Chapter 18
They had sex a hell of a lot more than three times in the next two days. In Flynn’s giant bed. In his enormous bathroom. With and without whiskey. With and without leather boots.
Apparently, Flynn really did think leather boots were sexy as hell.
It was everything from wild and passionate to warm and gentle. Totally serious, ridiculously fun.
And every time, as they lay together panting and exhausted, the same ripples of blue energy enveloped them, binding them tighter together.
And every time, Kira fell a little bit more in love with him.
On Monday Flynn stayed home, sending the rest of the Bad Bloods off to work at the construction company he owned with Tank—except for Jasmin and Brody, who managed a restaurant and worked nights.
“You can’t keep staying home from work to be with me.”
“I’m the boss,” Flynn said. “I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
“You know what I mean.”
Flynn was lying in his bed, her straddling his hips, his dick hard and hot inside her. He teased her breast with his fingertips, the lightest of touches. She arched her back, her eyes half-closing with all the pleasure he gave her.
“I know,” he said. “But I can’t leave. You’re too fucking sexy.” He moved his hips, sending another wave of ecstasy through her.
Why was she talking, again?
Oh. “You think I need you here to protect me.”
“Yeah. I do.” He moved in her again, his hands on her hips now. “And don’t pull that knife out from under the pillow and wave it around, because it’s not going to impress me. If you didn’t need protection, you wouldn’t be here.”
“I hate it when you’re right.”
“I’m not leaving you alone—not until I know what the fuck’s going on, and where those hellhounds are coming from.”
He stroked her hips, his hands drifting down to her clit.
Kira gasped, her hips rolling involuntarily. “Mmm. Okay. What were we talking about, again?”
He reached up and pulled her to him, so she lay on his chest. “We were talking about how many times I’m going to make you come, and if there’s going to be screaming involved.”
He wrapped his hands around her ass and thrust deeply into her. Kira gasped again, feeling her bones melt. She dug her hands into his shoulders. “I think there might be…aaah…”
And then there was nothing but passion and sensation, and Flynn, inside her and all around her.
When they came down from that high, wild place and lay peacefully together, Flynn ran his fingers through the blue energy rippling across their skin.
“Have you had any visions?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I would have told you.” She kissed him, and there was a sparkle of magic between their lips. “Do you think this blocked them out?”
“I hope so.” He watched her face. “You don’t seem happy about that.”
“I’m happy about not having any seizures. I’m nervous that there seems to be more energy between us, the more we’re together.”
“You think we should have stopped the whole sex thing at three times? Or just that there’ve been way too many flavors besides vanilla?” He kissed her shoulder. “Maybe we should stick with missionary position from now on, and pretend we’re not enjoying it.”
“Like that will ever happen.”
He grinned.
She traced her fingers across his collarbone. “I guess…I feel guilty about them. The people in my vision. What if we never find them, because I blocked them out?”
Flynn trailed his lips down her neck. “You wouldn’t do them any good if you died.”
But what if they die instead of me, while I’m having wild sex with my lion protector?
She didn’t say it, but she could tell he knew she was thinking it.
“We’re meeting with Israel and Ashley tomorrow,” he said. “And Silverlake is working on it from their end. If they’re findable, we’ll find them.”
She hoped so. But she couldn’t help feeling that time was running out.
Kira was fascinated, watching Ashley Silver walk into Flynn’s cabin the next day. Flynn had assured her he trusted Israel and Ashley—as much as he trusted anyone. But it was so strange to meet a draken princess from another House. Especially one who was so famous in this world.
Ashley Silver was a huge star—a country singer with a worldwide following. She had gorgeous copper-colored hair and cobalt-blue eyes. The exact color of her dragon, Flynn said.
She could Change into her dragon at will. Kira couldn’t help being envious of that.
Her mate, Israel Jonas, was a quiet, rangy wolf with sandy blond hair and a gold disc set with a Dragonstone embedded in his palm. Embedded. In his palm.
Rumor had it, it had been fused there with dragonfire—which had to have hurt like hell. Kira could feel the power crackling through the stone—and him—when she shook his hand.
“Hi,” she said. “I hear you once told the King of the Draken House of Akkabi to fuck off.”
Israel laughed. “Not my finest hour. But yeah.”
“I totally thought it was your finest hour,” Ashley said. “Somebody should have done that years ago.”
She shook Kira’s hand too, saying, “And this is my tour manager, Harrison Ward. Harrison is technically attached to the Lion Guard of Akkabi,” she added. “He’s in charge of my security.” Harrison nodded politely to Kira. He was almost Flynn’s size, and had a full head of wild bronze curls.
“Does moving to Earth do something to their hair?” she asked, looking from him to Flynn.
Flynn had been grumpy and edgy ever since they arrived. “Are we really talking about hairstyles?” he said. “While some asshole is sending hellhounds running around Nashville?”
Kira sighed. “Would it do any good to tell you not to be rude when people came to help us?”
“Says the woman who just insulted our hair.”
“You don’t give a fuck what anybody thinks about your hair.”
“Harrison might. Maybe he’s sensitive.”
Harrison just shook his head.
Ashley was looking back and forth between Kira and Flynn. “You’re in love,” she said. “Holy shit.”
Kira’s eyes went wide at that, but Flynn just ignored her. “I know you all are busy,” he said. “So let’s—”
Kira not-so-subtly kicked him.
He gave a martyred sigh. “And we appreciate you coming. Now can we get on with it?”
Kira shrugged apologetically at Ashley, who rolled her eyes and pointed at Harrison. “Same,” she mouthed.
Kira grinned at her.
They sat around the dining-room table, all the windows closed, air-conditioning going. Israel also set a magical ward, so that no one could listen in.
Kira approved of their paranoia.
After that, they got down to business.
Flynn and Kira explained the situation between them—the handfasting, the binding, and Kira’s current issues, including the visions.
“One of the things we’re trying to figure out is why someone would be holding one—possibly two—dragons captive and taking blood from them,” Flynn said. “What could be done with it?”
Harrison tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. “Depends on who it is,” he said. “If it’s Gen-X, they probably want to give other shifters dragon powers. Cloaking. Healing. Psychic abilities. Some people say that the white shifters—wolves, owls, and so on—get their special powers from dragon DNA.”
Flynn’s head went up at that. “Matings?” he asked. “Or genetic splicing?”
“Or magic?” Israel put in, looking down at the gold disc in his hand.
“No one knows,” Harrison said. “Maybe whoever owns that lab is trying to find out.”
Ashley turned to Kira. “What made you think those dragons are Al-Maddeiri?”
Kira shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been over and over it in my mind, but it’s nothing specific I can point to. It was just…when I saw them, it hit me so strongly. This feeling that I shared their blood.”
“But you didn’t recognize them?” That was Harrison.
Kira shook her head. “I realize I could be wrong. But I’m not really concerned about that. Whoever they are, they’re being held prisoner. Experimented on. It was me they reached out to. I may be the only one who can hear them. I can’t just sit by and do nothing.”
Flynn reached over and touched her shoulder. He wasn’t very demonstrative when people were around, and for him, that was the equivalent of a full-blown hug.
“Does it make a difference if they’re Al-Maddeiri or not?” Flynn asked.
The other three all looked at each other. “It could,” Israel said. “The House of Al-Maddeiri had special powers. Advanced healing. Visions.” He nodded at Kira. “Spirit communications. Navigating the inner worlds.”
“They were also able to successfully interbreed with other shifters,” Harrison added. “The Elite Lion Guard all had dragon blood, way back when.”
Kira glanced at Flynn. She was pretty sure he was not happy about having dragon blood, however diluted it might be. But he didn’t seem to be concerned about that right now.
“So their blood would be especially valuable to a group like Gen-X?”
“Probably. Or to a sorcerer. Dragon blood can be used in all kinds of rare spells and elixirs.”
“We can speculate like this all day,” Kira said. “The question is, will you help us find them? And if we can, will you help us free them?”
Harrison sighed. “It depends where they are,” he said in his deep voice. “In this world, we might be able to muster up some help from Rachelle Colton’s contacts. But if they’re in the Dragonlands, or another world…”
“We don’t know,” Israel said. “The political situation in the Dragonlands is extremely volatile right now. The High Council—”
“Fuck the High Council,” Flynn growled. “They don’t give a shit. They didn’t give a shit about me, all those years ago. They didn’t give a shit about the House of Al-Maddeiri getting wiped out. They could debate for years without doing a damn thing.”
“The prisoners will be dead by then,” Kira said flatly. “Is there anything you can do?”
“Finding them will be the first task,” Israel said. He looked at Flynn. “Kane and Rachelle are using their contacts at the Agency to find out if there are any rumors of Gen-X projects still in play, or any record of a facility that matches the description you gave us.”
“I wish we had more details,” Ashley said. She turned to Kira. “You haven’t had a vision since you and Flynn have been together?”
She shook her head.
Ashley hesitated, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. “Have you tried?”
“Of course she hasn’t tried,” Flynn said. “The last one almost killed her.”
“So the bond between you is blocking the visions,” Israel said thoughtfully. “That doesn’t seem logical. The bond was intended to strengthen her magic…”
“Was it?” Flynn said. “Or was it designed to strengthen her enough so that she could serve as a conduit for all the magic that was supposed to pass through her?”
Israel looked taken aback. “I don’t know. Harrison?”
The big lion shrugged. “Don’t look at me. It’s an Al-Maddeiri ritual, known only to their royalty, their sorcerers and their Elite Guard. They weren’t big on sharing.”
“This is getting us nowhere,” Kira said. “I don’t care what it was supposed to do. Right now, it’s not helping us.” She turned to Ashley. “Do you think I could deliberately induce a vision?”
“It’s possible,” Ashley said. “You might be able to see more detail if you were looking on purpose.”
“Or she might have a fucking brain aneurism,” Flynn said.
“I could go with her,” Ashley said. “Pull her out if it gets too bad.”
Kira said, “I want to try.”
Flynn snarled, “Are you crazy? You didn’t see yourself the last time—”
Kira put her hand on his arm. “I know.” She looked into his eyes. “But if it were you, you would do it. You’d try.”
Flynn stared into her eyes, his mouth pressed tight together. Then he turned away. “Fine.”
Ashley came around the table and stood behind Kira, her hands on Kira’s shoulders. Kira could feel the strength in her, strong and fiery.
She closed her eyes.
At first there was nothing—just darkness, and her awareness of Ashley behind her, Flynn beside her. He was annoyed, his breathing elevated, a little growl in his throat.
She shut that out and reached through the darkness, trying to focus on the woman in the chair. She felt close to her, almost as if she knew her.
She reached further, further, trying to remember the feel of the woman’s energy, to align herself with it.
It eluded her, and she called on the magic within her—the Al Maddeiri magic. She felt it, stronger than before.
So much stronger. She could do anything. She could find anything.
The magic surged, taking her over. She felt herself rushing toward her destination, no longer seeking, controlling—just riding a wave that was taking her where it wanted.
There.
She opened her eyes and she was in the lab, the domed ceiling rising above her head, filled with shadows. She was surrounded by lab equipment, lights blinking, monitors beeping. Beyond that were two huge carved stone doors.
She didn’t see anyone else. She tried to turn to look behind her, to see if the dragon was still in the cage. She couldn’t turn.
She was bound, she realized. She was attached to the chair, arms and legs strapped to it with thick leather restraints. She couldn’t move. She tried to call out to Ashley, and she couldn’t open her mouth. Her lips were stuck together, and now they hurt. The pain was growing…
Oh, god. She was inside the woman’s body. And the pain slammed into her.