***
“Alright. Well, if we have it right now, we might as well take a closer look at it, right?” Maggie pulled the artifact closer to her and studied it as she turned it over carefully in her hands. “You said it was hollow?”
“Yeah. Listen.” Jonathon tapped his finger between two of the spikes. “You can hear that it’s not solid. Plus, it’s really light for being made of brass if it was solid.”
Maggie started to pinch and twist the spikes, her face pinched with intense concentration. “Maybe there is some sort of secret compartment or something that will have a map on the inside. If this was a hidden object game, we’d have to touch them in just the right order.”
Jonathon had to grin at that. He was glad that she was feeling better, enough to joke around at least. He was perfectly serious about what he had said of course. If it killed him, he was going to see her human again. Since the Elders knew about this and weren’t being pushy jerks about it, (well, at least not overly pushy) it meant that they didn’t have much of an interest in whether Maggie stayed vampire or became human again.
Part of him wondered if they ought to try to send a message to the Elders, but they were all super old, nearly petrified vampires. Jonathon didn’t think much about them and he was sure they didn’t think much about him either.
“If there was a secret compartment, I’m sure the researchers would have found it by now,” Jonathon said. “Did you look it up?”
“Yeah. Didn’t find anything I thought would be of use. The other artifacts that were with it were mostly carvings, though there were a few bowls that looked like they’d been filled with blood. Although, I didn’t really understand the articles. Full of jargon and you know how I am with other languages.”
“I could melt it,” Jonathon suggested. “You know, just a nice puff of fire and—”
Maggie shook her head, looking fierce. “And then you’re going to give the Smithsonian a lumped hunk of brass back? That’s not even thinking, Jonathon. You’d go to jail.”
Jonathon shrugged. “Well, I guess it isn’t a good idea.”
“No, it’s not.”
“If I melted it, I’d probably destroy whatever is inside of it that we’re trying to get.”
She gave him an exasperated look that made him laugh.
“I really wish—Ouch!” Maggie drew her hand back from the orb, her face pinched. A drop of blood welled from her finger. Jonathon leaned forward, forgetting for an instant that as a vampire her healing abilities were almost as good as his. He took her hand in his and smeared away the drop. There was nothing left to see but he was still struck by the sudden urge to put her finger in his mouth. As though he could suck out the pain.
Or maybe it was a different type of sucking he had in mind…
“Oh!” Maggie gasped, which didn’t help his inappropriate thoughts. It took him a moment to understand what her exclamation was about.
He heard a click and turned to see the brass orb fall open into two halves. His jaw dropped as a long, thin strip of metal fell out of it. He picked it up, his eyes round as saucers and scoured the image on it. It was a little tarnished, a little warped but the image of a map was still clear as anything. Maggie leaned forward, her eyes wide and eager.
“What is that for?”
Jonathon set the metal map down and studied it. “Well… I don’t know. How old is this thing? That lady at the museum said brass didn’t start getting used until what was it? Five hundred BC? Were maps different back then?”
“This has got gears and stuff, though,” Maggie pointed out. “And it responded to my blood. I don’t think they had technology like that in the bronze age.”
“The use of brass must have been before the bronze age. You use brass to make bronze so—” Jonathon swallowed what he was saying as Maggie shot him an annoyed glance. Right. That wasn’t the question at the moment, nor was it important at the moment. The point was that this ball couldn’t be that old if it had gears in it like that. He studied the metal map harder, then snapped his fingers. “I know where this is.”
Maggie’s eyes widened and she let out a cry of recognition. “The California coast.”
“Exactly. And look, right here there is a raised dot thing.” He pointed at the place. “How much do you want to bet there’s an island there? Or a sunken ship or something. I’m guessing island.”
“I’m going with island, too. Let’s make a rubbing of this.” She sprang to her feet and retrieved a paper and a pencil. “Then we can put it back together and you can take it back to the Smithsonian. That way we still have the map and the Elders don’t come after us.”
“But what if we need the orb there?”
Maggie turned and gave him such a glower that he couldn’t stop himself from grinning at her. She was getting back to her old self, and he loved it. She put her hands on her hips. “We’re taking it back, Jonathon Crew. No arguments.”
***
Two days later, they were in California. After Jonathon flew the orb back to the Smithsonian and avoided the helicopters that came after him afterward, Maggie insisted that they take an airplane. Samuel gave them the use of his private jet, though he warned Jonathon that if this turned ugly, he might not be able to help.
Jonathon didn’t have many concerns about that. Dragons, when shifted, were rather generic looking. Even he had difficulty telling them apart. It was easier to see the differences between identical twins. Besides, Wayne was already donating money to the Smithsonian to repair the damage that had been done to it; they didn’t have anything to be mad about.
“I’ll be glad when you let me go flying again,” he grumbled to Maggie when they entered the motel room they’d booked in California. Wayne and Samuel might be paying for a lot of things, but they weren’t paying for accommodations. The best thing that could be said about the motel was that it was clean. Everything else about it was unremarkable.
Maggie threw her bag on the double bed in the middle of the room. “I’ll let you go flying when I’m convinced that you’re not going to get yourself arrested. You need to watch the news; they’re still looking for you.”
Jonathon shrugged. He opened up the bag with the air mattress in it, only for him to throw it down in disgust. In his haste, he’d grabbed the mattress that had a hole in it. “Great. Guess I’m sleeping on the floor.”
“No, you’re not.” Maggie let out a heavy sigh, though her cheeks turned pink. “You’re going to sleep on the bed. I have my sleeping bag and if we have the windows open it’ll be warm enough that we don’t need blankets. We can make a bed in the tub and I’ll sleep in it. You know I prefer the dark anyway. These curtains are too thin to keep out the streetlights.”
Jonathon remembered the last time they’d slept in the same bed. A stirring filled him, and he had to clear his throat and turn away. He wanted to say they could just share the mattress… But what if the same thing happened? Without the kids here as a buffer, he might end up letting himself get too carried away… and then where would his relationship with Maggie be?
“I guess we can call for more blankets, so it’ll be more comfortable for you,” he said reluctantly. “But, uh, I have my sleeping bag, too. I’d be fine on the floor—”
The door burst open, making both of them jump. Maggie let out a scream and Jonathon reacted on instinct, throwing himself forward. He put himself between her and the door as half a dozen men came in. Several of them had baseball bats. The scent of bear stank heavy in the air as they grinned at the two of them.
Shifters.
Jonathon snarled. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“This here’s bear territory,” one of them said. He had a vaguely familiar face as he took one of the bats. “And our alpha wants to see the dragon and vampire who came to visit.”
“We’re not bothering anybody,” Jonathon spat. He was getting really sick and tired of his fellow shifters making things difficult for him. What was with the aggression anyway? He’d gone his whole life not ha
ving any problems and now in the space of a week, he had two different clans being all aggressive toward him?
Not me, he thought as the bears shot hostile glares toward Maggie.
“Did I fucking stutter?” the first bear stepped forward, raising his lip. “The alpha wants to see you, and you’re not going to disappoint him, are you?”
“Jon—” Maggie started, but as soon as she spoke, one of the bears flashed a fang at her.
Jonathon threw himself forward, a punch flying at the bear in question. His knuckles landed with a satisfying crunch, but he didn’t have much time to enjoy it. ‘Cause even as he grinned, the other bears swarmed him. A baseball bat smashed across his back, sending him into a bear’s arms. The bear laughed as he squeezed hard. Maggie screamed and Jonathon snarled, trying to tear his way free. Both his legs were kicked out from under him, though, and he was thrown to the floor.
“Don’t hurt him!” Maggie shouted.
“We’re only going to hurt him if he keeps fighting,” the same bear as before sneered. “You, though. We have strict orders not to hurt you. Not sure what the alpha wants with a bloodsucker like you, but he made it very clear.”
Jonathon was flipped to his back, his arms yanked behind him and his wrists bound together. He looked up to see Maggie holding her fists up in the air, ready to defend herself if they attacked. Confusion was written all over her face and he felt it too. What would the alpha of a bear clan in California want with them? Was this a plot with the vampires about the cure again?
Or was this something else? Were they here to hurt her…? Jonathon let out a roar, sending a blast of fire from his mouth. He kicked out at the bears surrounding him. The bears cried out—something heavy thudded across his head, and everything went black.
Chapter Seven
When Jonathon was whacked over the head, Maggie had attacked the bears. Everything turned to shades of red as all rational thought fled. She’d managed to claw them pretty good before she was overpowered. Her hands had been tied, too, and she and Jonathon were loaded into a van with dark windows. Jonathon regained consciousness on the trip, and by the time they got to where they were going—an apartment building, where they were locked in the basement without windows and only a single bed—he was sitting up and the swelling on his forehead had gone down somewhat.
It didn’t help that as soon as the ties were cut, he took a swing at the man holding the knife. The blade had stabbed through his shoulder making blood spurt everywhere. Maggie demanded enough supplies to take care of Jonathon’s injuries, which the bears reluctantly gave to her. Jonathon sat on the bed seething, as she took care of his injuries.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him, trying to breathe through her mouth. The scent of blood was almost too much to stand. Her stomach growled hungrily. More than ever, she knew that the idea that she could drink her fill of fresh from the vein through a rubber tube wasn’t going to work. She wanted fresh blood. Needed it. Her stomach growled for it, and everything in her body burned to taste Jonathon’s. “How’s your head?”
“It’s stopped hurting.” Jonathon glanced at his shoulder in disgust. “Guess I should have thought that through better, huh?”
“You think?” Maggie shook her head, grumbling.
Jonathon was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Did they tell you who their alpha is and why he’s so interested in you?”
“No.”
He peered at her. “And they didn’t hurt you?”
Maggie shook her head. They’d been almost… deferential to her. She didn’t want to puzzle out why that was, though. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” He looked away. “You need to drink, don’t you?”
Shame welled in her and she bent her head. “I’m sorry.”
In response, Jonathon rolled up his sleeve. He offered his arm to her, and she reluctantly took it. With everything else going on she thought maybe she should try to put it off. After all, he was hurt, and they were prisoners. But her throat was so dry and everything in her body was telling her to drink.
Maggie sank her fangs into his wrist. She felt him shiver as she pulled in a deep draught of blood. Her core tightened, bringing her quickly to arousal. She’d been all over Mike and hadn’t felt this; why did she feel it with her first mouthful of Jonathon’s blood? She drank deeply, the heat flaring through her body as his blood warmed her from the inside out.
Jonathon groaned, and she could scent the arousal on him. Maggie whimpered with need. If this alpha was anything like those biker dragons… she might not have another chance to say this.
She drew back from his wrist and buried her face in his neck. He stiffened at first but with another groan his arms wrapped around her. She didn’t bite him there, though. Instead, she feverishly kissed him, working her way up to his neck and to his mouth. The first kiss of his lips was like sunshine on a rainy day. Everything came alive inside of her, her core tightening to a point of aching need. Her blood sang.
She didn’t care where they were. The room was damp and musky, but she had Jonathon. And that was all she wanted. She straddled him, pressing herself against him and was pleased to find he was already hard and stiff.
Jonathon put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. His face was flushed as he panted, shaking his head. “We can’t. It’s the vampirism. Because you just drank from me. You don’t really want this.”
“I do want this.” Maggie couldn’t hold it back anymore. Her hands pressed against his bare chest, aching to be ever closer to him. “My body burns for you. It has for so long, Jonathon. It has nothing to do with me being a vampire. I want you. I love you. I want to be your mate, not just your best friend. I want to be the mother of your children.”
Jonathon stared up at her, his jaw slack.
Maggie realized what she’d said, what she was doing, and heat flushed into her cheeks. She drew back, certain she had said too much. It was too late to take it back, though, no matter how badly she wanted to. Holding her breath, she stared down at her best friend. Everything had just changed, and she didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing…
Then a smile burst over his face. His arms wrapped more firmly around her as he brought her back down for a firm but gentle kiss.
He didn’t say anything. His hands did all the talking, roaming over her body. Pulling her closer, finding the button on her jeans and undoing it. His lips coasted over her lips and moved to her neck. Her skin tightened, everything tingling inside of her. Maggie could have broken down crying right there, happiness flooding her. She never would have thought this could be possible.
But it was. He wanted her. He wanted her the same way she wanted him!
“Maybe that dating app was right,” she murmured as she moved to unbutton her own blouse. “It matched us up… guess it has something going for it.”
Jonathon laughed as he pulled her pants down, maneuvering both their bodies so he could toss them aside. His hands were like coals running over her skin, and she felt like the most precious gold. His scent filled her nostrils, the scent she had grown intimately familiar with over the years. Only here, now, it was hers.
He was hers.
Their lips crashed together again. Thrills of excitement ran all through Maggie’s body as their naked skin pressed together. She couldn’t get enough of him and kissed the wrist she had bitten earlier. There was still a little blood coming from him and she licked him clean, all the while rocking her hips over his. He let out another throaty groan as his head fell back. His eyes closed and Maggie took a moment, loving the look of his long lashes against his cheeks, the rough stubble on his cheeks, the smoothness of his chest.
She ran her hands over his skin and let out a satisfied sigh. “And to think that I used to tease you about waxing your chest.”
Jonathon laughed. “I deserved it, for teasing you for waxing your legs. I love how soft they are.”
He sat up slightly, running his hand down her thigh and
then caressing both her calves. The motions made Maggie shiver with desire. She kissed him again, this one deeper and slower.
“My whole body feels like it’s on fire,” she moaned into his mouth. “Is this what it feels like to be a dragon?”
“My fires are going crazy right now. So maybe.”
For the next few minutes, they were too busy to talk. The dim light flickered around them, casting shadows on the storage boxes. The mattress creaked, the bedframe shuddering as Jonathon turned them over. His fingers drifted over her lips lovingly. Maggie watched him, loving the look in his eyes as he trailed gentle kisses down her body. She knew what he was going to do and her whole body shivered in anticipation.
He kissed around her clit while his fingers played about her entrance. She was already so aroused from drinking that it didn’t take him long to have her back arching, her cries filling the dark room. Maggie could scent her own arousal, thick and heady. She wanted him so badly that when he paused his ministrations to kiss down her thigh, she didn’t even ask him to start up again.
“Your turn,” she said instead.
“But I’m not finished you yet.”
“You’ve got me wet enough,” she assured him. “I want to taste you.”
“You’ve tasted my blood enough.” His hands remained firmly on her thighs. “Let me have the pleasure of feeling you clench around my tongue.”
Maggie couldn’t argue with that. So, she nodded and struggled to keep herself still as he started up his work again. He made soft noises, little grunts in his throat that drove her wild. The scent of smoke grew thicker, and she could visualize the fires burning between them. When everything tightened inside of her and she cried out in pleasure, Jonathon moved back up her body. He caged her with his solid mass and kissed her so deeply she lost all her breath.
It was her turn, then. He was already hard, and it didn’t take her long to get him where she wanted him. She had to be careful with her fangs, but Jonathon didn’t seem to care if she nicked him a little. In fact, when she did, he ordered, “Don’t stop,” before she could apologize.
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