by Eliza Gayle
That could be a problem. How many witches were left in the region? Simon rarely heard about any. Although if anyone would know it would be Lara. She was currently the only witch living within any of the shifter clans that he knew of.
“Where? Are there more witches here?”
Lara didn’t answer right away and he took that as a sign. Magic could be tricky, and wasn’t easy to wield. Although when done by an experienced user it held incredible power. And power, of course, had a way of changing things and not always for the better. Hence why the witches usually kept completely to themselves.
“Maybe,” she finally answered. “They are extremely private.”
Didn’t witches hate dragons? He was starting to imagine roadblock after roadblock. Still, this was all food for thought. But not right now. Right now he still had a fickle feline to keep alive at all costs.
Fuck. His obstacles were piling up at an alarming rate. It was time to stop standing around and go on the attack.
Rafe would never forgive him if Kitty died.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kenzie dug her toes into the soft dirt of the clearing behind the clinic and kicked it into the air, adding the scent of fresh turned soil in to the breezy autumn air. She had half a mind to shift and fly the hell out of here. All of her good intentions of retaining a friendship with Simon and making a new home here in America had seemingly gone south in about two point three seconds.
On the one hand, she was so angry with him for what he’d done without her permission that she was about to lose her mind. On the other, she’d seen the desperation in Kitty’s face the moment before she drank the serum. That woman had risked her life for a chance at a baby with her mate.
That level of commitment and surety in what the other woman wanted out of life awed her.
Kenzie paused. Would she do the same? How important was having a child to her? She’d not considered that question exactly. For so long it had been assumed that she was not fertile and would never bear young. A fact that she’d quickly adapted to with little thought as she focused on her career and not much else.
The mating heat, however, changed her situation overnight and it became expected that she would produce dragon young for the good of the family and their royal bloodline. She’d also not given that much thought, figuring after she made it through her first mating season alone she’d clear her head and remember it was her duty. She always did her duty.
That was simply their way. Only why did that have to fall on her shoulders now? Fate had dropped a mate in her lap that she rather liked. Well, before he betrayed her. Now she wasn’t sure how she felt. It was hard to see beyond the hurt and anger flowing strong through her veins.
She sighed, blowing out a hard exasperated breath. She needed to get her emotions under control.
“I was wondering where you went. Actually, I figured you’d be gone by now.”
She stiffened at the sound of Simon’s voice behind her, but didn’t turn. All the emotions churning through her made it difficult for her to face him right now.
“I needed some air.”
“I thought you hated the sunshine?”
“I do. Hence why I’m under the trees. How is Kitty?”
“Her vitals are still stable. She’s holding strong. But we’re a long way from out of the woods. I’d like to throttle her for doing this.”
She pulled her mouth into a grim line. “Get in line on the throttling bit. Although it’s not Kitty I’d like to throttle.”
“I guess I owe you an apology.”
She whirled to face him. “You guess? Seriously? You guess!” Her voice rose several octaves on the last.
He held up his hands in surrender. “That’s not what I meant.”
She glared at him. “Then what did you mean? Because from where I’m standing all I see is betrayal.”
“I could make excuses. We could also get into the nitty gritty details of the suffering our clans have gone through over our fertility problems. But in the light of day, standing in front of you trying to make you understand, it still feels like excuses. Poor ones at best. But if I can help our females bear the young our clans need and they crave, how am I supposed to feel sorry about that?”
“I know how important children are to shifters,” she said quietly.
He nodded. “I suppose you would. Coming from the original line has to come with enormous pressure.”
“It wasn’t really. Not for me. Not before. I was believed to be barren. I think some people might have felt sorry for me for that, but it honestly didn’t bother me. I actually gave it not much thought until the mating heat began.”
“And then?”
She shrugged. “If you are asking me whether children are important to me, my answer is yes. They are important to all shifters. But to me personally? As in my own offspring? I don’t know. I’ve never considered it as a choice. I accepted it when I couldn’t and then I assumed I would when I could.”
“It is always a given, isn’t it?” he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Until you realize you can’t have them and you don’t understand why. Then I think it becomes a singular focus. Kitty is like that in a way. She feels an overdose of expectation to produce our Alpha’s offspring. But after many cycles of no conception at all and then several miscarriages when she was able to get pregnant, it doesn’t look good for her.”
“And you really think my blood can help her?”
He blinked down at her. “I do. The magical DNA inside of you has incredible healing powers. It’s off the charts in comparison to other shifters. I believe it comes down to getting it down to a dose that a non dragon can tolerate though.” He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his cheek, rubbing the skin against his. “But I am sorry I did it behind your back. I should have talked to you about it. You should have had a choice.”
The sting of Simon’s betrayal both sharpened and softened at his words. It hurt so much that he would do that to her, but she also understood the importance of it all. How could she not? It was that singular fact that had prevented her from leaving the minute she found out.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you.” That was her truth and they both deserved to get that out in the open.
He pressed his lips to her fingers and a shiver worked along her skin. “If forgiveness came that easy I’m not sure I would respect it. I’m fully prepared to work for it, no matter how long it takes. All I can tell you is that these last few weeks without you have been pure hell. I had to do something to keep busy and making that serum was the only thing that kept me sane.”
She pulled her hand free from his, unable to focus on her thoughts with his mouth touching her. The pull to forgive and forget was beyond magnetic when it came to this man. Yes, the mating bond had a lot to do with that, but not all. If she hated him, this would be about one thousand times easier.
“Do you believe the witch?” she asked, suddenly changing directions.
He shuttered his eyes for a moment. “I don’t believe she would lie. She had to go through her own version of hell to find her mate. If anyone can understand what you might be going through it would be her.”
“But is she capable of a spell like that? Can she truly bind something as powerful as procreation?”
“It doesn’t matter if she can or not. You can’t do that.”
A fresh wave of anger swept through Kenzie’s blood. “What? Did we not just have a conversation about me having a choice? What the hell, Simon? Are you trying to make this worse?”
She watched the muscles of his jaw clench and unclench as he obviously struggled with his response. But if he said one word about her duty to procreate she was going to have a Simon barbeque right here right now, consequences be damned.
“It doesn’t feel like a fair choice,” he finally said.
“So, what? You’re okay with us walking away from whatever this is between us? What if what we are feeling is the beginning of a true mate bond? Walking away could do more harm tha
n good.”
“Hell no. That is NOT what I am saying at all. What I am saying is that I need more time to find a better solution. I found one for our females. What’s to say I can’t figure it out for you too?”
“Wow, your arrogance astounds me. You’re already assuming that the serum you made is going to work and yet Kitty is lying in a bed in your clinic with her entire clan praying this doesn’t cost her her life. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”
“Yeah, it fucking tells me that my patients and friends should listen to what I say and not do whatever the hell they want. If they’d waited we could have figured out a way to test it properly without the potential of my best friend losing his mate.”
“Do not fucking cuss at me, Simon Comyn. This is not on me. It’s all you. And them. It wasn’t my bright idea to do any testing without permission nor was it my bright idea for those women to break into your lab and steal it. And I’m not even going to get into how the males of your clans were planning to fucking hide it from their females. What kind of sexist bullshit is that?”
When she finally took a breath, she wanted to scream she was so frustrated. None of this was her fault and yet every bit of it felt like her responsibility. If she had not come here none of this would have happened. She could have stayed at home in Scotland and watched the asshole dragons fight over her in their ridiculous version of Dragon Wars.
What a stupid mess.
“I need to go. I can’t stay here any longer. This whole thing is so far out of hand. You’ve learned nothing.”
He stepped closer, until their bodies nearly touched. “That’s not true. But we’re both frustrated and afraid.”
“What in the world are you afraid of?” she spat, not tempering her attitude in the slightest.
“I’m afraid of a lot of things, Kenzie,” he started in a low tone that made her shiver with the vulnerability of it. “I’m afraid that something will happen to Kitty on my watch and I’ll lose my best friend. I’m afraid that you’ll consider Lara’s idea to magically sterilize yourself for me and then regret it. I’m also afraid that you won’t consider it. But most of all I’m afraid that I’ve fallen in love with a woman who doesn’t love me back.”
Kenzie stared at Simon, unable to speak. What had he just said? Hell, what hadn’t he said? His confessions were slamming through her brain with the ferocity of a pissed off dragon. And speaking of…hers was fighting to get out and she was about to lose said fight.
“You—you lo—“ Her face heated as she realized she couldn’t even speak.
A broad smile covered his face for a moment before he once again turned stern. “Yes, Mackenzie Ferguson, I love you.”
Her head was definitely exploding but she managed to push out a question. “But how?” She shook her head, knowing it couldn’t be possible. He barely knew her.
“You mean besides the fact you are kind, loyal and beautiful?” He shook his head. “Or maybe it’s that I also know how much you have suffered in life and I admire the fact that you came out the other side of that confident, smart and brave.” He leaned forward and nipped at the bare skin of her neck. “Or maybe it’s the knowledge that I’m the only man that’s been inside of you and I ache to be there again and again and again.”
Her stomach swooped as the memory of their night together slammed into her. She’d thought they were making a singular memory that would last them both a lifetime, but she miscalculated. “Simon…” she whined.
“There’s more,” he said on a whisper as he pressed his lips to her neck.
“There can’t be more,” she gasped.
He growled. “There will always be more. Like how you genuinely care about people and put them first. You don’t look down your nose at anyone. I mean you’re a dragon for Goddess’ sake. If anyone had the propensity to feel superior it would have to be you. And yet, that’s not how you think.” He brushed his lips along her jaw, sending more shivers racing down her spine.
“I had great parents,” she whispered brokenly.
He suckled at her collar bone. “I wish I could thank them. Although I’d bet they knew exactly what kind of daughter they had and would be so proud of you.”
Her heart cracked at his words. Or at least that’s what it felt like. Tears welled in her eyes as the realization that she would forgive him crystalized in her mind. She would always forgive him, because she too felt the same about him.
“There’s also the way you smell,” he said as he buried his nose in her neck. “I can’t get enough of you no matter what I do.”
She laughed. “That’s just the pheromones talking.”
He groaned. “And that right there is the clincher. You talk science to the scientist. Now I know I can’t let you go.” His fingers dug into her hips and pressed them tightly together. That his hard erection lined up perfectly with her tall frame was enough to make her see stars when he rubbed against her.
“You really don’t fight fair.”
“Nope. Never will, either. Now stop talking and kiss me. I’m dying to taste you again.”
She laughed as she gave in, melting against him as he swooped in and took her mouth with a rough growl. Something told her that his wolf was very near the surface and he needed her every bit as her dragon needed him.
There was nothing slow or easy about Simon’s need filled kiss. Heat burned between them as her fire licked at her body and fueled her response. With his fingers splayed across her back as he held her, Kenzie felt everything.
The wind sifting through her hair, the warmth of Simon’s touch pressing through her shirt, the sexy slide of his tongue against hers. She was sinking fast as her mate’s arousal engulfed her.
Despite the tornado happening inside her, this kiss was slower than before, almost as if Simon needed to savor it. Because he thought it might be their last? Her heart nearly broke with denial and it spurred her to loop her arms around his neck and lean into him. No matter what happened after today, he had to know how she felt and maybe the only way she could do it was to show him.
The kiss might have gone on for eternity, she wasn’t sure. She only knew that they stood there for a long time as they explored each other with long, lazy strokes. Until Simon groaned and the world tilted and changed.
He slid his hands from her back to her ass, leaving a burning swath of arousal as he went. By the time he grabbed her tight and lifted her off the ground she was more than eager to wind her legs around his waist. She felt him move although he never broke the kiss so the details were lost on her until she found herself on her back on a fluffy patch of grass with Simon coming down on her.
She’d definitely been wrong before. She could forgive him. Would, in fact. His good intentions were the deciding factor. It wasn’t this soul searing kiss, or the fact she wanted him so bad she couldn’t resist it. This was her choice. At least that’s what she planned to tell herself later.
Simon never stopped or hesitated. He just kept his mouth on hers as his hands roamed her body. She couldn’t contain a moan as his strength and power suffused to hers with every new touch or squeeze. She was going to die from the perfection of his touch.
She moaned and bucked her hips, urging him closer. “Need you naked. Now.”
By the time he lifted his head to speak, she was writhing with a mindlessness that made it almost impossible to understand his request
“Do your thing, baby,” he growled, his voice sounding as raw as her nerve endings.
Her mouth formed into a silent O as his meaning finally sunk in.
Yes!
She closed her eyes on a smile and imagined them both lying in this field naked, shielded only by the long grass and the thick growth of trees that surrounded the clinic. She didn’t care. Any one of his friends or patients could come looking for him out here and she didn’t think twice about it. With his need as palpable as hers, her only focus was on how quickly she could make this happen.
Pretty darn quick, apparently. His low moan and the sudden sensati
on of naked flesh against naked flesh told her their clothes were history. She’d always thought magic was handy, but this brought it to new levels.
Before she could think too much, his lips found hers again and she sank into the heat, desire and pure need flowing between them. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. So she’d have him here and now no matter how crazy that might be.
“Unless you want company, you should try and stay quiet,” he whispered against her lips. “Shifter hearing and all.” He didn’t wait for any kind of response as his erection slid through her wetness. She was more than ready for him.
“I love how ready you are. Fucking perfection.”
She had some sort of glib response on the tip of her tongue, but it disappeared the moment he plunged inside, filling her completely. A moan formed in her throat, but she swallowed it back. Just barely.
She loved the fact they were outside in the fresh air and freedom. That didn’t mean, however, that she wanted an audience. So every time she had the urge to scream, grunt, or moan, she leaned forward and bit him.
This drove Simon wild as he pistoned his hips faster each time she sank her teeth into his slickened skin. That overfilled sensation from before brought Kenzie racing to the edge far quicker than she expected. She wasn’t going to last long.
Her orgasm was building and Simon must have sensed it as his thrusts increased, pushing her closer to the edge. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she clung to the pleasure frantically cracking open from the inside out.
She needed to scream and thankfully he must have realized as he kissed her hard, swallowing all of her sounds as her orgasm rocketed through her, making her arms and legs shake. With each new wave, her muscles locked down around him and he groaned each time.
Sweat beaded across his forehead and his hips bucked with wild precision. He was close. She loved watching him in the throes of passion. His facial features changed on every stroke and when he finally stilled his gaze locked to hers. The intensity and emotion she saw burning in his eyes was a look she was never going to forget.