Chapter Seventeen
“None of that,” Nazek chided, annoyingly cheerful.
He flicked a glance toward the stony trio, his gaze lingering on the female’s strikingly beautiful face before frowning and dismissing her with a slight shake of his head.
“This party’s heavy enough. No need to pile on.
” With a mocking grin aimed at Archer, he added, “Or is it pile up? Which one do you stoneheads prefer?”
Dailey was ready to spit nails. He could only imagine how annoyed Witchmere’s protector must be. Stepping between the sworn enemies, he held out his hand. “Thanks for coming, Roche. I really appreciate it, and I know Payton does, too.”
“They were supposed to be gone, Cobb,” Archer replied tersely. “This is beginning to feel like a setup.”
“No! No setup here. Besides, you’re earlier than you stated you’d be.” Exhaling a weary sigh, he said, “You know me, man. We’ve worked together to protect our town. And now, we need to again. Those fucking boots are on Payton’s feet.”
Archer scowled. “I will not put my clan in danger from another volcanic threat.”
“Don’t worry,” Nazek said. “Lava flows right over rocks. You’ll only be trapped for a short while. Say a millennium or so?”
“Can you kindly shut the fuck up?” Dailey snapped.
Vorren stepped between them. “If you cannot hold your tongue, you will go with the guards back to Drakoryth, brother-mine. And you can explain your behavior to our father and tell him that’s why I sent you away.”
With an exaggerated eye roll and a mimed lip-zip, Nazek stepped back, resting a shoulder against the large maple where Dailey and Hermes first came upon Vorren. Once again, his gaze drifted to the female.
“Vorren, please send your men away,” Tripp said, careful to remain neutral and polite. “Time is running short.”
After receiving a nod from their Prince, nine dragons took flight, eclipsing the sun for a moment before disappearing behind a cloud.
The gargoyle to Archer’s left grinned evilly, balling his fists. “Foolish fucker—”
In a blinding move, the woman struck his throat and threw him to the ground. Standing over him with a foot resting on the troublemaker’s chest, she growled low and fierce enough to cause the hair on Dailey’s neck to stand at attention.
“You will not disrespect our family, Cecil,” she said. “The laird has put his trust in us to keep the peace.”
Archer placed a hand on her shoulder, and surprise of surprises, Nazek straightened from the tree, with a scowl forming on his face.
“Do not touch her.” The roar was aggressive and promised immediate retaliation should the command be disobeyed.
“Fuck,” Dailey, Hermes, Tripp, and Vorren chorused, as Archer’s already formidable build doubled in size.
“Did you know he could Hulk out like that?” Dailey asked Tripp in an aside.
“In theory, yes.”
“What is happening? Why is your brother sprouting claws, and how the fuck do we stop him?” he asked Vorren, who was staring at Nazek like he was a new species.
“His dragon is treating her like she’s his bonded mate,” the prince replied, sounding somewhat awed. “Urge your friend to stand down, and do it now,” he said urgently. “If Nazek has imprinted, he will kill first and ask questions later.”
Hermes and Tripp took on the chore of calming Archer, while Vorren addressed his brother. But the smartest play was to remove the woman from the mix.
“Greer? Right?” Dailey gave her a professional smile at her wary nod. “Greer, would you be so kind as to check on Payton and Elara? They’re probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”
Her gaze flicked to Nazek, and a deeper, elemental emotion flared between them. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away.
“Go, woman,” the dragon commanded.
Only then did her will return, and with a confused look for Archer, she hurried away.
“Ah, young love, am I right?” Hermes quipped with a slap on Tripp’s back. “Who knew we’d play matchmaker to so many?”
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Tripp muttered with a shove to his cousin’s chest. “Clean up your fucking mess, and don’t start World War III.”
“The small man sent me in here to check on you.”
Payton pivoted toward the open doorway, taking in the redheaded bombshell with the Amazonian stature with her Slavic-sounding accent. “And you are?”
“Greer.”
“Who is the small man?” Elara asked with an adorable frown.
“The non-god.”
Payton snorted. Oh, Dailey would just love to be known as “the small man.”
Unfortunately, Elara didn’t look any less confused.
“She means Dailey,” Payton said. “But I wouldn’t call him small by any means,” she couldn’t resist adding.
Humor lit Greer’s eyes when Elara choked on her drink.
“We just transitioned to wine.” Payton waved toward the open bottle. “Care to share?”
“Yes,” Greer said feelingly, casting a glance toward the hill where the men were gathered. After she was seated, with glass in hand, she asked, “What can you tell me about the smart-mouthed dragon?”
“Vorren?”
“No, his brother.”
“His brother?” Elara and Payton parroted, sharing a surprised look.
They immediately popped up and pressed their noses the window. Sure enough, there was a beast of a man with similar coloring to that of Vorren. And like the prince, he wore his thick, wavy hair to his shoulders. The only thing missing was the silver streak.
“Nice eye candy, no?” Greer grinned before draining half her wine.
“The entire crew or the brother?” Payton asked dryly.
The other woman laughed. “I’ll leave that to you to decide.”
“So, I’m assuming you arrived with Archer, since he mentioned you and someone named Cecil earlier. You’re a female gargoyle? I didn’t realize they existed.”
“We are few, but we do indeed exist, as I’m living proof.” Greer swept a hand through the air, indicating her body. “There are four in total.”
Her tone indicated she didn’t care to speak of it, so Payton let it go. “You watch over Seattle?”
“At times, yes. Mostly, I travel, guarding rare-treasure events. Currently, the museum is hosting The Lost Riches of the Sunken Citadel.”
“I’ve read about that. A three-ship flotilla, carrying butt-loads of gold and jewels, was lost at sea.
It’s only been in recent years that proof of its existence emerged.
Previously, it was believed to be an old wives’ tale because no one could find documented proof of the manifests.
” Elara’s eyes widened. “Isn’t it like a billion-dollar event? ”
“One point seven, to be exact,” Greer replied without missing a beat. “The gala is a single-night event, but the display will be year-long.”
“How exciting! Payton, don’t you find it exciting?”
“Considering your friend is wearing boots in the millions, she may not be as impressed as you.” Greer shot her a sardonic smile.
Payton clasped Elara’s hand. “Actually, we’re sisters. We each take after the other parent.”
A subtle hint of longing flashed in Greer’s golden-brown eyes.
“You have no family?” she asked the gargoyle.
“Not in the truest sense. But we are all a clan of sorts. Archer is the oldest, and as such, became the laird.”
“So no siblings?”
“Not a one,” Greer said with a careless toast. “But cheers to that. It keeps the drama low.”
“We don’t have drama,” Elara protested.
“El. Come on. We accidentally cursed Dailey, just found out last year Flo was our Gran and we’re Titan-nymph hybrids.”
“Okay, so there is that.” She popped a grape and shrugged. “But at least we get along.”
“When it counts.”
“I would like sisters such as you,” Greer blurted. “To be close to another female. To speak of… things. Confessions.”
Her loneliness was great, and it didn’t take an empath to see or hear it.
Payton leaned forward and refilled her glass, topping off Elara’s and her own in the process. “We will be your sisters. Family doesn’t always have to be blood.”
Surprise flared on Greer’s arrestingly beautiful face. “You would include me? But you don’t know me.”
“You are here to protect me, a person you don’t know, and that tells me you’ve got a good heart.”
“To sisterhood!” Elara said brightly, lifting her glass.
“To sisterhood!” Greer and Payton chorused.
Dailey entered, and his gaze landed on them. His smile flashed an instant before his eyes glazed over and his jaw slackened.
“What is wrong with him?” Greer asked, rising to her feet and stepping in front of them.
“My seductive powers must be growing again.”
“That’s not the only thing,” Elara said, pointedly looking at Dailey’s crotch.
Passion clouded his visage, and he strode forward, only to be blocked by Greer.
“I must—”
She didn’t let him finish. “Get the fuck out.”
“No, you don’t understand.” His gaze locked with Payton’s. “I love you, Wildfire.”
“Keep it in your pants, Romeo,” Greer growled, blocking him with an extended arm and causing them all to gape in wonder at her strength when he couldn’t push her out of his way.
What none of them expected was for him to disappear in a blink, pop up beside Payton, and fold her within his embrace.
“She’s mine!”
She didn’t have time to consider what his new possessiveness meant.
Her cells warmed to burning, and right when she believed she couldn’t take a second more, they arrived on a remote stretch of beach.
A quick static swept along her body, a whispered warning, fading before she could register the meaning.
“Where the hell are we?” she demanded.
His grin was roguish as he stripped off his shirt. “Where no one will find us.”
“Dailey, this isn’t funny.”
He toed off his shoes, and his fingers fell to his belt. “Who’s kidding?”
“You and I can’t—”
His jeans landed in a heap at his feet, leaving him bare assed with his dick pointing skyward.
“… Uh, can’t…”
Her mind went blank the second he touched himself, and her body responded with a rush of heat. What the fuck had she been about to say?
“I intend to make love to you, Payton.” His voice, husky and filled with desire, answered a driving need inside her. “Show me you want me as much as I want you.”
With a snap of her fingers, she was as naked except for her footwear, which turned into sex-kitten slide-ons. Not practical for beachwear, but she wasn’t getting them off anytime soon.
Dailey didn’t seem to mind as he conjured a blanket, swept her up in his arms, and gently laid her down. His touch was as tender as his gaze but still hot enough to fan the flames inside her.
“Lee,” she moaned as he found her sweet spot.
He captured her mouth in a drugging kiss, as he pleasured her, and when he tasted his way down her neck…
her chest, pausing to suckle… then downward still, until his tongue on her core became the only thing that existed, Payton thought she’d died and gone to heaven.
He inserted one finger, testing and stretching her to accept his second, all the while working his mouth magic.
Gripping his hair, she pressed him closer and released ragged little pants between chants of “Yes!”
Light exploded behind her eyes, and the pleasure sweeping her body was next-level. Her feet tingled, and she curled her toes, bringing her knees up and rocking upward to extend the orgasm wave. Dailey indulged her, continuing to pump and lick, as if her prolonged pleasure was his only task in life.
A second explosion rocked her, and her body burned like never before.
It belatedly occurred to her that something was wrong.
Lifting her arms, she rotated her hands back and forth, stunned by the sparkling glow infusing her skin.
“Uh, Lee?”
When he glanced up, his expression was a promising blend of smugness and promise. But the instant he registered her illuminated skin, his reason seemed to kick back in.
“Oh, shit.”
“‘Oh, shit’ is right,” answered a tightly clipped female voice. “Get off her, you animal. My daughter needs the restorative powers of the water.”