Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
DECLAN
“ I need more time to discuss your offer with my mate. I need time to think.” I’ve spent a lot of time with a couple of vampires who are helping against Grey. I’ve learned to keep my heartrate under control and careful to not give any body clues of deceit or plotting. It’s not easy, but of my brothers I was the best at it. Krystana always killed it. I don’t know how much of Grey’s abilities work when he’s only possessing a mind, but I refuse to give him any sort of leg up if I can help it. “I don’t think you’d want me to jump into this lightly. It’s a big decision, one that affects more than just me, more than just my mate. If you want me to do this, you should want me all in.”
His empty eyes study me with a calculating but intrigued expression. He cuts another bite of steak off, but before he puts it in his mouth, he says, “Take the night. I’ll come back to check on you in the morning. I’m sure your little mate will sneak down for sex. You can talk it over with her then.”
Gods, how much does he know? How does he know so much? Being a human’s prisoner certainly hasn’t made me feel safe, but knowing that Grey knows so much makes me feel even more vulnerable. Not to mention, how much more vulnerable it makes Brianna. It takes every ounce of control I have to not lose my shit, and more importantly to not have my dragon lose his shit inside of me. He can’t come out, but he might try ripping through me to do it just the same.
I take a few slow, deep breaths, and manage to get some control over my rage and fear. Something I’ve become better at over the last few months.
There’s no indication our meal has been paid, but Grey gets up, and I have no doubt I’m supposed to follow him like a good little slave.
I do, but only because I still can’t stomach the idea of Brianna getting hurt, of her getting killed, because I defied Grey’s orders. She’s far too precious, and even if I have to make a deal with the devil himself, I’d do it to keep her safe.
When we’re back in the town car, he looks over at me and says with a stern expression, “Be a good dragon and go right back to your cell when we get back. I’ll know if you don’t, and I will make sure you and your mate both suffer for it.”
A prickle of irritation rolls over my skin. I want to question, demand, to determine where this is coming from, but before I can even ask him, Brianna’s father seems to fall into a deep sleep, and the car starts to roll forward, back toward her house.
Back to my imprisonment. My helplessness. My ineffectiveness.
I don’t like the idea that he might have the whole home wired, including visuals on everything that happens within the cells. Or are the servants part of his hordes? Should I warn Brianna, should I tell her to not let her friend try anything? Would it do any good at this point, if Brianna’s so certain they’re close to a solution, a chance at freedom that doesn’t come at the cost of getting into bed with Grey?
When the car pulls to a stop in front of the house, I expect her father to wake up again, but he just stays where he is, eyes closed, looking downright peaceful compared to all the turmoil roiling through me.
I glance at the stairs to the second floor, certain it would take next to no time to find Brianna’s room, to scent her space amongst all the rest of the house.
But Grey told me to go right back to my cell, and no matter how much I want to just pull Brianna into my arms, to give her the chance to sleep next to her mate in a real bed, not just a concrete slab, I can’t risk her life just for a few moments of comfort.
It doesn’t matter though, because just as I start for the basement stairs, I can feel her behind me.
“Holy shit.” She blinks a couple times before a huge grin breaks out over her face. “You clean up good.”
I catch her as she jumps into my arms, breathing in her scent, wanting to just bathe in her. “You shouldn’t be out here. I think Grey has the house wired.” I hate saying it, and even though my words push her away, I don’t let her go.
“If he already knows we’re mates, I doubt seeing us hug in the foyer is going to be a big deal.” She snuggles into my chest, and it takes all my self-control to not whisk her out of the house and runaway from everything, including the war with Grey.
“I should get back downstairs.”
“Take me with you.” She looks up at me, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to wait for morning to be close to you.”
I ache for that too, and Grey did say that I should discuss things with my mate.
With a smirk, I carry her down to my cell, intent on making sure we’re so close, there’s hardly room to breathe without touching each other. It would be so easy to just stay outside of the spelled door, to be just outside the cell, without the oppressive walls closing in around us. But Grey’s command was clear, and until we can get completely free from this house, I can’t risk disobeying, even slightly.
Brianna doesn’t seem to mind, though, as she peppers kisses along my jawline, sliding her hands up into my hair.
I take a deep breath, breathing in her scent, breathing in my mate.
And I freeze. Her scent is different. She smells like her, but there’s something different. I tuck my nose into her neck and inhale deeply. I’ve only smelled this a couple of times in my life, but I recognize the shift.
“Brianna…” I swallow hard, my hands tighten around her. “Are you…?”
It’s not possible. I haven’t claimed her. She doesn’t wear my bite. She doesn’t even wear my heartstone.
“Pregnant?” She bites her lip, looking at me with wide eyes. She says the word so tentatively, it’s like she’s not sure either. “Ellie said you’d be able to sense it.”
But the change in her scent is there. There’s no denying it.
My mate is pregnant.
“How?” I don’t expect her to be able to answer the question, any more than I can, but at the same time, I feel like we need Syrena, we need someone else to confirm it.
I sit down on my concrete bed, holding her in my lap as I study her face, trying to discern if she’s freaked out, or if she’s as excited about this prospect as I am.
“We need to get away from this house. We need to get you out of those cuffs, and I need you to make me yours in every way possible. I don’t want to do this without being claimed.” She bites her lip, her eyes are wide, her brows high. She’s scared. It’s not something she shows often. “You said this wasn’t possible.” Her voice is small like she’s trying to keep from sound accusatory.
“It shouldn’t be. I swear to you, I wouldn’t lie about this.” I cup her cheek bringing her gaze to mine, before leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. “It doesn’t change anything. You’re mine, and as far as I’m concerned, this just further proves it. Nothing will keep me from claiming you.” I hug her close to my chest, breathing in her scent again. “There’s no way in hell I am going to let Grey anywhere near you. You deserve to be with dragons, especially now that you’re carrying one of our kind. And when I claim you, you’ll also be a dragon.”
She pulls back, blinking at me. “What do you mean?”
There’s so much I haven’t told her, so much she doesn’t yet know about me, my family, being a dragon mate.
“Every human I know of who has mated with a dragon has become an Obsidian dragon after they’re claimed. There’s no reason to think you won’t.” I swallow hard. “Our baby will too, I would assume, since the baby’s clan follows the mother’s lineage.”
“But if I’m not claimed… What if this baby’s just a human? Would you still…” She shakes her head, like she can’t bear to finish the question.
“I will love you and all our babies, whether they’re human, witch, or dragon. You are my family, more even than my brothers, even more than my sister. I don’t care if we have to disappear and start our own sort of clan, as long as I have you by my side.”
It’s then and there that I vow to make sure the Elders stop spewing their hate and bullshit about human mates. They don’t get to decide for the rest of us.
I gently tip her chin up so that she’s meeting my eyes, and I hate that I see tears there, just waiting to fall.
“Will you claim me? Tonight?”
Gods, I want to. I want her to wear my mark, and I want her to mark me.
“I don’t know if I can.” I whisper the words, afraid and ashamed to say them out loud, not feeling good enough for my own mate. “I don’t have control of my dragon. I can’t even make talons form, with these damned cuffs. Everything I know says I must bite you, and that means shifting just enough for my teeth to extend, to break skin. If I can’t do that, I don’t know if the bite will mean anything. I don’t know if it’ll work.”
Too many fucking variables. How am I supposed to keep her safe?
Her lip trembles as a tear breaks free from her eye to slide down her cheek. “In the morning then. As soon as we’re far from here, far from where Grey can keep track of you. When you’re free from his control.”
“As soon as I possibly can. You’re mine.”
I know it won’t be so simple. I need to talk to Syrena and Ash before we do anything. Things are far more complicated than we could ever have been prepared for. As soon as I know it’s safe to claim her, as soon as I know my dragon and I are connected again, she’s mine.
“Then, will you just hold me for a while? I don’t want to let go of you.”
As if she even needs to ask. I shift slightly, so that I can lean against the wall. I don’t care what happens to this suit, the clothes I have no doubt Grey picked out for me, just another way for him to control me. But I do care that my mate is well cared for and comfortable.
We’re having a baby. My dragon preens and puffs up his chest inside of me. The bastard is gloating, smug about his ability to knock up our mate.
I still can’t believe the news. There’s no reason I can come up with that this would happen, unless my missing connection to my dragon is at play somehow. Could I really be more human now, even through so many forced shifts?
Or is it something else, something bigger, that won’t just affect us, but supernaturals across the board?
Magic has always been a sacred thing, something to not be abused, to not be overworked or manipulated. If Grey is manipulating things, who’s to say that he’s not done things to irrevocably change magic as a whole?
Brianna falls asleep, snuggled into my chest, but my mind is racing with too many thoughts, too many questions that I won’t get answers to until we’re free from this place.
Just before dawn, I feel my mate shift against me.
I smell her arousal, and even before I’m fully aware and awake, I’m reaching down to cup her ass and pull her in tightly against me. I don’t know if it’s real or a dream, but I don’t care.
The slacks I’m wearing don’t have enough give, and I want to rip them off so that I can give my mate what she needs.
What we both need.
“Declan…” She murmurs my name, and I realize she’s still asleep.
I kiss her cheeks, sliding my hands up the back of her shirt to touch her more freely, without the barriers of clothes between us. “I’m here, mate. Wake up, and I’ll take care of your needs.”
She shifts again, grinding against my cock, making me ache, before her lips find mine. Her eyes are still closed, but I feel like she’s playing possum more than actually asleep. Especially as her tongue slicks over my lower lip, demanding entrance.
I let the kiss stay slow, languid, letting her wake up slowly. My hands slide over her skin, slowly removing her clothes bit by bit, just enjoying the taste, the feel of my mate, of being surrounded by her.
She reaches between us and pops the button on my slacks, then tugs down the zipper before sliding her hand in to touch my length.
Gods, I will never get enough of my mate like this.
She’s wearing tiny pajama shorts, and they’re loose enough that it doesn’t take much to slip them over to one side.
Fucking hells, she’s not wearing panties, and she’s already soaking wet.
Gently, I lift her hips, and she positions my tip at her core, breaking our kiss to look down and watch me slip inside her.
She lets out a soft moan, adjusting slightly as I fill her. She hardly moves, just reveling in our connection, as she unbuttons my shirt and shoves it down over my shoulders. “I have to be the luckiest damn woman in the world.”
Her words fill me with pride, and I grin at her. “You’ll never be as lucky as I am, to have you.” I kiss her again, pulling her chest against mine, needing more contact, more of her touching me. “You’re mine. All fucking mine.”
As she starts to ride me, keeping a slow pace, I slide my hands into the back of her shorts, gripping her ass.
I swallow moan after moan. I want to get drunk on her sounds, on her pleasure. I don’t ever want this connection to end, and even though my cock aches to take her harder, to thrust up into her perfect body and make her scream my name, I let her keep a slow, almost lazy pace, keeping my dick sheathed inside her.
“Declan, I…” She swallows hard, meeting my eyes as she rocks slowly. “I love you. I know you probably know that, but…”
I kiss her nose, before echoing her words back to her. “I love you, my mate. I love everything about you.” Instead of continuing to tell her out loud, I project my feelings to her, showing her with everything I have just how much she means to me, just how intensely she affects me. How much I need her, and how proud I am to get to call her my mate.
Mine.