Cash (Dragon Hearbeats Book 3)

by Ava Benton

  I swung the door open slowly, quietly. “Tommy? Are you in here?”

  Nothing at first.

  I held my breath, straining to hear.

  Finally, “Who are you?” A little boy’s voice.

  “I’m here to get you out and take you home,” I whispered as I opened the door a little wider. “I’m a friend of your Aunt Cari.”

  “Is she here?”

  “She is.” Rustling sounds came from the bed.

  I could just make out a small shape, silhouetted against the moonlight streaming through the window, as he sat up. It seemed almost comical, such a little boy in such a big, grand bed.

  “She shouldn’t be here. They’re bad people.”

  “Which is why we’re here for you, my boy.” I went to him, and he flinched. “I’m sorry. I’m not here to hurt you, believe me. She’s downstairs, and she’s tricking them until I have you safe and sound. We’re going to go down there to get her and get all of us out of here.”

  He turned his face to the window, and I could make out the big, blue eyes. The golden hair like Carissa’s. “They’re always watching me.”

  “They won’t be watching then, trust me.”

  If Cari was able to set the diversion.

  He was dressed in pajamas. Someone had been kind enough at least to buy him pajamas.

  “When are we going?”

  “First off, do you have your coat with you? Or a jacket?”

  “It’s here.” He scrambled out of bed and over to a small chair.

  “Any heavier clothes?”

  “A sweater.”

  “Put it on, then the jacket,” I decided. “Who has been watching you, Tommy? What are they like?”

  “A big man. He’s the one who talks to Aunt Cari on the phone, and lets me talk to her sometimes. There’s a couple ladies who make sure I eat and get washed up and that stuff. But he’s the one who tells me what to do the most. He locks me in here most of the time.”

  He recited these facts like they were nothing, and I remembered Carissa telling me about his life. How much he had already seen.

  “Have you ever seen anybody else?”

  “Mostly just them. I hear other voices sometimes, but I only see the three of them.”

  “Okay. You ready?” At least I knew somewhat who I’d be dealing with.

  “I think so.”

  “Good. Now. There’s something else we need to talk about before we can leave the room.”

  This would be the toughest sell of all.

  19

  Carissa

  “You’ve decided to grace us with your presence, Aunt Cari.”

  I couldn’t see his face, in shadow as he was. But I could hear his voice. He was human, all along. Just a man. A very big man, from the looks of it. He dwarfed the leather chair he sat in. I could just make out the arms of the chair, and his large hands hanging over them.

  “You knew I would,” I said.

  I glanced to either side of me, indicated the two goons who had led me to the study. They looked like they wouldn’t have half a brain between the two of them. The sort of people who’d work with a group like the one Mary had described.

  “They’ve been rumored for decades now,” she had explained over Skype, “but nobody’s ever been able to pin them down. Likely because they’ve been hiding out in such a secluded spot, but not one you’d assume was being used for these types of activities. Nobody would think to look in a beautiful, old mansion in the middle of the woods. The owner was always reclusive, too, so that would explain the privacy. From what Harrison told my men, there’s a full-blown lab in the basement—he oversaw its development.”

  I wondered where the owner was now, what he was going through. If there was justice in the world, he’d be dead. He set me up. He set up Tommy. He had to know how it would go. But he did it anyway, out of greed and madness.

  “Where’s our blood?” the man asked.

  “In the cooler. Where else?” I tapped it with my toe.

  “Let’s see it.”

  I bent, always aware of the men to either side of me, and opened the blue-and-white box. I pulled out two tubes, holding them up where he could see them. “There are fifty-three in all.”

  “Well done. I assume, then, that your association with the shifter is finished?”

  “Yes. He’s taken care of.”

  “Good. And your research? There’s no trace of your association?”

  “None. Top secret, all the way.”

  “Very nice.” One of his hands waved, and suddenly the goons took my arms. One each.

  I tried to fight them off, pushing and shoving, cursing them.

  “What’s happening?” I groaned, already in pain from the tightening fingers.

  “Take her laptop bag,” the man ordered.

  “No! What are you doing?”

  One of them tried to pull the bag, hanging across my body on a vinyl strap.

  I kicked out, catching him in the shin. This was going just as we had guessed, but I couldn’t afford to let it go much further.

  I didn’t have to.

  The explosion rocked the building, sending the three of us to the floor.

  I was free. I scrambled to my feet in the middle of the chaos, ears ringing.

  “What was that?”

  I barely heard over the noise.

  The figure in the chair shot up, waving his arms, pointing and screaming. The two guards staggered from the room, hands over their ears. They weren’t wearing earplugs, the way I was, so the effect was much worse for them.

  I took opportunity where I found it and ran behind them, my head on a swivel when I reached the two-story entrance with its sweeping marble staircase in the center of the room.

  “Tommy?” I screamed over the chaos.

  Thick, black smoke billowed in through the front door and rapidly filled the space. Another explosion rocked me to my knees and sent the wrought-iron chandelier which hung from the ceiling crashing to the floor. Thank God, I was out of the way, I managed to think over the chaos.

  Something silver flashed in the corner of my eye, and I looked up in time to see the dragon gliding down over the stairs and land in front of me.

  Tommy was on his back, whooping and grinning from ear to ear.

  My heart screamed with joy when I saw him that way, but I didn’t have time to absorb it. Instead, I placed a foot on Cash’s leg and swung my leg over his neck, grabbing Tommy around the waist.

  “He’s a dragon!” he shouted, pointing.

  “I know!” I patted his flank and Cash got the message, stampeding out of the entry, through the thick, choking smoke, mowing bodies down left and right.

  One of them might have been the man in charge, or it might not have been. I would never know. We broke out of the chaos and into the night, my car in flames thanks to the fire I’d set in it before getting out. Everyone had been too busy greeting me and leading me to their boss to pay attention.

  We took to the sky, the three of us, with Tommy’s happy shrieks filling my ears. I held him as tight as I dared, stroking his hair, kissing the top of his head as we soared.

  The moon was full, shining down on us, turning Cash’s scales to pure, glowing silver.

  I felt a strong sense of déjà vu before remembering my dream.

  20

  Carissa

  Tommy was asleep in my arms as we approached the entrance to the cave.

  Miles, Cash’s brother, walked ahead of us. Like he was going to announce our presence before we got there.

  “You’re sure this is all right?” I asked as we staggered.

  Well, I staggered. Cash looked just as fresh as ever. I wondered if it was adrenaline keeping him going. He’d been awake all through the car ride up the mountains, after Miles met us at the spot the two of them had agreed upon.

  “I’ve been talking it over with the guys for two days. It hasn’t been easy, but they’ve come around.”

  “You’re absolutely sure?” I didn’
t fancy the idea of going up against five dragons.

  “Positive. They’ve been getting things ready for you, too. You might be surprised. Miles told me about it when you were asleep in the car.”

  “You’ve only known for two days that we’d be coming with you,” I pointed out.

  “I’ve known all along that you’d be coming with me.”

  “That’s not creepy at all.”

  “There’s never been another alternative. Once I met you, and I knew there was something between us, it was clear to me you’d have to come share my life. That’s how it works for dragons.”

  “That isn’t how it works for humans.”

  “Fair enough, but you’re here, aren’t you?” He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close for a moment. He smelled of smoke, and the leather jacket Miles had provided him along with the other clothes he’d changed into on shifting back. “It was even more obvious you would need to come away with me when I understood the trouble you were in. Half of my thoughts after finding out the truth about Tommy were related to concern for you, and the others were wrapped up in how I was going to convince the guys that you needed to live with us.”

  “Really?”

  “Do you think I could’ve let you go after that? What would’ve happened when those idiots found out you gave them your own blood and red ink?”

  “I don’t know,” I had to admit. “I was thinking about moving away, someplace far away.”

  “And here you are.”

  “Yes. Here I am.”

  “You won’t miss anything you left behind?” he asked in a soft voice.

  My arms tightened around Tommy’s sleeping form. “I have everything right here. Well, him and my laptop and the solution.”

  They were still on my back, in the bag the guards had tried to take. I’d made enough for all six of them—after that, I wasn’t sure how I would create more, or even if I’d need to. There was no telling yet how long the effects would last.

  After what felt like miles of walking, we reached a maze of tunnels which Cash explained was where the family had lived for a thousand years. A thousand. It was almost unbelievable. The sun had just been coming up when we arrived, and there were sounds of activity coming from the kitchen.

  Two girls stood at the stove with their backs to us. One had long, wavy, red hair. The other was a blonde. They were cooking what smelled like French toast, and turned when Cash cleared his throat.

  “Carissa, this is Jasmine and Alina.” They were obviously sisters, and very beautiful. And probably very, very happy to have another girl in the mix. They welcomed me with hugs and cooed over Tommy, who was unaware of everything.

  “Are you hungry? We’re fixing breakfast,” Alina offered, gesturing toward the stove.

  “Thank you, but I think I need sleep more than anything else. And I know this guy does.” I pressed my cheek to the side of his head. I had him back. He was mine again.

  “I’ll show you to his room.” Jasmine took my arm and led me down the tunnel, past room after room—a library, a room with a TV and arcade games. Tommy would love that. Bedrooms. Then, a small bedroom fully decorated for a little boy. A small bed, sporting equipment, a desk and chair, posters of his favorite cartoon characters on the walls. No wonder Cash had asked me who Tommy was into.

  “I hope you like it,” Jasmine smiled. “The guys had a hell of a lot of fun putting it together. They had to take two cars to Costco to bring everything back here.”

  “It’s absolutely perfect,” I smiled. Better than anything I could’ve given him up to that point.

  “We also have about a million books,” she said, gesturing to several shelves which were practically bowing under the weight. It would be a good start on my journey to homeschooling him. I had been worried about the influence of the world, hadn’t I? Sometimes life worked in mysterious ways.

  I kissed his sweet, dear face roughly a hundred times before tucking him into bed. He was smiling in his sleep.

  “Your room joins with his,” Jasmine explained, leading me through an open doorway to something much more suited to my needs. A king-sized bed piled high with satin pillows, a large TV on the wall across from it. The furniture was rich mahogany except for a plush, overstuffed easy chair and ottoman in one corner. The bathroom, just beyond, looked like something out of a fantasy. I wouldn’t bang my knees against the radiator whenever I used the toilet.

  “This is wonderful,” I said with a genuine smile. “Thank you so much.”

  “That’s not all,” Cash promised, standing in the doorway between my room and Tommy’s. “There’s more to come.”

  “I don’t know if I can take much more,” I admitted.

  Jasmine looked from me to him, then back to me. “I think I hear Alina calling me…” she murmured, slipping out of the room with a little smile and closing the door between bedrooms as she went. Leaving the two of us alone.

  “Thank you for this,” I whispered as we moved toward each other.

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Not true. You talked to your family and convinced them to let us live with you. You oversaw this even if you didn’t put all the work into it. I could never thank you enough.” I wasn’t sure the idea of living in a cave for the rest of my life was one I could get over right away, but I would get used to it if it meant being with Cash.

  Tommy would get used to it, too. I’d do everything I could to make sure he was happy and healthy.

  I leaned against Cash, burying my face in his chest. With everything over—all the fear and panic and desperation—I could finally be with him, no walls between us.

  “There’s one thing Jasmine didn’t show you,” he murmured, his mouth against the top of my head.

  “What’s that?”

  “The Batman costume in Tommy’s closet. We’ll work out some way to get him trick-or-treating. I promise.”

  Tears filled my eyes as I looked up at him. “You know I love you, right?”

  “I do. And I love you right back.” He took my face in his hands and leaned down, brushing his lips against mine in the sweetest, most erotic kiss I’d ever experienced.

  It warmed my heart and curled my toes at the same time. Wet heat spread between my legs as I curled my fingers in his hair, holding his head close.

  His hands traveled over my body, up under my jacket and then even further, under my sweater. His skin was hot, almost hot enough to singe me—but that was just my imagination, of course.

  I couldn’t help but notice the fire he sparked deep in me, the way his touch lit me up and opened me to passion I didn’t think possible. I gripped his head tighter and kissed him until my lips hurt while his hands ran over my back, then down to my hips.

  He lifted me in his arms and my legs wrapped around his waist of their own accord while he carried me to the bed. I slid out of my jacket when he set me down, and he worked the sweater over my head before easing me back until I was lying before him, legs still around him.

  He lowered himself over me and buried his face between my breasts. I stifled a cry, holding him close, watching as he kissed and licked his way over my goosebump-covered skin. He took his time as he explored, reaching under me to unhook my bra before continuing.

  I closed my eyes and let myself go, sighing with every lick and nip. His breath was hot, demanding, but he eased me into pleasure. I felt without having to ask that he wanted me good and ready for him.

  His hands slid down my sides until they reached the waistband of my jeans. I lifted my hips, rubbing my body against his as I helped him work them down. He groaned when I made contact with the very stiff, very obvious erection straining to burst from his jeans. I had already seen his beautiful body and wanted more. I wanted to touch and taste. My hands almost tingled with the need.

  “Take this off,” I breathed, pulling the shirt from his waistband and over his head.

  His skin was hot, smooth, and the muscles moving under it unlocked an animal lust deep in my core. I felt t
hem flexing as I ran my palms over his shoulders, his back, while he moved on top of me, touching and stroking. Sucking. I gasped when his mouth covered my mound, still covered in lace and silk. He pressed his tongue hard against my slit, and I ground my hips against his face.

  “You smell so good…” he grunted, our eyes meeting when he glanced up at me. His features were nearly contorted with desire, which only made the tightening in my core even tighter.

  I almost ached with need for him by now, as I guided his head back down between my thighs. He chuckled darkly, but obliged. One of his hands slid under my panties and pulled them aside.

  Fireworks exploded behind my eyelids when he licked the length of my slit.

  I cried out behind my hand, fearful of waking Tommy, then let pleasure wash over me in warm, delicious waves as an orgasm hit faster than I ever could’ve imagined. He was skilled, yes, going between flicking at my clit and rolling his tongue in circles around it.

  Pressing down hard, then tapping it with light strokes which drove me wild. I expected him to finish after I came, but he only held my hips down and kept going, pushing me to a second rush of bliss almost immediately after the first subsided.

  “Yes! Yes, Cash, oh, God!” I rolled my head from side to side, fingers in his hair, pulling and twisting as he assaulted my body with more and more sensation than I thought I could handle.

  Until he couldn’t wait anymore. I could barely breathe, I could barely think, and there he was. Standing in front of the bed, stripping down, his erect cock throbbing with desire and yes, I wanted it. I wanted him. I could take more. I could take everything he was able to give me.

  He slid my panties off and pushed roughly inside me without a word. I arched, gripping the blankets in my fists, mouth open in a soundless cry of the deepest, purest ecstasy. I stayed there in that place, balanced on the edge of pleasure and insanity as he rocked me back and forth with each deep thrust. There was nothing but us then. Nothing but the connection of our bodies and our souls.