Chapter Fifteen – Arabella
She wanted this more than anything.
The twins were safe. Grayson's arms were around her, and at that moment she didn't care about anything else. She wrapped her legs around Grayson's waist as he laid her down on his bed, her fingers seeking out the buttons on his shirt. His kisses varied from soft to passionate. Each one left Arabella breathless. Every cell in her body cried out to be joined with Grayson's, her core tightening as his hands coasted along her body.
"I love you," he murmured again.
"I love you, too," Arabella whispered back. Warm, giddy relief swept through her as she admitted the truth she had been trying to deny to herself. "I love you. I love you."
She couldn’t remember ever telling anybody that before. That warmth and giddiness stayed with her as she pulled her lover down over her. The pain and barriers choking the space between them melted away. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands worked automatically, yanking the shirt from his shoulders and exploring his body with greedy fingers. His muscles were smooth, his skin supple, his touch perfection.
Everywhere his skin met hers, sparks erupted just below the surface. She had never experienced this before. Was it because he was a dragon? Or because she loved him?
He undressed her slowly, almost reverently, and she opened her eyes again to watch the building lust and awe in his gaze. A tender smile remained on his face, even as his pupils darkened and his gaze swept over her naked body. She wrapped her hands in his hair as he returned to kissing her, this time trading kisses between her body and mouth. A hand slid between her thighs and she reached for him.
Arabella's core tightened even more. Her head fell back as trembles ran up and down her body, her heart pounding in her ears. A glance at Grayson showed him grinding his teeth together, a look of exquisite torture on his face. Using her body as her tool, Arabella flipped him onto his back.
The dragon grinned up at her, a chuckle bursting from his throat. Arabella rose a brow at him as she began to swivel her hips, grinding against him. His chuckle turned into a moan and his back arched.
"What's so funny?" she asked, her voice husky.
"Nothing. I'm just—" He grasped the bedclothes beneath him and let out another moan. His face turned red, chest heaving. "I'm just so—I love you!"
Arabella threw herself over him, kissing fiercely, as she found him with her hand again. She eased him inside and sat, starting a steady rhythm. Grayson's hands shot to her hips, fingers digging in. He matched her rhythm. Everything continued to tighten inside of her, and it was all she could do to hold on. Bright lights flashed before her eyes, her jaw hung slack, and her shoulders shook back and forth.
Everything came undone. Pleasure ripped almost violently through her body, exhaustion chasing quickly after it. Her body thrashed, held in place only by Grayson's grip. She collapsed over him and he flipped her back around, thrusting hard while he cried out in her ear. Arabella clung to him as he pushed her higher and higher, filling her with more pleasure than she thought was possible.
She cried out and he collapsed. Sweat cemented their bodies together. For a long moment, all they could do was just lay there, moaning and panting. Eventually, Grayson moved onto his side and Arabella peeled herself away from him.
A smile passed over his face as he touched her lips. "Wow."
"I agree."
His eyes fluttered closed, his whole body relaxing. "You love me."
"I do." Arabella kissed him. "I love you."
He drifted off quickly, the stress from the last few days having taken their toll. But the twins were back, and he could sleep.
Arabella longed to follow him into sleep the way he had followed her to completion. But as she lay in the dark room, Grayson's soft snores beside her, the peace and contentment that had filled her when Grayson first started kissing her trickled away.
The twins were back, but they weren't safe. Grayson wasn't safe, either.
The organization had what they wanted. As long as he didn't try to get involved in politics again, they would leave him alone. They might even pull away entirely if they could cast the blame for Senator White's actions on Kennedy. She did make a convenient scapegoat.
But Kennedy was still out there. She had already eluded the organization this long, who knew how much longer she'd be able to do so? As long as she was at large, the Alexander family could never be safe. There was only so much security Grayson could have.
Not to mention that Arabella herself would be considered rogue by the organization at this point. They'd be sending agents after her. The fact was that the family she had come to love so much would never be safe as long as she was with them.
So she would find Kennedy and kill her, and then she would go after the organization. Take out as many heads as she could. Maybe gather enough information to release to the public so that they could no longer operate in the shadows. It was the only way to ensure they never came after Grayson again.
No matter what she did, Arabella doubted that she'd be alive by the end of the year. Her chest ached as she dressed, a physical pain that she hadn’t thought was possible. Knowing she would never have a moment like this again almost left her breathless. For the first time in her life, she could remember feeling loved, and now she was going to have to give it all up.
But they would be safe once she was gone, and that was all that mattered.
Arabella paused to load up on weapons, then enabled the elevator again and headed down to the forest floor. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths as the elevator moved her swiftly away from the family she thought of as hers. She would never have this again, but at least she had been able to learn what love really was. Grayson, Olivia, and Hudson had given her something to fight for besides herself, and for that she would be eternally grateful.
And if there was something that came after death, then maybe one day they would all be together again. Hopefully Christine wasn't the jealous type. Arabella had seen the way Grayson spoke of his late wife and the love he had for her was clearly evident. She wouldn't mind sharing him with someone he loved that much as long as Christine loved him an equal amount. Maybe the other woman would be willing to share as well . . . assuming something came after this life.
Henry waited for her at the base of the tree, eyes narrowed, hands clenched.
"Where do you think you're going?" he snapped. "I just started to trust you."
"Kennedy wants me dead," Arabella replied. She wasn't going to lie to Henry, not when stakes were so high. "Grayson and the twins won't ever be safe until her threat is eliminated. I'm not going to sit around waiting for her to come for me."
Surprise flitted across Henry's face followed by suspicion and then weariness. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a moment, he sighed. "So you're going to let her kill you?"
"I'm not going to let her. But it might happen." She started walking away, then stopped and turned back. "There's more. Kennedy isn't the only threat. They'll never be safe as long as I'm with them. Please tell Grayson I'm sorry."
Henry kept his gaze on her for a long moment before nodding once. Arabella let out a breath of relief and turned her back. It was time to protect the ones she loved. By any means necessary.
***
The bomb strapped to her chest was well hidden by the loose shirt she'd chosen to wear. She had spent a long time agonizing about the best way to take down Kennedy, and in the end, she realized that she had to make sure that if Kennedy killed her, Kennedy would go too. And so she had crafted up a bomb and wired it to a device measuring her heartbeat. If her heart stopped, the bomb went off. Kennedy would die one way or another.
Arabella followed the coordinates Kennedy had texted to her to meet after they got the twins back. It was odd that her colleague hadn't set a trap in with them. The bear would have been the perfect place to hide a bomb, but it was empty.
Whatever. It didn't matter. They would end this now.
The coordinates led her to a rest stop off the highway that was hidden by trees. Good. Less chance of casualties and witnesses. She stepped out of the car and scanned the area quickly, keeping herself down to avoid any sniper fire. There was no sign of Kennedy, though.
Pulling a gun from her holster, Arabella crossed the open area to the outhouse. The forest was silent and still; no sign of Kennedy anywhere. Arabella tried the door. It was unlocked. She kicked it open – and gasped, her heart jumping to her throat.
Kennedy hung from the ceiling rafters. Her body was limp, a rope around her neck. It was thrown over the rafter and tied to the sink where it looked like she had jumped from. But she would never take her own life – not like this, at least.
The organization had caught up with her at last.
Arabella turned to run, and a man stepped out from around the outhouse. She raised her gun, but it was too late. The man plunged a needle into her neck. Instantly, everything went black.