“Have you lived with the twins long?”
“As long as I’ve been a part of the family, I’ve lived with them. We pitched in and bought what everyone calls a monstrosity of a house. It’s three truck containers stacked like a stair case.”
Quinn’s eyebrows shot upward. “Truck containers? Like what’s parked outside?”
“Just like that. They’ve been fitted with windows and rooms. Before that, we lived in the cabin with Dane. That was when there were only the four of us. As the family grew and we grew older and bigger, we realized we’d need our own place.”
“I’ve heard a lot about the twins from their father, but with all the time they’ve spent apart, I’m sure they’re vastly different from the people he thinks they are.”
In Hector Avila’s eyes, the twins were his cherubs that could do no wrong. Already, Isaac had smashed that perfect vision with his confession that Luc was a prankster. Humor like that always begot trouble. It made her wonder how Hector and Lucia would accept their children. Would they take the boys as the men they’ve become? Or, would they be disappointed in the men they aren’t?
She shook herself from her thoughts. This conversation wasn’t about the boys. It was about learning who Isaac really was. This conversation was about figuring out if she could love this man.
“What brought a human woman to a family of dragons?” Isaac asked before she could speak. “I know you’re mated to one, but you act as though you’ve been a part of the family your whole life.”
“You’re observant.” Not as observant as he should have been, considering he still thought she was mated to Kenji. Even she had been in doubt of that from the beginning. “When I was young, my mother ran off. I don’t know where she went, but I have an idea if I’m anything like her. She left me with her sister and not long after that, my aunt met a dragon and realized they were mates. The dragon man she mated was one who’d escaped an experimental facility and had been helping others to escape as well.”
“What do you mean if she’s anything like you?”
Quinn sighed. This was the part of herself she feared. She didn’t want to be like the woman who birthed her. If anything, Quinn wanted to be like her aunt. She wanted to be strong and steady and determined. But, Quinn seemed to be a thrill seeker. Her intention when she started her degree in journalism had been to help people see the truth. Instead, she used it to spice up her life, pretending to be other people to get information, risking her neck to publish exposing stories.
Quinn set down the wing she’d grabbed and lifted a smile up to Isaac. “It’s nothing. I never really knew her anyway.”
He frowned at her response, but didn’t push the issue. She looked down at the table. There was a growing stack of glasses off to the side. How many cranberry vodkas had she finished already? She lifted the half full glass to her lips and threw back the last of it to add the glass to the stack.
Was that five? She should stop, she told herself. Her eyes slid toward Isaac who’d been watching her the entire time. He never took his eyes off her for long. As much as he tried to keep his attention diverted, he always turned back to her, like she was the sun and he was a sunflower.
“Kenji isn’t my mate,” she confessed.
Isaac grew completely still. He made no sound, didn’t even breathe. She kept going, her tongue a little unhinged by the vodka.
“He and I were lovers at one point. It’d been good and fun, but after a time, my heart wasn’t in it and I broke it off. Years later, Ken was still holding a candle for me and confessed that the mate bond had been cemented when we were lovers. He said he’d let me go for my own benefit, to let me live my life, but that he wanted to try to work things out with his mate.”
Isaac’s fingers gripped the table. She watched the resin coating start to crack beneath his grip.
“I believed him. He was my friend and I didn’t have any reason not to believe him at the time. After a while, I had my doubts. Ken might have been happy, but I wasn’t as thrilled. He didn’t set my soul on fire the way I saw my aunt when she met her mate. It set off bells that something about our relationship was wrong. It wasn’t until before the storm that he told me the truth.
“Ken had bought into his own lie. He’d believed we were mates and that, eventually, I’d come to agree. When he saw how I reacted… when…” Quinn struggled with her words, looking anywhere but at Isaac to keep from giving away her immediate desire for him. “Well, before the storm he told me he realized how he was lying to the both of us and that he didn’t want to keep me restrained any longer. I think it’s partially why he let me leave the settlement with you.”
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the loud bar music and the shouts of some kids throwing back shots on a Thursday afternoon. When Quinn looked up, Isaac’s gaze was heated. Her words had unleashed something inside of him. The beast, she thought. All dragon shifters had the spirit of their dragon living inside of them. It was a voice all its own, one that understood the magic of what they were much better than the human part did.
Isaac’s beast knew what Quinn knew. It knew the bond between them and it wanted her. She felt her face warm and she fumbled for her wallet. Before she could get her card free, Isaac smacked a bundle of bills onto the table and slid free of the booth seat. He looked back at her, an unspoken question waiting for her.
Coming?
Quinn wanted to, in more than one way. She followed him, placing her hand in his. Her words to the receptionist hadn’t been to keep her from knocking on their door. Perhaps, not completely. Part of it had certainly been wishful thinking.
On their way out the door, the couple could hardly keep their hands off one another. Isaac’s hands traced the line of her waist as if he wanted to commit it to memory. Quinn’s fingers grazed the back of his hands as if she were afraid to lose contact with him. But, once they stumbled into the orange glow of the street lights at night, they realized they had much bigger problems at hand.
Several dragons from the nomadic family were prowling around the gas station and motel. Quinn froze, her breath quickening. If the dragons found her, they’d drag her right back to the family and keep her there. She knew her uncle would be one of the dragons searching for her.
“What do they think they’re doing?” Isaac growled. His hands were still on Quinn, as if his desire was only momentarily on pause to assess the situation. Every now and then, as they stood motionless, his thumbs brushed her ribcage and a thrill went through her core.
Quinn desperately wanted to get back to their motel room. She wanted nothing more than time alone to devour this man, one small bite at a time. His hands found their way beneath her shirt and the skin on skin contact made her moan.
A couple of dragons left the lobby of the motel and marched directly to the room they were renting. They were lucky Quinn suggested food when they did. The dragons would find nothing other than their scent, as if they’d been there but already left.
A small group of dragon men approached the road. Isaac swore softly and lifted Quinn in his hands before darting into the darkness beside the bar. It smelled slightly of piss and beer, but the shadows covered them while Isaac pulled her back into him. She could feel how bad he still wanted her and she resisted the urge to rock her hips from side to side.
If they were caught, Isaac would be forced to give her up to her family and their hunt for the missing dragons would be over. Quinn could hardly believe her family would search for her, but leave the others in the hands of GOE. She knew the difference, knew the threat that GOE was to her family, but it didn’t change the message. The only time they’d assaulted GOE head on had been when the family knew the agents would be at a different facility.
Isaac’s hands distracted Quinn from the thoughts spinning through her mind when it slipped beneath her chin. The large mass of his hand covered her throat and his thumb brushed the soft space beneath her chin as he gently pulled her head back. His lips touched the bare space behind her ear and t
hey both heard her breath catch.
The dragon men were crossing the road, coming closer every second, but Quinn could barely be bothered to care as Isaac’s lips slipped down her neck and his teeth nipped her shoulder. She gave in, squirming against him in the shadows.
This was not where she wanted to claim this dragon man, not beside a shitty bar while dragons searched for her. Quinn waited as patiently as she could for the group of dragon men to pass by them and enter the bar before she grabbed Isaac’s hand and darted out of the shadows. They skirted the edge of the street light’s glow and snuck across the street undetected.
Quinn didn’t try to go around the front of the motel. Instead, she guided Isaac behind the building. Her body pulsed with need. She ached for the return of his hands on her body, the feel of skin on skin.
Was this what it was like to have a mate? Was this constant need what she should have been feeling all along? Quinn worried that wasn’t the case. She worried this was just the rush of a new relationship.
It made her grip on his hand loosen. Isaac squeezed her in return, as if he, too, wasn’t ready to let go of her. She glanced back. The outline of his curls could be seen through the night. She wanted to reach up and run her fingers through them. She wanted to know if they were as soft as they looked.
This was her mate. The answer settled inside of her and she didn’t try to argue it. Quinn had other things to worry about. Her mind was reeling, but it was quickly cut off when the dragons burst from their motel room.
“Where the heck could they have gone?” one dragon complained as he ran his hand through his hair.
Her uncle was here, searching for her. Quinn frowned as his eyes slid toward the shadows the two of them huddled in. Her heart stopped when she realized he’d seen them. Her hand tightened on Isaac’s. In moments, they would have to run again. How would the two of them escape a group of dragons?
But, her uncle turned away from them and surveyed the night. “I think they moved on already. I know Dane’s been in touch with his dragon. Probably told the guy we were going to come looking.”
“Isn’t that her bike, though?” another dragon asked.
“Looks like it,” her uncle acknowledged, “but it isn’t hers. It looks like a similar model, though.”
He lied for her. He’d seen her and blatantly lied to the other dragons. That meant he, too, didn’t like what the family was doing. Perhaps Quinn wasn’t the best person to send to rescue two kidnapped dragons from GOE, but she seemed to be the only one brave enough.
Her uncle herded the other dragon men away from the motel room with loud declarations that they would head back to the settlement. He led the group away and the path ahead of them cleared.
Brave enough? Or stupid enough? This mission to rescue the captured dragons could be incredibly stupid, she reminded herself.
There was little time to think about the repercussions of her mission because Isaac’s hands returned to slip down her waist and over her hips. Her mind scrambled and all she could think of was the safety behind the motel room door.
Before she could make a break for the door, Isaac swept her off her feet and into his arms. His mouth met hers with a fury she hadn’t been prepared for. It threw her for a loop and made her stomach tighten. She grasped for his shoulders, fingers clawing against his skin, even through the fabric. His kiss delved deep and his teeth nibbled at her lips. He would devour her whole if she gave him the chance.
Isaac’s foot managed to kick the door open and he carried her through. Unable to let her go, he fell onto the mattress with Quinn in his arms. She gripped him in return. She didn’t want to let go of him in that moment. She wanted to cling to Isaac so that the world could not blow him away on a gust of wind.
His desire pressed into her leg and their clothes were slowly becoming displaced. Isaac’s fingers were wound in her wavy tresses, pulling her head to the side so that his lips could make their way from the sensitive skin behind her ear down to the hollow of her collar bone. He paused and her stomach clenched. Quinn feared the worst, but Isaac let out a soft laugh against her skin.
“What’s this?” He pushed aside the collar of her shirt to reveal a patch of blackened skin.
“Tattoo,” she said, breathless. Quinn arched into Isaac’s body, silently asking him to continue. Her body cried out for his roaming hands, for the weight of him atop her. Instead, Isaac pulled back. His eyes roved over her body, questioning and challenging. A brow rose when he looked back at her. She never realized how piercing his eyes were beneath his hair. She reached up and pushed the curls back. “What is it?”
“Do you have more?”
Her brain was addled. All Quinn could think of was his hand resting on her hipbone or the heat of his gaze. “More what?”
His rough thumb brushed the lightning bolts beneath her collarbone and she felt the sensation echo throughout her body and it made her let out a small moan. When Quinn finally regained a semblance of composure, she replied. “Seven in total.”
His brows shot upward and a look of challenge crossed his face. Quinn watched her lover shimmy down her body until his face hovered over her hips where a small patch of colored ink had been exposed. The sight of him, grinning up at her like that, made her core tighten in anticipation.
Chapter Five
Isaac was going to discover what maps she’d had drawn across her skin. Each image, big or small, was a point in her life Quinn wanted to memorialize. This was how Isaac was going to truly meet this woman. His hands slid beneath her shirt, his eyes meeting hers and an electrical jolt jumping between them and arching over their skin.
Who was this woman? Why did she call to him like a storm did to his beast? Why couldn’t he get enough of Quinn? In that moment, Isaac couldn’t care less. All he wanted was to explore her skin, see who Quinn thought she was and the stories she wanted to immortalize.
The shirt slid up her abdomen to reveal the first lines of ink. Isaac held his breath. Another inch revealed a petal, until he could no longer hold himself back and he tore the shirt over her head. Flowers danced over her hips and led his eyes down to a place Isaac wanted to be, himself. The pink and orange petals, like the colors of a bursting sunset, seemed to flutter in a wind that wasn’t there.
Isaac traced his fingertips over the black outlines of the petals and Quinn writhed beneath his touch. She leaned into him, licking her lips. Who was this woman? And, why did Isaac deserve her? She turned heated eyes at him. She wanted to devour him, but Isaac wasn’t done yet. He captured her greedy hands with his and pushed them over her head. When she cried out in protest, Isaac silenced her with a long and luxurious kiss as his hips rocked against hers. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, but he was not finished learning who his mate was.
When he pulled back, her eyes were glazed over with pleasure. A smile slipped over his lips. He never thought anyone would look like that for him. This woman was a small miracle. He let his lips slide over the small lightning bolt tattoos that graced the skin beneath her collar bone. The tattoos led him to the mound of her breast and he could not stop himself from taking her nipple into his mouth. With his lips around it, his tongue flicked at the nipple until Quinn squirmed.
***
Her mate was determined to discover each and every small piece of ink in her skin. They were proof that she’d lived her life, little mementos from points in time or emotions she thought to immortalize. The three lightning bolts on her left shoulder had been her first taste of ink. They were meant to represent the static she would forever have with society. Quinn never wanted to blend in, never wanted to sit on the sidelines like so many others did.
She wanted to live. She wanted to be herself, even if that mean causing a little static with the world around her. Isaac laid his lips over them in reverence, like he worshipped that small part of her. It was hard to imagine a man that would worship a woman for being difficult and stubborn, but this was her mate.
It was still so odd to consider Isaa
c her mate. Only a week ago, Kenji had been trying to convince her they were mates, meant to be together forever. Then, he told her the truth. He’d only been trying to keep her close, keep her because his love for her felt like the love a dragon should have for his mate. He’d been convinced, perhaps of his own doing, that Quinn would eventually return his feelings.
But, the bond wasn’t there. It never would have worked. She didn’t hate Kenji for what he’d done. He’d only done it because of what he thought to be true. Then, Isaac came into her life. Immediately, she knew there was something different about this dragon. The world seemed to focus in on him until that was all she could see, all she could hear.
Isaac took her nipple into his mouth and all thought flew out the window. Quinn moaned as his tongue flicked the very tip. His hand worked at the button on her waistband. Would he kiss a trail down the flowers on her hip bones? Would his tongue slip lower?
Those flowers had been Quinn’s attempt at finding something pretty on herself. It’d been a time when she struggled with her image. She’d started college, gained much more than the freshman fifteen, and then fought to strip herself of the offending pounds by not eating. In the end, she’d had to hurt herself to learn what her worth really was. The flowers were to remind her that no matter what she did, she could be beautiful.
It seemed that Isaac agreed when his eyes met hers, heated and hungry as her pants slid down over her hips and thighs. Her heart raced. It’d been far too long since she’d laid with anyone. She wanted Isaac inside of her, wanted to know what it felt like to make love with one’s mate. Would her world shatter and crumble as pleasure overtook her? Or, would it be just like any other time?
Quinn felt her body tighten as her nerves began to scream. She feared this wouldn’t be as special as she wanted it to be. Her body had been alight with sensations until that fear struck her.
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