18. A Meaty Way To Defeat Your Enemy
18
A MEATY WAY TO DEFEAT YOUR ENEMY
Ivo jumped at the metallic rattling, pressing his good eye to the basket’s eye-hole. Out there, the room was partially lit, and eerily still.
“Figures,” Ace muttered. “Of course this has to play out like a horror movie.”
“Don’t pretend. You’re enjoying this,” Raptor drawled.
Ace snorted. “I’ll enjoy disemboweling the person behind all of this.”
Scarcely had he said that when someone laughed, oily and familiar. Ivo’s fur crawled. He squeaked a warning; Ace must’ve understood, because he patted Ivo’s basket.
“I’ve got this, sweetheart,” Ace murmured.
“Aww, my teeth are rotting,” Raptor said.
Something shot out from the corner of Ivo’s eye—a crackle of electricity. Ace and Raptor leaped apart to avoid it; Ivo tumbled back and forth in his basket.
“I had heard that electricity was a dragon’s weakness, but I’d never seen it with my own eyes.” Watsonator stepped out of the shadows like a movie villain, his expression crazed. He was wearing a dirty lab coat, his hair standing on end. Nothing seemed to have changed about him over the years; Ivo shuddered against the chill in his bones. “What is that around your neck?”
“None of your business,” Ace snarled.
Ivo shrunk back; the doctor’s cruel gaze seemed to pierce through the basket.
“Is it a little creature?” Watsonator asked curiously, tossing his long-distance taser between his hands. “Would it like to be mine?”
Phantom pain slid into Ivo’s body, the invasive cold of a scalpel slicing through his fur. He huddled into himself and whimpered.
“That’s Watsonator, isn’t it?” Ace growled.
“What a stupid name,” Raptor said. “Like the name of a burger, except no one wants to eat him. ”
The doctor scoffed and pulled out another taser. “Uncultured swines say that before they learn my full name.”
“Which would be...?” Ace trailed off.
“Tygibble Watsonator,” the doctor said pompously. “No one else in the world has a name like mine.”
Ace coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like, “No shit.”
Raptor was biting down a smirk; he shot a meaningful look in Ace’s direction.
“Enough talking,” Ace said. “How about you cease this operation and turn yourself in to the police?”
Watsonator scoffed. “Why would I do that?”
“Because that’s the easy way out.” Ace took a threatening step forward. “The hard way, and the way I prefer, is to grind you into dust, until there’s nothing left of you. I’m just giving you a choice out of courtesy.”
“Oooh. How terrifying,” Watsonator said. But he had the good sense to look a little wary.
Ace gestured at the back rooms. “I hear your victims in there. You have performed procedures on people without their consent.”
“Why would you think that?” Watsonator asked imperiously. “I merely have a menagerie of animals.”
Both dragons growled. Ace spat a stream of flames at Watsonator; the man dove out of the way and threw himself through a door.
Ace and Raptor gave chase. Ivo clutched at the insides of the basket, pressing his good eye to the eye hole in case he could help.
Watsonator yelled for his men to provide backup. He grabbed a large plastic can and stabbed a knife into its side; clear liquid began to spill out.
Its scent exploded through the air—gasoline.
Ivo squeaked loudly in warning.
Watsonator eyed the animals in the cages around them. “Make another move, and they’re all dead.”
Before Ace and Raptor could get to him, Watsonator swung the can in a wide arc, splashing fuel onto the trapped animals.
Ace and Raptor swore. The creatures made loud sounds of distress.
“Duke,” Ace said urgently. “Fire suppression for the main building.”
“Can’t you suppress it?” came Duke’s voice faintly over the wire.
“Too much too fast. We can’t risk the victims.”
“We’re on the way,” Duke said.
Watsonator turned and fled, sloshing fuel everywhere he went. It was cruelly brilliant; the dragons could not breathe fire without risking everyone else.
They chased him out of the building. The doctor flung himself onto a waiting tiger. Ace barreled after Watsonator, only to have some guards cluster around their boss—amongst them a mage who threw up a defensive spell.
Ace’s flames bounced off the invisible shield. “Damn it!”
“We’re setting up a shield around the buildings,” Duke said on the comms. “Eliminate the threat.”
“On it,” Ace and Raptor replied.
They took to the air with powerful flaps of their wings, except Watsonator’s group ducked through a gate into the surrounding forest, taking cover under the leaves.
The dragons couldn’t burn down the forest just to capture them. When Ace breathed a plume of fire over the trees, the canopy caught the light and hid the escapees.
Bright white bolts shot out from between the trees. Ace and Raptor barrel-rolled out of the way; Ivo clung to the basket’s inner walls and tried to hold on.
“Here, I’ve got something,” Raptor said. “Spot me.”
He launched himself at Ace; Ivo braced himself for a collision.
Except it never came.
Raptor shifted in midair into a man, his momentum carrying him onto Ace’s foot.
Ivo craned his neck to watch. From a pouch around his waist, Raptor pulled out a small sheet of paper. Then he pricked his thumb with a half-shifted claw and smeared blood across the runes, facing the spell sheet outward.
Light flashed out of the spell. Below, Watsonator’s men shouted. The tiger roared.
“That’s a partial barrier spell, just an impenetrable straight wall,” Ace murmured. “Uriel cast it with his magic. Raptor used his blood to activate the runes.”
With Ace flying and Raptor setting up several barriers, they trapped Watsonator and his minions, forcing them out toward the highway.
Ivo squeaked again. Headlights approached them in the darkness.
Watsonator’s group left the forest and raced toward the highway, their mage glowing with the beginnings of a spell.
“Keep them away from the cars,” Ace said.
Raptor leaped off Ace’s leg and shifted in midair, flying fast toward Watsonator’s group.
Watsonator’s men tensed when he approached. Ivo squeaked worriedly.
Above him, Ace muttered, “Hang on, let me think.”
He swerved around and made a sound, flying in the opposite direction.
The vehicle they approached was... not a vehicle.
It was a giant fake sausage on top of a giant hot dog bun. The entire thing was as big and long as a bus. A dark window stretched across the front end of the sausage, where the driver was.
What is that? Ivo tried to squeak.
“That,” Ace said, “is the Sausage Mobile.”
Sausage Mobile?
“I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s something that came out of Cartfalls, and it’s been slowly visiting the rest of the states. It’s a sausage missionary, spreading the good word of sausages wherever it goes.”
What the hell was Ace going to do with it?
Before Ivo could begin to speculate, Ace took a sharp dive toward the Sausage Mobile.
It was dark enough that Ace’s dragon form melted into the night; the driver didn’t see him coming.
At the last moment, Ace shifted back into a human and landed on the outside of the Sausage Mobile, digging his half-shifted claws into the side of the vehicle. He ripped away the driver’s door to leave a gaping hole.
The driver screamed.
“Sorry,” Ace said in all his glorious nudity. “I’m afraid we have to borrow this for a bit.”
He reached into the cab and turned the steering wheel, forcing the Sausage Mobile to change lanes.
They were rapidly approaching the car that Watsonator’s men had managed to commandeer.
Raptor was on the ground, thrashing against a glowing net. Ivo squeaked.
Ace’s voice dropped to a dangerous growl. “Yeah, we’re gonna rescue him.”
“You can’t just do this!” the Sausage Mobile’s driver yelled.
“You’ll find that I can.” Ace stomped on the brakes and unbuckled the driver’s seatbelt. Then he grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and hauled him out of his seat.
The driver’s eyes widened. “We’re gonna crash!”
“With any luck, it’ll be a good crash,” Ace said.
“What the—”
Ace dropped him close to the ground, on the grassy road shoulder.
Then he threw himself into the driver’s seat and floored the gas, so the Sausage Mobile surged forward with a roar.
Watsonator’s men looked over in horror. Ace laughed low in his throat. They were still accelerating.
We’re going to crash! Ivo thought desperately.
Raptor threw himself sideways, glowing net and all, bowling over Watsonator’s mage.
“Rap,” Ace roared.
Raptor leaped away. Ace flung himself out of the driver’s seat, shifting in midair before grabbing the sausage.
He hurled the Sausage Mobile at Watsonator.
Almost in slow motion, Watsonator’s men began to scatter.
The Sausage Mobile tipped over onto its side and skidded toward the group, knocking them all down like bowling pins.
“STRIKE,” Raptor roared.
Ace swooped in after the carnage, examining the smears on the road.
Tygibble Watsonator was there in his dirty lab coat, but he had been reduced to a paste and was no longer recognizable.
“Double strike!” Ace roared, spitting on Watsonator’s corpse. “I have avenged you, sweetheart.”
Now that the mage was dead, Raptor’s magical bindings faded away. Ace landed in front of his twin and they did a mirrored, synchronized victory dance.
“Status?” Duke asked over the wire.
“We stopped them in their tracks. Pity about the Sausage Mobile, though,” Ace said. “It’s too trashed to be driven again, but too much of a hero to scrap.”
“You could arrange to bring it home,” Raptor said slyly.
“Hmmm,” Ace said thoughtfully.
Ivo breathed out all the anxiety in his chest, his entire body going boneless.
Watsonator was dead. He was no longer around somewhere in the world, and he couldn’t hurt Ivo anymore.
“Sweetheart.” Ace shifted back into a human and loosened Ivo’s basket from around his neck. He undid its straps and lifted away its lid, peering into the basket. “Are you okay?”
Ivo slid out like a lump of jelly when Ace tipped the basket forward. Ace gathered Ivo into his arms, brushing his fingers through Ivo’s fur—from the top of his head down to the tip of his tail, over and over until Ivo calmed down and he wasn’t shaking anymore.
Ivo pulled himself together and shifted back into a human. “’M okay,” he mumbled. “Are you okay?”
Ace arranged Ivo against his chest, carrying him with one arm. “Very okay. What about you, Rap?”
Raptor shook himself out with a wince. “Gonna feel that for days. But I’ll recover.”
“If—If you need any help, my friends and I can do it,” Ivo said guiltily.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Raptor grinned.
Ace brushed his fingers through Ivo’s hair, turning to the smoking wreck of the Sausage Mobile. “You know, I think we might have space to fit the Sausage.”
Raptor snickered. “No one turns down a ride on the Sausage.”
“I’ll buy it,” Ace decided. “And I’ll restore it, get it standing straight and tall again.”
“You might even be able to fit it through your back door.”
Ivo groaned and buried his face in Ace’s neck. “That all sounds like an innuendo.”
Ace winked. “Maybe it is.”
Ivo spared a glance at the carnage, clinging harder to Ace’s solid chest. Even though he’d been the victim of several gory experiments, even though Watsonator and his men had caused so much of his suffering, it still turned his stomach to see their entrails on the ground.
He tucked his face against Ace’s neck. “Thank you for—for giving me this closure.”
“Thank you for letting me avenge you.” Ace’s eyes flashed red. “I can’t wait to get you home, rub you down until you’re all relaxed. Claim you again so you know how much I lo—how important you are to me.”
Ivo blushed and rubbed his belly. He thought... maybe he knew what Ace had been about to say. He still felt a little too shy, though. A little too disbelieving that his life could turn out better than he’d ever expected.
“Go home, get a room,” Raptor said, his expression unreadable. “Stop suffocating me with your bonded bliss.”
“We’re not bonded yet,” Ivo squeaked.
Ace drew a sharp breath.
Before anyone could reply, Ace’s wire crackled. It was Duke. “I have law enforcement coming to clean this up. Medical support is on the way for the victims, too.”
“Don’t you ever stop to breathe a little?” Raptor asked.
“Later,” Duke said.
Ace and Raptor rolled their eyes at each other.
“He means never,” Ace said to Ivo. To Duke, he added, “When was the last time you had someone in your bed?”
Duke ended the conversation instead of answering.
“He needs a good, hard fuck,” Ace said.
“Between you and me, I think it might happen sooner rather than later,” Raptor said. “Show him enough good sex, and his blue balls will take care of the rest.”
“Hmm.” Ace nuzzled Ivo. “Want to let Duke listen in on us? Me fucking you ‘til you scream?”
Ivo hesitated. “Will it be awkward?”
“Sweetheart, you won’t have time to worry about him,” Ace whispered. “You’ll only think about me buried so deep, you can’t stop coming.”
Ivo’s mouth went dry. Ace grinned rakishly.
“I’ll set up a betting pool,” Raptor said. “Invite Duke over, let him listen in on your omega in heat.”
“I’m not in heat,” Ivo said.
“You’re pregnant enough to need Ace buried in you all the time. Withhold that, and you’ll beg. Louder with some orgasm denial.”
“Mmm.” Ace’s eyes darkened. “I want to hear you beg. What do you think, sweetheart? I’ll keep you empty for a few hours, hold you open, teasing your pretty body until you’re drenched and writhing for me. Until all you can think about is my cock inside you, breeding you hard.”
Ivo grew wet. Ace’s mouth curled in a sinful smile; he slipped his fingers between Ivo’s cheeks, testing his hole.
Ivo moaned. There were a few cars skirting the wreck. No one stopped to look at them, and Ace’s fingers slipped into him easily. Ivo’s breath punched out.
Raptor made a shooing gesture. “Go on, go have your celebratory fuck.”
He looked hungry, though. Definitely envious.
Ace grinned and carried Ivo a short distance into the forest, his fingers rocking inside Ivo with every step. Ivo clung to him and moaned, his cock already hard, his attention fixed on Ace’s thick length sliding against his asscheek.
Ace stopped under a tree, pressing Ivo up against it. “I picked one with a smooth bark,” he murmured, nuzzling Ivo’s cheek. “Is it okay if—if I kiss you?”
Ivo’s heart stuttered. “You want to?”
Ace huffed. “Sweetheart, I’ve been dreaming about it for weeks. Been dreaming of being good enough for a kiss.”
Ivo blushed hotly. “Why would you say that? You’re more than good enough. If anything, I’m the one who isn’t—”
Ace narrowed his eyes. “You are good enough. You’re worth every star in the sky, Ivo, and I would move mountains for you; I would give you the moon if that was what you wanted. You’re so fucking brave, so strong for surviving your past. Mary is so lucky to have you as her dad; you do your best for her, you make sure she’s happy and loved. You’d protect her, even from me, and I can’t think of an omega more desirable than you.”
Ivo’s heart tripped. Even now, that was almost too much for him to accept. But Ace had fought for him; he’d taken down the last nightmare from Ivo’s past. He’d built Ivo the best nest he could ever ask for, and he’d opened his heart and home to Ivo and Mary.
Ivo bowed his head, humbled by the intensity of Ace’s feelings. And maybe he could believe Ace, maybe he could learn to see himself with Ace’s eyes, and accept that he was worth so much more. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Ace nuzzled him.
“Kiss me.”
Ace inhaled sharply. He pressed his soft lips to the corner of Ivo’s mouth. “I want to be the only alpha who gets to kiss you.”
Ivo nodded. “Please.”
Ace made a sound low in his throat.
Their kiss was a slow meeting of lips, Ace nuzzling himself into Ivo’s space. His mouth was warm, gentle, and he smelled like fresh sweat and smoke. Ivo’s heart swelled. He’s kissing me.
They exchanged several chaste kisses; Ivo tried his best to return them, to show Ace the depth of his own feelings. It didn’t stay chaste for long. Ace flicked his tongue between Ivo’s lips, and ground their cocks together with a rough thrust that made him whimper.
“Mine,” Ace growled. “All mine.”
There was nothing between their bodies. Ivo’s cock ached and leaked all over Ace’s abs; Ace pushed a third finger into his hole. Ivo gasped.
“You got so wet for me, so quickly,” Ace whispered. “So ready to receive my cock and cum.”
Ivo moaned. Ace scissored his fingers and slipped his blunt tip between them, shooting precum deep into Ivo’s body.
Then he filled Ivo in a smooth stroke, pushing so deep that Ivo cried out and came all over him.
“That’s it,” Ace purred. “All mine.”
He fucked hard into Ivo, rough strokes that made Ivo writhe and claw at his back.
“I’m going to breed you again,” Ace panted in his ear. “Feel how ready my cock is, sweetheart? So big for you. So eager to pump you full, keep you filled and dripping with my cum every single day.”
Ivo lost track of everything but his alpha, Ace pounding into him until he came all over both their chests. Slick leaked out of Ivo’s hole, his body wrapped snug around Ace.
“That’s it. Show me how much you want to be bred,” Ace murmured. “You’re so hungry for my cum, you can’t stop begging for it. Fuck, you’re begging again, squeezing so tight around me. It’s like you were made to be mine.”
Ivo came, and it dragged Ace into his orgasm. Ace’s cock grew thick, his hot cum flooding Ivo inside. Ace’s knot swelled at the base of his cock. He mashed it against Ivo’s prostate, until Ivo begged him to stop because he’d become too sensitive.
“So beautiful,” Ace whispered. “So perfect when you take everything I give you.”
“Mmm,” Ivo said, blissed out and no longer coherent.
“Let’s see how things are going with Rap,” Ace murmured, nuzzling Ivo’s sweaty hair. He carried Ivo back out of the forest, their bodies still knotted together.
“We’re still knotted,” Ivo mumbled.
“Well, if they don’t want to see it, they shouldn’t be taking this long to arrive. Or leave.”
When they got to the scene, the police were gone, and the bodies had been cleared away.
“I sent the Sausage Mobile’s owners a message on your behalf,” Raptor said.
“Thanks.” Ace hid his cock a little deeper inside Ivo’s body; Ivo shuddered.
“You reek of jizz,” Crush said to the side. “I’m not sharing a ride back with you.”
“Well, maybe Duke might want to,” Ace said.
Duke wrinkled his nose. “No. Especially not if you’re going to be knotted during that flight.”
“Mmmm. Now, there’s an idea,” Ace rumbled. “But not yet. Ivo’s not ready for my dragon cock.”
“It’s too big!” Ivo squawked. Ace’s dragon form was gigantic. He hadn’t seen Ace’s shifted cock yet, but everything pointed to the likelihood that Ace’s hidden parts would be... proportional to the rest of his body.
“Sweetheart, I’ll make it fit.” Ace squeezed Ivo’s ass. “Soon. Once you get pregnant enough, you’ll start to beg for it.”
Ivo frowned, seriously doubting it.
“You underestimate just how much you like coming on my cock,” Ace whispered in his ear. Ivo blushed bright red.
“Ew, I think that’s TMI,” Telos said, sauntering up with Mav.
“We all heard your TMI with Mav. Every second of it,” Duke said dryly.
“You haven’t heard the pterodactyl-fucking,” Telos said proudly. His alpha, Mav, facepalmed.
Ivo was still hung up on the dragon sex, though. He waited as Raptor and the rest took off into the night sky; Ace carefully shrank his knot and pulled out, before shifting into a dragon and scooping Ivo into his arms.
“Think about it,” Ace whispered in his ear. “I’ll show it to you, and you can decide afterward if you’re ready.”
“I’ll probably never be ready,” Ivo said.
Ace only smiled.