by Kayla Wolf
God, and he’d thought her hand felt good.
”Why are you in such a hurry?” she murmured into his ear, mocking what he’d said earlier—but he couldn’t concentrate on that. All he could think about was how her body felt around him—he felt her rock her hips up against him and groaned at the rush of sensation, thrusting his hips in response and feeling her gasp as he struck a sensitive place inside her. It was as though they were made for one another—every time he moved inside her, the pleasure he felt seemed to be echoed by the pleasure he brought her, and vice versa. Their movements started off slow and careful, but quickly built to a frantic fever pitch. He knew he was close, but he was gritting his teeth, trying to hold off as long as possible, knowing instinctively from the way she was clutching at his back and wrapping her legs tightly around his body that she was close, too, that if he could just hold off for a few more strokes she’d crash over the edge with him—
And just when it was getting too much to bear, just when he was beginning to think he’d just have to give up and finish her off after he’d come, he felt her whole body tighten up around him—and just in time, he covered her mouth with one hand as her orgasm crashed over her. He muffled his own cry of ecstasy by burying his face in her throat, and between them, they managed a reasonably quiet simultaneous climax. Then they lay in a tangle of sweaty limbs and cooling bodies, and Lachlan had never felt such a sense of overwhelming peace as long as he lived.
After what could have been seconds or hours, he spoke, his voice rough from their exertions. “Serena—I know you didn’t want this to happen, but—”
She laughed, surprising him into silence. “Of course, I did. I’ve wanted this to happen since I looked at you, Lachlan. Didn’t you wonder why I was so weird and awkward those first few days?”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “I thought you didn’t like me!”
”Why wouldn’t I like you?”
”I don’t know—I’m a dragon, you’re a wolf, I thought it might be… a problem, for you. I don’t know many wolves,” he added, a little defensively. She was smiling at him—it was such a beautiful sight that he could barely keep track of the conversation.
”It’s not a problem,” she said softly. “Not the dragon thing, at any rate. I honestly just… I’m worried about Delilah, that’s all. Children need stability, Lachlan. If this is just a fling and I’m gone from her life in six months, it could do a lot of damage…”
He propped himself up on his elbows, a frown crossing his face for the first time. “Is that what you think this is? A fling?”
She looked hesitant—there was a very familiar guarded look beginning to creep back into her eyes. “I mean… isn’t that what dragons do? Your friends have so many stories about driving up and down the coast on your motorbikes, sleeping with women at every stop and leaving them behind… I mean, the way James talks…”
”James is an idiot,” Lachlan growled, surprising himself with the force of his emotion. Was this really what she thought of him? Had she been holding herself back from him, thinking that he was some callous asshole who was going to sleep with her then discard her like an old toy? “So are the rest of them. Serena… it’s true, when I was younger, I lived a pretty reckless life. But I’m not that guy anymore. I’m not like those guys at all. Ever since Delilah… even before that, honestly. I don’t want those flings any more. I want the real thing.”
Serena took a deep breath, but he could see from the emotion in her eyes that she believed him. “The real thing?”
”I don’t want to—scare you off,” he admitted, feeling a little sheepish. “I don’t want to get too serious too fast. You’re only young, the prospect of dating a guy who’s got a daughter already is… I know it’s a lot. But I couldn’t live with myself if I thought the reason you wanted to turn me down was that you thought I wouldn’t take you seriously.” He reached out to brush a lock of her auburn hair away from her face. “I want—you. This. I want a real relationship. If you want that.”
”I think I do,” she whispered, that unbelievable smile breaking out across her face like the sun bursting through the clouds. “If that’s what you want. But—” She hesitated. “The most important thing is Delilah.”
His heart felt like it was going to burst, it was so full of happiness. “We’re on the same page there. If she didn’t adore you so much, this would be a different conversation. But—Serena, she loves you. I’ve never seen her take to someone so well.” He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing thoughts. “We’ll take it slow, of course.”
Serena laughed. “Well, we already live together, and I look after your daughter every day. I don’t know how slow we can really be… but I appreciate it.” Her silver eyes glowed affectionately in the low light. “We’ve got plenty of time, right?”
“All the time in the world,” he said softly, touching the side of her face. “You’re worth waiting for. This—this is worth waiting for.” I’ve been waiting my whole life, he wanted to add—but he held back on that. He’d already dropped so much on her. The last thing he wanted was to risk scaring her off any more than he had already. But he hadn’t scared her, he thought, his eyes drifting shut as his chest glowed with happiness. She wasn’t scared—she wanted him.
They drifted off to sleep, wrapped in each other’s arms—and it was the deepest and most restful sleep that Lachlan could remember.
Chapter 12 – Serena
Serena woke up slowly, smiling to herself even before she opened her eyes. There was a delicious, drowsy warmth soaking her whole body, and she felt more relaxed than she’d felt in weeks. The memories of the night before danced through her mind even before she was fully awake, and she realized with a rush of amusement that she’d been dreaming about their lovemaking all night, ever since she’d drifted off to sleep. She just couldn’t get enough of him, it seemed.
And god, who could blame her? She’d known he was gorgeous since the minute she’d laid eyes on him. Seeing him naked was just… another level. It was a miracle her heart had survived the strain. And her physical attraction to him was only intensified by knowing him better—seeing who he was, how well he led his people, what a loving and attentive father he was to his little girl. And clearly, he’d been feeling similar things about her, if the explosive connection they’d shared last night was anything to go by.
Her mother had told her a few things about shifters—nothing particularly concrete—but she couldn’t help thinking about a comment her mother had made once when Serena was a teenager in the throes of a huge crush on an oblivious boy in her year. Her mother had chuckled, halfway through another long anecdote about the way the boy had looked at her when she’d made a joke in class, and whether it meant anything.
”You know, he’s probably not your soulmate.”
”My soulmate?” She’d wrinkled her nose—even in the depths of teenage love, she’d regarded the word with due suspicion. “Isn’t that just—dumb superstitious romantic stuff?”
”For humans, maybe,” her mother had said thoughtfully. “But the way your father and his friends used to talk about it… well, it might mean something to shifters. Something more than it does to humans, anyway.”
”I’m only half-shifter, though,” she’d objected. Though she’d already learned—with a combination of delight and fear—that her father’s ability to transform into a wolf was something she’d inherited, she still found it difficult to think about it as heritage she actually belonged to.
”Well, there’s half a chance you’ve got a destined soulmate out there, waiting for you.”
Serena still wasn’t sure if her mother had been joking—she often had a twinkle in her eye when she talked about things like that. She was pretty jaded when it came to romance, always encouraging Serena to be independent, to stand on her own feet and make sure she didn’t need anyone else to take care of her. But the idea that there was someone out there, destined to be with her, to be her mate for the rest of her life… well, she’d al
ways secretly found it kind of romantic. It was why she’d never dated seriously. Nobody had ever hit her with feelings like that.
Nobody until Lachlan, that was.
Take it slow, she reminded herself firmly, sitting up in bed. To her surprise, she found herself alone in Lachlan’s room, his side of the bed empty—but there was a note on the pillow that she blinked at in the early morning light. A morning greeting—and an apology that he had to unexpectedly get going on early patrol. She sighed, feeling a little chilly in the big empty bed… but hadn’t she just been thinking that his dedication to duty was part of what made him so attractive? She slid out of bed and retrieved her clothes from the night before—they’d been thrown far and wide across the room, and she blushed a little, remembering the explosive passion they’d shared. With any luck, it would be the first of many nights like that. And maybe sometime they could get someone to babysit Delilah for the night… that way, they wouldn’t have to be quite so quiet as they had been.
Humming happily to herself, she padded down the hallway to check on Delilah. The little girl was stirring in her bed, still sleepy but already beginning to show the terrifying quantity of energy she entered each day with. Serena set about getting her ready for the day, chatting away about what their plans were as she dressed the toddler.
”Back to the grocery store today! That silly man scared us away, but he won’t be there this time, now will he? And if he is, we’ll tell him all about what your daddy’s going to do if he tries to make us feel scared again.”
Delilah nodded, clearly not interested in what she was saying—not when there was a toy horse to bash against her chest of drawers. Serena chuckled to herself and swung the girl up into her arms, heading out into the kitchen to get her some breakfast before they headed back into town. At least Delilah liked driving, she thought.
But the minute they left the porch and headed for the car, a storm started. Delilah, for whatever reason, was absolutely not having anything to do with the car. She fidgeted irritably in Serena’s arms as she set up her booster seat—and as soon as Serena tried to sit her in it, she started screaming and wouldn’t stop, wiggling away from the car, shouting incoherent demands for the beach, the town square, the forest, anything but the car. After ten minutes of unsuccessful attempts at bribery, Serena put her hands on her hips, giving up—even Delilah’s favorite driving CD wasn’t enough to console her. She just wasn’t interested in going on another long car trip so soon after the one they’d gone on yesterday. And fair enough, too, Serena thought irritably, glancing up and down the street. She wasn’t especially thrilled about the long drive ahead of her, either.
”Having trouble?”
A familiar voice. She turned to see Lachlan’s friend Emerson leaning against a tree, one eyebrow raised in sympathy at the squalling toddler. Spotting a potential ally, Delilah wiggled out of Serena’s arms and bolted across to the tall, dark-haired man, reaching up to him and crowing with delight when he scooped her up into his arms and onto his shoulders.
“She’s absolutely not interested in a trip to the grocery store,” Serena told him, rolling her eyes. It was a little embarrassing, being so thoroughly defeated by a toddler’s tantrum, but Emerson just smiled at her.
”Well, I’m going birdwatching,” he said, gesturing at his chest—there was a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck. “I’m more than happy to take her with me.”
”Bird!” Delilah declared with great enthusiasm. Serena couldn’t help but laugh.
”Are you sure? She’s a handful.”
”I was on the regular babysitting rotation before you came to town,” Emerson said, shrugging his shoulders in a way that jostled the toddler and made her laugh. “We’re good buddies, me and Lilah.”
”If you’re sure.” Serena felt a little guilty for leaving her charge with someone else—but she knew Lachlan trusted Emerson completely. Delilah would be in safe hands. And she’d probably have a better morning with Emerson than she would being dragged all the way to the grocery store and back. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours—where will I find you?”
”I’ll bring her back home then,” Emerson promised. “Meet you here?”
”Perfect. Thanks, Emerson.”
”My pleasure. C’mon, you little tyrant,” he added, glancing up at the toddler who now had two fistfuls of his straight black hair clenched in her little hands. Serena watched them go, smiling to herself. She liked Emerson. He had a calm, quiet energy—hopefully a little of it would wear off on Delilah.
The drive was uneventful. It felt a little odd to be by herself, and ten minutes in, she reached into her pocket to find a podcast to listen to on her phone—only to realize that she’d left it sitting on the kitchen table when she’d been organizing Delilah’s breakfast. Ah, well. It was good to spend a bit of time without technology—and she had the grocery list in paper form tucked in her handbag, so there was no chance of forgetting anything. She settled for the radio on the way to town, smiling to herself at all the love songs. A bit sappy of her, maybe, but if you couldn’t get romantic about love songs by yourself on a long drive, then what was the point of living?
She tensed up a little as she headed into the grocery store—but thankfully, there was no sign of the strange guy from the day before. Just a couple of local moms who greeted her cheerfully, their own toddlers in tow.
”No Delilah today?”
”She’s bird-watching with her uncle,” Serena grinned. She supposed Emerson was like an uncle—all five of Lachlan’s close friends were like brothers to him, really, so by extension they were like Delilah’s family. They’d certainly defend her with their lives the same way Lachlan would. The same way she would, she supposed, if it came to it. She’d certainly been ready to fight a wolf pack the other night.
She was halfway across the parking lot to her car, arms full of fresh groceries, when she saw the old man. He was shuffling across the parking lot himself, headed for a huge van parked on the far side of the lot—it hadn’t been there when she arrived, and she frowned a little. The old man was hunched over, his arms shaking with the strain of carrying an enormous table that was far too bulky for one person to carry, let alone someone as frail as this man. Serena quickly dropped her own groceries off in her car, then turned back to hurry across the parking lot to where the old man was still making a vain effort to struggle towards the van.
”Sir, can I help with your table?” she said, discretely reaching out to steady the table as the old man wobbled. He peered up at her—he was wearing a pair of glasses so thick that she could barely see his eyes through the glass.
“Oh, bless you, sweetheart,” he quavered, his voice as wobbly as his steps. “I’m not as strong as I used to be…”
”You’ve done pretty well getting it this far,” she encouraged him, trying to take as much of the weight of the table from him as she could—it was an unwieldy thing. “Didn’t the people in the second-hand store offer to help you?” There was a thrift store beside the grocery store—she assumed he’d picked it up there—but it seemed strange that the attendants wouldn’t have at least offered to help an elderly man with such a heavy piece of furniture.
They set the table down when they reached the van, and the old man unlocked the doors with a shaky hand. “Well, thank you, my dear—” he started, but she waved a hand, readying herself to lift the table again.
”Don’t be silly—let me get it into the back of the van for you. Is there someone at home who can help you unload it?”
”Oh, yes, yes… my sons will help me if I ask them to come around. Can I borrow your phone to give them a call? I didn’t realize it would be quite so heavy...”
”Of course you can,” Serena said—then her face fell, remembering that her phone was sitting on the kitchen counter. “Oh, shoot, no, you can’t. I left it at home today, I’m afraid.”
”That’s alright,” the old man said, waving a hand. “I’ll just call them when I get home then. Thank you anyway.”
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His sons should have come with him to the store, Serena thought irritably as she heaved the table up into the van. She took a few steps into the dark to push it snugly against the back wall, hoping it wouldn’t slide around too much on the journey. Maybe the old man had some ropes or something to secure it with?
But before she could ask him, her eyes widened as the doors of the van slammed shut, plunging her into darkness. Confused—had the wind slammed the doors shut?—she moved gingerly towards where she knew the doors were, reaching out to try to push the doors open again. Surely the old man had noticed what had happened? But when she pressed on the doors, they didn’t move. She pushed against them more firmly, panic beginning to rise in her chest. What was happening? Had the doors locked? Why wasn’t the old man unlocking them? She heard the jingling of his keys, and she pounded on the doors a little harder. Surely he hadn’t locked her in?
The jingling of the keys moved around towards where she knew the front of the van was, and she recoiled in horror, realizing with a sick thud that she was trapped in the back of this pitch-dark van. And she didn’t even have her phone on her. She heard the sound of the van’s door opening, felt it shift as the old man climbed into the driver’s seat—and then there was a rumble as the engine started. Serena almost overbalanced as the van took off—stifling a scream, she dropped into a crouch to keep herself from falling, leaning against the wall of the van for stability as she considered her options.
She was trapped, in a moving van, with no way of contacting anyone or letting them know where she was. And it was taking everything she had not to succumb to panic right then and there.