Finn smiled tenderly at her, his eyes heating up again. “You’re really something special, you know that?” he said in a husky voice. “I’ve never met anyone so enchanting.”
He pulled her close to him again, putting his lips on hers and thirstily kissing her again. Anya immediately felt a thrill of excitement run through her body. The space between her legs, which had barely stopped throbbing from the attention of his fingers, started tingling again. The heat and electricity that had been fading a bit instantly surged back, and she moaned happily as his tongue danced in her mouth. He put his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest so that her hard nipples were pressed against his rough skin. The rubbing sensation sent a fresh wave of hot desire through her, and she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, trying to take in all the wondrous sensations that being with him caused. It was an overwhelming symphony of pleasure, and she could not imagine feeling happier than she did in that moment.
But she was about to feel happier, because in the next instant she felt his dick pushing at her, seeking her soft warmth. The water swirled around them in warm circles as Finn moved his hips until he was perfectly positioned right in front of her. And then, with one long, ragged sigh, he slid into her.
Anya felt like fireworks were going off inside her body. He stretched her inner walls and filled her in the most intoxicating manner, and even the very slightest movements that he made hit sensitive nerve endings and sent shocks through her. She pressed her hips forward to meet his, filled with wonder at how impossibly far into her body he reached.
He rocked his hips back and forth in a steady, thrusting motion that caused the fire burning in Anya’s body to slowly build, hotter and hotter. She felt the pressure within her building to the point of explosion again, and her breath came in an increasingly rapid rhythm. Just before she reached the climax of her passion, she opened her eyes. She wanted to memorize the way everything looked in this moment. Finn’s face was inches from her own, his eyes squeezed shut in perfect concentration as he moved in her. The water droplets in his hair still glistened in the bright sunlight. Behind him, the deep green of leaves was accented by the rich brown of tree trunks. The sky above them was robin’s egg blue, and the water swirling around their hips was clear as crystal. Anya looked down to see the skin of Finn’s chest pressed against her breasts. The sight of her own full breasts pressed against his muscular body turned her on, and she shuddered from the fresh wave of electric passion that rushed through her.
Finn felt her shudder, and opened his eyes to look at her. She looked up at him, and lost herself in the deep green of his gaze. His eyes seemed to burn as he looked at her, and the intimacy of looking at each other while their bodies were connected was too much for her to take. She could hold back no longer, and let out a stifled scream as she came again, hard and fast. Her inner muscles squeezed his dick tightly, and her mouth opened wide as she gasped for air, trying to catch her breath as the glorious waves of passion washed over her. She never closed her eyes, though, and neither did he.
He continued to look at her, seeming to see right into her soul as he thrust again and again, his powerful hips claiming her for his own. And then, while she was still trembling from the aftershocks of her own pleasure, he stiffened and thrust into her even harder than before. She could feel his steel shaft throbbing inside of her as he gave himself to her. The movement prolonged her own throbbing, sending a fresh rush of heat through her body.
Their eyes never moved. His gaze remained locked with hers, and in that intimate moment, she felt like she was seeing into someone’s soul for the first time in her life.
His was a dragon soul. Perfect, noble, and hers. She did close her eyes then, leaning against him with a soft whimper of happiness. She had never imagined that happiness could reach so deep into the very fabric of one’s being, but she knew in that moment that Finn had made her the most joyful woman alive.
Chapter Thirteen
Finn lay on his back on the mossy riverbank, completely naked as he stared up at the azure sky above him. He smiled as his fingers curled around Anya’s, still unable to believe that she was actually his. The last thing he had expected when he had flown out of Falcon Cross last week was to find a lifemate in the midst of the search for the dragon amethyst, but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. No wonder his clan members who had found love were always so happy. If he’d known that finding your lifemate felt so amazing, he would have been searching for Anya long ago.
Of course, he probably wouldn’t have found her until now, anyway. That was the funny thing about destiny. You could try to control your fate all you wanted to, but somehow things happened when they needed to happen. Trying to speed up the process only resulted in frustration.
No matter what the reason that it had taken this long for Anya to cross his path, Finn was just glad she had crossed it. She made him feel complete as a man, a feeling he hadn’t even realized he’d been missing. And, of course, it didn’t hurt that she was the most beautiful, intelligent woman he’d ever met. He could not possibly have hoped for anyone better.
Finn could have lay there forever, but he knew they needed to get back to the campsite. If they stayed out here too long, one of the others would come looking for them again, and they would have to endure a fresh round of teasing. Not that Finn minded all that much. After all, there were worse things to be teased about than winning the affection of a woman like Anya. With a sigh, Finn sat up and let Anya’s fingers slide from his. She looked over at him with a quizzical expression, shadowing her eyes with the palm of her hand so she could see him. She was still naked, too, and he paused for a moment to admire the way her curves glowed in the afternoon sunlight. But only for a moment.
“We should get dressed and get back,” he said. “Peter and Knox are going to want to discuss what our next steps are. I’ve already stayed away much longer than I should have. I was sent to fetch you, not to make love to you. Although, I’m sure they figured we were going to have a little fun.”
Finn winked at Anya, and a pink blush crept up into her cheeks. She groaned.
“Are we that obvious?” she asked.
Finn laughed. “It’s hard not to be out here, with everyone in such close quarters at the campsite. It’s pretty clear what we’re doing if we sneak away together.”
Anya sighed. “I suppose you’re right. All the more reason to find the dragon amethyst as soon as possible so we can spend some time together without everyone being in our business. What are the next steps, by the way? Do Peter and Knox have a plan?”
“Not really,” Finn said, and he could not keep the hint of frustration from his voice. “We covered a lot of ground, flying around the area to see whether Saul’s soldiers had followed us at all. But nothing looked suspicious. They either didn’t see us come this way, or they just don’t care that we’re here. But I don’t see what the point was in scouting out this area, anyway. Peter and Knox want to set up a temporary headquarters, but it doesn’t do us much good to sit here, even if we are safe. The dragon amethyst is still under danger of falling into the wrong hands, and we still have no idea how we’re going to get it. We’re wasting time right now, and we don’t have time to waste.”
Finn saw Anya frown and furrow her brow, then shake her head slightly.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy for saying this,” she said. “But I don’t think the dragon amethyst is in Devil’s Melt.”
Finn raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Why do you say that?” he asked.
Anya shrugged. “Just a hunch,” she said.
“A hunch?” Finn said, unable to keep the frustration from his tone. “Anya, we’ve had a lot of really smart people looking over the amethyst records, and they all agree that the amethyst must be in Devil’s Melt. Saul’s men obviously think so, too. Unless you have a solid reason for that hunch, I’d say it doesn’t do us much good.”
“Well…” Anya said slowly. She looked like she wanted to say more, but then she clamped he
r mouth shut. Finn didn’t tell her that Izzy and Owen also thought the dragon amethyst wasn’t in Montana. Unless someone could give him a solid idea of where else it might be, he didn’t see the point in turning their focus away from Devils Melt.
Finn pulled his clothes back on, and tossed Anya the Falcon Cross military uniform that was lying on the ground beside the river. Izzy must have given her that to wear so that she would have fresh clothes. Anya dressed in silence, but her brow never unfurrowed. When she was finished pulling on the uniform, Finn let out a whistle.
“That looks good on you,” he said. Anya blushed, but looked pleased.
“It was nice of Izzy to lend it to me,” she said. “Although I think it actually belongs to Raven.”
Finn laughed. “Nice of Izzy to give away Raven’s clothes, eh?”
Anya smiled, and her face relaxed a bit. She gathered up her other clothes, which were still hanging on nearby tree branches to dry.
“Shall we head back?” she asked. “I can hang these by the fire later to finish drying.”
Finn nodded. “Yeah, let’s get back to camp.”
They fell into step beside each other, both lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes. Finally, Anya broke the silence.
“Speaking of Raven, I read some of her notes from a meeting about the dragon amethyst.”
“Oh?” Finn asked. Izzy had told Finn that Anya had spent the morning looking over notes about the dragon amethyst, but he didn’t really expect Anya to have any new insights. There was a lot of information to go through, and most of it was only background information. It didn’t offer much in the way of clues as to where the amethyst might actually be.
“Yeah, it looks like she was really interested in a riddle about a dragon claw and forest claw. Do you know which one I’m talking about?” Anya asked.
Finn could not keep himself from laughing. “Oh, I know that riddle,” he said. “One of the wizard Advocates, Harlow, is obsessed with it. She’s convinced it’s the key to finding the dragon amethyst, but I don’t know why. It doesn’t seem to me that it’s any more important than any of the other riddles. And if you spent as much time reading through our amethyst records today as Izzy said you did, I’m sure you saw that there are a lot of damn riddles. And most of them don’t make any damn sense.”
“There are a lot of riddles,” Anya agreed. “But I think Harlow’s right. I think the claw riddle means something important.”
Finn did his best not to let out a sigh of exasperation. After all, he’d told the rest of the crew that it would be good to have a fresh set of eyes on the amethyst records, and Anya was providing that fresh set of eyes. He should let her have her say.
“Why do you think that?” Finn asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. But Anya only shrugged, adding to Finn’s frustration.
“I dunno,” she said. “It just reminds me of something. But I can’t think what.”
Finn chewed his lower lip to keep from making a smartass comment. He knew Anya was smart, but she wasn’t showing it right now. This war would not be won on hunches and feelings. They needed concrete answers on where the amethyst was.
They walked in silence for another minute or two, and had almost reached the campsite when Anya stopped short and snapped her fingers.
“Oh my god,” she said. “I know where the amethyst is.”
Finn stopped short, too, then. “What? Where? And how do you know?”
“It’s not in Montana at all,” Anya said. “It’s in the California Redwoods.”
Ordinarily, Finn would have snorted in laughter at a suggestion like that. He’d been born and raised in the California Redwoods, and knew those forests better than almost anyone. If you’d asked him just twenty-four hours ago, he would have told you that he was certain that there were no dragon stones in the redwoods.
But twenty-four hours ago, he’d also been sure that he would never truly love a woman, especially not a human. Yet here he was, head over heels for his beautiful, human lifemate. And even though his head screamed at him that she didn’t know what she was talking about, his heart whispered to him to listen to her. He chose in that moment to listen to the whisper.
“How do you know that?” he asked, his heart pounding as he waited for her answer. He did his best to suspend disbelief. Was it truly possible that she knew where the dragon amethyst was, and that it had been hiding right under their noses this whole time?
“I remember now why I thought the riddle sounded so familiar,” Anya said, her voice growing more excited with every word she spoke. “My father was a botanist, too. He loved nature, and especially plants, and he took me on a lot of trips with him to see different forests and expose me to many different kinds of vegetation. Once, when I was very young, we went to see the Redwoods in northern California. I mean the ones in the very north of California, almost at the border of Oregon. I know we hiked and camped for days, although I don’t remember a great deal from our trip. I do remember that my dad seemed to always be looking for something, although he didn’t say what it was he was looking for.”
“Was it the dragon amethyst?” Finn interrupted, unable to believe that he had somehow run across a human whose father had known about a dragon stone. But Anya was shaking her head no.
“I don’t know that it was the amethyst,” she said. “I’m not sure he knew that such things existed. But he was looking for what he called the ‘forest claw.’”
Finn felt the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as Anya spoke. She was onto something, and he knew it. The excitement in her face was causing her skin to practically glow, and Finn reached out and took her by the shoulders, unable to stand still any longer.
“And did he find it?” Finn asked. “What was the forest claw?”
Anya was nodding vigorously. “He told me later that he’d only heard rumors of it, and he wasn’t sure that the rumors were true. But he did find it in the end. The forest claw is a large redwood root that sticks out from a cliff into open air right in front of a waterfall. The root is shaped like a giant claw. It almost looks like a dragon claw, in fact. Behind the waterfall is a hidden cave. I never saw the cave. My dad climbed up the rocky cliff next to the waterfall and disappeared behind it into the cave. He wouldn’t let me go with him, because I was so young and he was afraid I would fall from the cliff if I attempted the climb. But I’ll never forget his face when he came back from looking at the cave. I asked him what he had seen, and he shook his head in wonder and just said, ‘Anya, it’s true. The place is magical. Actually magical. I thought the guy who told me that was out of his mind, but it’s true.’ That’s all he would say. I don’t know how he knew about the place, or who the man was that told him where to find it. I was so young, so everything from that trip is a bit fuzzy in my memory. My dad did take a picture of me in front of the forest claw waterfall, though. He framed it and it hung on his wall until the day he died. He always said it was one of his favorite pictures of me, but he never actually referred to the scenery as the forest claw after we left the redwoods, which is why I’d forgotten where I’d heard the name.”
“Do you know how to find the spot again?” Finn asked. He was trying to remain calm, but his heart was pounding faster with every passing second. He knew deep in his soul that Anya was right. Somehow, this forest claw waterfall was the key to finding the dragon amethyst.
“I don’t have any idea how to get there,” Anya said. “But my dad kept meticulous notes anytime he was exploring a forest. When he died I couldn’t bear to throw them out, so I still have them all. They’re in a small storage unit back in Idaho. If we find the notebook from that trip, I’m sure we’ll be able to find the spot again.”
Finn squeezed Anya’s shoulders and then pulled her tight against his chest. “Anya, Love, I think you might have just won this war for us,” he said.
He felt Anya shrug. “Well, don’t get too excited yet,” she said. “We have to see first whether we can find the spot again. And even if we find the spo
t, who knows whether there will actually be an amethyst there or not. There are still a lot of things that might not work out the way we want.”
But Finn was having none of Anya’s modesty. “Are you kidding me?” he said, pulling back to look at her. “You just described a magical place known as the forest claw. And our smartest wizard Advocate is convinced that the forest claw is the key to finding the amethyst. I have a feeling this is the big break we’ve been looking for.”
Anya looked back at him with eyes that still held uncertainty. She was opening her mouth to say something when Finn heard footsteps approaching them through the forest. He turned, tensing up as he faced the direction the sound was coming from. He relaxed when he saw that it was only Owen, pushing through the thick brush to get to them.
“Hey you two lovebirds,” he said with a grin. “Are you coming back to camp or what? Peter and Knox want to hold a powwow, and they’re getting tired of waiting on the two of you.”
“Oh, we’re gonna hold a powwow alright,” Finn said. “Wait until you hear what Anya’s just told me.”
Owen gave Finn and Anya both a quizzical look, but then pointed the way toward the campsite.
“I’m all ears,” Owen said.
“As you should be,” Finn said. “Anya accidentally stumbling across our group might just be the best thing that could have happened to us.”
Finn grabbed Anya’s hand and pulled her toward the campsite. He saw her cheeks turning pink again as she blushed under his praise, but this only made her lovelier. His heart was full as they walked back to the rest of the group with what he hoped was the answer to their prayers.
Chapter Fourteen
Anya took a deep nervous breath, and did her best to give Peter and Knox a convincing smile.
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