He tasted like the berries he’d been eating a few minutes before. His lips were sweet, and surprisingly soft. Izzy’s mind screamed at her that she still didn’t know Noah well, and that kissing him was a foolish idea. But her heart told her that this was right, and that there was something special about him. And, as Noah had already observed, Izzy was pretty good at following her heart.
Her heart felt pretty disappointed when Noah pulled abruptly away from the kiss and started cleaning up the remnants of their dinner. Still, Izzy couldn’t help but smile when she licked her lips and tasted the sweet berry flavor that lingered there from Noah’s lips. She had a feeling that the fire between them had only just begun to burn. More heat was in her future.
Chapter Six
Izzy awoke the next morning to bright sunlight and the sound of birds chirping in the trees. Beside her, Noah was still sleeping. They had shared a bed last night, but hadn’t touched each other again after their post-dinner kiss. Noah had decided that guard shifts were unnecessary, but had insisted that they should sleep near each other in case of an attack. If they had to fight at a moment’s notice, it was better for them to be together instead of in separate rooms, or, worse, separate cabins.
Izzy had been happy enough to agree to this sleeping arrangement, although she’d half-expected Noah to make some sort of move on her in the middle of the night. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed that he hadn’t, and she didn’t want to think too deeply about it. If she sat here any longer, staring at Noah’s gorgeous face as he slept, she was going to give in to the temptation to make a move on him. With a barely perceptible sigh, she slipped quietly from the bed and crept out to the front room of the cabin.
She peered out the front window, scanning the landscape for any sign of enemies. Everything was still, however. The leaves on the trees occasionally rustled in the wind, but other than that, nothing moved. In the morning light, Izzy could see that the damage to the cabins was even worse than it had seemed last night. Most of the windows were shattered, and several cabins were missing doors. Here and there, the walls of the cabins themselves looked like someone had randomly taken an axe to them. Izzy shook her head in disgust. She’d been forced to work with several of Saul’s soldiers up in Montana, and she knew all too well how they loved to destroy things just for the sake of destroying them. She couldn’t understand how people could take pleasure in ruining perfectly good cabins, but then, there were quite a few things in this war that she didn’t understand.
Satisfied that, at least for the moment, no enemies were around, Izzy turned to the kitchen to search for a way to make coffee. She found a coffeepot in the cabinet under the sink, and, after a bit more searching, she found a bag of coffee grounds. The grounds were likely a bit stale, but she couldn’t exactly hop down to the local market and get more. This camp was in the middle of nowhere.
Tentatively, she reached to turn on the tap, and was relieved to see water coming out. At least the pipes had remained intact. She filled the coffeepot with water and grounds and pushed the brew button. The power was still working as well, at least in this cabin. Out here, the electricity came from the solar panels on the roofs of the cabins. Many of the cabins had suffered severe damage to their roofs, but this one seemed to have survived quite well.
Before the coffee had even finished brewing, Noah was sticking his head out of the bedroom. “Mmm, smells good,” he said. “I could use some caffeine.”
Izzy smiled. “Me too. I’ve just woken up and I already feel tired.”
“Agreed. We have a long day ahead of us, though. We need to do one more check for enemies, go check the artifact vaults to make sure they haven’t been disturbed, and then send a message to Falcon Cross if all is well.”
Izzy nodded. “The sooner we get going, the better. Let’s eat a quick breakfast and then head out.”
After munching on the remaining cheese and crackers, and finishing the whole pot of coffee between the two of them, Izzy and Noah made their way out to inspect the Redwoods Base Camp. It didn’t take long for them to determine that the place was completely deserted. Saul had only cared enough about the place to leave the monster behind to guard things, it seemed.
“Let’s check the vaults,” Noah said. “Either Saul raided them already and that’s why he abandoned this post, or he wasn’t able to find them and gave up. I’m really hoping for the latter option.”
Izzy followed Noah without comment as he started walking into the woods. She knew from various mission briefings that there were five vaults near the Redwood Base Camp, all containing powerful artifacts that would assist in the war effort. The vaults were protected by state-of-the art fingerprint sensors, as well as protective magic spells. They were also supposedly quite hard to find if you didn’t know what you were looking for.
Noah knew what he was looking for.
They spent the next several hours looking through vaults that contained hundreds, if not thousands, of old spears, jewels, swords, helmets, and armor. Everything glittered and shone when the vault doors were opened and the sunshine streamed in. Izzy could have stood and stared at the treasures for hours, but Noah wasn’t wasting time on sightseeing. After the first three vaults, he was satisfied that Saul had not been able to find the old artifacts.
“Let’s get back to the cabins and tell Falcon Cross to send over some wizards,” he said, his voice laced with excitement. Izzy felt excited, too. Their mission had been a resounding success. Now if only the rest of the wizards could get here in time to arm themselves for the imminent battle with Saul.
Noah and Izzy didn’t waste time walking back to camp. They flew, he in dragon form and she on her broomstick. Izzy felt free and happy as the wind whipped across her face. She admired Noah’s dragon form as she flew behind him, forgetting for a few brief moments that there was a war going on, and just enjoying the open air and spectacular view. For as far as she could see, the earth was filled with gently sloping hills of redwoods, and the sky was blue and cloudless. Despite the circumstances, life felt pretty good in that moment.
All too soon the flight came to an end, and Noah shifted back into human form in front of the cabin where they’d stayed the night before. Izzy looked shyly away from his nakedness. She’d seen plenty of naked dragon shifters, since every time they shifted back into human form they had no clothes on. But somehow, looking at Noah now felt different. They’d kissed. They’d shared a life or death experience together. There was some sort of chemistry in the air between them. Izzy didn’t dare to look at Noah’s naked body. She felt she might explode with desire if she did. She knew it was ridiculous to be thinking about things like that right now, but she couldn’t help herself. Noah had kindled a fire in her that refused to be quenched.
“You alright?” Noah asked, breaking into Izzy’s confused thoughts. She looked up at him, startled, and nodded. Who knows what kind of crazy expression she’d had on her face, or how long she’d been standing there frowning like an idiot. Noah was fully dressed now, and was standing in the doorway of the cabin, his military-issued handheld computer in hand.
“I’m good,” Izzy said. “Just, uh, a lot on my mind.”
Noah stared at her in that way that was becoming so familiar—that way that made Izzy feel like his intense green eyes were seeing straight into her soul. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. He was holding her captive. Drawing her in. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and wished that she could think of something clever to say right then to break the moment. But she was at a loss for words, and Noah was the one to speak next.
“We’re in agreement, then, that it’s safe to send the transmission?” he asked, his voice suddenly businesslike.
Izzy nodded, grateful for the chance to focus on something other than her flip-flopping stomach. “Yes. There aren’t any enemies here as far as I can see, and the vaults appear to be untouched. The protective spells on each of the vaults we checked were holding up well. I’d say we’re ready to bring
in the army.”
Noah smiled. “Good. I’ll send the transmission now.”
He powered on the small tablet, and furrowed his brow as he swiped at the screen several times. A small series of beeps erupted from the tablet, and then all was silent. Noah powered off the device.
“Alright,” he said. “That’s done. Now we wait.”
“Now we wait,” Izzy agreed. “It’ll take them a half day to get here, at least. Maybe more, depending on where they are right now.”
Noah grinned. “Enough time for me to show you some of my favorite places around here. Come on.”
Izzy was surprised at how boyish his face appeared. He looked so happy in that moment that it made her heart hurt. She knew he’d grown up here, and, for a brief moment, she imagined him as a young boy, running through the forests, climbing trees, and causing havoc with his clanmates. Then she let her mind run further, wondering what it would be like to have a young dragon shifter son of her own running through these woods. She coughed loudly, startled by the thought and worried that somehow Noah would guess what she was thinking. What the hell was wrong with her? She was here to work, and so far their mission had been wildly successful. She needed to keep focusing on the tasks at hand and not on Noah.
The only problem, of course, was that there wasn’t exactly an urgent task at hand. Noah was right: the only thing to do at the moment was wait. And it was hard not to fantasize about a life with Noah when he was standing right in front of her, smiling from ear to ear with sunshine lighting up his hair and face. Izzy had all but forgotten how angrily he’d scowled at her just a day ago. He seemed to have forgotten his anger as well. Now, he held out his hand to her, a gorgeous gentleman wanting to take her on an adventure. Izzy reached out and grabbed his hand.
Soon, she forgot to feel guilty or guarded. She laughed along with Noah as they ran through the forest, which felt downright magical. He showed her the best spots to find banana slugs, and where the deer liked to hide. He took her to a giant, hollowed-out tree trunk that was big enough for ten grown man to stand inside. She looked up in awe at the trees that had been standing there for thousands of years, silently watching as countless generations of men came and went. And she squealed with laughter and ran away when he threatened to toss her into his favorite swimming hole, clothes and all. Much too soon, the shadows grew long, and Noah glanced up at the sky with a concerned expression.
“We should head back,” he said. “I’m almost certain these woods are deserted right now, but on the off chance that they aren’t…”
“It’s better for us to be safely in a cabin than out in the open,” Izzy said, finishing his thought for him. He nodded, and they both reluctantly turned back toward the cabins. Izzy’s disappointment was mollified somewhat by the fact that, as they fell into step next to each other, Noah once again reached over to grab her hand.
Chapter Seven
Noah laughed along with Izzy at whatever story she’d just told. He couldn’t have told you the punch line of the joke if his life depended on it. She’d been saying something about the time a visiting wizard in her old village had mistaken her for an animal doctor instead of a human doctor. One thing had led to another and Izzy had apparently ended up agreeing to stitch up an old hound’s foot.
Noah should have been paying better attention. He wanted to know everything that there possibly was to know about Izzy, and she was sitting here freely regaling him with tales from her various life adventures. But despite his curiosity, he found it hard to concentrate on the words coming out of her lips when what he really wanted to do was kiss those lips.
Noah was beginning to understand why his clanmates had been so willing to settle down with a lifemate. Izzy could have asked him for anything in that moment and he would have given it to her, including a promise to spend the rest of his life with her. She was a drug he couldn’t resist. He had no idea how she’d gotten past his defenses, but she had. He knew it was too late to resist. He was already gone. There was no turning back for him. The only question now was how long to hold off before showing her how deep his feelings were.
If he said something right now, would she think he was crazy? Was he crazy? They hadn’t spent much time together, and half of that time he’d been acting like a total jerk to her. He winced, thinking of how he’d called her a coward and told her she was unfit to be a soldier. He’d acted like an asshole, and he felt ashamed of himself. She was brave, deep down. And how could he blame her for not wanting to see Saul again? After being tortured by Saul and watching the evil dragon murder everyone she knew, one could hardly expect her to jump for joy at the prospect of facing off with the evil dragon.
“What’s wrong?” Izzy asked.
Noah quickly smoothed out his features, realizing that he’d allowed his face to show his emotions a bit too clearly. He smiled at Izzy, trying to give off an air of nonchalance.
“Nothing. Just a bit tired I suppose.”
Izzy glanced up at the clock on the wall, which had been stuck in the three o’clock position for who knew how long. But a clock wasn’t needed to know that it was late. Outside the cabin, the sky was a deep, velvet black. Tonight, there were no clouds, and hundreds of glittering stars were sprinkled across that velvet, along with one very bright full moon. That moonlight was all that lit up the leftover bits of their dinner on the table, and yet everything was easy to see in the dazzling silver light.
“We should go to sleep,” Izzy said, standing to start cleaning up the table. “With any luck, the Falcon Cross Wizards will arrive very early tomorrow morning.”
Noah nodded his agreement and stood to help Izzy clean, although sleep was the furthest thing from his mind right now. He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to manage to lie in bed next to Izzy tonight without kissing her. He considered sleeping on the couch, but he felt that trying to do so after insisting on being in the same bed last night would be inescapably awkward. So it was that, fifteen minutes later, he was lying in bed next to Izzy, desperately trying to regulate his breathing and willing her to fall asleep quickly so he could stop worrying that he was going to end up with a ridiculously obvious erection.
The room felt like it was full of static electricity. Noah could practically hear the air crackling, and he found it impossible to believe that Izzy couldn’t hear it, too. But when he chanced a look over at her, she seemed completely calm. She had her face turned slightly away from him so that she could look out the bedroom window. The window was facing directly toward the brilliant moon, and Noah allowed himself to admire for a moment how beautiful Izzy’s face was in its silver light. He felt a stiffening between his legs and quickly looked away, trying to think of something, anything, that would slow the flow of blood to his rapidly hardening dick.
His efforts were futile, however. Izzy must have sensed that he was looking at her, because she turned then, and her honey brown eyes met his gaze. She smiled at him, and then glanced down at where his erection was poking up against the blanket, forming an unmistakable peak. There was no denying it. His body betrayed the hunger in his heart. He wanted Izzy with a desperation unlike anything he’d known before. He held his breath, waiting for her to react. Would she pull away from him? Act disgusted that he’d so far overstepped the bounds of their professional relationship? Kissing her had been risky enough, but letting himself lie in bed next to her fully aroused was a whole different level.
She didn’t pull away. Far from it, in fact. Instead she slid her hands underneath the blanket, and reached across the bed to close one of her palms around his thick shaft. He closed his eyes and let out a small moan. Shivers ran up and down his spine, despite the warmth of the night and the blanket. He hated the fabric of his cotton pajama pants, which was the only thing separating the skin of her hand from the skin of his erection. She rubbed her thumb up and down, while the rest of her fingers kept a firm, steady grip. Every slight movement she made felt like it was leaving a trail of fire on his body. He felt himself trembling, something he�
��d never done at a woman’s touch before. But he could already tell that Izzy wasn’t just another woman. She was special. The real deal. His.
He couldn’t keep himself from letting out a low, guttural growl. Feelings of possessiveness surged unexpectedly through his body. Izzy was his. He knew that as surely as he knew his own name. And he was going to show her tonight how desperately he wanted to take care of her, and how completely he would love her.
He should have been frightened by the word love. But somehow, when it popped into his head, it just felt right. He wouldn’t say it aloud. Not yet. But he felt a peace, knowing deep down that he loved the woman lying next to him.
He also felt horrible for treating her the way that he had. He was usually an understanding man. He tried to give others grace and show them that he cared. But he had let himself get caught up in the stress and uncertainty of the war, and he had acted in ways that were not fitting for a noble dragon like himself. He couldn’t take back all the cruel things he’d said to Izzy, but he could apologize. He could man up and let her know that, at the very least, he recognized that what he’d done was wrong.
Noah sat up on his elbow, turning toward Izzy. She let her hand slip away from his shaft, and looked up at him with wide, questioning eyes. The silver light of the moon outlined her hair, making her look truly magical. He supposed that was fitting for a beautiful wizard like her. Her face was flushed with the passion of the moment, and her lips parted in an invitation to kiss her. He would kiss her soon enough. He would be happy to spend all night kissing her. But first, he had to clear the air between them.
“Izzy,” he said, his voice husky and catching with emotion. “I’m so sorry. I should never have said the things I said to you. You’re no coward, and, for someone with hardly any formal training, you make a damn good soldier.”
Victory and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 10) Page 5