Cora brought up the rear, a basket in her arms. “Jameson had to stop me from rushing over last night.” She gave Dakota a curious look. “I thought you were a shifter?”
Dakota stood there in her boxers and tank top, underdressed and ambushed. “Anybody want coffee?” She walked past the sparkling clean dining room table and into the kitchen, looking around for anything that resembled a coffee maker.
Cora caught up and shoved the basket into Dakota’s arms. “Let us handle the coffee. You check out your switch starter kit.”
Dakota held the basket slightly away from her, like a baby with a stinky diaper, and looked inside. “The Cause has gift baskets?”
Cora gave a snarky laugh and jerked her thumb in Goldie’s direction. “Blame the preschool teacher.”
Goldie good-naturedly rolled her eyes at Cora’s back, then smiled at Dakota. “County school system speech pathologist.”
Dakota pulled a stool out from the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down. The island was as big as a dining table, light wood on both ends, with an eight-burner range in the middle that could be worked from the side facing the fridge or the one facing the sink. But does it make coffee?
“A-ha!” At the other end of the room, Gemma slid back a frosted glass cabinet door to reveal a whole beverage station. Coffee maker, teapot, mugs, a grinder. Goldie pulled a bag of beans from the freezer.
Dakota was impressed. And grateful. “How do you know where everything is?”
Gemma laughed. “We don’t. Things show up when and where we need them.”
Dakota shook her head. She didn’t want any of this to be true.
Goldie pulled a container of muffins out of the basket, and a piece of paper with a list of bullet points that she placed in Dakota’s hands. “Start with this. Gemma wrote down the need-to-know stuff.”
Dakota tried to ignore the three women milling around the kitchen that didn’t feel like hers. Hearing the whirr of a grinder and knowing coffee was on the way helped. A little.
She didn’t make it past number three on the list. “I can’t get pregnant until I kill a vampire? Why not?”
Goldie shrugged and set a mug of coffee next to Dakota. “We don’t know why.”
Gemma jumped in. “I think it’s so that the switches would die out naturally when there were no more vampires. Just a theory.”
“But that’s, like, half your gift basket,” Cora said, with a sly smile and a tip of her head. Dakota peeked over the edge for a closer look and noticed at least two boxes of condoms, spermicidal foam, and... a contraceptive sponge? Huh. She didn’t know they still made those.
Dakota sipped her too-hot coffee and said nothing. She never would have been able to have kids if she hadn’t found out she was a switch? That was messed up. Then the reality hit that she still, right at this moment, would not be able to get pregnant, even if she wanted to. She had to kill a vampire first.
“What about weapons?” she asked. She had to know. Her claws were gone and she’d never used them once. Would her gun be stripped from her too?
Without a word, each woman reached to a hidden spot in their clothing and brought out a blade. Dakota watched, surprised and more than a little impressed.
Goldie’s weapon was a foot-long silver carving knife, almost comically savage in comparison to her appearance, that she pulled from under her ponytail, behind her back, like a ninja sword. Cora took a primitive-looking blade with a twisted, blackened handle from a sheath on her leg, mostly hidden by the oversized purple tunic she wore over leggings. And Gemma whipped a smallish hunting knife, still sheathed, from a slim pocket along the seam at her thigh, slapping it down on the wooden island.
Cora spoke up again. “Anything pointy can kill a vampire, but every switch has a Resonant that makes her stronger. These are metal, because that's Breath Coven’s material.”
Gemma pointed at them each in turn. “Cora's iron, Goldie's silver, and I'm titanium. We each resonate with those certain metals, and these particular weapons.”
Dakota slid off her stool for a refill, trying not to resent the switches. It wasn’t their fault she’d been hit with the magic stick. “How do I get a… what did you call it?”
The switches exchanged a glance. What was that about? Cora broke their look and reached into the basket. “The Keeper’s Book isn’t exactly brimming with obvious-ness, but here’s what Gemma was able to gather about Belief coven.”
Dakota didn’t know or care what the Keeper’s Book was, but when Cora pulled another slip of paper out of the basket and held it out to Dakota, saying, “A switch named Palladium wrote this,” Dakota couldn’t resist taking it.
She scanned the paragraph, some kind of broad description of Belief switches. Square-jawed. Check. Stubborn, fiery. Extra-check. And… what? “Stone exemplifies strength…” she said. She looked up at Cora. “What?”
“Your weapon will be stone, or made of stone, that’s my guess.” Cora answered.
Goldie cut in. “And you can make lightning.”
Dakota almost choked on her coffee. “Lightning?” she squeaked through her half-closed throat. “Like…?” She pointed toward the ceiling, Lightning Rock above it. But all three switches stared back with blank faces. Guess they hadn’t heard that story.
Dakota’s shoulders slumped and she dropped her hand. “How?”
Cora laughed. “It’s a breeze.” She blew into her palm and made a motion like she was winding up for a pitch and letting it loose. Across the island, a stainless steel salt shaker abruptly tipped over, spilling white crystals across the wood.
Dakota sat back on her stool, astonished. “You’re talking about real magic, here.”
Gemma sipped her coffee with a smile. “The realest.”
Chapter 33 - Early Bird Catches The Squirm
Aven woke up alone in his bed, in his basement room at Credence, and rushed through a shower. He’d get dressed, run upstairs, and check on Dakota before The Cause showed up for this morning’s meeting.
But when he stepped into the hallway, Aven heard voices in the rec room. He turned the corner past the stairs and saw Dallas closing the door to the garage behind Jameson, Riot, and Flint.
A doorbell rang upstairs. Aven started that way, but Flint called him back. “It’s the switches. I made muffins, in case your coven doesn’t cook.”
Aven listened up the stairs. Maybe he could still catch a moment to see Dakota. But he could already hear her talking to someone. She sounded… okay. Maybe a little grumpy.
The door to the garage opened again. Shiloh, Ryder, and Dario walked in. Dario was the only shifter they had who was also law enforcement for the town. Aven liked having him there. One day The Cause was going to end up on the wrong side of the law, he could see it already. Having Dario on the right side might protect them.
Aven waited for the door to open again, but it didn’t. No Maze. Good. Aven took a seat on a couch, and Jameson called the meeting to order. He introduced Dallas first, noting that Dallas was covenbound, which was met with a murmur from those present.
Flint called across the room from his seat by the bar, flashing Dallas a thumbs-up, “Anyone who can take a raptor down, I’m good with.” Aven flipped Flint the bird and Flint laughed.
Dallas wore shorts. He gestured to his prosthetic. “If this is a bloodwound. I don’t guess my foot will grow back, and I haven’t figured out how to shift with this thing on, but I’m staying. Don’t have much choice, since all my stuff moved here by itself,” he added.
Aven felt a surge of determination again, hearing his friend was staying. Him and Dallas, back on the same team, running shit like they did. It was the best damn news after learning Aven and Dakota had a shot at more than a fling. Having them both here, Credence felt even more like home.
They covered some Cause business, Jameson updating everyone on Carick, Bryce, and Darby’s progress out west. “No sign of the Mountain Man. Turns out he may have been down our way, but he visits the power doctor every month or so, so the
y’ll wait until he comes back.”
Shiloh spoke up. “Why do we even need him?”
Jameson answered, “Mountain Man’s been killing vampires for years, like his father before him.”
“Mountain Man, Senior?” Riot purred.
Jameson nodded. “They used to live here, but when the father died the son up and left, started moving around from place to place. Latest rumor is he’s got a cabin in Arkansas, maybe Kentucky.”
“So what are we bothering him for, if he’s already taking down bloodsuckers on his own?” Dario said, from one of the sofas. “Let the man work.”
Flint grumbled to the group at large, but mostly at Dario. “He can’t Undo them. But if he’s got bodies, or even body parts, for the switches to stab, we could take them all out. Permanently.”
The shifters absorbed that possibility. The quiet was broken when a door opened and the stairwell from upstairs filled with the sounds of switches coming down the stairs. Aven looked for Dakota among them, but she wasn’t.
Jameson’s voice rose above the din. “One more announcement, this one’s personal.” Cora stood next to the Keeper, her hand in his, a grin on her face. Jameson shared an intimate look with her, then said, “We got Auntie.”
Shifters cheered. Aven clapped Jameson on the back. Good news. Very good news. Aven excused himself and made his way through the jumble of celebrating shifters and up the stairs.
He wanted to see Dakota. He wanted to hear her voice, see her face… make sure she was okay.
* * *
She was in the kitchen, sliding something from a frying pan onto two plates on the counter in front of her. She smiled at him, too brightly. “I made breakfast.”
Aven smiled cautiously. “For me?”
She nodded. “To say thanks.”
Aven pulled his head back. “Thanks?”
He got a look at the plate and couldn’t help his shudder.
Dakota peered at him. “Sorry, you don’t like eggs?”
Shit. He had no idea how to explain this one. “No...”
“What, are you allergic...” Her voice trailed off and her cheeks flamed red “Oh,” she said.
Brilliant. Nicely done. Next time call her a bird-killer and get it over with. Instead Aven reached around her. “Bacon and toast is great, though.” He made a meat-and-bread sandwich and took a bite, hoping to at least get a smile.
Dallas bounded into the kitchen. “Eggs! You make any for me?”
Dakota smiled, but it seemed forced. She handed the plate over. “All yours. I’m getting in the shower.”
She padded away in her bare feet and boxer shorts, leaving the two of them with the dishes.
* * *
Dakota emerged from her shower determined to do something right today. Or at least not to make anything else worse.
Coffee with the switches had been miserable, despite how friendly they all were. Dakota had tried to keep an open mind, but by the time they left there had been a little chant running through her head on a loop: this is not me this is not me this is not me.
Nothing about being a switch sounded as awesome as shifting, being a sleek, powerful jaguar with finely-tuned instincts and deadly intent. Being able to protect and save the ones who needed it. Instead she was supposed to be the one who needed protecting?
Blech. Gross. No, thank you.
A knock on her bedroom door had Dakota pulling on her robe, poking her turbaned head out to see who it was. Aven stood in the hall. “Can I come in?”
Dakota backed up and let him enter. He strolled over to the enormous window that looked over the field of sunflowers. “I don’t think I could sleep, thinking about who could be watching me.”
She picked up a remote from the bedside table. With a push of a button the glass turned so frosted it was almost completely opaque. Only the light came in. Aven whistled. “Nice.”
Dakota shook her head at the craziness of it all. “I was lying here last night and started to get spooked, and I looked over at the nightstand and there was the remote.” Just like Gemma said this morning, what she needed showed up when she needed it.
What else could she find, if she wasn’t focused on looking for one specific thing?
Her mind ran through why it had to be wrong, why she couldn’t be what Aven and the rest of them believed she was. One, her brother was a shifter for sure, she’d seen it, she’d touched his jaguar. Two, Dakota smelled like a jaguar, Maze had said so himself. Hope kindled inside her. Could she be both?
Aven caught her eye. Strong, sure, steady Aven, who could work with anyone, but obeyed no one. If she was a switch, he could be hers. He could even claim her. She could be like the Breath switches, in love with their mates to depths and breadths that Dakota envied already.
Confusion swirled inside Dakota. Her mind insisted she think about this. Her body rebelled. She went with her body.
She smiled wickedly at Aven and dropped her robe to the floor. “You busy?”
Aven’s eyes went dark with passion, but he nodded as he stalked toward her.
He was teasing her? Now? Dakota cocked a hip. Aven moved in even closer, reaching for his pants… but, no, he wasn’t going where she wanted him to. Instead, he dug into the front pocket of his jeans. His dick was hard, next to the outline of his hand in his pocket, but he paid it no attention.
He pulled keys out of his pocket and held them up. “Jameson says we have to get Luxe out of his driveway.”
Dakota grabbed the keys from Aven’s hand and tossed them to the side. “We will,” she said, unfastening Aven’s pants. He let her, his jaw hard as granite under his beard.
Dakota pushed jeans and boxers down over his ass in one hard shove, letting his cock spring free. “When I’m done.”
She got to work.
Chapter 34 - Two In The Bush
Aven stared down at Dakota. She knelt and took him into her gorgeous fucking mouth. He cursed lightly, and groaned long. He would check in with her feelings later, for now, he would let her work out her feelings on him. He would encourage it.
This was right. The two of them, together, it was so right.
She used both hands, her lips and tongue. He pumped gently into her mouth, urged on by Dakota squeezing him, sucking him, moaning around his hard flesh. When Aven came close to the edge, Dakota backed him off, her smile saying she wasn’t nearly done.
Dakota got to her feet and strolled slowly, confidently to the other side of the bed while Aven got naked. “Lie down,” she said, her voice so sultry he could feel her lips wrapping around his cock again.
Aven did as he was told, lying in the center of her bed. On his back, hard and ready.
Dakota climbed on the bed, knees next to Aven’s waist. She leaned over to wrap one hand around his length, lick him from root to tip. Aven moved his hand to Dakota’s thigh and gripped, then slipped his fingers higher, to where she wept for him. The soft velvet flesh, slippery with arousal, was the best thing he’d felt since… well, since he’d felt that same spot yesterday.
She swung one leg over his body, facing away from him, in reverse cowgirl. A favorite of Aven’s, but somehow less than he wanted now. Then Dakota rose up and took him inside her, and all he wanted was what he already had.
Aven pulled Dakota’s arms behind her the way she liked, pushing up to bury himself deep. She moaned and melted against him, back to his chest, elbows touching the bed. She pulled her bent legs straight, rested her head on Aven’s shoulder. Her weight pressing him to the bed was the sweetest bliss.
He wrapped his arms around Dakota, pushing deep again. Her body rocked against his like a wave. She moaned next to his ear, breathless with surrender.
Aven wanted more of that sound.
He caressed her breast with one hand, fingers teasing her nipple, arm across her body holding her tight to him. Aven’s other hand drifted down, slipping between Dakota’s soft lips to just above where he filled her.
He found her clit and rubbed, flicked at it, was rewarded
with a squeeze of her silken core on his rigid length. Aven groaned into her shoulder.
Dakota turned her head, facing Aven, wrapping one arm backwards around his neck and pulling his lips to hers. “More,” she moaned against his mouth, gasping when he slipped his fingers over her clit again, made her body tremble.
Aven kissed Dakota with everything he had. Sucking her tongue into his mouth, rubbing her clit, pressing her firmly on his pistoning cock with the base of his hand. His other hand gripped her breast. Pleasure rushed him. Too. Fucking. Good.
Her orgasm hit and she screamed into his kiss, the vortex pull of her inner muscles taking Aven along for the ride. He speared high inside Dakota, holding her to him as their sweaty bodies slipped and slid, as his climax ripped through him, making Aven’s body arch with pleasure.
When he finally let her go, Dakota slumped into the curve of Aven’s arm briefly before rolling off the bed and heading for the bathroom. “Now I need another shower. Then we can go get Luxe.”
She tossed him a smile that Aven returned, but her eyes were wary. Dakota wasn’t as happy as she acted. Something was weighing her down. But she wasn’t ready to admit it, at least not to him. Instead she was using sex and errands to distract them both.
Aven got up and walked to the cracked bathroom door, pushing it further open when he heard the water splashing in the shower. He may have finished minutes ago, but the thought of Dakota naked and wet made Aven hard all over again. “Room in that shower for one more?”
Dakota’s hand emerged from the curtain, and one curving finger beckoned him in.
Hell, yeah.
Aven went in.
* * *
Their shower got way dirtier before they got clean. Aven stopped counting Dakota’s orgasms after three.
Dakota finally pushed him away with a hot look and a whimper. “Go. Any more and I won’t be able to walk.” Aven gave her one more kiss and stepped out of the shower, She slapped his ass and closed the curtain behind him.
Raptor's Peak: Switch of Fate 4 Page 17