At that he released me, “I’m sorry. Matt said he scented you and you weren’t a virgin, which I though was really fucking weird and a huge invasion of privacy, but at the same time Jax said shifters save themselves for their mates. Then you were there with that guy Jace and he had his arm around you and he was whispering in your ear. I thought you guys were a thing and the whole ‘mate’ thing was just something you guys made up to fuck with me, so yeah I flirted with a girl and we got handsy. I didn’t, couldn’t, go further though. All I could think about was you so I went home, with her scent all over me apparently.”
The words tumbled out of him and he looked at me half expectantly and half dejectedly as if expecting my rejection. “Jace is my cousin. Dragons crave physical contact so him putting his arm around me was his way of comforting me when you walked into the bar. He whispered that everything would be okay. I’m not a virgin because I was raped two years ago. In fact the guy that raped me first said he enjoyed that our kind saved ourselves for our mates, because he liked virgins.”
He went white again, “First guy? There were multiple?” I nodded. Before I had a chance to object, Fox had me in his arms again, “I’m so sorry I didn’t come to you. I’m so sorry.” He just kept repeating it over and over again. I started crying at some point and from the salty taste in the air and the wetness on my head Fox was crying too.
I didn’t know how long we stood there but we pulled apart too soon for Niamh and me. “Are you hungry?” I asked him, wiping my eyes.
“Uh yeah,” he checked his phone, responded to a text, and followed me to the kitchen. “What are you going to fix me for lunch?”
I snorted, “Are you sure you can trust me?”
“Not in the least, but I’ll chance it,” he said with a smile.
I chuckled and opened the fridge. The fact that I never spent any time in my apartment hit me really hard when I looked into my fridge and found it pretty much empty. “Well. Looks like we’re going out for lunch because I have no food in my apartment.”
He laughed, “Sounds good.”
“Just let me change and we’ll go.”
As we walked to a small bistro near my apartment, we made light conversation. He caught me up on Jax’s shenanigans while we ate, “Wait so Jax actually uses his title to get his way when he wants something from Matthew?”
“Yep. He’s such a little shit about the whole prince thing,” he said with a chuckle.
“Does it actually work?”
“Not usually. Occasionally he pulls it and Matt just does whatever he doesn’t want to do, but it’s very rare.”
We finished up our lunch, and the look in Fox’s eyes told me he wanted more time together. “I need to get back to the base since we ship out tomorrow,” he said with a little sadness in his eyes.
We walked back to my apartment, “Where are you guys headed?”
“I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. It’s a security thing. I’m not allowed to talk about it,” he seemed disappointed with himself.
“It’s okay. I understand,” I said.
“What about you? When’s your next assignment?”
I smiled, “I’m not sure yet.”
He nodded his understanding with a look of guilt also passing over his face, “Do you mind if I come in and grab most of the clothes Jax brought over? He stole basically my entire closet.”
I laughed, “Yeah, come in, but I’m going to insist on keeping a shirt or two.”
“Whatever you need,” he said with a lazy smile on his lips.
We exchanged numbers and hugged, as we pulled apart he placed a kiss on my forehead, “See you later.”
“Yeah, see you later,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
I headed straight for my office at the compound. I set to work hacking into the intel for Jax and Fox’s next mission. I only got halfway through it when Alanza came into my office.
“I’m sorry for my part in always pushing you and Fox together. I didn’t think about how it was affecting you, and I’m sorry for that.”
“Thank you, Alanza. He and I talked today and went for lunch. It went well but we’ve got a long way to go.”
She smiled widely, “That’s so good Amaya. We’re heading out to the bar if you want to come.”
I started to shake my head but I checked the time and saw I had been at it for several hours, “Yeah. I’ve got a ways to go on this. I could use a break.”
I got up and followed her out, “What are you working on?”
“Double checking intel,” she gave me a knowing look. I had been double checking intel on their missions since they started going on them.
We were in the bar for a little while when the guys walked in and joined us at our table. Jace was less than thrilled when Fox sat down, “Jace cut it out, we’re working it out,” I mind linked him.
He looked at me with narrowed eyes before rolling his eyes, “Fine but I’ll put him on his ass if he steps out of line even once,” he said aloud rather than mind linking me.
Fox looked between me and Jace, I kicked him under the table, “Seriously? You little shit.”
He laughed, “What? Come on, it was funny.”
“Yeah you’re fucking hysterical. Keep it up, funny guy and I’ll kick your ass,” I said and he put his hands up in surrender.
“You’re going to kick his ass?” Newcomer Matthew asked.
Most everyone at the table chuckled. Jax answered for me, “Matt, she can kick everyone at this table’s ass, especially his and mine and yours.”
“Which reminds me I owe you an ass kicking,” I said to Matt.
“Me?! What did I do?”
“You know exactly what you did. Keep your nose to yourself and mind your business.”
“Oh that. Right, sorry,” he said with a guilty look on his face.
Fox squeezed my knee under the table. We fell into an easy flowing conversation until a girl walked up to the table and sat in Fox’s lap. He tried to get her off to no avail. I smelled the air before I growled just to figure out who I was up against, plus it was fun watching him struggle even if Niamh was going insane.
She was an acid dragon, though what she was doing in our territory I didn’t know. She hadn’t noticed me. She had been really fighting to stay on Fox’s lap. Finally I let out a low but powerful growl that caused her to freeze. She smelled the air and tried to turn to look at me but couldn’t, so she was forced to get off Fox. I patted Fox signaling I wanted out of the booth. He let me out and I stood before the acid dragon. “And who are you?” She spit.
“Your mmph een bif,” Jax replied, muffled presumably by Alanza’s hand.
“His mate. I’d thank you to leave him alone,” I said.
“He wasn’t acting like your mate last night,” she said in a snotty tone.
“Yeah we have a complicated relationship that we’re working on making simple. It’s not any of your business and he has a mate so keep your hands off him.”
“How about no.”
“What are you doing in storm dragon territory?” I asked in a dominant tone forcing her to answer truthfully.
Her eyes went wide, “I, uh, I was ordered to leave my clan for a year. I’ve been bouncing around ever since.”
“Why not stay in acid dragon territory?”
“I have been. This is my first month out of the territory.”
“Well you’re doing a terrible job. Stay the fuck away from my mate and any other mated male,” I said without the dominance in my voice.
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” She demanded getting a little braver since I didn’t force her.
Jace growled behind me but otherwise stayed silent, “Amaya Wardwell.”
She gasped and bowed deeply, “Your majesty I’m so sorry. Please, I didn’t know.”
“Just don’t do it again. Okay?” I said, “And please stop bowing.”
She started to bow again but stopped herself, “Right sorry. I won’t, you have my word.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” I said, smiling slightly.
She returned to wherever she came from and I sat back down, “Can I hold your hand?” He whispered so softly even I could barely hear him. I nodded, “Thank you,” he said just as softly.
We got back into the flow of conversation until it was time for the guys to go and I decided to get back to work too. “Can I walk you home?”
“You could but I’m not going home. I’m going back to work. You can walk me to my bike,” I said, leading him to my bike, our fingers still locked together.
“This is a nice bike. A really nice bike,” I smiled because I loved my baby, “So I was wondering.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Will you go out to dinner with me?” He paused then rushed to add, “When I get back.”
I smiled wide, “Nicholas Grey are you asking me on a date?”
“Maybe,” he drew out, then leaned his forehead against mine, “May I kiss you, your majesty?”
I laughed at him using my title, “Yes you may.”
He smiled widely but then his hands dropped mine and came up to cup my cheeks instead. His lips captured mine and I grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him closer. I didn’t know how he intended to start the kiss but it got very heated, very quickly.
His tongue asked for entry and my lips parted to welcome it inside. We kissed in perfect sync. His hands traveled down my body and settled on my ass giving it a firm squeeze. I broke the kiss and kissed my way down his jaw; giving little nibbles along the way too. Once I reached the spot I would mark, it took everything in my power to hold Niamh back from marking him here, instead I kissed and nibbled the spot. He groaned and pulled me closer to him, squeezing my ass harder. He was hard inside his pants and I could smell both of our arousals mixing together and it only pushed me further. I sucked on the spot, creating a hickey, so every super that ran into him would know he was spoken for just unmarked.
He moaned and dragged my mouth back to his before he broke the kiss completely breathless. “We have to stop,” I nodded in agreement, “Did you give me a hickey?”
I smiled, “To humans it’s a hickey, to supers it’s a sign that you’re spoken for but not marked yet.”
“Marked?”
“To be fully mated you have to be marked. I very minimally shift and bite you there. It’ll be painful for a second then you’ll have a lot of pleasure. If you have any questions you can ask Jax about it. He was recently marked.”
He grimaced, “Is this necessary?”
“Yes. It lets others know you are mine and I am yours. It combines our scents to ward off others plus it will help us have kids once we’re ready to have them. It isn’t a big deal. I promise.”
He nodded, “I’ll let you know when I get back into town.”
“Okay. Be safe,” I said before kissing him deeply.
Once I got back to the compound, I worked until I started to feel tired. I was almost through the intel and it all seemed to be on the up and up, but I would finish it in a few hours after I had some rest.
I headed home. Once there I showered and slipped Fox’s hoodie over my head. I inhaled deeply and smiled contently. Niamh began to purr just being encased in our mate’s scent. I climbed into bed, drinking a bit of the supplement, and brought his shirt up to my nose. My body relaxed and I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up feeling the most rested I had felt in years. I checked the time, 4:37 a.m., it was the longest I had slept in a very long time too. I stretched and got ready to start my day. I finished looking through the intel and I looked over the entire mission file, the amount of guys they have on the mission, all of it and I noticed something.
This mission should have a team of nine to twelve guys but instead they assigned a team of six guys. I checked the intel again and saw what information they gave the team. I was shocked to find they only gave them half of the intel, just enough for them to know what it was about and to think it was complete.
They were setting them up to get injured or worse, but why? “Daniel, I just got done going over the intel for Jax and Fox’s next mission and it’s not good. It’s a nine to twelve guy mission but they only assigned a team of six plus they’ve only given them some of the intel, not all of it. They’ll be sitting ducks.”
“Okay what do you want to do about it?”
“Can you reach out to your contacts after we’ve gotten them out? I want to take Josie, Alanza, Jace, and Ian. We’ll get in and out with the guys.”
“Okay, reach out to everyone. We’ll have a meeting in ten minutes.”
I mind linked Josie, Jace, and Ian to meet in the conference room in ten minutes. I called Alanza, “Something came up in your search?”
“I’ll tell you when we’re together, conference room ten minutes.”
“Got it, see you in a bit.”
I went to my bike and hit the road to the compound. Once there I started the coffee and waited for the others to show up in the conference room. Alanza was first, then Josie, and finally the boys dragged into the room. I explained the situation and we strategized for a little while until we went wheels up and headed for Venezuela.
Author: Kailan Counahan 