Viper (Second Wave Book 1)

by Mikayla Lane

  “Which part? The fact that I came back, or that I came back with a bad-ass beast?” Lara asked with a grin, her eyes twinkling as she teased him.

  Viper easily slipped into the familiarity of their mutual teasing. “Hmmm… actually I think it was the fact that your breasts are so much… ow damn!” Viper said, laughing even though his arm hurt like hell where she’d punched him.

  “That was so uncalled for, you pig!” Lara said with a grin that spoke of retribution.

  “Shall I kill him for you ancient one?”

  Lara screamed at the top of her lungs, before turning around and trying to zap the bouncing black object in the back seat of the SUV with bolts of energy. Viper was struggling to bring the vehicle under control having jerked the wheel too hard.

  By the time Viper had the SUV parked along the shoulder of the road, the back seat was partially in flames. Lara bolted out of the vehicle and threw open the back door. When she found nothing, she and Viper nodded and headed to the back hatch.

  Viper held up three fingers and when Lara nodded he counted them down. On one, Viper opened the hatch while a black blur slammed into Lara’s chest emitting the most piercing howl she’d ever heard. It was deafening.

  Viper pulled the knife from his boot and moved to Lara when he realized what it was. “Dog’ee!! Damn it! You were almost killed you fool! Why the hell were you hiding in the back seat?”

  “Dog’ee?” Lara asked, looking stupidly at the cat she thought they had left with Dread. “Oh my God, stop that screeching right now!” Lara added, sighing in relief when Dog’ee quieted and buried his head in her neck. His shaking and sniffling in her arms melted Lara’s anger.

  “Shhh, it’s ok. I’m only upset that I could have killed you. You can’t scare us like that, Dog’ee. Promise you’ll never do that again.” Lara demanded as she stroked the trembling cat’s fur.

  “Upset? I’m mad as hell! What the fuck was he thinking? The back seat is smoldering!” Viper growled, incredulous that Lara was defending the little idiot.

  “Don’t! He’s already so frightened, don’t make it worse.” Lara said glaring at Viper before turning softened eyes to the cat she was rocking in her arms. “It’s ok baby. I know you’ll never do that again. Will you?”

  “I thought you knew I was there. But you only paid attention to him.” Dog’ee said turning his head to shoot a glare at Viper.

  Viper lost it. “Are you kidding me? Seriously? That is my mate! The one I haven’t been alone with in hundreds of years! That’s it! I’m done! Get in the vehicle. Now!” Viper said pushing Lara and the cat back into the passenger seat.

  Lara looked back at him, partly amused and partly worried for him, as he muttered to himself as he walked to the driver’s side and launched himself into the seat. With silent determination, he drove back down the mountain to the office, growling through the Shengari’ the whole way.

  He slammed to a stop in a parking spot and jerked Lara’s door open. When she stepped out of the vehicle, he looped his hand through her arm and easily pulled her into the building where Grai and Gibly met them at the entrance.

  “Dog’ee come with me now!” Gibly said, his twitching whiskers and slightly poofy fur a clue to his irritation.

  “He really…” Lara was cut off by Grai.

  “He is in no trouble; I assure you. Follow me please.” Grai said as he held open the door for Lara.

  Lara looked curiously at the two men and the cat before setting Dog’ee down. She watched as he quickly ran off with Gibly behind the building.

  Viper, on the other hand, thought she was taking too long and grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the building, with Grai striding beside them.

  “Where are we going?” Lara asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

  “You will see.” Viper said, his face a granite mask of irritation.

  Lara wasn’t sure if she should be worried or not when they entered the portal room. Grai turned to Viper and handed him a leather-bound item before shaking his arm and nodding his head.

  “Let’s go.” Viper said, holding out his hand to Lara.

  A knowing grin came across Lara’s face as she took his hand. He pulled her past the portal doors before taking a quick right and plunging them through one.

  Lara came through the other side and stared in surprise at where they ended up. Before she could even process it, a handsome young man walked up to them.

  “If you’ll follow me, Viper, we have everything ready for you.”

  “Come on.” Viper said tugging on Lara’s arm until she followed him.

  Lara tried to figure out where they were, but they went through the small building so fast she didn’t get much of a clue. However, the moment she stepped out of the door, she sucked in a breath and stared around her in awe.

  “You wanted a date. This is our date. A day early.” Viper said with a grin, as he looked into Lara’s stunned face.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Lara looked around at the stunning beach stretched out before her as a gentle breeze blew her hair back from her startled face.

  Turning around behind her, she watched as they left what looked like a one-story mansion and got into a waiting limo. She looked at Viper with surprise. “Where are we?”

  “We are at a place where we can be alone, that is all that matters to me.” Viper said with a sigh as he dragged her down into the comfortable leather seat beside him and into his arms.

  Lara giggled. “Yeah, but where is that?”

  “I have no idea, but it’s away from everyone else.” Viper said, breathing deeply of Lara’s scent mingled with the ocean breeze. The combination doing wonders to relax his mind and body.

  “Viper! Seriously, where are we?” Lara asked, lightly punching his side.

  “If I may, you are in St. Thomas, and we are pulling into the Alliance property now. I am Gregory, and I stay down the road at the portal. Rina and Joseph will take care of you while you are here.” Gregory said with a playful smile, his brown eyes twinkling as Viper pulled her from the car.

  Lara barely had time to wave and close the door before Viper pulled her up the few steps to the front door where she assumed Rina and Joseph were waiting for them.

  “Viper, Lara! We are so happy that you have come.” Joseph said, his weathered face shining with a genuine smile of welcome.

  “Come inside! We’ll show you around and get out of your hair!” Rina giggled like a woman decades younger than she was as she pulled Lara into the house and the largest foyer Lara had ever stepped into.

  She had no time to look because even though the woman was at least in her seventies, she was much more agile than one would expect and moved quickly through the rooms before ending up back at the front door.

  “Now just remember, if you need anything you just call or send us a message on the comm, and we’ll take care of everything. Now you enjoy yourselves!” Rina said, winking at Lara.

  She and Viper stood in the doorway and waved good-bye to the couple who were only walking to the other side of the property to their cottage. The moment they were out of sight Lara turned on Viper.

  “This is a date? This is an island paradise in the middle of nowhere! How the hell does Grai have a place like this?” Lara asked moving back inside the amazing house as Viper closed and locked the door behind them.

  “I don’t care if he stole it. It’s ours right now. No cats popping out of the back seat, no brothers, spiritual leaders, Valendrans or…” Viper hushed when Lara put a finger over his mouth.

  “I get the idea. This is amazing Viper. Thank you.” Lara said, hugging him tightly around the waist.

  “I’m starving, let’s check out the fridge.” Viper said, trying to hide the slight blush in his cheeks as he led her into the spacious kitchen area.

  Lara took the time to look around this time and was amazed at how beautiful the house was. It had four full bedrooms complete with their own baths. The only thing missing in the kitchen was the profe
ssional chef to use all of the state-of-the-art equipment.

  She couldn’t help but be drawn to the wall of windows in the family room that looked out over the water. However, the growling of her stomach was definitely siding with Viper on food first.

  Heading into the kitchen she couldn’t help but notice the stack of items that Viper was piling onto the granite countertops.

  “Damn, how hungry are you?” Lara asked, her jaw dropping slightly at the amount of food.

  Viper peeked his head out of the fridge. “I don’t know what most of this is. I’m trying to find something I recognize besides the fruit.”

  Lara thought about it for a second and burst out laughing. It would make sense that most of the food would be from the local area, and she didn’t think that the standard Texas fare was easily found here.

  Taking pity on him when she heard his stomach growl Lara went over to help him sort through the food. Looking into the multitude of containers, Lara quickly returned the items to the fridge that she knew Viper wouldn’t like based on everything she remembered from their past.

  They still had quite a few containers left on the counter, and Lara grabbed a loaf of bread and quickly made them some sandwiches. Viper chose cheese curls and chips and grabbed them a couple of sodas before following Lara out to the patio to eat.

  “This is so beautiful. It reminds me of the time our families took us to Zendar, and we stayed at that house on Lake Naclisiam.” Lara said leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes, enjoying the wind in her hair.

  “There is much beauty on this planet now that you are here.” Viper said, meaning every word.

  “Awww, thank you!” Lara said, blushing to her roots. Now was the time she thought. Now she should ask him the one thing that drove her nuts in the past and even now.

  “Viper, why did you never fully claim me?” Lara asked and regretted it the moment she saw Viper’s face fall, erasing his happiness immediately.

  Lara was getting ready to tell him to forget about when Viper began to speak.

  “I have regretted that every single day since you’ve been gone. I always wondered if things would have been different had I claimed you the moment you reached maturity, instead of waiting.” Viper said softly as he looked out at the waves that were crashing against the shore.

  “I assumed that as long as you were kept safe and were happy, that there was time to wait. And you never mentioned it, ever. You never talked about what you wanted our home to be like, or when you wanted to have children. You never spoke about any future between us, so I assumed you weren’t ready.”

  “See I thought that since we had grown up together, spent every moment together, that while I was off playing ambassador with my brothers and attending to duties, you could have some time to yourself. To learn who you were without one of us constantly around.”

  “I thought the time apart would encourage you to want to at least speak about the future. It became a misery of my own making because the more time I spent away from you the more I wanted to be near you. I had to stay away more and more in order to stop myself from claiming you. Then you were gone.” Viper barely said the last through the sudden tightness in his throat. The pain of that day rushing back to him all over again.

  Lara reached across the table and held his hand. “Hey, look at me.” Lara said, waiting for him to look at her with his beautiful green eyes before continuing.

  “It wasn’t your fault. You were right; I really wasn’t ready, and I didn’t know who I was without any of you. I was never really my own person. From the moment of my birth, I ceased to be Kinara and became Viper’s mate. I was even introduced as ‘This is Viper’s mate, Kinara.’” Lara mimicked their parents perfectly.

  “Half the time those people never remembered my name, only the ‘Viper’s mate’ part and that’s what they would call me. The older I got the more I started to resent it. So when you started spending more time away, I became bolder and more aggressive in my attempts to get away and feel like I was living my own life. Instead of the life, everyone demanded I have.”

  “You know the worst part? I didn’t realize until the moment I knew we were going to crash that the thing I had been seeking, had been to be by your side while you were on your travels. To experience all of those new adventures with you. Like when we were growing up.”

  “I used those stupid adventures with our brothers as a poor substitute for the ones I wasn’t having with you. It was childish, and all of us paid a high price for that mistake. I’m sorry, Viper. I truly am.” Lara said, choking down a sob as she put her head in her hands.

  Viper didn’t even think; he just scooped her into his arms and went into the house. Heading down the hallway, he entered the first bedroom he found and laid her gently on the bed. Sliding in beside her, he pulled her into his arms while she cried quietly.

  “You know the One God has a great sense of humor. Don’t you think?” Viper asked, startling Lara.

  “What?” Lara asked, her crying beginning to cease as she looked at him in puzzlement. Her mind was trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about and why.

  “Think about it. In the past, I tried to keep you in a protected little bubble, here you became a tough soldier who has probably seen as much battle as I have. I’m assuming it provided you with plenty of adventure as well.” Viper said with a grin, completely taking her attention off the reason for her tears.

  “What?” Lara said looking at him like he was crazy for his train of thought, even as she smiled at his craziness.

  “Oh and we can’t forget that now you have some powerful, mutant beast who gives you a slight edge over my own abilities. Then there’s the fact that you’re the one here with a mission, and I will be the one following you around.”

  “The One God must be female, and she’s pretty pissed off at me.” Viper said with a dramatic sigh that caused Lara to burst out laughing at him.

  Lara felt the comfortable rumbling of Viper’s chest beneath her hand as he chuckled along with her. The man was definitely crazy, but he always knew exactly how to make her feel better and stem her tears.

  “You’re still crazy.” Lara said with a grin as she cuddled deeper into Viper’s side.

  “Probably a little more than I used to be, but I think it helped me to loosen up a bit. I’m still crazy where you’re concerned, that will never change, but strangely enough, your new abilities make me more confident in our success together. I won’t hold you back this time; I'll be by your side instead.” Viper said, squeezing her tighter and kissing her head.

  Lara took a deep breath to prevent the tears from returning. “You’re still a wonderful man, you know that?”

  Viper puffed out his chest. “Yeah, I’m pretty awesome.”

  Lara just laughed at his antics. “Yeah, yeah you’re so bad. Mr. Mighty Death Bringer. Ooooh.”

  They shared a few moments of comfortable silence between them before Viper turned serious again.

  “I know things are different here, and I don’t want to rush you into something you’re not ready for, but can you see us making this work between us? Here… with everything going on? Everything that’s happened between us?” Viper asked, scared to death that he’d missed his only chance at happiness with her.

  “Honestly, I don’t want children yet. There is too much that depends on Abexis right now, and I’d rather wait until there are enough Primes to handle things first. Agreed?” Lara asked a little nervously.

  “I believe Dog’ee will be enough of a child for us, for the time being.” Viper said, trying to contain his excitement that she was even thinking about children. Now or ever. Sadly, they had never spoken of it in the past.

  “Awww, Dog’ee is a sweetheart. He just needs a little guidance.” Lara said with a grin, thinking of the charming little cat.

  “The backseat was on fire, and we almost went off of a mountain because of that cat! He’s a menace, reckless, irresponsible…” Viper began in exasperation, before Lar
a interrupted.

  “He’s just very young and needs to learn some self-control. I swear he reminds me of that strange boy… what is his name?” Lara said, frustrated that she couldn’t remember the name of the boy she’d shot.

  “Traze. You’re right; they are a lot alike. Can’t we give Dog’ee to him? A ‘sorry I shot you’ gift?” Viper asked, knowing it would needle Lara.

  “Oh my God! You’re not giving away my cat! Besides, that boy needed to be shot as a lesson to calm down more. If I had been anyone else, he could have been killed and so could everyone else that was there.”

  “He was very reckless. I think Abexis and the Prime residing in David are going to make him their personal mission.” Lara said, waiting for the fireworks she knew were coming.

  Viper sat bolt upright in the bed and turned to Lara, who was playing with the comforter in order to avoid eye contact. Yanking the fabric out of her hands he stared at her until she finally looked at him a little sheepishly, a light blush covering her cheeks.

  “You are not telling me that David… and that boy, are going to be permanent fixtures in our daily life. I cannot have heard you correctly.” Viper said, looking a little frazzled and overwhelmed at the thought.

  Lara truly did feel bad about the circumstances, but there was no other option. “Abexis needs them to be close enough to easily send the energy needed to awaken their Primes. Tricia is already close because she, and Grai live a few cabins up from yours.”

  “Maggie lives in an apartment in town and David, and Traze live in a cabin too far from us. They will have to move closer by necessity.” Lara said watching the look of horror and disbelief that crossed Viper’s beautiful face, and she struggled not to laugh.

  “You are jesting. You must be. Right? Ha ha ha…” Viper said, his eyes begging her to end the joke. He wasn’t sure if he could handle it.

  It was one thing to continue living with his brothers; they had all grown up together like that anyway. But the addition of Dog’ee and now Traze around, would ensure that he would rarely have time alone with her. That wasn’t acceptable to him at all.