The women didn’t hear her words, but all the dragons in the vicinity did. Many snickers and chuckles followed us after we said goodbye and walked to my truck.
When we were inside and away from prying ears, Abby gave me a puzzled look. “What engagement? We didn’t have any plans today, did we?”
“I made them just now,” I said. “Are you ready?”
“For what?”
I looked her in the eyes because my eyes kept straying to her chest. Once I’d decided to claim her, it was all I could think about. “I want to finalize the mating.”
She gasped. “Now?”
“Now.”
With a sigh of relief, she slumped against the truck seat. “Finally!”
I blinked at her in confusion. “What?”
“I’ve been waiting. I get a taste of it every time we make love, those little bites you give me are amazing. I want the real thing. Harley says once you do it once, you can do it again and repeat the sensation.”
I nodded. “I’m told that’s true.”
She grinned. “Let’s go.”
As we headed down the driveway in my truck, she unbuckled and scooted close. “Jury,” she whispered. “Weren’t you telling me about some places up the mountain that are very private?”
I slowed the truck to a stop and looked at her in surprise. “Really?”
“Why not?” she asked. “The only people that would interrupt us would be your family, right? They’re all at the cookout.”
My blood raced at the prospect, and I hit the gas. Turning up Charlotte and Axel’s new driveway, I cut half our time by parking halfway up it. “Come on,” I said.
“Wait,” she called out. “Give me Nyx.”
My jaw dropped, and Nyx roared in delight. He couldn’t have sex with her, of course, but he felt every moment of our connections through me.
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I kicked off my shoes and stripped, then threw my clothes in the bed of the truck and shifted.
I watched Abby approach Nyx through his eyes. “Can I ride you?” she asked.
He lowered his front legs to let her climb on. She’d done it two more times since we came back to Black Claw and it was easier for her to get up there.
Before she put her foot behind our leg, Abby reached under her skirt and pulled her panties off. Then when she climbed onto Nyx’s back, her wet pussy pressed against his scales.
Dragon scales were hard as diamond, but they were full of nerves. She was so turned on, we could feel a drop of liquid slide down Nyx’s side.
He roared in delight, both of us aching to be inside her with my dick. Eager to get the show on the road, Nyx launched into the air and flew us quickly to the clearing I had in mind.
Abby jumped down and stripped while Nyx watched. As soon as she was naked, he gave the reins back to me and we shifted into my skin.
“I can’t wait,” I said roughly, and strode across the clearing. Lifting Abby off her feet, I let her wrap her arms around me, then positioned myself at her entrance. She was dripping wet and ready for me.
I flexed my hips as she settled down, and I filled her completely. Fucking while standing up was fun, but I was too far gone to fool with that. I sank to my knees and gently laid her on the soft grass while the sun beat down on my back.
Thrusting in and out, I held back my orgasm. I’d wanted to come the second I sank myself inside her. Holding back, I buried myself inside my gorgeous, lov
ing mate over and over until she was at the brink of her orgasm. Her back arched and her gorgeous breasts lifted into the air.
Now.
Nyx was eager to make it official. I dropped to my elbows and pushed as far deep inside as I could. My teeth shifted into Nyx’s, and I let him do what came naturally. He bit, hard, but Abby didn’t cry out in pain.
She screamed in pleasure. “Jury,” she panted, followed by, “Nyx.”
That pleased him to no end.
Our teeth didn’t go deep enough to draw a bunch of blood, so I kept my mouth clamped on her shoulder as I rode out my orgasm. Releasing my seed inside her, I pumped slowly through it as she panted and squirmed under me.
Nyx nudged me when it was time to remove my teeth from her skin. She’d begun to relax, and her body had settled back against the grass again.
When her eyes opened, she smiled at me. “I feel you. In my brain. Or heart, maybe.”
I explored the same sensation. A faint knowledge that was her was nestled in my brain. She was right though, it could’ve been my heart.
“You can find me,” I said. “And I can find you. And we’ll know if the other is in any extreme situation like pain or euphoria.”
She burst out laughing. “So any orgasms we give ourselves would be busted, huh?”
I collapsed on top of her, my dick sliding out in the process. As I realized what we’d done, I looked her in the eyes. “You got that birth control, right?”
She grinned and nodded. “Yep. A little ring inside that releases the hormones I need to not get pregnant.” I sighed in relief and kissed her several times.
“I know it went fast, but did it feel like you expected?” There was no way I could’ve held out longer to give her another orgasm before the claiming and my own. I was lucky I made it to let her have one first.
“It was perfect,” Abby whispered. “And now you’re all mine. Forever.”
That was the best thing I’d ever heard. I’d been thinking of it the other way around, that she’d be mine, but I liked it this way better. “Yep. I’m all yours.” I kissed her again. “Forever.”