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The last thing on Vivian's list for the day was to stop by Aurora's house and gather some of her belongings to bring back to her, and the sun was already set by the time she and Cade pulled into the long circular drive at the front of the house. It sat uncomfortably dark and quiet, and Vivian immediately felt anxious.
She climbed the front steps cautiously, the fear only increasing in her chest when she noticed that the front door stood open a few inches. Cade pushed ahead of her to enter first and she reached forward to loop her fingers in the hem of his shirt, seeking the comfort and security of his presence.
Cade turned on the light in the entryway and Vivian drew in a terrified breath. Papers, broken pottery, and shattered glass littered the marble floor.
"Sara?" Vivian yelled into the silence of the ransacked house.
When there was no response, she broke away from Cade and ran up the stairs toward Sara's bedroom.
"Vivian, stop!" Cade yelled after her, but Vivian kept running, looking into every room she passed.
The devastation only seemed to worsen as she got further into the house. When she reached Sara's bedroom she saw her sitting in the middle of the bed, her hands bound behind her back and a black blindfold over her eyes.
"Oh my god," Vivian said, rushing to the side of the bed.
She had just grabbed onto the ropes on her wrists when she felt someone grab her roughly around the waist. Vivian screamed and thrashed against the strong grip, trying to push away from whoever held her. Her body slammed into the bed and she rolled over to see a huge man hovering over her. Sara was making sobbing, whimpering sounds and the man suddenly cracked the back of his hand across her cheekbone.
Sara fell backwards onto the bed and Vivian tried to scramble away from the man, but he descended on her, grabbing her by her shoulders and pulling her up toward him.
"Put her down," Cade said from the doorway.
His voice was low and calm, the control making it even more frightening than if he had shouted. The man turned to him and Vivian used the temporary loosening of his grip to push away from him and run across the room to Cade. He led her gently into the doorway and stepped further into the room.
"You're who they sent?" the man scoffed, "We were hoping the creature Aurora ran off with would at least come back to gloat, but instead they sent Aurora's little friend and her boyfriend to deal with the aftermath. This shouldn't have been too much of a challenge, do you think?"
Two other men stepped into the bedroom from the adjoining sitting room and Vivian wrapped her hand around the doorframe, the fear making it difficult to breath. She could hear her own breath in her ears and terror was making her shake. Cade, however, seemed completely calm as he took two long steps toward the dresser on the wall and drew a cigarette out of the open pack laying on the top.
Vivian watched Cade turn the cigarette around backwards and put the tip in his mouth. He puffed once and drew the cigarette from his mouth, revealing a glowing end. A shiver of excitement rippled through her despite the fear and she saw the three men visibly stiffened. An instant later furniture skidded out of the way as Cade shifted and his massive form filled the space. One of the men pulled out a long dagger, but before he could even raise it, Cade lifted one claw and slashed it across the man's chest.
The smell of blood filled the room and Vivian turned her head away from the man bleeding on the floor. Footsteps pounded as the other two men ran from the room through the side door. Cade's human form swept Vivian into his arms and rested a kiss to the top of her head.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Vivian nodded and kissed his chest. This was reality now. She was irretrievably part of this, but as long as she held onto Cade, she felt like she could get through it.
An hour later they stepped out of the house and into a night that was suddenly chilly. Fall was coming quickly and the shift in seasons seemed to underscore what was happening around them. Vivian could hear the voices of the trusted members of the operative inside the house, trying to make sense of the situation and decide what to do next. It was clear now that any talks of peace were only for show. The war was here and Vivian was a part of it.
"What do you want to do now?" Cade asked, tucking an arm around her hips and drawing her close to him.
Vivian breathed in the smell of sage and the hint of sweat from his skin. His arm felt safe and powerful around her, and her body responded to her primal need for him.
"Bring me home," she whispered.
Cade's hands were at her shirt pulling it off over her head even before the front door to Vivian's house closed behind them. She kicked off her shoes as she walked backwards across the living room, kissing him hungrily and working the buttons along the front of his shirt open. Her hands slid over the smooth, rounded muscles of his shoulders as she pushed the shirt away and let it fall to the carpet.
As soon as they made it into the bedroom, Cade released her bra and tossed it away, bringing his mouth down to suckle the breasts he had kissed so patiently earlier. Vivian arched against his mouth and at the same time felt in front of her for his belt so she could unfasten it. The button and zipper fell away under her hands and he stepped out of the pants. Cade lowered himself to his knees, easing her pants and panties down over her hips and thighs so that she stood in front of him with nothing separating them.
Vivian cried out as his tongue slipped into her core, tasting her and readying her even more for him. The sound tore from her chest like a release from the tension, the fear, and the uncertainty of the day behind them. As it left her lips, she surrendered herself to Cade, focusing only on that moment and the touch of his body near hers.
She was quickly spiraling out of control when Cade got to his feet and scooped her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist and the heat of her core cradled the swell of his erection through the thin fabric of his trunks. He carried her to the bed and lowered her onto the mattress, pausing only long enough to step out of the trunks before rising over her and pushing into her in one hard thrust.
Vivian wrapped her legs around his waist again as he pounded into her, each thrust accompanied by a deep, guttural sound. Suddenly he withdrew from her and she felt his hand tuck under her hip so that he flipped her over onto her stomach. Sliding one leg up so that her knee bent up toward her shoulder, Cade entered her again. She lifted her head as a moan poured from her lips and felt Cade bite down into her shoulder with enough intensity that a shock of delectable, pleasurable pain rolled through her body, bringing her right to the edge of her climax.
Cade thrust into her harder until he impaled her a final time and roared with a release that made him throb within her, pushing her over the edge into another dizzying orgasm. She lifted her hips slightly as she milked him, wanting to be as close to him as her body would allow. As their tremors slowed, Cade lowered himself down onto her so that his body enveloped hers in warm, comforting weight. He slid his arms up over hers and intertwined their fingers, touching a kiss onto the back of her shoulder before resting his head onto her back.
Vivian could feel his heartbeat on her back and his slowly relaxing hardness still inside her. She let the feeling soothe her and ease her toward sleep. Tomorrow would come soon enough and she would return to Killington with him to face whatever awaited the dragons. For now, she was satisfied to rest beneath him, lost in the scent of sage and the thought of the colors in his eyes. Her loyalties had changed and she knew that no matter what her memories held, this was the beginning of forever.
THE END