Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
I’d made a mistake seducing Davina. I should have known one taste wouldn’t be enough.
That fucking her would only make my need to possess her more intense.
It was why I’d slid from the bed shortly after dawn, needing to put distance between us.
Why I’d done my best to ignore her while I cooked breakfast, even as I wanted to drag her back to bed.
When the minx ran her foot up my leg, if not for the avidly watching Oliver, I would have swept the table and taken her on it.
Fearful I might do something rash, like a coward, I fled.
Ran away to try and find my usual cold composure.
I’d hoped a mundane action like showering would bring me back to a proper mental state.
It might have, if Davina hadn’t ignored my dickish mood and behavior.
Against her charm, and determination, I had no defense.
Nor did I want to fight when her lips touched my cock.
I couldn’t resist. Couldn’t say no. Couldn’t do anything but tilt my head back, sigh and groan, and tense as she made my pleasure her mission and sucked me to completion.
When she was done, she tucked against my body and murmured, “Feel better?”
No, because the turmoil within me still churned, a reminder of the many reasons I should walk away.
The smartest thing I could do? Change into my dragon and fly. Return to my empty castle. My empty life. My empty bed. Ignore my not-so-empty heart.
Fuck.
It was already too late. I’d fallen for the professor.
With that revelation, and the crumbling of my last weak defense, I crushed her to me, reveling in her presence, even as I worried I’d lose her.
Maybe today. Could be tomorrow. Definitely in a few decades when age took her.
Was a short period of pleasure worth the sorrow? Guess I would find out.
“You look so pensive,” she stated.
“Just thinking ahead to our meeting with Nessie.”
“Do we really need to wait until dusk to go?”
“Loch Ness is a popular tourist spot and is busy during its open hours.” Just as I spoke, a knock at the door had me barking, “What?”
“Turn on the news,” Oliver shouted back.
News? Why would I be interested? Then again, if Oliver recommended it, he had reason.
We exited the bathroom each wrapped in a towel. Davina located the remote and aimed it at the television. It took a few clicks to find a channel with a news broadcast.
“…officials aren’t sure what’s causing the mist coming off Loch Ness, but, given the rotten-egg smell, are concerned. Out of precaution, the area has been closed to tourists while officials test the air quality and water.”
I glanced at Davina. “Guess Nessie didn’t want to wait until later either.”
“You think she poisoned the air intentionally?”
“After what she’s done thus far, are you really surprised?
And I doubt it’s poison. After all, she wants you to come.
More likely she released a pocket of gas from a chamber under her loch to remove the tourists.
” Which indicated a lack of patience I didn’t care for.
What was so damned desperate she couldn’t wait a few more hours?
“Not sure how causing a climate incident is supposed to speed up our arrival. Won’t there still be officials in hazmat suits wandering around testing the air and water? They’re not likely to let us saunter in.”
“I’m sure she has a plan to ensure they don’t interfere with our arrival.”
“Guess that means I should get dressed.” Said with a bright smile, and yet I detected a faint hint of falseness underneath.
“We don’t have to go.” Now more than ever, I wanted nothing more than to get far away from this place.
“If we don’t, we won’t know why Nessie been trying so hard to get me to come.”
“Fuck her.” My harsh reply.
Her lips curved. “And that’s why I am not worried because I know you’ll protect me.”
I would, but who would save me from the heartache to come?
While we’d showered—and I’d had my resistance to Davina’s allure literally sucked dry—Oliver had deposited a package outside my door with clothing for Davina.
Slacks, a blouse, sweater, jacket, socks, and undergarments that had me tensing in jealousy.
Another man had picked them out for her.
Another man would now be imagining her wearing them.
However, I reminded myself, I’d be the one removing—and likely shredding—them later.
At least I could comfort myself with the fact that, while Oliver selected the garments, he would have billed them to my account, so technically, she wore items I’d provided.
However, I made a mental note to buy her some clothing chosen by me.
Possessive? Fucking right. Dragons didn’t share.
All too soon, we were seated in the BMW and driving toward Loch Ness.
Davina babbled by my side. “…when it comes to size, would you say Nessie is as big as you?”
“No. She is slightly smaller.”
“How big do dragons get? Can you get larger?”
“I’ve reached my peak.” Or at least the maximum size I could reach without doing something heinous.
“And how small do you start out? Do you even remember being a baby?”
“The correct term is hatchling, and while it might have been eons ago, I recall everything from the moment I emerged from my shell, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.”
“No way. That’s tiny,” she exclaimed. “How many years does it take to get to be your size?”
“Less than you’d think. Our initial growth spurt is rapid. Hatchlings are voracious eaters, and the more they imbibe, the quicker they molt and gain in girth.”
“What did your mother feed you? Is it anything like bird mommies do, where they get worms and stuff, prechew, and spit in your mouth?”
I almost gagged. “Fuck no. For one, hatchlings don’t often meet those who had a part in creating them. Given how much a dragon consumes, having two or more in a territory is too taxing, hence the eggs are scattered to areas that should sustain them once they hatch.”
“The babies are born alone? How sad. They must be so vulnerable.”
“They are, which is why they usually quickly find a human willing to help them thrive.” I paused before adding. “Hatchlings aren’t like human babies. They are born with knowledge passed on to them by their mother.”
“So they can talk?” Davina exclaimed.
“Yes, although the language would be whatever their mother knew at the time and not necessarily the dialect for the region they hatch in. Luckily, our young learn quickly.”
“As the last male and female, have you and Nessie ever—”
I cut her off before she even finished. “She and I will never make a clutch together.”
“But doesn’t it make you sad to know you’ll never have kids of your own?”
“No.”
“And you really have no interest in meeting the four baby dragons?”
“Why would I?” I countered. “As mentioned before, we don’t require parents or teachers because we’re born with the knowledge necessary to survive.”
“Even if they’re born knowing stuff, they could probably use a guide who understands what they’re going through. And besides, wouldn’t it be nice to not be alone?”
“I’m not alone. I have Astaria and Oliver.”
“I meant alone among your kind because Nessie sounds a little too crazy to count.”
“Dragons aren’t very social with each other unless we’re looking to make an alliance.”
“So make an alliance with them.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Or you’re making it more complicated than it has to be,” she countered.
Was I?
Before I could even think of a reply, she exclaimed, “Oh, there’s the mist the news was talking about.”
We drove into it, but not for long, as wooden sawhorses stretched across the road forced me to brake to a stop.
“Stay in the car while I handle the barrier.” I exited quickly, but some of the foul-smelling air entered the vehicle, and I saw Davina grimacing as she rummaged in her satchel.
Oliver had supplied her with several medical-grade masks he had left over from when they’d been mandatory during the pandemic.
For me, while I didn’t enjoy the flavor of the air, it didn’t do any harm. I moved one of the roadblocks to the side and then got back in the car to continue the drive.
The closer we go to the loch, the more the putrid mist thickened, rendering visibility almost nil. Of more concern, I didn’t spot any emergency vehicle or personnel. I’d expected to be stopped by now and forced to use my mental tricks—like a Jedi—to get past.
Surprised a dragon watched Star Wars? I’d also binged all of the Marvel movies, too. I had to say modern cinematic universes were one of my favorite things to lose myself in.
The parking area I chose had a few cars and trucks parked, the latter containing official logos on the sides.
I also noticed the first body. It lay splayed on the ground, gas mask askew, but it wasn’t the air that killed them, but rather the fact the male’s torso had been separated from his lower extremities.
Davina noticed and gasped. “Someone murdered him.”
“Nessie must have sent out her minions to make sure no one got in our way.”
“Wait, you think she killed everyone?” Her wide eyes showed surprise, and yet, I didn’t feel the same shock. The Nessie of the past decade had shown herself ruthless when in pursuit of something.
“There’s still time to leave.”
Her brow wrinkled. “And what atrocious thing will she do next if I don’t present myself?”
For that, I had no reply.
“We can’t turn back now,” Davina added, her eyes big above the mask covering half of her face.
And so we walked to the loch, the landscape wreathed in mist, which also dulled all sound. I listened hard while also visually straining for any sign of movement in the swirling fog.
When we reached the pebbled beach, my muscles tensed. Blame the eeriness of the thick gas and the lack of life. Not a bird sang. No insects buzzed. The water lay flat and still, the mist wreathing the area somehow avoiding the massive expanse of the loch.
“Now what?” Davina whispered.
“We announce our presence. Nessie!” I bellowed her name, nothing else, the sound of it sharp and carrying over the open water.