"I understand,” he said sagely and took another bite of turkey sandwich.
"We'll have a breakthrough soon," she said. "I'm off to the lab.” She stood from the table.
He watched her as she rinsed her plate in the sink and put it in the drying rack. "I'll be returning to the gym."
They left the kitchen together and awkwardly walked out the door at the same time. She bumped into him in the hallway, and he felt a flash of desire surge down his spine. He turned to her, his heart pounding and his breath catching in his throat.
"Flora," he said, his words choking up.
"What?"
"I just…"
"What is it?" she asked again.
He hesitated.
"Tell me what you're thinking.”
He couldn't verbally express what was inside him. Too many emotions were swirling around. Instead, he swept her into his arms, pulling her tight against him.
She gasped as her body pressed into his. "Raiden," she murmured, tilting her head back to look up at him.
Without any more hesitation, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deep and hard. Everything else disappeared. His fears about the vampires, his duty to humanity, and the knowledge that he could never truly love her because she was not his fated mate—it all melted away.
She was the only woman in the world and the only one who mattered. Fated mates be damned. His inner dragon remained as silent as ever, but Raiden no longer cared. All he wanted was Flora—to share that moment of pleasure with her and to feel her soft, curvy body in his arms.
His tongue slipped between her lips, exploring the depths of her and the sweet flavor of her breath. He could taste hot chocolate on her tongue, and it was everything he had ever imagined she would taste like—rich and sweet, like Flora.
He pulled her into a side room and locked the door behind him. He pressed her against the wall, exploring her curves and the soft, supple flesh of her breasts with his hands. He grew hard, his kiss more insistent. He wanted her so badly. He pulled her closer, unable to let her go and unable to think straight or care about the repercussions of his actions. And she kissed him back, ravenous, passionate, yearning, and wild, as if she was just as hungry and desperate for him as he was for her.
"Flora.”
"Yes, Raiden, yes."
"I want you so much."
He pressed his erection to her stomach, and she slid her tongue into his mouth, absorbing him, claiming him. His mind reeled. He didn't want to stop. He turned her around to press her stomach against the wall and slipped his hand into her pants, feeling the soft folds of her body under his fingertips. She groaned, her wet heat insistent as she tilted her hips to give him better access. He found her swollen pleasure bud—the part of a human woman that felt the most intensity of desire—and he twirled his finger over it, eliciting little pants and moans from Flora's throat. He passed his hand under her shirt, grasping her breast as he rolled her nipple between his fingers.
Raiden pressed his erection against her behind, sliding up and down in the cleft of her ass. He felt her quiver under his touch as her desire built to a breaking point. She bit his finger as he slid it into her mouth. Her body clenched his fingers as she climaxed and groaned against him.
He held her there as she panted in the afterglow of her orgasm, his cock still throbbing. He wanted to take her, feel her, fill her with his sex. Instead, he let her go, stepping away and pulling back from her pulsing form.
"Don't stop," she whispered, turning around to throw her arms about his neck. She reached down and began to stroke him. "Don't stop."
"We need to stop.”
"Why? What's wrong?"
"You aren't my fated mate. I don't want to take advantage of you.”
She kissed him again, hard and passionate. "I don't care about that if you don't"
"But you're my friend. I can't do that to you."
"Why don't you let me make that decision?" she whispered, stroking his length.
"You have no idea how much I want this. But it's wrong. You deserve better."
"I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with," she said, slipping away. She was disappointed, maybe even a little angry.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started this."
"It's fine. It's just the stress. We were both looking for relief, and then things happened."
"We're still friends, then, right?" he asked.
Flora cupped his cheek in her hand. "Of course. Always… I need to get back to the lab.” She stepped around him and disappeared out the door.
Raiden stood with his back against the wall, feeling stupid and impotent. He'd hurt her. But Flora was right: they were stressed about the continued disappearance of humans, and they were just trying to blow off steam. But he knew he could never let anything like that happen again. It was wrong and risky and could jeopardize not only their friendship but also their shared mission to protect the world.
Chapter 9
Instead of going to the gym, Raiden ran upstairs to his bedroom, his mind reeling with confusion. The taste of Flora’s kiss lingered on his lips, and he couldn't help but feel that it was perfect—they were perfect. He had never felt so much desire and passion. He was more than a thousand years old, and the few seconds in Flora’s arms surpassed all of it.
He collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. There had to be a reason. He couldn't keep telling himself that they were just friends or that he was lonely or stressed or anything else. He was going to find out for sure, in no uncertain terms, if he and Flora were mates.
She couldn’t know he was running the test. What if it was negative? He didn't want to hurt or confuse her any more than he already had. He knew how the test was done, and he could ask Zephyr to run it without telling Flora.
He knew she was down in the basement, working on her experiments with the new batch of human blood. She would probably be there for the rest of the day. He felt guilty and excited at the same time as he hurried down the hallway toward her bedroom. He opened her door and slipped inside, not sure he should really be doing this.
He took a deep breath and let it out as he closed the door behind him and looked around her bedroom. It smelled of Flora—sweet and spicy with an undertone of citrus, like the perfume she wore that drove him crazy. His inner dragon was mute, refusing to have an opinion one way or the other. But the desire was driving him crazy, and he was so full of questions that he wouldn't be able to relax until he knew the answers.
Raiden began to scour her bedroom, looking for any possible sources of DNA. The others had used hair samples, which were often easy to find. He went to Flora's bathroom and looked at her hairbrush. There were a few strands of long brown hair stuck in the bristles. He pulled one out and found a follicle, knowing it was the best source of DNA and the way to get the quickest results.
He dropped it into a plastic bag and let out a deep breath. What was he doing? He shook his head and quickly left her room. Whatever the moral ambiguity of the situation, he had done the deed, and all that was left was to have the analysis completed.
He hurried downstairs and found Flora and Zephyr busily at work, hunched over the dashboard of the ship’s computer.
"What is it, Raiden?" Zephyr asked.
"I was wondering if I could have a word in private," Raiden said.
"Of course," Zephyr said.
Flora didn't look up from her work. Zephyr led Raiden into a back room, away from the laboratory, and asked him what was going on.
"You know how Flora and I are friends…" Raiden started.
"What is this about?"
"People have been telling me that they think Flora and I are mates for quite some time, but I always denied it, saying we were just friends. But just now, upstairs, we… were intimate." He looked down. "I feel so ashamed. But at the same time, I can no longer ignore my feelings for her."
"Why didn't you say something a long time ago?" Zephyr asked.
"Because my inner dragon h
as never made any indication that Flora is my mate. I'm beginning to think maybe there's more to it than meets the eye. I've just found a hair sample of hers in her bedroom, and I would like you to run a mating analysis so that I know once and for all if she is or isn't my mate."
"I can start that right away."
"I would prefer it if you didn't tell her. We just had a romantic encounter that I feel quite ashamed of. I don't want to make anything of my suspicions until I know for sure.”
"I will conduct the research with the utmost discretion."
"Thank you, Zephyr. I knew I could depend on you."
Raiden left the basement, giving Flora a weak smile on the way out. She didn't comment or even look away from her work. When he made it upstairs, he sat down on the couch and turned on his game console, but all of his feeling for the game was gone. He couldn't work up the motivation to log on and talk to his gaming buddies. His life had just become dreadfully complicated, and the last thing he needed was hazing from a bunch of gamers.
He dropped the game controller on the ground and hurried upstairs to the gym. After tearing off his shirt, he began punching the punching bag over and over, harder and faster, his anger rising and cresting in a crescendo of anxiety and turmoil. He hoped Flora was his mate with every last breath in his body.
He knew in that moment, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was in love with her. His dragon be damned. If the beast within didn't know a good thing when he saw it, then he didn't need him. He couldn't ask for more than to be mated to his best friend. She was everything he had ever wanted and more.
The anger inside him mixed with sadness, and he felt the swell of tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Raiden was not an emotional man. He was not used to feeling such intense sadness to the point of weeping. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried, and now he didn't even quite know what he was feeling. Was it sadness, frustration, or rage?
After he'd punched his hands raw on the punching bag, he slid down on a bench and took a long drink from his water bottle. He wiped the sweat from his brow and the unshed tears from the corners of his eyes. When he looked up, he found Flora standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, gazing at him.
"Did you need something?" he asked.
"I was just checking on you," she said. "You seemed so upset in the basement. Has there been another rash of kidnappings?"
"There seem to be hundreds more every day," Raiden said.
"It's getting harder all the time to stay objective.”
"Yes, it is. But that's not why I went to speak with Zephyr. I had something important to ask him."
"Is it anything I can help with?"
"Not quite yet. I'll let you know when I'm done."
"Okay, then," she said, seeming a little put out.
He wanted to tell her the truth but held back. If the mating analysis was negative, he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle his own disappointment, let alone hers. He had to keep it to himself, even though it was killing him to lie.
"Just know that I'm always here for you," she said. "That's what friends are for."
"And if you need anything…"
"I know where to turn." She started toward the door then turned back to face him. "Are you up for a little gaming tonight?"
"The guys aren't exactly happy with me since I gave up leading the guild.” He wiped sweat from his brow.
"Maybe just a little one on one?"
"That would be fun.”
"Meet you at nine?" She raised an eyebrow, making her look adorably expectant.
"It's a date," he said.
She met his gaze with a hopeful expression, pursed her lips, and walked away. This was killing him, and it couldn't be any easier for her. The sooner he knew the truth, the better. Hopefully, when he knew for sure if it was meant to be or just a trick of loneliness and stress, they could get on with their lives. No matter what, he was going to do everything in his power to keep her from being hurt, even if it was to protect her from himself.
Chapter 10
The day after she and Raiden kissed, Flora took one of the cars and drove over to the House of Flames to visit her sister. She hadn't seen Penelope in several days and wanted to check in on her and the baby. Not only that, but she also needed advice about Raiden. She was more confused than ever. Being around him every day was becoming almost unbearable.
She found Penelope cuddled up on the couch with Effie, Cato standing by to attend to anything she needed while working at the computer desk nearby. The sight of the little family brought tears to her eyes, and she was shocked at her reaction. While Flora was not an unemotional person, she did take pride in her self-control. Seeing Cato and Penelope together took her off her guard. She sat down across from her sister and blinked away the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes.
"It's so good to see you," Penelope said, looking up from her nursing baby. "We've missed you around here."
"Have you been getting by all right without my help?"
"We've been doing just fine. But I liked having you around. I miss the days when we lived together back in the condo in Seattle."
"I miss that too. But now you have your lovely family. And I have to admit that sometimes I envy you."
"Flora envying me and my family?" Penelope said with a laugh.
"I never would have believed it either." Flora chuckled. "But it's true. Maybe I'm just feeling sentimental," she said with a sigh. "Or maybe I'm just confused."
"What are you confused about?" Penelope asked.
"I'm not sure if I should say anything."
"I'll leave you two to talk," Cato said with a wink. He stood and left the room.
"So what's really going on with you?" Penelope asked, wrapping the sleeping baby in a blanket and setting her in her bassinet by the couch.
"Well, it's hard for me to talk about this, but yesterday, Raiden and I—"
"I knew it!”
"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Flora said.
"It's obvious to anyone who's ever seen you together that there's something going on."
Flora sighed longingly, remembering what had happened. "He kissed me so passionately yesterday. It was more than just a kiss. Much more."
"What do you mean, 'much more'?" Penelope asked.
"I’m not going to go into detail, but I can say without question that there is definitely some physical attraction there. For both of us."
"What’s wrong with that?"
"After we made out, he apologized and told me it could never happen again. He said he values my friendship too much to lead me on. We aren’t fated mates, so it would only be unfair to me. I understand where he's coming from, but I can’t stop myself from wanting more. What should I do, Penelope? Would trying to have a relationship really be so terrible?"
"I wish I knew what to say, Flora.” Penelope looked concerned. "Has he ever suggested running a mating analysis?"
"Maybe that was what he wanted to talk to Zephyr about yesterday." Hope sprang in Flora’s chest.
"From what I know about these guys, they like to keep the analysis a secret."
"But why? Why keep it a secret from me?"
"He's probably more confused than you are," Penelope said. "If his dragon isn't screaming that you’re his mate, it might be hard for him to believe it's possible. Just be patient with him.”
"I suppose that's all I can really do.”
"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Flora. It must be so frustrating."
"Well, that's enough about me. I came here to see you and Effie.”
"Flora, your life is just as important as mine. Besides, we’re twins. What affects you affects me. I hate to see you so unhappy and confused."
"This is all making my work more difficult."
"Have you made any progress with the vaccine?"
"To a degree," Flora said. "We got some live samples of human blood from a blood bank yesterday, and we started a real-world test instead of using simulations. Unfortu
nately, the actual physical tests haven't proven to be any more promising than the simulations were."
"That must be disappointing.”
"It is," Flora admitted. "And I've been so distracted with Raiden that I am afraid I'm not doing my best work."
"Let me know if there's anything that I can do to help you."
"I should be helping you right now, Penelope. You have a new baby, and you've got your hands full. It must be really stressful to have the fate of the human race on your shoulders while you're trying to cope with being a new mom."
"I admit it's not ideal," Penelope said with a small laugh.
"I guess that's what we signed up for when we found out about the dragons."
"I wouldn't trade it for the world. Without Cato and the Dragonians, I wouldn't know just how full life could be. And I wouldn't have my sweet baby, Effie, either.
"I know," Flora said wistfully.
"But you don't have good things like a mate and a child. You were kidnapped by vampires and still have no love of your life to make up for it. I feel terrible for you every day. I wish there were more I could do to help. I wish I could take the pain away."
"You didn't give up on me when I was changed, Penelope. I couldn't ask for anything more."
"We sisters have to stick together."
"Yes, we do." Flora stood up, walked over to Effie's crib, and looked inside. The sweet, beautiful baby was sleeping peacefully, and it made Flora's heart ache. She never would have thought she would want to be a wife and mother, but now that her sister was one, she wanted it more all the time.
Penelope saw her expression and smiled. "You will have your family too—I know you will. If it's not Raiden, then it will be someone even better. I know because you're my sister and you deserve all the happiness life has to offer."
"I hope you're right," Flora said. "I have become so confused and muddled since I finished my graduate work. It's like I don't know who I am anymore."
"Everything will work itself out in the end. It has to." Penelope looked down at her baby, tears forming in her eyes.
"I will do everything in my power to make life safe and happy—for you and for everyone else. I won't stop trying."
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