Patterson’s voice was matter of fact and it hit Noelle in the gut. She was glad she was already pale because she doubted anyone noticed the blood drain from her face. How many days did Lucia have left? They couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
The dragon man standing by the door cringed. His eyes flicked to the marks along the inside of Lucia’s arm. Small, red marks dotted the bend of her elbow like they’d been drawing blood from her, repeatedly. His gaze made Noelle wonder if the GOE scientists injected a dragon with something when they wanted to…
Noelle couldn’t think the words Patterson had said moments ago. He spoke as if they were rabid dogs, animals. He didn’t look at Lucia and see her human face, see the gaunt shadows of her cheeks and the glassiness of her eyes. He didn’t look at her and see a mother of two that survived horrors.
Panic was a sharp knife in Noelle’s chest. They had to act fast. No one knew how many days they had left. Later, when she saw Marc between his shifts, she would have to tell him everything she’d learned.
Patterson spun on his heel, crooked his finger at Noelle, and left the room. She only hoped she survived the day without ripping that man’s head off.
***
Marc couldn’t handle it all. He felt like he might implode where he stood. The apartment felt too small, despite its massive size. Noelle acted like nothing was wrong. She buried whatever she might have felt with indifference and attitude.
“You saw my mother?”
Noelle sighed, heavy and irritated like she was already done with the conversation. How could she drop such a bomb so easily and not feel the weight of it? His mate treated her news like it was something she’d read in the daily paper.
“Yes,” she hissed. “How many times do I have to say it?”
“She’s alive?”
“For heaven’s sake, yes!”
His knees grew weak. When his eyes met Noelle’s and she quickly looked away, he knew there was more to the story than she was letting on. There was something his mate didn’t want to talk about. That was why she was trying to brush the conversation off.
Marc closed the space between them, putting himself into her space so she couldn’t slither out of the conversation. She looked at the floor. He felt his stomach clench, not knowing what it was she was trying to hide from him. His mind was working to fill in the gaps, coming up with scenarios that terrified him.
“Don’t you have to be at work?” Noelle asked, her eyes darting to the door as if she wished he would leave. As if she were trying to avoid the subject.
“Not until you tell me what else happened today.”
Her shoulders tensed like she might fight him, but eventually, they slumped. Noelle sighed. It was like the last bit of steam escaping her small frame. Her eyes rolled upward and her feet slid apart like she was prepared for a fight.
“I was found out today.”
The world stopped moving. Marc swayed on his feet as if his body was struck by the sudden halting of the world. He swallowed hard. “What did you say?”
Noelle rolled her eyes. “There was a dragon in the lower levels, Oliver, he was assigned as an escort to Patterson and me.”
“And the other dragon was the one who found you out?” His voice was tight, like he couldn’t bear to say the words.
“Yeah, but I don’t think he’s any threat to us. If anything, he looked like he was just as unhappy to be down there as I was. He knew I was a dragon the whole time and didn’t say anything. I mean…”
Marc cut her off with a finger over her lips. Noelle’s brow immediately fell into a deep furrow while she glared up at him. “You’re not going back.”
She slapped away his arm, her eyes burning with the fire inside of her now. “You do not tell me what I can and cannot do. It doesn’t matter who you are in my life.”
“Do you want to die?” His voice was breaking.
“No!” she shouted back at him. “I want to help my family. If that means risking a little, then I’m alright with that.”
“What if I’m not?” His chest was tight. Fear gripped his heart. He didn’t know how he’d ever let Noelle out of his sight again. The whole mission might be over because he was ready to take his mate back to the Territory that was still somewhat safe. The idea that she’d been figured out, even by another dragon, terrified him. His mind fed him images of his mate strapped to a table like he’d seen in the file Anya retrieved.
His hands reached for her, yearned to feel the curve of her hips beneath his touch, but Noelle danced out of his way. She was still burning with ire, all of it directed at him. He’d clearly crossed a line, but he had no idea how to fix the situation. He could get on his knees and beg. He could lift her off her feet and carry her home.
The beast inside of him was happy to take over and haul their mate back to the protection of the metal home he shared with his brother. The beast wanted to hold onto her and never let her go again, never let her near another dragon, another person who might hurt her the way his parents hurt.
The fire around her was growing. He could see the air starting to waver. She put space between them, moving around the counter as if she could sense his urge to take her home. With her hands splayed on the cool, stone counter top, she looked up at him again.
“I think this dragon could be an ally,” she proclaimed.
His chest tightened further. Soon, breathing would become an impossibility. Did she not understand the danger she was in?
“If the guy was going to call me out on what I was, he would have done it while I was in the lower levels.”
Marc shook his head. The beast writhed inside of him, demanding to be set free. “I get that. But, you need to understand what I’m feeling right now. I’m terrified for you and it’s making things… difficult.”
Around them, the building shook. Winds picked up and Marc could feel it coming from inside of him, his power to command the skies. The beast wanted freedom. It wanted to do what it thought was right, even if Marc knew his mate would not agree. It was a struggle to keep it contained while the world around him shuddered and rumbled. Things fell off counters, glasses shattering against the hardwood floor.
Noelle didn’t budge. She was an immovable force of her own. Marc spared a thought to wonder if two warring dragons could fit inside their massive apartment. Perhaps, but it would not survive if it came to a couple’s fight between them. It gave him a small laugh, the thought of their dragons fighting. Even on that level, they were a fiery match.
“I’m not stopping my mission,” Noelle said, her voice smaller than he expected.
His eyes snapped open, just then realizing he’d closed them at all. Noelle came around the counter. She grabbed the front of Marc’s shirt with both of her hands and yanked him down to her. His hands easily gravitated toward her. The beast inside of him growled and yanked her closer. She didn’t argue.
“I’m not stopping now. I’ve spent too long doing nothing and now I can help people.”
Marc closed his eyes once more, barely able to nod. He couldn’t lose her. His parents left them alone. They might have been kidnapped, but both Luc and Marc had been alone nonetheless. Now, Luc had found his own life partner and moved out of the home they shared. All Marc had when Luc left had been a mate who barely noticed his existence. Marc felt alone in the world once more.
Now that Noelle acknowledged their bond, he feared losing her, too. He feared losing her to his stupid mission. He found that he feared losing her to the enhanced dragon she spoke of. He hadn’t realized jealousy played a part until that moment. His fingers kneaded her hips and she leaned into him.
He didn’t know what this enhanced dragon looked like, or what he could do. He was a complete mystery waiting to sweep Noelle away. She’d already proven she was not moved by the bond between them by the way she’d ignored him all those years.
But, Noelle reached up and wrapped an arm around the back of his neck and pulled him close so their mouths met. She kissed him, taking her t
ime with his lips, with his tongue. She held him to her body, one hand clenched in his shirt while the other hooked around his neck.
They staggered back until her lower back hit the stone of the countertop. Marc lifted his mate and set her atop it, their bodies aligning perfectly. His mate grinned up at him.
Chapter Eleven
Noelle could see right through Marc. He tore at his clothing, all too ready to free of them so their bodies could touch, skin to skin. His hands gripped her, pulled her close so she could wrap her legs around his hips. His hand found her hair and tugged her head back. The pain alighted through her in a way she liked far too much. It mixed with the sensation of his teeth on the exposed skin of his neck.
He bit her and left his mark upon her. She didn’t mind if it told him she was not going anywhere. It would heal by morning. By then, hopefully, Marc would understand she only had eyes for him. She’d been dumb to ignore their bond as long as she had.
The addition of another male dragon in her life was not going to change that. She wasn’t stupid. She’d known what’d been gnawing on his heart, the small voice lingering beneath the louder fears for her safety. Noelle was confident she was safe, confident she was doing the right thing despite the risks, at the very least.
She spread her legs wide for him, their twined scents rising to make her stomach tighten. She couldn’t get enough of that smell. It made her reach for him and drag her nails down his muscled arms. Marc growled in response as he lifted his ready cock to her opening.
He spared a moment to tease her, drawing small circles around her opening, around her most sensitive place. Her head tipped back once more and a small groan left her. She couldn’t deal with it. She wanted more.
Noelle gripped his arms and pulled him forward so the head of his cock slid inside. He laughed, a gruff sound that said his beast was close to the surface. She greeted it with her own beast, gold sliding over her eyes while his gleamed like oil on water. She smiled, her beast making it toothy and predatorial. Noelle could feel him steadily fill every available inch of space inside of her.
This was what she’d been missing out on.
She began rocking her hips back and forth. Marc groaned, momentarily caught in the sensation of her wrapped around him. She raked her nails down the front of his chest, loving the way her pale skin looked against his darker skin. She wanted to lap him up like molten milk chocolate.
Unable to resist, she leaned forward and let her lips graze his skin. Marc took control now. He gripped her hips and began pumping, slowly, steadily building the pressure inside her core. She tried to hold onto it while her lips and tongue made a trail across his chest. He tasted like nothing she’d ever tried before. She let her teeth drag over his muscle and felt him shudder beneath her touch.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she promised, her breath playing over his skin.
His grip tightened on her, his strokes deepened. Noelle couldn’t focus enough to tease him much longer. She leaned back and gripped the edges of the stone counter. It began cracking beneath her hands, but she didn’t have enough sense left in her to pull back. It crumbled beneath the force of her orgasm.
The sensation, the pleasure shook her. She shuddered around his cock and it only made him smile. He wasn’t finished. Which meant he would bring her again and again. He would make it so that she would scream his name in pleasure. Noelle smiled, wide and unabashed. She would gladly scream his name.
The tight, heavy feeling began to build inside of her again. His hands travelled up her hips to cup her bare breasts. Thumbs flicked over her nipples and she trembled at the sensation it sent through her.
“You were meant to be mine,” Marc growled as his grip on her breasts tightened. He punctuated his words with a sharp thrust that took her breath away. “And, I was always yours.”
His words… they moved through her and settled in her very core. She knew them to be true, heard them spoken only once before, although they were spoken in a different language. Could it be? Was it the same across every culture, this forgotten binding?
Noelle reached up and gripped Marc’s shoulder so she could look him in the eye. “You were meant to be mine,” she said from between gritted teeth as she fought to keep from falling into the well of pleasure that threatened to suck her down. “And, I was always yours.”
She let go of her control and felt her climax rush to the surface. It made her mouth open, made her opening tighten. Marc reached for her and slammed himself to the hilt just as he shuddered with his own release. Noelle forgot about the words and their origin while she rode the waves of pleasure washing over her.
Together, they collapsed, heads bowed as they fought to catch their breath. They clung to one another, Marc still inside of his mate. The sensation was too much as he slid free and it sent a shudder through both of them. Unable to completely part just yet, Marc linger between her parted knees. Noelle didn’t mind as she looked up at him.
Her fingers trailed over his bronze skin, twirling in the dark chest hair as she created swirling designs. His words slowly came back to her. She’d heard those words repeated throughout her childhood. Never again had she thought to hear them again. Her native tongue was almost lost to her after spending so many years on American soil, surrounded by those who only spoke one language, but those words…
“What you said, before you climaxed,” Noelle began, not mincing words before she found herself fumbling to explain what they meant to her. “My parents…. They used to say that to one another before my father left for work each day.”
Marc looked down at her, brows furrowed. He breathed, slowly, trying to get his body under control again. Noelle felt her beast stirring. It purred, pushing her closer to the man already between her legs.
She spared a thought to feel bad for whoever might move into the apartment next.
“My father told me those words when Luc and I were young. He taught us both those words and said to only use them when we’d found our mate.” Marc leaned in to nuzzle her neck. The fuzz of his new beard tickled her skin. “I think my brother forgot them. He let the world distract him from his pain by inventing new ways to drive everyone around him insane.”
Noelle snorted. He wasn’t wrong. She’d nearly killed the man for his silly pranks.
“But, when I realized you were my mate, they were the words I repeated to myself every day, like a charm that might draw you closer to me.”
She laid her head against his shoulder, feeling guilt bite down on her stomach. “I’m sorry for pushing you away. I know I was being an ass, but that’s definitely no excuse for forgiveness. I wish I’d realized sooner what we could be together.”
His hands played up and down her back as he held her. She reveled in the way his fingers danced along her skin.
***
Marc lifted his mate off the counter and carried her over to the oversized sofa. It was plush and she bounced, her breasts jiggling, when he set her down. She reached for the napkins on the table to clean herself up with before pulling a blanket over her lap. He watched snuggle into the teal colored couch, feeling pride and love rise through him.
Their stomachs growled in unison and Marc spared no time in turning toward the fridge. His brother was the cook. Marc could make simple things, like fried eggs and toast, but beyond that he was useless. The best he could do was pull a handful of items from the fridge and carry them over to the table.
He set down a basket of strawberries, a package of deli wrapped meat slices and a jar of olives. It was a strange array of foods, but Noelle wasted no time in reaching for the jar of olives, popping one past her plump lips.
“We cannot do this forever,” Marc mused as he leaned back into the couch. Between his fingers, he rolled a sliced of deli meat and bit the end of it. “Sooner or later, our luck will run out. We need to figure out a plan so we can end this quickly.”
Noelle nodded. She looked into the depths of her olive jar, lost in her own worry and thoughts.
“Yo
u now have your… ally. What do you think he can do for us?”
Noelle’s brow furrowed as she looked into her jar, into the brine, as if it held answers. “I don’t really understand why he hasn’t given me up, yet. When he looked at… When he saw what they were doing to Lucia, he didn’t look happy. If anything, he looked green, like he hated what he saw.”
Marc wondered if another one of GOE’s enhanced dragons had turned on them. His own friend, Isaac had turned away from GOE years ago. No one knew why or how, only that he was part of their family. He suddenly ached to call his friend and dig for answers, but they both knew Isaac had nothing to offer. The man had no memories of who he’d been while in the hands of the Guardians and their scientists.
“Let’s try to figure out a plan without him, then. If anything, we’ll count him as an adversary.”
Noelle glanced up, her eyes wide, before processing his proposal and nodding. That was the best they could do. The new dragon in the picture was a wild card. Marc couldn’t bank on the man acting one way or the other without more information and their time was quickly running out.
Noelle had access to the lower levels, however tentatively it was. Marc wished he did so that he would not have to risk his mate, but they would have to go with what they had. Sitting across from him, naked save for the blanket pulled over her small frame, Noelle looked fragile. Her arms were thin and her legs were short, dainty. It was hard to imagine what kind of beast was trapped inside of her, but the beast would not matter.
Not when the lower levels were surrounded by enough traces of silver to make dragons sick. He reached out and pulled Noelle’s feet into his lap, his hands working at her arches while he thought. The clock was ticking down. He would have to remove himself from the tangle of limbs they were and head into the facility for his shift.
Was there enough time to make a plan? Noelle laid out what needed to happen. She described how they needed to get into the lower levels, find Lucia Avila, get her out of her bindings, and out of the lower levels. Someone would have to run interference, Marc realized. Another person had to hold back the rush of people once they realized there was a breach in their security.
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