by Lolita Lopez
“Griffin, please don’t pull away from me. Not now,” she whispered. “I couldn’t bear it.”
The anguish filling her voice slashed at his heart. Embracing her even tighter, he dipped his head and buried his nose in the soft, wet strands of her hair. “If I stay, you’ll always be in danger, Vonny.”
“I’m already in danger,” she murmured. “Your membership in the Brotherhood adds some additional risk, but let’s be real. The Knights nearly annihilated my entire species before I met you. It was only a matter of time until they tried to finish me off.”
“If they find out what we’re attempting to do—”
She pulled back just far enough to meet his worried gaze. The love reflected in her dark eyes radiated through him. Caressing his jaw, she said, “You’ll be here to protect us.”
Us. The word filled him with such hope. For so long, he’d been alone. Yes, he’d had his Brothers and Mad—but it wasn’t the same as what he’d shared with Avani during their short time together. He couldn’t imagine never again waking up with her cuddled in his arms and burrowing into his heat.
For the first time since joining the Brotherhood, he dreamed of a life that had seemed almost too far-fetched to exist—a family of his own. The family he already belonged to, the Brotherhood, came to mind.
“I can’t walk away from Ignatius and the others, Vonny.”
“I’m not asking you to do that.” She brushed her fingertip around one of the bruised bite marks she’d left on his body. “I know they come as part of a package deal. I’m okay with that.”
He studied her beautiful face to see if she truly meant what she’d said. She seemed wholly honest. “And what happens if I’m not here to protect you against the Knights because I’m off with the Brotherhood?”
She quietly traced shapes on his skin. “Tonight helped me understand that I’m not so weak after all. I intend to train more and hone my skills so I’ll never be at a disadvantage ever again.”
“You were so brave tonight.” He bent down to capture her mouth in a lingering kiss. “You saved us both, and I’ll never forget it.”
A playful smile slanted her mouth. “No, I’ll make sure of that.”
He chuckled softly and gently applied pressure to her shoulders to turn her. The shower stall was a tight fit with the two of them, but they made the best of it. Lathering his hands, he spread soapy foam across her skin before tackling the long strands of dark hair clinging to her wet back.
When he’d finished washing her, she returned the favor. He delighted in the feel of her slick hands gliding over his skin. Though it aroused him, he wasn’t chasing sexual release at the moment. After coming so close to losing their lives, he wanted to reconnect with her. The way she touched him, her hands sliding across his chest almost reverently, showed that she shared his desperate need: to remind themselves they were alive.
The familiar vibrations of Ignatius’s imprint rumbled through his chest. He glanced toward the ceiling and decided they only had a few minutes of privacy left before their ancient leader would want to question them. Back at Mad’s place, Ignatius had been much too concerned with cleaning up the scene and keeping any humans out of the crossfire. Now, he would want to know all about this arrangement ’Griffin had made with Avani.
Taking full advantage of their last few minutes alone, he trapped Avani between his chest and the tile wall. He nuzzled her neck and kissed a slow, teasing line along her jaw before finally claiming her silken pout. Their mouths mated in a long, erotic dance that he was loathe to end. Touching his forehead to hers, he murmured, “Ignatius is here. He’ll want to talk.”
She sighed heavily. “Let’s get it over with, Griffin.”
He tipped her chin and peered down into her dark eyes. “He might be annoyed that I didn’t tell him I was coming here with you, but he won’t try to separate us. He supported Stig and Cora.”
“That’s a slightly different case.” She stepped out of the shower and onto the mat. “Their families weren’t engaged in a centuries-old blood feud.”
He’d all but forgotten about that ridiculous spat between their families. It seemed so trivial now. Grunting with frustration, he wrapped a towel around his waist and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Wait here. I’ll get you something to wear.”
Out in the living area of the bunker, he discovered Stig and Ignatius waiting patiently at the small dining table. He shot them an annoyed frown. “No, please, make yourselves at home.”
Stig snorted but had the decency to look chagrined. “We didn’t want to interrupt you—just in case.”
Griff narrowed his eyes at the pair before grabbing some shorts for himself and a nightgown and robe for Avani. “We’ll be out in a few minutes. Make yourselves useful and put on a pot of tea.”
“Sure.” Stig headed for the small kitchen, but Ignatius still hadn’t moved or said anything. He seemed deep in thought. Griff doubted he was going to like what their leader had to say.
Back in the bathroom, he found Avani combing out her hair. She reached for a hair tie from her toiletry case but he stopped her. “Leave it down for me.”
She eyed his reflection in the mirror. An indulgent smile curved her lips. “All right.”
He kissed her bare shoulder. “Thank you.”
When the two were dressed, they emerged from the bathroom holding hands. She slid close to his side, almost as if seeking his protection. He unlaced their fingers and curled his arm around her shoulders. Tucking her smaller body against his, he sent a daring look Ignatius’s way.
Hands up, Ignatius gave a slight shake of his head. His one good eye remained fixed on Avani. “I have no intention of driving a wedge between the two of you, so lower your guards.” He hesitated. “The issue of the blood feud, however…”
Griff pulled out one of the chairs at the table and sat. He dragged Avani between his open knees and tugged her down onto his right thigh. She happily perched on his lap and gripped his hand, as if still mistrusting Ignatius. He couldn’t blame her. The ancient dragon had quite a reputation among their kind for being a serious hard-ass.
Exhaling loudly, Griff asked, “Has Mad been located?”
“Not yet,” Ignatius answered, while Stig steeped tea at the counter behind him. “Niko and Reynard are on their way. They’ll find him—and Ivy.”
“So it is her.” He eyed Ignatius carefully. “You didn’t know she was missing?”
“Neither did Niko,” Ignatius replied reluctantly. “We tried to give her a normal life, and that meant staying far away from her so as not to rouse the suspicions of the Knights. Clearly, somewhere along the way, we made a mistake, and they were able to track her down and take her.” Regret and guilt darkened Ignatius’s voice. “We won’t fail her again.”
“What about her connection with Mad?” Avani nervously interjected. She swallowed and glanced at Griff. “Back at the house, you said that Niko gave her some kind of treatment that included your cousin’s blood.” She self-consciously touched her lips. “Blood magic is strong magic. It’s the reason my species seals a mate bond with a bite. If she has his blood in her, maybe it’s more than dreams connecting them. What if…what if she’s about to go into heat for the first time? She’s the right age. I was a junior in college when I first experienced it. What if it’s—I don’t know—awakened something within her?”
Griff’s concerned gaze skipped to Ignatius. The one-eyed dragon looked rather impressed with Avani. “I suspect you’re correct. It’s something we feared might happen, back when Niko devised the therapy, but it was a risk we agreed to take.”
“Why Madoc’s blood?” she wondered.
“Chemistry,” Ignatius answered with an uncertain shrug. “Niko had his reasons for choosing Mad as the donor, and I trusted them.”
Griff wasn’t so sure Mad had been fully apprised of the possibilities associated with giving his blood for Niko’s experimental treatment. It was the type of thing Mad would have told him and something they
would have discussed at length. He hoped for Niko’s sake that he’d been honest with Mad up front about the side effects, because if Mad discovered he’d been lied to, there would be hell to pay.
Stig brought the mugs of tea to the table along with spoons and some milk. “Avani, I need to apologize for what happened at Mad’s house. I shouldn’t have attacked you.”
She shrugged. “It was chaos. I can only imagine what it must have looked like when you two broke down the door to find me biting him.”
“I should have taken a moment to assess the situation more calmly.”
“We’re fine,” Avani assured him.
Ignatius’ stomach made a loud growling noise. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me. I missed dinner.”
Stig pushed the sugar bowl toward him. “You’ll have to make do with tea. Cora doesn’t trust me with her scone recipe yet.”
Taking his seat next to Ignatius, Stig said, “Cora will be thrilled to learn she’s no longer the only mate in the group.” Laughing, he added, “Expect a big basket of baked goods to drop onto your doorstep very soon.”
The mention of Stig’s pretty mate left Griff questioning the blood feud issue. It wouldn’t be as simple as declaring it over and done. Affairs like this were governed by archaic rules. “So, Ignatius, what happens with the feud between our families?”
Ignatius sat back and sighed. “Well—it was a blood feud. You can’t simply shake hands and call a truce.”
Griff bristled at the idea of causing Avani harm to satisfy the feud or vice versa. “If you think we’re going to fight and draw blood just to satisfy some stupid old feud, you are out of your damn mind.”
Ignatius tilted his head and pointed to Griff’s neck. “She’s already drawn blood. I doubt those marks are from the poison darts.”
Griff touched the mating bite that had been interrupted back in Mad’s bunker. He looked down at Avani who had fixed her attention on her mug of tea. There was no mistaking the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. “It’s part of the Naga mating ritual,” he explained. “They bite to cement the bond.”
“Biting?” Stig’s eyebrows waggled suggestively. “Kinky.”
Griff picked up the nearest spoon and flicked it at his friend’s chest. “Grow up.”
Ignatius ignored Stig’s dramatic protest of pain as the other dragon rubbed his chest. “Perhaps Avani could make a peace offering to your tribe.”
Avani exchanged a look with the Brotherhood’s leader. “You want me to give him the sword, don’t you?”
“You could always call it an engagement gift.” Ignatius smoothly maneuvered her into a corner.
Griff shifted uncomfortably. “We haven’t discussed that far into the future.”
She gripped his hand more tightly and winked at him. “But we will.”
His chest threatened to burst as his heart swelled. Not wanting her to feel pressured to give up the sword she’d taken from the Knights who had slaughtered her family, he said, “You don’t have to give up the sword. It’s yours to do with as you please.”
“It needs to be destroyed. I don’t need the leverage anymore.”
Because you’ve got me, he thought.
She turned her attention to Ignatius. “Will handing over the sword to Griffin as a peace offering satisfy the feud?”
“Only a handful of Griffin’s tribe remains. As long as no one files a grievance with Reynard, I’m sure he’ll put an official end to this tiresome matter.” Ignatius sat forward, grabbed his mug of steaming hot tea, and downed it all in one big gulp. He rose from the table and carried his mug to the sink. Turning back to face them, he said, “It’s time we pulled together. This war is ramping up again, and our numbers are dwindling while theirs remain steady.”
He gripped Stig’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “On that note, Stig and I really should leave the two of you. I’m sure you have more important things to discuss than blood feuds and missing cousins.”
Taking the hint, Stig finished off his tea and headed for the sink. “I’ll be staying upstairs until morning. If you need me to stay another few nights, I’m happy to do it.”
“No, I think we’ll be fine.” Griff didn’t think the Knights would be stupid enough to come after them again, not so soon after losing an entire team. He strongly suspected Stig was anxious to get home to Cora anyway.
“If you change your mind…” Stig trailed Ignatius to the door. He paused long enough to shoot them an encouraging smile. “Good luck.”
Finally alone, Griff shifted Avani’s position and threaded his fingers through her damp hair. He touched his lips to hers ever so briefly. “That went well.”
“Better than I’d expected,” she confessed. Her gaze skipped to the closed door. “Ignatius wasn’t nearly as intense as I’d expected him to be.”
“He’s mellowing a bit. I think some of that is Cora’s doing. She actually called him a marshmallow once.”
Avani’s eyes widened. “She’s a brave woman.”
He traced her pout. “So are you, Vonny. You blew me away tonight. I’ll admit that I worried you wouldn’t be able to look after yourself, especially after all that talk of fasting and denying your inner beast. Imagine how powerful you could be with some training.”
Excitement glinted in her eyes. “Would you teach me?”
“Yes.” He liked the idea of helping her become more skilled in protecting herself.
“But none of that sweaty brawling I caught you and Mad doing,” she said with a wag of her finger.
“Sweetheart, if we’re getting sweaty, I can guarantee you we won’t be brawling.”
“Oh?” Her eyes began to shift to that peridot color he found so incredibly beautiful. The enticing scent of her overwhelmed him. Remembering what they’d been up to when the Knights had attacked, Griff decided it was time to pick up right where they’d left off in the bunker.
“In fact, I think I’ll give you that first lesson right now…”
Chapter Nine
Nineteen Days Later
Avani stepped out of the shower and onto the plush bathmat. She dabbed at the wetness clinging to her skin and draped her towel on the bar. When she reached for her silk dressing gown, her fingers brushed the heavier fabric of Griffin’s robe. After their mating heat had ended, he’d decided to move most of his things to her home rather than travel back and forth between their living spaces. Even so, she still experienced the occasional moment of surprise at seeing his things around her home.
She grabbed the robe and pushed her face into the soft fabric around the neck. Inhaling his scent, she closed her eyes and imagined his handsome face. She wanted to trace the crinkly lines that appeared around his mouth when he smiled and brush her lips to his. Instead she found some comfort in his familiar scent.
He’d been gone for six days. The initial search for Madoc had been unsuccessful, but Griffin refused to give up looking for his cousin. ’ Mad was the closest thing Griffin had to a brother. He wouldn’t be able to rest until he’d found him. For her own part, Avani had prayed every night that Niko and Reynard would find Madoc and Ivy. She didn’t know if Griffin would ever recover from losing his best friend.
Thankfully she didn’t have to find out. The moment their mating heat had ended and it was safe for him to travel, Griffin had headed for Mexico. He’d been able to lock in on Madoc and Ivy within two days of his arrival. They’d mounted a rescue of the pair and had managed to get them to Niko’s estate, where Madoc and Ivy were now recuperating from their terrible ordeal. Griffin wouldn’t say what the two had endured, but the tension and anguish in his voice when he called told her it was something truly awful.
Though she wanted him home with her, Avani understood that Madoc needed Griffin. She’d encouraged him to stay with his cousin as long as he needed—even if she ached for her mate’s touch and scent.
With a sigh of longing, she released Griffin’s robe and slipped into her own. She made her way to the marble counter and let her gaze fall
onto the pregnancy test she’d taken before hopping into her morning shower. The test sat on top of its box at the far end of the counter. She didn’t have the courage to look at it yet. If the digital display had two words instead of one, she’d collapse into tears.
Studying her reflection, Avani tried to decide if she looked pregnant. She hadn’t been able to stay away from the Internet forums and websites catering to women trying to conceive. She knew all the very early pregnancy symptoms but wasn’t sure she exhibited any of them.
Untying the belt of her robe, she pushed aside the fabric and bared her breasts. She cupped her flesh. Did they feel heavier? Were they more sensitive? Her nipples looked darker, but it could have been her mind playing tricks on her.
She ran her hands down her abdomen and rested them on her belly. Why couldn’t she sense whether she was pregnant or not? What was the use in being a part of the dragon species and having so many strange gifts if she couldn’t even tell whether another life existed within her?
A strong pulse of heat and need streaked through her chest and into her core. She might not be able to tell whether she was pregnant, but she most certainly recognized that familiar beacon of energy. Griffin!
Desperate to see him, she rushed out of the master suite, down the hall, and onto the second-floor landing. She heard the door close a moment before he came into view. Standing there in his jeans and T-shirt with those rugged boots, he looked out of place in the upscale interior of her home. He grinned up at her, his sexy, mischievous smile making her belly flip-flop. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Griffin!” She started down the stairs but he hurried up them. He swept her into his big, strong arms and crushed his mouth to hers. She surrendered to his insistent, passionate kisses and wound her arms around his neck. When he finally let her breathe again, she dragged air into her lungs and smiled up at him. “I missed you.”
“Not as much as I missed you,” he replied, his eyes dark with yearning. “I couldn’t stay away a moment longer.” He pressed his lips to her neck. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”