Chapter Six
Haven sat gazing over the patio near the ocean, reflecting. After the blizzard stopped, she and Orion were muscled into a huge off-road vehicle that pulled up in front of the cave then whisked away onto an eerie black plane. Gunner was left behind at the cave, neither sister was impressed. Both sisters were warned by Neron he’d paddle their asses if they so much as said boo to their sudden travel arrangements. The glowering look he leveled onto them gave them pause. The sisters believed him, his clenching and unclenching of a fist was highly unnecessary. Neron ditched the sunglasses he was so fond of wearing in the snow, and his ‘do not question’ gaze was enough to lift the Titanic at a glare.
Haven’s legs ached enough to be carried from cave to car to plane, which Neron did. The spines he removed left red welts of fire exposed when Neron ripped her pants to check on them in the light of the fire in the cave. None were infected, but she muffled whimpers after they were pulled out. The paralyzing effect left soon after they were removed. It was then Haven caught her breath with the first protest of her flesh. The angry blemishes sent Neron into a quiet rage when he studied them, a gentle finger tracing the marks. He said not one word though his pained gaze spoke volumes. He blamed himself. Haven blamed Jeff. She was grateful the demon shifter would never be near her sister again. She shuddered thinking again how hideous Jeff looked in shifter form.
During the battle at the cabin, Haven couldn’t move. She was unable to scoot into a corner. The pair battling was terrifying. The power behind Neron was phenomenal. And the rage. Instinct told her Neron wasn’t merely battling to stop a demon; he was punishing Manni for hurting her. When the clash ended and he gazed at her through eyes of dark endless depths, she was afraid. Not of him, but she couldn’t throw herself into his arms when he shifted to human form.
Once on the plane, no one approached Haven or Orion. There were six other huge males dressed as Neron on board, deadly. None came near her. She wondered what each shifted into. Where they all Komodo dragons? She shuddered with the thought. Strangely enough when Neron sat beside Haven on the plane she relaxed, taking the pain killers Neron offered. He pulled her close again promising safety, she then slept. The ordeal left her tired, her frozen bones finally warming. She thankfully walked off the plane without assistance when they disembarked.
The beautiful home Neron had taken her and Orion to in a sleek black car was massive and secluded. She had seen no one but her sister and Neron for two weeks. As she scanned the mass of water, she knew Neron’s gaze never left her. He wanted something. Or he was waiting for something. The way he watched Orion made her wary. He wasn’t interested in her sister; every day Neron insisted Haven was his mate and he would take no other.
When they butted heads over issues, Neron gave no quarter. For some reason, no one was going anywhere. Haven wished she knew what he was waiting for. His glare sent Orion scampering in a different direction but because of her sister’s fear Haven stood her ground. Haven wasn’t afraid of him but wary. He made it known she was his mate. The tingling in her lower region was enough to understand he spoke the truth. No man sent shivers of desire down her spine as he did. The single time he pinned her to a wall they gazed into each other’s eyes, his wild with desire, hers reflected back were cautious. He was a Komodo dragon shifter. One bite was lethal. He appeared to want to devour her.
“Why don’t you tell me what you want?” Haven said. The orange juice in her glass was half gone. She fiddled with her napkin to keep her shaky hands busy. His dark almost black gaze bore right through her.
“You.”
“You tell me that every day but I can tell there’s more to it and it has to do with my sister. What do you want from her?”
“I’m not sexually interested in Orion.”
“I know that. The way you watch her when she eats, what she eats, what she does, her clothes. If she burps. It’s creepy.”
Neron leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I thought you wanted me to keep an eye on her.”
“I do but…”
The sudden quiet made Haven look around. She realized the ceiling fan beyond the patio doors that had been turning was slowing down. The small lights within the home died. For a second, Haven panicked. Jeff was dead, Neron killed him. Was this another attack? What if Orion captured the interest of another demon shifter, what would Neron do?
“Power must have gone out. Can you go tell Orion not to use or flush any toilets?” Neron seemed unconcerned.
Haven relaxed. “What do we use then?”
“The power goes out occasionally here, our water flow is electric based. I don’t normally entertain at this location, so I meet my own needs. You ladies will just have to suck up the alternatives I use. I have a port-a-potty in the bushes over there hidden near the gazebo. It’s been modified to be run on a generator because it’s permanent. Not an outhouse exactly but modern. Running water in the sink and auto flush. Breaks everything down. The recyclable to the waste that must be removed. But it can be a bitch, I can’t leave the generator on all the time. I’m afraid you have to tell me when you need to go in. Orion, too.”
“Now you want to watch us pee?” Haven narrowed her gaze.
“No I don’t want to watch you pee. I do have better things to do than track shit.” He sounded indignant. “I need to make certain the levers aren’t clogged. The toilet tissue has to go into a separate bin, and ladies tend to overuse more than a guy. Let’s hope the power comes on soon.”
“Why don’t we leave?” Haven asked.
“Soon, not yet. This is a simple inconvenience.”
“For a guy.”
Neron was right, the potty was a bitch and every time Orion or she needed to use it Neron had to come fix it. The house generator seemed to work everything else fine. When Haven asked him why he didn’t hook the toilets up the same way Neron explained the water usage was separate. The tanks the generator used for showers was filtered and used to water the lawn, so was the potty sink, the toilet wasn’t.
Both sisters pricked a finger on the enormous rosebush thorns that grew wild and occasionally barred the door. To their discomfort, they each sported Band-Aids. Finally, Neron cut away part of the bush. Three days later the power went on. Orion was fuming shortly before, her period started, and she’d be damned if Neron needed to know everything. She wanted to know what the hell she was supposed to do for pads and where to dispose of them. Annoyed for her sister’s sake, Haven mentioned it to Neron, wondering if his Maleness and his needs had a place for tampons. This was a man’s home, and it was a surprise when he produced necessary items.
For the first time in almost three weeks, Neron left the sisters alone. He claimed work called him in. Haven wondered if Death was needed. The few hours he was gone, Haven was surprised she wished for his return. She was safer when he was around. So was Orion. The house was too quiet, too large and now seemed vulnerable. Haven and Orion stayed close to one another, never letting the other from their sight. When he returned, Neron was agitated. He corralled them all.
Neron sat both Haven and Orion down in the living room and paced. “Orion do you know you’re adopted?”
“Yes, so? I’ve known my whole life. Our parents couldn’t have loved me more if I was theirs biologically.”
“Did you know you and Haven are related?”
“What?” they both asked in unison.
Haven gave him a hard stare. The power outage and the greedy ominous rosebush came to mind. Wasn’t there a slight grin of relief when he was told Orion was menstruating?
“Were you collecting DNA or something?” Haven demanded.
“Or something.”
“Well?” Haven asked.
“The company I work for ran both your blood, Manni’s blood, and other things through their system and discovered something out of the ordinary. Your Jeff was your aunt’s son. I’m sorry but he killed both his parents to escape. Your aunt, like your sister Orion, were adopted into a human family to keep them away from mates they should never have. Your aunt was in fact related to your mother. I’m guessing your grandmother’s sister gave up her baby for safety sake. It was unfortunate for your aunt her mate found her. A mythical shifter should never mate with any other than a human or another mythical being. It was a bad match.
“Your cousin slash sister, Orion, was your aunt’s second child. Born soon, less than a year after Jeff. Orion wasn’t his mate. The pull was family and Manni, Jeff, was confused. He didn’t think straight to begin with. His demon mind couldn’t differentiate the scents. That might have actually saved your life, Orion. He may have thought that getting rid of Haven would clear his mind so he could concentrate on Orion. You are both meant for shifters. I think, though, if he succeeded in killing Haven, you would have been next. He would have discovered you were his sister and killed you.”
“Are you sure he was after Orion if she and I are both shifter mates?” Haven’s words were tight.
“Haven, he wanted you dead. Orion, your brother was insane. He loved to kill. In his mind, even though your parents are dead he would have become jealous of you—he’s their baby. I don’t think you were given to your aunt because of a demon shifter mate. It was to keep you from being murdered by Manni.”
Haven sent a worried gaze at Orion. “I’m so sorry.”
Orion was shaking. “I never knew. We never had sex, and he never forced the issue, he was content to wait, in fact he never brought the subject up. Thank God. We kissed once, just once, but something always held me back. I had begun to push him away. Jeff thought it was Haven interfering, I’m sorry I let him believe that. If I thought for a second he was dangerous to my sister I would have told him I loved him, but when we kissed it was weird. I think he sensed it too. He only got strange when I began to spend less time with him and more time with Haven.”
“He said he was going to propose to you,” Haven said. She was astounded.
“No, we never spoke of marriage. I don’t know why he lied to you. I told him before we came here we were friends and only friends, there could be nothing more and he agreed. I cared for him but wanted to tell him during this trip we should see less of each other. I wanted a boyfriend, and he wasn’t the one. I was so confused about my feelings I kept them hidden. I didn’t say anything to you Haven, I’m sorry. Our parents were gone, and everything was so hard to understand. Now I know why I was drawn to Jeff, and loved him in a small way, but not interested. If my parents were shifters, am I?”
“No. Your family, like mine, only have a single shifter offspring, it’s rare but thankfully true in your case,” Neron said. Then he went on to explain when Haven and Orion said nothing. “You were born close on the heels of your brother before your parents realized he was dangerous. You were barely one when you were sent to live with your aunt and uncle and Haven. Your parents must have known by then Manni was different, and dangerous. Perhaps the second he shifted for the first time. He may have tried to kill Orion then.
“They would have had to give him up, or you. Shifter demons are unpredictable, there is nowhere for them to go if their parents can’t control them. He might have killed you, Orion, when you were children. You’d be immune to the spines he spit but not if he ripped your head off. I’m guessing that’s why your mother gave you to her sister to raise. Your parents couldn’t bring themselves to kill their son, or have someone else kill him. They wanted you safe. But I can only imagine their suffering and thoughts, the grief, how do you kill your two-year-old son? You can’t. How do you part with your baby girl? You must. Giving you to her sister was a small compromise and maybe a respite.”
“That means Orion doesn’t attract demon shifters. It was only her brother.” Haven’s relief was overwhelming.
“No, she never did. It was Manni and he alone. She is still a shifter’s mate, though,” Neron said.
“Whose?” Haven asked.
“I have no clue. She’ll find out in time.”
“Then Orion is in no danger and neither am I?” Haven said.
“I can’t find my mate, or he can’t find me secluded here,” Orion said.
“She’s right. That means we can go back home.” Haven filled with excitement.
Neron dropped before her. “This is your home. I am your home.”
“I love the snow.” She saw Neron shudder. “Not all year but right now there is snow in a place I call home. Lots of wonderful snow. We can ski and sleigh and have snowball fights. Make appropriate genderless snowmen.” Haven’s excitement built.
Neron sighed and stood. “Fuck, I hate snow.”
Haven flashed a cheeky smile. Everything suddenly right in her world, she gazed at her mate. “Your mate loves it. Suck it up, buttercup.”
“Buttercup?”
From Neron’s deadly glance she knew she said a trigger word. Both sisters screamed and fled in different directions when Neron roared. Haven raced to her room but wasn’t fast enough. Neron kicked the door closed and flipped her onto her back onto the bed.
“Komodo dragons are no buttercups.”
She was right, and she’d remember the word was forever off limits. Until he ravaged her mouth. The word might come in handy at a later date after all. Full passionate lips and a sensual tongue licked, sucked and, though demanding, were not devouring. His powerful hands, hands she’d seen turn to razor claws and rip apart a beast, were tracing a soft trail with gentle pads across her cheeks and throat. Haven was breathless. This was a kiss she’d only ever dreamed of. When their lips separated Neron’s deadly gaze made her heart stutter.
“I will kiss you so thoroughly I will make you beg me to take you the next time we make love. Right now, you’re mine. Any objections?”
“I…”
“I didn’t think so.”
His mouth crashed back onto hers, now demanding, taking, stealing her breath. For a moment he tore his lips from her, and she could see it cost him dearly.
“You, my mate, are the most beautiful vision I have ever seen,” Neron said, his deep guttural voice made her shiver. “I have been so desperate to have you.”
Haven knew he was. She’d seen desire in his long heated gazes. The way his hand shook when he trailed a finger across her shoulder. Each touch enticing, alluring, drawing her closer to him though she struggled for the sake of her sister not to give in. There was no barrier now. There was here and now and later forever.
His formidable weight captured her with the mattress beneath her. Her clothes were peeled from her flesh. He exposed her inch by inch his gaze absorbing, penetrating to flame her flesh. She lay naked beneath him. Her high firm breasts ached to be touched. She had seen him unclad numerous times. Neron’s body was perfect. His massive hand held her wrists over her head, the other gripped her breast. When his mouth found a bud, she cried out with his demanding sucks and licks.
A rough hand squeezed her tender flesh making her back arch. The warmth of his breath bathed her puckered nipples. She raised a thigh in invitation. Neron released her wrists to nip at her skin as he lowered, moving down her belly to lave her hip, then thigh. Using his fingers, he spread her before him. Haven’s throat heated to burn her cheeks. He lifted his face from her treasures.
“Did you ever allow any man what is mine?” He growled his words, pinning her with his eyes.
“No.” Her reply was a squeak.
The two others she dated lacked something. Now she knew what. They hadn’t the power and exuberance of her demanding mate. They didn’t have the ability to make her feel safe, especially while she defended another. They didn’t boil her blood with want. Haven reached for him. His broad back was warm and smooth. Muscles rippled and flexed beneath her hands. A daring move had her sliding her fingers over his perfect ass. He groaned and kissed her forehead. The gesture so sweet from her badass he made her grin.
“Trust me,” he whispered. “Trust how strong my love for you is.” She did or she wouldn’t stay lying beneath him.
“I know I love you.” Haven was surprised. But it was true. Her body seemed to know him the second they touched. Her mind was free to allow the feeling in.
Neron dipped forward fast and nipped her throat. It was the tiniest of wounds but he broke the surface. She panicked.
“Your bite,” she gasped.
His gaze was intense. “You know the antidote.”
She did. “Fuck me now,” she cried out.
He chuckled. “That’s my girl.”
Neron laughed as Haven helped him with his clothes. He gripped her throat in a hand and pushed her back. Ravishing her mouth she wiggled under him. Each breast was given lavish attention. Both nipples tormented to bliss. Neron lowered to spread her legs further. His kisses up her thigh were driving her wild. He paused for a second before his leisure licks between her lower lips enflamed her desire. A finger was added to her writhing need. Heat flooded every inch of her. His fingers were large giving her a taste of what was to come. Her insides pulsed with a need overcoming reasoning.
His tongue was a surprise and his mouth captured her bud making her squirm in delighted torture. Neron dragged her emotions of need from her core. She gasped wanting to drag him over top of her. The idea surprised her, for only a second.
“Hurry,” she begged,
“We have time,” he said and chuckled. “You won’t die this second. I wouldn’t allow it.”
“Oh yeah, the bite.” She forgot for a second he bit her, she wanted him inside her.
Stretched out over her, Neron pressed his cock against her throbbing heat. She begged him again to hurry. He entered with a quick thrust. Haven cried out. She gripped his silky thick hair in a fist. His broad chest was a furnace heating her. Deeper he thrust as his hips crashed against her. Falling, she was falling trying to gasp in precious mouthfuls of air. His power engulfed her. Her body obeyed his commands to give herself to him. To many he was Death, yet Haven never felt so alive. She lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist. Her toes touched then retreated with each movement. She realized why some called this fucking, because it was fucking wonderful. Neron’s piercing gaze was dark and deep and she lost herself in its depth. The promises those eyes made were real.
Neron pulled free and flipped her to her belly. He plunged again. Heated thighs slapped her ass and if she hadn’t needed to breathe so bad she would have giggled, no one had ever spanked her. He gathered her wrists high over her head to stretch her beneath him while he rode her with wild abandon. He pulled back and thrust harder, then again, once more making her shudder. Neron released her wrists and wrapped an arm around her middle pulling her up onto her knees. Haven had the bedding bunched in both fists. She gritted her teeth. A small cry was torn from her lips. His roar shook the bed and she released a building scream wondering where the breath came from.
He was heavy in the most wonderful of ways when they collapsed onto the bed. They lay twisted in a heap of arms and legs needing to touch. The next bite to her throat was gentle as she lay spent. She was curious. As though Neron guessed where her thoughts took her he gave an answer to her unasked question when she rolled to face him.
“My bite wasn’t to force you,” he explained. “It was to ready you. I needed to taste your blood to form a memory of your DNA. You can never be poisoned by a Komodo dragon bite. Neither will our offspring. The bacteria will keep you safe from any disease. You will be healthy until the day you pass. So will our children. Nothing is as important to me. Badass and all.”
Haven lay pondering after she caught her breath. The bite didn’t bother her. She was more than willing. She snuggled against him when he rolled to his side. Her insides throbbed in a pleasant way.
“Will it physically hurt you to go stay in a cabin in the snow for a little while?” Haven asked.
“I have been thinking. No one would ever suspect you were the mate of a Death Stalker, especially a dragon if we were to visit with Gunner occasionally.”
“What is a Death Stalker, besides death?”
“We’re a shifter breed designed to go after shifter demons. The organization is widespread from one end of the globe to another. We answer to no one, not the government, not a president, prime minister, king or queen or anything else. Our son or daughter is destined to follow in my footsteps.” He rolled to gaze into her eyes. “I’m the most dangerous male you’ll ever meet—to others. Never you. I am loyal to a fault. I control the shifter in me not vice versa.”
“I wonder if my parents ever knew my aunt was a shifter.”
“She may have confided in your mother.”
“Mother warned us of shifters. Whatever his name, Jeff, Manni, may have been showing signs of a demon shifter. Maybe Aunt Ellen told her about her ability to shift when she gave her Orion. Maybe she warned her about Manni. If you know only one shifter child is born to a family maybe she knew. There would be no way for Orion to defend herself against her brother. Mother and father were human, they had no defense against an attack either. Maybe that’s why mother was so afraid of shifters. She said they were bad news.”
“She may have been heartbroken losing her sister. You know how you feel about Orion. Maybe she felt Ellen was stolen from her. Then finding out about her nephew and never being able to see her sister again might have left a bad taste in your mother’s mouth. And I’m not bad news.”
“No you’re a badass.”
“Don’t make me spank your sweet ass.”
“You’d have to catch me first, buttercup.”
Her saucy retort was in jest. Haven screamed when Neron growled and lunged for her. Naked, she jumped from the bed and ran screaming around the room. Eyes wide, she watched as her escape route was cut off. Her mate meant business. Neron caught up to her and pounced.
He tossed her face down on the mattress, and Haven wiggled and cried out when his large hand connected to her bare bottom. Haven’s struggle was in vain though her attempt at release was valiant. Her wrists were gathered at the small of her back, and she was pinned by a knee. Her teeth bit into the material beneath her. His open hand connected again, then again. She stopped her struggles. Instead, she spread her legs in invitation. Her mate loved a challenge and as she moaned into the mattress, Haven knew her butt would be as red as her hair before he finished. As long as he made good on his threat to kiss her until she begged to be taken, she didn’t care.