Druid Dreams

by M F Adele

  For the first time in a long while, I didn’t piece the puzzle together as efficiently as Novak did. Seeing Sloane on Saturday morning was like a gust of wind knocking me off kilter. I’ve never wanted something so badly in my life. It was an animalistic response that I wasn’t used to. She made power crackle at my fingertips. Electricity flowed through my veins when she was near. This trip home was giving me enough space to think, but I already missed her. It was an insane thought. I just met her.

  There was no doubt though, this was it for me. She’s it. I knew Saturday. I definitely know today. My feelings hadn’t changed despite the things I’d seen and done. She wasn’t who I pictured myself with. She’s better. My imagination had really let me down. The real thing happened to be so much more. In every way. It was hard to wrap my head around how perfect we all fit with her.

  She offered us all the things we needed. Each of us had qualities the others didn’t. As a unit we covered all the bases, and then some. It was more than that though. It’s more than power. The aspects of a relationship that I sought weren’t the same as what the guys wanted, yet somehow she excelled in all of it. I’d always looked for intelligence first and foremost, but also someone I could contemplate the universe with. I needed a mental equal, and I got one. I enjoyed bedroom activities that some would frown on. She seemed enraptured by the prospects. I'm enthralled by her mind games. The thought of having her presence in my head, or mine in hers, made me ecstatic. I wanted our bond to be sealed at an organic pace, but I sincerely hoped that a mental connection flowed through us sooner.

  My thoughts were in a twisted web now, but I knew as soon as I saw her this evening they’d untangle, and my body would become a traitorous bastard once again. One smile or wink and my heart would beat wildly out of control for her. Laughter and a sassy remark would have my intelligence bested and my tongue malfunctioning. My coherent thoughts would eventually turn back into a garbled mess that made it hard to communicate how this whole situation made me feel. It was hard to be consistent when she was so predictably unpredictable. We’re all thinking about it. I know we are. Novak would be the only one with the balls to say it out loud though.

  Novak

  I'd been driving this van for hours now, listening to all the thoughts the guys were having. They didn’t realize that they had all circled around to the same conclusion. Honestly, when will they learn the art of communication? They were giving me a headache. We all knew we weren’t going anywhere. It took me seconds to figure that out. Mate with someone whose mind I can’t read? Yes, please. She was literally a gift from the Devil himself.

  Maybe I was rushing into this, but I didn’t want to wait around either. I would seal our mate bond today as long as she was ready. I told Vaughn Saturday — before we even started talking about her — that I was ready to meet my mate. I meant it too. I was done with the bullshit. I wanted no part in one night stands or meaningless flings anymore. Sloane was the best of both worlds for me. I could spend days with her and not tire of her company. When I wanted to be alone she had other mates to keep her attention. The guys were used to my occasional isolation, but I’d never want it to make her feel unwanted by me. I felt like that wouldn’t be an issue now.

  I’d never really dated because that was always a problem. You go two days without being with your girlfriend every waking second and suddenly she thinks you're cheating. That wasn’t the kind of drama I wanted in my life. Sloane didn’t strike me as the insecure type of woman. Her confidence was radiant and contagious. She made me want to be better, stronger, not just for her but for myself.

  Her afflictions for blood and gore were a huge turn on for me. I'm a vampire. Of course it is. No surprise there. The surprise came with how much chaos and devastation she caused in such a short amount of time. If my heart could beat it would’ve sprang from my chest. My enthusiasm was palpable. Watching her fight is one of the most tantalizing things I’ve ever witnessed. I wanted to fuck her in the middle of it all. Knowing she blew Palmer after he killed a couple males had me hard as a rock for half the battle. Seeing her wink at me while she fixed her hair afterwards? That made my mind go feral with need. I wanted to watch, or join. Either would’ve worked, but we had shit to do.

  Now that all that was over, the only thing left to do was pay up on the debt Stone and I owed her after she beat us. I still can’t believe I agreed to that. I knew it could’ve been worse than wearing a dress, but it could’ve been way more fun too. It won’t matter. Hearing York’s thoughts told me exactly what was going to happen tonight. I’d be waiting for her when she was ready to blow off some steam. Maybe Stone will join us so we can pick up where we left off yesterday morning.

  My thoughts seemed to be more settled than the rest of my friends. They all wanted her too, but none seemed ready to take the plunge. I was already working my way in. I wouldn’t be changing my mind. I’m ready. There was nothing I could learn about her that would make me not want to spend eternity with her. I’m hers already. Now I just needed to make her mine.

  Before my thoughts did that 360 thing like the rest of the guys, I decided it was time to speak up and call them all on their bullshit. Too bad Vaughn isn’t here. I bet his thoughts are fucked up too. “You guys know you’re all thinking the same thing, right?”

  “You’re all thinking about pizza too?” Levi’s pained inquiry made me chuckle. “Or tacos? I can’t decide which one I’ve missed more.”

  “Tacos,” York supplied. “I’ve missed tacos more than pizza.”

  “Get your mind out of the gutter, York. That’s not what he was talking about, and you know it. You weren’t thinking about food. None of you were, not even Levi until about ten minutes ago.” I knew none of them wanted to bring it up, but all of them needed to talk about it to work it out. “I cut the radio off almost an hour ago and no one noticed. You guys are all so mindfucked right now that you keep repeating the same thoughts over and over. It’s giving me a headache,” I admonished them.

  “Why are you thinking about Sloane?” Briggs turned in his seat to get a better look at Levi, who was sitting behind Palmer.

  “Why wouldn’t I be thinking about her?” He cautioned. “She just offered me a job and led you guys into a hive of aggressive supes to rescue York, who in turn rescued me. Should I not be thankful?”

  “Leave him alone, Briggs,” I chastised him. “At the rate you're going she’ll mate with Levi before she seals the bond with you.”

  “That’s not funny,” he growled out.

  Stone turned to smirk at him. “It kind of is.”

  “I don’t even know what mating is,” Levi threw his hands in the air. “Is that like dating or something. Please tell me I didn’t agree to elope with her. She’s hot, but I don’t know her well enough to get married.” The edge to his voice betrayed his frantic need for an explanation. He was genuinely freaking out. I was loving it. Briggs was not.

  “Calm down,” York scolded him. “No one is getting married. You didn’t agree to anything of the sort.” He rolled his eyes and propped his head up on his hand, making it appear like he was trying to go to sleep. He shut his lids, and before anyone could speak again I called out, “I hope your plan doesn’t backfire.”

  “It won’t,” he responded quietly without opening his eyes.

  “What plan is this?” Palmer gave him a sidelong glance before turning his attention to the dreaming puppy between him and Briggs.

  York sighed and popped his right eye open to peer at Palmer. “You’ll see later,” was all he said as he closed his eye again and tried to ignore us.

  “Yer draggin’ me inta the middle of it, aren’t ya?” Palmer pointed out with clear exasperation.

  York didn’t reply immediately, and I thought maybe he had finally fallen asleep. After a minute or two he admitted, “Yeah. Sort of. If you’re not interested then I’m sure Novak would be delighted to step in.”

  “Fuck yes, but I don’t think I’ll be as good a fit as Palmer would be,” I cut my e
yes to Palmer in the rear view mirror. “At least you’ve got a solid backup plan. Though, if Palmer is going to do what Palmer does best then I definitely want to watch.”

  “I honestly forgot how weird you can be.” A faint smile touched York’s lips at his admission.

  “Oh, how you wound me,” I dramatically declared, wiping fake tears from my eyes. “You’ve got a millennia to figure out how to share, Druid. I won’t push you too hard too soon.”

  I stayed quiet after that. We only had two more hours of driving before reaching Nashville. I’d drop York, Levi, and Palmer off at the first stop. Then, Briggs, Stone, and myself would park the van and stroll around downtown for a couple blocks before Franklin picked us up. I liked the idea of going back to Sloane’s house. I guess eventually we’d all live there semi-permanently. Some down time sounded refreshing too. I wanted to spend the night with her gazing at the stars, swimming, or both. Watching a movie would be okay as well. Sex sounded like an even better option. We could probably fit it all in since neither of us slept.

  Sloane

  Monday Evening

  It was late in the evening when several cars started to enter through the wrought iron gates of my estate. Garage doors opened one at a time, and vehicles I had never seen before filled the once empty building. Males of all shapes and sizes exited through the side door, looking like my own personal lineup of GQ models waiting to be interviewed. Shirts on. Too bad.

  Briggs ran a hand through his untamable hair while he shoved Novak with the other. Palmer strutted with his hands in his pockets like he was on a runway, his rusty auburn hair shining in the sun with a metallic sheen. Levi appeared a little ragged as he stood in the middle of the group, gawking at my home. Stone walked beside York, with his usual blank expression. The latter was looking around with wide eyes as he surveyed the changes the landscape had gone through since he last saw it. Vaughn waited patiently by the front door, welcoming them home by questioning their tardiness.

  The guys were being chatty Cathys as they all loaded up in the kitchen, opening beers and rummaging in the pantry for snacks. Typical guy shit. Palmer and Vaughn laughed obnoxiously at something York was joking about as they turned to an embarrassed Levi with large shit-eating grins. I almost wished I knew what they were saying but not enough to leave my laptop. I peeled my eyes away from the bay windows before they caught me staring.

  I’d been trying to power through the monotonous tasks that I did every day, but it was getting more difficult to focus. The barest hint of their words echoed through the kitchen and out into the yard, where I was trying to spend a lovely, sunny afternoon laying in the grass doing dumb shit by myself. Shit like answering repetitive questions in emails that I had already answered a hundred times, or talking to childish employees who said they needed to come in two hours late because they were getting their nails done. I should pass this task off to Simon.

  I shut my laptop and rolled on my back to watch for images in the fluffy, white clouds. Novak plopped down beside me and broke the content quietness that had formed around me when everyone left the kitchen. The top of his head touched my shoulder and he looked at the clouds with the opposite angle to my view.

  “Did you know your back door is missing?” He asked with a carefree ease that only he could manage.

  “No. I hadn’t noticed.” The dry sarcasm in my voice was strong. “Do you think we can find it or is it lost forever?” I gasped and covered my mouth, pretending to be upset.

  He rolled his head over to smirk at me. “I’m sure it’s hanging around here somewhere.”

  “That was really corny.” I smiled at him anyway. That’s the kind of horrible dad joke Charles would make.

  “Are you going to tell the guys what you found out last night?” His inquisitive tone had me looking away. I needed to tell them, but it was all mixed up with everything that happened at work today. Going to lunch with Vaughn relaxed my mind enough to feel stress-free for a few hours. We did a little costume shopping while we were out. Now two little black dresses hang in Novak and Stone’s closets. Feather dusters included. The stress I had escaped from came rushing back in. It felt like a current pulling me under. Every time I surfaced and took a deep breath the chilling reality had me sinking further into the abyss.

  “I suppose I should, but I don’t want to. The information we got only leads to more questions,” I told him honestly.

  “With all the dicks congregating in one room we should be able to figure it out in no time.” He sounded confident, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.

  “Does it come with a side of orgasms?” I fucking hoped it did. “Because if it’s all pillow talk and no orgasms then I’d like to kindly decline.” I scrunched my face up in distaste.

  “Orgasms can be negotiated,” he teased. “Just depends on how well you can work the crowd.”

  “I’d give everyone in the room blowjobs to avoid this conversation,” I bartered. It was true too. Of course, none of this shit would simply stop by taking Kelvin out. Soon we’ll be on the hunt for this Kadence bitch too. Uhhhg. Life was complicated before I found out about this fucking drug. Now it was a godsdamn disaster.

  “Tempting,” he confirmed, “But no. We need to work this out, Trouble. We can have fun later,” he promised. “I noticed I have this new bed to break in, and since we won’t be getting any sleep…” he trailed off, leaving that sentence open for my imagination. Mother. Fucker. Why can’t we get dirty now and pillow talk as a group later?

  “Fine,” I bit out. “Round all the dicks up and make me stare at them while I’m frustrated. Wonderful idea,” I pouted.

  Novak climbed to his feet, stretching like a cat who’d been laying in a sunny window all day, and held out his hand for me. When I placed my hand in his he hoisted me up, tugging me in for a tender kiss that left me wanting more. “Tell them what you know, and then we can hide away for the rest of the night.”

  “Okay,” I groaned, “But I’ll only go willingly under one condition,” I flirted, my voice misleading him about what I wanted.

  “Mmm,” he mumbled in my ear, “And what’s that?”

  “You owe me a debt. It’s time to pay up.” I raised my eyebrows and cocked my hip to the left, sass on full blast.

  “Are you fucking serious? Right now?” His shock was ahhhmazing. The next two hours were going to be the best. They have no idea how much thought I put into those costumes.

  “Yep,” I nodded my head enthusiastically with a broad grin on my face. “There’s an outfit hanging in your closet, and Stone’s. I’ll get the others and see you in the basement in fifteen.” I kissed his stunned face and sauntered off.

  Twelve minutes later… We were all sitting in the basement, arranged around the table so we could see the entrance. I was so fucking thrilled about what was about to happen that I could not physically sit still. My feet were bouncing. My fingers tapped the table in rapid succession. I’d pretty much nawed a hole in my lip while trying not to smile to the point that my cheeks ached. All the guys watched me as they waited for an answer to a question that hadn’t been asked yet. “You’ll see in a minute,” I assured them with more exuberance than they’d ever seen from me.

  “I’m starting to worry,” Briggs’ hushed voice vibrated around the room, and Palmer nodded his head slowly in agreement.

  “What’s taking Stone and Novak so long?” Vaughn propped his chin in his right hand as he narrowed his eyes at me.

  “That’s not the right question, mate,” York grinned at Vaughn. “You should be asking her what the stakes of that bet were that they lost. It’s probably something ridiculously hilarious and utterly embarrassing.”

  “You are correct,” I informed them in my best game show host voice. The smile I’d been fighting broke free once again, cracking open the healing cut from chewing on my lower lip.

  The sound of footsteps on the stairs drew everyone’s attention away from me. We could hear Novak cussing obscenities on the other side of the door. I
am so fucking happy right now. “I fucking hate you so godsdamn bad right now for peer pressuring me into that bet.” He sounded mortified, and I paused to wonder if this was a bad idea. Nope. Great call, bitch. Pat yourself on the back.

  “I didn’t pressure you into anything. You didn’t have to agree, but you did. Now, suck it up and pull your skirt down. I can see your dick.” Stone’s voice was playful as he reprimanded Novak. “I can’t believe you didn’t wear anything under that.”

  Novak gasped. “What’s under your skirt?”

  “Stop that!” Stone barked out and the guys turned quizzical faces to me.

  “Worth it,” I whispered in a singsong voice. I bit my lips together to stop my smile from spreading as the doorknob twisted.

  The door swung open dramatically, slamming into the concrete wall behind it. Stone and Novak were standing just outside the threshold, looking pissed. So fucking worth it. After a solid minute of silence a symphony of laughter reverberated around the room. Novak leaned down to look at the bottom of his skirt and grimaced as he tugged on it. “Could you have bought a shorter dress?” He asked, annoyed with the peep show he was giving us.

  “She tried,” Vaughn wheezed out. “You should be happy I was with her when she bought them.”

  Those cosplay maid outfits were the jam. The black dress was poofy at the bottom due to the attached petticoat. The white apron had ruffled edges and crisscrossed in the back before tying off in an oversized bow. Stone stood in his dress and combat boots looking completely unaffected, twirling his duster between his fingers like a baton. The frilly little headband in his hair was what really set my giggling fit off. Novak’s was tied around his neck like some sort of choker. He pulled at it while tapping the toe of his boot on the floor in agitation.