11. River
Iwoke up the next morning in a daze. Warm arms wrapped around me from behind, and a hard length pressed into my backside. I wiggled my ass trying to remember the events of last night.
“If you don’t stop grinding against my dick I’m going to slam it inside you, little minx.” A husky voice growled in my ear.
Then it hit me, Tate snuck into my bed last night, easing me out of my nightmare.
A mixture of anger and gratefulness washed through me. He chased away my demons for the rest of the night, protecting me from the persistent nightmares that never seemed to leave.
“What if I want you to?” I teased, grinding my ass against him with more purpose.
He groaned behind me before flipping me onto my back and settling himself between my thighs. “I told you I won”t until you”re begging me, but you”re more tempting than sin.”
He rubbed his bulge against me, hitting my clit as he went, and a moan escaped my lips.
I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to me.
“Tate,” I begged, needing him to just complete our bond already. My dragon was demanding him, and I was tired of denying her.
He placed a playful kiss on my nose before hopping off me. “Not yet, but soon. I will bury myself so far in your cunt you”ll see stars.”
Surprise lit my face as I looked down to the tent in his boxers. “Seriously,” I yelled at him as he made his way into my bathroom.
I heard him chuckle before he turned on the shower. Ugg, these mates are going to kill me.
I was so worked up, and if Tate didn’t want to ease my ache, I’d have to do it myself.
I opened my bedside drawer and pulled out my favorite vibrator. It had suction clit stimulation and a thrusting, spinning g-spot stimulator.
I slid the toy in easily. I was soaked by Tate’s teasing, so there was no resistance. Once I latched the suction onto my clit I moaned loud, not giving a shit if Tate heard me. He could have been the one to give me my orgasm, but he chose not to, and I was not going to spend the day in a horny haze.
My back bowed as the toy worked its magic. Nikolai growled in my head.
My star, are you pleasuring yourself?
“Yes,” I moaned, once again answering Kai out loud. My orgasm was so close, creeping up to the surface as the toy worked my g-spot. The thrusting and spinning beads had my back bowing against the bed.
I will throw all those fucking toys away. The only one that should be giving you pleasure is me, and when I allow Tate.
My climax flew out of me, a loud moan emitting from my lips. Too late, Kai. I already got the release I needed. I felt the displeasure coming from Kai in my mind but ignored the possessive asshole.
Tossing my toy back in the drawer, I pulled on shorts and made my way into the kitchen. There was a little more pep in my step thanks to my toy giving me the climax I craved.
“Well, you”re in a good mood this morning. Did you wake up to some mind-blowing dragon dick?” Natalia asked, flipping pancakes at the stove.
“Nope, but my Airthrust and I had a fantastic time.” I smiled at her, pulling a mug down to pour a cup of coffee.
Lainey laughed from her spot at the island, and Natalia”s mouth hung open, gaping at me.
“Tate refused to give me his dragon dick, so I took care of myself.” I shrugged, pouring vanilla cream and sugar into my coffee.
Natalia shook her head, “What the hell was the point of me letting him stay last night then? I thought he was going to dick you down.”
“He wants to wait until I’m fully ready to accept him as my mate.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“That”s exactly why I didn’t claim you. I won”t force you into a bond unless you”re one hundred percent sure you want it,” Tate said, emerging from my room in nothing but a pair of sweats that sat so low on his hips it showcased his delicious V.
Water dripped from the ends of his sandy brown hair and my mouth went dry as I took in the sight of him.
“You might be waiting a while then, the overgrown lizard has a hard time trusting people,” Natalia told him.
“Hey, I’m working on it,” I snapped at her.
I was trying to let people in. It wouldn’t happen overnight, though.
You let me in, my star.
“Not by choice, Nickolai,” I growled under my breath, causing him to chuckle in my mind at my words.
This man was insufferable, I needed to learn how to block him out and fast. He was always barging into my mind unwelcome.
“Tate, do you know how to block a bond?” I asked as he took a seat beside me.
Placing his hand on my thigh, he squeezed, sending a wave of warmth through my body from his touch.
“I’ve never had one, so I’m not sure. Is Kai digging around your head again?” He asked, a worried look on his face.
Tell him to mind his own business before I make him a pile of ash next.
“Will you fucking get out of my head, and what do you mean next? Who did you kill Kai?” I asked out loud. Tate’s expression hardened as he looked at me.
Kai stayed silent, not answering my question.
“You fucking dragons are insufferable,” I murmured before taking a sip of my coffee. The flavors lit up my taste buds as the vanilla flavor made its way down my throat.
“Ain’t that the fucking truth.” Natalia hollered from the stove.
I glared at her, “You love me, witch.”
“Just because I love you doesn”t mean I don”t think you”re a giant pain in the ass, you overgrown lizard.” She smirked at me, causing a laugh to bubble out of me.
“I think I’m going to visit my grandparents today. Do you want to come?” I asked Natalia.
“Sure,” Tate answered from beside me.
Natalia shot him a look, “She didn’t mean you.”
“I’ll still come with you.” Tate shot back.
I narrowed my eyes at him, “No, you won”t.”
Hurt flashed across his face before it was quickly replaced with a stern look. “Okay, I’ll just head home then.”
He placed a quick kiss on the top of my head before walking out the front door. My chest ached as I watched him go.
Natalia glared at me as she set the plate of pancakes on the island.
“What?”
“That was kinda harsh,” Lainey said from her spot across from me.
I shrugged my shoulders, “That’s what he gets for not giving me the release I asked for this morning.”
Natalia laughed as she sat down beside Lainey. “You are becoming addicted to dick.” She snapped her fingers, “Dickdicted.”
A laugh burst out of me, “Natalia, I don’t think dickdicted is a word.”
“Well, I’m making it one. You”re dickdicted.”
I laughed before filling my mouth with her delicious pancakes. This girl was something else and I loved every part of her.
I swallowed down my bite of the delicious food, “So, are you coming with me?”
“Yeah, you know I’m always down to see Gram and Gramps.”
I chuckled at her. She had called my grandparents that since the first day she met them. It always made me chuckle at the look my grandpa would give her when she referred to him as Gramps.
I finished my pancakes, put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and headed to my room to change.
I pulled on my favorite pair of tattered jeans and a black tank top. I grabbed another jean jacket out of my closet. Kai is so lucky I bought multiple of my favorite jacket, or I would have been pissed over the one he shredded.
I didn’t hear you complaining in the moment, my star.
I huffed at the annoying dragon, constantly creeping around my head. I needed to talk to my grandparents, they were mates so maybe they could tell me how to block Kai out.
He growled in displeasure at the thought of me learning how to block against him.
I rolled my eyes, putting my hair in a loose braid, and stalked out of the room, sitting on the couch to wait for Natalia.
Finally, she emerged from her room, without Lainey.
I raised my eyebrow in question, “No Lainey?”
“She’s going to take a nap while we go. I kept her up all night.”
“Natalia,” I laughed as she wiggled her eyebrows at me.
“You asked.”
“I didn’t need to hear what you were doing all night. I was just wondering if she was coming.”
“I didn’t give you any details. I can if you want me to, though.” The smile stretched across her face from ear to ear as mischief flashed in her eyes.
“I’m good. Thanks.” I chuckled, getting up to grab my keys off the counter.
She followed me outside as we climbed into my sleek black Maserati.
A calm surrounded me as the hum of the engine vibrated under my hands. Driving was my second favorite pleasure, it was the closest thing to flying. I felt so free when I was behind the wheel of a fast car, just the road spread out before me, taking me wherever I wanted to go.
I took off down the driveway, flinging dirt and gravel in my wake.
“Can you not drive like you”re trying to kill us for once,” Natalia said in a flat tone.
I smirked as I peeled out of the driveway, taking off toward my grandparents’ house.
“I guess that”s a no. I don’t know why I keep letting you drive. I would much rather die being suffocated by a sweet pussy than in a car accident from your crazy ass.”
“Ooh, stop being dramatic, my driving is not bad,” I told her, glancing over to her angry expression before looking back at the road.
She let out a sarcastic laugh, “Whatever you need to tell yourself to help you sleep at night.”
I laughed at her before slightly reducing my speed. She was always a Betty buzzkill when it came to my driving. I just liked to go fast, and there was nothing wrong with that.
I did need to remember that she was a witch, though, and couldn”t heal from a car crash like I could.
“Did you find out more about why Moonbeam is hunting supernaturals?” I asked her. We decided to look more into the hunters and what they wanted with supernaturals.
She shook her head, “No, just that they were performing tests on them.”
“It doesn”t make sense, what tests are they doing?”
My mind spun with all the possibilities, so far none of the escaped patients have been found. I was hoping Tate’s twin would show up soon so we could ask him what goes on behind closed doors.
“I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is testing our weaknesses and limitations so they can come up with weapons to kill us,” Natalia said, shrugging her shoulders.
Kai, did you have any luck locating Tate’s brother?
I asked him to look into the people that escaped the hospital, hoping he would find at least one. Someone had to have some answers for us.
Not yet, my star.
My shoulders slumped at his answer. I don’t know why I was expecting anything yet. It was only a couple of days ago I told him about the hunters tracking me. He was pissed and said he would get to the bottom of it for me.
I had a feeling he knew more than he was telling me, I just didn’t know what he was hiding from me.
Even though he is clearly a master at digging around in my mind it was like a one way road. I couldn”t figure out how to dive in his head, either he was blocking me or I just wasn”t good at this whole mate-telepathic thing.
Natalia didn’t say anything else the rest of the drive, she opened up her spell book and I knew the conversation was over. Once she started looking in it, the whole world just disappeared around her. She was looking for different ways to ward our house to alert us to any unwelcome guest.
After Kai showed up at the back of our property and Jax came out of nowhere, interrupting our flight, Natalia wasn”t taking any more chances.
I didn’t blame her, though. There were so many threats out there, and we could use all the protection we could get.
I pulled off the road, stopping in front of a small blue house. Natalia looked up from her book, realizing we were here. She closed it and put it into her bag before getting out of the car.
My grandparents came to greet us at the door, wearing matching grins.
“Gram, Gramps,” Natalia said, throwing an arm around each of them, bringing them in for a tight hug.
The scowl on my grandpa”s face had a laugh bursting out of me.
I walked up onto the porch and was immediately embraced in my grandma”s arms. I breathed in deeply, filling my nose with her ember and gingerbread scent.
“Hey grandma, hey grandpa,” I said, looking at him over her shoulder. My grandma was just as tall as me, so it wasn”t hard to look at my grandpa over her shoulder.
My grandparents were not that old, they had my mom young and she had me young. The silver streaks in their black hair was just starting to coat the dark locks, showing their age.
“River, what brings you here today, please come inside.” She said, releasing me and gesturing toward the door.
“I just wanted to know if you could teach me how to block the mate bond.” I told her, taking a seat at the table across from my grandfather.
Natalia sat to my left and grandma walked into the kitchen grabbing a tray, filling it with pastries, coffee, cream, and sugar.
My eyes lit up at the sight of coffee, it was my favorite drug.
I poured myself a big mug, dumping sugar and cream into the black coffee. I brought it to my nose, inhaling the rich espresso scent before taking a sip. The sweet coffee flavor coated my tongue before I swallowed it down.
“Did you get a mate, cupcake?” My grandfather asked.
I groaned, “Three potential mates actually, but one we fully completed the bond and I can”t get him to stay out of my damn head.”
My grandma”s gaze snapped to mine, her eyes wide. “Three?”
“Three mates isn”t uncommon for a strong supernatural, MaryAnn,” my grandfather said.
“I know it”s not uncommon, and I wouldn”t expect anything less from our River. It’s just surprising that she met three mates in such a short timeframe, Alister,” my grandma said, shooting a look at my grandpa that told him to knock it off.
“Okay can we get back on topic and teach River how to block.” Natalia said, slamming her palm down on the table, clearly displeased that the conversation got off topic. Everyone”s gaze snapped to her.
“Always keeping everyone on track.” I chuckled, taking another sip of my coffee.
“Right, you need to ground yourself to be able to block,” Grandma told me in her normal, sweet tone. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth showed how much she was always smiling.
I looked at her, raising my eyebrow, “How do I do that?”
“You have to find a spot in your mind, your very own safe haven if you will, and block the connection out.” Grandpa tried to explain how it works.
“Like a room?”
“It can be wherever you feel the safest, imagine it in your mind and look for the connection to your mate and shut him out.” Grandma said, placing her hand over mine.
“Safe space, right,” I said sarcastically. There was no such thing in my world. There was nowhere I could go where I felt safe.
I closed my eyes anyway, thinking of the safest spot. My brain decided that was my bedroom, okay I could work with this. I looked around my room, the dark purple walls were comforting, it felt like home. My heart squeezed in my chest at having a place that truly felt like home. With the constant moving I never really had that before.
I looked around the room, spotting a bright blue stream of power coming in from the window. It looked like a swirling cloud flowing into the room.
Gotcha bitch, I walked over and slammed the window closed, flipping the lock and blocking Kai out.
The power pushed against the window, bouncing off the glass.
Once it was closed my mind was clearer but there was a pang of loss that hit in my chest. I no longer felt Kai in the back of my mind, snooping around where he doesn”t belong.
I opened my eyes, looking at my grandma with a big smile on my face.
“You did it,” she said, and I nodded my head.
Ecstatic I was able to block him out so fast, I definitely thought it would have taken longer for me to figure it out.
“That was remarkable, cupcake. I’ve never seen someone able to block out the bond so fast. It normally takes days to master it.” Grandpa told me, a look on his face that I couldn”t quite place.
“I guess I’m just a quick study,” I told him. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, groaning when I saw a message from Kai.
Dragon Dick
Did you seriously block me out that fast? Let me back in, now!
Me
I will if you get on your knees and beg me like a good dragon.
I quickly typed out my reply before returning my phone to my pocket, smirking to myself at what I changed Nikolai’s name to.
Grandpa hummed, nodding his head.
“While we are here, did you hear about the explosion at the Nevada Private Hospital?” Natalia asked my grandparents.
“We did, I hope the people that escaped were able to get away and were not recaptured,” my grandma said, a sad look in her eyes.
“One of the escapees is my mate”s twin,” I told them, “We haven”t been able to find him yet, but we are looking.”
I took another sip of my coffee, allowing it to warm up my insides while I waited for them to say something.
“Do you know what they were doing to them?” Natalia blurted out.
Grandpa shot her an angry glare that surprised me; he had never been like that before.
“Don’t get yourselves mixed up in a Moonbeam Corporation, nothing good comes from them.” He told her in a serious tone.
“What happens when the hunters take you, Grandpa? Not telling us is only putting us more at risk.” I begged him to tell us something, anything is better than nothing.
“Just stay far away from them, dear,” Grandma told me, patting my hand.
Anger swirled in my gut, what were they not telling us. It wasn”t doing them any good keeping secrets from us. The hunters were looking for me, I had a right to know why.
“Why do they want me? At least tell me that. I think I’m old enough to know now. You don’t have to keep it a secret anymore,” I told him, hardening my eyes.
“You are the last of your kind, cupcake.”
“Being a female dragon is already rare, but you are the last of the galaxy dragons. The only one anyone knows about, dear. That is why they are hunting you, because there is no one else like you in existence.” My grandma said, sorrow lacing her words.
My mouth dropped open and I had to physically force my jaw closed. The last one in existence, what did that even mean? “I knew my dragon was different, but I just figured there were more like me. I have only met one other dragon outside our family before my mates so I didn’t know.”
“Wait, all three of your mates are dragons?” My grandpa asked and I nodded my head.
“So let me get this straight. You”re telling me there are sub-dragon species within the dragon shifters as a whole?” Natalia asked the question that was burning in the back of my mind.
How the fuck was I a dragon, yet I didn’t know the first fucking thing about being a damn dragon.
“Why didn’t you ever explain any of this to me?” I asked in disbelief. Shouldn’t I know about my own fucking species? They never let me around any other dragons because it ‘wasn’t safe’ but never told me why.
“We were just trying to keep you safe, dear.”
I ripped my hand out of my grandma”s hold and stood up so fast the chair flew out from under me, crashing to the floor.
“Keep me safe from what?” I yelled, feeling my dragon push against her cage, demanding to be set free. “You”re not keeping me safe by not telling me. You”re only putting me in danger.”
“Sit down, River,” my grandpa said between clenched teeth. I saw his beast swirling in his eyes, close to the surface like mine.
“If you”re not going to tell me, then there”s no reason for me to stay,” I told him, crossing my arms across my chest.
My grandma stood up, righting the chair I knocked over. She gave me a sad look that hit me in the gut, so I reluctantly sat down, glaring at my grandpa.
“All we know is that they will do anything to get their hands on you. They tortured your parents to give up your location, and when they didn’t, the hunters killed them. We can only assume they want you because you”re the last of the galaxy dragons, and they want to study you,” Grandpa told me, wincing at the mention of my parents.
My mom was their daughter, and they still miss her just as much as I do. Unlike them, though, I wanted revenge. I wanted to burn the fuckers that took her from me and send their ashes back to their family in a little box, just like they did with my parents.
I’ll never forget that day when I was ten. It had been five years since my parents left, and it was the only time I’d ever met another dragon.
He came to my grandparents, delivering a box. Inside was a note from Moonbeam stating they wanted to deliver my parents ashes to the next of kin. Underneath the note were two silver urns, one with my mom’s name and one with my dad’s name.
That”s the day my dragon emerged. I had always known I was a dragon. I could feel her inside me, but that day, she erupted out of me. It was agony, I still hear the sounds of my bones breaking as I shifted for the first time.
I didn’t look like any of the dragons I’d seen in pictures. They were always a solid color. My scales were a mixture of blues and purples, and my flame was the same crazy color combination.
It took a whole week for my grandpa to teach me how to shift back into a human, and the following months he taught me how to contain the beast.
“Hello, Earth to River.” Natalia waved her hand in front of my face, snapping me out of the memory.
Three sets of eyes were trained on me and it took a moment for me to realize they were talking to me and I completely missed the whole conversation.
“Yeah?”
“Where did you go?” Natalia asked, a worried look on her face.
“Nowhere. What were you saying, Grandpa?”
“Just that you need to be careful, cupcake. Maybe strengthen your anti-tracking spell. Just stay safe.” He told me, looking back and forth between me and Natalia.
“I will Gramps, I’ll go home and work on it today.” Natalia told him, a serious expression on her face.
Standing up from the table I looked between my grandparents, “We should head back, Kai is probably waiting at the front door to tell me how pissed he is about me blocking him.”
“You can let him in a little bit, this way you can still communicate but he cannot dive into your mind.” My grandma told me. She stood up and wrapped her arms around me. I automatically embraced her, the warmth from her touch flooding into my skin.
Dragons always ran hot, it always felt like I was cradling a fire in my arms when I hugged her.
They walked us to the door. Natalia wrapped an arm around each one of them, pulling them in close to her. “Bye, Gram, bye, Gramps.”
Releasing them, she headed toward the car, climbing in the passenger seat.
Grandpa placed a hand on my shoulder as I started to move away, halting my movements.
“Please be careful. Trust your dragon and no one else. You never know what secrets someone is hiding from you.”
“Alister, she can trust Natalia, and her mates,” My grandma told him.
“I’m just telling her she needs to be careful on who to trust, MaryAnn.” He shot back at her.
I so badly wanted to yell at him for keeping the very secrets he was talking about from me, but I didn”t. I pursed my lips and nodded, making my way down to my car.
I released the breath I was holding as soon as I started the engine, a feeling of calm washed over me.
“That went well?” Natalia said in a sarcastic tone.
I snorted, “You could say that again.”
“Why aren’t they telling us everything, I have a feeling they”re keeping something big from us.” She said, waving to my grandparents as I pulled away from their house.
“I don’t know, Natalia, but whatever it is, it’s nothing good.”
I slammed on the gas, my tires squealing as I raced down the road. My mind was spinning with all the different things they wouldn’t tell me.
My dragon rumbled in my chest, I tried to decipher her concern, then I saw it. The black SUV that whipped out from a hidden sideroad, coming up hot on our tail.