by Jill Haven
I bet he would squirm nicely on my tongue.
“They’re common—Jeeps, trucks, cars. I’m a killer, not an inventor.”
“Oh.” He frowned and leaned back to stare out the window, dragging his braid around to his shoulder where he held onto it by one hand, almost like it gave him some sort of security to do so. The Jeep dug in as we hit a patch of mud on the trail through the woods. I geared us down into first and turned on the four-wheel drive, and then we shot forward.
“How usual are these machines?”
“Most Americans who live in the country own a car or truck. Fewer do in the city, but even there it’s standard for people of wealth. I happen to like this model.” In for a penny, in for a pound. “I’m pretty sure that Vince has a few stashed out in the woods, away from your home. That’s how they get supplies most of the way there before they walk them in.”
“Oh my,” he whispered. “That’s… that’s unexpected as well.”
“They really kept you in the dark there?” My curiosity was killing me, but my anger for him was beginning to boil higher as well. What was Vince thinking? Sure, it’s easier to protect someone who is a secret, but that was really something shitty to do to Evan. They’d destroyed any chance he had at a normal life, for a dragon or a human.
“There’s much more in the world than I expected. What else don’t I know?” Some fear had slipped into his question. He shivered and turned my way.
Growling, I slammed a hand against the steering wheel.
“What’s wrong?”
“That’s not safe. Keeping you… uneducated was a poor choice on Vince’s part. You can’t protect yourself from unknowns.”
Evan sighed, and I caught him tickling his own cheek with the tip of his braid. Interest tightened my stomach as he switched to rub the tuft of hair at the end across his full lips, lost in his thoughts. “I knew I wasn’t being told things, but even I am surprised. Your, what was it? Cellphone… and the lights in the tunnel…” His voice grew smaller as he rubbed a hand over the dash, and I wanted to punch something, but it wasn’t worth alarming him to show my agitation.
We came to the end of the trail through the woods, and the Jeep rolled onto the much smoother pavement of a two-lane road. Evan gasped and clung to the dash again as I was able to ease the Jeep toward fifty miles per hour, even though I kept an eye out for deer along the side of the road.
“Is this safe?” he squeaked.
“Perfectly.”
“Where will I even stay? Where can I go that I won’t end up being dragged back home?” He sighed and slouched down into his seat, but when I cut a quick glance at him there was nothing but worry stuck to his face. The excitement was gone for now, but I hoped I could help him find it again.
“With me.”
Evan turned to ply me with an unguarded look that I might have missed if there was any traffic and I actually had to pay attention to the road more than keeping between the lines. His cheeks were rosy, and his smell grew sweeter in the small space between us. I held in a groan. Was that sweet, sultry spice of his for me? That smell was pure sex. As soon as we were someplace more secure, I would give him what he clearly wanted. An omega that smelled that delicious would probably taste good too. I needed to have my mouth all over him. He could direct me to all his most enjoyed positions, and I’d pleasure him, like the spoiled little prince he obviously was, and happily be the alpha to have him screaming his bliss. He took a deep breath on his side of the Jeep and closed his eyes, humming softly. He sighed, long and low, and I got stuck staring, as much as I could. I averted my eyes to the road.
“Do you mind giving me space in your home until I can figure out what I’m doing?”
“No. There’s plenty of room.” My grip on the steering wheel cut into my fingers. He was talking like he was planning to leave eventually, and I didn’t want that.
“Like the stronghold had room?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
He smiled at me and laid a hand on my arm. That move from him caught me totally by surprise. Warm tingles rippled between us, and I felt insane with the pleasurable tickle of the heat prickling along my skin. There seemed to be more at play than my enjoyment of his touch, but I refused to think about why or how that could be. Even if Evan wanted me, I shouldn’t really take him. I should keep my hands to myself and help him find whatever it was he thought he was looking for. Eventually he’d want to go home to his family, to his clan, and he’d have to have someone respectable at his side, not an old killer with no status to offer him. I clenched the steering wheel until it creaked and then eased off. Last thing I wanted was to break it.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
He frowned and withdrew his hand, and I chuckled. This was going to be such a clusterfuck. Carlisle would be so pissed at me if Vince came down on our heads, but I couldn’t explain the compulsion that had urged me back to Evan’s side. I’d have thought maybe… I glanced at him again where he sat, trepidation etched onto his face. Maybe he could be my mate, but surely that was impossible. Even if it was true, and that’s why I’d been feeling so empty and lonely since I last saw him, it wouldn’t stand. Not a single Redcap would agree to me taking him as my own.
I couldn’t stop sneaking glances at him. He was beautiful and painfully out of place in his fancy clothes sitting in my car. He looked like I’d kidnapped the pretend prince from a Renaissance Faire, but he wore the clothing so naturally I almost didn’t notice.
Evan began to nod off before we got to the highway, but as we passed our first lighted billboard, he snapped awake and stared. Eyes wide as saucers, he glanced at every advertisement we passed, captivated. We weren’t going into Charleston because my home was more remote, in Winter, West Virginia; however, there was no avoiding the light pollution from the city that turned the sky a hazy sepia. He smacked my arm and pointed at the glow that hid the stars as we passed the city.
“Are those all lights like in the tunnel? I can’t imagine those are oil lamps, or candles, or torches? Maybe gas lights?” He smacked my arm again with enough force that it actually stung. “Tell me, please?”
“Electric.”
“Electric,” he mumbled and licked his lips, almost like the word tasted good. “Fascinating. I’ve heard of it vaguely. Steam engines can be used to generate power of that variety. Did you know even the ancient Greeks had steam engines? They used them for toys. Uncle Vince tried to keep my reading limited, and now I know why.” He shook his head and lifted his bag into his lap. He drew an envelope out of his pack and leaned toward the dim light spilling from the odometer and radio. “Is this date correct?” he asked, staring at the stamp.
“Let me see.”
I held out my hand and took the envelope, glancing quickly. I held it back. “Yes.”
“God… I… I don’t know why, I just didn’t think it was right. How could it be?” He thumped back hard against his seat. When I checked again, his face was flushed red, and he seemed to be see-sawing between furious and deeply upset, but he was quiet about whatever was happening in his pretty head.
Nearly an hour later we arrived at the driveway leading into the pine forest that surrounded my home. Evan seemed mostly at ease the farther we got into the trees, and he let out a happy gasp as he pointed to the security lights which lined the driveway. They were high on tall metal poles, and weren’t decorative in the least, simply security lights to keep anyone from sneaking up on the house. Light was a cheap deterrent for all sorts of crime and espionage, and if they went out when I wasn’t expecting it, that was its own type of warning.
“This architecture is… interesting,” Evan commented as we crested a small rise and my home came into view, but his pert nose wrinkled and I couldn’t help but chuckle. He stiffened.
“The barracks,” I said with another laugh. “That’s what we call it.”
“We?” He frowned in my direction.
“Ace and Tennyson, the alphas
who came with me? They sometimes stay here. Two others sometimes work with me, but they have their own lives and I only call them when necessary. Ace and Ten have their own personal residences as well, but they’re around more often than not.”
“I see,” he murmured, but there was caution in his voice I didn’t really understand, and he clutched his bag closer.
The rambling single-story structure that comprised the barracks was built cost-effectively because I had no one to impress. Tin roofed, it resembled a long warehouse more than a house. There were very few windows. I opened the garage door with a remote that Evan stared at as I pushed the button and then pulled the Jeep inside.
“Heaven help me,” he muttered. I parked the Jeep next to the motorcycles. There were only four bikes, but Evan was out of his side and crouching next to one with a grin in a heartbeat, but as he stood his face fell. Training weapons were stacked outside of a small wrestling ring nearby. Punching bags, solid and heavy enough for a dragon to work out, hung from the exposed metal rafters. The massive space was chilly, more like a garage than anything because I hadn’t been here, and I didn’t waste much trying to heat the place, either. Several other vehicles were parked on the other side of the Jeep—a van, a military-grade Humvee, and a small backhoe. I’d actually needed the heavy equipment a time or two. Boxes of materials, large and small, sat around, and I had a large gun safe anchored to the far-right wall, past the training area. At the moment, there was also a bunch of mess taking up a corner, all the things we’d swiped from Seth’s grandfather. The mob boss was a damned packrat. One of these days, I would ask Mason if Seth would like to come over and go through the mess, or if I should dispose of it.
“What is all this?” Evan stared around and then goggled at me.
“Equipment,” I growled and figured that was a good enough answer for now. He didn’t know me, and I didn’t really know his mettle yet. He could decide to go home tomorrow. I didn’t need to give him any of my secrets to take along, especially since Vince would want my head on a pike. “Let me show you to the living quarters.”
His shoulders eased down and he smiled at me. Guilt wormed through my gut and I felt bad because I had nothing here like he was used to. There were a few blue tarps strung up by rope that I’d used to separate the living areas from the workout and storage parts of the building. I stalked over and swiped one aside, holding it there for Evan to slink under my arm into my… well, I called it home. The place where I slept whenever I wasn’t in the field. Ace and Ten never said anything about how I kept my living space, but I knew they silently judged me as well. I just didn’t know how to make this place more than what it was—the area where I waited for my next assignment to roll in.
The room wasn’t the best. I already knew that, but I managed to forget most of the time because I just didn’t care too much about it. More often than not, I kept busy. There was a small hot plate on a counter I’d installed, but the poorly constructed kitchenette wasn’t anything close to finished. The cupboards under it didn’t have doors installed. Instead of food in there, a few sleeping bags were tucked inside that Ace and Ten pulled out when they slept over. My bed was front and center, and off to the left of that was an unfinished bathroom that wasn’t completely walled in. The glass shower cubicle functioned, but I’d never bothered getting the exhaust to work, so every shower made the air damp. There was a curtain around the toilet because Ten bitched that he didn’t want to watch other people… well, he wanted privacy.
“So, this is more a crash pad, I guess,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck, which was hot for some reason. I would not be embarrassed about my home, but I suppose I should have taken some time to fix it up before I brought him here. I’d been so busy considering how to get to Evan, and maybe what I’d like to do with him if he agreed, that I hadn’t spent even a minute cleaning up.
Evan gingerly crossed the room like he thought he might catch tetanus if he touched anything and then carefully lowered himself onto my bed. He bounced there for a second and a small smile flickered across his face. His cheeks pinked up rosy as he glanced up and locked his gaze with mine.
My heart kicked into high gear. He looked so sweet there, on my bed, and for a few seconds, I could see myself building him a little house, any kind he chose, anywhere he wanted. My chest ached the way it had over the last few weeks, even though he was right here with me, and it felt like there was something missing from inside my body.
His face flushed as he studied me and nibbled at the corner of his lip. I strolled toward him and stopped when he was within arm’s reach. His chest rose and fell fast, and I could already imagine how good it would be to kiss him, explore his smooth skin with my lips, and sink into his tight, hot body. He inhaled deeply and whimpered.
“I’ve never been in a man’s bed before,” he said quietly, and ran a hand over the black comforter he sat on.
I’d heard of men and women alike playing at being a virgin to inflate the ego of their partner, but the way that Evan held himself and the subtle stress that had a small furrow formed along his brow made me think he was telling the truth. He might still be teasing me, enticing me into having something pristine that I probably shouldn’t. The problem was, if he wasn’t lying, I also wasn’t sure I could allow myself to do any of the things I’d already let myself imagine during the drive here.
I hadn’t wanted to scare him, so I didn’t do anything too inappropriate in his bedroom, but I had thought about having some fast, dirty sex when we got here. I’d assumed someone as beautiful as he was had bedded men before, even if he had been kept away from alphas. It was rare that omegas were treated this way these days, truly sequestered. I took a deep breath and some deep excitement unfurled within me, almost like my wings when I was transformed into a dragon.
Evan stared up at me with his beautiful blue eyes, and I wanted him so badly I ached from it. I didn’t bother to hide the action as I rearranged my hardening cock from the uncomfortable angle it had gotten itself into and drew in a deep breath. He wavered toward me and licked his lips. I wanted more than anything to turn him onto his stomach, rip his fancy clothes off, and have him right there, as fast and hard as he could handle it.
But where would that end? I didn’t have the family name to be truly considered for a Divine Omega. There were other Blood Dragons who would make better matches for him. I held in a sigh. I’d never be the right choice, according to Vince, and no matter how Evan was feeling right now, he’d want his uncle’s approval eventually, especially if he was planning to ever have a family.
Stomping over to the nearby cupboard, I pulled out Ace’s sleeping bag and then unrolled it onto the floor near the bed.
“I’m tired,” I grumbled. “I’m going to go to sleep.” I used the app on my phone to turn off the overhead lights, the same way I’d turned them on before we’d even entered the building, leaving us with only the light of one lamp, situated near the corner made where the tarps came together next to my bed.
“There’s plenty of room up here.” He smiled at me, but now that I was paying attention, I didn’t miss the trembling of his hand when he smoothed it out in another arc beside himself.
“If I get into that bed with you, I’ll end up fucking you,” I said as bluntly as possible, hoping to scare him away from mentioning it again or anything else that would give me ideas that would lead to dead ends or the Redcaps putting out a clan vendetta against me. I’d listened to my worst instincts by going to get him in the first place, I shouldn’t make it worse.
The Redcaps may still gut me as it is—or try, anyway.
“Oh, well, in that case… why don’t you?” Evan’s voice had dipped down so sweet it was practically honey. I shot a sharp glance at him, and though he was still tense and his face was flushed rosy as ever, he had a brave little smile for me that made me want to throw caution to the wind.
But bedding someone who would forget me tomorrow—which I’d sort of thought might be the case with him, the way he was so
spoiled—and bedding someone innocent who wasn’t meant for me, no matter what I wished for, were two different things.
“Help yourself to the anything you need. There is some food on the counter.” I pointed to the cardboard box, but I didn’t even remember what was in there. “I’m going to check on a few things,” I said shortly. I made a strategic retreat out through the tarps into the dark of the training area, and then quickly made my way outside. The cooler night air didn’t do much to snap me out of the desire that pulsed through my body and made my chest ache. Every time I touched Evan, or he touched me, that pain squirming in my chest seemed to ease up. I’d sent the damned email to Carlisle when he was chasing Haiden. I’d talked to the old dragoness who does the funeral rights and heard all she had to say.
I knew damned well what all these signs could mean.
“There’s no way he’s my mate,” I told myself, “so stop.” I smacked at my chest. I was a sentinel. I’d never learned to be gentle with anyone. The last lover I had was another alpha, and we’d both been very aware that there was something missing from our physical release as we used our mouths and hands to pleasure each other. We both wanted an omega. He’d found one and left the sentinels.
I hadn’t found anyone, and I’d stayed throughout the centuries. Nothing in my circumstances had changed, so this was all hair-brained wishful thinking, but at least I could make sure that Evan could do what he wanted, find someone he wanted, out here in the open, far away from Vince’s control.
Nothing was worse than living a life locked into someone else’s dictations and plans.
Evan’s freedom was clearly something he’d wanted, and it was the only gift I could give him. I hope he enjoyed his time away from the stronghold because if I’d fucked up and Vince realized who spirited Evan away, and if he followed me here, there’d be seven kinds of hell to pay—and the price would be my hide.