Chapter Seventeen
Angelica
I t didn’t matter to me anymore if letting myself love Trey led to my heart going through a shredder.
It didn’t matter that he was another Supernatural man that I could lose at any moment.
I loved him, and I wasn’t going to waste more time fighting myself. Nor was I going to accept that his death was unavoidable.
Which was why our post-coital bliss was being spent scouring the journal and all the research notes Max had sent with us. It turned out there wasn’t all that much new information.
Trey’s hand lazily played with the hair at the nape of my neck, his fingertips lightly grazing my skin. With each pass, more and more electricity charged through me in tiny sparks until I shivered under his touch.
“I can’t think when you do that,” I gasped.
“Maybe that’s my plan,” he grinned, not looking up from the page he was reading. “Seduce your mind by researching with you and your body by doing this.”
He did it again and breath caught in my throat as a cool charge of arousal beat through me. It was so very tempting to give in but I had to find a way to save him. Once we landed in Egypt, we would need to move quickly.
So I caught his hand in mine and set it between us.
“Good little Dragons will get more blow jobs if they don’t distract me while I’m working.”
“Do bad little Dragons get more time between your legs then? Because I’d call that a win-win.”
I snorted and smacked his arm playfully. Trey caught my hand now and drew me in for a lazy kiss.
“I want to spend all day and night in bed with you,” I admitted. “But I also need to save you. So please, let me try?”
“As long as we get to spend several days and nights in bed when all this is done.”
“I can tell you, unequivocally, that we will spend copious amounts of time in bed,” I nipped his chin, “or on the floor,” his throat, “or against the wall.”
“Okay… Angelica, if you really want to work… you need to stop.”
I pulled away with a wide grin, planting one last kiss to his gorgeous mouth. His purr was a rumbling sound from his chest that bordered on a growl and I sighed with contentment as I snuggled against him and continued to read.
We settled into a rhythm, reading and making notes on the pages, and then passing them to one another for opinions. Sometimes I’d remember reading something that connected to whatever Trey made a note of, or vice versa. But nothing seemed to lead to any solution. There was one thing that became clear the longer we read, however, and it caused sadness to sting my heart.
“We were close,” I sighed. “David and I, we were close to figuring it out. We just didn’t know this was, or even could be, Draconian.”
“Most believe the story you had about the sundial. We kept the truth secret to prevent anyone from using it. I think my ancestors must’ve thought it was safer that way.”
I nodded, and bit my bottom lip as I re-read the sections about the royal blood.
There has to be something here…a clue I’m missing that would save him.
“Every time you nibble on your mouth like that,” he leaned into my field of vision and planted a hard kiss on my mouth, “I just want to bite it for you.”
I grinned at him and went in for another kiss that would have very likely derailed our work for another hour. Just before our mouths touched, a bomb went off in my mind.
“Oh my god!” I gasped and pushed him away only to bring him back and lay a quick, smacking kiss on him. “I think I have it, the solution.”
“Okay let’s hear it.”
“You said that when you bite me, I’ll change, right? I’ll get more speed, stamina, I’ll have a longer life. I’ll also be royal. And River said that having more royal blood than just yours was key to your survival. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before!”
Trey stared at me for a moment, disappointment stealing his playful grin.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Am I incorrect about the royalty thing? I thought you said that—”
“No, you’re right it…it would. It’s just…,” he ran his hand across the small spikes on his head, “your life would be at risk too. And I know this makes me the asshole for balking at you risking your life but me expecting you to be okay with me doing it, but…”
“Trey, listen to me,” I wound my fingers between his and pressed our palms together, “I never got to stand beside David, I was always behind him, in the background trying to solve all the problems. It wore me down after a while. But this time, with you, I want things to be different. I want to stand next to you, no matter what comes for us. So please, let me do this with you.”
“That’s got to be one of the most incredible things anyone has ever said to me,” his voice was so low and rough it sounded like he was barely holding it together. “But, more important than standing beside me for this moment, do you want to stand beside me for the rest of our lives? Do you really want this? Dragon mating bites are for life, once it’s done, it’s done. So be sure. Because if we survive this, we will be mates. And if you thought I was possessive before…”
I chuckled at that and brought his hand up to my lips, kissing his fingers and then his hand and finally his lips, slow and thoroughly.
“I love you, Trey, and yes, I want this.”
Trey gazed down at me, so much love in those Dragon eyes of his that I never wanted to leave this moment. I was bathed in the warmth of it, safe, adored. And then he tackled me to the bed, kissing me so long and so hard that I tasted blood on my mouth.
“I’ll make you so happy,” he breathed, peppering my face and neck with more kisses. “I swear it.”
“Well, not too happy I hope. I like our fights.”
“And the making up.”
He sucked my nipple into his mouth and I gasped with the sharp pleasure it produced.
“Hell yes, the making up is the best part.”
“You accept me as your mate?” he whispered.
“I do,” I breathed with a smile I felt all the way to my toes.
He returned the smile with one of his own, so bright and unburdened that I felt like I might be seeing who he might’ve been without all the pain from his family.
“You accept my claim upon you?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
He moved some of my hair away from where my shoulder and neck met and ran his fingers over the spot where he intended to bite me.
“This will hurt for a moment, and you may have to sleep for a bit after. But I promise, I’ll be there when you wake up.”
“How long will I sleep?”
“A few hours. You’ll be awake by the time we land.”
“Alright.”
Nerves and excitement twisted in my middle. I’d never trusted anyone to so completely take control away from me as Trey was about to. And it caught me by surprise that there wasn’t even a hint of fear about it. Of everyone on this planet, he was the one I trusted most to keep me safe.
“I love you,” I murmured, just before he dipped his head down.
His arms held me tighter against him and he brushed soft kisses across my cheek and ear before he said, “And I love you, my fated one, my beautiful, brave mate.”
Then sharp, burning pain burst from where his mouth was clamped down on my flesh, blossoming through my body like a racing fire through dry brush. I screamed, unable to hold it back before the inferno dragged me into the dark.
I was not awake by the time we landed.
In fact, when I finally came out of the dreamless stupor, I found myself clothed and lying in a bed in a hotel room. The orange light of the late afternoon glinting over the rolling sands of the Egyptian desert filtered in from gauzy curtains fluttering in a warm breeze.
My body ached as if I’d had the flu and I was starving to the point that I was nauseous. When I raised a hand to brush some hair from my face I stopped and stared at the intricate gold and blue markings that ran down my forearm and to my fingertips.
“You’re awake,” Trey said, the relief thick in his voice. “I was starting to worry.”
“What happened? How long have I been out?”
He sat on the bed and handed me a glass of water, which I guzzled dry.
“We landed this morning, you’ve been out the whole day.”
I shot up and my head swam as a wave of dizziness sent me sideways on the bed.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Your body is still changing. All of it will come on gradually, but there might be some times your body gets dizzy or disoriented.”
My mind reeled with questions and worries. How was I going to function like this? How were we supposed to prepare for the ritual with just a few hours left? And why had I been knocked out so long?
“Hey, look at me,” Trey said, gripping my upper arms, his thumb traced calming circles on my skin and he started to purr. “You’re alright. I know this is a lot but I swear I’ll be here the whole time.”
“I know, I’m just…overwhelmed.”
Worry lined the skin around his eyes and his forehead. I reached up to smooth those out and noticed my markings again. It was going to take a while to get used to see them on me.
I’m changed…I don’t think I really thought that part through enough beforehand.
“What about the mission?” I asked to distract myself from the tiny bit of panic swelling in my chest.
“I’ve been working on getting things together for tonight. We’re not that far from the temple actually, but we still need someone to take us there. Max got me in contact with a guide to the temple that won’t ask any questions, and he also assured me that the research team wouldn’t be there tonight. I have all the tools River listed and everything is packed.”
“You’ve been busy,” I chuckled nervously.
“I needed to do something more than hover over you, worried sick.”
And then I noticed how haggard he looked, even in his hybrid Dragon form.
“I’m alright,” I reassured him. “Just starved.”
He grinned and leaped over to a tray in the corner.
“I ordered some food a little bit ago, figuring you’d be hungry. The transformation can do that.”
I practically jumped on the tray of kofta and hawawshi. I stuffed two of the kofta in my mouth and groaned as Trey wheeled the cart over to a small sitting area. We both ate in silence, mainly because I was shoveling food into my mouth at such speed there really wasn’t a chance to talk. When I had finally filled my stomach, I sat back with a satisfied grin. I glanced up and caught Trey staring at me with such naked love and adoration that it made my tummy flip.
“I always thought you’d look gorgeous with markings but now that I see you,” he shook his head and his eyes drifted down my body and back up as if he could see through my clothes, “you’re stunning, Angelica.”
“I’ve only seen my hands, but I am curious.”
“I dressed you when we landed and the markings were already spreading on your chest and back. Do you want to take a look?”
I nodded and stripped my shirt over my head. Trey’s growling breath at the sight of my naked torso brought a salacious grin to my lips when I glanced up at him.
“So fucking gorgeous,” he murmured and took my hand to help me from the couch.
Then he led me over to a mirror in the room, and stood behind me as his finger traced the pattern that swirled and spun over my collarbone, down my chest and curled around my breasts. It resembled blue lace as it trailed between my breasts in a thin line and fanned out over my stomach. Strangely, it didn’t cover my stretch marks so much as adorn them and I was glad. I earned those over four not-so-easy pregnancies. Then the markings dipped below the waist of my drawstring, linen pants and disappeared. Though Trey’s fingers dipped just under the top of my pants.
“We don’t have time for that,” I chided, leaning back against him.
“We don’t?”
His lips grazed my ear, other hand splayed just below my throat. I covered his hands with mine and stared at the two of us in the reflection. We matched now, but we were still ourselves. Different but somehow fitting into one another’s lives perfectly. I certainly hadn’t been looking for someone else to fall in love with, especially not a Supernatural being. But I was very glad that Trey was patient enough to wait for me to grow past my grief and pain enough to see him.
As if he could read my mind, his arms tightened around me and he pressed a soft, warm kiss to the spot he bit a few hours ago.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“For being mine.”
My throat tightened and my fingers wove between his. We began to sway to a silent melody, and for a few moments, the whole world narrowed to the place our bodies touched. I closed my eyes and found that my senses were heightened. I could hear his heartbeat and mine in sync, the feel of his mouth, the slide of his scales against my skin, it was so much more. There was a second that panic spiked in my chest and I worried I was about to get overwhelmed.
Then Trey began to purr and the anxiety faded, replaced by a calm acceptance of the new sensations.
“It’ll get better,” he reassured me.
“How do you know when I’m getting upset?”
“It’s an instinct mates have. You’ll probably develop it after you’re used to the other senses being heightened.”
“How long have you been able to know that about me?”
He hesitated and finally said, “Almost since the day we first met.”
My eyebrows rose.
“That must’ve been very difficult to manage.”
His fingers slid out from under mine and he once again started to trace the markings on my stomach.
“It was sometimes. But mostly I was just happy to be near you.”
Those words, said so simply but with so much love, hit me square in the heart. Trey had loved me before he even knew me. And then he waited for four years as I kept my guard up, tried to push him away, refusing to see what was right in front of me. The whole time he didn’t waver, he didn’t give up on me, even when it would’ve been so much easier to, fate or not.
I turned in his arms and captured his mouth in a kiss that tasted of tears and hope as I tried to tell him all that was inside my heart.
“Are you sure we don’t have time?” he asked, backing me up against the wall.
“No…,” I breathed as Trey proceeded to devour my breasts.
“Is that ‘no we don’t?” he slid my pants down my hips with a hard shove. “Or a yes we do?”
“It’s a fuck me, Trey, and stop talking.”
He chuckled and lifted me up, his hands molding the flesh of one ass cheek while he opened his pants.
After that it became a frenzy of mouths and hands, our bodies hungry to be united, as if we hadn’t fucked in years instead of hours. Trey sheathed himself inside me in one, hard thrust, the warmth of his aphrodisiac spreading through me. I was grinding on him, whimpering as I bit and sucked on his throat. I was so over sensitized that the orgasm rolled over me like a truck and I shrieked at the impact.
“I love making you come,” Trey snarled as his hips snapped against mine. “I love feeling you take my cock, the way your tight pussy milks me so good.”
In spite of how hard that first release hit me, I was still wound tight, and with each slap of our bodies against the other, each filthy word Trey whispered, I was pushed closer and closer to the edge of a second devastating orgasm. But no matter how I begged, I couldn’t get over the edge.
“Please…please,” I chanted.
“What do you want?”
“To…come.”
“On whose cock, Angelica?”
“Yours…my mate’s cock!”
“That’s my good girl.”
His hand slid between us and he just barely pressed on my clit when I exploded, a shooting star burning up in the atmosphere, and I hoped I never, ever hit the earth.
But slowly, softly, with kisses and breathy promises, I landed in Trey’s arms.
He carried me to the bed and we laid tangled in one another, panting and spent. There were no words needed, only our hands and mouths tracing out a secret language on our bodies that only we could understand.
And when I pressed my ear to his chest, our hearts beating in perfect sync, I promised him, and myself, that tonight would not be our end