by Gina Kincade
“You’re okay. It’s not hurting you,” Draven whispered into her ear.
She gripped his black T-shirt in her fists as she buried her face in his chest. Her heart pounded, and her knees shook. She had her eyes screwed shut so tight that her brows ached, but she couldn’t open them for fear of what she’d find.
“Shhh, you’re okay,” he repeated. “The fire is gone.”
Cortney shook her head. She didn’t want to open her eyes She wasn’t in any pain, but maybe she was in shock. Maybe her skin was already blistering and peeling. Cortney pulled away, and whipped her arms in front of her, turning them over to examine them for injury. Her skin was a little pink, and tingled like she had a very mild sunburn, but otherwise, she was fine. “I didn’t burn,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
An agonized groan came from behind the man. Cortney tried peering around him, but he moved so that he blocked her gaze.
“No, you didn’t. You know what we are. You know we’re phoenix shifters.”
“That has nothing to do with me.” Her heart was pounding again. She shook her head, hoping to ward off what she knew in her soul was coming.
“But that’s where you’re wrong. The Phoenix Mate Acquisition Contract between our species is very clear about certain things. Like what happens when we find a suitable mate. I’m certain you’ve heard of this. You have signed the PMAC, have you not?”
His gaze bore into her, almost daring her to deny it. She tilted her chin up. How could she not have heard of it? Every single female in the country had to sign on the dotted line agreeing to the PMAC. Well, they didn’t have to, but the government made it very difficult to say no. “There’s no way for you to know that I’m a suitable mate.”
He looked at her, his eyebrows shooting up, then his mouth curved up, revealing a gorgeous smile. “If you weren’t a suitable mate, you would have been turned to ash when Kirk came back to life.” As if on cue, the other man groaned again.
“Cort, are you okay?” Trista rushed over, pausing only long enough to stomp out a small fire in the grass at the edge of the helipad. “Holy shit. I can’t believe you’re still standing after that blast. Let’s get you inside. I’m sure there’s still some of that ice cream cake we had for your birthday yesterday. If any occasion calls for ice cream, this is it.”
“I-I don’t think I can,” she told her friend. Her hand shook as she pushed her hair back from her face.
Trista gave her an odd look then turned her attention to the man. “Listen, I don’t know what your deal is, Mister…”
“Draven,” the man provided as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Draven. But she’s coming back inside. I may be small, but I will drop kick you.”
Leave it to Trista to come to her defense. Cortney shook her head and grinned at her. “You’re such a nerd. He’s not doing anything. Apparently, I have to go with him. Says I’m ‘mate material’” she enclosed the last two words in air quotes, rolling her eyes.
“What? Wait. You can’t leave for a whole month.” Trista glared at the man.
“What choice do I have? I signed on the dotted line and had all my University expenses paid by the government. Besides, nothing has to happen while I’m there. I’m under no obligation to mate with anyone. I’ll just think of it as a month-long vacation. With pay.” The government may have made the deal too good to pass up with a promise that very few women were even compatible with the phoenixes, but the truth remained, she had a contract to fulfill.
Trista groaned and threw her hands up. “Okay, damn it. I’m coming, too.” She looked at Draven with her chin tilted up, and her shoulders squared.
“You don’t have to do that,” Cortney told her, but deep down, having a familiar face with her would make the whole thing a lot less scary.
“I know I don’t. But I will. And they can’t stop me. It’s part of the PMAC. A mate can have a companion for the duration of her stay.” Trista glared at Draven, the dare shining brightly in her eyes.
“Great, it’s settled, you’ll both come. Let’s go make the appropriate arrangements.” Draven waved them toward the building.
“Shouldn’t we do something to help your friend?” Cortney asked.
Draven looked over his shoulder. “He just needs a few minutes. And some clothes. I’ll have someone bring something out to him. It’s best if he stays out in the open until he’s fully awake.”
“Maybe I should stay with him,” Trista offered.
***
Trista was fierce. He’d give her that. She’d make an amazing phoenix mate. He’d have to keep his eyes on her aura once they got to the Odyssey to see if she’d react to one of the males. If she didn’t, then at least Cortney would have a friend with her to ease her transition.
He held the door to the administration office open and followed her in. Cortney hadn’t said much, but at least she wasn’t scowling. After the way he’d treated her earlier, he wouldn’t have blamed her. They waited while the secretary spoke into her headset and jotted down a message. A quick glance at Cortney confirmed it. Kirk was outside, and her aura was still bright red, so unless there was another phoenix around, which there wasn’t, she was his. He smiled at her, and she averted her gaze.
Of course, she had the option of not mating with him. She was under no obligation to stay with him past the thirty-day contract. Hell, she didn’t have to give him the time of day even during that thirty days. All she had to do was live with him. Just the thought of sharing his space, spending time together, breathing the same air had him anxious to get home.
“Can I help you?” The secretary came over and gave him a once over.
Cortney looked at her and rolled her eyes again. “I need to fill out some forms, Gloria. It seems I’ll be on leave for a month.”
“What? No. It’s summer. You can’t just take a month off. The scheduling office will have a fit.”
“She can, and she will. Under the PMAC of 2012, a suitable mate must take residence with her proposed mate for a minimum of one month. She is my mate, and I will bring her home with me. Today,” he clarified.
The woman looked at him again. “Lucky girl. Jeanine won’t be happy about it, but maybe one of the new girls will want the extra hours.”
She went to a filing cabinet behind her desk and rummaged through the files, taking a lot longer than he would have liked, but then she pulled some sheets from the drawer and held them up in the air. “I knew they had to be in there somewhere.”
“Great,” Cortney said, her voice flat. “Just tell me what to sign so I can get out of here.”
The woman pointed to three places and gave Cortney a copy of the PMAC to bring with her, and within minutes, they were free to go.
“Can I go up and let my co-workers know that I’m leaving, or do they just get to work short for the rest of the day and think I’ve deserted my patients?” she asked, her voice sharp.
“Of course. In fact, why don’t we meet back at the helipad in half an hour? I’ll get some clothes for Kirk and make arrangements for Trista,” he agreed.
She gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, then turned and walked out the door.
Letting her out of his sight went against everything in him. As her mate, he wanted to be wherever she was. They weren’t mated—yet—which meant another male could steal her away from him. But he had a feeling that being too aggressive would just push her away. Besides, she’d only just found out he was uprooting her for a month—longer if he had anything to say about it. The least he could do was give her some space. She might not be thrilled with the prospect, but she hadn’t refused to go with him.
“What do you mean arrangements for Trista?” the woman Cortney had named Gloria asked him.
“Trista, the nurse that works with Cortney, she’s coming as well. As per section eight, paragraph three…” he looked at the woman who riffled through a copy of the PMAC.
“Crap. Jeanine is going to flip. Okay, I’ll get the other pap
ers.”
Chapter Three
Cortney rushed up to her department, ignoring the curious looks the other nurses gave her as she headed straight for a computer. It didn’t take long to find a copy of the PMAC online, and even less time for her to confirm that Draven was right. She had to go with them. Not that she doubted it, not really, but she wanted to be extra sure.
As expected, her manager hadn’t been happy when she’d told her she was going away for a month, and even less so when she found out Trista was going too, but considering the situation, she’d given her a hug and wished her well.
Less than thirty minutes later, she was back at the helipad, shielding her eyes from the sun. Maybe Draven would let her grab her sunglasses and a few things before they headed out to…where the hell was she going? She didn’t even know where the Odyssey was. It had to be somewhere local-ish since Doctor Parker knew the man by name.
She spotted Draven right away. Damn but the man was big. He was at least six feet tall, and his shoulders were wider than any man she’d ever seen. From what she’d read, the chemistry between phoenix mates was ridiculously high. Like, tearing clothes off in public places kind of high. Not that she’d allow that to happen, but what if she couldn’t help it?
The man was gorgeous with his bright green eyes and his dark, messy hair. And she was going to have to live with him for a whole month. At least he was being nice to her now, but she knew better than to trust nice.
Trista spotted her and came rushing over, her eyes sparkling, and a wide smile on her face. “Ready to go? I’m going with Kirk since he’s still hurting. He’ll take me to my place to grab some stuff. And Lex. They’re letting me bring Lexie with me.”
Cortney hadn’t even thought about her friend’s dog. “That’s great.” The hyper puppy would drive them all nuts, but at least it would give them something to focus on other than the ticking clock counting down the time before they could leave again.
And she would leave. She hadn’t worked her ass off at school to get her degree, then put in four years of her life into building seniority just to give up her career, no matter how hot the shifter was. Okay, so the job wasn’t perfect, but she made a difference in people’s lives. Taking care of others wasn’t just what she did, it was who she was. That wouldn’t change just because she had to take a month-long break from it all.
“I’m as ready as I’m going to be.”
“Hey, this is going to be fun. If all the men over there are as cute as those two, I may try to snag one for myself,” Trista joked. “They won’t know what hit them.”
A black sports car and a motorcycle sat waiting along the lane just outside the helipad. Kirk sat on the tarmac, holding his ribs, but otherwise, he appeared fine. “You’re looking a lot better than the last time I saw you,” she said.
“I feel like crap. Trista says you broke my ribs,” he said and then winced when he tried to take a deep breath.
Draven stepped closer, placing himself a little in front of her. Whatever. That macho shit wasn’t going to fly with her. She stepped around him. “I did. You should have the fact that you’re a phoenix on a medic alert bracelet or something, so you don’t waste a lot of taxpayer dollars by having a whole team working on you for nothing. And don’t even get me started on the supplies that we wasted. Do you have any idea what kind of deficit Ontario hospitals are running under?”
The man looked up at her with his eyebrows raised then glanced over at Draven before grinning. “I have a tattoo. We all do.”
“Well, maybe then you should let us measly humans know about them so that we don’t make these mistakes. I didn’t mean to break your ribs. I was trying to save your life,” she huffed.
His grin widened. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I appreciate your efforts. I’m just saying that I’m hurting. That’s all.”
Part of her wanted to pick a fight with the guy, but it wasn’t his fault any of this was happening. And if she was going to spend a whole month with the phoenixes, she should at least try to stay friendly. Who knew what they did to their enemies? “I’m glad you’re okay. Even if you are hurting.”
Kirk turned his attention to Draven. “Mind helping me up?”
Draven shook his head but stepped forward. “One of these days, I’m going to let you self-destruct and deal with the mess when all the pieces come falling all around you.”
Kirk grunted as he got to his feet. “Nah, that’s what makes you such a great leader.”
“Leader?” Cortney asked.
“Didn’t Draven tell you? He’s the head of the Odyssey. You’re moving in with our Alpha.”
Cortney’s heart slammed against her ribs. The Alpha? Crap. Could things get any more intense? It wasn’t a regular phoenix her body had betrayed her for, no, it was the damned Alpha. Now all the phoenixes in the Odyssey would scrutinize her every move, and each word she said. Maybe she’d just hole up in his apartment, or cave, or wherever phoenixes lived, and not come out until her time was up. She snickered at the cave thing. Anyone who drove a car like that one, or that sweet looking bike, had to live somewhere better than a cave.
Before she could say anything else, Draven came up to her. “Ready? We’re taking the bike. Pretty boy here is too banged up to ride.”
“Can we get some of my things before we go? I’ll need some clothes and toiletries and stuff,” she asked him. Though for the life of her, she had no idea how the hell she would get a month’s supply of things in a bag small enough for her to carry on her back.
“We won’t be able to carry much with the bike, but we can grab what you need for right now, and I’ll bring you home to get more stuff tomorrow or the next day. Would that be alright?” he asked her, but there was no other option to be had.
“I could always just follow you in my car,” she suggested.
He immediately shook his head. “That wouldn’t be safe. They won’t recognize the vehicle.”
Cortney looked at Trista, who just shrugged. “Okay, so the bike it is.”
When they reached the vehicle, Draven handed her a helmet. “Have you ever ridden before? Do you need help with the helmet?”
“Not often, but yes, I’ve ridden before, and no, I don’t need help.” She sounded bitchy even to her own ears, but she couldn’t’ help it. Things were getting out of hand fast. She had the helmet secured over her head when he came close again and checked on the fit. He didn’t say a word as he pulled his own on and slipped the visor down.
Trista came over, her smile now gone. “You okay, Cort? You’re looking a little pale.”
She pulled Trista a few feet further from Draven. “No, not really. Have you seen how gorgeous he is? How the hell am I supposed to resist him? And now I have to have my body wrapped around him for God knows how long until we get there. What if that mate chemistry thing starts happening right away? Remember those articles we were reading last week? I’m going to be one of those women we were laughing about in those articles.”
Trista burst out laughing. “Dude, you have to chill. We’ll just take our vacation and come home. So you get to jump his bones while we’re there. If you ask me, that’s a mighty fine perk.”
A faint crackling sound came at her from the inside of the helmet. “It’s two and a half hours to the Odyssey,” Draven said, his voice, coming through the helmet, sounding way too much like laughter.
“Fuck my life,” she whispered under her breath as she glanced over, and sure enough, his shoulders were shaking. Not only did she have to hang on to him for two and a half hours, but now he knew she was worrying about it. Without even saying goodbye to Trista, she got on the bike. It was going to be a long month.
Chapter Four
Draven swung his leg over the bike and roared it to life. He should have said something when he had realized she wasn’t aware of the mic, but she spoke so fast that he hadn’t had a chance to put a single word in there. The fact that he liked what he heard had nothing to do with it. Well, not much, anyway.
; She pulled her visor down and hopped onto the bike. Having her wrapped around him as she’d pointed out had Draven smiling all over again. He definitely could get used to it.
“That wasn’t nice,” she scolded before he could say anything.
“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t. Not really. Learning that she found him hot enough to be worried about the mating pull was great news—for him.
She sighed and wrapped her arms around his chest. “Let’s get this show on the road. Today counts as day one, right?”
Draven adjusted her arms so that they were low on his waist. “No, it’s thirty full days. Tomorrow will be day one.” He didn’t know for sure if that was accurate, but he’d take any advantage he could get. She was eager to leave before they’d even started. So what? He wouldn’t let it get to him. He had thirty days to enjoy his mate’s company and convince her that she couldn’t live without him, and he couldn’t wait to get started.
As soon as he swung the kickstand out of the way, her arms tightened around him, and she settled so that nothing but the clothes on their backs separated them. His body heated a couple of degrees at her nearness alone. He could just imagine what it would be like if they were skin to skin.
“When we go around corners, just follow my lead. Lean in when I do.” She’d mounted the bike like a pro, but he wouldn’t chance her getting hurt. Giving basic instruction would only take a moment. It was bad enough that all each of them had was a helmet and gloves. Phoenixes, in general, didn’t overdo the protective gear, but then, they didn’t die if they wrecked. His mate, however, was mortal—for now anyway. “If you need a break, just let me know.”
“Got it,” she answered a little breathlessly.
He revved the motor and she gasped.
“I’m glad to have you with me, Cortney. I know you’re not thrilled about the situation, but I’ll do my best to make you happy,” he told her before pulling out.