As she dropped her clothes onto the chair next to the bath, she felt that strange sensation of being watched, except now, it was even more intense. It sent a chill down her spine that burst into a lightning strike of arousal in her core. She slipped into the warm water and thought about going out on a date with Ragnar, the massive, brooding, silent mountain of a man. Her finger slipped over her clit, stroking quickly and assertively as she brought herself to climax. Her nipples pricked hard as she threw her head back.
"Oh, Ragnar," she moaned as the last vibrations of her orgasm pulsed through her.
She heard a growl, and her eyes shot open.
"Hello?" She shot to her feet. Bubbles streamed down her body as she stepped from the bath and pulled on her bathrobe. "Is someone there?"
She’d heard a very audible growl. It couldn't have just been her imagination, could it? Grabbing a towel, she began to pat her hair dry, shaking her head at herself.
"I'm really starting to lose it. I must really need to get laid."
She walked into her kitchen and threw a high-end, organic frozen dinner into the oven. While it cooked, she dressed. The entire time, she felt as though she was being watched. Her body was on high alert, aroused, and wouldn't seem to calm down. The next time she saw the Storm men, she didn't know what she would do with herself.
Krista was a woman who was used to being in control, and now she felt totally out of control, betrayed by her own body. She’d let her need for attention, companionship, and sex go denied for too long. Now she was paying the price.
When she was dressed in her silk pajamas and slippers, she went to the kitchen and retrieved her dinner from the oven. Sitting alone at the table, she went over some work files and ate her meal. By the time she was done, it was rather late, so she brushed her teeth and climbed into the bed, grabbing one of the sexy novels she read on rare occasions when she needed a little comfort.
Feeling the fatigue grip her, she put down her book and turned out the light, quickly falling asleep. Her dreams were filled with Yuki, Akash, and Ragnar doing all kinds of naughty things to her in every way imaginable—and some that were beyond even the scope of her conscious imagination. She woke to her sex clenching between her legs with a gasp on her lips. As she came to awareness, she couldn't help feeling that she was not alone. It was beginning to become intensely unnerving. Maybe she should book an appointment with a psychologist.
By the time Krista made it to work that morning with her large caramel macchiato in hand, she felt like an out-of-control teenager on the brink of a nervous breakdown. She called the Storms to let them know when she’d be available to show them properties. They offered to meet her there.
When she arrived at her destination, she didn’t know what to expect from herself. She found the guys’ car waiting at the front gate. She opened it via remote control, and they all drove through. They parked in front of the Greek Revival mansion with tall pillars that reached to the third floor. At the center of the circular driveway was a fountain with a statue of Zeus, casting down his lightning bolts in the nude. She thought perhaps this feature would be attractive to the Storms, since they all reminded her of Greek gods.
"I'm glad you found it all right." She smiled nervously as she got out of the car. Her pussy hummed with need. They turned to look at her, eyes all boring into her soul. Her nipples pricked with arousal when Yuki flashed a smile, and Ragnar stepped closer.
Akash was the first to speak. "Yes, your directions were excellent."
“Good, thank you, Akash. As you can see, this house is right at the edge of a cliff. We are at about two thousand feet above sea level in the ascent up Mount Rainier. If you wanted to fortify your fortress, this would be the place." She laughed. They all made sounds of agreement and followed her inside. She showed them the various features of the interior. Inside the foyer, a staircase swept up to the second floor with a gracefully curving banister of pure oak.
She showed them into the front sitting room, the banquet hall, the massive kitchen, the library, and the study, which were all on the first floor. In the basement, they visited the indoor pool and bowling alley. On the second floor were more bedrooms, and then on the third floor was an interesting feature. It was almost completely open and something of an observatory, with a domed roof and a built-in high-powered telescope.
"This is quite interesting," Akash mused.
Yuki immediately began to tinker with the equipment. "It works."
"The previous owner was a meteorologist.”
Akash and Yuki got lost in exploring the observatory equipment. Krista was left standing beside Ragnar on the opposite side of the room. They were hidden behind a bookshelf, and he turned to her, deep hunger in his eyes.
"You are the most beautiful woman on this planet," he growled in a low voice.
"I don't think—" She was cut off by his lips pressing aggressively against hers. His tongue slipped into her mouth. They kissed, hungrily, their tongues lashing against each other. Krista threw her arms around his neck as he crushed her to him. She groaned, feeling the desire build. He gripped her backside with both hands and pulled her against his massive erection.
"What's this?" Akash said in a not completely unpleasant voice. She gasped and turned around, embarrassed at being caught.
"We were…"
"It's perfectly all right. I'm sorry I interrupted. He disappeared again, and she turned back to Ragnar, laughing at the circumstance.
"I will take you out tonight," he said. “I have plans."
Chapter 6
Ragnar fiddled with the tie around his neck, frowning and grumbling under his breath. "Is it necessary to wear this strangulation device?"
"It is a human custom. You do want to show Krista you're taking this seriously, don't you?" Akash asked.
He growled again, unhappy with Akash’s clothing choice. This was the second time he’d forced Ragnar to wear a three-piece suit and a tie. They were restrictive, uncomfortable, and offered no protection or freedom of movement. "Why do humans wear such garments? They are completely impractical for fighting."
"You aren’t going to be fighting tonight." Yuki sat on the bed in their hotel room with his legs crossed as he looked at a human mechanical engineering magazine. Ragnar was irritated that both Akash and Yuki were adapting to life on Earth more readily than he was. He'd spent his entire life a warrior in active combat. And that was all he’d ever wanted to do. For almost a thousand years, he'd fought vampires in battle after battle. Very little of his time had ever been spent on leave in the niceties of civilian life. Unlike Akash, who was professor or Yuki who’d escaped experiencing the direct horrors of battle in his work repairing starships, Ragnar was a fighter, a hand-to-hand combat veteran, who'd seen the bloodiest, most violent battles in Dragonia's history.
He’d nearly stayed on Dragonia to go down with the ship. But Hanish had convinced him to come with the last of the members of the House of Storms. Hanish, his captain, was a warrior himself, tried and true and hardened by years of battle. Ragnar had served with both him and Yuki for many hundreds of years. But without battles to fight, Ragnar was unsure of who he was or what role he played in this new world. How could he woo a woman who had no idea he was even a dragon? He had watched her the night before, slinking in the shadows like a thief while she bathed. This was not Ragnar's way, not in the least.
He’d almost made himself known as he watched her bring her body to climax. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld, and he hated that he couldn't share it with her. But he’d kept silent at the demands of both Yuki and Akash. The vampires had not appeared during his watch, but he would not let his guard down on their date tonight. He longed to be close to her. The captain and prince of the House of Flames, Kian, insisted they wait until they knew they were a match and were verified by the mating analysis before he took it further than a kiss.
Ragnar wasn’t willing to wait any longer. He needed to be with her. He needed to feel her, taste her, know her. The
kiss they had shared earlier that day had been the most poignant moment of his entire life, even after a thousand years and countless battles—even the moment they’d left their home planet behind and watched their sun implode into a black hole. Kissing Krista was indelibly embedded in his consciousness and would be for the rest of his life. He needed no other proof that she was his mate. But he would not claim her without the leave of his captain and the rest of his crew. He knew the process.
For a mate to be claimed by more than one dragon, all of them had to be present at once. If he mated with her, he knew his dragon would not resist claiming her, and then he would invalidate the claims of both Yuki and Akash. As appealing as that sounded to his inner dragon, Ragnar was loyal to the House of Storms and would never betray them in that way, no matter how painful it might be to hold back his desires and impulses. He had been through many harrowing trials in his long life, but this would be the hardest.
He checked his cell phone, which had been connected to the ship’s AI and his internal link, making information flow even faster. He saw that it was almost time to go. The AI gave him GPS directions, and he shoved his human wallet in his pocket. Rather than using gold or digital currency, humans had what were called dollars. And he needed to have those if he wanted to pay for anything on the date.
"I'm off then," Ragnar said. "Don't wait up."
"Don't forget what Hanish said," Akash said. "Do not claim her.”
"I would never take the choice from her, and I would never betray my house."
"Good man." Akash slapped him on the shoulder.
"We know we can count on you, Ragnar," Yuki said.
Ragnar nodded once, appreciating the confidence of his crewmates. He turned and left the hotel room, headed downstairs, bought a bouquet of flowers in the lobby, hopped in the Maserati he’d just purchased for the House of Storms, and drove across the street to Krista’s building. A moment later, he stood at her door with the bouquet in hand, tugging at his tie. He wanted to get rid of it more than anything. But he was determined to show Krista he took her very seriously. He knocked, and she opened the door, dressed in a skin-tight red dress with a plunging neckline that revealed her ample and delicious bosom. He had seen her completely bare, a site that was burned on his brain, but seeing her in this dress, he grew hard immediately and lowered the bouquet to disguise it. His dragon roared inside his mind, and Ragnar used every bit of his warrior training to calm himself.
"Oh, thank you." She took the bouquet of pink roses and sniffed their sweet fragrance. "These are beautiful. Come on in while I put them in water.”
Krista sauntered into the living room, her hips swaying alluringly. She bent at the waist and pulled a vase out of a lower cabinet. Her ample behind glowed like a beacon to his eyes. He wanted to run across the room, lift her dress, and thrust into her warm, wet core. But he closed his eyes, pressing them tightly shut as he gritted his teeth and took several deep breaths. He would go mad if he couldn't get his dragon under control.
Krista stood, cutting the stems and placing them in the vase. She set the vase on her dining room table and gazed lovingly at the blooms for a moment.
"It's so sweet of you. I can't remember the last time anyone brought me flowers.”
"You should get flowers every day. You grow more beautiful when you look at them—if that's possible."
"Oh, Ragnar, you're so sweet." She giggled as she caressed her fingers down his chest.
"I'm ready if you are."
He offered her his elbow, as he had been instructed, and guided her out the door and down the elevator to the Maserati. He opened the door, she slipped inside, and he stowed their overnight bags in the trunk. They made their way to the marina, the high-powered motor of the sports car rumbling under the hood. It made his inner dragon rumble with equal ferocity. At the pier, they got out, and he led her to a pleasure cruise where they would spend the evening enjoying dinner, dancing, and wine.
He’d booked a private cabin where they could spend the night. Ragnar carried their bags as they boarded the ship and then gave them to the attendant. Waiters offered champagne as they walked down the deck. Sipping their bubbly beverage, Ragnar and Krista leaned against the railing as the ship left the harbor and maneuvered out onto open water. Krista lifted her glass to him and clinked his as the sun slipped toward the horizon. The clear blue sky turned pink and orange as the sun dipped low, appearing to burn as it sank into the water. Krista took a sip of champagne, smiling out at the multicolored sky and ocean.
"This is so nice," she said in a soft voice. “I don't get out to do this kind of thing nearly enough."
"This came highly recommended as a first date."
"Oh, really. Did you do some Internet research or something?
"Something like that." It had been Azure, their AI, who’d suggested it. After gathering and parsing information from the AI of the House of Flames, she’d concluded this outing was the best possible first date for Ragnar and Krista. Ragnar had been happy to have the AI planning for him, and so far, it was working out well.
Just then, Ragnar heard the voice of his AI inside his mind through the mental link. “Ragnar. I have the results from the mating test."
"What is it?"
"The test was affirmative.
"She is my mate," he growled.
"She is your mate. But Krista Wilder is also the mate of Yuki and Akash. If you claim her without their presence, they are both subject to the ravages of the unsatisfied mating impulse.”
"Did you hear the results?" Akash asked the others through the mental link.
"I did.”
"You are going to keep your promise, right?" Yuki asked.
"Of course."
They both went silent inside his mind, and he grumbled to himself. It wasn't as if the temptation wasn't there. But he would never think of forsaking his friends, no matter how much they might taunt each other on different occasions. His fidelity to the House of Storms was paramount. His need for Krista and desire to protect her was unbreakable, but his loyalty to his house was equally strong. He could have both Krista and his friends, but that would require waiting—waiting for her to choose them all. He knew it was a long shot, as humans did not typically do such things. But for a man of honor, it was the only choice.
"Are you okay?" She touched his arm.
"Yes." He broke from his thoughts. “I was thinking about Yuki and Akash. They like you as much as I do."
"I know," she whispered. “It's so weird. I have feelings for all of you too."
"Would you ever want to be with all of us?"
She laughed then went silent. “I don't know. Maybe. I don't really know any of you very well yet. I would have to get to know you all individually before I made that kind of decision. But I mean, why not? People do it. It's not common, but you never know. It could work out if you all didn't mind and if that's what we decided."
"That's good to know. I am loyal to my family."
"It's amazing you guys can imagine sharing a woman. Not many men could.”
“You will find the Storms are a bit different than the men you are used to."
Chapter 7
Ragnar escorted Krista into the dining room. Since the ship was a remodeled ferry, it had an intimate feel to it. The hostess showed them to their table, and Krista and Ragnar took their seats near the window. They gazed out onto water that glowed in the fading twilight. Sitting across from Ragnar in his fitted suit, she couldn't help thinking how out of place this massive man seemed in the luxurious setting. He seemed like he would be more at home on a football field. She could picture him in a gladiator pit with a two-handed sword and a loincloth. A loincloth—that thought lingered in her mind for a moment too long, and she had to pull herself out of her fantasy.
"The specials today are king crab and scallops in cream sauce."
"Oh, that sounds delicious," Krista said. “I’ll have potatoes and vegetables as my sides."
"I’ll have the same."
&nbs
p; "And a bottle of white wine," Krista added.
"Your best bottle of wine," Ragnar agreed.
A moment later, the waitress poured their wine. Krista took a sip, gazing across the table at Ragnar. He really was exceedingly handsome in a rugged, almost violent way. She wanted to see him out of that suit in his natural habitat—whatever that might be.
"So what do you do when you're not looking for houses? You mentioned being a warrior. Does that mean military?"
He stopped for a moment, his eyes going blank as if he didn't know what to say.
"My cousins and I are all in security. National defense.”
"Oh, I had no idea." That explained a lot. Ragnar was a soldier. It all made sense now. "So you are a military man."
"Yes. For a long time. But not anymore."
"Is civilian life challenging?" She sipped her wine. She’d heard that soldiers sometimes had a hard time adapting after being in combat.
He let out a deep sigh and looked at her as if her question gave him a sense of relief.
"It is more challenging than I can express in words. I know I should be glad not to fight every day. I enjoy my job now. Security gives me the opportunity to protect the people I care about from our enemies. But getting up every day, drinking coffee, putting on slacks—it's a challenge."
"I can imagine," she said sympathetically. She appreciated that Ragnar was sharing with her, opening up about something so serious. She was beginning to see what was behind that hard façade, and it made her like him even more.
The waitress brought their meals, and they began to eat. It was all so delicious, and the wine was enchanting. Ragnar told her more about his time at war, in vague terms. She got the sense that he’d been Special Forces, and his missions were classified. He had seen a great deal of action and some disturbing things in his life as a soldier. She had a tremendous amount of respect for the sacrifice he'd made to protect her and her country.
"This food is good." He cracked into a crab leg. “You wouldn't expect a little monster like this to taste so delicious,"
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