“What’s that?” Jack asked, his eyes narrowing.
Wyatt put his arm around Juno. “I’m in love with this girl,” he said. “And goddammit if I’m not the luckiest man in the world, because she’s in love with me too.”
Wyatt saw Juno look up at him with a slight expression of surprise. They hadn’t actually said the word love yet. But he knew in his bones that he loved her, and he felt her love for him radiating back at him. There was a long pause while Grant and Jack both looked at him with blank expressions.
Finally, Grant spoke. “Dude, look. You seem like a nice enough guy. But you’re a dragon. You understand that bears are social right? You can’t just snatch up a bear shifter—her clan has to accept you.”
“Grant,” Juno said, starting to jump in. But Wyatt put his hand up to stop her.
“No, Juno,” he said. “Let me handle this. Listen, Grant. I understand you’re the alpha of this clan. And I respect that. But you know as well as I do that the old clan rules of alpha acceptance aren’t really followed anymore. We’re in the middle of the 2050s, dude. You have to let your clan members love who they want to love.”
Wyatt saw Grant’s face turning red with anger, but he held his ground.
“I don’t think a dragon shifter who’s never been part of a clan should be educating me on clan politics,” Grant said. Wyatt felt Juno stiffening next to him with anger, but he did his best to maintain his cool.
“Am I wrong?” Wyatt challenged. Grant didn’t answer. He just looked back at Wyatt with angry eyes.
“Look,” Wyatt said finally. “I’m not trying to make trouble. All I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t judge me before you know me. Yes, I’m a dragon. And yes, we’re solitary for the most part. But we also know what it’s like to love. We crave lifemates, too. Maybe not as strongly as you do. But when we find one we’re loyal and stick with them. I might be quiet and reserved, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a valuable member of the clan. So give me a chance before you automatically write me off. You should know better. After all, don’t you hate it when people automatically write you off because you’re a shifter?”
Wyatt saw Grant’s expression softening a bit, so he pushed forward. “It’s the same with me, dude. How do you think it feels when somebody judges me automatically just because I’m a dragon?”
Grant relaxed a little bit more. “Okay,” he said. “I’m man enough to admit that you’re right. But still, you should know that Juno is important to me, and to this clan. I’m pissed as hell at her for the way she snuck out with the helicopter, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t fight for her and die for her. So you better take good care of her and not break her heart, because if you do I’ll break your neck.”
Wyatt chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. “Fair enough, Grant, fair enough. Don’t worry. I have no intentions of breaking her heart. I’ve only known her for a couple days, and she’s already the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I would do anything for her, and that’s no exaggeration.”
Grant nodded, and then looked over at Juno.
“What about you, Juno? You sure you want to be with a dragon. They’re pretty hotheaded, you know,” Grant said, then laughed at his own joke.
Wyatt hated corny jokes about fire and heat, but he was glad that Grant was loosening up, so he let it slide.
“I’m sure,” Juno said. “I’m in love with him. He’s my lifemate. I know you probably think I’m a total weirdo. What kind of bear hooks up with a dragon, after all? But I know now that there’s a reason nothing ever worked out with anyone else. It’s because my heart’s been waiting for him. I always knew he was out there somewhere. Now that I’ve found him, everything that didn’t make sense before makes perfect sense.”
Wyatt felt his heart melting a little bit at Juno’s words. She could be so poetic sometimes, and he shouldn’t admit it but it made his heart melt a little. That didn’t sound like a very macho, tough guy thing to say, but it was true. She got to him like no one else did.
Grant smiled. “Alright, then. Looks like we have a new clan member.”
Jack’s eyes widened, but he smiled as Grant held his hand out to shake Wyatt’s hand.
“Welcome to our little ragtag clan. We’re a bunch of misfits and rebels, and I think you’re going to fit right in,” Jack said.
“I hope so,” Wyatt said, smiling as he shook Grant’s and Jack’s hands. Beside him, Juno was beaming so brightly that she was practically glowing. Grant pointed a finger at her and feigned as much anger as he could.
“This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for that sneaking away stunt you pulled,” he said.
Juno sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Okay. But I saved the world, so you can’t be too mad, can you?”
“Well,” Jack said, interrupting. “You came up with a cure for bear flu, but you haven’t quite saved the world yet.”
All eyes turned to Jack.
“What do you mean?” Juno asked.
“Now that we have the cure, we have to figure out a way to mass produce it. We also have to convince people to accept it. Think about it. Would you accept something that a bear shifter offered you if you thought they were your sworn enemy?”
Wyatt felt like he’d been hit by a ton of bricks. He’d never even thought about this. Somehow, he’d been so wrapped up in helping Juno find the cure that it had never occurred to him they would have to convince people to accept that cure once it was found.
“Shit,” Wyatt said. “Jack’s right. What are we going to do?”
Grant frowned. “We have to talk to the president. He’s the only one who still has enough power and clout to get this cure out there.”
“But nobody knows where the president is,” Juno said. “He’s in quarantine or isolation or something. Besides, you can’t just walk up to the president and say, ‘Hey, what’s up? Got a cure for bear flu.’ You have to have an appointment or something.”
“I know,” Grant said. “Which is why we have to prove we have a cure. I’m pretty sure if we could actually convince the president that we had a cure he’d be willing to meet with us. So the question is really how are we going to do that? He’s not likely to be very trusting of a bunch of shifters.”
“Maybe we can have Lily vouch for us,” Juno said. “After all, she’s human. She’s been cured. Who better to advocate on our behalf?”
“That’s a good plan if it works,” Jack said. “But we’ll have to convince her. She seems like the quiet type, and she also seems to be a little distrustful of us even though we saved her life. I guess you can’t blame her too much. She lost her whole family, after all. She’s been through a lot.
“Yeah, it will definitely be work to convince her, but she’s our best bet,” Grant said. “Here’s the plan. Someone needs to stay back here and guard the lab, as well as work on building trust with Lily so she’ll help us. Juno and Wyatt, I propose that you stay since you’re already set up here.”
Juno and Wyatt both nodded.
“Jack and I will travel back to the hideout in Michigan,” Grant continued. “We’ll bring everyone there up to speed, and choose a few people from the clan to travel to Washington. We’ll get everyone to start working on a plan for getting the president’s attention.”
“Sounds good,” Juno said. “I’ll continue tweaking the formula for the medicine to make sure everything is as perfect as it can be.”
Wyatt smiled. “Maybe we can sweet-talk Lily with some good food,” he said. “I’ve got quite a bit of it up in my dragon lair.”
Grant grinned. “I like the way you think,” he said. “Whatever works, my man. Let’s get going on this mission. The sooner we get to the president, the sooner the population will stop dying in mass numbers. There’s no time to lose.”
Grant and Jack started gathering up their things, and within a half-hour they were headed out the front door of the lab building. Wyatt shook their hands and Grant pulled him into a big hug, clapping his back.
“
You’re one of us now,” Grant said. “Take care of Juno for us.”
“I will,” Wyatt promised. “She means more to me than life itself.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Jack said. Take care of our girl, and we’ll see you soon.”
Wyatt waved as they left, walking off in the direction of the building where they had parked their helicopter.
“Guess it’s just you and me now,” Juno said, looking over at him. “We have to hold down the fort and make sure no one ruins the discovery we found.”
“Easy peasy,” Wyatt said with a smile. “If anyone wants to get in here, they’re going to have to get past a firebreathing dragon. Trust me, by the time I’m done with them, they’ll wish they’d never tried to mess with us.”
Wyatt’s chest puffed out pride as Juno smiled over at him. Being part of the clan felt good. For perhaps the first time in his life, he was part of something bigger than himself, and the excitement of it sent adrenaline pumping through his veins. He could definitely get used to this.
Chapter Fourteen
Juno turned to walk back into the inner lab with Wyatt.
“We should check on Lily, and see how she’s doing,” she said.
Wyatt nodded. “Hopefully she’s continuing to improve.”
Juno fell into step with Wyatt as they walked back towards sick bay. She couldn’t express in words how happy she was that Wyatt had stood up for himself, and that he had been granted admission to the clan. True, most people didn’t abide by the old clan rules anymore. Grant himself often ranted about how old-fashioned the rules were. But it was still nice to have the blessing of the alpha. It still meant something. Juno whistled happily and reached for Wyatt’s hand as they walked, but her joy came to a sudden halt as they neared sick bay and she heard a crashing sound. Moments later, Lily came running past them at full speed.
“Lily, wait!” Juno said. “Come back! Where are you going?”
“Get away from me,” Lily screamed. “You’re shifters! I can’t trust you! You can’t trap me in here! Who knows what kind of potion you gave me to get rid of the flu. No one survives that, you know that right? I don’t know what you did, but I don’t want any part in these shenanigans.”
Juno felt her heart dropping. “Lily, we were only trying to help you,” she said.
But Lily didn’t answer. Instead, she kept running, heading for the main lab door. Juno’s first instinct was to chase after her, but as soon as she started to run, she felt Wyatt’s strong arms holding her back.
“Let her go,” he said.
“What?” Juno asked “Are you crazy? We can’t just let her go! She’s our ticket to get to the president. We need her, so that he believes that our cure really works.”
“Juno, listen,” Wyatt said. “We can’t keep her here against her will.
Juno felt her blood boiling. Wyatt was right, even though she didn’t want him to be. She wanted to find a way to force Lily to stay, and to force her to testify to the president. It was for the good of humanity, after all.
“We need her,” Juno said again. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
Sparks of anger flew from her eyes, and she tried to push Wyatt away. But he grabbed her and held her tight.
“Look at me,” he said. She refused, so he repeated the sentence again.
“Look at me.”
Reluctantly, she turned her eyes slowly towards his. She could tell he was trying to remain calm, and damn it if his eyes weren’t the most gorgeous shade of blue right now. They were glowing from the intensity of his emotions, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t mad at him. Did he not understand how serious this was?
“Juno, listen,” he said, his voice calm but firm. “I’m on your team, you know that. But you can’t push someone to testify to the president when they don’t want to. You can’t force Lily to advocate for us. Sure, she would’ve died without us. But remember we did inject her without her permission. She’s going through a lot. Let her go. Let her process everything.”
“Okay, fine,” Juno said sullenly. “I get what you’re saying. And that would all be true in a perfect world. But this is far from a perfect world. We have to get help from the president, and Lily’s our ticket for doing that. This isn’t about research ethics anymore, Wyatt. It’s about saving the world.”
“I know,” Wyatt said. “I get that. But someone who’s being forced to testify isn’t going to be convincing. What we need to do is find some new subjects. I’ll get you some more bear flu victims. We’ll treat them, and hopefully at least one of them will be willing to talk to the president for us. We’ll just try again until we find someone who will do it.”
Juno relaxed a bit. Wyatt was right, of course. If they cured enough people, someone was bound to be grateful.
“Okay,” she said, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “We’ll find some more people. I just hate so much to let Lily go. She was the first, you know. The first one cured is historical.”
Wyatt smiled. “You’re amazing,” he said.
Juno grinned as he leaned in to kiss her.
“Did you mean it?” she asked, pulling back.
“Mean what?”
“You said you love me,” she said. “You told Grant you love me. Did you mean it?”
Wyatt smiled. “Yes, I meant it. I love you, Juno.”
His words swept over Juno like warm summer rain.
“I love you, too,” she said softly. “I love everything about you. Even your quiet, solitary side.”
Wyatt grinned and leaned in to kiss her again.
“Good,” he said. “Speaking of solitary, now that Lily hightailed it out of here, there’s no one in this whole lab but us.”
Juno grinned. “Why are you pointing that out?” she asked.
“I think you know,” Wyatt said, letting out a low growl. Juno squealed as he lifted her up in his arms and walked into sick bay. He found the first makeshift hospital room to their left, and went inside with Juno. The room had a nice, big bed in the middle of all the scientific equipment. Wyatt walked over and dropped her onto it.
“Time to have some fun,” he said. He crept onto the bed with her and pulled her close as he began kissing her. Juno felt her body warm from his touch. His skin always felt like a glowing ember, and every time he touched her he filled her with his heat.
“Wyatt,” she whispered. “I’m so happy I found you.”
“Shh,” he said. “Don’t talk now. I’m happy I found you, too. But I want to show you, not tell you.”
With that, he pulled off her shirt and threw it aside. Then he pulled off his own shirt. He reached back and unclasped her bra, tossing it away as he moved his mouth down to her breasts. Juno moaned as his warm, strong tongue made contact with her nipples. He flicked it back and forth across her hard nubs, sending fresh waves of heat through her body. She closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in the moment. She pushed away thoughts of the bear flu, how they would talk to the president, or even how the clan back home would react to the news that the clan now had a new member who happened to be a dragon shifter. Juno had plenty to worry about and plenty to think about, but right now all she could concentrate on was the growing passion in her body. The feeling of ecstasy built stronger and stronger with each flick of Wyatt’s tongue. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, he reached to pull her pants off, fighting them down at the same time as her underwear. Naked on the bed in front of him, she was keenly aware of her chest as it rose and fell from her rapid breathing. He was everything to her. This moment was everything to her. The whole world could fall apart, but if she had him it would be okay.
He slid down the bed and positioned his face between her legs. Juno moaned as she realized what he was about to do. Moments later, she felt his tongue slip inside of her, flicking back and forth across her clit, then reaching deep to stroke her inner walls. She was dripping wet with the passion and anticipation that her body felt for him.
“Wyatt,” she said. It
was the only word she could get out. He didn’t answer her. Instead, he just continued, intensifying the movements of his tongue. Juno felt the pressure building within her. Her core heated up hotter and hotter with each tiny movement her dragon made, and a tingling sensation started where his tongue was working busily between her legs. The sensation grew and radiated across her entire body. She panted, trying to steady her breathing but unable to. The tingling intensified, stronger and stronger, hotter and hotter, until Juno could hold back no more.
She arched her back and let out a long scream before giving in. Her muscles clenched around Wyatt’s tongue over and over. Waves of pure ecstasy washed over her, leaving her breathless. She moaned with pleasure as she rode each wave all the way to its crescendo and back down again. Wyatt smiled and pulled back to watch her as she slowly came back down to earth.
“You’re incredible,” he said.
Juno chuckled softly. “You’re the incredible one,” she said.
Wyatt smiled. “No, you.”
He kissed her bellybutton, then stood and pulled off his own pants and underwear. His erection sprung free, pointing proudly in Juno’s direction. His dick was long, thick and hard, and Juno shivered in delight at just the sight it. How did she get so lucky?
Wyatt winked at her as he climbed back onto the bed and positioned himself right above her. This time, he lowered himself into her slowly, sliding in centimeter by centimeter, slowly hitting every nerve ending inside of Juno. He filled her completely, then paused for a moment. His hard, throbbing dick touched the deepest parts of her. Juno could feel the heat and pressure building again, and then he started moving, thrusting in and out, in and out. He went slowly at first, but quickly picked up speed until he was thrusting with abandon. The pressure and heat returned, along with the tingling sensation.
“Wyatt!” Juno said, gasping out his name. She felt him move with renewed vigor, until the pressure within her once again reached the point of explosion. She screamed, calling out his name as she found her release once more. He threw back his head and roared in response. Then, with one final, strong thrust, he found his release as well. He came into her, and the heat and electricity in the moment was overwhelming. Tremor after tremor of passion flooded across Juno’s body. She could feel Wyatt shuddering as well. Finally, they both collapsed next to each other in an exhausted, sweaty, and happy heap. It’d been a long day. A long couple of days, actually. And this moment right here was exactly what Juno needed. Come what may, at least she had her love, her lifemate, by her side. His name was the last thing she whispered before drifting off to sleep.
Danger in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 4) Page 9