“I understand, my friend.” He walked up and clapped Charlie on the shoulder. “My dragon has been loud as well. I’ve been walking around with my skin on fire since Tuesday, so believe me, I understand.”
Charlie nodded his head in acknowledgment and went back to the head of the driveway to peer through the trees and watch for their mates.
*
As Kai and Charlie continued to stand hidden in the shadows of the building they had been staked out at for the last two hours, mired down in their own thoughts, the women exited the Melrose Mansion and started walking down Esplanade Avenue towards Decatur Street. The men quickly followed making sure to keep enough distance and other pedestrians between them and the women so they wouldn’t be seen. He and Charlie had worked together long enough that they didn’t have to talk; they worked seamlessly and just seemed to know what the other was going to do. So they stayed quiet and walked down Esplanade Avenue behind the women. Women, who had, without knowing it, become everything to them.
He watched as his mate and her friends walked up and joined a tour at the Jax Brewery. With the first stop the tour made after the brewery, Charlie looked at Kai, “They’re going on a pub hop?”
“This can’t be good.” Kai responded.
“Well, look at it this way Kai, at least there’ll be plenty of people around to hide us.” Charlie said sarcastically. Kai just shook his head and motioned for Charlie to follow him. They walked across the street from the establishment where the lasses were watching a bartender pour Absinthe, while their tour guide was talking non-stop to the group. Kai looked over at Charlie, who grinned and said, “Whaa whaa whaa wa wah.”
“Very funny, Charlie Brown.” Kai responded with a laugh, remembering when he and Charlie had watched the Charlie Brown holiday specials together as kids. For weeks after that they would pretend that all the adults sounded like the cartoon ones. It was good to see a bit of the friend he was used to seeing. This mate business had him wound so tight, Kai was sure he was going to bust a part.
After several stops along the tour, Kai watched his mate come stumbling out of the most recent tour destination. He had a feeling his mate couldn’t hold her liquor. Not to mention the fact that they hadn’t eaten that Kai had seen. Kai did not like this. The three women were walking arm in arm down the sidewalks through a very busy French Quarter. They followed the rest of the tour group; oblivious to the inebriated men they passed checking them out.
“Charlie, what should we do?” Kai asked. His voice was rough and he fought back his dragon, who wanted him to shift and protect his mate.
Charlie looked at him and grinned, “Not so easy to watch them walking around so oblivious, is it?” He laughed as Kai growled at him, for the first time showing how stressed he really was about Alvena.
“Yeah, well isn’t that your mate chatting up that balding fellow in their tour group?” Kai responded with an evil grin as Charlie turned and growled. Nat was currently surrounded by Alvena and Rogue, no man in sight.
“Oh, so now you think you’re funny do you?”
As Charlie had turned to him, a man did in fact walk up to the women who were waiting to enter their next stop on their tour. He leaned against a railing and gave Alvena the look. The wind picked up. He touched her arm and Kai growled. No fucking way. Before he realized what he was doing, he was three steps forward and Charlie was pulling him back to the shadows. Clouds were billowing and covering the setting sun.
“Now who needs to calm the fuck down? Kai control your ability. You cannot fry the tosser with lightning.” Charlie said as lightning flashed and he fought to hold Kai back.
Kai’s eyes never left Alvena. He watched as she smiled and said something to the man, who then turned and went back to his friends that were sitting at some outside tables of the pub the girls were entering. He took in some deep breaths. Realizing how far he had lost it and worked to pull his ability and dragon back into control. The wind died and the clouds drifted off into the sky.
“This is going to be one fucking long night.” Kai sighed.
“Definitely.” Charlie agreed.
The guys continued to watch as the girls’ tour guide droned on about the history of cocktails in the Quarter and Kai couldn’t help but wish for the night to be over. His dragon was furious that Kai wasn’t going in and pulling his mate over his shoulder and carrying her back to his place. His skin itched to shift and burn every man that looked her way to a crisp. Sometimes, it was good to have the ability to shift into a dragon. Kai grinned to himself and looked over at Charlie; he could tell his friend’s thoughts were pretty much the same as his own. The way his hands clenched each time a man glanced at the women.
Charlie was lucky though, if things got dicey, he could ghost in and put the men to sleep with just a touch of his hand to their skin. It was times like this that he envied his friends ability. He and Charlie both knew they needed to hold back, but it was nice to know that they had the option. It wasn’t like Kai could use his ability and fry them with lightning while they were inside a pub. Yeah, there were times it was good to be a dragon, and there were times it wasn’t.
“Kai, I don’t like my mate out here like this. Do you see those men looking at her? One step closer to her and I’m going to hurt them, Kai." Charlie stated in complete seriousness.
“I’m with you my brother.” Kai said as he watched a man begin speaking to the women. “At the next stop, we’re following them in.” Kai growled. “No one else is going to make a pass at my mate.” A little voice in the back of Kai’s mind was reminding him about his lack of intelligence in letting him and Charlie follow their mates. Fuck off! Kai growled at the little voice.
So, at the next pub, Kai and Charlie held the door for some tourists and followed them inside. They hid behind the tourist’s noise and camera flashes as they made their way into the dark pub. Kai quickly saw their mates and made his way to a table hidden behind a support post that was within earshot and sight of them. Charlie pulled out a chair across from him and sat down.
It was torture to be this close to his mate and not be able to touch her. Kai listened to the women’s laughter. Alvena’s giggle going straight to his already hard shaft and making him have to adjust in his seat. He had been at least half hard since seeing her, and the ache felt like it would never be alleviated. But, the need to have her in his arms just intensified tenfold with the sound of her giggle and the smell of her drifting to him on the air. Maybe we should have stayed outside. Damn, she smells so good. Kai would be able to identify his mate’s smell in a room twice this size. Alvena wore a unique combination of scents from the floral smell of her shampoo to the spicy cinnamon smell of her skin. Kai’s mind kept flashing scenes of her laid out on his bed, her curves begging to be touched, her skin needing to be tasted. Shite. I hope they come in to the tattoo shop tomorrow. I can’t wait to make her mine. He looked over to see Charlie sitting ramrod straight, his hands clenched in fists on the table top. Kai had a feeling that his friend was holding on by a thread.
“So, Al-ly wow-ly, should we go see your manly wanly tomorrow?” They overheard Rogue ask.
“Oh, stop it Rogue! I told you he’s not mine.” Alvena responded.
“He is until someone else claims him Al.” Nat chimed in.
“Oh, I like how you think, Nat. He didn’t mention a girlfriend and didn’t have a ring on.” Alvena said dreamily.
Who the fuck is she talking about? Kai thought.
“Al, I’m just sayin’ with a body that fine, I’ll take Kai if you don’t want him.” Rogue said a little too loudly.
“Hell no, who says you get to have him?” Nat whined.
“No way girls, I’m the only one who gets to sniff him.” Alvena slurred to her friends as she ordered another round of drinks from the waitress.
“Sniff him? I want to do a lot more than sniff him? My god. I can’t get his gorgeous ass out of my head.” Rogue replied.
“Hey, hey… go get your own dream man. And yes, s
niff him. He has the most divine smell. It makes me want to do things to him.” Alvena interrupted her friend.
Kai couldn’t help but grin. So, his mate was having thoughts about him. Hearing her talk about liking something about him made him feel good, but hearing the possessive tone in her voice when she responded to her friends, made him want to strut around like a peacock. Oh, how I like this possessive side of her. He thought with pleasure.
“I suggest licking. I wouldn’t mind licking him right across that big, muscularly broad chest of his. I mean his ass is great Rogue and I’m sure his smell is lovely Al, but he's just so… so… BIG!” Nat said looking at her feet.” I wonder if what they say about a guy’s feet is true?” She continued in a very breathy voice.
The women’s next words were lost in their laughter and the sound of Charlie’s chair scraping across the floor as he stood up, looking at Kai, the look of a pissed off black panther showing through his partially shifted eyes. Yeah, Charlie was hanging by a thread all right.
“I love you like a brother Kai, but just you remember, you only get one mate and that woman is mine. You even look at her the wrong way and it won’t matter how long we’ve known each other.” Charlie seethed before turning to walk out the door of the pub. Kai watched his friend leave, figuring he needed some time by himself to get his control back.
“Hey girls I think the tour is leaving.” Alvena yelled as she rushed to get her bag and follow the tour group.
Guess I’m not going to get to hear any more about what my mate thinks of me tonight. Kai thought to himself. He threw some bills on the table for the waitress, then tried to get past the tour group without being seen. The girls were towards the back of the group, but had a couple people between them and Kai.
“Rogue,” Alvena growled, “you and Nat need to just get that man out of your minds. Kai is mine.” Kai overheard her as he passed behind the group. The women were struggling to help each other get their tabs settled as he slipped past them. He couldn’t help but grin as he made it out the door to join Charlie, who was waiting on the other side of the street from the pub.
With a single look Kai asked Charlie if he was okay and Charlie gave Kai a nod as they began walking behind the tour group, which appeared to be headed back to the Jax Brewery. Thank the Great Spirit for small favors.
Once back at their starting point, the tour was over and their tour guide made sure that no one was driving and everyone was okay to get back to their hotels on their own before going on his own way. The guys watched as the girls stumbled down the street, giggling the whole way back to the Melrose.
***
As he followed the women back down Decatur, his thoughts returned to all of his failures. He was still steamed that the tire hadn’t caused the car to flip. He was sure it would work. What woman knows enough to properly handle a vehicle when a tire blows? Not to mention, the explosive that was supposed to have blown by the gas tank and make the car explode, which didn’t happen either. The device must have been defective. That’s what he got for trusting someone else to purchase his equipment. Live and learn. It wouldn’t happen again.
The drinking tour would have been a great chance to get his target alone, but between all of the pedestrians and her friends, he couldn’t get near enough to her. When his nerves were beyond frayed and he was tired of waiting, he had pulled down the bill of his cap and approached her. When he had invited her to have a drink in the bar with him, she had declined. It would have been so easy to take her out the back door. He wasn’t the type to give up after only the one pass, but as he was about to work his charm on her, he noticed the man from the airport. What the fuck had he been doing there? He was with a friend that appeared to be pulling him back, but the man seemed determined to get to the woman, so he had taken her denial and pretended to go back to a table with some friends. Good thing people that came to New Orleans expected to be approached by strangers. They had welcomed him for a beer.
As the night wore on, the airport man and his friend had continued to follow the women. It didn’t appear that he would get close enough tonight to finish the job, but he stuck with them. Maybe he would get a break when they hit Esplanade and he could grab her and drag her into an alley. With the women’s inebriated state, he could slit his target’s throat and be on his way before her friends even cried out.
He searched for the two men, whom he hadn’t seen for the last half an hour. They had disappeared after the last stop on the tour. It was hard to believe they would give up after staying with the women for so long, but he didn’t understand the minds of other people. Most people worried about what others thought and how others felt. As a mercenary, he didn’t have that problem. It’s one of the things that made him so good at his job. The other was his ability to blend and hide in plain sight.
Two men were approaching the women on the sidewalk ahead. If he timed it right, he could come up behind the women just after the men passed, which would hide his footsteps until it was too late for her to get away. But, just as he picked up his pace, the two men passed the women and promptly turned around to approach them. Then out of the shadows came two hulking forms. One form reached out with both hands and wrapped them around the necks of the men who were approaching the women. He couldn’t see what the form did, but the two men began to fall to the sidewalk. The two forms caught the men before they hit the ground and carried them into the very alley he had planned to drag his target.
Fuck. The women had protectors. It had to be the man from the airport and his friend. They obviously were well trained to take out the two men like that. He watched and nothing came out of the alley and the women continued to laugh and stagger down the road to their hotel.
This was going to be a problem.
Chapter 5
Al stumbled into her and Rogue’s hotel room, too much to drink and too much talk of one sexy man with a brogue, had her falling to sleep with thoughts of him on her mind.
*
Al opened her eyes to a wide-open grassy field. She looked down to find herself in a gauzy white gown that stopped at her ankles. Her bare feet poked out and she wiggled her toes. She couldn’t help but notice that she really needed a manicure. The green nail polish was chipped in several places and her nails had grown out to leave an 1/8 inch of unpolished nail. Funny how she had never been much of a girly-girl, but had always loved nail polish. She had bottles and bottles of the stuff at home. Home.
“Where am I?” She said to the field in front of her as she looked up and out across the vast distance.
She heard the screech of an eagle on the wind that had picked up. It was blowing the tall grass in front of her in waves and had her gown billowing out around her. The lite material was no protection and as it moved in the breeze, she saw the light shine through it.
“I hope no one can see me.” Her eyes scanned the field as she turned in a big circle.
The grass stretched as far as she could see in one direction, but a forest appeared to circle in around at least two sides of her vision. Grass and trees. She wondered what she should do; walk into the grass or towards the trees. She peered into the shadows and saw things just outside of the reach of the light.
“Yeah… not going there.” She turned and began walking into the grass.
The sun appeared to be setting, the sky was shot full of the colors of sunset: reds, oranges, pinks, and purples. She loved this time of the day.
Continuing to walk, she hummed a tune off key. She had always loved music, but could swear she was tone deaf. She had always enjoyed artistic pursuits in general, art, music, sewing, crafts, and the like. Oh, and she loved books. Had always loved books. Never had enough books.
“Hmmm, where’s my hero?” All the heroines in her books had heroes.
She was amazed that she didn’t feel cold, her feet didn’t bother her, and she wasn’t winded from walking. She glanced back the way she had come from and could no longer see the trees. The sky had darkened to dusk, a black with a warm glow. No
t quite dark, not quite light.
A flash of lightning. And another.
Al sucked in a breath at the amazing display of electricity. She loved lightning.
It was getting dark and she couldn’t see anything or anyone. Nothing but grass and sky. There really was no reason to continue walking. She should get some rest and continue on in the morning. Besides, she could lie down and watch the show in the sky. So, she squatted and pressed down the grass around her to make a sort of mattress to lie on.
As she laid back, another flash of lightning swept across the sky above her. It lit up the whole world around her.
“How beautiful.” She breathed.
She lay there watching the sky and listening to the wind shushing through the grass. It was very relaxing and she soon found her eyes drifting closed. She tried to keep them open, but her eye lids were so heavy. They had only been closed a few moments when she was no longer alone.
Al felt hands moving up her body. Thank god. She had been waiting so long to feel their touch. The callused finger tips caressed up her calves and pushed the gauzy material up with them. As the fingers tickled at her knees, she felt warm lips nibbling at her ankles and then following the path of the hands.
She desperately wanted to open her eyes to see her phantom, but her eyelids had weights keeping them sealed closed. She could still see the flashes of lightning against her eyelids. It flashed stronger, brighter, and more often against the backs of the curtains across her vision.
As the lips reached her knee, they pulled back and Al couldn’t help but whimper.
“Don’t leave.” Her hands reached out for her hero.
Yes, it was her hero. He had come. She struggled against the invisible bonds of her blissful lethargy.
“Shh, lass, I’ve got you.” Whispered across her ears and soothed her into complacence.
Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) Page 6