Chapter 9 #2
“Guess I should have brought him a different treat.” Maddox pursed his lips.
“Not your fault. I’m just a little leery of letting him outside now.” It then hit me where he could eat it with minimal damage. “Abaddon, mind eating that thing in the shower where I can sluice away the mess after?”
The dragon paused his lovemaking of the melon for a second to eye me. “As if I’d leave anything behind.”
“Watermelons can be messy, so please, if you don’t mind.”
He uttered a forbearing sigh. “If I must.”
“Want me to carry it for you?” Maddox offered.
“Mine!” hissed the dragon as he waddled to the tight bathroom.
One problem averted. I slumped onto the settee and buried my face in the flowers. Their sweet scent soothed.
Maddox perched beside me and the scent of him proved even more tantalizing than the blooms. “Do you think they’ll be back?”
“Who knows. They took all the rocks I’d dumped in the fire pit, including the shell pieces.”
“Think they’ll recognize what they are?”
“To look at them, they appear to be rocks. But who knows what they might discover if they analyze them more deeply.”
“Given how far the volcano spread its debris and how many rocks they’ll be collecting, it could take a while.”
“Or not,” was my morose reply. “The question is, do I wait to see if they figure out Abaddon hatched or flee ahead of their attempt to take him?”
“To go where?” he asked. “It’s not like you can hop a plane with him.”
“And he barely fit in my saddle bag last night,” I commented. “Guess I could use my savings to buy a car.”
“But again, to go where? He’s going to get bigger. You’d need a place with space but few eyes, which kind of already describes where you live.”
“Except for the fact the cops know I’m here.
I might have to get off the beaten path.
Go off into the wilderness, maybe, and become a mountain woman.
There are enough untamed forests around we could probably disappear.
” Not ideal, but at the same time I couldn’t see myself handing over my Little Fella.
“Becoming a hermit is a bit extreme and would make us dating hard.”
My heart stopped and I glanced at him. “I can’t believe you’d still want to, seeing as how my life has become a tad complicated.”
“Yes, you have a dragon problem and possibly might be on the government’s radar, but what can I say? I’m curious to see all your tattoos.” His gaze went to my thigh and the ink on it that stretched upward and under the hem of my shorts to my hip.
My blood heated and my voice emerged husky. “Why Mad, are you trying to seduce me?”
“I would if I didn’t think we’d get interrupted in the next five minutes.”
I chuckled. “As if he’ll take that long.”
Sure enough, out came the dragon, his belly distended. A burp escaped Abaddon. “That was most excellent, my protector. You are forgiven for having a most foul feline in your possession.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“As to the dilemma about my being discovered, fear not, woman. Once my wings sprout, the hunting humans will not be able to catch me. Should they come again, I shall fly off out of their reach.”
“Need I remind you that you don’t have wings,” I pointed out.
“Yet,” Abaddon stated. “Shouldn’t be long now.”
“Let’s say for the sake of argument you get them, how are you going to fly off if you’re stuck inside and they’re blocking the door?”
“My protector will keep them occupied whilst I slip away.”
“Maddox doesn’t live here, so you can’t count on him to distract them,” I reminded. “Not to mention they’ll have drones.”
“Those spying machines are no match for a dragon,” he scoffed.
I wish I had Abaddon’s confidence. “Let’s say you do manage to give them the slip, where would you go?”
Before Abaddon could reply, Maddox snapped his fingers.
“We need a safe house, or in this case, safe cave where he can flee if something happens. Between the Hazelton Mountains to the east and the Kitimat Range to the west, we should be able to find a place for Abaddon to go where he won’t be found. ”
I mulled over the suggestion. “Those areas are ripe with wildlife, meaning if he can hunt, he wouldn’t go hungry.”
“Hunt?” My dragon perked his ears.
“There’s lakes and rivers and creeks, so plenty of fish. There are small critters like squirrels and rabbits as well. You’d have to be careful of bears, though. There’s grizzly, black, and kermode bears in this area as well as moose, which can be vicious.”
Did my dragon take the warning to heart? Nope. He licked his lips and hummed. “Yum.”
“Don’t let your large appetite lead you into tangling with something bigger and meaner than you.” I wagged my finger.
“Might be a bit late in the day for us to go trekking,” Maddox remarked. “And we’ll want to bring some supplies to leave in whatever den we find for Abaddon. If you’ve got time tomorrow, though, I can get Suzy to come in and cover for me.”
“I can’t tomorrow morning, but I’m free in the afternoon, say around one-ish?”
He smiled. “Then it’s a hiking date. I’ll head out now while the stores are still open and grab some things.”
“Are you sure? I could go.”
He raised a brow. “I doubt you could pack a sleeping bag, water bottles, and enough snacks for our friend on that bike, although I’d like to see you try.”
My lips twisted. “Good point. Let me know how much the bill is, though. I’m paying.”
“Or, how about you buy me dinner?”
“More like a few by the sounds of it.” Then so he wouldn’t think I was complaining, I smiled and added, “Hope you like steak.”
“I’d be a beef-ivore if I didn’t like carbs so much,” he admitted.
“I like everything!” Abaddon declared.
“I’ll walk you to your truck,” I stated, wanting a moment alone without a dragon interjecting every two seconds.
As we walked the few yards to his parked vehicle I murmured, “I was surprised to see you. I thought for sure you’d be pissed.”
“I was in the moment, but more mad at myself. I know Princess can be a diva about her space. I am also aware she’s not a lizard lover, hence why she’s not allowed around the cages in the shop.
I shouldn’t have left her alone with Abaddon.
In my defense, I wanted to kiss you and didn’t know how to accomplish that with our pets watching. ”
The admission had me both flushing and laughing. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’ve wanted to kiss you since we first met. You have very nice lips.”
Those lips curved. “If it helps, I’ve wanted to do more than that.”
“Now she tells me,” he complained.
“You don’t have to go shopping. You could stay.”
“I could, but then Princess would probably piss on my pillow, and since I doubt I can get Suzy to stay the whole day, we’d have nothing for his dragon highness. Not to mention, your bed is a tad small for the three of us and what I’d like to do with you.”
I snorted. “Damned pets.”
“Yeah, good thing we love them or we’d kill them.” He dragged me close, his hands starting at my waist and slipping to my ass. “But despite all the reasons I have to go, a part of me wants to say fuck it and seduce you right here on the hood of my truck.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed.” According to my very roused libido, I would actually be very interested.
“I am. I want to seduce you in a bed where I can properly explore every inch and where you won’t need a tetanus shot because there’s a bit of rust coming through the paint again.”
I outright laughed. “Keep making excuses.”
His hands squeezed my cheeks. “Stop tempting me or I will turn into a randy teenage boy who fumbles and botches our first time together.”
“You’re a very interesting man, Mads,” I murmured against his lips.
“Says the woman with a dragon,” was his reply before he kissed me. Kissed me long and hard, but even better, those hands on my ass—the ass barely covered by my tiny shorts—pushed up the fabric and cupped the bare cheeks.
Mmm.
I hummed against his mouth and he responded with his tongue. A fierce duel ensued with much licking and sliding and sucking. But we didn’t just kiss. I explored those broad shoulders and his hands… well they delved between my legs, my shorts no hindrance to his questing fingers.
When he penetrated me with a digit, I gasped into his mouth and my hips jerked.
He turned me so that he spooned me from behind, his lips teasing the shell of my ear as his hand worked me, two of his fingers dipping while his thumb somehow managed to rub my clit.
I moaned. I writhed. I enjoyed myself riding his hand and to my surprise came quickly, my pussy clenching his fingers.
As my climax eased and my body relaxed, I murmured, “Damn, Mad. Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Think of it as an appetizer to keep you going until the real deal,” he whispered in my ear.
“Or we could have that meal right now?” I whirled in his arms, tilted my lips for a kiss.
“If I don’t leave now, I’ll never make it to the store in time. But trust me, it will happen soon. Real soon,” he growled, grabbing my hand and placing it on the bulge pushing the groin area of his jeans.
I couldn’t wait.