Chapter Eight
Roman
Since the others arrived at our safe house, I’d caught Oakley staring at me no less than ten times.
And I had no idea why.
Had I screwed everything up with that forehead kiss yesterday?
Had that been a mistake?
Even as I thought it, I grimaced because no. It hadn’t been a mistake. At that moment, the feel of their skin under my lips, had been… the most amazing moment of my life.
And that was saying something considering I was around two thousand years old—I’d lost track of the exact number a long time ago, though I could probably figure it out if I thought about it.
“Roman?”
I blinked and turned toward Oakley. “Yeah?”
“You want some mac and cheese? I made, like, the biggest bowl of it ever.”
I grimaced. “You seriously cooked something?”
They rolled their eyes. “Yeah, I did, and guess what? I didn’t burn anything down. Yay! Aren’t you proud of me?” The sarcasm was strong with this one.
“Yes, I am. Very proud.”
They snorted and smacked my chest. I really wanted to capture their hand and kiss it, but I held back. If a forehead kiss did this to them, I wasn’t sure I was ready to know what a hand kiss would do.
“I thought I was supposed to cook?”
They waved me off. “You took too long, and Tan and I were hungry. I made some chicken nuggets and green beans too. Come on. Come eat with me.”
The sweet and earnest expression on their face made me want to squeeze them to me, but I knew they wouldn’t appreciate that right now.
So I nodded and followed them to the kitchen instead.
Since our dining room table was covered in plans, we ate at the little breakfast nook.
It worked out since the three vampires didn’t need to eat food.
They just sucked on blood bags like they were juice boxes.
I used to think it was gross, but after spending so much time around them, I was used to it.
I supposed it was better than bringing a human back to our safe house for the three of them to nibble on. Gross.
“You guys better eat up,” Jed said. “You’re gonna need your strength tonight.”
Oakley stuck their tongue out at him, giving me another good look at their piercing—I really wanted to suck it into my mouth and—ugh. Oak said, “I could eat you in one bite.”
Jed flashed his fangs at them, grinning. “Try it, little one.”
“Little one? I’m bigger than you.”
Jed snorted, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Not in this form, you’re not.”
Oakley flipped him off, but I could see them fighting a smile, and my dragon grumbled in my head, wanting to actually bite Jed’s head off for daring to flirt with my little dragon.
Scales, this was getting ridiculous.
Logically, I knew Jed was just being Jed, but I couldn’t help the possessiveness I felt over Oakley. My Oakley.
And my dragon wasn’t happy with that vampire at all.
Oakley eyed me as if they knew exactly what I was thinking, and after a moment, they surprised me by rubbing my upper back and gently nudging my arm with their chest.
Some dragons were very affectionate and craved touch. Others were more reserved and kept to themselves.
For the last several decades, I’d mostly been by myself because Garrick and I had been the only two dragons left in our clan. Neither of us was overly affectionate with the other, and a lot of that had to do with how we’d grieved for our clanmates and for the loss of the very dragon in front of me.
When Oakley had been stolen from Garrick as a baby, Gar had fallen into a deep depression. Both of us had.
Those twenty-five years had been the hardest of all my years on this planet. And after having Oakley back and gaining more family, more clan through Tan and his family, I’d begun to realize that I’d missed the sweet affection Oakley so often offered me.
It wasn’t only that they were my viramore, although that was obviously a big part of it, it was that they were another dragon, and I’d missed the casual touches.
So I sent Oakley a small smile and nudged them back, gaining a smile out of them before we both took our seats and dug into our food.
After a few bites, I swallowed my food, cleared my throat, and said, “I’m impressed. This actually tastes good.”
They flipped me off even as they said, “Thanks.”
I snorted at that and leaned over to bump them with my shoulder. They returned the gesture without missing a beat, making me hide a grin to myself.
Phaeron finished his blood bag and said, “We should leave here in twenty minutes. We need to be in position well before dark falls.” I blinked, forgetting for a moment that the three vampires were old enough not to burn up in the sun, although I knew none of them actually enjoyed being out in it.
Old vampires had an array of powers, and I was sure I didn’t even know the half of it.
“If we leave now, we’ll be able to travel during rush hour, which will make our arrival much less conspicuous. ”
I nodded. “Agreed. Some of the other teams are already there.”
Beshiro said, “I’ve spoken to the team leaders, and there’s been minimal movement on the property today.
The same group that you recorded that first night have come and gone, and there was a delivery of what looked like tables, chairs, and some food this morning.
Nothing in the last four hours, though.”
Oakley asked, “Does that mean they’re hosting the auction inside the barn? It was really crowded with prisoners.”
Beshiro shrugged. “They left the chairs right outside the barn, so maybe they’re waiting to set them up out there?
The forecast is clear for the night, although that might not matter if they have a witch who can put up a large shield.
” He shrugged again. “I’m not sure. We still have several hours before dark, and the auction likely won’t start for at least a couple of hours after that.
They’ll want to give any of their vamp clients time to travel to them safely. ”
I scrunched my nose at that, even though his logic was sound. “Alright, I suppose we should hurry up and finish our food so we can head out there.”
Oakley nudged me again. “I’m getting a second plate, but I’ll eat quickly. Want more?”
I passed them my plate. “Thanks.”
They nodded, then looked at Tan, who had an orange cat on top of his head. “Tan?”
“I’m good, but thanks.”
“What about you, little miss?” Oak asked the chimera. Orangelica gave a small meow, and Oak said, “I’ll bring you something, cutie pie.”
I watched the dragon—my dragon—walk across the kitchen, and my eyes strayed down to their ass.
They were already dressed in their gear, including tactical pants, but somehow, they made even those shapeless things look sexy.
My heart pounded, and my cock even gave a small twitch as I stared at them.
What would they look like out of those pants?
Mine. Claim them. Mine.
I sucked in a breath, trying to keep my dragon under control before he dragged Oakley back to the bedroom and fucked them senseless, rubbing my scent and spend all over them, making sure anyone that came near them knew they belonged to me, making sure they knew—
I cut that train of thought off with a shake of my head and took a sip of water, peeling my eyes away from them—painfully. As I set down the cup, my eyes caught on Jed, and he sent me a smirk and a wink.
Shit. I was pretty sure he’d caught me checking out Oak.
“Here. Eat up, big guy,” Oakley said, setting my plate back in front of me.
I sent them a smile and a nod and dug in, ignoring Jed and everyone else in the room.
Everyone but Oakley.
I couldn’t ignore them even if I wanted to… and I didn’t want to.
It had been hours since the woman and four men from the other night set up chairs right outside the barn and put a small stage in front of them.
Now we were waiting for their clients to show.
I assumed it’d be any minute now since we’d been here for what felt like forever.
I supposed I was anxious to get this mission going.
The waiting was the worst part since there was little to distract me.
Or, well… in this case, it was simply too much to bear to be beside Oakley for so long without pulling them into my arms.
“Hey,” Oak whispered from where they lay on their belly beside me, staring through their night vision binoculars.
I was happy they were my partner tonight, even though I really wanted to tuck them under my wing and keep them there, safe and sound, forever.
“There’s a truck coming down the driveway. ”
I used my own binoculars to watch the small pickup truck slowly make its way down. “Finally. People are arriving.”
They hummed under their breath, and the two of us watched the truck pull up close to the barn. The woman from the other night directed them to park off to the side, and once they did, two people climbed out.
I heard Oakley sniff at the same time as me, and they said, “One vamp. One shifter. And a wolf, I think.”
“That’s what it smells like to me.”
Oakley turned on their mic to report our findings to the rest of the teams. We were lucky that we and everyone helping us had spells covering our own scents. So hopefully no one would pick up on being watched, even if they were downwind.
Another car came down the driveway followed by another and another, so the two of us gave our team numbers and species for the next half hour while the clients arrived—AKA, the assholes who wanted to buy people.
Every time I thought about the horrors those poor souls inside the barn could face, the horrors that others before them were already facing, it made me sick to my stomach. It made me want to shift and eat every blasted one of them. I wanted to burn them and their entire operation to a crisp.
I really fucking hoped I had the chance because this had to stop.
We have to stop them.