Chapter 28
Jericho
She ends the call and powers off the phone immediately. The brief conversation leaves me with more questions than answers.
“Who did you call?” I ask while she tucks the phone away.
She’s quiet for a moment. Then: “My old pack alpha. From before I joined Aurora.”
I process this. “Your pack.”
“Yes. He’s getting on the next flight with some of the pack’s fighters.” She moves to the window, checking outside even though we’re well hidden. “They’ll meet us tomorrow.”
“Will it be enough?” The question is more blunt than I intend. “How many are coming?”
“I don’t know exactly. He said he’d bring whoever he could on short notice.” She turns to face me. “But my pack’s top fighters are formidable. Even two or three of them would significantly improve our chances.”
Relief washes through me. We’re still facing terrible odds, but backup—actual trained fighters who might be willing to help… That changes the equation slightly.
“Are you okay with this?” I ask. “Reaching out to them. Touching that part of your life again.”
She’s quiet for several beats. Moves to sit on the edge of the cot. “That pack was my life before Aurora. Before…” She stops. “Before everything changed.”
“Before Chance died.”
“Yes.”
I need to address this. Need to try explaining, even though I know words won’t fix what happened. “The operation that led to his death. I’ve tried to remain pragmatic about it. The decisions made. The intelligence we were working with. The—”
“Don’t.” Her voice is firm but not angry. “Not yet. I’m still coming to terms with it.”
I respect that. Go quiet. Stand near the window, keeping watch while she processes.
“Can I ask you something?” she says after a while.
“Yes.”
“Do you still think…?” She struggles with the phrasing. “Do you still believe what you did was right? The orders you gave. The missions you ran.”
The question deserves honesty. “I thought I was doing my job. Following orders from leadership I trusted. The Syndicate views factions like Aurora and the shifter clans as terrorist groups working to derail our plans to bring dragons to their rightful place in the world.” I pause.
“It was dogma that once made sense to me. That I believed in completely.”
“And now?”
“Now I see it differently. The complexity I ignored. The lives I prioritized as acceptable losses. The certainty I had about our cause.” I turn from the window to face her. “The rhetoric doesn’t make sense anymore when I examine it honestly.”
“Do you have regrets?” Her voice is quiet.
“Many.”
“Like Chance, you mean?”
“Yes. And others. So many orders given that destroyed lives.” The admission is difficult but necessary. “I have a lot to atone for. Maybe I’ll never balance the score.”
Silence settles between us. Not uncomfortable. Just heavy with truths we’re both processing.
“I think you’re a good man,” she says finally. Quiet. “Beneath it all.”
Her words strike something deep in my chest.
Good man.
She thinks I’m good after knowing what I’ve done. After losing her mate because of my orders. After everything between us.
Emotion rises—unfamiliar and powerful. My life has had very little room for feeling anything deeply. Few relationships that went beyond professional or physical. None that ever had potential for more than a temporary connection.
I see now what I’ve been missing. What I denied myself by maintaining distance from everyone.
Or maybe my dragon was waiting. Waiting for this particular female. The one who would break through centuries of control and make me feel things I didn’t think I was capable of anymore.
“Thank you,” I manage. “That means… everything.”
She stands. Crosses to me. Looks up at me. “I know.”
Then she’s kissing me.
Different from before. Not desperate or driven by some heat cycle or adrenaline. This is deliberate. Tender. Both of us choosing this with clear minds and full understanding.
I kiss her back slowly. My hands find her waist. Pull her close. She presses against me, and I can feel every curve through our clothes.
We move to the cot. She pulls off my shirt carefully—avoiding the bandaged wound on my ribs. I help her with hers. Gentle. Taking time.
When we’re both bare, that connection flares between us. Heat simmers beneath my skin. But this isn’t about claiming or marking or desperate need.
This is about learning each other.
I lay her back on the cot. Follow her down. Kiss her lips, her chin, her throat, lower. My mouth finds her breast. I take her nipple between my lips. She gasps and arches into me. Her hands thread through my hair, holding me there.
“Jericho.” She’s breathless.
I explore her body with my hands and mouth. Learning every inch of her. Her breasts are full and responsive. I pay attention to each one—sucking and licking until her nipples are hard peaks and she’s writhing beneath me. My hand slides down her stomach. Between her thighs. She’s wet. Slick. Ready.
I stroke through her folds. Find her clit. She cries out when I circle it with my thumb.
“Sensitive,” I murmur against her breast.
“Yes.” She makes a choking sound. “More.”
I slide two fingers inside her. She’s tight and hot, and her inner walls clench around me immediately. I pump slowly while my thumb works her clit. She’s making sounds that drive my dragon wild.
“Look at me,” I say.
Her eyes open. Silver. Fully shifted. Beautiful.
I move down her body. Kiss her stomach. Her navel. Then lower.
She tenses. “You don’t have to—”
“I want to.” I meet her eyes. “Let me taste you.”
She nods. Breath shuddering from her.
I settle between her thighs. Use my thumbs to spread her open. She’s pink and glistening. Perfect. I lean in and lick through her folds. She cries out—hand flying to cover her mouth.
I pull her hand away gently. “No one can hear us. Let me listen to you.”
Then I focus on her pleasure. My tongue finds her clit. I suck gently. She bucks against my mouth. I hold her hips down and continue. Licking and sucking while she makes sounds that make my cock ache.
When I slide two fingers back inside her and curl them forward, she shatters. Her thighs tremble. Her pussy clenches rhythmically around my fingers. She comes with my name on her lips and her eyes reflecting wolf.
I move back up her body. Kiss her while she’s still shaking. She tastes herself on my lips and moans.
“Inside me,” she whispers against my mouth. “I need your cock inside me.”
I’m rock hard. Have been since we started. My cock is thick and ready and leaking at the tip.
I position myself between her thighs. Line up. Then push inside slowly. Watching her face.
She’s tight. So tight I have to go slow. Her pussy stretches around my cock. Hot and wet. Heaven.
“God,” she breathes as I bottom out in her. “You’re so deep.”
I am. I can feel her walls tight around my length. Feel her heat surrounding me. See her eyes glowing.
My own eyes must be glowing. Scales ripple beneath the skin of my forearms where I’m braced above her. Heat radiates from my body. Not quite fire, but close.
I move slowly. Pull almost all the way out. Then thrust back in deep. She wraps her legs around my waist. Meets every stroke.
“Harder,” she breathes after a moment.
I increase the pace. Still controlled but with more force. Her breasts bounce with each thrust. Her claws are out now, digging into my shoulders. Small pricks of pain that sharpen the pleasure.
My scales appear more visibly on my shoulders and chest. Dragon surfacing without full shift. She runs her lips over them. The sensation makes me thrust harder.
“Yes,” she gasps. “Like that.”
I bury my face in her throat. Breathe her in. Fight the urge to bite down and mark her permanently. She’s not ready. This needs to be a mutual choice.
But God, I want to. Want to mark her as mine. Want everyone to know she’s claimed.
Mine, my dragon snarls.
Ours.
I thrust deeper. Harder. Her pussy is gripping my cock so tight I can barely move. The friction is intense. Mind-numbing.
I pick up speed until she’s clawing at me, hips thrusting up to meet mine, nails raking down my back.
“Yes! Fuck… Yes!” She comes with a cry that’s half-human, half-wolf. Her pussy muscles clench around my cock rhythmically. The sensation pushes me over the edge. I thrust deep one last time and come hard. Spilling inside her with a groan that rumbles through my chest.
We stay connected. Both breathing hard. Both coming down from intensity that was physical and emotional simultaneously.
After a moment, I carefully pull out. My cock slides free from her pussy. She makes a sound of protest at the loss.
“Not done,” I murmur against her mouth.
I kiss down her body again. She’s sensitive now. Her skin is flushed and damp. I can smell my essence mixing with hers. Primal satisfaction at that.
When I settle between her thighs again, she’s slick with our combined juices.
I lick through her folds. She tastes like both of us.
I clean her with my tongue. Gentle and thorough as aftershocks ripple through her.
When I suck her clit into my mouth, she comes again. Softer this time but still intense.
I move back up. She pulls me into a desperate kiss. I wrap my arms around her. Hold her while our breathing slows and our hearts stop racing.
Neither of us speaks for long moments. Just this connection. This quiet rightness.
After a while, I feel her starting to drift. Her breathing evening out. Her body relaxing completely against mine.
I pull the blanket over us. Adjust so we’re comfortable but still tangled together.
She makes a quiet sound. Already mostly asleep.
“Sleep,” I whisper. Kiss her forehead. “I have you.”
She settles deeper into my arms. Safe. Trusting. Choosing to be vulnerable with me.
My dragon is content. Not just satisfied. Content. Complete.
For the first time in my life, something feels right. Not military success. Not mission accomplishment. Not survival.
This.
Her in my arms. Our bodies still warm from lovemaking. The mate bond humming between us even though neither of us has named it yet. The certainty that whatever comes next—the raid on Vex’s facility, confrontation with Aurora, uncertain future—at least I felt something more.
I see now what I was missing. What I denied myself. What my dragon was waiting for.
Her.
This.
Home.
I close my eyes and let myself sleep with her safe in my arms. Tomorrow brings danger and impossible odds and choices that might destroy us both.
Tonight there’s just this moment.
And for now, that’s enough.