by Naomi Sparks
Faris’s breathing quickens and his fingers grip forcefully into my thighs. I feel his body tense up and his manhood stiffen like iron. We come together in unison. He grunts bestially, then gives one last, rutting thrust and leaves his cock buried to the hilt. I feel his member twitching, bulging inside, and trying to impregnate me.
Oh, how I wish he really was. Maybe one day.
The shaking stops and the lights steady. And just like that, it’s over.
Faris withdraws and I catch my breath. That was the most insane, most intense sexual experience…ever. I am really looking forward to spending a lot more time with this man. Like, forever. Once I’ve recovered myself, I pull back on my panties.
“Ready?” Faris asks.
I hold out my hand. “Absolutely.”
“Let’s go then,” Faris suggests and takes my hand in his.
“Together,” I agree, wholeheartedly.
When we come back around the corner, the rest of the group is already at their bikes near the far end of the parking garage and just hanging out. They don’t seem too agitated by the wait.
“Everyone, Kyra has decided to join us. She’ll be tagging along from here on out,” Faris says, with more than a hint of enthusiasm.
“Yay,” Hannah cheers and does a little clap. “It’ll be so nice to have another woman here to talk to out on the road. These guys are full of surprises, but at the end of the day they’re still guys.”
“I knew he’d come to his senses eventually,” Galen says to me and sticks a thumb out towards Faris.
“Not that I’m not happy for you guys, because I am, but man, sometimes I wonder if I’m ever gonna find the right woman,” Ezra declares glumly.
“She’s out there, somewhere,” Hannah tells him. “It’ll happen one day.”
“Yeah,” Ezra answers and plops down on his bike. He lovingly wipes off a smudge from the metallic green gas tank and then pretends to give the big motorcycle a comical hug. “Looks like until then, it’s just me an Ol’ Gertrude here.”
That gets a chuckle out of everyone except Galen, who merely shakes his head at Ezra’s antics.
And then we’re out of there. I leave my brother’s car and ride on the bike with Faris. As we roll out of town I blow a kiss to the battered “Now Leaving Juniper” sign. I feel a little sad about leaving the only place I’ve ever known as home, but I’m excited about what lies around the next turn. This is going to be one hell of an adventure.
15
Faris
It’s been a few weeks since we left Juniper. For the past few days we’ve found ourselves in the small town of Windust, Washington. The scenery is magnificent, though the weather continues to slowly get colder and colder at night. It won’t be too much longer before autumn comes and then I imagine we’ll have to head south again for a warmer climate.
Things with Hannah have been going fairly well. She has good days and bad days, though. At any rate, she seems to improve more when we aren’t bumping down the highway. That’s the main reason for the extended stay here in Windust.
Plus, this little town has a halfway decent hotel for the tourists who like canoeing down the Snake River and they take cash. It’s a perfect spot for your weary highway traveler or dragon-shifter on the run. It’s been nice sleeping in a bed, and I could certainly get used to hot showers with Kyra, cable T.V., and continental breakfast in the mornings. But maybe I am getting a bit too spoiled.
Lex spent a little time pumping information out of Bo over the phone and worked out how to infuse the power he gets from absorbing gold and other metals into Hannah with his venom. He gives her a tiny dose three times a day, and the difference in her health and mood is immediate and profound. I hold out hope that it will be enough. Perhaps the same technique can be used one day for us and Kyra and I will be able to have children without putting her at unnecessary risk.
However, it’s now a near-surety that The Clutch knows that we are travelling with a pregnant human. They’ll undoubtedly use that information to try and track us down. Lex doesn’t seem too worried about it, but I certainly am. If they find us, there’s no telling what they’d do with Kyra and Hannah. I don’t even want to think about it.
“You can lift it, come on,” I say, encouraging Kyra as she concentrates her power on the large chunk of gold I’ve laid out on the table. It must weigh at least twenty pounds and be worth thousands of dollars. This amount of gold is nothing to us since we have ways of finding the metal quite easily. If we can get close enough to it, we can literally pull it from the earth with our magic.
Kyra groans and aims her fingers at the table, focusing her ability. “I-I think I feel it moving,” she sputters. The piece of yellow metal vibrates violently and slides around, but does not lift.
“Almost there. Keep going, Kyra. If you can lift this one, I’ll give you a nice back massage tonight after dinner.”
Kyra’s concentrate falters for a moment as she cracks a smile. “Oh, you’re gonna have to do better than that, big boy. You know what I really want. Are you gonna give that to me, too?”
I lean over and lightly kiss her neck. Kyra responds with a sultry, “Mmmm…”
“Does that answer your question?” I ask.
It must. I watch as the large piece of gold seems to stabilize and then lift into the air. Kyra manages to get it about a foot off the table before she can’t hold it up any longer and has to slowly let it back down.
“Incredible, darling. I think my magic has helped to boost your own. And the practice has probably helped, too.”
Kyra nods in agreement. “A few weeks ago I could barely move anything more than ten pounds. That was nearly twice as much.”
“Before long you’ll be lifting X-Wings out of the swamp with Master Yoda,” I say with a laugh.
“Was that really a Star Wars reference? I never took you for the nerdy type,” Kyra deadpans and goes to get a glass of water.
There’s a knock and I pull the blinds aside and peer out the window. Standing there is Galen. I open the door and can tell with one look that he’s seriously distressed about something.
“Something’s wrong with Hannah, man. You guys better come with me,” Galen implores.
Kyra and I immediately follow him over to Hannah and Lex’s room. There, sitting on the bed is Hannah, and she looks pale and drawn, like she’s seen a ghost. Her eyes are open wide open but she’s not answering questions. I wave my hand in front of her face but she doesn’t respond. Lex calls her name repeatedly. However, nothing seems to snap her out of it.
Galen goes to get the others. None of them have ever seen anything like it and don’t have an explanation. Then, just as we’re about to call for an ambulance, Hannah begins to blink. She cradles her head in her shaking hands and relaxes backwards onto a pillow. After a while, it looks like she’s come out of whatever trance she was in.
“Hannah, are you ok? Please answer me,” Lex takes her hand and pleads.
“Seattle,” Hannah answers back, cryptically. Her voice is raspy and weak.
“What?” Bren asks, and kneels down by her side. “Did you see something happening there?”
Hannah looks at him strangely. “We must go there.”
“But what the heck for?” Ezra coarsely inquires. “Is it not safe here anymore? I was just starting to like it around—“
“I don’t know why,” Hannah interrupts. “We just have to go to Seattle.”
Lex seems skeptical, and I don’t blame him. “Your visions can sometimes be confusing, Hannah. Could you be misinterpreting this somehow?”
Hannah snaps back, “I haven’t misinterpreted a vision since I’ve been with you as your mate. My visions have been clearer than ever thanks to you venom, too.”
“I only want to be sure. Seattle is a large city. It won’t be as easy to escape detection there,” Lex says.
Hannah appears to be questioning herself for a moment and then looks back up at him. Her eyes seem to burn with confidence. “Sorry about
that. No. I’m sure about this one. This is the strongest vision I’ve had yet. We must go to Seattle, and we have to hurry, before it’s too late.”
16
Amasis
“It’s a left at marker twenty-one. That’s where your friends were camping out a few weeks back,” the small, bearded man running the campground gate tells me. He takes a look up from his clipboard, sees me and the ten men on bikes behind me, and I can feel his fear. “They…they left a tent here, but it’s been donated to a local scout troop already. We didn’t think we’d ever hear from them again and they didn’t exactly leave a telephone number.”
“Was there anything in the tent?” I ask, nearly a snarl. The very idea that important clues might have been destroyed or lost stirs up the well of anger deep inside me.
“No. It was empty. Just a plain, green, canvas tent. It was in pretty good shape, though. I can give you the troop information if you want to try and get it back,” the man timidly offers.
“Nah. We don’t need it.” I stretch out my shoulder. It’s been a long ride to Juniper and the old war wounds are acting up. I point to the gate and then beyond it. “Ok if we go check out the campsite? I was thinking me and my boys here might want to use the same one as our friends. Start a tradition, that kind of thing. You know.”
I give the man a forced smile. Gods, I hate the fact that I even have to interact with these pathetic humans as if they were equals to me. One day we’ll feast on them like the livestock they are and return to our rightful place as rulers of this world.
Now the man’s even more nervous. Good for him. There’s a green button on the inside of his little guard shack and he presses it. The metal gate creaks and slides out of the way. “Er—go right on through, fellas. Park’s open sunrise to sunset. If you want to stay overnight, come back and see me to arrange payment and get a pass.”
“Thanks,” I say, and twist the throttle, leaving the man behind.
I can see why Lex and his so-called crew would like a place like this. It’s quiet and there’s a few small towns nearby with all the conveniences. Not a lot of people, either, which means not too many questions. Of course, that only makes this harder for me and the rest of the The Clutch.
That’s ok. I’ve been trying to look at this whole rebellion bullshit as a hunt of sorts. I’ll eventually catch up to the Fire Riders. They are my prey, after all. And when I do find them I’ll make an example out of them, like I do with everyone else who’s ever crossed me.
Site marker twenty-one is far at the back of the campground. No surprise there, either. Once I roll the bike off the pavement and through the trail and out onto the clearing, I can see why they picked this spot in particular. There’s quite a view from the top of the plateau, and no way for vehicles to enter any other way. A very defensible position.
I cruise to a stop, shut off my bike, and get on my feet. The rest of my men do the same. Jia Yin, my enforcer, walks up to me. He’s wearing a severe, almost sour expression, just like he always is.
“Sounds like this might be the place, but it’s empty, just like last time,” he says and looks around. “Even if there were any tire tracks they’d have been washed away in the rains a few days ago.”
I scoff and kick the dirt. It’s already starting to crack again under the sun. “Yin, you’re such a fuckin’ ray of sunshine. Anybody ever tell you that?”
Yin just maintains that same serious, poker face. “Sir, it could have been a human biker gang. Are we sure that we can trust the information that got us started in this direction?”
He’s talking about the article we found on that conspiracy nut-job website. Turns out, some rancher out in Rockfoot claims he saw a big, silver dragon flying right over his house. Most of the stories we intercept about stuff like that turn out to be bullshit, but we followed up on it. This one has us closer to Lex than we’ve been in ages, I’m positive.
Then I get a whiff of something. I drink in the air deeply. Yin does the same.
“What is it?” he asks, and follows me over to the blackened, burnt-out remains of a campfire.
“Blood, I think,” I postulate. The scent seems to be coming from the ashes. I unsnap the holster on my belt and retrieve my hunting knife. The blade moves through the charcoal and ashes and at first I don’t think there’s anything. Then I find a shredded piece of cloth that’s covered in dried blood.
“Dragon blood?” Yin asks. For the first time in a long while, he seems genuinely surprised by something.
I nod and bring it closer to taste the scent. It’s familiar. Very familiar.
“Faris,” I say and sling the cloth back into the remains of the fire, then spit on it. “They were definitely here.”
Jia Yin rubs his chin and ponders the situation. “The meth lab that burned down, it was here in Juniper. The clip I saw on the news of the blaze looked suspiciously like it was caused by dragonfire. Now I’m sure of it. But why would they care about meth or involve themselves with the locals at all?”
“I’m sure there’s some reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the females they’re travelling with.” I tuck the knife back inside its holster and stand back up, surveying the small town on the horizon. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We’ll find the traitors soon enough. Maybe there’s someone in town that can point us in the right direction.”
MC Dragon Shifter Warriors
Fire Riders
Lex & Hannah’s Story
From the moment he saw her, he knew she was his mate…which means she’s the one woman he can never have.
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Fire Magic
Faris & Kyra’s Story
Small town. Big secrets. He knows his mate is in trouble, but he can’t save her unless she trusts him with the truth.
*
Fire Slave
Jerrick & Faith’s Story
They found each other while trying to outrun their tragic pasts. His is the only mind she cannot read. Will he ever let her into his heart?
*
Fire Savior
Galen & Katia’s Story
When a dragon baby is in trouble, this fey will do everything she can to help…even if it means going against her tribe and risking her life.
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Fire Prisoner
Bren & Saphira’s Story
When this warrior is captured by her father’s enemies, she starts to wonder if she’s been fighting for the wrong side.
*
Fire Baby
Ezra & Gabrielle’s Story
It will take all of his power to protect his mate and her baby.
Also by Angel Ward
Forbidden Boys
At the Academy of Sin, there’s only one rule: Don’t kiss the boys.
And this rule applies to only one person: Me.
Think you know the story of Snow White?
Think again.
This September, this secret princess is going head-to-head with high school bullies, former best friends, teachers with ulterior motives, and seven hunky huntsmen who will either save her…or destroy her.
Grab a copy of Forbidden Boys!
Also by Naomi Sparks
Dragon Captive
A warrior princess who's never seen the sun.
An elite soldier who's never questioned orders.
They were never supposed to meet.
They are not allowed to fall in love.
But some rules are meant to be broken, and some empires must fall.
Now that they know the truth, they’re no longer pawns in the corrupt shifter wars. They’re fighting for themselves…and each other.
Find out more on Naomi’s website:
https://naomisparks.com
About Naomi and Angel
Naomi Sparks and Angel Ward are sometimes co-authors, at times co-conspirators, and always friends. They both got their start reading each other’s shitty fanfic, so they’ve seen each other at their best and at their worst. Together, they’ve ghostwritten over sixty romance nov
els. Is it time to introduce their talents to the world? They think so!
Learn more about Naomi Sparks:
https://naomisparks.com
*
Learn more about Angel Ward:
https://angelward.com