Kian led Everly and Aria outside to the garage where they buckled Ember in her car seat and everyone piled inside an SUV.
It took quite a while to drive back to Seattle from their estate deep in the forest. When they made it to the city, Aria gave Kian directions to her building.
When they finally arrived, everyone went upstairs and walked inside. Kian inspected the surroundings, sniffing the air. Dust motes danced in a thin stream of light through a narrow window. Aria frowned and began packing her things.
Even though her new closet was full of clothes, she still wanted her own stuff. She packed her robe, her slippers, her favorite nightgown. She grabbed the book she was reading off her nightstand and her toiletries from the bathroom. With everything in her suitcase, she glanced up at Kian and Everly. They were inspecting her apartment.
“This is a nice place,” Everly said.
“I always forget the disparity in living accommodations on this planet,” Kian said.
“This is what I could afford on my orderly salary,” Aria said.
“It's better than where I was living,” Everly said.
“I appreciate you giving me a place to stay while all this business with the vampires blows over. But I do want to come home and go back to work.”
“I hope everything works out for you, Aria. Are you ready?” Kian said, taking her suitcase.
“That’s everything,” Aria said with a sigh, giving her place on last look. She hoped she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life by going with them.
Everyone went back downstairs, and they climbed back into the car. It was a long ride back to the mansion, but by the time they made it there, Aria was feeling more comfortable with Everly and Kian. They had a kind of easy affection and togetherness that made her feel at home.
When they arrived, Aiden and Cato emerged from the house and helped bring her things inside.
“Dax isn't back yet?” she asked, searching for him.
“No. I've never seen him like this before,” Aiden said.
“Dax is usually so affable,” Cato said.
Aria felt terrible that this usually easy-going, happy guy was now at his wit’s end and out of control, over her. She didn't know what she could do to make it better. And she refused to blame herself. It’s not like she had done anything.
The guys took her things into the house and brought them to her room. Everly stayed inside her door after the guys had placed her things at the foot of her bed.
“If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Thank you.”
“We girls have to stick together. And don't worry about Dax. I know he'll come around.”
Aria closed the door to her room and went to check on Charlie. He appeared to be recovering after the flight from the vampires’ compound. She sat beside him and began to sing.
The magic of her song moved in waves through the air. Charlie chirped along with her and she smiled. As the last notes of her song faded in the air, she sighed and stood up. She always felt better after she used her power.
Not quite sure what to do with herself, she remembered the bathroom had a massive tub and enough scented candles to keep any girl happy until the end of time.
“I think a nice, long soak is in order,” she said.
She went to the bathroom and sloughed off her clothes. As the water ran into the tub she sprinkled in bath salts and bubble bath. Soon, the tub was full of warm water and bubbles. She dipped her toe into the inviting liquid. It was just right, so she stepped in, sinking under the water as the bubbles tickled her skin.
The enchanting aroma of lavender filled her nose, and she lay back against the sloping side of the tub. It seemed to have been made exactly for her back to rest upon. She lit some of the candles around the side of the tub and just soaked there for a long time.
It was so relaxing. She began to think about Dax on the basketball court without his shirt on. Images of him flitted through her mind. He was so sexy, and his body was chiseled with hard muscle under his sun kissed skin.
He had worked so hard on the court that sweat had begun to drip over his pecs. As she lay in the tub, her fantasy began to grow more detailed. She imagined herself going down to the court and approaching him.
He turned to her with that frantic look in his eyes and walked straight to her, not saying a word. He gathered her in his arms and pulled her tight against him. She let out a startled gasp, but he sucked it into his mouth, claiming her lips with his in a deep, aggressive kiss. His hands gripped her behind, pulling her against his hard flesh. She groaned.
In the bathtub, she ran her hands over her thighs, her eyes tightly closed as she imagined Dax kissing her. His tongue slipped between her lips, tangling with her own. Liquid heat flowed between them as their tongues danced with each other. She imagined her breasts smashed against his hard chest as he gripped her body and held her close.
“Oh Dax,” she said, running her hand up her inner thigh.
In her imagination, he picked her up in his arms and carried her into the house where he laid her across her bed. He slipped out of his pants, revealing his long, thick manhood. He stood above her, staring down at her with those hungry, demanding eyes. He pulled off her clothes in a flash and sank between her legs, dipping his tongue into her flesh. He lapped at her pussy, savoring the flavor of her juices sliding over his tongue.
“Oh Dax,” she moaned.
Her hands slipped between her legs. In her imagination, his tongue pressed hard against her clit, vibrating inhumanly fast as his big, strong hands gripped her hips. He stared up at her with those animalistic eyes. She remembered him as a dragon, huge and bold and strong, fighting the vampires. He’d saved her, carrying her away from her captors. Her finger pressed against her clit and all of a sudden, her body shuddered with magnificent release.
She growled, her nipples tight and throbbing. Her pussy clenched, begging to be filled by him as she imagined him climbing over her and resting his thick cock against her wet core.
She opened her eyes with a gasp as her orgasm shuddered through her body. She ran her wet hands over her face and took a deep breath.
“Oh my gosh,” she muttered. “What's gotten into me?”
Aria was not unfamiliar with self-gratification, being a single girl with normal desires. Under regular circumstances, the stressful events of the day would have been an utter turn-off, and yet here she was in the bathtub, imagining a man, no, a dragon, she’d just met, doing all kinds of naughty things to her. She shook her head at herself and climbed out of the bathtub, wrapping herself in a big fluffy towel.
“You're getting carried away with this whole mating impulse business,” she said, tucking the towel under her arms.
She examined herself in the mirror. The ends of her hair were damp, and she'd washed off all her makeup.
“You're going to have to make some decisions, Aria. Your life is different now. You know secrets. But you've always known them, haven't you?”
And the fact was, she'd always known there was something different about her. Something special. Not everyone in the world could sing songs and then the heal people, animals, and plants. She was different. And she had to admit that to herself. Maybe she was a Dragon Soul and this Dax guy really was her mate. It would explain a lot. If only she could finally open up about her magic and let someone see her true self.
“Maybe he's who I’ve been waiting for all along,” she said to herself. “Maybe I can finally be who I really am.”
Chapter 9
Dax quickly flew home after receiving a message that Kian had taken Aria back to her apartment to get her things. Dax wanted to be the one to take care of her. Not Kian.
He had to pull himself together or he wasn't going to be there to protect and care for his mate. His mate. He knew she belonged to him. He didn't need some stupid computer program to tell him that. He felt it in the depths of his soul.
He arrived at the mansion within an hour and landed inside the protec
ted perimeter of the property.
“I've learned quite a bit about human romance,” Dax said upon finding Cato in the kitchen. “Thank you for sending me the research material.”
“You're welcome.”
Dax gritted his teeth, trying not to let his inner dragon's agitation get the best of him. He didn't like this intense feeling of need that had sparked in his brain and loins. It was turning him into a different person, a person he didn't like. To court his mate, he would have to get it under control. The last thing he wanted was to scare her off. Cato sat at the kitchen table, drinking water from a glass as Aiden enthused about a band he wanted to see in the city.
“Shouldn't you be here to protect the women against the vampires?” Dax asked Aiden.
“I'm not the one who flew off and left my supposed mate to be taken care of by your prince,” Aiden growled.
“Screw you, Aiden,” Dax barked.
“That's enough,” Kian said, walking into the kitchen. “We all feel the mating impulse differently. Dax is going through a difficult time right now and we need to show compassion. Once it is proven that Aria is his mate, he can begin courting her properly.”
“I intend to begin courting her now.”
Kian let out a deep, rumbling sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You may date her,” Kian started. “But under no circumstances will you mate with her.” Kian enunciated each word to make a firm point.
“I understand,” Dax said. “Dating. No mating.”
“Let that be your motto.”
“Doesn't she have something to say about it?” Aiden sniggered.
Dax glared at him.
“Of course she does,” Kian said. “And you had best remember that, Dax.”
“I know that,” Dax sputtered. “I would never do anything to hurt her. I just don't understand humans and their customs. But I know much more now. I watched three romantic comedies and read an entire book about what women want in the bedroom.”
“Good,” Kian said. “She's in her room now. But you should probably leave her alone until morning. She's been through a lot. And human women are delicate.”
“Okay. I will leave her alone until tomorrow,” Dax said despondently.
“Gentlemen,” Cato said through their mental link. “We have company.”
Dax, Kian, and Aiden glanced at each other.
“What do you mean by company?” Kian demanded.
“We have vampires at the gate,” Cato said, flicking his fingers over his hologram. “They're making an attempt at our shields.”
Kian picked up the baby monitor off the kitchen table and spoke into it.
“Everly, I want you to take Ember and Aria to the safe room. We have vampires attempting to enter the compound.”
“Right away,” she said.
“Come now. It’s time to defend our home,” Kian said.
Dax followed his commander and his crew out onto the backyard where they quickly shifted into the dragon form and flew high above the mansion.
“Intruders at six and twelve o'clock,” Cato said through their mental link.
“Dax, you take the intruders at twelve o'clock. Aiden and Cato at six. I'm with Dax.”
Dax flew with Kian to the northernmost point of the compound and swooped down to where a dozen flitting shadows slammed against the glowing shields of the compound. They dove low, breathing fire. Vegetation burned. Dax heard a yelp. A moment later, a vampire flitted into view, smiling and laughing at him.
“You've tried to burn me a thousand times, dragon, and a thousand times you’ve failed.”
Dax swiped at him. He recognized the vampire as Victor, the leader of the coven who had kidnapped Aria. Dax roared and shifted into half-dragon form.
“You will pay for what you’ve done to the Dragon Souls,” Dax said, growling and slashing at the vampire.
Kian was in his dragon form, slashing and bashing at the shadowy vampires.
“You have better luck in half-shift form, fighting them with weapons,” Aiden said through their mental link.
Dax let his laser sword extend from his wrist device. It glowed red as he gripped it between his hands. The shadows jumped at him in an avalanche of wraiths. He danced and twirled and slashed at his foe. He was not as fast as Aiden, but still agile and strong.
Kian shifted into his half-dragon form, holding a glowing shield and a one-handed sword. He held up this shield as the vampires pounded against him and the shields guarding the compound.
“You can't break our shields,” Kian growled.
“So you say,” Victor said, flitting in and out of shadow. “But that's not going to keep us from trying.”
The shadows bashed against the compound’s shields. The shields vibrated with each bash.
“Shield strength report, Cato,” Kian said through their mental link, his teeth gritted.
“Holding at 99.9%,” Cato said.
“You'll have to try harder,” Kian said to Victor, swirling around to stab at another shadow.
“We'll find a way through your shields, dragon. Just as you found a way through our wards.”
“We haven't lost any of our strength over the last million years. You vampires have,” Dax taunted.
The vampires jumped at him, roaring angrily as they flooded Dax in shadows. The vampires overwhelmed his half-shift form and he shifted into his full dragon form, breathing fire onto the bodies as they became visible.
“This is pointless,” Aiden said. “We can’t defeat them.”
“Speak for yourself, Aiden,” Dax said.
“You aren't having any more luck than I am,” Aiden said.
“Their attacks are weaker than they were a million years ago, but we can’t touch them either. They shift into shadow and heal more quickly than they used to. We will need better offensive weapons if we want to defeat them,” Cato said.
“Any ideas Cato?” Kian asked through their mental link.
“I will enter the information into the computer and see what I can come up with,” Cato said. “Bethi, begin processing best potential weaponry against the new vampire threat.”
“Should I prioritize processing this over the mating test?”
“No,” Dax barked.
“Dax,” Kian and Cato said at the same time.
Dax became so angry and enraged that his dragon shifted into a form one quarter larger than he had been before. He saw Kian's dragon eyes grew wide as he blasted green glowing fire at the vampires. Even in their shadow forms, they shrieked and slithered away into the forest. Emboldened by his success, he continued blowing fire at the vampires.
“How about that,” Dax said through the mental link to Aiden. “Impressed now?”
The vampires slipped away into the shadows, leaving the dragons standing and watching them go.
“You scared them off,” Aiden said. “I'll give you that.”
“It looks as if the threat is over for now,” Kian said.
Back inside the mansion, Kian informed Everly that they could all leave the safe room.
“Are they gone?” Everly asked through the baby monitor.
“They are for now. We were able to disperse them.”
“Were they able to get through the shields?” Everly asked.
“No. They didn't even make a dent. You have nothing to worry about as long as you stay on the compound.”
“That's a relief.”
“I'm taking Aria and Ember back to their rooms,” Everly said.
“Well done, my love,” Kian said.
Dax looked helplessly at the baby monitor, wishing he had the same kind of relationship with Aria. But it seemed like a million miles away. She was afraid of him. And he had no idea how to woo her. Other than a few human movies he'd watched this afternoon, he had no experience with women. Kian sniffed the air and raised his eyebrow at Dax.
“You should take a shower,” Kian said. “You won't be wooing any humans smelling like that.”
Dax looked do
wn at his still bare chest and ran his hand down his abs. He lifted his arm and smelled his under it, noting that Kian was probably right. Dax grumbled and left the kitchen, trudging upstairs to his bedroom.
He quickly jumped in the shower and washed his body and hair. When he was done, he wrapped himself in a towel. His stomach complained, and he remembered he hadn’t eaten all day.
He walked out of his room and down the hall toward the stairs, wrapped in a towel. Aria stepped out of her room just as he was passing her door. She bumped right into him, her hands grazing the damp flesh of his chest. She gasped and took a step back.
“I'm so sorry,” he said looking down at himself. “Kian has told me I need to wear clothes around the house.”
She bit her lip and gaped up at him, wide-eyed with shock.
“I hope I'm not offending you,” he said, running his hand down his chest.
“I'm not offended,” she squeaked.
Something strange and unusual glinted in her eyes. He didn't know exactly what it meant.
“I don't really know much about human women,” he said, trying not to let his growing desire show under the towel wrapped around his waist. “But I was hoping maybe we could spend some time together tonight. Maybe dinner and a movie? We have this huge theater downstairs and part of the original basement. We can watch any human movie you want. Cato can get anything. Even the ones that are still in theaters.”
“That sounds nice,” she said. “I’d like that.”
“Do you like pizza? Or Chinese food? Or how about Thai food?”
“Any of those things sounds good.”
“There's a pizza restaurant that delivers. It's not far from here. Or I can go pick it up. It only takes me a few minutes to get into the closest town in my dragon form.”
“Pizza delivery is fine,” she said, biting her lip again.
“I’d take you out, but with the vampires…I think it’s best if we lay low for a while. When I found out they had taken you, I just wanted to rip something apart.”
He felt himself getting angry again and he didn't want to lose his cool.
“I appreciate that you saved me,” she said, glancing down at the towel around his waist.
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